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In conclusion of my teaching on the above topic, one major destiny destroyer that many people are not aware of is gluttony. Gluttony is the habit of eating and drinking excessively. Gluttons cannot control their appetites, and such people do not usually go far in life. They simply want to eat every time; food has become their preoccupation – their god.
Controlling your appetite is very important, and this is why the Bible says:

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
Proverbs 23:1-2

The Scripture above does not imply that believers should literally put a knife to their necks, rather, it is saying that if they cannot control their appetite, even if they sit at a table with great men, they will still bring about their own destruction. The Bible tells us that even though Daniel and his friends were chosen amongst those to eat a portion of the king’s food, they controlled their appetites and chose not to defile themselves with the food. They chose to honour God by controlling their appetites, and God honoured them in return (Daniel 1:1-21).

Esau’s destiny was destroyed with a bowl of porridge; just one bowl of food caused his name to be omitted from the list we usually talk about – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ‘Jacob’ on the list would have been Esau, but he couldn’t control his appetite and lost his place on that great list (Genesis 25:29-34).

Some adults eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, snack in-between meals, and eat again just before going to bed. How can you have the strength to wake up in the middle of the night for spiritual warfare when you are so loaded with food that you can hardly stand? There are many people who died untimely deaths and truncated their own destinies because of how much food they ate. They ate to the point of endangering their health, and then they passed on. Don’t let this be your portion.

Beloved, you should eat only when necessary and eat only the quantity of food that you need to survive. When you eat too much, you will be weak, and you will have less strength to do the things that you need to do to achieve greatness. Those whose belly is their god – meaning they are controlled by it – will end up in destruction. Control your appetite!
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Today, I will continue my teaching on the different vices that can destroy destinies. When we first started building Redemption City, I knew some bricklayers who would have been very wealthy by now if only they had not been lazy. God had set them up in a place where they could have had great success, but their laziness robbed them of that opportunity.

Beloved, don’t be lazy. When I meet some pastors who started about the same time as me, they will usually say, “God has been good to you.” Truly, God has been really gracious to me, but then, nobody can accuse me of laziness. God can supply you with the grace you need to fulfil your destiny, but if you are lazy, the grace He provided will go to waste because you will not use it. Many have prayed for open doors, but when the door was opened before them, they did not walk into it because of their laziness.

In Proverbs 6:6-11, we are told to learn from the ants as they provide their meat and gather their harvest at the right time. These days, some people make excuses to hide their laziness using different terms like exhaustion, procrastination, and so on. When a fellow constantly disregards the things that he or she ought to do when they ought to be done, it is simply laziness. For instance, if someone is to go out at 8am, but decides to stay in bed and refuses to have a bath nor get his or her clothes ironed by 7:30am, that is laziness.

When you read Proverbs 24:30-34, you will see the major danger in laziness. Laziness does not destroy destinies suddenly, it does it little by little. If you are lazy, you will look back at your life after a while, and you will realize that you are far from the things that you set out to achieve.

Beloved, please banish any form of laziness in your life. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that time and chance happen to everyone. If you are lazy, when your time and chance come, you will likely be in bed sleeping. Don’t allow a little sleep to destroy your destiny. Good sleep is very important for your health and general well-being, however, do not oversleep or sleep when you ought to be working.

Get up and work! Your destiny and that of many others depend on your efforts.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday, I discussed how the devil can use illicit sex as a tool to destroy destinies. Another means through which the devil destroys destinies is greed. (1 Timothy 6:10) says:

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Once the devil can get someone to love money, other evils will begin to spring forth. Money should not have dominion over you; don’t make decisions that you know will offend God solely because of money. Anything that is against the will of God, even if it has benefits worth billions of dollars attached to it, must become a taboo to you. Many people have stolen money to buy a car, and then that car became their coffin.

Gehazi had a great destiny ahead of him; he could have inherited a double portion of the double-portion anointing that Elisha had, and that would have given him tremendous power. However, greed denied him of a great destiny. No matter how much money a Christian is tempted to steal, God’s plan for his or her life is much bigger than it. I have seen great destinies destroyed because the people involved were too much in a hurry to become rich, and so, they took what they ought not to take. Proverbs 28:20 says:

A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

Don’t be too much in a hurry to be rich. If someone is too much in a hurry for riches, he or she will not be innocent, and that lack of innocence is what the devil will use to destroy such a fellow. Be faithful, and you will abound in blessings. Don’t envy the people who are doing all manner of evil things to get money now; they are rams awaiting slaughter. Proverbs 15:27 says:

He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Those who are greedy of gain are calling trouble on themselves and their families; it is only a matter of time before they begin to burn from the troubles that they bring on themselves. Don’t join them.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The devil is always looking for signs that mark out people of great destinies. You may have noticed long ago that you are not in this world to be ordinary, and that there is a great destiny that God has ordained for you. The devil may also sense this, and even though he is unable to fully understand it, he will begin to send destiny destroyers to the fellow to ensure that he or she does not fulfil that glorious destiny. One major destiny destroyer the devil tries to use is illicit sex.

In Genesis 37:5-9, the devil heard Joseph talk about his destiny and marked him for destruction. He tried to get his brothers to kill him, but they ended up selling him into slavery. The devil thought that Joseph would not fulfil his dreams in slavery, but when he saw how he prospered in Potiphar’s house even as a slave, he knew that the only way he could stop him was to tempt him with illicit sex, so he sent Potiphar’s wife to seduce him (Genesis 39:11-12). Thankfully, Joseph did not fall for the temptation because that would have been the end of his big dreams and destiny. Every time you are tempted to engage in illicit sex, that is the devil trying to destroy your destiny. Your response will determine if you will still fulfil destiny or not.

No matter how great a person’s destiny is, giving room to fornication or adultery will destroy such a fellow because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that our bodies are God’s temple, and if a fellow defiles God’s temple, he or she will be destroyed. Samson was really great and powerful, so much so that he could single-handedly defeat an entire army. However, as powerful as he was, he met his defeat in the laps of a woman that he wasn’t married to. Before long, he was grinding corn for his enemies (Judges 16:21).

If you find out that you are having illicit sexual desires towards someone of the opposite sex, you should run to God for mercy, go on a fast, and pray for those desires to die. This way, you will strengthen yourself enough to avoid falling into the temptation and those illicit sexual desires will die eventually.

Beloved, guard yourself against the devil’s temptations to engage in sexual immorality. Don’t allow him to make you destroy your destiny with your own hands. Resist him, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Prayer is one of the greatest weapons that God gave to man; the ability to call on Him anytime we want and have Him answer us. It is a signed blank cheque to His children. The question now is, how come some Christians don’t use this blank cheque? The answer is in Psalm 10:4:

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Christians that do not pray are proud; it means that they do not have God in all their thoughts because they think they are smart enough to solve all their problems. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says that no matter how wise you are, the things of God that may appear foolish far exceed human wisdom, and the things that seem weak far exceed human strength. It is foolishness not to pray.

One day, when I was a child, I was playing football in front of our house. At a point, I kicked the ball to the top of the roof, and it got stuck there. I was little, so I couldn’t see the ball. I tried using a stick to get the ball down from the roof, but I was not able to. My dad was sitting close by, but I didn’t call him for help. At last, when I was tired, I asked for his help, and he said, “You saw me here all this while, but you didn’t think to ask for my help.” He stood up and, with one sweep of his hand, brought the ball down. I thought I could bring the ball down by myself, and I kept stressing myself to do so even though I could have just asked my dad for help and gotten the ball easily. Many people stress themselves unnecessarily, running from pillar to post in search of solutions to problems that can easily be solved on their knees in prayers to God.

God gave you a blank cheque in Jeremiah 33:3:

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

I have been using my blank cheque at every opportunity, and God has been answering and showing me great and mighty things that I did not know. Will you also begin to use your blank cheque?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Today, I will conclude my teaching on what it means to be a true helpmeet. There are wives who parade themselves as helpmeets, but they are not. As a wife, if you hide money, saying, “My money is my money, and my husband’s money is our money,” you are not a helpmeet. To help someone, you must be willing to sacrifice your resources. You cannot claim to be helping when you do not meet needs that you can easily afford to. Yes, it is a husband’s responsibility to take care of the home, but whenever you can afford it, it will be very helpful to say, “Don’t worry about this, I have taken care of it.” Helping someone entails taking burdens off the person and not watching him or her carry them alone.

As a helpmeet, you must be fully involved in what your husband does; be there to help him in areas he needs help, especially when he asks for it. You cannot be a helpmeet if you are not submissive. If you are to help someone with something, they will give you instructions on how to help them. When they give you instructions, your answer should be, “Yes, darling.” If you say “No”, you are clearly not willing to help. If you want to suggest a better idea, your answer should be, “How about we do it this way?” as opposed to an outright “No.” If you are truly interested in your husband’s success, you will do all you can to help him.


When I moved my family to Redemption City, it was not convenient for my wife. We moved from a city to the middle of a forest, and the house we moved into had no windows – this is where the Open Heavens International Centre is today. Not only did my wife move into such inconvenience, but she also began rigorous rural evangelism in the surrounding areas. She gathered a small team to help her and would travel to many villages several kilometres away, preaching the gospel. Some people didn’t want to hear about Christ, while some said that they were already part of bigger church denominations. However, she persisted and was able to establish most of the parishes we have around the city today, even all the way to Ibafo, which is about 20 kilometres away. She is a perfect example of a helpmeet, one that gets involved and does everything in her power to see her husband succeed.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When God instituted marriage in Genesis 2, He made the woman to be the helpmeet for the man. In other words, the woman is to help the man in doing what God has called him to do. However, for one reason or the other, some women are not real helpmeets to their husbands, and this causes problems in their homes.

First, a woman cannot help her husband beyond her capacity to help. For example, if a husband is a businessman that earns millions, he should raise his wife to the level where she earns hundreds of thousands at least. At that level, she will probably understand his business more and help him better. However, if she is earning below that, when there is a need for her to help, she may be unable to do so significantly, even though she is willing to help. As a pastor, if you can pray for six hours at a stretch, train your wife to be able to pray for at least four hours. This way, the day you need prayers, she can stand in the gap for you at a reasonable level. If you cannot send your wife to preach on your behalf at a meeting that you are unable to attend, you have not been training her, and she has not developed what it takes to be your helpmeet (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

Your helpmeet is supposed to be there to lift you up when you are down. However, the strength of your helpmeet will determine how well they can lift you in your down seasons. As a husband, if something terrible happens and you fall, you will fall to the level of your wife. She can only catch you at the level at which she is standing financially, spiritually or otherwise. Therefore, if you don’t lift her to your level or at least close to your level, your fall will be great in such seasons because you will only be able to depend on her resources to stay afloat until you start rising again. As a husband, you should endeavour to empower your wife to become a helpmeet to you indeed.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Bible says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). This analogy alone is enough to tell us straightaway that love is not an emotion or feeling, but a decision to consistently act in the best interest of your spouse. In other words, the best interest of your spouse should become a priority to you.

In Luke 22:42, Jesus did not feel like dying for the church. He tried to convince God to let the impending suffering and death pass over Him. He prayed so hard that His sweat was like blood, but what had to be done, had to be done. He went to the cross, suffered shame, pain, and death for the ones He loved. That is what husbands are to do for their wives; love them as Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her. Husband, can you do this for your wife?

When I see Christian husbands buying new clothes and shoes for themselves while their wives wear old, worn out clothes, I wonder if they even read their Bibles at all. Worse still are the men who beat their wives. As a husband, if you love your wife, you will take good care of her and put her interests above yours. Money will be too small to sacrifice to make her happy. In Nigeria, men of the Igbo tribe are renowned for truly caring for their wives. In Igbo land, any man that beats his wife or does not take care of her is called an Efulefu. An Efulefu is someone who is way below useless, empty, and who has nothing good to offer. This is a generally held belief among people who are not all believers, how much more Christians who have been directed by God to take care of their wives and families (1 Timothy 5:.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Ephesians 5:28

The Scripture above instructs husbands to love their wives as they love their own bodies. Just as they eat good food, put on good clothes, and do not allow any harm to come to their bodies, they are to treat their wives the same way. As a husband, you should use the best of your resources, words, and actions to show your wife that you love her. When you do this, you are a good husband indeed, and one advantage that a good husband has, according to 1 Peter 3:7, is that God hears his prayers.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Marriage is a beautiful gift from God; it is designed to bring joy and fulfilment to both partners. Like every other gift from God, it comes with a manual – the word of God. In Ephesians 5:22-33, there is a detailed description of how a husband and wife should relate with each other. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, while wives are to submit to their husbands.

Many women don’t understand what submission really means. They say they are submissive, whereas they are only cooperative. Cooperation is agreeing with your husband because you want the same things. Submission, however, is complying with his wish even when you don’t agree. Many women find it difficult to submit to their husbands because the society talks about gender equality. However, this is not what the Bible says about marriage.

Submission does not mean slavery or servitude, rather, it is a voluntary act of respect and obedience from a wife to her husband as the head of the home. When you obey your boss in the office, it is not because you are a slave, it is because there is a hierarchy that must be followed for things to go smoothly in the office. An English proverb says that two captains cannot sail a ship. As a wife, your husband is the captain of your marriage-ship; submitting to him is a key ingredient in ensuring that you have a blissful marriage.

Years ago, I used to preach regularly at a university, and a woman would usually come to me complaining about her husband’s stubbornness and asking me to pray the stubbornness away. After a while, I decided I wasn’t going to pray anymore. I told her, “When you get home, place his food on the dining table, call him your head, and ask him to come and eat. When he sits at the table, give him a bowl of water, kneel and let him wash his hands in it.” She said, “No way! He is a professor just like I am. We are the same.” I replied that if she wanted my help, she should take my advice. She decided to do it, and at first, her husband wondered if she had poisoned the food. She told him that her pastor taught her what she was doing, and suddenly, the stubborn husband became very soft. He followed her to the next service and became born again. Their marriage blossomed thereafter.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The fact that you are a Christian does not in any way take romance out of your marriage. Marriage is the only institution where romance and intimacy is allowed between a man and a woman. Some pastors hardly go on dates with their spouses because they consider such a romantic activity as a distraction from their focus on spiritual matters. Some of them don’t even play with their spouses anymore. Beloved, the anointing does not reduce the need for romance in marriage.

Isaac was an anointed man of God and a successful businessman, yet in Genesis 26:8, the Bible says he was being romantic with his wife:

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

Don’t become too rigid in your marriage; don’t have more fun elsewhere without your spouse. Make the times that you and your spouse spend together so much fun that you are always looking forward to seeing each other again. If you are married, remember how you used to talk for long hours with your spouse before you got married and had children; revive that relationship again. Your spouse is still the same fellow you were very fond of, and the things you loved in him or her are still there. Don’t let all the cares of this life distract you from the gems in your spouse.

Once in a while, compose a poem for your spouse and read it to him or her in a romantic setting. Spice things up with pleasant surprises every now and then. Write a note and put it in his or her bag so that when they get to the office and open their bag, they will see the note and smile. Have a pet name that you call each other behind closed doors. Up until today, there is a pet name my wife calls me when we are alone. I equally have a pet name that I call her, and every time I call her by that name, she cannot but smile at me lovingly. When we are alone, we are lovers, not Daddy G.O and Mummy G.O. Your marriage can be like heaven on earth if you and your spouse are deliberate about remaining the lovebirds that you were when you first got married. Don’t let the romance die.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Everyone at one time or the other will be in a waiting season. Your waiting season is a period when you are waiting for something that you desire to come to you. A secondary school student is usually waiting earnestly for when he or she will get into the university, the university student is waiting to graduate, the graduate is waiting to get a job, the single person is waiting to get married, the married person is waiting to have children, and parents are waiting for the different stages of their children’s life. The waiting goes on for different things at different times.

Waiting is inevitable for everyone, however, what you do while waiting is more important than what you are waiting for itself. When people lose their patience with God and decide to do things outside His will to stop their waiting season, they often regret it.

In 1 Samuel 13:8-14, Saul got tired of waiting for Samuel’s arrival to perform a sacrifice, so he decided to perform the sacrifice himself, which was against the will of God. That action resulted in him losing his throne. In Genesis 16:1-3, Sarah got tired of waiting on God for a child, so she gave Hagar to Abraham as a wife. She regretted it after Hagar conceived (Genesis 16:4), and today, that action has resulted in great persecution for her descendants. Finding alternatives to God in order to shorten a waiting season always ends in regrets. My wife and I were praying for a woman to conceive. At some point, she got tired of waiting on God and went to see a herbalist. She got pregnant quite alright, but the pregnancy that should last for only nine months remained for years. The last time I heard about her, she still hadn’t given birth to the baby. Every alternative to God gives permission to the devil to oppress you.

The reason we have many internet fraudsters today is that many young people don’t want to go through the correct process of making money. What they don’t know is that although they could get a lot of money quickly, what they will have to give in exchange for that money is their very soul. Matthew 16:26 says that this is foolish because there is only loss in a fellow gaining the whole world and losing his or her soul in the process.

Don’t be foolish, wait on God, and He will surely come through for you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

True prophecies come from the mind of God. A prophet hears from God and relays the message to the people. Whenever a prophecy is given based on feelings, that prophecy is false, and the Bible describes people who do this as fools (Ezekiel 13:3). A true prophecy is an echo of what God has said.

When I was younger in ministry, I recall prophesying that a particular airline will never suffer loss because I was excited over their services to the church. I prophesied based on my feelings without hearing what God had to say. Not long after, the airline suffered a plane crash. I should have just prayed for them and blessed them for their benevolence, rather than giving a prophecy in my excitement. I learnt my lesson from that – if God has not spoken, I do not prophesy.

Beloved, don’t be too much in a hurry to say ‘God said’ when God didn’t say anything. Don’t allow pride to push you to prophesy; prophesy only according to the will of God. Push pride aside so that you can hear God clearly. Long before the Nigerian elections in 2023, people were agitated as to who will become the next president. They put pressure on me to tell them what the outcome of the elections will be. Even with all that pressure, I made sure not to say anything I had not heard God say because I knew that it would be a lie. I told them a few weeks before the election, “God has still not spoken. Until God speaks, I won’t say anything.” You must become comfortable with keeping quiet when God is quiet. If you are truly His mouthpiece, when His mouth is shut, yours will be also.

Prophecy must also be in line with the word of God. If a prophecy does not echo the word of God in the Scriptures, it is false. A man came to me and said, “I heard that you are a prophet, and anything you say comes to pass. Can you tell me my future?” I responded, “That is easy. Are you born again?” He said, “No”. “Then, your future will be terrible,” I responded. He asked, “How do you know? You’ve not even asked for my name.” I told him, “Isaiah 3:11 says, ‘Woe unto the wicked.’” Anyone who has not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is condemned already (John 3:17-18).

A true prophecy comes from God and always aligns with His word in the Scriptures.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Psalm 39:4-7, David asked God to make him know how frail he really was. This was a man who witnessed how his highly-exalted king, King Saul, suddenly started acting like a mad man on several occasions and needed music from a harp to calm him down (1 Samuel 16:23). This was a man who used an ordinary stone to bring down a giant that had terrorised his country for 40 days and nights (1 Samuel 17). As humans, we have the tendency to believe that we are strong and that we are in control, whereas, God is the One that upholds us (Isaiah 41:8-10).

In Daniel 4:30, Nebuchadnezzar was boasting of his really great achievements, but within that same hour, he was on all fours, eating grass with the beasts of the field (Daniel 4:31-33). He was indeed a great king, but God humbled him in an instant. No matter how great and powerful a fellow is, God can humble him or her in the twinkling of an eye. King Herod thought that he was powerful and could capture and kill whoever he wanted to (Mark 6:16-17), but right in front of his people, he was eaten up by ordinary maggots (Acts 12:23). When God wants to show that He is in control, He can use ants to bring down an elephant. This is why you will always see me being humble, kneeling to worship God in public, and surrendering my all to Him. I know what I am doing because I know that without Him, I am nothing. I know that no matter how powerful people think I am, God can break me like a toothpick if I offend Him.

Beloved, always live conscious of your frailty in God’s hands; don’t ever think you are in control. Keep it at the back of your mind at all times that God is in control. The producers of a popular television show in Nigeria would always say that we are nothing but pencils in the hand of the Creator. If you think you are better than everyone else, know that you are just a pencil in God’s hands, and He can do with you as He pleases. Like David, ask God to always remind you of how frail you are in His hands.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The pursuit of the vanities of this world has robbed many people of far greater and better blessings from God. It is not bad to want to achieve something great or pursue a good cause, but if you try to outrun God, you may never achieve that goal, and worse still, you may pay for it with something very precious to you. God knows your desires; in fact, it is likely that He is the one who put them there. He knows the best times and the best ways for those desires to be accomplished, so, don’t try to act smarter than the One who made your brain.

Years ago, I was duped by a man who promised to make me a commandant of a paramilitary group. This man had been sending messages to me through my secretary for a while, and so, one day, I gave him audience. He explained to me how a Boy-Scouts-like group had evolved into this new agency, and that he was sourcing for who would lead the group spiritually. Normally, I ask God before getting involved in anything at all, but this time, my love for the military in my younger days beclouded my best instincts, and I agreed to be their head. He told me that they needed some funding, which I gave as the prospective head. However, I later found out that the man was a fake. My desire to be part of a paramilitary group made me run ahead of God, but God had already purposed for Redemption City to have its own corps of chaplains as well as a local Police post. He knew the desire of my heart, and He had planned for it to be fulfilled in His own time. I thought that I could bring my desire to fulfilment at my own time, but I was wrong. What I lost in that experience was money, but for someone else, it might have been their life or a loved one.

The Bible makes it clear that God delights in our well-being and prosperity (Psalm 35:27), (3 John 1:2). Therefore, it is not wrong to desire wealth. He will definitely make you prosper, but in His own time. Beloved, follow God’s timing; don’t try to outrun Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is committed to God that does not turn out well. This is why you must commit things into God’s hands and let Him take the lead in everything that you do. Ask Him for counsel before you make any move, and everything will go well.

My Father in the Lord, Pa Josiah Akindayomi, exemplified committing things into God’s hands. He placed the church in God’s hands right from its outset. He did not just commit the church into God’s hands in prayers, he also did so in actions. He did exactly everything that God asked Him to do as regards the church, and in turn, God fulfilled His promises concerning the church. Many people think that The Redeemed Christian Church of God is what it is today because of me; that is not true. God already decided the destiny of the church long before I became born again. If I had refused to obey Him, He would have gotten someone else to become the General Overseer. Whatever is committed into God’s hands can never go wrong.


If you really want to be successful, place all your plans in the hands of God. Proverbs 3:5 says:

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Don’t depend on your degrees, skills, connections, or money; depend on God alone. Trust Him with all your heart, do everything according to His word, obey all His instructions, and you will see Him do great things for you. Make it clear to God that He is the owner of your career, business, ministry, and every other aspect of your life, and He will make sure that you have all-round success.

You must note, however, that when you commit something to God, you are agreeing to Him becoming your senior partner. This means that when He gives you instructions, you must obey. Some of these instructions may not make sense to you, and some may be very difficult for you to do, but if you don’t take the control back from Him, and if you submit to His leadership, you will enjoy greater success than you could ever have had all by yourself.

Amongst the people you find in church, some are unto honour while others are unto dishonour, as we see in 2 Timothy 2:20:

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

God, however, is not the One who makes some vessels unto honour and others unto dishonour. Rather, people, based on their behaviour toward God and His instructions, choose for themselves if they will be unto honour or unto dishonour.

There are many people who say that since God is merciful, and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), they can commit sin multiple times and ask Him for mercy multiple times. Therefore, they commit sin purposely, trusting that when they ask for mercy, God will have mercy. Some even say things like, “God, forgive me for what I am about to say.” They know it is a sin, but they ask for forgiveness and go ahead to say it. People like this are trying to make a fool out of the Most High God and will become vessels unto dishonour if they do not repent. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Even if a Christian gives a big sacrifice or worships God deeply, if his or her heart is still in a sinful state, the wages of sin remain death.

In 1 Samuel 15:1-28, God told Saul to kill all the Amalekites, but he decided to play on God’s intelligence by saying that it was the people who brought the king of Amalek and the chosen animals back with them to Israel. We see the result of the disobedience in 1 Samuel 15:28:

And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

Saul begged Samuel to let him worship God, but it was not out of true repentance. He only did that because he did not want to be embarrassed in the presence of his followers. In the next chapter, you will see that as much as Samuel pleaded on his behalf, God still asked him to anoint a new king as his replacement. God later sent an evil spirit to torment Saul, as he had become a vessel unto dishonour.

Beloved, be careful. Don’t toy with sin, and don’t try to play on God’s intelligence so that you don’t end up like Saul.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When God gives a commandment, many people think that it is for His own good, whereas every commandment that He gives is for our good. When you disobey God, you are actually hurting yourself; He remains God whether you obey Him or not. Those who choose to disobey God are the ones that are actually losing, not God.

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him, it was not because He wanted to eat the boy for breakfast; it was because He wanted Abraham’s obedience to open the door to irreversible blessings for him and his seed. If Abraham had disobeyed, he would have missed out on such a great blessing. When Elisha told Naaman to go and wash in the river Jordan, it was not because he wanted to humiliate him, it was because he wanted him to be healed of leprosy. Naaman almost missed his healing because of his pride. If he had not gone to wash, Elisha would not have lost anything, but Naaman would have died a leper. When God gives you an instruction, no matter how difficult it seems, you stand to gain a lot more from obeying it.

God gave man a special gift, and that is free will. This free will is one of the things that makes us more special than all His other creations. You can decide to obey or disobey Him if you want. However, to justify any blessing that He wants to give to you, He wants you to obey Him out of your free will. If you disobey His instruction, you are using your free will against Him, and that will disqualify you from receiving the blessings that are attached to the instruction. When God sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath for food, he told the woman to give him her last meal. It was not Elijah who needed a miracle; God had already been feeding him supernaturally up until that time. God wanted to test the widow to see if she would use her free will for herself or Him. She passed the test, and in return, she had more than enough food to last her through the famine. Also, when her son died in 1 Kings 17:17-22, because she had obeyed God, Elijah was there to bring him back to life.

Beloved, obeying God is always for your good.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Today’s teaching may be controversial to some people, but I will share the complete truth anyway. When there is an opportunity to serve God through a prophet that you are sure is sent by Him, no matter how small the service may be, don’t let the opportunity pass you by. When you serve or give to a prophet, because of God’s anointing on his or her life, you will receive a blessing from God.

I went to a foreign country for a programme, and throughout my stay, a very rich man drove me around. When he dropped me off at the airport, I wanted to show my appreciation, but since he was richer than me, I put some money in an envelope and said, “Please give it to your children on my behalf.” He collected the money and said, “Amen” several times. I became embarrassed, and I turned to the other pastor who came with us. The pastor said, “He has been waiting on God for the fruit of the womb.” On hearing that, I said, “Glory be to God, I don’t have money, but I am connected to the Most High God.” The following year, when I arrived in that country for another edition of the same programme, the man came to drive me again. This time, he had a gift with him and said that it was from his son. You might have prayed for certain things and not received them yet, but offering your service to God through a prophet could bring them to you immediately.

When you check through the Scriptures, you will see that those who served prophets genuinely got great rewards for their service. Samuel became a kingmaker and king-remover because he served Eli. Elisha got a double portion of the anointing because he served Elijah diligently. The Shunammite woman got a child even when she had lost hope because she served Elisha. Whenever you get a chance to serve God through one of His ministers, make the most of the opportunity.

Ministers of God, however, should not take anyone’s willingness to serve God through them for granted. God shows appreciation to those that serve Him, and His ministers ought to do the same. However, if you are serving God through one of His ministers and it seems like you are not being appreciated, as long as you are sure that he or she is a genuine minister of God, you will surely receive the rewards of your service from God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Sometimes, God gives prophecies that sound impossible to the human mind and this makes some people doubt and miss out on them. When a prophecy seems too good to be true or difficult to believe, just keep quiet. Don’t say anything against the prophecy because if you do, you may never see it fulfilled. In 2 Kings 7:1-17, the minister voiced his unbelief in Elisha’s prophecy. The prophecy came to pass, but because of what he said, he did not live to experience it.

What we say and/or do after receiving a prophecy matters. God told Abraham in Genesis 17:4 and Genesis 26:3-4 that he would be a father of nations and that his children would be as many as the stars in the sky. At that time, he and his wife were already old and did not have any children. Even though Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6), the prophecy was not fulfilled immediately. When it appeared as if the prophecy was not going to come to pass, Sarah got Abraham to have a child with Hagar, her handmaiden. Despite this, God told him in Genesis 17:1 to walk before Him and be perfect and repeated the prophecy. This time, Abraham doubted in his heart (Genesis 17:17), but he did not speak out, nor did he try another alternative outside God’s will. God instructed him to circumcise all the males in his house as a sign of His covenant with him, and Abraham obeyed. Although he doubted God in his heart, his words and actions did not express it. Later, in Genesis 18, God appeared to him, and nine months after, Isaac was born. If your mouth and actions don’t negate God’s promises for you, no matter how unbelievable those promises sound, you will see them come to pass.

When God tells me something unbelievable, I immediately begin to repeat it to those He permits me to share it with. I don’t give room for my human mind to process it and express doubts. I confess the prophecy repeatedly so that it becomes real to me. When God told me that He would build me a city, I could not even afford to build a small house, but I announced it to everyone who cared to hear. Today, He has fulfilled that prophecy. When He showed me trailers bringing in cows to feed the crowds that will be attending our programmes, I announced it to people, even though we did not have money to buy half a dozen cows. Today, that prophecy has been fulfilled as well.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday, I talked about rejecting negative prophecies from false prophets. However, sometimes, a real prophet can prophesy something that you are not comfortable with. God sometimes tells us things just for our information; at other times, it is so that we can do something about them. How then do you reverse negative prophecies if you receive them?

Like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:1-11, the first thing you can do is to cry to God to reverse the prophecy. If He listens, He will send the same prophet back to you with a new prophecy. Secondly, you can get a prophet with a higher anointing to cancel the negative prophecy. This is what the people of Jericho did in Joshua 6:26. Joshua had placed a curse on the land, but Elisha was able to cancel the decree that Joshua made because he had a double portion of the anointing.

Years ago, a man told me that he met a prophet when he was 44 years old who told him all that would happen to him for the next 40 years and that he would die at 84. He said that everything the prophet told him had come to pass, and it was now two weeks to his 84th birthday. I asked if he wanted to serve God, and he said, “Yes,” so I told him that he will live. He insisted that everything the prophet told him had come to pass, but as a higher prophet, I replied that as long as he was willing to serve God, he would live until he was ready to die. A few weeks before his 100th birthday, he sent for me and said that he was ready to go; he died a few days before turning 100.

Sometimes, negative prophecies can come to you directly from God, either in a dream, trance, or even in an audible voice. In such instances, you can meet a prophet who is closer to God than you and ask him to help you plead with God to change it. Years ago, a wealthy man, who had just given his life to Christ and had been of tremendous help to me in fulfilling God’s work, had a dream where God told him to put his house in order because it was time for him to be called home. He came to me, and I said, “No!” I told him, “Don’t worry, I will discuss it with my Daddy.” I told God, “Lord, I still need this man here, please don’t take him yet.” God answered me, and the man lived.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are all kinds of ‘prophets’ these days. While there are genuine ones, many are false and give false prophesies that are sponsored by the devil. When a negative prophecy is from a prophet who genuinely hears from God, the fellow involved can cry to God like Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 20:1-11, and God can decide to change it. Tomorrow, I will discuss more about what you can do concerning negative prophecies but the discussion today will be centred on false prophecies.

We don’t have many accounts of false prophets in the Bible because God said in Ezekiel 13:9 that they will not be in the assembly of Israel or written about in the books of Israel. These days, false prophets try to plant fear in people with their prophecies. If these people allow fear to take root in their hearts, they have given those prophecies the power and permission they need to be accomplished. This is because what a person fears is likely to come upon him or her (Job 3:25-26). As a Christian, when such prophecies come your way, don’t allow fear into your heart; God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Rather than being afraid, meditate on the word of God that negates the false prophecy and pray to God about it. Many false prophets have told me, “Thus saith the Lord.” However, God would always tell me, “Don’t mind that fellow; that message is not from Me.”

Not long after the great Archbishop Benson Idahosa went to be with the Lord, some investors opened a bank and invited me to pray before they commenced operations. After praying, they asked me to open an account with them so that I will be their first customer. I told them that I didn’t have money to open the account, so they opened it for me with 50,000 naira of their money. Shortly after that, some newspapers reported that I had started a bank with 50,000,000 naira; the news was everywhere. We had a meeting of Pentecostal pastors in Nigeria just after that, and one ‘prophet’, misled by the newspaper reports, prophesied that I would soon be called home just like the archbishop. Others at the meeting urged me to react, but I stayed quiet because I know what the word of God says about my life. The man who made that prophecy is no more today, and I am still here by God’s grace.
Written by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Today, divorce rates are as high as 50% in some countries, and some people believe that they are better off not being married. This brings up the question, is marriage a blessing or a curse?

Some people argue that marriage is a curse because if Eve was not created, and marriage was not instituted in the first place, there would be no sin in the world. Adam also seemed to believe this theory because he blamed God for giving him Eve when he was asked why he ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:12). However, we must remember that Adam was alone, and God created Eve for his good. Everything was going well until sin came in. So, Eve was not the problem, the problem was sin.

Marriage can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on what either of the couple allows into their union. If marriage is done in line with God’s word, it will be a blessing. However, if either of the couple goes outside the will of God and lets sin in, there will be trouble. Today makes it 57 years since I have been married, and I can tell you without a doubt that my marriage became a blessing when my wife and I gave our lives to Christ and started living according to His will. Before then, we would have disagreements that would last for weeks, but these stopped when we surrendered to Christ.

I recall the story of a couple who fought every single night. One day, someone invited them to a RCCG parish in their city, and when an altar call was made, they gave their lives to Christ. Over the next three weeks, their neighbours didn’t hear them fighting. Curious, the neighbours asked the couple why they had not been fighting. They replied that they had brought Christ into their marriage, and He was the reason they stopped fighting. If your marriage is to be a blessing, you and your spouse must truly be born again, living according to God’s word. You and your spouse should study the Bible, pray, and evangelise together. You should both be on fire for God. When you do these regularly, you will discover how beautiful marriage is. I am enjoying my marriage, and I pray that you will enjoy yours too, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

A pastor once took a lady to a hotel room. Before they went in, they looked around to be sure that nobody could see them. On getting inside, the lady was uneasy and said to the pastor before taking to her heels, “Before we came in, we looked left and right to ensure that nobody saw us, but we did not look up…God can see us.” Believe me, there is no place that God’s eyes do not get to. No matter how well some people think they can hide their sins, they cannot hide even the smallest of them from God. If no one can hide sins from God, it means no one can avoid the consequences of sins. Rather than trying to hide whatever sins you might have committed, why not change your ways?

The reason many people hide their sins is that they want to appear to all as being righteous. The question is, are they being righteous for people or for God? Is it people that will judge them on the last day or God Himself? They are like students that pretend to be studious by putting their books in front of them every time their parents are around but who never read. When examinations come, they will fail and be termed a failure even by the same parents they pretended to. When rapture happens, the same people they pretended to will see who they really are and then their secret will be out. Rather than pretend to people who are not important to your eternal destiny, it is better to get the real salvation so that the One who will judge you can see that you are truly born again.

If you are a true child of God and you’re hiding your sins and pretending to people, I’m sure the Holy Spirit is telling you to stop the pretence and stop committing those sins. Don’t ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit; listen and obey. God wants to have mercy on you now, and He will give you the grace to live a truly holy life, but you have to repent genuinely from your heart.

Beloved, if you are still harbouring any form of sin in your life, make the decision now to repent and forsake them. You can say this short prayer: “Lord Jesus, I am sorry for indulging in sin, I am ready to live a truly holy life. Please help me Lord, and let me never backslide again, in Jesus’ name I pray.”
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.

PRAYERS FOR LEADERS

1. Father, I thank you for all the leaders in my family, church, state, country, and in every other place. Thank you for their lives, their families, and their well-being.

2. Father, I pray for wisdom for my leaders. Please, let none of them lead us in the wrong direction. Give them the wisdom to know what to do at all times, in Jesus’ name.

3. Father, please let it be well with our leaders. Take care of all their personal needs so that they will have peace of mind to lead us aright, in Jesus’ name.

4. Father, please provide all the resources that our leaders need to achieve the goals set ahead of them, in Jesus’ name.

5. Father, please give our leaders the strength to overcome every obstacle that may stand in the way of the glorious future they are leading us to. Help them to surmount any challenge that confronts them, in Jesus’ name.

6. Father, please let our leaders have a compassionate heart towards their followers. Let none of them use their position to exploit or oppress their followers, in Jesus’ name.

7. Father, please don’t let any of our leaders offend you and do things that will bring judgement upon themselves and their followers. Please help them to do your will at all times, in Jesus’ name.

8. Father, please remove any leader that refuses to do your will. Just as you replaced Saul with David, replace them with people that will do your will, in Jesus’ name.

9. Father, please let our leaders be good examples to us. Let their conduct and personality set good standards for us to live by, in Jesus’ name.

10. Father, please let there be unity and peace amongst all our leaders. Let them be united, and give them the wisdom to relate with each other peaceably, in Jesus’ name.

11. Father, please raise righteous leaders to occupy leadership positions so that the people can rejoice, in Jesus’ name.

12. Your personal prayer point for your leaders.

Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

No matter how long you spend on earth, you will never see a tree that eats its own fruit. Trees are planted by human beings for their pleasure, not for the pleasure of the trees. In the same way, God made you for His own pleasure. You were not made to satisfy yourself, you were made to satisfy Him. Therefore, when people live their lives just to give themselves pleasure, they are malfunctioning.

Having lots of money, driving good cars and owning houses does not mean that someone has fulfilled his or her destiny because all those things are for the fellow’s pleasure. Destiny is not measured by how much money you have or how powerful you become; it is measured by the degree to which you are doing the will of God for your life. For example, someone might have seen Joseph as the Prime Minister of Egypt and said, “This guy has made it! He is fulfilling destiny because of the exalted position that he has attained,” but if Joseph did not save his family from the famine as God had created him to do (Genesis 45:1-11), he would have been a failure. There will be many rich people who will finish their races here on earth, and rather than them being told, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” they will hear, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.” I pray this will not be your portion, in Jesus’ name.

Beloved, it is good to be rich, famous, and powerful, but even when those things come, you will still not be fulfilled unless you do the will of God. Don’t chase shadows; chase God’s calling for your life. It seemed foolish when I left lecturing to pastor a small church. However, because that was the will of God for my life, it was the best decision I ever made. In fulfilling His will, God gave me all that I could ever ask for and more.

A tree that bears fruits for its owner to eat will be taken care of. The owner will give it all the nutrients and care that it needs to flourish. When you pursue God’s will for your life, He will ensure that you never lack any good thing. Ask Him what His purpose for your life is and pursue it.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many Christians take people’s love and loyalty for granted. When a brother or sister in Christ loves you, be careful not to disappoint them because if you do, and the fellow is offended, they may never regain the love they had for you. If someone is willing to make sacrifices for you, take that as a challenge for you to also make sacrifices for them. When they are loyal to you, you must also be loyal to them. The closer someone is to you, the more careful you must be not to offend them.

Many ministers of God feel that because they are the head of a ministry, they can do whatever they like without caring about the people that love them. For some, the moment they become popular, they begin to take those who started out with them for granted. Many sworn enemies today are people who were close friends yesterday. There is an English proverb that says, “Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver, the other is gold.” Old friends are gold; they knew and loved you when you were nothing. As years pass by, your new friends will also start turning to gold. You can keep making new friends but keep the old ones.

One thing that has helped us in RCCG is that everyone who laboured with us when we were still very small is honoured and appreciated. This way, the younger ones see that if they work hard, they will not be neglected.

The worst enemy anyone can have is the enemy within his or her household. An enemy that goes in and out with someone is very dangerous. Believers must be careful not to offend their brothers and turn them into enemies; they are likely to suffer greatly for it. When you notice that there is something that may offend your brother, call him aside and discuss it with him. Matthew 5:23-24 says that when you go to God with an offering, and you remember that a brother has something against you, you are to leave your offering there and seek to reconcile with that brother before you come back to give the offering. Note that the Bible does not say, “If you have something against the brother,” but, “If the brother has something against you.” Don’t put a stumbling block between yourself and God. The Bible says in Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

As much as it may be in your power, live in peace with everyone around you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

These days, many Christians look for ways to water down certain doctrines and prove that they are useless. When the doctrine of their Bible-believing church dictates that they should not dress in a certain way, for example, they go about looking for Hebrew and Greek interpretations of Scriptures to say that the doctrine is useless – this is not right. Doctrines are a major part of your Christian walk. Although they can sometimes appear to be tough to live by, they are codes of conduct that will keep you consecrated. A doctrine may not seem interesting when you are living by it, but if you keep doing so, over time, you will realise that it has helped you to stay strong in the faith.

God is always solidly behind doctrines. In fact, (2 Timothy 3:16) says that one of the reasons God gave us Scriptures is so that we can get doctrines from them:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

You must note, however, that doctrines are gotten from the Scriptures by the representative of God in the leadership of a denomination. The head of another denomination may not develop a doctrine from that same Scripture, but as long as the fellow whom you call your Father in the Lord develops a doctrine from a Scripture, you have to live by it. The early Church was strong with very fervent Christians because they continued steadfastly in the doctrines of their leaders, the Apostles, as we see in Acts 2:42:

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Note that you are not to choose which doctrine to follow based on convenience but based on your conviction that the one who brought the doctrine developed it from the Scriptures. You should also be convinced that the person is the spiritual leader that God wants you to submit to.

Doctrines raised from the Scriptures will set you apart from the world. They are a great catalyst for your spiritual growth and well-being.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One thing that everyone who is born again must learn is that the Christian walk is not a sprint but a marathon. I have been born again since 1973, and I am still on the journey until now. We were told back then, “Jesus is coming soon.” ‘Soon’ has run into more than 51 years now, and we are still awaiting His arrival. This tells you that without perseverance, you cannot win in the Christian race. It is good that you resisted temptation yesterday and did not fall, but that is not enough to ensure that you will remain standing until the end. You must also resist the temptation that is coming tomorrow. If a believer relaxes because of the things he or she has overcome in the past, it is likely that the fellow will be brought down by future temptations.

It is in perseverance that many Christians fail. The devil knows that if he brings temptation to you once, you might not fall. However, he knows that if he keeps bringing the temptation over and over again in different forms and intensities, one day, when you are relaxed spiritually, you will likely fall. This is why having oil for today is good, but you must always have extra oil for tomorrow. The ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 were all virgins, meaning that they were all pure. They all had oil which signifies the Holy Spirit, but while they were waiting for the arrival of the Groom, they all slept because the Groom tarried. However, only the ones with extra oil were able to meet with the Groom. Proverbs 24:10 says:

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

You must be prepared for the day of adversity. Believe me, without extra strength, you will not be able to persevere until the end. Therefore, read your Bible beyond what you need for today, pray longer hours than you need for today, and serve God more fervently than is necessary for today. Doing these will build in you the strength that you need to persevere. Many people have yielded to fraud in their offices because the oil finished, and they didn’t have extra to keep them on fire. Some yielded to fornication and adultery because their strength failed. Don’t make this mistake; get extra oil always.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When you read Bible verses like (1 Corinthians 6:20), which says that you have been bought with a price, you might begin to wonder, “Bought from who? When did I consent to being owned by someone else which warranted buying me off that fellow?” This expression in itself tells us that every human being, whether they know it or not, and regardless of how they feel about it, is owned by a spirit. Everyone was conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5), and until they become born again, they remain properties of the devil.

Nobody is totally independent; every single person is owned by one spirit or the other. The question now is, who owns you? You can tell who owns a property by the way the property is being used; a property will reflect the character and personality of its owner. That is why Matthew 7:18-20 says:

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

If you are owned by Christ, people will see the character of Christ, which is also known as the fruit of the Spirit, in you. Does your character reflect Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance? (Galatians 5:22-23). If these do not define you, then it is likely that it is not God who owns you.

Since there are only two divides in the spirit realm – the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God, anyone that God does not own, is owned by the devil. This person will automatically engage in the works of the flesh as listed in Galatians 5:19-21. When you read that passage, you will see that many of the people who do these things do not even know that they are acting in accordance with their owner – the devil. For example, many people who envy think that it is just natural for humans to envy; they don’t know that envy can only stay in their hearts because they are not owned by the One who is Love Himself. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:16:

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

When Christ becomes your owner, you will no longer behave in line with the character of the devil. Surrender your life to Him today if you are yet to do so.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In God’s kingdom, to become the greatest amongst any set of people, you must be the lowest of all of them. This does not sound logical to the natural man, but that is how God made it. The higher you want to go, the lower you must first go.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1 Corinthians 1:27-28

The above Scripture tells us that God does not choose people that believe themselves to be the best to lead, He chooses those that are humble enough to serve others.

I studied Jesus’ ascension into heaven and realised that God raised Him seven steps high after He had gone seven steps lower (Philippians 2:9-11). Though His disciples called Him ‘Master,’ He was humble enough to wash their dirty feet. Can you wash the feet of those you are leading? When there is plenty of work to be done, can you take the lowest of all the work?

There are people who somehow get to the top without serving, but before long, they will lose their position if they refuse to serve. Some years ago, we held a camp meeting at a secondary school when the students were on holiday. We arrived at the school, and I went to check the toilets. They were an eyesore as there were faeces everywhere. I told my team how horrible the toilets were and that we had to wash them in preparation for those that would be attending the camp meeting. I intentionally chose the dirtiest of all the toilets and washed it. When the rest of the team saw me washing the toilet, they were moved to wash the other toilets. When we were building the first auditorium at Redemption City, some church members would come to the building site when they had closed from their offices to help out with the construction work as we did not have enough money to pay labourers. Every single evening, I worked with them, carrying cement and doing every other thing that needed to be done even though I was the General Overseer. This is how I have remained at the top – by serving.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Bible makes it plain that God values work. Whether you’re a full-time parent, bus driver, artist, or engineer, God is concerned about your work, as long as what you do for a living is legitimate. Work is a major component of God’s overall plan for man. In the Garden of Eden, after God made man, He told him to tend the garden (Genesis 2:15). This means that any man that does not work is malfunctioning because man was made to work.

The value of work is inherent. Work gives pleasure, which is why some retired people are still working even after their retirement. There is no pleasure in just sitting around from morning until night-time, doing nothing. Many wealthy people fall into depression when they feel like they have made a lot of money and don’t need to work anymore. There is no pleasure in accomplishing nothing. For example, when you work on a garden, you will get a lot of pleasure when you see the fruits in that garden begin to blossom.

The Jeremiah 17:10 says that God will give every man according to the fruit of his doings, so if a fellow does nothing, he or she will get nothing. This is why (2 Thessalonians 3:10) says:

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

The reason God gave you talents is so that you can put them to work. If a believer does not use his or her talents, he or she will answer to God on the last day (Matthew 25:14-30). God cannot condone laziness at all. John 5:17 says:

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

If God is working, He will not allow you to be lazy. My God is not a God of lazy people. If a believer is lazy and is asking God for blessings, He will ignore such a believer. Working hard is a godly value, and laziness is ungodly. You cannot claim to be a Christian and yet be lazy. Even if you are unemployed, pray to God and find something that you can do to contribute positively to the society, no matter how small it may be. From doing this, God will open greater doors for you. You cannot afford to lie around doing nothing; it is against God’s plan for you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.