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God created man in His own image so that he could have dominion (Genesis 1:26). This is why you’ll discover that there is no animal in the world that humans have not dominated – lions, elephants, giraffes and so on. Note however, that the man who really has dominion is the one who has control over himself. You can have dominion over animals, birds and everything in the sea, but if you don’t have dominion over yourself, you are like a broken down and unduly exposed city (Proverbs 25:28). Let us consider some parts of your body you must have dominion over. 1 Peter 3:10 says if you want to live long and have a good life, tame your tongue – have dominion over it. The tongue is very powerful and difficult to tame (James 3:5- but you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).The Bible also says you should have dominion over your stomach. Philippians 3:19 urges you not to let your belly become your god. If you say you have dominion over everything but can’t control your stomach, you can’t fast, then you have no dominion because you have a strange god living within you. The Yoruba elders say, “There’s no idol like the stomach; every day, it asks for a sacrifice”. You have to tame your stomach. You must also have control over your sleep. For you to say you have dominion, you must be able to decide, “I am not sleeping tonight; I want to have a vigil”. Proverbs 6:9-11 says that if you don’t control how you sleep, you will experience ravaging poverty and lack. You must have control over your body – your eyes, hands and so on. There are certain things you shouldn’t touch or look at, places you shouldn’t go to, kinds of music you shouldn’t listen to. If you want to finish your Christian race well, you must have dominion over your body (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Anointing can be described as divine electricity. This description will help us understand how important anointing is. If a person is not pure, yet is anointed, the anointing will kill the fellow, because if you mishandle electricity, you will be electrocuted. Samson was highly anointed but spent time with harlots. A man of God who commits adultery has set himself up for destruction. In other words, the combination of anointing and sinfulness will produce a casualty while anointing with purity will produce great and long lasting results. For example, Abraham’s anointing was that of prosperity (Genesis 22:17-18) and it was transgenerational because he trained his children in the way of the Lord (Genesis 18:19). Abraham became great, his son became very great and his grandson Jacob became exceedingly great. His great-grandson Joseph picked up the anointing and God used him mightily as well. Christians need anointing to execute their respective divine assignments. You may have heard the story of two people who sang Psalm 23 – one a professional singer who sang beautifully and everybody clapped, the other, an old man who sang the same Psalm 23 and had everyone on their knees, worshipping God. One sang professionally, the other with anointing and their results were different. So if you are a chorister, you definitely need anointing. Psalm 24:3-4 tells us the kind of people who can stand in God’s presence; so ushers also clearly need anointing. Prayer warriors need anointing because Romans 8:26 says we pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost before He started off His ministry (Acts 10:38). If the Lord did not perform a single miracle until the Holy Spirit came upon Him, surely you need anointing too. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
In John 9:5, Jesus Christ said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world”. He also said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid”. If you are a child of God, it means you are qualified to be called light. Jesus went further to say, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”(Matthew 5:1-6). Everything God does, He does excellently. It means His shining is extraordinary. He wants you also to shine extraordinarily. God wants you to shine like Joseph did. In Genesis 41:1-44, when Joseph gave the interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams, the latter said, “We cannot find another man like this in whom the Spirit of God dwells”. The Lord wants us to shine like Moses. In Numbers 12:3, the Bible said, “There’s no man as meek as Moses”. He shone in his meekness. He wants us to shine like Deborah; In Judges 4:1-14, when it was time to go to war, even the captain said, ‘I won’t go unless Deborah comes along’ and she went with him. He wants us to shine like Daniel. In Daniel 6:1-3, the Bible tells us that even though there were three people chosen to supervise other officers of the kingdom, Daniel excelled amongst them. An excellent spirit was found in him; he shone. Now as Christians, we will shine by sharing the gospel and turning men to righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 6:1-8, some people were chosen to be the original deacons, but if I ask you today, “Who is Prochorus? Who is Nicanor? Who is Timon?” you will most likely say, “I don’t know”. They were among the seven deacons; they were chosen but didn’t shine. God called you to shine. May you shine so brightly that the name of the Almighty God will be praised continually in your life. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
The Lord Jesus Christ said all commandments from God could be summarised into two: One, you must love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and two, love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). It is however easy to say, “I love God” with your mouth but what will really show your love for God is your obedience to all His commandments (John 14:15). You also cannot say you love your neighbour without showing it in your actions. All followers of Christ have been commissioned to preach the gospel to all creatures (Mark 16:15) so, if you truly love God and your neighbours, everything you do will be to tell them about Jesus. We are enjoying Christ now because somebody told us about Him. We were taught that Jesus is the burden-bearer (Matthew 11:28) Many of us came to Jesus because of our burdens. Nothing could have dragged me to that little building they were calling the headquarters of The Redeemed Christian Church of God but a big problem. Someone invited me to the church and said, “The Lord Jesus will carry your burden”. I never would have imagined myself worshipping in a small church built with wood, rather than a cathedral, if not for the burden I had. Tell your friends that God is the great provider. Philippians 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. Tell your friends that Jesus Christ is the great enabler. He can help you and grant you all round success because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13). As far as God is concerned, there are no two ways. You either love Him or hate Him. If you love Him, you will love your neighbours and tell them all you know about Jesus. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
It is common knowledge that the Church is meant to be for people called out by God. Christ is the Head of the Church because the most important part of anybody is the head. The head is so important that when you want to take a passport photograph, all you take is a picture of your head. The heart, kidney and liver can be transplanted, but there has never been a successful head transplant. Is Christ your head? If your answer is yes, is He your vision? The eyes are a major part of the head and we know how important vision is. Where there’s no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18). Is Christ your hearing? If Christ is your hearing, then your faith will continue to grow because Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14). That will lead us to the nose. What you breathe in and out counts because according to Acts 17:28, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being…” You are alive as a Christian if you’re breathing in and breathing out Christ. Who controls your brain? What do you allow your mind to dwell on? Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Philippians 4:8 tells us the kind of thoughts we should have: pure, lovely, virtuous, good and praise-worthy thoughts. Who controls your mouth? What do you eat? Who do you praise – God or man? John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. How do you pray? Who controls you in prayer? John 14:14 says, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it”. You will be a successful Christian if Christ is your Head – the Controller. Our prayer should thus be, “Christ, please be my head”, because if all is well with the head, you can handle whatever is before you. If something goes wrong with the head, every other thing will go wrong. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
When it comes to anointing, God is so generous that He gives it in abundance. He anointed David in the presence of his brethren in 1 Samuel 16:13, again as king over Judah in 2 Samuel 2:4 and yet again as king over the whole of Israel in 2 Samuel 5:3. God just kept on pouring the anointing on him. In Acts 19:11-12, the Bible says He so anointed Paul that his handkerchiefs were healing the sick. In Acts 5:15, He so anointed Peter that anything his shadow touched was impacted by the anointing. Once while on a visit to one of my children in the United States, I saw four women moving up and down in the kitchen. I wondered why his wife had so many people helping to prepare a meal for me. Little did I know that those four women had been trusting God for the fruit of the womb. In any case, I ate and left. After I left, one by one, the women sat on the chair I had used and nine months later, three of them were already carrying their children while the fourth gave birth three months after the first three. From this moment on, everywhere you walk past will become anointed, in Jesus’ name. If you want this kind of anointing, you must be ready to live a life of consecration. You cannot be in love with the things of this world and expect to carry this kind of anointing. Those who are anointed to overflowing are addicted to prayers and Bible study. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:27-28: In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and unclothedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. God only gives this kind of anointing to people who are totally sold out to Him. When you begin to receive this anointing, be sure to use it, so that it doesn’t diminish. Just as batteries have a life span, the anointing also has a lifespan. Use the anointing the Lord has given you for His glory so you don’t lose it. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
God is so generous that when He wants to give you victory, He makes you more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). He doesn’t just give you victory, He gives it abundantly. David said in Psalm 23:5 that God did not only give him victory over his enemies, He also prepared a table for him right in their presence. Now that is a different level of victory. In 2 Chronicles 20:1-25, three kings came against Jehoshaphat, but God used them to destroy one another and then all their wealth was transferred to Jehoshaphat. Without fighting at all, Jehoshaphat and his people enjoyed victory and gained so much spoil that it took three days to transport it all to their country. This is in line with God’s promise in Deuteronomy 28:7: The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Almighty God says that because He has decided to help you, those who are incensed against you shall perish and become as nothing (Isaiah 41:10-13). The Lord says He shall fight for you while you just hold your peace (Exodus 14:14). He says further in Colossians 2:14-15: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. You should be rejoicing if you are truly a child of God. Those who don’t know Jesus Christ don’t know what they are missing. The One inside you is greater than he that is in the world. To qualify as one of those who God loves and abides with, simply obey Him (John 14:23). If you want to experience victory over your enemies without a fight, obey all His commandments. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
My God is so generous that when He wants to make the barren fruitful, He gives them multiple babies. If you don’t believe me, ask Hannah. In 1 Samuel 2:21, Hannah asked for just one boy and even promised to give him back to God, but the Lord gave her the boy she asked for and five more children! I have good news for at least one woman who has been labelled barren: In nine months’ time, you will be carrying your twins, in Jesus’ name. There have been several testimonies at our programmes in The Redeemed Christian Church of God where people were told by doctors that they could not have a baby and God gave them multiple babies. There was one particular woman who the doctors had told that her womb was too small to accommodate a baby. She wrote us and we prayed. From that same womb pronounced as ‘too small’ for one baby, four babies came out at once. I decree once again: It doesn’t matter how long you have been waiting for the fruit of the womb, my God will give you multiple children in nine months’ time, in Jesus’ name. If you’re already bearing fruit and want more, note that John 15:1-2 says if you already have fruit, God will make sure that you bear even more. Being fruitful is however, not limited to child bearing; it also involves business, ministry and many more areas of life. There are two types of fruitful people – those whose fruits increase by addition and those whose fruits increase by multiplication. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to multiply than to merely increase by addition. The secret to your fruits multiplying is in thanksgiving. When you thank God adequately for the things He did for you yesterday, He will do even more for you today. After Hannah had Samuel, she sang a song of thanksgiving to God and He gave her five more children (1 Samuel 2:1-10, 21). When Jesus needed the multiplication anointing to work on the five loaves of bread and two fishes in Matthew 14:13-21, He simply thanked God for the provision and it began to multiply. Thank God for His provision and watch Him transform you from the realm of additional increase to that of divine multiplication. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Our God is very generous. When He decides to bless, He does so abundantly. For example, when the wedding hosts ran out of wine for their guests, Jesus gave them much better wine in abundance (John 2:1-11). Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” In Deuteronomy 28:1-2, He talks about great blessings – blessing so great that they’ll overtake you. The kind of blessing that will cause you to say, “Lord this is too much” will begin to come your way from now, in Jesus’ name. Beyond loading you with blessings every day, God can make you so blessed that you will become a blessing to others. That is what He did through Solomon. In 1 Kings 3:13, God said He would bless Solomon so much that no king would be like him all through his life. Solomon’s blessing caused the Israelites to be blessed also. 1 Kings 10:27 says, “And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.” God can do the same for you. He can bless you so much that no one in your generation will ever be poor again. This type of blessing however, comes to those who give sacrificially to God like Solomon did in 1 Kings 3:4. In 2007, one young man came to me, saying he wanted to pay for the feeding at our next convention so I gave him a conservative estimate of what it would cost to feed one million people twice daily for a week. He said he would get back to me. I didn’t expect to see him again, but he came back the following week as promised and paid for it. Apparently, he had gone to get a loan from a bank because he couldn’t afford it. Before long, the same bank he took the loan from invited him to become their Managing Director. If you are willing to give sacrificially to God, He will also make you so blessed that you will become a blessing to others. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
God doesn’t know how to be stingy; whatever He does, He does generously. David said in Psalm 23:5, “…thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over”. That is God’s nature; when He gives you something, He gives it to you in abundance. One day many years ago while I was preaching, the Lord said there was someone in the congregation who would get three breakthroughs. The first was to be given completely to Him, the second shared between the fellow and Him and then the third one would be for the fellow alone. Sometime later, a woman came to me with a huge amount of money and said she had come to fulfil her part of the bargain. I knew this woman – she was a widow whose husband had left a huge debt upon his death. She however, insisted that the prophecy was for her and I couldn’t do anything to dissuade her. Not long after, she returned with more money, saying this was half of the second breakthrough. After this, she came back with a testimony: the bank her husband had been indebted to called her to apologise, saying they had made a mistake and rather than her husband owing them, they were the ones owing him! They paid the money to her and it was a lot. When God sets you free from debt, He does it such that it will be difficult for you to get into debt again. If you are in debt now, the All-Sufficient God will set you free from it, in Jesus’ name. John 8:36 says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”. When a person is medically healed from an ailment, there might still be traces left behind, but when Jesus sets you free, He does it perfectly, making you whole. If you have been in any form of bondage, receive total freedom right now, in Jesus’ name. Not only will God set you free indeed, He can even empower you to set captives free (Mark 16:17), so that you would cast out demons from their victims. This privilege is given to God’s children who are ready to fast and pray often (Matthew 17:21). Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
My God is a very generous God. When He wants to save someone, He doesn’t just save the fellow’s soul, He wipes away all records of that person’s sin to make it as if he had never committed any. 1 John 1:7 says, “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.” Believe me honestly, it does not matter how badly you have sinned in the past, God can still save your soul and use you for His glory. After saving your soul, He doesn’t just leave you to figure out how you can remain holy by yourself, He gives you the ability not to sin again by changing your heart from a heart of stone to one of flesh. 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. Ezekiel 36:26 This is the real meaning of grace, when you become empowered by God to live holy. Beyond giving you the grace to live holy, God is so generous that He can even use you to save the souls of other people from going to hell. This is such a rare privilege because anyone you bring into the kingdom of God becomes your child in the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:15). When was the last time you won a soul to Christ? When was the last time you let God use you to snatch someone from the hands of the devil into the loving hands of Christ? If you don’t extend the same grace that God has given you to become His child to your friends and family members, you are being wicked to them. God makes the feet of those who preach His word beautiful. …How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:15 Tell every unbeliever around you about Jesus Christ before it is too late. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
My God is the All-Sufficient One and He is very generous. When He wants to heal, He heals completely. While doctors often caution on the side effects of prescribed medication, there are no side effects with divine healing. When God heals you, He heals completely. Some years ago, the wound from a surgery conducted on a woman refused to heal because of her advanced age. I told her daughter to bring a handkerchief, prayed on it and asked her to put it on her mother. She did so and by the next day, not only was the wound healed, they could not find any scar where the doctors had operated. When my God heals, He does it completely. Beyond complete healing, God is so generous that He can go further to make sure you are never sick again. Exodus 15:26 says, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee”. If you make holiness your lifestyle, God can make it such that sickness will become a stranger to you. Beyond making sure that you don’t fall sick again, my God is so generous that He can allow His healing virtue to start flowing through you. All these can be available to you under certain conditions. Firstly, you must be a child of God because healing is children’s meat (Matthew 15:21-28). My God is not a healing contractor; He only heals those who are His children. Once in a while, He could heal an unbeliever on credit, expecting the fellow to become a member of His family by accepting Jesus as his or her Lord and Saviour. If however, the fellow still refuses to become born again, then a worse sickness could follow (John 5:14). To get to the level of overflowing healing virtue by which you would be healing others, you must also have faith. Mark 16:17-18 says you must be a believer. With faith, lay hands on people who need healing and sooner than later, you would begin to see them being healed. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Anger is one major tool that the devil uses to destroy destinies. Everybody knows clearly that no one just gets angry for no reason, without any provocation. Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools”. In Numbers 20:1-12, Moses – who had been labouring for God for forty years and leading a very difficult set of people, lost his temper just before he got to the promised land and so didn’t enter into it. Watch it: anytime something is about to make you angry, quickly check yourself; the devil may be preparing to spring an attack. Anger is very dangerous. There was a man whose only problem was anger. Whenever he got angry, he could do anything. He had just bought a brand new car, parked it in front of the house and was rejoicing when his son took something sharp and scratched it on the new car. This man saw it and out of anger, used the first thing he saw – a hammer, to smash his son’s hand. The boy screamed. Upon realising what he had done, the man rushed the boy to the hospital, where the doctor said the only solution was to amputate the boy’s fingers. The following day, he went to see the boy in the hospital and the boy said to him, “Daddy, when will my fingers grow again?” The man went back home with a very heavy heart. He then decided to go and check what the boy had written on the car anyway. The boy had written on the car, “Daddy, I love you”. The man was so devastated that he committed suicide. Anger is temporary madness; that is why you hear people say, “I was mad with him” and they say it with pride. If you really want to fulfil your destiny, you have to deal with anger in your life. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs 16:32 Rule your spirit. Don’t let anger bring you down. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Many a time, people have something in their lives that they know is wrong, but say, “It’s not too bad”. By the time you say it is not too bad, it means it’s already bad; you are just looking for an adjective to qualify ‘bad’. In Genesis 9:20-25, Noah – that great man of God who survived the flood, must have had a habit of drinking just a little wine occasionally. Not too bad, right? However, one day, he took one cup too many and became drunk. When he woke up, he pronounced a curse on one of his three sons, saying he would become a servant of servants. He cursed his own legacy. Worse still is the second man with this same habit – Lot. In Genesis 19:30-38; Lot had just been rescued from destruction, but he too had the habit of taking just a little wine occasionally. His two daughters got him drunk and made him sleep with them one after the other and he produced children by them. When you go through the Scriptures to see these two families that he produced, you wouldn’t want to end up like them. One set were the Moabites (Genesis 19:37) and the second were the Ammonites – a people so terrible that they ripped open a pregnant woman (Amos 1:13). See what God had to say about them in Zephaniah 2:9: Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. All these happened because Lot decided to drink just a ‘little wine’. Stop indulging your bad habits; stop justifying your evil actions. Don’t indulge in anything that is bad at all. Abstain from anything that does not glorify the Lord. Only then can your destiny really be secure in Christ. For some, it is secular music or unnecessary closeness to people of the opposite sex. That is all the devil needs to get you into fornication. Song of Solomon 2:15 says, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
If you cannot control your tongue, it is only a matter of time before you talk yourself into destruction. Hidden behind the need to always talk is the need to be noticed – the need to get everyone’s attention, and that alone is enough to destroy anyone. In 2 Samuel 1:1-16, we read about the young man who just wanted to get unnecessary attention. He formulated a story that he thought would impress David, telling him that he had killed Saul, not knowing that his quest for attention would be his undoing. 2 Samuel 1:16 says: And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’s anointed. Believe me honestly, the less you talk, the better for you, because everything you are saying is being recorded and will be played back on the day of judgment. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” I was at a meeting with some big men of God and there was one fellow there who talked and talked to such an extent that I said, “Sir, you think you know more than every one of us? If you would just keep quiet, you might learn something.” Wise people listen more than they speak because they know that the more they understand, the better the value of what they say. James 1:19 says that you must be quick to hear and slow to speak. In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:19 Controlling your tongue is a major key to living holy. May your tongue not take you to hell, in Jesus’ name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Philippians 3:18-19 says: (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) When you see some people cutting corners and you ask them, “Why are you doing this?”, they say, “I must eat”. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 says we must not be brought under the power of anything in this world then went further to show that food is temporary. Don’t let something temporary send you to permanent destruction in hell. How often do you fast? Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 17:21, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”. There are problems and demons around you that will not leave except by fasting and prayer. One day in my village, just as I was about to have my favourite dish of pounded yam with combination okro soup, God said to me, “Don’t eat, you are to fast today”. I argued with Him and ate the food. Just as I finished eating, someone came to call me to pray for my sister who had gotten small pox. You don’t face small pox with a belly full of pounded yam. I had to go stick my finger down my throat to throw up the food. Only then was I able to pray for my sister and she was healed. When God asks you to fast, don’t disobey because He has His reasons and it is always for your good. I was never one to fast before. The first time somebody told me that I was to fast for three days and nights without food, I called him a murderer. However, God gave me victory over my belly. I started fasting and little by little, I went from three days to five days and on and on until I started fasting for over forty days and nights. Whenever I am about to start a fast, I mark the days from when the fast is to start to when it ends, point to my stomach and say, “Belly, as from that day, no more food for you until so and so day”. When you are on a fast, you’ll suddenly be more aware of food around you, but you must resist the temptation to eat and stay focused on your goal. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
It may surprise you that food can also be a destiny destroyer. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Philippians 3:19 Some people have turned food to their god. Such persons are so mindful of food that it is the most important thing to them. There are many Christians who cannot go one day without food. If food controls you, then it is your god and it can destroy you. Esau was one man who food controlled. He was so controlled by food that he sold his birthright for a plate of porridge. Jacob on the other hand was willing to stay without the porridge he had cooked in order to get something valuable for the fulfilment of his destiny (Genesis 25:29-34). If you check that Scripture closely, you will see that Jacob even added bread to the porridge he gave to Esau. He knew that the moment was a destiny-defining one, so he declared a fast for himself. Because of that seemingly simple transaction, Esau lost the blessing of his father and missed the chance to have the Israelites as his children. You may not know it, but sometimes when God asks you to fast, it is because He wants to give you a destiny-fulfilling encounter. The primary purpose of food is just to give you strength. You are to eat to live, not live to eat. The Bible says that there is a due season to eat (Psalm 145:15). In other words, there are seasons when you should not be eating at all – when you should be fasting. Do you have such seasons planned into your year? Apostle Paul said he fasted often (2 Corinthians 11:27). Your fasting must be often. I have heard some preachers say that Jesus had already fasted for us when He was on earth so we don’t need to fast again. That is a big lie; read the Bible for yourself. Jesus said in Mark 2:19 that after His ascension, His disciples would fast. He has ascended, so we must fast. Don’t let food rob you of your God-ordained destiny. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Sexual lust has destroyed and is still destroying the destinies of many. I know there are people who will tell you that even if you fool around sexually, you will still make it to heaven. Don’t let them send you to hell with their false doctrine. 1 Corinthians 3:17 says, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are”. You think adultery or fornication is something to be toyed with? In Numbers 31:1-16, the people of Israel were indestructible because God was solidly behind them, but then the enemy decided to send beautiful ladies into their camp and the people of Israel began to fornicate. After that, the enemy did not need to do anything; it was God Himself who started destroying them. If you are lusting after someone you’re not married to, you had better save your destiny by staying away from such a person because that is the strategy of the devil to destroy you. There are many people suffering all manners of plagues because of fornication and adultery. Don’t be one of them. If you are old enough for marriage, pray for God’s direction and go through the Church when you want to start your courtship with whomever God has led you to. You may say that is ‘old-school’ mentality, but that is what has kept some of us standing and on the right path of destiny for many decades. It is better to be old-school than to be destroyed. Let the Church be involved in your courtship and make sure that you and your spouse-to-be never meet in private places where you can commit sin. There are many people who set themselves up to fall into fornication by being too close to the opposite sex or staying alone in private places with them. Once you notice that you are beginning to lust after someone, declare a fast immediately to kill that lust in your flesh. Lust thrives in secrecy, don’t cover it up. Beloved, don’t engage in fornication or adultery; don’t defile the temple of God. If you do, you are calling for judgment on yourself. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
From James 4:6, we see that God resists the proud. In other words, God opposes the proud. If the Almighty God is your opponent, how will you ever win? The major problem of proud people is that they don’t even know that they are proud. They call it other beautiful names like self-respect, self-confidence, or they say, “I am just honouring my position”. Saul was asking Samuel to honour his position in (1 Samuel 15:30) when he lost his throne. David on the other hand danced like a commoner even as king and was mocked by his own wife. He told her, “I am dancing for the One who made me king in the place of your father” (2 Samuel 6:16-21). During praise and worship, you will know who is proud and who is not. Look at children; because they aren’t seeking to protect any position or anything like that, they just praise God, dancing the best way they can. During a service we held in one of the Universities in Nigeria, the Vice Chancellor danced even more than the students. God looked down from heaven and saw that, so when some weeks later the enemy rose up to remove him, the Lord of hosts fought on his behalf and gave him victory. When you humble yourself, God fights your battles for you. After one of the biggest programmes we ever held – tagged Lekki ’98, I got back to the Camp and that night during my prayer walk, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., I suddenly heard God say, “Son, bend down and draw the figure of a man in the sand”. I drew the figure and then He said, “Stand up and wipe out what you have drawn with your foot”. I did that, and then He said, “Son, if you ever forget who is in charge, I will wipe you out and nobody will ever remember you came into the world”. It does not matter how high God has taken you, He can bring you down with the snap of His fingers. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”. You would be wise to become more humble as you rise, because the higher you go, the greater the fall if you become proud. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Proverbs 29:23 Pride is one of the greatest destroyers of men – especially those who have achieved something great. That means if the devil wants to bring a great man down, he does not have to bother himself sending witches and wizards to that man; all he has to do is bring out the pride in the man. Proverbs 25:27 says: It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. Seeking glory for yourself will not bring you glory but shame. Stop seeking people to lift you on their shoulders as if you are the best thing to have come into the world; humble yourself. The devil was once a very special arch-angel in heaven, but pride got into his head because of how beautiful he was. He started seeking glory for himself, even the glory of God’s own throne. He ended up being brought so low that, at the end of time, he will be locked up in the pit of fire to suffer forever. The prescription of God for every Christian is to prefer others above yourself in honour. Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another”. The day you forget that everything you have is given to you by God is the day you begin to decline. Nebuchadnezzar was warned in Daniel 4:24-27 like I am warning you now, but he didn’t heed the counsel. Pride rose up in him and he started to boast about the things that God had done through him, calling them his achievements. He was brought so low that he was eating grass with the animals in the bush. James 4:6 says those who want the grace of God to work in their lives must be humble. Be humble, pride is a destiny destroyer. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Between every two days in a man’s life, there is always a night. Even Jesus Christ experienced His own share of days and nights. Jesus’ first day came when He was born. Luke 2:8-14 says even the heavenly mass choir paid a visit to the world to sing at His birth. Everyone, including the king knew that a special child had been born. As Jesus grew up, He enjoyed tremendous support from God and performed several great miracles. His first day lasted for thirty three and a half years. After Jesus’ first day came the night when He was crucified (Matthew 27). There was darkness at noon as the sun refused to shine that day (Mark 15:33). He was lonely as all his friends had forsaken him. His very close friend even denied Him (Matthew 26:69-74). There was also sorrow and fear amongst His disciples (John 20:19). Thank God the night lasted for just three days. If you are in a period of night now, that night will end today in Jesus’ name. Matthew 28:1-7 marked the beginning of Jesus’ second day. Several things happened to herald the new day. First was a great earthquake to signify to the whole world that a new day had come. Then an angel came down, rolled away the stone to His tomb and sat on it. He sat on it to say, this time around, we have permanent victory. From today onward, every door that God opens to you will never be shut again in Jesus’ name. Matthew 28:4 says the keepers became paralyzed by fear, they were so frightened, they fell down as dead. That is good news for you because now that you are in the season of your Saviour’s day, when your enemies see you coming, it’s either they run or they faint. Jesus’ day is one that will last forever. Soon, He will come to take His children so we can reign with Him in glory. If you are amongst His children, congratulations, but if you are still committing sin, then you are crucifying Jesus Christ afresh (Hebrews 6:6) so you will be treated like one of those who crucified Him. If you are wise, you will give your life to Him now and stay away from sin forever. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Imagine that you are right at the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion and you are looking at Him on the cross. What do you see? You will be right if you say, “I see a man in pain”. He had been beaten and a crown of thorns had been placed on His head before His crucifixion John 19:1-18). Someone else may say, “I see a man who is naked”, because according to Matthew 27:35, they even took His garment away from Him. That is the highest level of shame that a man can experience, to be naked in front of multitudes. Another person could also say, “I see a man being ridiculed”. Matthew 27:39-44 says people that were passing by were saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save”. Though he had the power to call for angels to rescue Him, He chose to endure the ridicule so that you and I can have a chance of spending eternity in Heaven. I want you to imagine the president of the most powerful country in the world holding a device in his hand with which he can call on his army anytime, yet he subjected himself to some terrorists who were about to kill him and were mocking him, “You call yourself the President of a nation with weapons of mass destruction, look at you now, you cannot save yourself”. That is similar to what Jesus did just so that you and I will not perish in hell. Without any doubt, when you look at Jesus on the cross, you will see a man in sorrow. You cannot be in pain, naked, in shame, ridiculed, and be joyous. Isaiah saw the scene of Jesus’ death many years before and he called Him a man of sorrow (Isaiah 53:3-5). If you however take a closer look at Jesus as He hung on the cross, you will see a man in love. A man so much in love with you and I that He went through the highest level of physical and emotional pain to save our soul. Thank God He resurrected on the third day and has made eternal life available to all those who surrender their lives to Him. Beloved, don’t let that sacrifice go to waste. Don’t live your life for the devil, live your life for the One who loves you so much that He gave His life for you. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
In John 17:4, when Jesus was praying before His crucifixion, He said to His Father that He had finished His assignment. Later on in John 19:30, He said, “It is finished”; in other words, ‘Mission accomplished.’ After His ascension, He said to His disciples in Acts 1:8 that the Holy Ghost would come upon them and they would receive power. What is power? Power in layman’s language is the ability to do work efficiently. The power you need to fulfil your destiny as ordained by God is in the Holy Ghost. In Luke 5:10, Jesus Christ informed Peter that he would begin to catch men and this came into full manifestation 3 years later when the Holy Spirit came on Him and he won 3,000 souls by preaching just one sermon. Growing up, my goal was to be the youngest Vice Chancellor in Africa, but then I gave my life to Jesus Christ in 1973. I got baptised in the Holy Spirit that same year and then something kept moving me in the direction of God’s original plan for my life. I pray that the power of the Almighty God will begin to propel you in the direction of your destiny, in Jesus’ name. Now, the greater the power, the easier it will be for you to reach your goal. For example, if you want to travel from Lagos, Nigeria to Britain, by road and sea, it could take several days, if not weeks, but if you get in an aircraft from Lagos to London, you would have arrived within 6 and a half hours. In Acts 3:1-11, the power of God began to manifest itself in a great manner in the life of Apostle Peter when he made the lame man at the Beautiful Gate walk. The sermon he preached right after that led to the conversion of 5,000 souls (Acts 4:4). By Acts 5:12-16, his shadow had begun to heal the sick and multitudes began to come to Christ. His destiny was being fulfilled at an amazing pace. How speedily do you want to fulfil your destiny? That will depend on how much of the Holy Ghost you carry in you. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
In Luke 4:13-20, Jesus read from Scripture the reason He came to the earth as prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-3. There is however, one surprising thing in that Scripture: He started reading the prophesy of Isaiah about His ministry from the beginning, but when He got to the part that says ‘to preach the acceptable year of the Lord’, He stopped and closed the book. That was not all that Isaiah said; there was more, but in announcing the assignment that He had come to do on earth, Jesus stopped halfway. There must have been a reason for this. We see that reason in Acts 1:8: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Jesus came to the world, lived and died, then sent us the Holy Spirit so that we can continue from where He stopped. The first part of His assignment was fulfilled while He was on earth; the rest, as prophesied by Prophet Isaiah, is to be fulfilled through us His children after we have received the Holy Ghost. Jesus saved you so that He can use you to save others. The question is: are you a ready vessel or not? As you celebrate Easter, don’t forget the assignment the Lord gave to you after He rose from death (Matthew 28:19-20). Does Christ truly have you as a vessel to fulfil His will? Apostle Paul was a man who stopped at nothing to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Easter is not a time to just eat chicken and stay at home relaxing; it’s a time to go out there and let Jesus use you to save unbelievers. It’s a time to proclaim the day of the vengeance of God and to comfort all those who mourn. Let Jesus use you to win at least one soul this season. Tell someone about the day of the vengeance of God and don’t let that fellow end up in hell. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
PRAYERS FOR SELF 1. Thank You Lord for my Iife. Thank You for how far You have brought me and for where You are taking me. I appreciate Your love and help that I have enjoyed thus far. 2. Father, my faith may be small, but I believe You are the Almighty God. Please honour my faith and answer all my prayers today. 3. Father, please lay Your mighty hands on me and grant me speed in the journey of life, in Jesus’ name. Help me Lord to achieve in this year things that would ordinarily take ten years to accomplish. 4. Father, please send me a personal miracle – something specially made for me. In Your own special way Lord, give me a big breakthrough, in Jesus’ name. 5. Father, for the sake of Your glory, please give me the power to work miracles; use me to bring glory to Your name, Lord. 6. Father, please don’t ever let me lose my salvation; keep my lamp burning for You, Lord. 7. Father, please put an end to all demonic influences in my life in Jesus’ name. 8. Father, please remove from me any habit that can negatively affect my life, in Jesus’ name. If I am making a mistake in any area of my life, please draw me back and put me on the right path, in Jesus’ name. 9. Father, make me immune to sicknesses and diseases. Let my body never be an abode for sicknesses again, in Jesus’ name. 10. Father, bless me indeed and enlarge my coast, in Jesus’ name. 11. Father, please let your hand be with me always and keep me away from evil, in Jesus’ name. 12. Your personal prayer point. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Your biggest enemy is not the devil, neither is it your mother-in-law, witches or wizards. As a child of God, you know very well that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). The Bible made it clear that you are more than conquerors through Him that loved you (Romans 8:37). Your number one enemy is yourself. The one who is truly victorious is the one who has conquered himself. When you live according to the dictates of your flesh, you give it permission to destroy you and it is good at doing that. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs 16:32 Samson took down an entire city single-handedly but could not conquer himself. He was so powerful that cities feared him, but in the lap of a woman, he was the weakest of men. Even a little child knows better than to touch a piece of hot iron that had burned him or her before. In Samson’s case however, he told Delilah a lie about the source of his power and awoke to find that she had used the information against him, yet he did not stay away. To make matters worse, he told her the truth at last and ended up grinding corn for the same enemy that used to fear him (Judges 16:6-21). You may say Samson was a fool, but what about you? Have you been staying away from those sins that easily beset you? When a child of God is really fervent, the devil starts searching out his weakness. The moment he finds it, he will try to use it as a weapon for that child of God to destroy himself or herself. That is why you must destroy that weakness before the devil uses it against you. Proverb 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. Control yourself so that you would be victorious against the attacks of the devil. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
To further our discussion from yesterday on the dangers of fighting against God, let us look at what happens when you are fighting on his side. When you decide to fight on the side of God, no matter how big or strong your enemy is, you will win. It doesn’t matter if you are fighting against enemies within your household or those outside – as long as you are on the side of God, they cannot defeat you. The beautiful thing about standing on somebody’s side is that the fellow is also standing beside you, so if any enemy sends an arrow to you, such a person is also sending an arrow to God. That is why no weapon fashioned against you can prosper (Isaiah 54:17). When you are on God’s side, no enemy can defeat you. In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, David talked about how he had killed a lion and a bear and that he would also kill Goliath because God was with him. King Saul then said to him, “Go, and the Lord be with you”. The boy defeated Goliath with just a stone because God was on his side and he was on God’s side (1 Samuel 17:44-50). In Joshua 10:1-14, God was on Joshua’s side because Joshua was on His side. Joshua stopped the sun so that he could defeat his enemies. When you fight the battle of life on God’s side, victory is sure. It doesn’t matter what comes your way, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Jesus Christ assured us in John 16:33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Jesus has overcome the world, so your victory is guaranteed once you are on His side and the first step to ensuring this is to surrender your life to Him. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Sequel to the discussion we started yesterday, the side you take determines who you fight against. If you take the side of God, you would be fighting against the devil and his demons. If you disobey the Lord, then you have chosen the side of the devil and would thus be fighting against God. Believe me honestly, you don’t want to fight God. He is too big for you to take sides against and survive. God has His way of dealing with people who take sides with the devil through disobedience to Him. One way is to withdraw His support from such a fellow like He did in Joshua 7:1-12 when Joshua failed because he had accommodated sin in his camp. Another way is to completely forsake the fellow like He did Samson in Judges 16:18-31. There are many people experiencing either of these today but they don’t realize that it is God fighting them so they keep fighting without realizing that the One they are battling against cannot be defeated. There was a lawyer who once told me that tithing was just a means for pastors to collect people’s hard-earned money. I tried to explain to him that tithing was a commandment from God but he refused to listen, so I said to him: “May I ask God to prove by Himself through you if tithing is His will or not?” He replied, “Pray the prayer” so I did. This brilliant lawyer lost all the three cases he handled immediately after the incident. This tarnished his reputation and he lost some business. This man also owned a bakery and suddenly, during a festive period when most bakeries record higher demand and sales, all his bakers decided to resign from their jobs. He offered to double their salaries but they all insisted that they were leaving. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t get new bakers. After he realized that this must be God fighting him, he came to me and said, “I agree now that tithing is God’s will; please pray for me”. We prayed a simple prayer; he appealed the three cases he had lost and won all of them. His bakers also returned to work with him and everything became good again. Beloved, disobeying God amounts to fighting Him and woe unto him that fights his Maker (Isaiah 45:9). Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Human beings are faced with all kinds of wars from their conception all through to the day they leave this earth. Genesis 38:27 says that when a woman is in labour, she is travailing. After she puts to bed, the child begins to confront all kinds of enemies – known and unknown. In Matthew 10:36, Jesus Christ Himself said a man’s foes will be they of his own household. If the Lord showed you all the relatives and family friends who wanted you to die in infancy, it would surprise you, but thank God you survived. When we talk about household enemies, it could be your father or even your mother. If you don’t believe that parents can be their child’s enemies, read Genesis 27, where you will see how a mother plotted against her own son and denied him of his blessings. I have always wondered about when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him and Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Instead of his father telling him the truth, he said instead, “God will provide”. Isaac must have looked around, shocked as his father was tying him up, thinking, “So I am the ram?” What about the in-laws? Read 1 Samuel 18:29 and you will see a man – King Saul, being described as the enemy of his son-in-law – David. That is not to talk about witches and wizards, principalities and powers, et cetera (Ephesians 6:12). In this warfare, there are two different hosts fighting for the souls of men. You can either decide to take sides with the heavenly host or the demonic hosts – you cannot be neutral. What determines the side you pick are your actions and inactions. If you pick the side of God, then you will stay away from sin and cling to Jesus Christ daily (Luke 9:23); you will pray, study your bible, witness and do all that He requires of you daily. Those who pick the devil’s side live according to the dictates of their flesh and commit sin. For those who stay away from sin, they will end up victorious and make it to heaven at the end (Revelation 3:5), while those who commit sin will end up in the lake of fire with the devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41). The choice is in your actions. |
My Father-in-the-lord – Pa Josiah Akindayomi used to say that your father can only take care of you with what he has. If your father is Jesus Christ, then since He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), has healings in His wings (Malachi 4:2) and all good things come from Him (James 1:17), then He will take care of you with all these. However, if your father is the devil, since he is a thief, liar and killer (John 10:10), then he will harm you with all he has. Which of them do you want as your father? I realised a long time ago that the devil had nothing good to offer me. I remembered about 50 years ago when I was growing very fast. I became a lecturer at the University of Lagos, bought a car and had built a house before I was thirty years old. Due to this fast growth, my people took me to a witch doctor they considered to be very powerful and asked him to give me charms for protection against enemies who may have been jealous of me. The witch doctor asked me to come with a live goat which I must lead through the streets of Oshogbo. Since I thought it was for my good, I parked my car and went through the stress of walking a goat through the streets of Oshogbo to the witch doctor’s house. He gave me three amulets in exchange for the goat – one to be tied to the steering wheel of my car to prevent collision with any car in front of me, the second to be kept in the boot of my car to prevent being hit from behind and the third to be tied to the driver’s seat so that if I was involved in an accident I would just disappear. I returned to Lagos thinking that I was super-charged, but in two weeks, I had three accidents! I realized there was no protection in the amulets and threw them into the lagoon. Thank God that since I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, He has become my Father and the fear of the unknown has been banished from my life. Even if I have enemies, my Lord sets a table for me in their presence (Psalm 23:5). The devil is a liar and has nothing good to offer you. If the devil gives you anything, he will take something far more valuable from you. Don’t fall for his deception. Only God can give good and perfect gifts. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
When you read the Letters to the Churches in the book of Revelation, you would realise that everything that we Christians do here on earth is being observed and recorded in heaven – every single thing. There was once a lady who agreed to go with her Pastor to a hotel to commit fornication. Before they went into the room, they looked left and right to be sure that no one could see them going in. After they got inside, the lady became uncomfortable and told the Pastor, “We looked left and right to be sure no one was looking at us, but we did not look up; God can see us”. (2 Chronicles 16:9) says that God’s eyes are going to and fro all over the earth. When temptations come your way, God is watching you closely to see if you will fall or not. In fact, God and the devil are watching closely. If you fall, then the devil will go boasting to God that he won over you. God forbid that in Jesus’ name. If however, you overcome the temptation, then God will be the one boasting that you are His true child. In Job 19:25-27, Job said it didn’t matter what was happening; his Redeemer was still alive. God must have said to the devil, “Did you hear that?” That is why you must fight every temptation to ensure that you win at the end of the day. I don’t know about you, but I will never let the devil use me as an object to boast before God. Imagine the joy in heaven when Job finally overcame his temptations. The good thing about God seeing everything we do is that when we do good, He sees it and will reward everyone accordingly. If you have been doing good and it looks like no one is noticing, God can see you and in good time, He will reward you. Galatians 6:9 says, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. The moment someone stops doing good and starts sinning, all the good that he or she had done in the past will not be accounted for again (Ezekiel 18:24). Beloved, what is God recording about you right now? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
Many years ago, I was invited as a guest to the swearing-in ceremony of the Head of State along with some other persons. One of these other persons was excited that his invitation letter had ‘A’ written boldly on it. He explained to me that this meant he was a great person. Another had ‘AA’ on his invitation, meaning that he was considered as a more important guest than the one with just ‘A’ and would thus be seated more prominently and get more exclusive treatment. I later explained to them that there was still another level which was ‘AAA’. Indeed, greatness is in levels. You may feel you are great now, but there is always a higher level to get to. Many people get to a certain level and feel they have arrived. The unfortunate thing is that just as there are higher levels to reach, there are also lower levels that can be fallen to. Many a time, you hear of world champions, record setters – great people who were at the top of their profession, career or industry, until someone would come and break their record and set even higher standards. For example, in sports, if an athlete sets a new record, the previous record-holder is immediately referred to as an ex-champion. You must never feel satisfied with your former glory; always seek to break your previous records and set higher ones. I was once a boxer; becoming a boxing champion is great, but every boxer will tell you that to remain a champion is harder than becoming one, because everyone wants to challenge the fellow, to turn him or her into an ex- champion. This is why a champion needs to work harder to retain his or her position at the top. The moment you relax, you begin to regress. You need more of what made you become a champion to remain one. When I turned 80 years old last year, many people thought I would relax. I told them Moses started his ministry at the age of 80; I too have only just begun. Anyone who stops working hard, praying fervently and being generally diligent would soon realise that he or she is going back instead of forward. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. |
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but you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).