₦airaland Forum

Many people that are living in the world today are carried away by the pleasures of sin. They think they are living the life now, but they have forgotten that they should be more concerned with their end than their present state. The time we have on earth is like a passing wind. There is a place where everyone will report to when they close their eyes in death, and we will all be in that place for eternity. My question to you now is, when you get to eternity, on what side will you be, on the side of heaven or hell?

The Bible says that when the Lord shall return, He is going to separate the people into two; the sheep will be on His right-hand side and the goats on the left (Matthew 25:31-46). Ask yourself sincerely, “Which side of God will I be at the end?” It is not where I am now that matters most, but where I will end up in eternity. One reason I am not afraid of death is because I am sure that dying in this world only gives me access to the eternal presence of God in heaven. If you are not sure where you will go when you leave this world, then you should be afraid of death. The interesting thing is, whether you fear death or not, everyone has an appointment with it that cannot be missed. When that day comes, I hope you will be on the right-hand side of God.

If you are standing for God now, please keep standing. Pray to God that He keeps you standing unto the end because it doesn’t matter how long anyone may have served God, if he backslides and death catches up with him in his backslidden state, he will perish in hell as we see in Ezekiel 18:24:

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

On the other hand, someone may have been a sinner all his life, but close to when he is to die, if he repents and begins to live like Christ, that fellow will make it to heaven at the end (Ezekiel 18:21-22). It is only those who endure unto the end that will be saved (Matthew 24:13).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

I have come to understand that the difference between the right and the left hand is more than their positioning on our bodies. For example, in Matthew 5:30 when Jesus was talking about everything you must do to make sure you don’t miss heaven, He said, “If thy right hand offend thee…” He could easily have said, “If thy hand,” but He obviously emphasised the right hand because of its importance. In Genesis 48:8-20 when Jacob was to bless Joseph’s two sons, he deliberately placed his right hand on the younger son and the left on the older son. As a result of this, the younger son became more blessed than his elder brother (Deuteronomy 33:17).

Now, if the right hand of a man is that powerful, then you can imagine how powerful God’s right hand is since we were made in His image (Genesis 1:26).

Psalm 17:7 says that God saves by His right hand. In other words, when a sinner is snatched from the jaws of hell, it is God’s right hand at work. This is why you must pray for God to raise His right hand on behalf of all your family members that are not saved. Furthermore, Psalm 139:10 says that He leads by His right hand. Isaiah 41:10 says that God also upholds with His right hand. After He has saved you and led you with His right hand, He will also keep you standing with the same right hand.

In Exodus 15:6, the Bible says that His right hand is not just powerful, but also glorious in power. This tells us that God fights with His right hand. In Exodus 15:11-12, the Bible says that His right hand swallowed the enemy. In Mark 14:62, the Bible tells us that the right hand of God is the right hand of power. The right hand of God is also where you will find joy and everlasting pleasures (Psalm 16:11).

Beloved, you should note, however, that only the redeemed can be at the right hand of God (Matthew 25:34). If you are not yet born again, you better surrender your life to Christ now because those who are at God’s left hand suffer greatly. They are the ones who weep and gnash their teeth because of the evils they experience. Give your life to Christ today and get on the right-hand side of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

To live and survive on this earth, you need more than food. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that you need every single word that proceeds out of God’s mouth. This implies that you must be very particular about hearing from God regularly. Many people think that prayer is a one-way traffic, that is, they go to God, tell Him all their problems, and that is all. No! The most important part of prayer is hearing what God has to say concerning situations. It is the entrance of His word that brings light (Psalm 119:130).

Many times, when I face a difficult situation, and I cry to God for help and he does not say anything back to me, I say, “I’m in trouble,” and I continue crying unto Him. When at last I hear from Him, then I know that the problem is over. Even if what I hear is a rebuke, the fact that He is answering at all shows that He has heard me and that something is going to happen.

The Bible recorded in (1 Samuel 30:1-18) how David and his men had lost their family members and possessions to the Amalekites and how they recovered all after seeking guidance from God. It was a very dark moment for them before God spoke to them. The men had cried themselves sore and were so dejected that they began to contemplate killing David. Thankfully, David acted wisely and sought the face of God on what to do, and when they acted on God’s counsel, they recovered all.

In Habakkuk 2:1, Habakkuk said that he will stand upon his watch to see what God’s response to him will be. Beloved, what is God saying about the prayer requests you have put before Him? What is God saying about your family, your future, and your career? If you are a child of God, you should note that God also wants to speak to you concerning your situation. Unfortunately, many believers fail to wait on Him to hear what He has to say to them.

In Jeremiah 33:3, God said, “Call on me and I will answer.” He didn’t say, “I may answer” or “I will consider answering.” He said, “I WILL answer.” So, when you go to Him in prayers, tell Him, “Lord, I will not rest until you have answered me.”
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Place Of Mercy Parish, Enugu

Hebrews 11:6 says that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You only reward someone who has done something of good report and has done it well, therefore, what the passage is really telling us is that God wants people to seek Him diligently. This is why God told David clearly to seek His face, and what was David’s response?

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
Psalm 27:8

David said, “God, when you ask me to seek your face, my heart says, ‘Your face will I seek.’” Today, God is asking you to spend time seeking His face. What will your response be?

You seek God through Bible study and prayers. While others do these things like every other activity, those who diligently seek God go the extra mile. They study their Bible for hours, going deeper and deeper into just one topic until they really understand God’s mind about that topic. To them, prayer is not an event, it is a lifestyle. Every time you see them, they are praying because (1 Thessalonians 5:17) says that we must pray without ceasing. When they actually set out time to pray, they don’t just put words together, they pour out their hearts to God and their major yearning is, “Lord, I want to know You more.” They spend multiple hours just having heart-to-heart talks with God.

Beloved, seek God’s face daily until you fall asleep and even while you are sleeping. Solomon said that even when He is sleeping, his heart is awake, and can hear his beloved asking to come in unto him (Song of Solomon 5:2). David also described how he thinks about God on his bed at night and how his soul follows hard after God in Psalm 63:6-8. These are descriptions of how true love is expressed. Is this also your experience with God as your beloved?

There is great reward in diligently seeking the Lord. Beloved, spend your days seeking God and God alone. Seek Him while you are eating; let all your yearning be for Him. When you diligently seek Him, He will open Himself up in ways that the regular Christian may never see. There are things God has revealed to me in the Spirit that I cannot share publicly because people who have not sought Him diligently may never understand.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are different kinds of people in the church workforce today. Some are so relevant to the work of God that if they are absent on a service day, everyone will notice. There are some other people, however, who hardly do anything, even in the department where they claim to function. Worse still, there are people who are members of the workforce on paper, but physically, they are nowhere to be found. They hardly attend workers’ meetings not to talk of actually working for God. I don’t know which of these categories you belong to, but if you are not so active that people can easily notice your absence, then you need to do better.

The first set of church workers in the Bible were the seven deacons mentioned in Acts 6:5. Phillip was one of them, and in Acts 21:8, he had become someone referred to as the evangelist. The Bible specifically referred to him as ‘the evangelist’, which means that there might have been ‘an evangelist’, or ‘some evangelists’, but he was ‘the evangelist’. Furthermore, the passage referred to him as being one of the seven to remind us that he was one of seven deacons that were chosen. However, asides Stephen and Phillip, we never heard of the rest.

One of my grandchildren once asked me, “Grandpa, do you know the Bible very well?” I said, “Yes” then she asked, “Who is Prochorus?” I said, “I don’t know him”. She said, “What about Timon?” I said, “You mean Simon?” She said, “No, Timon”. I replied, “I don’t know Timon either.” Then she said, “Prochorus and Timon were ordained along with Stephen and Phillip as deacons.” I said, “Is that so? God have mercy on Prochorus. I know Stephen, I know Phillip, but this Prochorus fellow, what did he do that is worthy of note?” In the same vein, when your name is mentioned in your local assembly, can people recognise the things you do that are worthy of note?

This is not to say that you must go around trying to show everyone that you are working. However, your impact must be felt in the department where you choose to work. For example, if you are in the sanitation department, everyone must know that if you are around, the church is always sparkling clean. Make so much impact that it is impossible to deny your relevance in the house of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

I have seen people who help others and at every opportunity, refer to the time they helped them. That is a very terrible thing to do, and it is not how God taught us to do good. Jesus said in Matthew 6:3 that when you give alms, you must not let anyone else know about it. In Matthew 5:16, He said that as your light shines and people see your good works, they must glorify God. In other words, you are not to seek any glory for yourself as a result of the good works that you do; all the glory must be to God and God alone.

When you help someone, and you go back to tell the fellow, “Remember how I helped you that other time,” you are indirectly trying to make them your prisoner. Don’t ever make anyone feel like they owe you because you helped them at one time or the other. When you do good, do it unto God. Don’t become a pain in somebody’s neck or a source of remembering their shame just because you once helped them. You must note that it is God who ordained for you to perform that good deed for that fellow. He already planned on doing it, you were only privileged to be the one He chose to use. Ephesians 2:10 says:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

If God created you for good works and ordained that you walk in them, and you turn around to announce the good works as your own doing, proclaiming yourself as the helper of someone else’s destiny, what you are doing is trying to take God’s glory, and if you know anything about God at all, you will know that He does not share His glory with any man. Isaiah 42:8 says:

I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Don’t try to contend with God over the good things He is doing in the lives of others through you. You are merely His vessel and all the glory must Go to Him. This way, you will receive rewards for the good that you have done rather than face consequences for trying to take His glory.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The best promotion anyone can have is that which comes from God; nobody can take glory for such. In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, a shepherd boy was anointed to be king, not because somebody liked him or spoke for him, but because God decided to promote him. I believe God wants to promote someone reading this today and that will be you, in Jesus’ name.

When God begins to promote a man, there is no telling how high He can take him, because His arms are everlasting (Deuteronomy 33:27). 1 Samuel 2:8 says that He can pick a beggar from the dunghill and continue to lift him until he begins to sit amongst princes – that is real promotion.

My father was so poor that poor people called him poor. The day he bought an umbrella there was jubilation in our home as if we had just bought a new house. If God could pick the son of a poor farmer and cause him to be someone that Heads of States will be delighted to meet, then you really cannot tell how high He can lift you. He promoted David from being the least recognised member of his family until he became the father of the King of kings (Revelation 22:16).

Now that you know that there is no limit to how far God can take you, the next thing you must ask is, “How can I become a candidate for divine promotion?” The first thing you need for God to choose you for promotion is mercy. He said in Romans 9:15 that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He is sovereign; He chooses to promote whomever He pleases. One kind of person, however, that I know God will never ignore is one with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). This is when a fellow’s will is so broken that all he or she desires is to please God at all times. Such a person never wants to offend God, and whenever they mistakenly offend Him, they become sorrowful and immediately ask for forgiveness.

This is the kind of person God was searching for when He needed someone to become the king of Israel. He said in Acts 13:22 that He had found a man who will do all His will. This is the kind of person God will promote. If you are like that, then you have become a candidate for divine promotion.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If God has called you for an assignment, you may be thinking, “Why is it me He chose out of everyone that could have done this work?” Well, Psalm 115:3 says that God does as He pleases.

Believe me, He made that decision to use you for that assignment from the foundation of the world. He chose you before He said, “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3. Ephesians 1:4 says:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

When I see people that are anxious about their future, I tell them, “Relax. Do you think God doesn’t know what to do? Do you think He is sitting in heaven, scratching His Almighty head and asking for advice on what next to do?” God settled your future before the foundation of the earth. This is why I am not worried; my future was settled before I was born. This is why you should be humble because you didn’t choose yourself (John 15:16). You are not chosen because you are educated or connected, it is the exact opposite.

1 Corinthians 1:27 says that God chooses the foolish things, the weak things, and the things that are nought. If God chose you, it means you are foolish by human standards; you are weak, and you are nothing by human standards. Even if it appears as if you are wise by human standards, the moment you surrender all to God and begin to live strictly by His standards, the world will begin to see you as a foolish person. So, never raise your head in pride about your achievements. Nebuchadnezzar tried it and found himself in the bushes. For the rest of your life, you must be grateful to God. David said in Psalm 34:1:

I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

David knew what he was talking about. God chose Him to be the king of Israel even when his family members would not have voted for him if he ran for elections. I believe that right now, God is talking to you concerning this because of how high He wants to take you. If you listen and become humble, then He will lift you, but if you refuse to humble yourself, then you will be abased (Matthew 23:12). Let pride disappear from your life completely.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

PRAYERS FOR MARRIAGES

1. Father, thank You for the gift of the institution of marriage. Thank You Lord for the gift of companionship.

2. Father, I thank You specially for all the marriages of Your children in my church, community and across the world.

3. Father, please let Your joy fill my marriage and all the marriages around me, in Jesus’ name.

4. Lord, by your mercy, please replenish whatever is lacking in my marriage, in Jesus’ name. Just as Jesus replenished the wine at the wedding of Cana; let every good thing that has gone dry in my marriage be replenished, in Jesus’ name.

5. Father, please let Your wisdom abound over me, my spouse (or would-be spouse) and in all the homes around me, in Jesus’ name.

6. Father, please bless all Your children’s marriages with godly children who will grow up to serve You, in Jesus’ name.

7. Father, please let Your peace which passes all understanding reign in every marriage that is experiencing a storm, in Jesus’ name.

8. Father, let all Your children that are of marriageable age receive marital breakthroughs, in Jesus’ name. Please help them make the right choices according to Your will for their lives, in Jesus’ name.

9. Father, please uproot every plant you have not planted in my home and in all the homes around me, in Jesus’ name.

10. Father, never let the will of the enemy prevail over my marriage. Whatever plans the enemy has concerning my marriage, let them fail, in Jesus’ name.

11. Lord, please never allow my spouse and I to do anything that will offend You. Please, Lord, lead us and guide us in all that we do, in Jesus’ name.

12. Your personal prayer points for your marriage and other marriages and homes around you.

Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From Matthew 11:28-30, we see that when God beckons on you, it is an invitation to rest.

There is a difference between hard labour and other types of work. God expects you to work. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) says that if you don’t work, you are not to eat. However, labourers, especially those who labour at menial jobs work from sunrise to sundown. At the end of the day, they earn just enough money to keep body and soul together. I decree that you will no longer struggle before you eat, in Jesus’ name.

One of the reasons you are reading this now is because God beckoned on you. When He beckons, He is saying, “Destiny is calling you.” In Exodus 3:1-10, Moses was at the backside of the desert when he suddenly saw a bush that was burning but was not consumed. He said, “I will turn aside and see.” That was a beckoning, and by the time He responded, God told him that his days of staying in the wilderness were over, and it was now time to fulfil his destiny. In Mark 3:13-15, Jesus went to the top of a mountain and beckoned to those He desired and they came unto Him. Those people (except Judas Iscariot) later became the Apostles we know today.

The first thing you are to do when He beckons is to take up His yoke, in other words, make His desire your concern, and pursue the things He pursues. When you think of the greatest thing that God pursues, it is souls. If you really want to fulfil your destiny, you will take up the yoke of winning souls, and you will begin to see how He arranges things for you to fulfil your destiny.

My major pursuit was to become the youngest Vice Chancellor in Africa, but God beckoned on me, and I took up His yoke of winning souls. That is how I got to fulfil my destiny and now Vice Chancellors call me Daddy. You have no idea what your true destiny is until you start winning souls and doing the work of God.

Just in case you think soul winning is only for evangelists and pastors, please study Matthew 28:19-20 carefully. All followers of Jesus Christ are commissioned to make disciples of all the nations, and this includes you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Mark 10:13-16, they brought children to Jesus, and as He carried them, He also blessed them. When God carries a person, He also blesses the fellow as we see in Mark 10:16.

When you read the account of the Israelites leaving Egypt, you will see clearly that all the forces in heaven, on earth, and underneath the earth were working together to favour them. This is what happens when God carries you; you become blessed by Him.

Exodus 19:4 says:
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

Some people don’t know the real meaning of ‘God bless you.’ After you have said, “God bless you,” they still say, “Pray for me.” Being blessed by God is a summon to all the forces in heaven, on earth, and underneath the earth to assist you to succeed – that is the meaning of ‘God bless you.’ Believe it or not, even demons will be summoned to assist you when God is carrying you.

A few years ago, I was in an African nation for a programme. As we were heading to the venue of the crusade, we encountered a serious traffic jam. Even though we got a Police escort to help clear the traffic on the way to the venue, we were still stuck as nobody was obeying the Police escort. All of a sudden, a madman came to the front of the car we were in and began to clear the way. The man was so mad that if you looked into his eyes, you could see devils dancing in them. He cleared the way until we got to the end of the traffic jam. When the road was free, he came to the side of the car I was sitting in and bowed. When God carries you, everything will work together in your favour.

If you want God to carry you, you must become like a child. In Mark 10:13-16, there were many adults around, but the only ones Jesus carried were the children. If you are not like a child, you will be too heavy for Him to carry. This means that you must be humble, obey His word, not hold grudges, and have faith in Him like a child that believes whatever his father tells him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If you want the results of a particular man, copy that man. When Elijah left the earth and dropped his mantle, Elisha took it, rolled it together as his father did, went to River Jordan as his father did, smote the river as his father did, and called on the God of his father to answer him like He answered his father – and God answered! Apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The secrets of people’s successes lie in the things they do daily. If you can find those things and do them, you will also produce similar results. Romans 2:11 says:

For there is no respect of persons with God.

Our God is not partial; the success He gave to that fellow you admire, He can give to you too if you will do the needful. Genesis 4:6-7 says:

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God was essentially telling Cain that if he had done what Abel did, he would have gotten the same result he got.

How many books about successful people have you read? How many of them have you watched documentaries about? How many autobiographies have you studied? These are the ways to know what these people did that got them the results they got. In a book, you can learn within one hour things that took a man 70 years to learn. Once you have learnt them, you just have to put them to use and you will get the same results; there’s no need for trial and error. This is one of the beauties of the Scriptures and I believe it is the reason the stories of great prophets of the past were recorded for us to read. James 5:10 says:

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

You are to take the men of God that have gone before as examples to follow, just as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1. You should however note that Jesus Christ is the ultimate model to be transformed and conformed unto. Yes, the children of God are encouraged to learn from those that have gone ahead, but such emulation must be in line with God’s will and directives.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Jeremiah 23:1-8, you will see God’s mind about follow-up; you will see that He doesn’t take follow-up lightly at all. He said pastors, and this includes anyone God has put in charge of others, should feed the sheep. When they fail to do so, they are invariably scattering the sheep, and there are woes in store for such persons. He said in verses 7 and 8 that He doesn’t just want to be known as the God who brought His children out of Egypt (the bondage of the enemy) but as the Lord who brought His children out of bondage and brought them to their own land (Zion or Heaven).

God is never satisfied with you just preaching to sinners. Beyond encouraging them to confess their sins and give their lives to Christ, He is more interested in you following them up until they see Him in glory. Learn from the apostles of old; after Paul had won souls in a place, he would stay with them for a while to ensure that they become grounded in the faith (Acts 18:11, Acts 19:10, Acts 28:29-32). Even after he left, he would keep sending them letters to strengthen them even more. Those are the origins of the letters that we read in the Scriptures today and which strengthen us to date. He also often made out time to visit them so that they may be further established (Romans 1:11). In Acts 15:36, the Bible says:

And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the LORD, and see how they do.

Relating this to modern times, after you have won a soul, get their contact details so that you can keep calling them and sending text messages to strengthen them. You must also visit them to see how they are faring. Visit the local assembly they attend to see if they have joined the workforce there and if they are fervently serving God. Give them the opportunity to ask you questions about their walk with God. New converts always have lots of questions to ask; be there to answer their questions and explain the Scriptures to them. Don’t leave them to become prey to the devil; follow them up so well until they are fully established in Christ.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If God is ever going to use you to bring a harvest of souls into His kingdom, then you must be hardworking. This is because harvesting requires way more labour than sowing. Farmers will tell you that sowing is hard work; if you are going to sow on a large farm, you are going to work hard. However, reaping involves more hard work. This is because there is a time limit for harvesting. If you don’t harvest within the time limit, the fruits will rot. The harvest of souls that God has prepared in this end-time revival is great and we have limited time. I pray that God will give you the grace to bring in the harvest, in Jesus’ name.

When Peter cast his net into the sea in Luke 5:1-10, he did it alone without help, but when the harvest came, he realised that he needed more effort to bring it in. Proverbs 12:27 says that the slothful man will not roast the meat he caught while hunting. Do you know what that means? It takes hard work to hunt and harder work to prepare what was caught so it will not rot. God is not going to waste His anointing on a man who will win souls and not follow them up.

Soul winning is an easier job than following up new converts till they mature in Christ. This is why some people prefer the work of the evangelist to that of a pastor. The evangelist gets on a podium, preaches the gospel of salvation, makes an altar call, and leaves thereafter, leaving the pastor to do the hard work of training the new converts, setting them in systems that will help them grow spiritually, answering all their questions, and teaching them regularly until they can stand on their feet. In a time of revival, you must not only be ready to do the work of an evangelist but that of a pastor as well. John 15:16 says that you must win souls and ensure that they abide, implying that they never return to the devil.

As painful as it is, giving birth is still easier than taking care of a baby until adulthood. Parents will tell you that the work of a mother over her children never ends. Are you ready to nurture new converts till they make it to heaven? If your answer is yes, then God will really find you useful for His work.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In 2 Timothy 2:15-21, the various kinds of vessels that can be found in the house of a great man were identified. It says that you will find some vessels unto honour and some unto dishonour. This may make you wonder, why does the great man keep vessels unto dishonour in his house, why doesn’t he just throw them away? This is the same question that many ask when they consider the body of Christ today. They say, “Why does God not kill all fake pastors? Why does He not expose all those who are using His name to amass wealth and fame for themselves?” The answer to that is in Matthew 13:24-30. Verses 29 and 30 in particular say:

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Our God does not act rashly; everything He does is for a reason. There are some fake pastors that some genuine Christians believe to be real. If God destroys such pastors, it could affect the faith of those who are following them. As such, the tares would have been gathered but the wheat would have unfortunately been rooted up with them. Don’t worry about the mixed multitude in the church, God is coming to separate the wheat from the tares and when He does, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If you claim to be a Christian, yet you are bringing dishonour to the Lord, you better change now. If such a person refuses to change, that is not a problem. The fire that will consume him or her is getting hotter every day. Such a person can keep enjoying the benefits of being called a Christian for now, however, God is coming with the reward for such deceivers, and on that day, He will take no apologies.

Beloved, if you are one of such deceivers, it is in your best interest to genuinely repent now, forsake your sinful ways, and truly surrender your life to Jesus Christ. It is the only way to escape the judgment that is coming for all those that are vessels unto dishonour.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

John 1:12 says:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

If you have received Christ into your heart and you believe in His name, not just in word, but in deeds such that everyone around you can see from your lifestyle that you are a believer in Christ, then you qualify to be called a child of God.

On the other hand, the Bible says that the devil has his own children too. Jesus Christ was addressing the Pharisees and He said to them in John 8:44:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The question then is, how do we tell a child of God apart from a child of the devil? The Bible answers this question aptly. For example, the Bible says that people who love the world do not have the love of God in them (1 John 2:15-16). This clearly implies that such people cannot be described as God’s children. When you see someone who loves material things more than God, that fellow does not have the love of God in him and hence cannot be His child if he or she remains in that state.

A child of God on the other hand is one who is born of the Spirit and focuses on spiritual things rather than worldly things. John 3:3-7 says that anyone who wants to enter into the kingdom of God must be born of the Spirit, and of course, only the children of God can enter into His kingdom. This is why you must be born again.

Beloved, when you are born again, you are born of the Spirit, and you truly become a child of God. When you are born of the Spirit, you will begin to live by the Spirit and be led by Him. You will begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as written in Galatians 5:22-23. Remember, it is the kind of fruit you produce that will determine who your father truly is.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Revival is here and only those who are prepared will be a part of it. God is doing a new thing and He wants to use willing vessels, not just pastors and men of God, but also ordinary people that are filled with the Holy Ghost. If you have not yet been baptized in the Holy Ghost, you better ask Him for the baptism. A big revival is here, and He doesn’t want to use the pastors alone; he wants to use all His willing and available children. The question, however, is, are you fit for the Master’s use?

There are two major things you need to be fit for the Master’s use in this revival. They are stated in 2 Timothy 2:21:

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

The first thing you must do is purge yourself of any iniquity – you must be sanctified. Sanctification comes through constant study and dependence on the word of God (John 17:17).

Secondly, you must be prepared to work. God cannot use you if you are lazy, He only uses people that are prepared to work hard. Proverbs 18:9 says:

He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

God describes the lazy man as being just the same as a waster. God won’t waste His anointing on you if you are lazy. When He gives you the anointing, it is not the time to relax but the time to work even harder.

Beloved, it takes hard work to become a champion, but it takes even harder work to remain one. When you are struggling to become a champion, you stretch yourself and train vigorously. Once you become one, you will suddenly realise that from that moment, everybody starts coming after your crown to take it from you. Clearly, it is better not to have become a champion than to be an ex-champion while still at one’s prime. The pain of the ex-champion is not the bruises on his body, it is the shame of walking in the streets and seeing those that had been hailing him as a champion suddenly turn their faces away from him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Acts 4:1-13, Peter confronted the Sadducees, defending his faith and the name of Jesus Christ. However, was Peter this bold before he was baptised in the Holy Spirit? The simple answer is, “NO”.

In Matthew 14:28-32, Peter was described as being ‘afraid’ after he saw the boisterousness of the wind. In John 18:16-27, when servants recognised him as one of Jesus’ followers, he denied it and swore that he did not know Jesus. This same Peter was now the one confronting Sadducees.

In Acts 4:10, the one who denied Jesus Christ said, “The same Jesus you crucified, God has raised Him from the dead, and it is through Him that this lame man is standing before you whole.” He added that there is no other name given unto men by which anybody can be saved but by Jesus – he was now standing solidly behind Jesus Christ. The Peter after Pentecost was different from the Peter before Pentecost. He was now bold and could speak about Jesus Christ to anyone regardless of their status in the society.

Acts 4:13 says that the boldness of Peter and John was beheld by the people around them. In other words, their boldness became very obvious. What was responsible for this kind of boldness? The answer to this question can be found in Acts 4:8:

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel…

Being filled with the Holy Ghost is the antidote for fear. If fear has been holding you back from fulfilling your destiny, it is because you are not yet filled with the Holy Ghost. When you become filled with the Holy Ghost, you will look at the biggest obstacle in front of you and smile because you know that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Whenever fear tries to creep into your heart, start speaking in the Holy Ghost. Speak in tongues to the point where you ascend above the level of that fear. The Holy Spirit gives you the boldness to surmount any obstacle that may be standing in your path, no matter how big it may appear. Pray in the Holy Ghost every day, study your Bible, and have the Holy Ghost lead you. Make the Holy Ghost your companion at all times, and fear will become a stranger to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Acts 3:1 starts with ‘Now’. This implies that after the incident that happened before, something new is happening. Acts 2 tells us about the day of Pentecost and how everyone at the upper room was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now then refers to something that was about to happen in the lives of Peter and John as a result of that incident. Clearly, that was the working of miracles.

When you get baptised in the Holy Ghost, you carry divine power within you. You have the power to work miracles, heal the sick and raise the dead. Unfortunately, many Christians become baptised and are satisfied with just speaking in tongues. You received more than that when you were baptised in the Holy Spirit; you received the power to go out and do the work of God.

Many years ago, I prayed to God for many weeks for power to do His work, but He didn’t respond. At last, one night, He told me to keep quiet and began to ask me some questions. “Have you been baptised in the Holy Ghost?” I said, “Yes”. He said, “What is written in Acts 1:8?” I knew it offhand, so I quoted it to Him. Then He said, “You received power after your baptism in the Holy Ghost.” I responded, “Lord, but I don’t feel powerful.” He replied, “Did I say the just shall live by feelings?”

The next morning, a sick child was brought to me for prayers. I was afraid, but then I remembered the conversation I had with God the previous night, so I laid my hands on the child and prayed. Not long after, I felt the child go numb, and I thought to myself, “Has this child died?” When I finished praying and opened my eyes, I realised that the child was sound asleep. The mother said that the child had not slept in days, but now, she was sure that God had healed her child.

Go out and use the power that God has already given to you, if not, it will remain dormant. When I realised that I had been empowered by God, I was hungry to keep laying hands on the sick. That is how I’ve gotten to the stage where many great miracles happen through me today. I have been using the power God gave me since I was baptised in the Holy Spirit and it has been growing since then.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday, I explained that a son can become so close to the Father that he also becomes a friend of the Father. This is true, however, among friends, there are favourites. From the moment I learnt that it is possible to be a favourite of God, someone from whom God will never hide anything, I decided to get so close to God that I will become His favourite. Do you also want to be God’s favourite? You must note that it will cost you something.

Many times, when we talk about how a Christian should behave, dress, and act, some people will say, “God is not that difficult, He is a God of love. Where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty.” I always say, “We shouldn’t quarrel about it, live your life the way you want to live it. It all depends on how close you want to be to God.”

For example, if all you want in life is to become an Office Assistant, then you don’t need to attend a higher institution. All you need to know is how to run basic errands, and you will achieve your goal. However, if you want to become a professor, then you will enrol in tertiary institution and burn the midnight oil. I want to be a professor for God, I want to get close to Him, and I want to be His favourite. I don’t want to be just a servant of God, I don’t want to be just a son, I don’t want to be just a friend, I want to be a favourite, and by the grace of God, that is what you will be also, even though it is going to come at a cost.

Becoming one of God’s favourites will cost you your time. Those who become God’s favourites spend more time with God than they spend with anyone or anything else. Becoming God’s favourite will also cost you your appetite. You must be ready to fast like no man’s business if you want to draw closer to God than majority of others ever will. It will also cost you material things because you must hate the things of this world and prioritise the kingdom of God. James 4:4 says friendship with the world is enmity with God. Matthew 6:24 further says that you must choose between God and mammon. You must reject mammon to become close to God. Are you willing to pay the price to become God’s favourite? I am.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are many categories of children and I will be discussing some of them today. The first type I will look at are the ones referred to as ‘prodigal’ like we have in Luke 15:11-24. By the grace of God, I will never become a prodigal son, in Jesus’ name. I’ll encourage you to say the same prayer for yourself.

When God blesses me, I will not squander His blessings; I will use them for His work. Some people believe that the only way you can show that God is blessing you is by showing off: wearing golden shoes and clothes, and walking as if you own the whole world. These are the attributes of people that are referred to as prodigal sons, and I have made up my mind never to become such. What about you?

Another category of children that the Bible talks about are those that bring grief to their fathers. The Bible says that a foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him (Proverbs 17:25). I have equally made up my mind never to be one of such, in Jesus’ name. Psalm 14:1 says that the fool is one who says that there is no God, and it goes on further to say that a fool is a corrupt person. I acknowledge God in all that I do, and I refuse to be corrupt. I will never cause my Father in heaven grief. What about you?

If you go to Matthew 3:16-17 however, the Bible talks of ‘My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ This is the kind of son I want to be. I want to be the kind of son that God will look down on and say, “This one, I love him.” You can be that kind of friend too. God has had sons who became friends over the ages. Abraham was a friend of God (Isaiah 41:, and I am sure He is also saying, “Adeboye is my friend.”

You can tell who will become a beloved child of God as well as His friend by how much time they are willing to spend in His presence. The kind of sons that yearn for a close fellowship with God and desire to please Him at all times are the ones who don’t just read the Bible but also study and meditate on it daily so as to know God more and draw closer to Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

A son dwells in the house of God, he does not come and go, he dwells in the presence of his Father. Many people come and go from the presence of God. The sons are the ones that abide in His presence; wherever they go, they ensure that His presence is with them.

How do you remain in God’s presence? First, you don’t joke with your quiet time with Him. That is when it is just you and Him in the morning, conversing. That is when you study your Bible and pray. You should start your day with Him and become addicted to speaking to Him every morning. Beyond that, don’t make any decision without first asking for His input. You should ask Him for which outfit to wear, which route to take on your way to work, and so on. When you live basically on His voice, you are dwelling in His presence continually. Psalm 10:4 says that those who don’t have God in all their thoughts are proud and wicked.

God must be in all your thoughts. He must be the motivation behind everything you do. Everything you do must be done for His glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says:

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

A son is always seeking to glorify his Father’s name. He never wants to do anything that will make people say, “And you call yourself a child of God.” As such, he lives conscious of whose he is. He doesn’t do anything that is outside the leading of his Father because he never wants to leave the presence of his Father.

When you read Mark 15:34-37, you will see that it was when Jesus saw that the Father had forsaken Him that He gave up the ghost. He could bear all the pain as long as God was with Him, but the moment He saw that He was no longer in the presence of His Father, He gave up the ghost. That is how addicted you must be to God’s presence. If you are a son of God, abiding in His presence must be like breathing to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday, I distinguished clearly between being a son of God and being a servant of God. I am quite sure that you choose to become a son of God rather than a servant. How then can you become a son of God?

Being a son of God requires that you fulfil some obligations. A son is a major stakeholder in whatever the father does. He takes whatever belongs to the father as his because he is not a servant but a son. John 10:12 says that the hireling (servant) will not give his life for the sheep, but Jesus, the Son of God, gave his life for the sheep. In the same vein, you must be ready to spend and be spent for the salvation of men on earth. Nothing must be too hard for you to do so that people will not perish in hell. A servant can see souls perishing and turn the other way, but not a son; a son will go out and preach the gospel to them until they give their lives to Christ and remain steadfast in the Lord. If you are not an incurable soul winner, your sonship is in doubt.

A son resembles his father. It is only what he sees his father do that he does. That is why (1 John 3:9) says:

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

True sons of God hate sin. Don’t mind those who tell you that once you have given your life to Christ, you can go ahead and commit sin – they are liars! Real children of God have the seed of God in them, and that seed makes it difficult for them to sin. If they fall into sin, that seed begins to bite them, and they become very sorry for what they have done. They go back to their Father, like any genuine child will do, and plead for forgiveness. Nobody can keep committing sin on purpose and claim to be a son of God – that fellow is a liar. A child that does not resemble his father is called a bastard.

It was recorded that Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity (Hebrews 1:8-9). If you are truly a child of God, you will hate sin and love righteousness because of His seed within you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Whenever I insist that I am not a servant of God, but a son of God, some wonder if there’s a difference between children of God and servants of God. Simply put, a son of God has several advantages that a servant of God does not have.

In John 8:35, the Bible says that, unlike a servant, a son abides in the house forever. A servant can resign or be sacked, but a son cannot be sacked. When a father says, “I reject you as my child, I disown you,” it is a joke because his blood is running in the child; he can’t take the blood away. Hence, a child will always be in the house. The implications of this alone are many. Psalm 23:6, for example, says: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” The one who dwells in the house forever has the assurance that goodness and mercy shall follow him forever. Also, according to Psalm 91:1, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

A servant is always a visitor; he comes into the presence of the master when he is needed and goes out when he is not needed. A son, however, is a dweller; he stays in the house all the time. Furthermore, according to John 5:20, the son sees everything that the father does; the servant does not see everything his master does. There is beauty and joy in knowing what God is doing and being able to see ahead of time what God is going to do. For example, years ago, when problems were brewing, I told those close to me, “Trouble is coming, but at the end of it, somebody is going to laugh,” and so it happened because I have the privilege as a son to see what my Father is doing.

There are certain things that can happen to servants that will never happen to children. For example, as good as Job was, God called him “My servant,” little wonder God allowed Satan to experiment with him (Job 1:8-12). My Father will never permit the enemy to experiment with my health, resources or anything that concerns me because I am His son.

Tomorrow, by His grace, I will commence a study on how to become a son of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The temple of God is much more than all I have discussed in this series so far. In fact, if I want to call God’s temple any particular name, I will probably call it the house of praise and power.

In 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, you will discover why David said:

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Psalm 122:1

The temple is a house of praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of Israel, and we saw a manifestation of this in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. The temple is also the house of thanksgiving because our Bible reading passage today also says that they were thanking God too and not just praising Him (2 Chronicles 5:13). In fact, David says in Psalm 100:4 that you should enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. As praise and thanksgiving go on, His glory fills the temple powerfully. So, when you go into the temple, you are actually going into God’s glory. That glory rubs off on you, and everywhere you go after that, you just begin to experience supernatural goodness and mercy.

God’s temple is also a house where goodness and mercy abound. In Psalm 23:6, the Bible says:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

There is a song I love so much, and it goes thus:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life (2x).
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and I will feast at the table set for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life (2x).”

Beloved, I encourage you to sing this song prophetically, and if you do not know the song, you can just speak the words into your life. You must, however, go beyond merely singing or speaking the words, you must live it. Dwelling in the house of the Lord precedes feasting at the table set before you. Whether the enemy likes it or not, when you are in the house of the Lord praising and thanking Him, a table will be set before you, and nothing can tamper with it!
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God’s temple is also a house of grace. Hebrews 4:16 calls the temple the throne of grace. It is the place where you can go and obtain grace and mercy in times of need.

You may be in need of strength and grace to overcome a particular situation; the good news is that the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God’s grace is sufficient for you, and His strength is made perfect in your weakness. You receive this sufficient grace when you come into His temple. People who go to the occult for power know that they have to keep visiting the shrine regularly to renew their powers. The devil only tries to copy God’s methods; we who own the original must also always go to the temple of God to keep renewing our strength and receive fresh grace to surmount challenges that we may be faced with daily.

There are people who, when they have committed a sin, avoid going to church because they feel dirty – that is wrong. At that point, they need the mercy of God and where they can get it is at His throne of grace. That is the time they need to be in church the most. When you get to His throne of grace, go in humility. Even if you are a worker, don’t try to keep up an appearance; tell God you have erred and that you are sincerely sorry. Tell Him to please have mercy on you.

Many people go to the temple and keep up appearances like the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-14, while some others go in like the Publican in the same passage. This is why many people keep going to church and are yet filled with so much junk within them. Even if you are the pastor of the church, when you are before the throne of grace and in need of mercy, don’t put up a false appearance of piety; go before God pleading for mercy.

The devil knows that you can always access mercy and grace in the presence of God, so he will do everything he can to discourage you from coming unto Him. He used to have that privilege of being in God’s presence, but he lost it when iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:14-16), and of course, he does not want you to enjoy what he has lost.

Beloved, don’t let anything keep you away from coming into God’s presence to access his mercy and grace.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God’s temple is also the house of knowledge; it is a house of education. In Psalm 27:4, David made it clear:

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

In the house of the Lord, you can behold the beauty of the Almighty God. However, David went on to say that he not only wants to behold God’s beauty, but he also wants to be there to enquire of Him. In other words, if you have any questions for God, bring them to His temple; come and ask Him in the temple.

When you come into His temple, you will receive revelations; He will begin to tell you certain things that you will not learn at home. This is why you must always go to church with your writing materials. It is a place to go and learn new things and get new perspectives. There have been many times that I was confused about a matter, but while listening to the word of God, light will begin to shine on the matter, and I will receive revelations on how to resolve the situation. This is why the psalmist said:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105.

The house of God is a place where you go to hear the word of God, and in that word is great knowledge and wisdom that you cannot get anywhere else. So, whether you need revelation for business, family issues, ministry, health or any other field of life, you will get it in the house of God. Those who regularly go to a church where the undiluted word of God is taught don’t stay confused for long.

You may, however, then ask, “How do I know if the word being taught in my church is genuine and undiluted?” You will have to emulate the Berean Christians who always returned to their homes to search the Scriptures to verify what they had been taught in church (Acts 17:10-11).

As long as you remain in the environment where the undiluted and genuine word of God is preached, knowledge and wisdom will be available to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Beyond being the house of prayer and healing, God’s temple is also the house of sacrifice. Anyone who wants to sacrifice anything has to take his sacrifice to a designated place. In Yoruba land, where I come from, when they want to sacrifice to the devil, they take the sacrifice to the crossroad, and when they want to sacrifice to witches and wizards, they put it behind an Iroko tree. For us who give sacrifices to the Most High God, He said in (2 Chronicles 7:12) that He has chosen His temple as the place where He will accept our sacrifices. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 16:16 says that you should not come empty-handed when you are coming to the temple of God because He wants to accept your sacrifice.

A friend of mine used to say whenever he was taking offerings, “If you have none, borrow from your neighbour so that when the basket is going round, God will see you putting something in.” Then he would add, “It will not be long before you too will lend to others.” God takes giving a sacrifice in His temple so seriously that He always observes what people drop in the offering basket. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus watched the offerings that people gave and weighed which ones were sacrifices and which were not. This tells you clearly that God is keen on accepting sacrifices in His temple.

Some people say that because they don’t trust their pastor, they will rather give to the poor than give in church. First, I don’t understand why they have a pastor they believe to be a thief. Secondly, it is good to give to the poor; Proverbs 19:17 says that when you give to the poor, you are indirectly giving to God. However, you must never neglect giving your sacrifices in the house of God itself. If somebody says he likes me and gives my children money whenever he sees them by the roadside, but he refuses to give when he sees that there is a need in my family, despite knowing the way to my house and having money to give, I will begin to suspect such a fellow. It will be clear that he isn’t giving to my children because he likes me but for other reasons. This might be because he just wants to be seen in public as a giver or that he wants to gain some undue influence over my children. It’s the same when you claim to give to the poor in the name of God but never give in the house of God itself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The temple is not just the house of prayer; it is also the house of healing. In Matthew 21:14, after Jesus chased all those who were buying and selling in the temple, saying, “My house shall be called the house of prayer,” the Bible says that the sick came unto Him in the temple and were healed.

In Matthew 12:9-13, Jesus went into the synagogue and met a man with a withered hand. There were some scholars who felt that people shouldn’t be healed on sabbath days. When they asked if He would heal the man with a withered hand, He told the man to stretch his hand, and he was healed. Note that the man did not ask to be prayed for; just seeing a case like that in the temple compelled Jesus to heal him. Some people have challenged me before, saying: “You people who claim that you have the power to heal, why don’t you go to the hospital and heal everybody there? Why do they have to come to the church to be healed?” Truly, God can heal anywhere, but He specifically heals in the temple. There are many people who, by just stepping foot on Redemption City, got their healings. Nobody prayed for them; the mere fact that they had entered God’s temple brought them their healing.

Going to God’s temple regularly is like going to the doctor regularly. Even when you are feeling well, and you go to see him, he will examine you, and whatever strange thing he finds in your body, he will deal with it. There are people that are carrying one sickness or the other in their bodies that they don’t even know about yet. When you go to church, and the power of God falls on you, such sicknesses disappear because you have come to a place of healing. This is why I wonder if people know what they are missing when they decide to stay at home and watch a church service on TV. If you are far from the place of worship and God sees that you sincerely will like to attend physically but cannot be there, that is a different case. However, when you decide to stay at home and connect to a service that you could have easily attended, you cannot get the same atmosphere as those who are in the service physically.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many people don’t know why they need to go to church or any place of fellowship at all. They think to themselves, “Why can’t we just sit down at home? After all, God is everywhere.” So, for the next few days, I intend to spend some time looking at what God’s temple really is.

God’s temple is the house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7), and before anyone says that this is just in the Old Testament, Jesus Himself, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrew 12:2), further validated it in Matthew 21:12-13.

We go to the One who hears prayers (Psalm 65:2) in the house He has dedicated and assigned as the house of prayer. I know you can pray anywhere, and God will hear you, but there is a difference when you pray in the place that was originally assigned as the place of prayer. In such a place, the atmosphere is already charged, and there are heavenly protocols in place already to ensure that prayers said there are answered. When a place has been dedicated as a house of prayer, there is tremendous power there.

For many years when I lived in the house that is now known as Open Heavens House, I had a small room that I called my prayer room. It is a room that was assigned as a place to pray and meet with God. As a result of the constant prayers that went on there for long hours, a portal between heaven and earth was created there, just like the one we see in Genesis 28:10-17. Many people had prayed for certain situations without results, however, when they entered that room to pray, testimonies followed. For example, there have been records of people entering the prayer room with glaring physical defects, and by the time they would come out, the Lord would have touched them, and the defect would have disappeared. What made the difference was not so much in the words they said but that they prayed in a place that had become a portal between heaven and earth.

When a place has been dedicated as a place of prayer, and intense prayers have been going on there for many years, you better believe that such a place is saturated with immense power. You can pray on your own every day, but in addition to that, every time you have the opportunity to go to church to pray, please don’t miss it.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Friendship is a very sensitive topic to discuss, especially in these last days when many have become lovers of themselves (2 Timothy 3:1-2). In spite of this, however, everybody still needs good friends. Some friends can be closer to you than a brother – you need one or two of such friends around you. Such friends will challenge you to do more for God and can tell you the truth when everyone else is afraid to do so. They are people that you can have as a shoulder to lean on when the chips are down.

Acts 3:1 says that Peter and John went to the temple. You may ask yourself, after the Holy Ghost descended on 120 people in Acts 2, why is the Bible bringing only these two to our notice? The reason, I believe, is that they were friends who were part of Jesus’ inner circle. They were three in that circle – Peter, James and John. Out of these three, Peter and John had a close relationship even before Jesus died. If you read John 13:21-26, at the last supper, when Jesus said somebody was going to betray Him without telling them who it was, Peter beckoned to John and told him to ask Jesus. That is an example of a friend you can ask to pray for you concerning a matter you are not clear about, and he will hear from God for you.

After Jesus died and rose from the dead, the link between them obviously grew stronger. In John 20:1-8, when Mary Magdalene discovered that Jesus had risen and came to tell the apostles, two of the apostles ran to the tomb; they were Peter and John. It’s interesting to note that John is the one who wrote the story, and he stressed that he outran Peter and got to the tomb first – in fact, he repeated it twice! I always wonder, “Why are you telling us that you beat him so emphatically?” There seemed to be a friendly competition as to who loved Jesus more between them.

You need friends you can have healthy competitions with on who can pray the longest, who reads more Scriptures, who wins more souls and so on. The link between Peter and John was strong, and it rested on their relationship with Jesus. You need friends whose link with you is majorly based on the link you both have with Jesus Christ.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.