₦airaland Forum

As explained yesterday, the fact that man was created in the image of God empowers him to be great in life. However, we have seen that the pronouncements of God may not necessarily manifest in the lives of individuals until the attached conditions are met. Psalms 33:8-9 says, "Let all the earth fear the Lord: Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast". Numbers 23:19 says, God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Mark 13:31 says, Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. Furthermore, Isaiah 55:11 says, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

It is however unfortunate that despite the plan of God for man to be great, not everyone will accomplish this, for various reasons. In the case of Cain in Genesis 4:10-14, he failed woefully because he allowed jealousy and hatred to push him to commit murder, and he incurred the curse of God. In 1 Samuel 2:30-36, two young prophets were already on the path to greatness, simply by being Elis children, but they lost their chance by messing around with holy things, thereby desecrating the altar of God and making themselves into children of Belial. They both died miserable and untimely deaths on the same day. In the case of Gehazi in 2 Kings 5:20-27, he was in line to become the greatest national prophet of his time but ruined everything with greed. He ended up losing the glorious opportunity to be an honoured servant of God and also inherited the leprosy of Naaman. Judas Iscariot was initially numbered among the twelve disciples who learned at the feet of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. However, he allowed greed to make him give his Master away for only thirty pieces of silver.

Do not be a hindrance to the fulfilment of Gods promises in your life. I pray you will surrender all to Jesus Christ and hold on firmly to Him. Gods promises will be fulfilled in your life, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Genesis 1:27-28 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue It: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Being created in the image of God and having dominion over everything He created is the best thing that ever happened to man. Psalm 139:14 says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, while Hebrews 2:7 says, “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands”.

As it was in the beginning, so it is now. Sin led to the loss of man’s original status. As Adam and Eve short-changed themselves at the beginning by surrendering their authority to the enemy out of ignorance, so are many still doing today.

Sin turned us to servants, without authority. We became ineffective and weak carriers of God’s image. However, out of mercy and compassion, Jesus Christ came to clean up the mess by paying the ultimate price. About this, Colossians 1:13-15 says, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who Is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Therefore, every human being, irrespective of colour, nationality, lineage, or birth conditions, is wonderfully made with the potential for greatness.

Unfortunately, however, many are living far below their potential. Jesus came to show us how to live in this world as carriers of God’s image so that we may follow in His footsteps. (1 John 2:6) says, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked”. To reach our full potential in this world, we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then follow His footsteps daily.

You will fulfil your glorious destiny, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

1. Thank You Father, for the gift of my spouse and all You have given us as acouple. Thank You for keeping our home and sustaining the love we share. Thank You for not allowing the enemy to steal, kill and destroy this marriage, in Jesus’ name.

2. Father, let my marriage glorify You this year. Let people be drawn to You because of my marriage. Use my spouse and I Lord, to rebuild people’s confidence in the marriage institution, in Jesus’ name.

3. In this year, God will use my marriage like never before. God will use me and my spouse mightily for His work, in Jesus’ name.

4. Father, every time I call on Your name in this year, please answer me by mercy. Let Your mercy speak for me, my spouse, children and all my loved ones, in Jesus’ name.

5. Sin and disobedience will be far from my home. My spouse and I will not walk in disobedience, in Jesus’ name.

6. Father, please reveal Your will for our marriage so that we can please You in all our ways, in the mighty name of Jesus.

7. Lord, when you come back, please let me and my family reign with You, in Jesus’ name.

8. Father, anything in my marriage that does not align with Your will, please remove it today, in the mighty name of Jesus.

9. Father, in every way, prosper us as a family. Prosper us so we can sponsor Your work on earth. Prosper us so we can be Your Kingdom Treasurers, joyfully financing Your work here on earth, in Jesus’ name.

10. Father, I decree that there will be no divorce or separation in my marriage. I decree that my marriage will not fail God, in the mighty name of Jesus.

11. I decree that my spouse and I will live long lives in good health and sound mind with joy, serving the Lord, in Jesus’ name.

12. Your personal prayer points for your marriage.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Forgiveness is the term used to indicate pardon for a fault or offence. It signifies the liberation of a person from guilt and its consequences, including punishment. It usually comes as an act of favour, compassion or love, with the aim of restoring a broken relationship. It may involve both the cancellation of punishment and debts. God forgives the sins of Christians out of love, based on the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. By this, sins are no longer held against children of God, according to Romans 3:25, Acts 13:38-39 and 1 John 16-9. The sinner is thus, by this act of grace, forever freed from the guilt and penalty of sin.

This act of forgiveness is offered freely to everyone through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody can access the forgiveness of God by meeting three basic conditions: genuine repentance (remorse for all sins committed), confession of such sins unto God, and believing that Jesus is the Son of the Living God who, by the shedding of His blood and death on the cross, has washed away all such sins.

As God has showed us unmerited love, mercy and grace in wiping away all our sins through the blood of Jesus, He commands us to do the same: to love our neighbours and keep no record of sin against our fellow men. This is where the necessity of two-sided forgiveness comes in. As a matter of fact, God expects us to live by the principle of forgiveness, with the understanding that, in order to receive forgiveness from Him, we must, in turn, be ready to forgive others (Luke 6:37). In the same manner, Ephesians 4:32 says, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Unforgiveness deprives us of divine forgiveness and blessings. In contrast, forgiveness leads to peace, reconciliation, healing, unity, progress, joy, prosperity, and answered prayers.

Settle all unresolved disputes you may have with everyone, even if you were the offended party. Let the love of God shine through you to others and become a dispenser of the abundant grace and mercy of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Praise is probably the most potent weapon of any kind in the whole universe. Apart from the fact that God created man primarily for the purpose of showing forth His praise (Isaiah 43:21), it is capable of moving God into action beyond our wildest imagination.

A leper praised God in Matthew 8:1-4; he was instantly healed of his leprosy. David the shepherd boy wrote poems and sang praises to God; the Lord miraculously appointed him to sit on the throne of Israel. The army of Israel sang praises to God and the wall of Jericho fell flat before them in Joshua 6:20. King Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel praised God in the beauty of His holiness in 2 Chronicles 20:20-25, and God set an ambush against their enemies to destroy them completely. Paul and Silas sang praises to God in the prison; Acts 16:25-26 says "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every ones bands were loosed". Such is the power of praise. As you praise God today, the hosts of heaven will move on your behalf, in Jesus name.

We can be provoked to praise God like in the above examples by learning a few things from them. They were motivated to praise God by three important factors: the knowledge of God, the vision of God, and the past miracles that God had done in their midst. With our focus on these three factors, the power of praise will always fill our hearts. Above all, praise usually leads to divine intervention. People are lifted by praising God. Praise always turns problems to stepping stones, tests to testimonies and trials to triumphs. When people praise God, obstacles give way to miracles, attacks give birth to attractions and disappointments give wat to divine appointments.

You must note however, that you can only be qualified to praise God acceptably if you are genuinely born again and consecrated to Him. Surrender your life to Jesus today if you haven’t done so and never stop praising Him from now. God bless you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Destiny speaks of the event that will necessarily happen to a person in life. Though the word was not expressly used in the Bible, we see various passages that describe God choosing different people for specific callings or assignments. According to Genesis 18:18-19, God said; “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”

In Jeremiah, God said He had ordained Jeremiah a prophet, even from the womb. The Almighty God is a God of plan and purposes; He is always at work to secure His children’s destinies, though behind the scene in a patient way that respects human choices and natural processes. For example, Esther had the choice of rejecting her preordained role of saving the Jews, but chose to accept it. Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Please note that what could be considered an error on the part of Abraham by fathering Ishmael turned out to be instrumental to the fulfillment of God’s covenant with him, as it was the Ishmaelites who took Joseph to the place of destiny fulfillment (Genesis 37:26-28). That is why the Bible in Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” For this reason, you must hand over your destiny to the Lord.

To fulfill destiny, you must be upright and God-fearing, forgiving people just as Joseph readily forgave his brothers. As we see in Romans 8:28-31, all things work together for good to those who love God and called according to His good purpose.

Hand over your destiny to God now, and you would certainly have a glorious future.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The wind of change is a term commonly used to describe breakthroughs and blessings of great significance. However, it has a much deeper meaning in Christendom. The wind is an invisible force endowed with the capacity to accomplish unbelievable things. A seemingly harmless wind could become highly empowered to bulldoze anything in its path when it graduates into a storm.

The wind therefore symbolises the move of God. It is usually called into action whenever God wants to accomplish great things. In Exodus 14:21 the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. In Numbers 11:31 there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a days journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. Also, in Ezekiel 13:1-23 7:9, the Lord commanded Ezekiel saying, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. In Verse 10, Ezekiel said, So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

It is therefore clear from the above examples that when the wind of God blows, there will be a way where there was none, as it happened in Exodus 14:21-28. There will be restoration of life according to Ezekiel 37:5-10 , and there will be abundant provision as seen in Numbers 11:31. Also, there will be deliverance in line with Acts 16:26, and divine promotion as in 1 Samuel 16:12 :13: And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

The wind of God can, however, produce negative results for disobedient people, as seen in Jonah 1:1-2. As you surrender your life to God in holiness and righteousness, in total obedience to His commandments, He will cause the wind of change to blow in your favour, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Afflictions are situations that we typically pray against. Interestingly however, afflictions have their benefits in the life of a person. One of the typical benefits of afflictions is that they draw men back to God, especially when faced with challenges they cannot surmount by themselves. In Judges 6:1-10, we see the afflictions of the children of Israel at the hands of the Midianites and Amalekites. These two nations attacked Israel successfully from time to time, causing them to suffer greatly. These afflictions drew the Israelites back to the God of their fathers, whom they had neglected for strange gods, as we see in Judges 6:7:
“And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites,”

God was then able to speak to them through His prophet whom they would not have listened to but for the affliction. The Lord reminded them that He was still their God, far superior to the gods of the Amorites and the gentiles among whom they were living.

One lesson to learn from this fall of Israel is that serving other gods will always bring affliction. Also, the environment in which a person lives or operates could lead to a departure from serving God. Many of the sound doctrines we cherished in the past have been trashed due to globalisation and our contact with the Amorites, Canaanites and Jebusites of the present age. This has led to many ungodly practices among believers. This in turn causes grave afflictions. Sicknesses that were not mentioned among the believers before are now commonplace. For example, where would high blood pressure come from when a believers life is full of joy and the peace of God? A believer of old did not compete with the so-called rich people of the world and would seek Gods counsel before engaging in any enterprise. Believers ought to be led by the Holy Spirit on what line of business they should pursue. Failure to do this leads to loss of peace and rest of mind.

The COVID-19 pandemic is also a case in point on how afflictions can draw people to God. All thanks to God as the Church is now retracing her steps to the old rugged way of peace and joy. May the Lord help us, in Jesus mighty name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Bondage is the condition of being dominated by sin – fleshly lusts, or demonic powers. Bondage refers to any situation contrary to Gods plan and purpose for man, according to Genesis 1:27-28. It is anything that binds a fellow in the torment of fear (Hebrews 2:15). Bondage of any kind has one purpose to shame and disgrace. Incidentally, bondage is usually not forced, as we see in the case of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-19). People usually become enslaved through the wrong choices they make in life. Consequently, many live by choice under the control of demonic powers, hard drugs and other forms of addiction like money, alcohol, sex, and worldly pleasures, without any idea that they are in bondage. That is why 2 Peter 2:19 says:
“for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

Furthermore, Romans 6:16 says:
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

No matter what you are passing through, you can make a decision now that will change the course of your life forever. All you need to do is reject sin and evil, then embrace God and righteousness.

There is nothing glorious about living in bondage. Physical bondage includes poverty, sickness, lifestyle, and addictions.

Spiritual bondage includes demonic possession, being remotely controlled or tied down, being under the influence and experiencing situations that are not observable or physically explicable, as seen in the case of the mad man of Gadara in Mark 5:1-15. The good news is that Jesus came to this world for the purpose of restoring freedom to man in line with John 10:10 and Luke 4:18.

As you reject Satan and submit to Jesus today, He will make you whole and deliver you completely from all forms of bondage, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Backsliding is the act of becoming slack in spiritual commitment and not being fervent in the things of God. It means turning back from following Gods ways and guidance, forsaking His laws and commandments (Isaiah 1:4). It is a spiritual defection that grieves God, as it is a form of rebellion and adultery before Him (Jeremiah 3:. Backsliders are likely to forget Gods mighty works in their lives, ignore His counsel, and reject His instruction (Psalms 78:11 Psalms 107:11, Isaiah 30:9). Backsliders are children of God who had repented of their sinful acts and turned a new leaf, but then relapse into their former ungodly ways. Backsliding is, therefore, like abandoning ones faith. As we have learnt from the lessons of the past three days, there is nothing glorious in backsliding. If anyone is in doubt, let the fellow find out from King Saul, who once prophesied by the Spirit of God but ended up being tormented by an evil spirit.

Backsliding is so terrible that it can invoke Gods anger. In 2 Samuel 12:25, the Bible says, "And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord". Jedidiah means "beloved of the Lord". However, in 1 Kings 11:9, the Bible says, "And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice". Backsliding ignited the anger of God against Solomon, despite His initial love and affection for him at birth and early life. God reacted to the backsliding of the nation of Israel similarly, according to Psalms 78:57-59 which says, "But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers… When God heard this, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel."

To return to living a glorious life in Christ however, a backslider must do the following: Accept Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour, repent of and forsake every sin, and begin to testify to the mercy of God that restored him or her.

Have you fallen from glory to shame? Return to the Lord, and He will welcome you with open arms, as we saw in Luke 15:1-24. God bless you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From the time of creation to date, sin or disobedience to God has been the greatest mistake man has ever made. God frowns at all sins no matter how we choose to categorize them. It is bad enough when sin is committed from time to time, even in ignorance. However, it becomes even worse when sinfulness becomes a lifestyle. The Bible refers to such people as stiff-necked, reprobates, unrepentant sinners, backsliders, or children of perdition. Living in sin is so abominable to God that it carries the ultimate penalty. That is why Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There is nothing glorious in living a sinful lifestyle. The following Bible passages speak volumes about Gods hatred for sin. Psalms 104:35 says, Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Isaiah 3:11 also says, Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: For the reward of his hands shall be given him. Ecclesiastes 8:13 also clearly states, But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. Finally, Hosea 4:7 also says, as they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

God's view of sin and His judgment against sinners is clearly revealed in the above Bible passages. Hence, separation from God which is spiritual death, termination of life which is physical death, condemnation to eternity in hell which is the second death and other terrible consequences, await everyone living in sin in this world. I am therefore appealing that you come to Jesus today and be converted, so that you may receive help to stop living a sinful lifestyle.

In Luke 7:36-48, the woman seemed to know that coming to Jesus would transform her life positively. She was unwavering in her pursuit of the Saviour, and in return for her seeds of love, she reaped mercy and pardon. Whosoever comes to Jesus shall not be disappointed. Come to Jesus today!
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Glory is a shame terminator. Wherever the glory of God is present, shame will never be found there. Hence, anything that is shameful, embarrassing or humiliating – such as sickness, poverty, a sinful lifestyle, backsliding, bondage, and failure, should not be identified with children of God.

Poverty is closely associated with hunger, unclothedness, homelessness, begging for alms, and wandering. Indeed, poverty is evil, and it has a way of dehumanizing people. However, being a child of God or attending Church services or programmes does not automatically cast away poverty. To be free from poverty, you must be completely obedient to God. In Genesis 26:12-14, Isaac was determined to pursue greener pastures in Egypt in order to escape the terrible famine in the land. The Lord however warned him not to take that step, then showed him where he should dwell.

Isaac obeyed and God blessed him greatly, as we see in Genesis 26:12-14 “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him”

In essence, the Bible is saying that Isaac reaped the fruit of obedience. Furthermore, to be free from poverty, one must be diligent in business. Despite Gods promise of abundant blessings in Genesis 26:3, lsaac did not fold his hands, waiting for the miracle. He cultivated, sowed, and laboured hard in the field, then the Lord fulfilled His promise by blessing his labour. Also, we must persevere in the face of obstacles on our way to achieving true success. There is always an interval between sowing and reaping. It is usually a period when obstacles and challenges come at you from every angle; perseverance is highly required to overcome.

Finally, you must not be a robber of Gods tithes, first fruit and offerings. Obedience in all these things is needed to live a glorious life free of poverty, shame, and all sorts of evil put together.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

It is difficult to describe God's glory as it is a combination of the great power, splendour and holiness that accompany God's presence, as well as its effects on man. Glory is one of the major attributes of God; it is a manifestation of His presence. Since man was created in the image of God, glory was originally part of his nature. However, when man embraced sin, the inherent glory of God departed. Romans 3:23 therefore says, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Sin did not only tamper with man’s glory, it wreaked more havoc by also producing shame.

A glorious life is so wonderful that Genesis 2:25 said of Adam and Eve, And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Though Adam and Eve were physically naked, they were covered with glory – that was why they did not know shame. It was absolutely impossible for them to experience shame. However, in Genesis 3:7-10, after sin entered, fear gripped them; they suddenly discovered they were naked and had to hide due to shame. From the fall of man in the Garden of Eden to date, every human being who ever lived without being born again, wallowed in the realm of shame. According to Proverbs 3:35, glory is the opposite of shame. Quite simply, glory is the atmosphere of heaven on earth. Glory is both the beauty and power of God; it was lost at Eden but was regained at Calvary. Jesus came to redeem mankind and give those who accept Him the hope of glory, according to Romans 5:2.

Isaiah 60:1 tells us to arise and shine because, with the presence of Gods glory, nothing can hinder the rising of a child of God. I therefore pray for you: Today, you will rise and begin to shine, in Jesus name.

There is nothing glorious about sickness, poverty, a sinful lifestyle, backsliding, bondage, and failure. Children of God must be determined to live above these problems, swimming daily in glory. Today, Mark 5:25-34 shows a classic example of a person who encountered Jesus Christ and was relocated from the realm of wallowing in shame to that of swimming in glory. Beloved, come to Jesus today and surrender all to Him so you can also become a candidate for Gods glory (Colossians 1:27).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Our possessions as children of God are multifaceted. When we consider Genesis 1:26, we can see an aspect of our possession - dominion. In other words, it is God's will for us to be in charge. This is so important that God also made it a point of His blessing to Abraham and his children (Genesis 22:17). Moses blessed the children of Israel in the name of the Lord and said in Deuteronomy 28:13:
“And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.”

Why this topic “Possess your possession” when a possession is already at the person’s disposal? This is particularly a puzzle when we consider Genesis 1:26. The truth of the matter is that man lost this possession to sin and the devil, according to the account of the fall in Genesis 3. Thus, it has to be repossessed. To do this, man needed Someone more powerful than the devil. Glory to God, Jesus came to our rescue. The Bible says:
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9.

To access the blessing above, you must be a Kingdom child. To be a Kingdom child requires a truly repentant heart and acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. This connects you with the True Vine in whom you would begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance) as we see in Galatians 5:22-23 and the fruit of souls that will abide in the Kingdom of God (John 15:16).

This is the path towards possessing your possessions (Matthew 6:33) and accessing everlasting life (John 3:16). Walk in it.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

We discussed the wonders of heaven yesterday, concluding that it is better to experience them and avoid the horrors of hell by all means. Today, we shall look at some reasons we must avoid spending our eternity in hell.

The horrors of hell are indeed many, but we shall consider only a few of them today. The first horror of hell that comes to mind can be found in Revelation 20:10 and Revelation 21:8. Hell is going to be a great gathering of all evil spirits and every abominable human being that ever lived on the face of the earth. The devil himself will be in that eternally miserable assembly. Just imagine being in the company of demons, witches and wizards, and at the same time having all unrepentant wicked persons, warlords, cannibals, terrorists and notorious killers who ever lived, gathered together in a single location. Imagine the oppression, harassment, horror, and trembling that would characterize life in such a place. Everyone there will be in agonizing pain; anger and misery will fill the entire place. There will be unspeakable weeping and expressions of pain and agony. The Bible puts it this way in Matthew 13:50:
“And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth”

This takes us to the second horror of hell: the fire is unquenchable, the heat is terrible, the agony and pain are unbearable. Furthermore, this agonizing torment lasts forever. The terrible heat in hell makes a drop of water far more precious than billions of any currency in this world. The Bible, in Luke 16:23-24 tells us that the rich man in hell lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. The unquenchable fire of hell brought about horrifying agony and thirst in the rich man, so much so that he longed for just a drop of water to cool himself, to no avail.

Beloved, the only way to escape the horrors of hell is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, surrender all to Him and live a righteous life through the help of the Holy Spirit.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

I thank God for bringing us into the second month of the year. I pray He will continue to keep us all to witness more months and years, in Jesus name. We must note, however, that no matter how long we live here on earth, we shall live longer in eternity – either in heaven or hell.

Heaven is wondrously blissful and hell is horrifyingly sorrowful. I encourage you today to choose to spend your eternity enjoying the blissful wonders of heaven. Today, we will consider a few of these wonders.

The first is the wonder of heavens magnificence and beauty. According to the description in Revelation 21:16-23, the new Jerusalem – which is the main city, is so large that it has an approximated length of 2,250 kilometres and a corresponding breadth. The city wall measures 16 feet in thickness! The foundations of the city wall were reinforced with precious jewels instead of stone and iron. These jewels include jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth and amethyst. The city wall is built with clear crystalline jasper, while the vast city itself, especially the streets, are made of pure gold, like transparent glass. Light from the sun or moon is not required in the heavenly city; there shall be no nighttime or any form of darkness because the overpowering radiance of Gods glory shines and glitters through the entire city, and the Lord Jesus shall be the light that illuminates the city (Revelation 21:23). What a wonder it would be to behold!

Another wonder is the spectacular reunions awaiting us all in heaven, which may be the most touching of all the wonders of heaven. The reunions of husbands and wives, parents and children, family members and loved ones long since separated on earth. Most importantly, it shall be a great wonder to meet old saints like Father Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, Mary, Peter, Paul, etc. The glorious gathering of the saints in heaven cannot be compared to any earthly reunion – no matter how sweet. We must do everything within our power to ensure that we do not miss the wonders of heaven by any means.

I will see you in heaven, in Jesus name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One serious attribute of God that I have emphatically taught people not to overlook is divine anger. Truly, the Almighty God is Love (1 John 4:; however, we must never forget that He is also a Consuming Fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). Any time I say this, some people argue that the Bible reference belongs to the Old Testament dispensation and we are now in the New Testament. Amazingly, such people did not read their New Testament thoroughly enough to discover that even Hebrews 12:29 says “For our God is a consuming fire.” This is one of the wonders of divine anger, because how can the God of love be a Consuming Fire at the same time? We need to remember that it was divine anger against the devil that made way for man’s deliverance from satanic oppression. (Genesis 3:14).

Divine anger against the devil after the fall is full of the wonders of God’s love for man – that the man may be redeemable, unlike the fallen angels. He cast the man and the woman out of the garden so they would not have access to the tree of life in their fallen state, which would have made them irredeemable like the angels. Thus, God cast them out as He embarked on a redemption process that was centred on Jesus dying for the sins of man, His resurrection and second coming to rapture the saints. When a child of God falls into sin, “God does not spare the divine rod. Why? It is because God would not want him or her to miss the bliss of His Kingdom. This is why God punishes His erring children.
Hebrews 12:7-8 says:
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Whenever the Lord chastens you, accept it in faith, repent and amend your ways. His fire refines us when we yield to His correction but consumes when we choose to remain in our sins. Repent and forsake all your sins today, then confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour so as not to experience God as a consuming Fire.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Christian life is so full of wonders that one of the earliest apostles marvelled at the manner of love God showered on us, making us His children (1 John 3:1). Every genuine Christian has experienced the wonder of being adopted into the family of God as we see in Romans 8:15.

When we consider the benefits and privileges of being a child of the most powerful Personality in Heaven, on earth and anywhere at all, we will begin to appreciate the wonders of being a Christian. The world cannot understand these benefits, yet they are real. Some religions of the world cannot come to terms with the fact that Christians call God their Father. Some people were even upset with me for calling God my Daddy. However, God is my Daddy indeed. I told them if their relationship with God stops at calling Him Father, no problem, but He is my Daddy. Period.

However, one of the implications of this is that we should not trivialize the privilege or take it for granted. This takes us back to our discussion yesterday on the most important demand on a Christian life - holiness. The child of a lion is a lion. As Christians, we are called to be perfect as our Father in heaven, purifying ourselves always (Matthew 5:48, 1 John 3:3).

How do we purify ourselves? The Bible gives the answer: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word (Psalms 119:9). A pure and sinless life is very simple if we live our lives according to the word of God. I have taught it several times that holiness is simply obedience. You can be considered holy or righteous when you obey God to the last letter of His instructions. God told Adam Don’t but he did and so became a sinner. Thus, by the Spirit of Jesus Christ and our obedience to His word, we are holy and so fulfil the condition of being His children.

It is important to note that these wonders are reserved strictly for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Surrender your life to Him too today if you haven’t done so yet, and you will experience the wonders of being adopted into the family of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are a lot of blessings accrued to genuine Christian living, but these do not come without some obligations on the part of the Christian. For example, the peace of God that passes all understanding is one of the benefits of Christian living, just like divine healing or divine health, according to Deuteronomy 7:15 and 1 Peter 2:24. However, we must meet certain demands before we can access these blessings. One of such demands is fruit-bearing. The lifestyle of a genuine Christian must show that the fellow has truly repented and forsaken his or her sins. John the Baptist, in Luke 3:7-8, told those who claim to have repented to bear fruit that confirmed repentance:
“Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance”

This fruit-bearing also includes soul-winning, as Jesus stated in John 15:8: Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear many fruits; so shall ye be my disciples. To bear fruit through soul-winning requires preaching the gospel according to Matthew 28:19-20. A Christian worthy of his or her calling must make soul-winning a priority. As a matter of fact, the proof that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ is to harvest the souls He came to die for. A Christian will not allow the passion and the death of Jesus Christ to be in vain. We must also praise Him as the Bible says:

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

The most important demand upon a Christian is holiness. Once we have become Christians, we must separate ourselves from all ungodly activities and relationships. The Bible says, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you (2 Corinthians 6:17). Matthew 5:48 says we should be perfect even as our Lord is. May the Lord grant you the grace to be perfect, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Water is named and classified primarily based on its source. For example, saltwater is from the sea, rainwater is from the sky, hard water is from the ground, fresh water is from rivers and so on. Today, we would be discussing the source of living water. Jesus is the only source of living water – water that gives life and eternal life for that matter. However, to access this living water, we must first and foremost accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Jesus was very clear about this when He said, “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

In John 4:7-10, Jesus encountered a woman who was unknowingly in dire need of living water to quench her eternal thirst. Our Lord then engaged her in a conversation so as to open her eyes to that need in her life, by asking her to give Him physical water to drink in exchange for living water. As if that was not enough, Jesus promised her that she needed only to drink the living water once, and then it would produce rivers of living water that would spring through all eternity (John 4:14).

Beloved, Jesus Christ is calling you today to come and drink freely of the spiritual water of salvation which will give you all-round fulfilment and satisfaction here on earth and in eternity with Christ. Jesus took care of the Samarian woman’s spiritual and emotional torment in John 4:7-10. Yours can be taken care of as well if you will come to salvation today so that you would live a purposeful and joyful life henceforth.

Jesus Christ – the source of living water is inviting you to come unto Him. Heed this call and you will never thirst again.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take water of life freely.
Revelation 22:17.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The words, “Let there be light” could mean “Lord, open my spiritual and physical eyes”. To the physically blind fellow, it means “Lord, let me be able to see”. To the spiritually blind, it means “Lord, open my spiritual eyes so that I may begin to see the invisible”. The Psalmist wrote, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 119:18). This did not mean the Psalmist was physically blind; rather, he knew that he could only see the depth of the Lord’s will for his life in the word of God when his spiritual eyes were open. Some people may be doing wrong thing without knowing and they would think they are on the right path (Proverbs 16:25). This is so common among the religious and intellectuals. The case of Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the Apostle is a classic example of this (Acts 9:1-6).

The story in Mark 10:51 points to the darkness of physical blindness. People shouted Bartimaeus down because he could not see. A blind man may be subjected to unwarranted harassment, even from those very close to him, probably because they feel he is a burden to them, slowing them down. In this story, it was those people who were scrambling to catch a glimpse of the Miracle-Worker – Jesus Christ, that were harassing him. However, the man refused to be intimidated. The Bible says that the more they shouted him down, the louder he shouted back – eventually drawing the attention of Jesus Christ to himself. Shout back to the devil today and call on the Light to shine upon you in order to receive your sight-whether physical or spiritual.

Another lesson from this story is the fact that Jesus asked the blind beggar what he actually wanted. The Lord needed to hear him open his mouth to seek His help. Go ahead, open your mouth and pray about any problem you have today. The Father of lights will beam His light upon the situation in Jesus’ name and you will be victorious.

Spiritual blindness is a terrible form of darkness. In Luke 24:13-31, two of the disciples were so spiritually blind that they did not recognize their Lord until the light shone on them. When the light of God shines on you, despair disappears, strength is regained and joy unspeakable would become your portion. Praise the Lord.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Let there be light could mean, “Lord, after you have shown me the solution to my problem, teach me how to help others also” or simply “Lord, use me for Your glory”. A life that does not serve a divine purpose is a wasted life and would have no recompense in the hereafter. Jesus Christ clearly said:

And, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Revelation 22:12

The reason we were not taken to heaven the very day we gave our lives to Christ is so that we may be useful and not only serve the purpose of our creation and redemption, but be handsomely rewarded by our Father in heaven. When darkness fills a person’s life, such a fellow will lead a purposeless and unprofitable life. A lesson we must learn from Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-8 is that the moment the light of God shone upon him and he was shown his imperfection by God’s grace, he surrendered himself to be used of God.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isaiah 6:8.

Joseph is another classic example of someone who, after the light of God shone upon him, served God’s purpose for his life consciously. Like Joseph, all children of God must seek to discover His unique purpose for their lives and pursue it vigorously (Genesis 50:19-20).

Beloved, when the light of God shines upon your life, you will see the importance of Mark 16:17,18 and you will earnestly pray for the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise in Acts 1:8 over your life.

God has already prepared a glorious future ahead for all His children through Christ (Colossians 1:27). Ensure you do not miss out on this by yielding your life entirely over to the Light-Jesus Christ and live according to His purpose for your life.

God bless you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Let there be light could mean “Lord, show me the good ground to sow into” or “Lord, show me the business I should venture into”. It could also mean “Lord, show me the solution to the problem(s) I am faced with” as in the case of the bitter water discovered at Mara in Exodus 15:22-26. In that story, many lessons could be learnt. One is that the physical eyes are good and necessary, the spiritual eyes are far better and more beneficial. At times the solution is right there under our noses, but we may not know until the light of God beams on such a solution. Though the tree that was a solution to the bitterness in the water at Mara was there, they (both the leader and the led) did not see or recognize it until the light of God shone upon it.

You may be a solution to your people, yet not be appreciated to the point of being considered able to help, until the light of God shines upon you. A country did not see the usefulness of a nationalist leader until he died, after which he was declared “The best president they never had”. None of David’s kin was ready to consider him as a possible candidate for the throne until the light of God shone and Samuel anointed him.

In the same vein, you need the light of God to shine upon you before you can choose rightly where to invest your time and energy. To the glory of God, when the light of God shone upon Isaac, he remained in Gerar where he prospered so tremendously that even the king of the land envied him (Genesis 26:12-14). There are categories of soil to sow into, according to the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9). There are soils that represent the wayside; some are good enough to produce in thirties, sixties and hundreds.

We also need to consider the quality of the seed being sown. Beloved, the light of God is required not only to identify the correct soil, but also the right seed to sow. You cannot sow corn in the sea; it would also be an exercise in futility for you to raise fish fingerlings in the desert. One may say these are obvious, but then, that is what many do when they dabble in businesses God has not approved for them. May the light of God lead you from now, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

“Let there be light” could mean, “Let there be shining beauty”. Darkness is ugly, and beauty is neither shown nor appreciated in it. For example, when darkness envelopes a beautiful woman, no one can see or appreciate her beauty. Conversely, when the light of God shines upon the same person, her beauty would be seen and appreciated by all.

In Esther 2:5-9, we read of God’s light shining upon the slave girl Esther who later became Queen. The secret is the light of God that shone upon her – nothing more. Nobody appreciates beauty in darkness. For example, in the daytime, Jacob admired Rachel so much that he opted for her instead of her elder sister. However, when darkness came and Leah was presented, he did not know who was who until the following morning (Genesis 29:16-19, 23-26).

An adage says that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. What many fail to know is that beauty is synonymous with light. It is she who has the light of God on her that looks beautiful. There was a woman who was beautiful in the real sense of it. She was a woman beautiful not only to behold but also to be desired as a wife. However, the husband turned her to a punching bag! She appeared repulsive to the husband, despite her beauty and accomplishments. The truth of the matter was that darkness so beclouded her beauty that her husband could not appreciate it. The conclusion of the matter is found in 2 Corinthians 4:6.

Do you want all forms of darkness and evil to depart from you? Do you want the light of God to beam and radiate His glory all over you?.

Make up your mind to surrender all to the Light – Jesus Christ, and the light of God would shine upon you. Surrender all to the Father of lights today and every darkness beclouding your vision from seeing and experiencing His glory will flee, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Let there be light could mean “Let darkness, which also represents death, disappear”. Jesus the Light and the Life drives away darkness from anyone who identifies with Him, as found in John 11:41-44 where we see the Light of God in action – driving away the darkness of death in the life of Lazarus who had been dead for four days. When death looms, darkness prevails; the only solution is to invite light to disperse darkness. Therefore, if any is being plagued with the fear of death, such a fellow should invite the Light.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
John 11:25.

The above Scripture confirms Matthew 4:16, which says, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up”. Death is the most devastating symbol of darkness. The Psalmist was right in describing it as “the valley of the shadow of death”. The good news he announces is that the Lord is his Shepherd; therefore, he fears no evil. We must take a cue after the Psalmist if we want to overcome the darkness of death. Jesus Christ – the Light is the answer.

When the darkness of death came visiting the household of Lazarus, the Light was invited. Even when it seemed the Light was delayed, resulting in the death of Lazarus, the Light overtook death in spite of its running away with the life of Lazarus for four days.

One of my sons-in-the-Lord was running helter-skelter on being told that his days were up and that he should be prepared to die. He however, came to the Light and up till now, he is bouncing with life – darkness was driven away when we reported its activities to the Light.

Are you experiencing any form of darkness or death in any area of your life? Come to Jesus Christ the light, surrender all to Him and the darkness would leave you alone.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Let there be light could mean let there be peace. There is, however, a link between having the peace of God and obedience to His commandments, as we see in Isaiah 48:18.

One of the commandments which some people may not recognise is in Matthew 11:29 where Jesus Christ commands that we should learn of Him so that we may find rest (peace) for our souls. This is very important because Romans 10:17 also says “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.

Also, there are categories of peace. We have regular peace (Isaiah 45:7), great peace (Psalm 119:165), all-round peace (1 Kings 4:24) and peace like a river (Isaiah 48:18).

A question that then comes to mind is, “Who gives peace at whatever level?” The answer is simple: God is the Giver of peace. He gives peace through His Son Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). This is why Apostle Peter prayed for the Church, saying “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). The preceding verse says, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God”. In other words, before you can have the peace of God, you must learn to trust Him, and you cannot trust the one you do not know or accept as your all in all. In addition, you cannot pray to the one you do not believe in, not to talk of praising and honouring Him as you should.

On this note, I encourage you to seek the Father of lights (James 1:17) and I am confident that you will find Him as promised in Proverbs 8:17.

Do you want the peace of God to reign in your life? Come to the Father of lights today through His Son Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace. Confess your sins and if you have done that before, decide to live a sinless life from now. May the light of God that brings peace beam over you and all that concerns you, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There is a correlation between light and joy just as there is between darkness and sorrow. “Let there be light” can therefore mean “Let there be joy”. There is no joy in darkness; light produces joy unspeakable, full of glory. However, joy is in categories. There is ordinary joy as we read in Psalm 30:5. In Esther 8:15-16 we also read about the joy of God’s people when the darkness of wickedness and hatred that arose against them from Haman were quashed. There is also great joy according to 1 Chronicles 29:9:
Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

In the Scripture above we learn one secret of the great joy of the people. This secret lies in the fact that they offered to the Lord their substance, their praise, willingly and with perfect hearts. Another lesson is that King David also rejoiced with great joy, which means that great joy is not determined by position, the amount of wealth or level of influence. Both the king and the ordinary people experienced great Joy.

There is, however, another category of joy and that is exceeding great joy. Matthew 2:10 tells of the exceeding great joy of wise men who were searching for the newborn Saviour of the world. It says “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy”. When you discover the Person of Jesus Christ the Saviour, your joy will be unspeakable and exceedingly great. This is also called the joy of salvation. Peter the Apostle described this kind of joy thus, “But rejoice, Inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).

Sorrow is the opposite of joy and it characterizes the life of those who are not born again. Beloved, do you desire joy? Then get out of the darkness of this world of sin and embrace Jesus Christ – the Light of this world. In John 8:12, Jesus says “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Let there be light could mean “Let the darkness of poverty disappear” so that pure wealth from God may appear – the type that does not bring sorrow along with it. The Almighty God is the Master Strategist, the Architect-in-Charge of the universe and the Greatest Builder of all time. Before the universe was put together, God planned it. No one is in this world by accident. He did not create man until all that he needed for his living was put in place. The earth was filled with the darkness of poverty but God fixed it before creating man. I pray that the Almighty God will deal with the darkness of poverty in your life, in Jesus’ name. The Almighty God told the children of Israel:

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18.

The members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in particular have a covenant of pure wealth with God through our Father-in-the Lord, the founder of the RCCG. This is why we do not need to go the worldly way to get wealth. Wealth is our trademark because we need it to carry out our mandate of world evangelization and missions. The good news is that every child of God can partake in this covenant of prosperity through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, according to 2 Corinthians 8:9.

In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 we read of a man who realized that poverty is a form of darkness and thus decided not to condone it any longer. He thus prayed against it. This man was Jabez. The lesson all children of God must learn here is that poverty is not a Christian virtue and so it should be abhorred with a passion. As a matter of fact, poverty is in direct opposition to our relationship with God who says the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him (Psalm 50:10).

May the light of the Almighty God shine upon you today and cause every form of the darkness of poverty to forever flee, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One of the consequences of sin is sickness. When the darkness of sin disappears, sickness flees with it. The words “Let there be light could mean “Let there be healing” because sickness is a form of darkness. Jesus Christ is the Light, the Remover of sin, as well as the Healer. 1 Peter 2:24 says that we are dead to sin and healed by the stripes of Jesus.

The story in Matthew 9:1-7 confirms that sin, more often than not, causes sickness in mankind. Thus, once the problem of sin is dealt with, sickness is invariably healed as well. When Jesus saw the man that was sick of the palsy, He knew straightaway that his problem was as a result of sin. Instead of engaging in an exercise in futility like many ministers of God do today, Jesus went straight to the root cause of the man’s sickness – sin. “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee” Jesus declared. The result is found in Matthew 9:8 after Jesus had declared him forgiven. Jesus said:

But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house.
Matthew 9:6-7.

Beloved, there are a lot of lessons to learn from Matthew 9:1-7: One, for ministers of the gospel, we must not waste our time on praying for the sick who are not ready to let go of their sins. Two, for the sick, they must be humble enough to admit their sinful living, confess, forsake and totally repent of the sins. Three, Jesus Christ the Healer is the Forgiver of sins; every man must come to Him for salvation from all calamities, including the darkness of sickness. The assurance is that no matter how hopeless the situation may be, humanly speaking, by His stripes you will be healed. Just ensure that you have zero tolerance to any spiritual impurity in your body which is the temple of the Almighty God, according to (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

“Let there be light” could mean “Let the darkness of sin disappear” because sin is a terrible form of darkness. No one can possess the pure light except from God, the Father of lights. The reason is that man was sold to the darkness of sin as a result of the fall at Eden. However, God provided salvation for mankind through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. This is why the Bible says:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 8:12.

The above Scripture simply means that the cure for the darkness of sin is Jesus Christ. Have you been wallowing in the darkness of sin? This New Year can make the difference if you will accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour – believing in salvation by His blood (Matthew 1:21). You may claim to have Jesus as your Saviour but have you surrendered to His Lordship? Give the totality of your life to Him today and allow Him to take charge of everything that concerns you (Matthew 11:28-29).

One important thing to do in order to step out of darkness is to confess one’s sins and surrender all to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if we say we have no sin we are just deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:, but if we will swallow our pride, confess and decide to forsake our sins, God will forgive us – meaning that the light of God will overshadow us.

One sign that indicates we have God’s light in us is when we shine, and we cannot shine with sin dwelling within us. We are only able to shine when Jesus rules over our lives. Jesus is the Light and those who live by His standards have His light within them. This is why Jesus Christ instructs genuine disciples to shine the light which they possess (Matthew 5:16).

I pray that the light of God will shine upon your life and there shall be no iota of darkness harassing you anymore, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Home Church model is the oldest form of worship centres right from the Old Testament days. It should be recalled that what is now known as Abrahamic faith in at least three notable religions of the world started as a family mode of worship. The Bible tells of how the Abrahamic faith started within the household of Abraham in Genesis 18:19. lt is equally interesting to note that the New Testament Church was born, it was within a household at the Upper Room (Acts 1:13). This was where all the earliest apostles were residing when the New Testament Church was inaugurated by the coming of the Holy Ghost.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus …Likewise greet the church that is in their house…
Romans 16:3,5.

Therefore, adopting the Home Church model is going back to the basics. The Home Church model has been proven to be beneficial right from the birth of the Church and all the hostility from the world against it. The blessings accruing from this model are innumerable but we shall mention some of the spiritual ones today.

To start with, putting a Church in your house in the form of a House Fellowship Centre is like putting the Ark of the Covenant there and it brings abundant blessings like in the case of Obededom in 2 Samuel 6:10-11. Obededom became a national celebrity to the extent that even King David envied him and hurriedly took the Ark away from his household. The good news is that no one can take the Church away from you as long as you allow Jesus to remain in your house.

Corporately speaking, the Home Church model enhances all-round growth of the Church. Spiritually, members Of the House Fellowship and by extension, of the Church are groomed since they would be properly taken care of. This model discourages the loss of souls in the multitude of the bigger mother-Church. As we can see from the scriptures we reviewed above, the Home Church model is a design from God and we must all return to it.

Beloved, decide to use your home as a sub-unit of a bigger Church today and you would be richly blessed by so doing, in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The word ‘wonder’ could be rightly considered as an apt description of God. Our God is full of wonders. At creation we saw how God brought order out of a chaotic situation. The Bible says:

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:2-3.

The above Scripture gives assurance of peace to anyone who would come to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In Isaiah 66:1, we read that God is so magnificent that the entire heaven is His throne while, as large as the earth is, it is merely His footstool. This is to tell us that no matter how big our challenges are, God is bigger than them all, as a songwriter affirms.

Another area of the wonders of God is found in John 1:1-3, 14. God is an eternal Personality playing different roles. He is the Word with God and at the same time He is God. In a nutshell, God is the Word and the Word is God. The implication of this reality is that whoever trivializes the Word of God trivializes God Himself. Jesus Christ said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” – (John 6:63). Moreover, because the Word is powerful, if we abide in Him, our lives would be transformed and we would be victorious. The Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 understood this and took advantage of his knowledge of this truth when he requested that Jesus Christ should merely speak the Word to his servant’s situation for healing.

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Matthew 8:8.

The God of wonders is alive to deal with your situation and give you pleasant wonders as we journey through the year 2022. Go ahead and praise the God of wonders right now.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.