₦airaland Forum

In continuation of our enquiry from yesterday into why Peter denied Jesus, let us look at Mark 14:54 again:
And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.

When Peter followed Jesus from afar into the palace of the high priest, he chose to sit with the servants. Who were these servants? Mark 14:65 gives us an insight into the kind of people they were:
And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

These servants were the same ones striking Jesus with the palms of their hands and Peter was sitting with them. In Proverbs 21:16, the Bible talks about the congregation of the dead. This is a congregation of people that do things against the will of God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to stand strong, refusing to deny their God because they were in the company of fellow believers and not unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says:
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

If you spend a lot of time with people who are always talking about the latest clothes and television shows, gossiping about others, planning on how to commit sin right there in front of you, 1 Corinthians 15:33 says they would corrupt you. The more of such sinful and worldly conversations you expose yourself to, the weaker your commitment to Christ would be. Eventually, you would find yourself doing things that you have earlier vowed never to do. Leave the congregation of the dead. 2 Corinthians 6:14 instructs you thus:
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many churchgoers these days are merely paying lip service when they call themselves Christians. If you were to really check, you would discover that instead of carrying their cross to follow Jesus closely, many are only following Him from afar. The moment things get a little bit tough, they deny Him. Peter was an ardent follower of Christ; he was also very vocal about his beliefs, thus he was the last person one would have expected would deny Christ. We need to really enquire about what happened that day in Mark 14.
“And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire”.
Mark 14:54

Take note of the first clause in the passage above - Peter followed Jesus from afar. How closely are you following Jesus now? So many Christians are following Jesus from afar, hence they deny Him over and over again. Peter had boasted of how impossible it was for him to deny Jesus in Mark 14:27-31, but in Mark 14:54, he followed Jesus from afar and ended up denying Him. Why did he follow Jesus from afar? This is because he did not want to be associated with the persecutions of Jesus Christ. Are you also running away from the persecutions of Jesus? You don’t talk like a Christian in the office because you don’t want anyone to tag you with Christ. You go for business meetings and even though you are prompted by the Holy Spirit to pray before the meeting starts, you subdue the prompting because you don’t want the people you are meeting with to know how seriously you take God. You don’t preach the gospel to those you interact with daily because you don’t want them to start calling you a Christian fanatic.

When you let them know from the onset that you are a child of God, there are deals and suggestions that they would never bring your way. On the other hand, if you are following Jesus from afar, they will bring those temptations to you because they have never known you to be serious about your faith. In Church, when you are engulfed in the presence of God and boasting that you will never deny Him like Peter did, ask yourself, When I get out there in the world, would I be following Christ closely or would I be following Him from afar?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.”
Numbers 11:1

God hates murmurings. He hates it so much that in the passage above, He sent fire to consume some of the Israelites who were murmuring. He wants you to live and rejoice in the knowledge of His love and care for you, not to be murmuring. You must understand that whatever it is you are going through, He is aware of it and He will bring you out of that situation victoriously. If you don’t trust Him, then why do you call yourself a believer? As long as you have placed everything in His hands, you can be sure that He would make the best out of the situation.

Sometimes however, we may be faced with situations that would shake us and make us want to question God. Nevertheless, think about it: who are you to question the Maker of heaven and earth? Who are you to judge whether He is doing the right thing or not? Job tried to question Him and by the time God answered, he himself was frightened (Job 38:1-41). When situations get tough, the way to prevent yourself from murmuring is to remember what David said in Psalms 34:1
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Praise God all the time because He knows what He is doing. Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. You may not understand now, but you will soon. If you decide that the praise of the Lord will be in your mouth at all times – no matter the situation, it will be hard for you to complain or murmur about anything. Every day, keep telling Him that He is greater than the greatest; He is higher than the highest, that He is the owner of the cattle upon a thousand hills, reminding yourself that He is the One who parted the Red Sea, that He is the One who brought water out of a rock and so on. Before you know it, your faith would have risen above the situation, showing clearly that your God is greater than whatever mountain you are facing and soon you would be dancing victoriously.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Exodus 17:1-6, the children of Israel were thirsty, so God told Moses to strike a rock that water may come out of it for His children. In Exodus 17:6 the Bible says:
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

You see, the Lord our God is the Rock (2 Samuel 22:32). He was with the Israelites all through their journey in the wilderness and this further validates Hebrews 13:5 where God said He would never leave nor forsake us.

In Numbers 20:1-12, God told Moses to speak to the rock, but instead of speaking, Moses smote it and God was angry with him. The Lord is not to be smitten twice. The first time Jesus was smitten on the cross of Calvary, He gave us living water which is the Holy Spirit. After that time, we are to speak to Him. Anyone who smites Him again is inviting the wrath of God. Hebrews 6:6 says whenever you sin, you are crucifying Christ the second time. In Hebrews 10:26-27, the Bible says:
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

If after you have gotten to know Christ and His blood has washed away your sins, you then go back into sin, you are inviting the wrath of God. Proverbs 26:11 says it is dogs that go back to their vomit and Revelation 22:15 says the place of dogs is outside. The word ‘backsliding’ denotes a gradual process backwards. Check your life: are there some things that you stopped doing when you became born again, but now you are gradually going back to them? Stop those things immediately! Don’t smite the Rock the second time! Don’t invite the wrath of God upon your life.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The boy in John 6:5-13 who gave his lunch to Jesus Christ was not named. One would expect that a boy like that who was selfless enough to share his lunch, through which over 5,000 people were miraculously fed, would have been named in the Bible, but the Scriptures are silent about his name. Not only he; many of the vessels of honour in the Bible were not named. For example, the slave girl in 2 Kings 5:1-3 who brought salvation to Syria was not named, the fellow who the disciples saw casting out demons in Jesus name in Luke 9:49 was also not named. This tells us that the work of God is not a popularity contest. You don’t have to be popular to be relevant and of great use to the Kingdom of God. When i see people struggling to be seen and recognized publicly while doing the work of God, I wonder if they understand the nature of the assignment they are called to. That’s why in Mark 1:45, when the leper who Jesus healed went around telling everyone about his healing, Jesus could not enter the city openly again. Jesus knew that the spotlight was going to distract Him from the real work which He was to do, so He stayed in the desert to carry out His assignment.

When you read Mark 1:10-13, you will see one of the dangers of being publicly recognized. The moment God bragged about Jesus Christ to the hearing of the public, Satan heard and a season of trials and temptations began for Jesus immediately. In 1 Samuel 13:14, Samuel announced that God had found a man after His heart to replace Saul. Immediately Satan heard that, he began to look out for who that man was. In 1 Samuel 16:11, when Samuel said nobody would sit until David arrived to be anointed, Satan knew it was David, so he raised Goliath against Israel so that David would not fulfil his God-given destiny. David killed Goliath and it became abundantly clear that David was loved and chosen by God, so the devil raised Saul against him and a season of trials began for David during which he resorted to hiding in caves. The moment you are hailed in public, the devil marks you for trial. Be wise; one of the prayer points in the Lord’s prayer is, "Lead us not into temptation".

Don’t bother about public recognition. Just face the work that God wants you to do, not the spotlight.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

“Watch what you watch" means, be mindful of what you feed your eyes on. Be careful of the lust of the flesh which is usually fuelled by what our eyes feast on. Be careful of what you permit to attract your attention. There are many people who have dipped their hands into sin so they can acquire material wealth simply because they have seen others in the world do the same. What do you permit your eyes to see?.

One major goal of every Christian must be to bring his flesh under the control of his spirit, as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 9:27:
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

There is a tussle for supremacy between the flesh and your spirit (Galatians 5:17). This battle will however, be won by the stronger party. What you focus on will determine if you are feeding your spirit to be stronger than your flesh or vice versa.

If your focus is on things beneath, if all you are after are things that will gratify your flesh, then it will be stronger and will be in control of your spirit. Your mind and focus must be set on the things of God only (Colossians 3:1-2).

There are two ways by which you can tell if your focus is on the things of God or the flesh. One is about how you spend your money. When you get any amount of money, is your priority on spending for God or spending to gratify yourself? If you hear that there is a need in the house of God, do you take it upon yourself to use the resources in your hands to meet it or do you act as if the need is not your business?

Another way to know what your heart is set on is to check your ambitions. When you talk about your ambitions, are they in line with glorifying God or yourself? Why do you want a promotion in your place of work? Why do you want more money? Is it all to satisfy yourself or to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth? Check your ambitions and ensure that they are glorifying God and not yourself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We shall continue to examine more blessings from the victory at Calvary today. The first one we will consider today can be seen in John 15:15 which says:
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

The sacrifice and victory at calvary qualify believers to be called friends of Jesus. This also makes every believer an ambassador of the Most High on earth, as we see in 2 Corinthians 5:20:
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

The implication of the above blessing is in Mark 16:15-20. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature Jesus commanded. You enjoy the privilege of an ambassador for the Almighty God when you have a divine encounter with Jesus Christ. With this comes the assurance that He will be with us until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). The good thing about this assurance is that the Scripture says, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

Another blessing from the victory at Calvary is that every believer can become a vessel through which God performs miracles. This means that we can control circumstances, principalities and powers, as we see in Mark 16:15-20.

There is a lot to rejoice over in the Scripture above. While it is true that there is still a lot of evil in the world, there are, however, numerous instances of devils being cast out of people, of persons in one form of bondage or the other being set free and so on. More and more people are baptised with the Holy Spirit, and we are constantly slaying spiritual giants. Even when we eat deadly things, they cannot harm us, and when we lay our hands on the sick, they are healed.

The only way to be part of these blessings is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If you haven’t done so already, surrender your life to Him today, so that the blessings from the victory at Calvary can become yours, also.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Today, we started to discuss the blessings from the victory at Calvary, and we identified two out of the numerous blessings that accrued to us from it. Today, we shall be asking ourselves a couple of questions to better understand the implication of these blessings. These questions are:
(1) What is a Curse? (2) What is a Blessing?

A curse is a condition in which unseen forces that hinder progress attack a fellow, with the aim of destroying him or her. Classic characteristics of a curse are found in Deuteronomy 28:15-20, the last verse of which reads:
The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

A lot of lessons are embedded in the Scripture above. One, God does not witch-hunt anyone. He would warn before placing a curse on anyone just as He did in the case of Adam and Eve, though they still fell for the devils trick, leading to the fulfilment of the predicted curses. Two, the Lord reveals the reason for a curse disobedience to divine law, ungodliness and all wickedness associated with it.

A blessing, on the other hand, is a result of unseen forces, summoned in heaven and sent to the earth to support the beneficiary to succeed, even where others are failing. A classic example is Jacobs blessing in Genesis 27:28-29 which reads:
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

Beloved, if you desire the blessings of Calvary in your life, come to Jesus and truly surrender your life to Him. His blessings will indeed prosper you without adding any form of sorrow (Proverbs 10:22).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We should thank God for the victory at Calvary. The fiercest battle in history is the one fought by our Lord Jesus at Calvary in which He defeated sin, Satan and death. The battleground was set in Genesis 3:1-15 and the seed of the woman finally crushed the head of the old serpent and declared, "It is finished", as He paid the supreme price (John 19:30).

There are numerous blessings from the sacrifice at Calvary. The first is deliverance from the curse of the law. The Law came as a schoolmaster, according to Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:13, Galatians 3:24-25. The law is the weapon that our accuser – the devil, uses to condemn us, according to Revelation 12:10 which says:
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

Another beautiful thing about the battle at Calvary is that it brings the blessings of Abraham to the entire world. The blessings that had been the exclusive inheritance of the Jews became available to the gentiles also, according to Galatians 3:14 which says: “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Thus, the blessings of Calvary have given us victory over sin, over the devil and over death. However, even beyond that, the events at Calvary gave us the right to call the Almighty God Father.

Beloved, the only way to access the blessings of the victory at Calvary is to surrender your life completely to Jesus Christ. Obeying all His commandments demonstrates that you truly love Him, and this qualifies you to access the blessings of Calvary.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Psalm 127:1 says that you cannot build a house except you obtain mercy from God, neither can there be safety unless He provides it. In other words, there is virtually nothing good a man can achieve without the mercy of God which provides the platform for His help.

I received a letter not long ago from someone who said he had started building a house in 1981 and up to the time he was writing the letter (over 30 years later), he hadn’t roofed it yet. It is only by Gods mercy that you can start and finish any project successfully. Thus, it doesn’t matter how many bodyguards you have, unless God has mercy on you, your life is not protected. You can have bodyguards against hired assassins and armed robbers, but can you have bodyguards against sicknesses? Can you have bodyguards against spiritual attacks? Only Gods mercy can truly protect you.

No matter how much you labour at anything, you cannot succeed without the mercy of God. It is Gods mercy that grants us the help we need.

Many years ago, the son of a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God had just finished his degree abroad and his father was rejoicing. He told his father something frightening that day; he said, "Dad, I know that you sent me abroad to study because you love me, but thank your God that I did not end up disgracing you because of the kind of friends I found myself amongst in school. The father was doing the right thing by sending his child to a good school, but, had it not been for the mercy of God, he would have regretted it. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 says Paul may plant, Apollo may water, but it is God who gives increase. From my personal experience I know you can get to the exam hall and just blank out. Farmers can have no harvest even though they did all that they should to get one. A hardworking fisherman like Peter can fish all night and catch nothing (Luke 5:5). That is why wise people, when they need help, ask God for mercy.

In Mark 10:47, Bartimaeus kept crying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus had mercy on him. In Luke 17:11-19, the ten lepers saw Jesus, stood far away and cried for mercy; they were cleansed. What is that problem you need a solution to? Change your prayer point today and just ask God for mercy.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We see clearly in Ezekiel 16:49 that one of the major problems that led to the destruction of Sodom is idleness. Idleness also caused David great sorrow. At a time when kings went to war, he stayed at home and this led to him committing adultery and murder. These sins invoked Gods anger and a curse was placed upon him and his lineage (2 Samuel 11:1-27).

Solomon also fell into the trap of idleness, which caused his heart to be turned away from God. After he had built the temple of God and a new palace, he had nothing else to do. There were no wars to fight, no territories to conquer, and so he relaxed. He started marrying women he had no business with until he ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines. In his relaxed state, his wives began to turn him away from the Most High God, and before he knew it, he was already building temples for and sacrificing to strange gods. Solomon started with so much respect and honour for God that he gave the largest sacrifice in the Bible to the Lord. This was a man who God appeared to twice, but idleness brought him to the point where he began to serve other gods. He displeased God greatly, and this led to him losing part of his father’s heritage (1 Kings 11:1-11).

Jesus Christ said His father works and likewise Himself (John 5:17). Who then do you want to emulate by being idle? Imagine if, in your house, everyone – including the father of the house helps out with chores, yet one of the children never works but loafs around the house every day. That child would be very annoying to the parents and his or her siblings.
Beloved, there are many souls to be saved out there (Matthew 9:37); are you working to reach them quickly?

When you consider the story of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-20, you may think, what did this man do wrong? Is it wrong to work so hard and gather a large harvest? Why did God kill him? God took his life because he had decided that since he now had a large harvest, he was going to become idle. Idle people are very dangerous to the Kingdom of God and the society. No matter how much you have achieved, still strive for more. There is a lot of work to be done in the Kingdom of God. Serve Him now that you have the privilege to do so (John 9:4).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We see clearly in Ezekiel 16:49 that one of the major problems that led to the destruction of Sodom is idleness. Idleness also caused David great sorrow. At a time when kings went to war, he stayed at home and this led to him committing adultery and murder. These sins invoked Gods anger and a curse was placed upon him and his lineage (2 Samuel 11:1-27).

Solomon also fell into the trap of idleness, which caused his heart to be turned away from God. After he had built the temple of God and a new palace, he had nothing else to do. There were no wars to fight, no territories to conquer, and so he relaxed. He started marrying women he had no business with until he ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines. In his relaxed state, his wives began to turn him away from the Most High God, and before he knew it, he was already building temples for and sacrificing to strange gods. Solomon started with so much respect and honour for God that he gave the largest sacrifice in the Bible to the Lord. This was a man who God appeared to twice, but idleness brought him to the point where he began to serve other gods. He displeased God greatly, and this led to him losing part of his father’s heritage (1 Kings 11:1-11).

Jesus Christ said His father works and likewise Himself (John 5:17). Who then do you want to emulate by being idle? Imagine if, in your house, everyone – including the father of the house helps out with chores, yet one of the children never works but loafs around the house every day. That child would be very annoying to the parents and his or her siblings.
Beloved, there are many souls to be saved out there (Matthew 9:37); are you working to reach them quickly?

When you consider the story of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-20, you may think, what did this man do wrong? Is it wrong to work so hard and gather a large harvest? Why did God kill him? God took his life because he had decided that since he now had a large harvest, he was going to become idle. Idle people are very dangerous to the Kingdom of God and the society. No matter how much you have achieved, still strive for more. There is a lot of work to be done in the Kingdom of God. Serve Him now that you have the privilege to do so (John 9:4).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The problem with many Christians is that they are seated. They think they have arrived, so they rest earlier than they should. I have seen it happen now and again where a man or woman of God is doing so well for the Almighty God and the work of the Lord is prospering in his or her hands, then all of a sudden, the person decides to rest. No more prayers at night, no more Bible study, no more self-sacrifice. From the story of the young prophet in 1 King 13:1-25, we see that there are many people who God wants to take to the sun, but they get to the moon and relax. The moment a person decides to take a break from serving God and sits to rest, he or she begins to retrogress.

In Psalms 1:1, the Bible says that a Christian doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful. The Bible goes from walking, to standing, to sitting; that is retrogression. To be seated means you used to be a champion, but now you are irrelevant. In 1 Samuel 10:1, Saul was captain; in 1 Samuel 16:14, he had become irrelevant (he was seated). In Luke 15:11-19, the prodigal son was wealthy, but he rejoiced too soon and things became so bad that he sought to eat with pigs.

When we moved to the Redemption Camp, we had just a few acres of land, then we bought some more and got to about thirty acres. After this, we bought a little more and by the time we got to about a hundred acres, people came to me and said, "What do you want to do with all this land?" The Almighty God woke me up one day and said, What is wrong with you; are they the ones who called you? Are they the ones who brought you here? I got up immediately. Today, the Redemption Camp in Western Nigeria alone is on about 30,000 acres of land and we have only just started.

Beloved, STAND UP! It’s not yet time to rest. You have not arrived at your destination yet, you have not reached where God is taking you to. Don’t stop praying, don’t stop working hard, dont stop making sacrifices; God still has a lot in store for you. Instead of Joshua to hear Well done, my son from God at the end of his sojourn on earth, God informed him that there was a lot he had left undone as seen in Joshua 13:1. God forbid that this will be the report you get when it is your turn, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Isaiah 29:8, the Bible says that a hungry man can eat in his dream but then when he wakes up, he will realise that he is still hungry. If a poor man sleeps and dreams of himself living in a mansion and having many servants, when he wakes up, he would still find himself on his little bed in his little room. The sleeping state hence can also be described as a state of unfulfilled dreams. When a fellow continually has beautiful dreams which never come true, that is a state of sleep.

When I was a lecturer at the University of Lagos, there was an engineering student who, after years of not being able to move beyond 100 level, was asked to withdraw. He then changed his course of study to architecture. After a few years, he was asked to withdraw again. He changed his course of study again, this time to fine arts. He never graduated. This is a classic example of unfulfilled dreams. If you have noticed that your dreams just never seem to get fulfilled, then you may just be sleeping. I decree that everything beyond your power, hindering your dreams from being fulfilled is destroyed today, in Jesus name.

If you have noticed that for many years, you have not been making any significant progress in your life, then you are in a sleeping state. You must wake up today. Physically, check those things that you have been doing which have not been giving you results and change your strategy. Stop moving round in circles; look for the direction that will take you to your goal and go in it. For some people it is a habit or a bad attitude that has kept them in the same spot for years; prayerfully search for the cause of any stagnation in your life and get rid of it.

Spiritually, you must pray to break every barrier to your moving forward in life. Make sure that you are not the one who is a hindrance to the fulfillment of your own dreams; make sure that you don’t have any sin in your life that is hindering your progress. Pray against that enemy that has stopped you from moving forward and you will soon begin to see progress in your life.

You will soon testify, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

The statement, "Wake up" implies that the fellow being spoken to had been sleeping. Sleeping at the wrong time can be very dangerous while sleeping spiritually is even more dangerous!. In 1 Samuel 26:4-16, we learnt that King Saul slept. He was surrounded by mighty men of Israel not ordinary soldiers, but the best in the land, and they all slept too. While they were sleeping, David (the man they were seeking to kill) and his men came and took the sword of the king as well as his water bottle. Abishai, one of Davids men said to him, Let me smite him just once – not twice, just once and he will be dead. When you are sleeping, no matter how strong you are, you would be helpless and open to the attack of the enemy. That is why you must never sleep spiritually.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Peter 5:8

The above passage says that the devil is walking around, and his only mission is to look for people that he can devour. If he gets to you and finds you sleeping spiritually, just one stroke from him can kill you.

As strong as Saul’s bodyguards were, the moment he slept, they slept too. When you sleep spiritually, you disconnect your protective covering in the spirit. The moment you stop fasting, stop praying, stop studying your Bible and you now begin to dip your hands into one little sin or the other, the protective covering that God had put over you and your family members begins to weaken, giving a chance for the enemy to attack successfully. In Numbers 22:1-41, Balaam tried to curse the Israelites but could only bless them because of the protective covering that God had put over them. That covering was however, lifted when the people of Israel began to sleep spiritually. This led to a plague killing twenty-four thousands of them. Many Christians are suffering from the oppression of the devil today because they are sleeping spiritually. Where they should be victors, they are victims. WAKE UP!

Start praying again! Start evangelising again! Run away from those little sins! Stop being a prey to the devil! WAKE UP!
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Philippians 3:7-10, Apostle Paul told us several things that he let go of, for just one single purpose: that he might know God. When I was a younger Christian, whenever someone asked if I knew God, my answer was always a big Yes. However, something happened some years ago that made me change that answer from "Yes" to "I am just beginning to know Him". I have been born again for close to 50 years and up to now, I am still learning more and more about God. There are different levels of knowing God and you can only know Him to the extent of how much of Himself He reveals to you in line with how diligently you seek Him. In Psalms 103:7, the Bible says:
“He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.”

How well do you want to know God? Are you willing to seek Him so diligently that He would reveal some of His secrets to you? John 15:15 says that God shares deep things with His friends. His friends are those who do His will (John 15:14). His friends are those who are diligent about seeking Him. They seek Him so diligently that they are ready to let go of several pleasures just to know Him more. If fasting for only three days is too much a price to pay to know God more, then you are not seeking Him diligently. I am talking about fasting and praying when you are not asking Him for anything other than, Lord, I just want to draw closer to you. I am talking about spending hours in personal fellowship. I am talking about evangelizing and doing God’s work as if you are being paid a huge salary for doing it.

Those who seek God diligently always do so early (Proverbs 8:17).

One thing that determines if you will discover God is how early you seek Him. If you keep postponing your search for deeper things in God, you may never find Him. It is those that seek Him early who will find Him. For them, they put everything else aside just to seek Him. Are you amongst those who are desperate to know God? If so, seek Him diligently. Seek Him early.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

A man once had a tiger that he had trained not to attack humans. One day, his son was riding the tiger to the village when the tiger tripped on something and the boy fell. When the boy fell, he injured his hand and blood began to flow out from the wound. The tiger, wanting to help his friend, licked the wound to clean it and tasted human blood for the first time. As soon as it tasted the blood, that thing within it that makes it a tiger arose and within minutes, he ate the boy up. The tiger then went on to the village, killing every human being it saw. Many a time I see people who are managing their situation, living with a tiger that can kill them and their loved ones, yet are fine with it. I just hope that when they realise how dangerous what they are condoning is, it won’t be too late.

One of my sons came to me once, complaining of a neighbour of his who was a witchdoctor. I asked him to send her packing with prayers, but he responded that it wasn’t that serious. After some time, I stopped seeing my son. The next time I saw him, his body was looking all battered. He explained that it was the witchdoctor who dealt with him. His regular prayers were beginning to disturb her, so she told some of her clients who were policemen to accuse him falsely of robbery and then arrest him. After many days of torture and mosquito bites in the cell, one of the policemen in the station said, this man does not seem like a criminal. He is always praying and singing praises; he is definitely innocent, so they released him. Then I asked, "Will you send her packing now?" He responded that he would send her packing immediately.

Your situation may be a sickness that you have been managing, or just some slight financial challenges which you have been living with. You had better send that demon packing before it destroys you.

Today, I want you to pray some dangerous prayers. I want you to send packing today everything in your life that you do not want there, before it destroys you. If you haven’t eaten yet, I would advise that you fast for maybe a few days as you pray this prayer of deliverance and the Almighty God will deliver you completely, in Jesus name. look forward to hearing your testimony.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One other major reason I am determined never to backslide is that I don’t want to cause God any heartache. In Luke 15:3-7, the Lord asked if there was anyone who would not go after one lost sheep even if they still had a flock of ninety-nine in their care. If we review this scenario described by our Lord Jesus a little more closely, we would realise that a shepherd would only know that one of the sheep is missing in the evening because a flock of a hundred sheep and that of ninety-nine sheep would look alike at a glance. The shepherd would only get to know of the missing sheep when he counts them at night, just before he rests from the day’s work. However, upon discovering that one sheep is missing, he would immediately resume work and begin to search for it. I don’t want to cause my Lord Jesus Christ any heartache; if anything at all, I want to bring Him joy.

The story in Luke 15:3-7 tells us that, until He finds that missing sheep, the Shepherd would not rest. Also, the fact that when He found the sheep, He came back rejoicing shows that when He was looking for the sheep, He was in sorrow. I don’t want my life to cause sorrow to the Almighty. I don’t know about you, but I, Adeboye, I will only bring joy to the Lord and not sorrow.

The story is even deeper than that. Luke 15:7 tells us that there is rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents. You see, there are two opposite sides in the Spirit realm Light and darkness. Each time somebody gets born again, there is sorrow in hell because the devil has lost somebody, so the devil pursues that fellow with the intention of bringing him back into his company. Each time a Christian backslides, there is rejoicing in the camp of the devil. Let me give you an illustration: If you used to be an unbeliever, constantly at the bar drinking with many friends then got born again, your former drinking partners would begin to avoid you because your life would now become a challenge to them. Just seeing you alone would make them feel condemned. Can you then imagine what would happen if one day they suddenly saw you back at the bar? They would shout for joy and drink more than they normally do that day. Each time a Christian backslides, he or she would make the devil celebrate and bring displeasure to God. I pray you will never cause God any form of displeasure, in Jesus' name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Another reason I am determined never to backslide is that if I do, the record of everything I have ever done for God would be erased. The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:24:
“But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.”

It does not matter how far you have gone in your Christian race, how many souls you have won for God or how many Churches you have planted; the moment you become a backslider, everything you have done before would not be mentioned. It means one fellow can serve God all his life and then backslide just one month before he dies and he would end up in hell. Don’t you want to make it to heaven, live in your glorious mansion and see the Lord Jesus Christ whom you have served for so long? Why would you let one little temptation deny you of that glorious experience and make you end up in the hands of the devil?

In case you are not aware, there will be many evangelists in hell; some church workers and even ministers will end up in hell. If you dont believe me, read Matthew 7:21-23. I pray you will not be one of such, in Jesus name. What is the use of serving God so much here on earth and still ending up in the same place that unbelievers will end up in? You had better put aside every sin that draws you back in your Christian race and face God squarely.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1

What is that sin that is so alluring to you? Believe me honestly, it is not as valuable as your soul. Protect your soul and run away from sin.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are several reasons every Christian should pray and work earnestly never to backslide. One of these is that anyone who strays from the path of righteousness will dwell in the congregation of the dead (Proverbs 21:16). When we got born again, we were translated from the kingdom of darkness into light - we passed from death to life. To go back to the congregation of the dead is a terrible thing that all Christians must do everything possible to avoid. Hebrews 10:38-39 states clearly that:
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

God has absolutely no pleasure in backsliders. The moment a child of God backslides, he or she immediately becomes unfit to enter the Kingdom of God as we read in Luke 9:62.

The moment you backslide, God says, You have lost the qualification required to enter into His kingdom. The interesting thing about this is that once the devil sees that a person is displeasing God, he comes in and pushes the fellow to the point where he can make a mockery of him or her.

I know many people who backslid and first thought that they were free from all the restrictions of the gospel but soon realised that they had become objects of mockery. Their end was indeed terrible.

The prodigal son for example backslid and thought he was free from his fathers rules and regulations, but he did not know that the devil was pushing him to the point where he would beg to eat food served to pigs. As for me, I am determined never to backslide.

If you are currently considering the pleasure of this world, remember that it is just a bait for the devil to get you. Hold fast that which you have in the Lord, so that someone else does not take your place in Christ (Revelation 3:11).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Genesis 16:4, after Sarah’s maid had become pregnant for Abraham, she began to mock Sarah. She mocked Sarah because she left God out of the calculation. Though Sarah’s case looked impossible at the time, before long, she was carrying her own baby too. No matter how desperate your situation may be, nobody has the right to write you off yet. Just as they may be thinking of writing you off, the Almighty God will arise and change your situation for the better.

Someone once preached a message about the power of 'yet'. He encouraged his congregation that whenever they want to answer a question that seems embarrassing, they should remember to add the word 'yet'.

For example, if you are marriageable but not yet married, whenever you are asked, Are you married? your answer should be, "I am not married YET". If you are asked, "Do you have a car?" when you don’t have one, simply respond "I don’t have a car YET". This preacher went on to say that when you add the word 'yet' to your answer, you are asserting that the way things are now is not the same way they would be in the future. You are saying, in essence, "Don’t write me off; you just wait and see, my miracle will soon arrive".

Beyond adding the word 'yet' when answering seemingly embarrassing questions, you must believe it yourself. You must ensure that you are not writing yourself off. You must ensure that you are seeing yourself going higher and not remaining in that situation. Ecclesiastes 9:4 tells us that as long as you are alive, there is hope. If God has kept you alive up to this moment, then He must have a great plan for you. Revelation 3:7 says that He has the key of David, so whatever He opens is opened and whatever He shuts is shut. He has not written you off, so no matter what anybody thinks, you will be great.

I remember when things were very tough for my family. My wife and I used to share just one small piece of ponmo (cow hide) to go with our meals, as it was the cheapest kind of meat. I would tell her back then, "Darling, things will not always be like this, you know? Our tomorrow will be alright". Today, by the special grace of God, if we want to eat one cow per day, my God will provide it. Say to yourself, "Things will get better. My tomorrow will be alright, in the mighty name of Jesus".
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One of the ways to know a true Christian is by what he or she says. When I see Christians talk about what they want to do or what they have done without any reference to the grace of God, I wonder how strong their relationship with the Lord is. John 15:5 says:
...for without me ye can do nothing.

Grace is a gift from God that can also be summarily described as Gods help. You need to understand that without grace – Gods help, you can do nothing. Even waking up in the morning is by the grace of God. You would therefore be taking the grace of God for granted when you begin to boast about the things you have done or that you plan to do without acknowledging the grace of God, which empowers you. In Luke 12:16-21, Jesus told the story of a rich man who had gathered a great harvest. In all that this man said, he did not acknowledge God who made that harvest possible. At the end of the day, all his boastings came to nought because he died that very night.

Beloved, please don’t take God’s grace for granted; it is only by His grace that you are alive today. It is only by His grace that you are where you are, what you are and have what you have. It does not matter how intelligent, strong or connected you are; if God were to withdraw His grace from you, you would soon realise that you can do nothing without Him.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Psalms 127:1

From 1 Corinthians 3:6, we see that human efforts without God’s grace cannot yield results. Paul can plant, Apollos can water the plant, but the increase only comes from God. 1 Corinthians 3:7 says specifically:
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

When you want to talk about something you did, always say, I did so and so by the grace of God. When talking about something you plan to do, say, I will do so and so by the grace of God. Always acknowledge the grace of God in all you do and plan to do.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

One of the major things I have come to learn in my decades of walking with Christ is that there is no hopeless situation with God. It does not matter how bad the circumstances are, my God can reverse the seemingly irreversible. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, the Bible tells us of a woman who was so poor and deep in debt that her creditors only hope of recovering their money was to sell her sons. However, in just one day, God turned her story around and she not only had enough to pay off her debt, she also had money to live on for the rest of her life. It doesn’t matter how poor you are now; I decree: God will prosper you, in Jesus name.


Your problem may be one of sickness. There is no one so sick that God cannot heal. I was in Ireland a few years ago when a Pastor brought a handkerchief to me to pray on. The lady he wanted to lay the handkerchief on was in the hospital and the doctors had said that she only had a 0.01% chance of surviving. I prayed on the handkerchief and the Pastor took it to her. My God then took the 0.01% chance of survival the doctor had mentioned and used it to give her a 100% healing. Beloved, it does not matter what report the doctors have given concerning you; as long as you can read this or listen to someone else read it to you, I decree that you are healed in Jesus name.

In the Redeemed Christian Church of God, we have witnessed several miraculous conceptions and childbirths. In some cases, the women were over sixty years old and some had been declared by medical doctors as unfit to conceive and deliver children. Sarah was 90 years old when she had Isaac. It doesn’t matter how old you are now, those who called you barren will soon be attending the naming ceremony of your children, in Jesus name.

God says in Jeremiah 32:27
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

The question is Do you believe that He can do it? James 1:5-7 says whoever comes to ask God for anything without having faith should not expect that he will receive answers to his prayers. A song writer once sang; don’t give up on God because He won’t give up on you. There is hope that all things will turn around for your good if you keep your faith active and live according to Gods will.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

1. Father, I thank You for my life. I thank You for how far You have brought me and where You are taking me to. Thank You, Lord, for all Your protection and provision. I am grateful Lord.

2. Father, please help me to love You more. Help me to do Your will and grow in grace with You more than ever before, in Jesus name.

3. Lord, 3 John 2 says You wish above all things that I prosper; Lord, let me prosper greatly. Give me series of breakthroughs that will bring me into all round prosperity, in Jesus name.

4. Father, if there is anything in my life that does not glorify You, please remove it this moment in Jesus name. If I am holding on to it too tightly, please take it from me by force, in Jesus name.

5. Father, I want to reign with You at the end of time; please don’t let me miss heaven in Jesus name. If there is anything or anyone that can make me miss heaven, please take the thing or person far away from me, in Jesus name.

6. Father, I welcome You into every aspect of my life; Lord, take total control. With You in control of my life, all will be well with me. Please Lord, take total control of my life, in Jesus name.

7. Father, help me to fulfil that purpose for which You created me. I want to fulfl destiny, Lord. I don’t want to come into this world without making significant impact. Lord, please help me to fulfil my destiny in Jesus name.

8. Father, I pray for all my friends and family members, that You will protect them. Let them dwell under Your shadow continually and let no evil befall them, in Jesus name.

9. I cover myself with the blood of Jesus. If death sees the blood, it will pass over; and so death and all its agents will pass over me and all my loved ones, in Jesus name.

10. (Put your hand on your head and prophesy): I will be very great, nothing will be impossible for me. My enemies have become my footstools; everywhere the soles of my feet shall touch shall be an inheritance unto me, in Jesus name.

11. Father, put Your fire on my tongue so that whatever I decree will come to pass. Please give me spiritual authority to command things and see them come to pass, in Jesus name.

12. Your personal prayer request for yourself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We discussed fruitfulness as proof of dominion yesterday. Today we shall look at various means by which we can be fruitful and have dominion. Hard work is one of the major means of fruitfulness. The Bible says, "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want" (Proverbs 21:5 ). Laziness is not a Christian virtue. As a matter of fact, the Bible says "...this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

Diligence is so potent that it can be rightly said that nothing shall be impossible for the diligent. Dominion through diligence destroyed the yoke of Jacob on the neck of his careless brother, Esau. Even after he had lost his blessing to Jacob, Esau insisted that the father should give him the leftover of the blessings which his brother took from him.

On Jacobs return journey to his father’s house, he was met with Esau who already had dominion. It is interesting to read that the man who got the blessing through crooked means was trembling before the one he had cheated of it.

And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Genesis 33:3-4

The wives and children of Jacob came in succession to greet and bow before Esau. When Jacob tried to bribe his way into having peace with his brother the second time, the brother said he did not need Jacobs wealth. This is because he himself was already blessed to the extent that he had a personal army of four hundred men. (Genesis 33:1, 8-11). Esau told Jacob he had enough; this was from a leftover blessing.

Diligence indeed leads to greatness, which in turn leads to dominion. Commit to being diligent in all you do (Ecclesiastes 9:10) and you will indeed have dominion.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

How can we know that someone has dominion? To prove that you have dominion, you must have something to show for it. Kings are known in their domain by their power, wisdom, and more importantly, their possessions. In other words, productivity and fruitfulness are proof of dominion.

The story was told of two friends who asked a seer to foretell their future and one was told he would be king while the other was told he would die a pauper. The one who was told that he would become king went home rejoicing and stopped working from that day. Meanwhile, the other man who was told that he would die a pauper went into the jungle and began to cultivate a farm. Some years later, there was a terrible famine in the land and as people were scouting around for food, they stumbled upon the huge farmland of this determined young man. They begged him to give them large supplies of food so that the townspeople would not die of hunger. This man agreed to give them food that would last the period of the famine, on one condition. The condition was that they would make him their king. The people agreed and he was made their king. The proof of his dominion as the king was in his ability to feed the people, even in the midst of the famine.

In John 15:16, our Lord Jesus Christ said that the proof of dominion is fruitfulness. He stated clearly that when we bear fruit and our fruits abide, God will give unto us whatsoever we ask for in His name (John 15:16). That is dominion!

This is a pointer to the fact that only an achiever could say he or she has dominion. You can only achieve if you have God as your Ally because the Bible says that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders build but in vain (Psalms 127:1).

To truly have dominion, connect with the Almighty God today.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Today we shall continue to examine the subject of dominion. This time we are looking at dominion through divine wisdom which is the correct application of divine knowledge. Proverbs 4:7 describes wisdom as the principal thing. Why is wisdom so important and correlated with dominion? The Bible says, "For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it (Ecclesiastes 7:12). The Bible further says Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city (Ecclesiastes 7:19). Furthermore, the Bible says:
A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
Proverbs 17:2

One secret of the choice of Joshua as Moses successor is wisdom, according to Deuteronomy 34:9. How did he acquire this wisdom that gave him dominion? The same text reveals that Joshua's predecessor (Moses) laid his hands upon him. In other words, there was a transfer of anointing for wisdom, from Moses to Joshua. There is a lesson here: Joshua served his master wholeheartedly and he got what even the elders of Israel could not get - wisdom, which earned him dominion as the children of Israel obeyed him.

Joshua 1:1 establishes the truth that Joshua indeed served Moses. The problem with modern day followers is that they are not ready to serve wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, scholars and motivational speakers overemphasize principles of leadership only to leave the principle of followership behind. The truth of the matter is that you cannot be a good leader without first being a good follower. Joshua was a good follower, servant and diligent apprentice in the school of leadership; hence, he had dominion.

Beloved, if you want to have dominion, you must be full of divine wisdom. This is why the Bible says wisdom is the principal thing. This is possible through a daily study of the Bible. As you study the word of God, the Holy Spirit will reveal wondrous things unto you (Psalms 119:18 ).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday we started discussing the subject of dominion and we discovered that it was bestowed upon man at creation but he traded it for the forbidden fruit. Jesus however, came to redeem man and restore dominion unto all those who believe in Him. We will continue with our study today by considering dominion by association – that is, a person can have dominion if the fellow is associated with a powerful personality. An adage in my mother tongue says that a dog can kill a monkey if the dog has the backing of the hunter. In Genesis 13:5 we see Lot having dominion over poverty because of his association with the friend of God – Abraham. However, he lost the dominion when he departed from Abraham in Genesis 13.

After a while, when Lot had cut off his association with Abraham, the Bible says that the city in which Lot was living was invaded and because Lot had separated himself from the friend of God, he became a victim of the invasion. Had it not been for the mercy of God and the love of his uncle, he wouldn’t have regained his freedom as we read in Genesis 14:14-16. The Bible says:

And he (Abraham) brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
Genesis 14:16.

Who we associate with goes a long way in determining our experiences in life. Proverbs 13:20 says “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

Beloved, may I recommend Someone you can associate yourself with for everlasting dominion? His name is Jesus. The Bible says that His dominion is everlasting. (Psalms 145:13)

Why live your life in one form of captivity or the other, when you can operate in dominion over every situation, circumstance, and mountain?

Come to Jesus today and have everlasting dominion.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

To the human race, dominion should be a natural phenomenon because it was bestowed upon us at creation. Psalm 8:6 attests to this truth. In other words, one can gain dominion by creation. For example, a buffalo is conceived the same way a lion is conceived. However, dominion is bestowed upon the lion over the buffalo. When David considered the privileged position God placed man in, he could not help asking, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" And the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalms 8:4 ). The question here is, What should man do to appreciate the One who bestowed this dominion upon him? The answer is not far-fetched; the Bible says:

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Psalm 103:1-2

Beloved, you should not struggle to have dominion because it has been given to us at creation. Another question then is, "Is this a reality in the life of everyone?" The answer is simply "No" and this is because man sold his dominion for a taste of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-7). This now leads us to the necessity of redemption. It is redemption that can restore this dominion.

I remember how I was running helter-skelter, away from wicked people who wanted to use me as their breakfast. I kept on running and suffering until I met Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my personal Lord and Saviour. When a man is redeemed from sin, he is redeemed completely from all other calamities that had dominated him hitherto. He is born again and re-created into the image of God in which he was originally created. This is why Jesus Christ said we must be born again (John 3:3). The Bible also says that whoever is born of God (John 1:12) overcomes the world through faith in the Son of the Living God (1 John 5:4-5). Beloved, you have dominion by virtue of your being a new creature in Jesus Christ.

Claim, receive and exercise your dominion.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Healing is good but wholeness is awesome. When you experience healing, you must not stop at that - you must proceed to the level of wholeness in good health. There is a secret way to wholeness and that is the way of thanksgiving, praise and worship. Unfortunately, some people don’t know this way. They are incurable request-makers. All they do is issue commands in the place of prayer. They issue commands without expressing any form of gratitude to the Almighty Owner of the heavens and the earth!

In Luke 17:12-19, we read about how ten lepers confronted our Lord Jesus Christ with a request for healing. Jesus obliged them and asked them to go and show themselves to the priests. On the way, they all became healed. It however, remained one more step for them to get to the level of wholeness.

A typical example of wholeness is what Naaman experienced in 2 Kings 5:14. Naaman experienced wholeness – not mere healing, as there was no trace of leprosy on him after his encounter with the God of Israel.

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, he was clean.
2 Kings 5:14

When the tenth leper saw that he was healed, he returned to Jesus to thank, praise and worship Him. Beloved, look around you and see the things God has already done for you, not just those you are seeking for Him to do.

Jesus was so impressed with this thankful man that He decreed his wholeness. The Bible says, And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?…And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole (Luke 17:17, 19).

Give glory to God, praise Him, avoid evil, so that you would not only be healed but made whole, too. Beloved, cultivate the habit of praise, worship and adoration of the Most High God. Live holy, and you will continue to enjoy divine wholeness.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yokes represent bondage and they are of different kinds. The yoke of sickness is a terrible one for anyone to bear and it must be completely destroyed. This is why you need divine anointing to destroy the yoke of sickness. This was a yoke that kept a man bound for thirty-eight years at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-9). The yoke of sickness wasted thirty-eight years of his life but he got his deliverance from that bondage when he encountered the anointing upon Jesus Christ. No child of God should be bound by the yoke of sickness since His anointing is available for us as we see in James 5:14.

A Church that is void of Gods anointing is not worth attending because the Church is the last hope of the sick, especially for ailments described by orthodox medical practitioners as incurable or terminal. Testimonies of divine healings in our Church programmes confirm the importance of Gods anointing, particularly when it comes to the destruction of yokes of sickness.

One case that readily comes to mind is that of a sister who a doctor had said would die within hours. Her husband left her in the hospital, only to invite his mistress to come and spend the night with him in their home. "What about your wife?" The mistress asked. "She has only a few hours to live before she dies in the hospital" the unfaithful husband said, thinking the wife had reached the end of her life. To the glory of God, that same night, the anointing destroyed the yoke of sickness in the sister’s life; she discharged herself and went straight home, only to meet her husband with the mistress.

Handkerchiefs that carry divine anointing have destroyed yokes of sickness, times without number.

The anointing also serves as a defensive weapon against the onslaught of the enemy. Psalms 105:15 says, ..touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Beloved, as you seek the anointing of the Almighty God, every problematic situation you are faced with will be resolved to His glory, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many people do not know how important the anointing is and so they despise it. I have seen situations in which some brethren refused to be ordained because they ignorantly thought that refusing the anointing that comes with ordination is a sign of humility. They could not be further from the truth.

Exodus 30:25 says, “And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil”.

From the Scripture above, we can safely deduce that there are different kinds of anointing. Today, we will be discussing divine anointing which is holy and can only be gotten from God. This is the kind of anointing everyone should thirst and yearn for.

One of the reasons for divine anointing is service, according to Exodus 28:41. God commanded Moses to anoint Aaron and his children “that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office” (Exodus 28:41). Divine anointing seals promotion, as found in (1 Samuel 10:1). This is the case of Saul after he was divinely chosen to be the first king of Israel.

Promotion, particularly in spiritual assignments, takes greater responsibility which requires divine backing. In the RCCG, we ordain people in stages as they assume greater spiritual responsibility.

As we see in our memory verse today, divine anointing breaks yokes!

Divine anointing makes the impossible possible. Classic examples of divine anointing are when Samson tore a lion into two with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6), and in (1 Samuel 17:33-36) that relates the exploits of David under divine anointing. He killed a lion and a bear after he had been anointed by Samuel. There is nothing a man under God’s anointing cannot do.

I therefore urge you to seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit today.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye