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In Psalm 33:10-11, the Bible says that God brings the counsel of the heathen to naught but His own counsel stands forever. Thus, it doesn’t matter what your enemies have decided concerning you; He will cancel their counsel and replace them with His, in Jesus’ name. The Most High can overrule doctors. In Mark 2:1-12, the man brought in through the roof could not be healed – medically speaking, but he walked out healed when he came into the presence of the Most High. We are indeed privileged to serve a God who can overrule medical reports.

The Most High can also overrule death. In John 11:39-44, the Bible tells us that by the time Jesus got to the tomb of Lazarus, not only had Lazarus been dead for days, his corpse must also have already been stinking. His relatives believed it was already too late but the Most High spoke — completely overruling death and calling Lazarus back to life. Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He never addressed death. When He was going to raise the daughter of Jairus, He didn’t use the word death at all; He said, “Little girl, arise”, and death had to let go.

The Most High can overrule demons. Isaiah 49:24-26 shows that when the Most High decides to set free, He will feed those who say you cannot be free with their own flesh and cause them to drink their own blood. I once preached at a wedding in my village and when I saw that witches were also in attendance, I used that opportunity to praise the Most High God before them while condemning the kingdom of darkness. After the wedding, they met the bride’s mother and said, “This boy has insulted us at your daughter’s wedding; let us see if she will put to bed safely”. The mother ran to me and I told her not to worry. The bride got pregnant and gave birth safely in spite of all the evil the witches planned because the Most High had overruled them. The Most High is saying to you now that every activity of demons in your life is overruled, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Our God is the Most High (Ecclesiastes 5:. Jesus’ name is higher than every other (Philippians 2:9), and this means all the problems you are currently facing are below Him. Every now and then, you need to shout the name JESUS so that your problem will hear it and flee. His throne is higher than any other because it is in the heavens, far above all principalities and powers. His army is bigger and stronger than any other because He controls all the hosts in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth. According to Philippians 2:9-11, not only is His name higher than any other, His influence is also in all the spheres because, in Heaven, on earth and underneath the earth, knees bow to Him. The fact that God is the Most High however, has certain implications. We will begin to discuss this today and over the next few days.

Firstly, being the Most High, He has the last say over every matter. If you have a case in a High Court and the judge finds you guilty, you can appeal the ruling. If the Appeal Court says you are guilty, you can appeal to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court says you are guilty, the President may decide to grant you a state pardon. There is however, somebody higher than the President and that is the Almighty God. He is not a President, a Prime Minister, or a King. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the King who decrees a thing and it stands fast (Psalm 33:9).

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

In Exodus 5:1-2 the world’s greatest ruler then was Pharaoh. Moses relayed God’s message to him saying, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness”. Pharaoh refused and said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” By the time God had finished with him, he was the one begging the people to go. If you disobey God, it means you love death (Proverbs 8:36). If you have any wisdom, you will fear the Most High and stay away from anything that can offend Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many people are in the miry clay of life. A miry clay is a situation so terrible, you cannot get out of it by yourself; you need external help to get you out of it. When the doctor tells someone that they have done their best and there is nothing more they can do to make the fellow feel better, he knows that at that point, except God comes to his aid, he is finished. Thankfully, I have a God who specialises in lifting people out of the miry clay and placing their feet on the rock to stand firm (Psalm 40:2).

What do you do for the Almighty God to pull you out of the miry clay? The first thing is to realise that it is sin that brought you into the miry clay in the first instance. When the paralysed man was brought to Jesus in Mark 2:1-12, the first thing the Lord said to him was, “Your sins be forgiven you”. The word of God is clear: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sickness is an agent of death. You must repent and forsake your sins before you can come out of the miry clay. The Lord told the man at the pool of Bethesda, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). If you don’t get rid of sin in your life, you may never get out of that miry clay. David said in Psalm 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” How can you be expecting an answer from God when He cannot even hear your prayers at all?

I was invited to Tunisia about 11 years ago to speak at the World Prayer Conference and I said, “Brethren, I have come to submit to you that God answers all prayers.” Some deep theologians called me aside and said that it is not true. Don’t let anybody deceive you, God answers prayers. He said, “Call on me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3). He didn't say “I may answer you”. The only variable there is, He can only answer the prayers He hears. If He doesn’t hear, how will there be an answer? Isaiah 59:1-2 says clearly that it is our sins that prevent God from hearing us.

If you are still obeying God half-heartedly, change your ways. It is in your best interest to do so.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Psalm 40:1, David said God inclined unto him and heard his cry – not his whisper, but his cry. A cry in this context is a prayer made with violence. Matthew 11:12 says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

You must therefore be violent in your dealings with things of the Kingdom of heaven. In Mark 10:46-52, the kind of prayer that Bartimeous prayed is what we call a cry. There was a multitude there just like there are multitudes calling on God every minute, but in the midst of that multitude, one man cried and God inclined His ear to Him.

When you cry to God and He inclines His ear to you, He lifts you out of the miry clay. Miry clay simply means a situation so bad that unless help comes from outside, you are done for. The more a person in quicksand struggles, the deeper he or she would go into it. It is a situation where there is nothing you can do on your own to be free. When in that kind of situation, you don’t whisper, you cry. There is a practical example in Mark 2:1-12, where a man paralysed from the neck down was brought to Jesus. Every part of his body was dead except the neck upwards. There was nothing any doctor could do for him, but thank God for Jesus Christ. When Jesus saw him, He said, “Arise” and he came out of the miry clay. In the name that is above every other, you will come out of the miry clay.

Another example is in 2 Kings 4:1-7, where the widow of the son of the prophet was so badly in debt, the creditors said they would sell her children within 24 hours if she didn’t pay. She didn’t whisper, she cried to the man of God. Before the 24 hours were up, she had more than enough to pay her debt. I pray God will incline His ears to you today as you cry out to Him, in Jesus’ name.

Whenever people cried unto the Lord again and again, He would eventually turn and attend to them. Let that be your disposition when you go to God in prayer. Don’t pray like a gentleman or lady, with finesse. Cry to Him with all your strength, and He will incline His ear to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Psalm 40:1-4, David said he waited patiently for the Lord. This statement could be interpreted to mean ‘I waited for God’s time’.This is because God has a timetable He works with as we see in Psalm 102:13.

This however, does not mean that God is bound by time. For example, in Isaiah 38:8 when the king wanted a sign that God had heard his prayer, the prophet said confidently that the sun would move 10 degrees backwards and it was so. In Joshua 10:12-14, God helped Joshua stop the sun from setting so the Israelites could finish off their enemies. In John 11:21, Mary told Jesus that He came too late as her brother was already dead, but the Lord reversed the irreversible and Lazarus came back to life. God can reverse time for your sake too, just ensure you wait patiently on Him in faith.

‘I waited patiently’ could also mean, “God, you are my last bus stop. I am not going anywhere else until You answer me”. In Genesis 32:24-29, Jacob refused to let the angel go unless he blessed him. It may interest you to know that God likes it when you refuse to let Him go until He blesses you. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus taught about persistent prayers using the example of a widow who would not let a wicked judge rest until she got justice. He explained that if you stay put with God, you will get what you are asking for. The daughter of the woman in Matthew 15:22-29 was delivered of unclean spirits because her mother refused to leave Jesus alone, even when He told her to go away since she wasn’t a Jew.

David said after waiting patiently for the Lord, He inclined to him (Psalm 40:1). When God inclines His ear unto you, you can be sure that you would receive your miracle, because whenever God pays attention to someone, a miracle always follows. Wait patiently on God, He is never late.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Over the past six days we learnt that God first draws you to Him and if you yield, He saves you by cleansing you with His blood. Sanctification and baptism in the Holy Spirit then follows, after which you receive the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. We will round off this study today by looking at how the Lord brings His children to perfection.

Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” In this context, perfection can be easily understood as when you only do things that edify. There are some things that may not be regarded as sin in themselves but then, they are not edifying. The place of perfection is when you avoid such things. This is when you begin to see some things that, though lawful, are not expedient for you to do (1 Corinthians 10:23).

For example, gossip may not be viewed as a sin, but does it edify you? Only a few people get to this stage in their walk with Christ – where they have gone beyond just what is sin and what is not, engaging only in things that edify them while avoiding things that don’t.

One of the signs that a person is experiencing this work of grace is that the fellow will pay attention to doctrine. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is therefore profitable, amongst other things, for doctrine which will lead you to perfection. Thus, even when you have been performing miracles, signs and wonders, you still need to pay attention to doctrine because “Forever O Lord, thy word is settled” (Psalm 119:89).

God is therefore saying to you, whatever level you are in now, “Come up higher”. Don’t just stay on the level of being cleansed of all your sins, move to being sanctified. Don’t think that the moment you can speak in tongues, then you have arrived; go on to receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then ensure you also produce the fruit thereof, so that the gifts don’t destroy you. And lastly, be amongst the rare set of people who are made perfect (Matthew 5:48). You have to keep going higher until you become perfect, such that people would look at you and say that you are a true child of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

As we continue with our lessons on the works of grace, we will study a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in believers called ‘the fruit of the Holy Spirit’. If a Christian has gifts of the Holy Spirit but does not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-25, such a person is headed for destruction. An example of this is when a believer becomes proud because God performs miracles through him or her. Matthew 7:22-23 says: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”. They had the gifts of prophecy and working of miracles, but God didn’t even know them. That is because though the gift was present in their lives, the fruit was absent. This is why you must never be satisfied with just having the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The fruit is more important than the gift, so you must ensure that you experience this important work of grace.

According to Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. While you may already be working miracles, God is asking you to move higher. You may be performing miracles, yet are difficult to live with; you might get the gifts and still end up in hell. What will it profit you if you are a powerful evangelist but get left behind when the rapture takes place? Of what use is your anointing if you will end up in the same place as the devil? Anointing is good and I love it, but I don’t want to be anointed and then become a candidate of hell; God forbid. Jesus Christ said if you want to know those who will go to heaven, look out for the fruit of the Holy Spirit in them, not the gifts.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 7:20-21

Don’t be deceived by the anointing of God already at work in your life. If you don’t manifest the fruit of the Spirit, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Having the Holy Spirit does not mean that you have arrived – not at all. He gave you the Holy Spirit for a reason and that is to witness according to Acts 1:8. A witness is someone who tells others about what they have seen or heard. When God asks you to witness, He is saying you should tell people about the things you have heard and seen about Him. To really prove that what you are telling them is true, He gives you gifts of the Spirit. This is the work of grace that comes after the Holy Ghost baptism.

There are basically nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, as seen in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and they can be grouped into three. One group is called the revelation gifts. The revelation gifts consist of the Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge and Discerning of Spirits. When you hear someone say something about you that he or she could not possibly have known except God told him or her, that is the Word of Knowledge. For example, while I am preaching many times, God tells me things about people in the congregation and I announce it starting with, “There is someone here…”. Despite not knowing these people, what I announce is usually the exact situation of the person involved – that is the Word of Knowledge at work. God knows all things and from time to time reveals them to those whom He has given this gift to. It is a powerful gift of the Holy Spirit.

There is another group of gifts called the Power Gifts — the Gift of Faith, the Gift of Healing and the Gift of the Working of Miracles. Then of course there are three others called the Vocal Gifts – these are the Gifts of Prophecy, diverse kinds of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. The Almighty God can give you any of these 9 gifts after you are baptised in the Holy Spirit and have started working for Him. Interestingly, 1 Corinthians 12:31 says: “But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”

The only place in the Bible where you are allowed to be covetous is when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After my Holy Spirit baptism, I asked God for all the gifts and He answered me. I give Him glory and honour that when you ask Him, He is more than willing to give.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

As we continue with our study of the works of grace, we will consider the baptism of the Holy Spirit today. After God has enabled you to do His will voluntarily without being forced, He will then baptise you in His Spirit. When we were younger Christians, we were told, “You must be sanctified before you begin to ask for baptism in the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Ghost baptism is very dangerous, so much so that it can even destroy a person.

In those days, people gave offerings voluntarily – nobody needed to preach to you. We were willing to spend and be spent for the One who saved us; He had given us a new heart – a heart of flesh. In those days, you couldn’t become a worker in the church until you were sanctified because workers willingly surrendered their time and resources to God. After you have become sanctified, God can then trust you with His Holy Spirit and power. The Holy Spirit cannot live in a heart that is still stubborn, unruly and disobedient.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit comes with power (Acts 1: and thus, you need to be sanctified before that can happen. Beloved, the Holy Spirit is like a bomb. Nobody will give a bomb to someone who is not broken. When you join the army, they take you through a series of training programmes and by the time they are finished with you, you would almost be like a zombie. You would begin to do everything they ask of you without questions. When you become a Christian, you have joined the army of the Lord and until you are thoroughly broken, He won’t give you His power. Don’t mind those who pretend to be operating in the power of God while their behaviours are not portraying Christ; Simon the sorcerer could also perform some magic. If you want the true power of God, you must be sanctified first. Carnality must be gone from your life, so that He can release His power to you.

When the baptism in the Holy Ghost happens, one of the primary evidences will be speaking in tongues. No one will have to tell you what to say. The day I was baptised in the Holy Spirit, it was the Lord Himself who drove my car home because I wasn’t in this world; all I knew was that I had no control over my tongue. That kind of true power is available for you, provided you are sanctified. After receiving this power, you then become a witness to Him as He said in Acts 1:8.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We looked at the first two works of grace over the past two days and would be discussing the third work of grace today. The third work of grace happens after we have become children of God through the blood of Jesus cleansing us of all sins. The Lord at this stage, brings closer to Himself a select group. Matthew 22:14 says: “For many are called, but few are chosen’. This chosen few become what I would like to call the favorites of the Almighty God.

In the olden days, a king could have as many wives as he wanted, but there would still be one who would be his favourite. After salvation, there is always a select group of people who are just closer to God than everyone else. They are not like everyone else – they love God more; they serve Him more committedly. These are the ones who don’t come for what they can get; they serve Him whatever the cost. We call these people the Sanctified – people who are set apart for God.

Now, these people who are sanctified are given a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh”. Many Christians never get to this level before they die and that is a pity. This is why we have so many Christians, yet, only a few are actually living holy.

The one that the Almighty God is going to set apart for Himself must be completely dead to the world. He must be put to sleep so soundly that there is nothing anybody can do that will distract his attention from God. These are the ones who will say like Paul in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

In the past, one of the ways by which we identified these sanctified people is that they are difficult to annoy. They are so occupied with their Groom – the Lord Jesus Christ, that there is very little you can do to offend them. Sanctified people are those who will suffer any wrong and take it calmly, rather than allow an unbeliever to say, ‘And you call yourself a child of God’.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We identified the first work of grace to be God’s call to man for salvation. Once a person heeds this call and surrenders all to God, He moves on to the next work of grace salvation.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 1:7

Salvation is the point at which God blots out all your sins of the past and gives you a clean slate to start with. Many people find it hard to believe that God can cleanse their sins completely, but that is the exact truth. It doesn’t matter how badly you have sinned, Jesus can make you a new creature in Him. That is why the salvation experience is referred to as being ‘born again’. The devil has no grounds to accuse you of any past sin.

When you become saved, the first thing you will notice is that you experience peace like a river. This is because sin is a weight on your heart. Matthew 11:28-30 says after Jesus draws you and you come to Him, if you decide to take His yoke on yourself, He will take your burden and then you will have rest. The burden He takes from you is the burden of sin. Once that burden is lifted, your soul will be at peace. This peace is difficult to describe but when you experience it, you will know. If you have never experienced it before, then you need Jesus to save you and cleanse you from all sins. If you don’t have that peace anymore, you need to run back to your Saviour and rededicate your life to Him.

The second thing that marks the salvation experience is joy the joy of the Lord. It will be impossible to hide this type of joy. The Monday after I gave my life to Christ, when I got to work, my Head of Department could practically see that I was radiating with joy. He asked if I had attended a party during the weekend. I told him I hadn’t attended any party, but I got the invitation to a wedding where I am the bride and Jesus is the groom. Once your sins are cleansed, your soul begins to rejoice. Anyone who backslides always notices that the joy they used to feel is gone. That is why David said in Psalm 51:12 that God should restore unto him the joy of his salvation.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Christian race is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of us thought that Jesus would come within a few years after we got born again. Although He hasn’t come yet, believe me honestly, His coming is far nearer than it was then; He will soon be here. Since this race is a marathon, then it means that in addition to strength, you would also need endurance if you want to run the race successfully. Endurance comes by the special grace of God which He makes available to keep you standing until the end. These are the works of grace.

When I became born again, we were taught that there were three works of grace that God makes available to Christians – Salvation, Sanctification and the Holy Ghost Baptism. I decided to check further and discovered that there are at least 7 steps in this process. From Ezekiel 36:24-27, you will discover that the first thing God says He will do even before Salvation is to gather His own together (John 6:44). You cannot be saved unless God draws you first.

When I came to The Redeemed Christian Church of God, it was because I had a problem my education could not solve and God used that problem to draw me to Himself. When somebody is talking about their salvation experience and they say, “I found the Lord”, they are only speaking from their limited knowledge. God was never missing; it is He who found you (John 15:16). This is why, if you are truly saved now, you should always thank God for the salvation of your soul.

It is however, possible that God could be drawing a man, yet the man refuses to come to Him. The end of such people is always disastrous. There was a popular chief God sent me to preach salvation to and every time I visited, he would say, “Not yet”. One day, he had a stroke that rendered him unconscious; I was called to pray for him and within one hour, he was restored to perfect health as if nothing at all had gone wrong. This time I told him, “I feel God is giving you a last chance; will you give your life to Christ now?” Again, he said “Not yet”. The next time I heard about him, he was dead. If God is drawing you to Himself and you keep refusing, you are telling Him clearly that you prefer hell to heaven. You had better surrender to Him now for your own good.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

To enlarge means to make bigger, implying that anytime there is enlargement, there must be two important factors involved - the object to be enlarged and the fellow who is going to be the enlarger. You are the one to be enlarged and the enlarger is the One spoken about in Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

The Scripture above didn’t say, “Be fruitful and increase”, but rather, “Be fruitful and multiply”. This implies that if you are truly fruitful, then you will multiply; that is the true meaning of fruitfulness. God is not interested in addition, but rather, multiplication. You must seek to multiply over and over again.

Why then are many people, including Christians satisfied with their status? Some are satisfied with getting a little increase in their salary every two years, some pastors are satisfied with just sitting over one parish of their Church with the same number of people for several years. This is as good as a taboo, especially when you consider the status of the Person who said, “Be fruitful and multiply”. There is a popular saying that goes thus: “Garbage in, garbage out”. Your current results are a reflection of the work you have been putting in. If you really want to multiply, then you must multiply your efforts too; you must multiply everything you have been doing, in order to get the desired results. If you do this, you will soon realise that your results have also multiplied.

Multiplication is in levels; some people will multiply thirty-fold, some sixty-fold and some a hundred-fold and so on. Multiply your input in proportion to how much increase you desire in your output. Multiply your input in prayers, in work, in study, in giving and so on. Just before the Lekki ’98 crusade where we had the largest religious gathering in the world at the time, I told my partners that if I thought I had fasted before, I was only joking because for the result we were trusting God for in that programme, I needed to fast far more than before. Luke 6:38 says that it is with the same measure that you have given that it will also be given to you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants the body of Christ to always go from glory to glory. He wants it such that men and women of God have followers who operate in greater measures of anointing. That is why He said we should make disciples of nations (Matthew 28:19-20). As powerful as He was during His earthly ministry, before leaving He said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). No matter how greatly anointed your spiritual father is, God can anoint you more than him. You may be asking, “Are you saying that God can anoint me more than you?” Yes, indeed He can.


There was a woman who was in the Redemption camp when she received a call that her daughter had died while giving birth to a set of twins, both of whom had also died. After the programme, she went to the hospital and took with her a bottle of anointing oil that we had blessed, dropped a little of the oil in the twins’ mouths and said, “Don’t waste my time; come back to life” and they both came back to life. The body of her daughter was just about to be wheeled to the mortuary at the time, she stopped the hospital staff, poured a little anointing oil on the daughter, placed an anointed handkerchief on her head and the daughter also came back to life. She raised three people from death in one day. Even I haven’t raised more than one person from death in one day yet. Thus, you can do even more than your Father-in-the-Lord. For all my children, the anointing on you will be much more than the one on me, in Jesus’ name.

The reason we have had many great men of God in the past and no one to carry that same measure of anointing now is simply that many people are not willing to serve the anointed with all their hearts. Not many people can carry the same burden that their Fathers-in-the-Lord do. If your soul is occupied with the world, you cannot carry the anointing of your Father-in-the-Lord whose focus is completely on doing the will of God. Elisha got a double portion of Elijah’s anointing because he remained loyal and committed to the latter.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Psalm 119:130 says: “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. Therefore, when God sends a word to you, what He is sending to you is light. A particular word of God can enter into your spirit. You might have been hearing it before, you might have read it a thousand times, but all of a sudden, that particular word of God jumps to you and you know, this is the solution to your problem.

A man who was very wealthy fell on so hard a time that he decided to commit suicide. He planned on that day to go to Church and dance so much as if celebrating his departure. When he got to the Church, the preacher was talking about Shedrack, Meshack and Abednego. The preacher explained that the Hebrew boys believed God would deliver them though they did not know how He would do it, and He did deliver them. That was all the man needed to hear and he thought to himself, “My situation is so bad, I don’t see how it can improve, but I don’t need to know how, I just know it will improve”. He decided not to kill himself anymore and the day he was sharing his testimony, he had just bought 14 cars for his workers. All he heard was a word. When the word of God comes to you, suddenly, light comes and that light chases away every form of darkness in your Iife.

All that you need to be healed and to live in divine health is just a word from God (Psalm 107:20). When God sends a word to you, it will come with the power and faith that you need to receive it and walk in it with confidence. Once you have received it with faith, then it becomes your reality.

What area of your life are you not yet walking in dominion as a child of God?You need to ask God to send His word to you concerning that area. In whatever area of your life that you have been timid before, a word from God will turn you into a lion in that area. You will become indomitable. This is why you should not miss your personal quiet times every morning and fellowships with brethren. You never can tell when God will send that word that will liberate you forever.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The elders have a proverb that says you first chase away the fox before you ask the hen, “Why did you stray?” In Mark 4:35-41, when there was a storm in the boat and the disciples woke Jesus up, He first stilled the storm before saying, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” This is how Jesus treats us His children. He will first solve the problem before scolding you. Why then do many parents or guardians leave their children to be devoured by the fox when they see that they have strayed?

When the children God has planted around you err, protect them from the error they have made first to ensure it doesn’t destroy them, before you turn to discipline them. A father, for example, may throw out his daughter because she got pregnant out of wedlock. Such an action would further expose the girl to the fox already trying to destroy her. At the end of the day, that child may get into worse problems, especially if she finds help from the wrong set of people.

Children must not be cast away because they made a mistake. With all the mistakes you make, God continues to call you His child. Should there be discipline? Yes, of course. Children should be disciplined when they misbehave, but first, fix the problem and keep them safe.

While you discipline a child, it should always still be clear to that child that you love them. There is something called tough love. A child will know if the real reason you are taking an action is to protect your reputation or out of your love for them. Nothing hurts a child more than to experience lack of love from the parents.

I know it can be disappointing when children don’t meet up to their parents’ expectations. I am a father too and sometimes I would have taught my children to behave a certain way, only to hear that they did the opposite outside of the home. However, let us remember that we do the same thing to God and He doesn’t cast us out. He chastens us because He loves us. Your labour over all the children God has planted around you will not be in vain, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. [center][/center]

Prayers For Children

1) Father, thank You for all the children in my family, church, community and around the world.

2) Father, as children will be returning to school this month, please provide for their parents and guardians. Please, make a way for all children that should be in school but are unable to go.

3) Father, please bless my children and all children around me with a sound mind, in Jesus’ name.

4) Father, please use my children and all children around me for Your glory.

5) Father, please keep all the children around me away from evil influences and keep drawing them closer to You, in Jesus’ name.

6) Father, please give all the children around me pure hearts. Let their hearts remain pure in You, in Jesus’ name.

7) Father, please put Your angels on guard over all the children around me.

Father, please let the blood of Jesus be a mark upon my children and all children around me, in Jesus’ name.

9) Father, please reveal Yourself to all the children around me, just as You reached out to Samuel at such a young age, in Jesus’ name.

10) Father, please help me and everyone who has influence over the children around me to lead them according to Your will, in Jesus’ name.

11) Father, please make all the children in my family, church and community light and salt to this world in, in Jesus’ name.

12) Your personal prayer point for all children around you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Restoration can be simply described as the process of returning something to its original state. Divine Restoration is an act of God because only the Creator of heaven and earth has the knowledge and ability to restore humanity to its original state. The unfortunate error of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden robbed mankind of their dominion in creation. This led to separation from God and attracted death and other terrible curses. Thereafter, life became full of different kinds of sins – idolatry, immorality, wickedness – until life became unbearably difficult. At this point, our loving and compassionate God decided to end the misery by restoring man’s dominion through redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Restoration is a complete package that includes forgiveness of sins, freedom from guilt and mercy rather than judgement. It usually comes as an act of mercy, favour, compassion, and love, with the sole aim of reconciling mankind to God. Restoration often involves the remission of sin, cancellation of debts, and reversing the irreversible. Our God is a God of restoration. Jesus restored life to Lazarus in John 11:43-44 and the son of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-15. He restored sight to a man born blind in John 9:1-7. Our God can restore ill health, failing businesses, damaged relationships, broken marriages and lost opportunities. All you need to do is cry unto Him in prayer. May you be fully restored in every area of your life, in Jesus’ name.

The Bible teaches that as God is, so He wants us to be in this world. We must forgive everyone that has offended us while also seeking the forgiveness of those we have offended. Forgiveness is to be without limits, as stated in Luke 17:3-4 and Matthew 18:21-22. Forgiveness leads to peace, reconciliation, healing, progress, joy, prosperity, and answered prayers. Make up your mind to be at peace with all men (Hebrews 12:14), forgive everybody that has offended you and settle all pending disputes with your neighbours. Let the love of God radiate through you to others so that you would become a beneficiary of the abundant blessings of the Lord. Be restored to God first, then pursue restoration of every broken relationship as God guides you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants you to grow spiritually so that you would eventually become a giant in the spirit realm. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, God says you are allowed to covet earnestly the best gifts. When I read that passage, I told God, “Lord, give me a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, double the spirit of Peter, double the spirit of Paul, double the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, add everything together and double it again”. He responded that I was asking for trouble because people would not let me rest. I said I wanted it still because I could not afford to be anything else but a spiritual giant. You must make up your mind not to be an ordinary Christian from today.

If you want to become a spiritual giant, 2 Kings 2:1-8 teaches that you must be loyal to your own Elijah. When Elijah wanted to leave this world, Elisha followed him three times; each time, Elijah told him to go back, but he refused. Your Elijah is your father-in-the-Lord. In 2 Kings 2:9-15, when Elijah was departing, Elisha got a double portion of his spirit.

One day, I was praying that my children would be greater than I, and one of them said, “Anyone who will be greater than you probably will never eat again”. He said that because of how often I fast, but then I told him not to leave God out of the equation. It doesn’t matter how great God made your father-in-the-Lord, you can become greater just by honoring and being loyal to him. Elisha got a double portion of the spirit of Elijah because he pursued the same vision as he.

Learn to minister to the one whom God has placed over you spiritually. In 2 Kings 3:11-12, the Bible tells us that Elisha ministered constantly to his spiritual father. It wasn’t long after that in 2 Kings 13:14 that we read that a king called him ‘Father”. If you are committed to honouring your father-in-the-Lord by serving him, you would receive something that you could otherwise have laboured greatly in the spirit to get. Somebody once said that the tail of a lion is more powerful than the head of a dog. Your father-in-the-Lord is already a lion; if you are committed to following Him as he follows Jesus, you can do greater things than when you are on your own.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God wants you to be influential. Genesis 1:28 says He wants you to have dominion. Believe me, honestly, you don’t have to be the president before you begin to have dominion. No matter your status today, you can still have dominion. The Almighty God wants you to become influential, but for that to happen, you must obey Him and His commandments - no matter the situation. When you do this, He will see to it that you are always the head and never the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). If you want to increase in influence, do what He says.

One major thing He said you should do is to win souls. John 15:14-16 says you can become Jesus’ friend and I’m telling you, when you befriend the Lord, you become very influential because of your relationship with He who has influence across all realms (Philippians 2:10). When you become a friend of Jesus Christ, doors open to you automatically. I can tell you stories upon stories about countries that refused to register The Redeemed Christian Church of God and the same people would call us back within months to offer us our registration certificate. When you are a friend of Jesus, you will do what He commanded in John 15:14-15 - win souls and make sure they abide. If you do this, He has promised that anything you ask in His name, He will do it. That is great influence.

In John 12:32, the Bible says if you will lift Jesus, He would draw all men to Himself. If you keep on preaching, witnessing and winning souls, men will come from all over the place to meet with you. Thus, if you want to be influential, 2 Timothy 4:2 says you should preach in and out of season. Preach when it is convenient and when it is not convenient. If every one of us reading this devotional today goes out and wins at least one soul today, imagine how much rejoicing would be in heaven because of us. Do your part and He will surely do His.

My greatest desire was to be the youngest Vice-Chancellor in Africa, but when I became born again and God called me into full-time ministry, I abandoned my ambition.Today, Vice-Chancellors call me Daddy.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

God’s plan for everyone is that they would be fruitful and multiply. That is why He gave every woman considered barren in the Scriptures a testimony. The only person who died barren is the woman that mocked her husband – King David, for dancing before God (2 Samuel 6:20-23). If you have been considered barren, God is about to surprise you, in Jesus’ name.

You however, have a part to play as God is set to make you experience all-round fruitfulness. John 15:1-5 makes it clear that you must be joined to the Fruitful Vine to be fruitful. He said in verse 4, ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” To become fruitful, you must be totally joined to the Fruitful Vine. You must abide in Him.

Many years ago, we held a programme in Lagos, Nigeria, during which I urged everybody to ask for something special from God. There was a lady there who said, “Father, I’m not going to ask You for anything anymore because I have repeatedly asked You for what I wanted, and You didn’t give me. I used to ask You for a husband and now I’m too old to have children, so I won’t ask again. However, I will continue to serve You all the days of my life”. God heard her and a few days later, a man came and said he wanted to marry her. She looked at the man and told him to pray again as she was already past menopause. He said he already had children, but he was a widower, so he was looking for a wife who would also be a mother to them. They got married and nine months later, she gave birth to twins – two boys. When you commit yourself to the True Vine, He will make sure that you become fruitful.

The True Vine can make you fruitful in every aspect of your life. God is the One who said in Leviticus 19:13 that everyone must pay the wages of those that work for them. If you are committed to God and His kingdom, you will definitely bear fruit. God said He is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love (Hebrews 6:10).

The Lord will definitely reward you as long as you remain connected to Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

While studying the word of God, I discovered that God performs various miracles through the Holy Communion. One of such miracles is making rich those who partake in the meal according to His will. The occult also tries to emulate this when witch doctors ask people seeking sudden riches to eat some charms that will make them rich overnight. They will however, also reach an agreement to be rich for only a few years before the charm kills them. In Yoruba land, such a person would be said to have eaten lukudi.

There was one man who ate lukudi, but instead of getting money, the charm began to eat him up from the inside. He came to the Headquarters of The Redeemed Christian Church of God and pretended to give his life to Jesus. We prayed and he vomited the charm he had eaten. After a while, we noticed that he stopped coming to Church, only to later hear that he had gone to eat the charm again. This time around the money came, but when the agreed date for his death started drawing near, he decided to run to England, and ended up dying in the plane.

As is typical with the devil, whatever he gives is always short-lived and he collects the fellow’s soul in return. Mark 8:36 asks: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” With the Holy Communion however, not only will you become rich after eating it, you will also have long and eternal life.

According to Exodus 12:35-36, the day the children of Israel ate the Holy Communion, the wealth of the Egyptians was handed over to them. When you eat the Holy Communion, the wealth the Almighty God has assigned to you that is in the hands of the enemy will be transferred to you. As you eat the Holy Communion worthily, you will receive payment with interest for every unpaid labour of your life, in Jesus’ name.

There is another charm that is said to give promotion and good luck when eaten. In Yorubaland, it is known as Awure. The problem with these charms however, is that the witch doctors who prepare them are poor themselves, yet people believe they can make them prosperous. When you eat the Holy Communion however, it will bring you genuine promotion and those people who have been treating you as a servant will come and bow before you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Before you were born, God knew you (Jeremiah 1:4-5). He not only knows your beginning, He knows your end too (Jeremiah 29:11). Some people call this destiny. Many believe that people’s fates are decided by God no matter what they do. If you pay attention to Romans 8:29-33, you will see the word, ‘Foreknow’. Your destiny is determined by His knowledge of the things you will do and the decisions you will make throughout your lifetime. In other words, your destiny is ultimately decided by you.

If God tells you your destiny now, it is based on all the knowledge He has about you. For example, God knows all that you have done in the past. In (2 Kings 5:20-27), when Gehazi collected Naaman’s gifts secretly, Elisha didn’t leave the house, but he saw everything. Gehazi lied about what he had done and became destined to be a leper and a father of lepers. What you have done in the past and what you are doing now are good pointers to your destiny.

God also knows what you are going to do tomorrow. This explains Romans 9:10-14, where the Bible says that before Esau and Jacob were born, God had already loved Jacob and hated Esau. People may say that is unfair, but God already knew in advance what would happen in Genesis 25:29-34 – that Esau would love his stomach more than his birthright.

Now you may say, “Since He knows my future, that means it is already fixed; no matter how hard I try, what will be will be”. No, that is not correct. In Daniel 2:20-21, the Bible says God changes times. He can rearrange your future. Don’t forget that He is Supreme and can do as He pleases. The fact that you are alive today reading this particular message means there is hope for you to end well. In Luke 23:39-43, a criminal on his way to hell got salvation at the Jast minute. Jesus Christ rearranged His destiny and he ended up in heaven. If you sincerely cry to God today, confess your past and present sins while determining to live holy henceforth, He can rearrange your future and make sure that you have a glorious destiny; it is all in your own hands.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If I were to ask you, “Which do you consider more important – the blessing or the Blesser?” you are likely to say it is the Blesser. However, there are millions of self-professing Christians around the world today who prioritise God’s blessings above the One who blessed them in the first place. When you begin to choose your job over God, you are prioritizing the blessing over the Blesser. I want you to do an honest check within yourself now: which one have you been prioritizing the blessing or the Blesser?

The unfortunate thing about prioritising the blessing over the Blesser is that the Blesser can withdraw His blessings at any time. In 1 Samuel 16:1, God told Samuel to stop pleading on Saul’s behalf because He had given the throne to someone else. In Genesis 48:20, we see how Jacob blessed Ephraim above his older brother Manasseh. Ephraim eventually became ten times more successful than his brother (Deuteronomy 33:17). However, when success came, Ephraim forgot God (Psalm 78:9-11). God kept sending prophets to Ephraim, but he refused to listen to the Blesser. After some time, God said, “Let him alone” (Hosea 4:17). By the time we get to Hosea 5:9, God said that Ephraim would be desolate. Ephraim lost his blessings because he prioritised them above the Blesser. When success comes, don’t forget God because He has the power to give and to take away.

When I became General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, I decided by faith that God would feed everyone that came for our annual convention. One of the young men who was a baker said he would provide the bread for breakfast. He later on changed his mind and decided not to supply us with bread as he had promised because he didn’t like a message I preached. God however, sent help to us and we were able to purchase the bread we required. Years later, my baker friend appeared at my house very early one morning. I said, “What can I do for you? You came very early”. He said he would have come earlier but one of his tires got flat and he didn’t have a spare. This was a man who used to have numerous cars; now, he didn’t even have a spare tire because he placed the blessing above the Blesser.

Beloved, focus on the Blesser and not the blessing.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The first lesson I want us to learn in today’s devotional reading is that God is delighted in our prosperity and this is why He gave us His commandments.

Psalm 1:1-3 says:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

As we progress in this second half of the year, we should take note of the factors that will aid our all-round prosperity. Some people misinterpret or do not know why the rich man in Luke 12:16-21 died the way he did at the peak of his prosperity. It was simply because he did not acknowledge God as the source of his wealth. He was also so engrossed in acquiring wealth that he did not know when his time was up; hence he did not prepare for eternity (Luke 16:21). His error was not that he became rich because as a matter of fact, God is interested in the prosperity of His children. The Bible says in 3 John 2:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

The Bible says further that God gives the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). The Church also, is expected to prosper through all-round growth. For example, Luke 12:1 describes the audience of Jesus as an ‘innumerable multitude of people’ which signifies a huge growth in His ministry. Zechariah 1:17 also says that, through prosperity shall the cities of the Lord be spread abroad.

The Bible however, also says that the so-called prosperity of sinners shall destroy them (Proverbs 1:32). Beware of ungodly means of getting wealth, so that you can avoid the sorrows that come with ill gotten riches (1 Timothy 6:6-10).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

I thank God that He made sure I studied Mathematics before I became a preacher. Every Mathematician knows that for any formula to work, certain conditions must be met. If you meet God’s conditions, He will do for you what He is not doing for others. This is so important that it could be the greatest thing you have ever heard or read in your life, because if you begin to meet His conditions, people around you would begin to ask, “What is your secret?”

When people sing, “Abraham’s blessings are mine”, many of them think it is just by singing it that they’ll have the blessing. When you do your research, you’ll see that Abraham himself, in Genesis 22:16-17, got his blessing by being willing to sacrifice his only son to God. That day, God swore by Himself to bless Abraham and Isaac also, because the boy was willing to lay down his life. When Isaac was going to pass on the blessing, he gave it to the son who brought him a meal that he loved (Genesis 27:1-29). I agree that when you became a Christian, you received the blessing of Abraham, but to tell you the whole truth, you got it on credit. You must be ready to give something for that blessing to really begin to manifest in your life. Nothing goes for nothing.

When God saved my soul, with joy I gave Him the first house I ever built – a little mud house plastered with cement. Thereafter, God built another one for me in my little village and when He needed it, I gave it to Him too. I also gave the first house I built in Lagos to God when He needed it. These are just a few of the things that I can tell you here. By the time God responded, He did so in a marvelous way. For example, anywhere I go to now and there’s a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God there, I can be sure of a good place to sleep that night. If I announce that I need a car for an assignment tomorrow for example, I am likely to wake up the next day to see a fleet of cars brought by different people and each one would want me to pick the one they brought. If you really want God to bless you, you should ask yourself, “Have I met the conditions necessary for me to be blessed?”
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

After God has called you to salvation, the next call is to join Him in redeeming the world. Now, you must note that He doesn’t only call people from the altar but from all walks of life to serve Him in various capacities. For example, He can call some to join Him in the technology field because He wants to use technology as a tool to reach the unsaved.

His agenda goes beyond the altar into the everyday lives of people. God is not a Sunday-Sunday God. He is God every single day and so He is using people to accomplish His agenda daily. Pastors don’t reserve the right to be used by God. As far as you are born again – whether you are in business, arts and entertainment or even in fashion, God can use you in that field to fulfil His will. He said in Colossians 3:17: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Thus, whatever it is that you do, make sure you are doing it in the name of Jesus Christ. When you do something in the name of someone, it means it is not you but the fellow being represented that’s doing it. In other words, when God calls you to an industry, you are not to go there to do your will but His. His agenda is already set; all He does when He calls you is to join Him in bringing it to pass. Thus, when you feel Him pulling you to work for Him in a certain field of life, then you must ask Him what His agenda is concerning that thing you are to do. Everything you do must be in line with His agenda. You should also note that you are His representative there and you must not do what He Himself wouldn’t.

As a reward for answering the call to join Him in His redemptive work in the world, God makes sure that all things work together for your good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Once you are called according to His purpose and you answer that call, all things will begin to work together for your good.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The call of God is actually a call to God. It isn’t a call to something but a call to Himself. When He calls you, He is saying, “Come closer to me”. In Mark 3:14, the Bible says that the first reason He called the disciples was that they should be with Him.

The call of God is two-fold. First, He can call you to leave your sinful ways (Matthew 11:28). This is the very first call that every man will receive. It is a call that brings you close and guarantees an eternity with Him if you answer. Thus, when you hear an altar call, it is God Himself calling you to salvation. If you are still committing sin, this is one call that you should not ignore. You don’t know the final call that God will make for you to come to Him for salvation.

Many have received God’s call to salvation but then, after a while, started to live in sin again. That is not how this call works (Luke 9:62). If you sincerely answer the call to salvation, then holiness would be your lifestyle. If you become saved and then start living a double life where you sin willfully, the Bible says that God would spew you out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16) – in other words, He would reject you completely. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

If you claim to be a child of God, then you must depart from all iniquity. If you don’t depart from iniquity, then God would not recognise you as His child.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
1 Peter 2:9

Once God calls you out of darkness into His marvelous light, you are described as a holy nation – not an unholy one. Be perfect, even as the One who called you is Perfect (Matthew 5:48).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From the story of Bartimaeus, we learn that darkness and sorrow go hand in hand. You don’t have to understand philosophy to know that a blind beggar must have been sad. I pray for you: Your eyes will never grow dim, in Jesus’ name.

Darkness and sorrow go hand in hand, which means light brings joy. Psalm 16:11 says: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Psalm 126:1-3 says that when the Lord turned around the people’s captivity, their mouths were filled with laughter. That is the nature of Light; He brings laughter. Light stands for joy John 16:24).

There was this woman whose children were dying so she visited a white garment prophet for a solution. When she got there, the man’s wife gave her a piece of kolanut to eat, claiming that was the solution to her problem. She ate it and at night, found herself in a witchcraft meeting. Before long, she had offered up her husband. After about two years, the other witches asked for one of her children – the very children she wanted to protect. She attended one of our programmes in Ilorin and while I was preaching, I noticed a commotion in the congregation. After the service, the ushers told me that the woman’s dress caught fire during the preaching. We prayed a simple prayer after which she gave her life to Christ and when she went home, she excreted a dead snake. She was free from that day on. Darkness does not give joy, all it has to offer is sorrow. Proverbs 10:22 says it is only the blessings of God that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. If the devil is offering you something that seems good, you will not fall for it, in Jesus’ name.

If you are truly a child of Light, how can you stay away from Jesus – the Light of the world? Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” If you remain in darkness, you will keep suffering, but when you turn to Jesus Christ, He gives you a new beginning and turns the tide for you. If you really want to be in the Light, then you should begin to live holy from today.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From the story of Bartimaeus, we can see that darkness and stagnation go hand in hand. Bartimaeus must have been on that same spot, begging since he became blind. Since stagnation is linked to darkness, this means that light stands for progress and promotion. Psalm 75:6-7 says:

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

1 Samuel 2:8 tells us that God can pick up a beggar from a dunghill and keep promoting him until he is standing with princes. If you notice that you seem to have been in the same position for years now, then it is likely that you are in darkness. You need to connect to the Light now, so that you can make real progress.

Stagnation is primarily caused by forces of darkness. The devil fights progress. That is why when Nehemiah was trying to rebuild the city walls, the devil raised many enemies to stop the work. One fellow was talking to me some years ago; he said, “I don’t know what’s happening; it seems as if my enemies are increasing”. I said, “Tell me a little bit about how things have been with you in the past couple of years”. He said everything had been good; whatever he touched had been prospering. I said, “That is the reason”. There are those who love it when you come to them to beg for food, but the moment you begin to make progress, hatred comes. Darkness does not want you to progress, but thank God light stands for promotion.

There was a man who had been on one spot for many years. During one of our programmes, God spoke to me and I announced “There is someone here; somebody close to you will die next week. Don’t be sad because, after the death, your promotion will come”. The following week, his father died, but before the man passed on, he confessed that he had said, “How can my son be greater than I?”, so he decided to use diabolical powers to make the boy stagnant. Almost immediately after the father died, the promotion of the young man began. Anyone sitting on your promotion and refusing to stand will be uprooted by the Almighty God, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Darkness is linked with barrenness. This implies that light is equivalent to fruitfulness. When you study the Scriptures, you will see that God is interested in your fruitfulness. The very first commandment He gave to man is “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). In Exodus 23:26, the Almighty God said clearly: “There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. I am decreeing, that if you are trusting God for the fruit of the womb, you will carry your own twins soon, in Jesus’ name.

There are some cases of barrenness where the doctor cannot see anything wrong with the couple because the devil is at work. A woman’s mother-in-law once visited her house and said, “My daughter, eat this bread and use it to block your womb”. The girl ate it, not taking the woman’s words seriously. From that day, she stopped menstruating for several years. Thank God we held a programme in her town that ran for some days. One afternoon during the programme, she slept and had a dream. In the dream, some people dressed like medical doctors laid her on the table, opened up her belly and began to pull out a rope. The rope was very long, and at the end of the rope was a very black piece of bread. By the time she woke, she saw that the bed was wet with her menstrual flow. The last time I heard from her, she already had 5 children. Whatever darkness has used to stop your fruitfulness – whether it is in child-bearing or otherwise, the Light will deal with it.

Some people asked me not too long ago, “Why are you against same-sex marriage?” I asked in turn, “How will two men or two women produce a child?” They mentioned adoption, but who is going to produce the child they are going to adopt? If we all adopt this lifestyle, the human race would become extinct in less than a hundred years. I told them, “The devil is a liar”. I don’t care what people or organisations say, I will stand by the truth. The word of God is clear: “Be fruitful and multiply”.

Anyone trying to do anything that disobeys that instruction is disobeying God Himself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From Bartimaeus’ story in Mark 10:46-52, we see that when he called on Jesus for help, some people told him to shut up. He had not offended them, yet they hated him. This is however not surprising because darkness also stands for hatred while light represents love. Proverbs 14:20 says the poor is hated even by his own neighbors. Darkness goes hand in hand with poverty and poverty leads to hatred. People can hate you just because you are poor. Thank God light stands for love. Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors because of the One who loved us. When you come in contact with The Light, your victory is guaranteed. It doesn’t matter how many people hate you; if Jesus is on your side, you will be a winner.

You would notice that, when Bartimaeus was crying for help, not a single person encouraged him until the Light of the world called for him. Bartimaeus was a lonely man. There is a direct link between darkness and loneliness. In Psalm 121:5, the Bible says the Lord is your shade upon your right hand. This means God is always with you. If you come in contact with the Light of the world, you can never be lonely again. There are many people who are rich and successful in their endeavours, yet lonely. This is because they have not come in contact with the Light of the world. Bartimaeus’ loneliness ended the day he met Jesus because he instantly became a celebrity and we are still talking about him today.

Light drives away loneliness while darkness embraces it. Many times, loneliness is a result of works of darkness. It is the Light who made the statement in Genesis 2:18 that it is not good that man should be alone. Years ago, a mother came to me and said she needed help. She had four daughters – the youngest of whom was 28 years old, yet they were all single. As I was about to pray, the Lord told me to ask some questions and I discovered there was a demon in their family who had laid claim to the girls.

This demon was the one preventing them from getting married. We prayed and God gave us victory over the evil covenant. Within a year, all four of them were married. Any evil covenant you have entered into that may be stopping you from moving to the next level will be destroyed by the Light today, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.