25042021 - B/Haram bandits almost succeeding in their mission CAN president warns

PAGE 20—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2021
Abounding in the abundant life
How often have you heard this kind of
testimony in the church? “Praise the
Lord, I was blessed yesterday. Someone blessed
me with N100,000.”
But is N100,000 a blessing? Can money really
be a blessing? What if I use the money to
shoot cocaine and end up in the hospital? Would
it still be considered a blessing? If a blessing is
a blessing, surely it would remain a blessing
come rain or shine? It should not be possible
for a blessing to end up bringing adversity.
Clearly, many of the things Christians consider
to be blessings are nothing of the sort.
Solomon declares: “The blessing of the Lord
makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with
it.” (Proverbs 10:22). True blessings will never
bring sorrow.
Moreover, while the blessing of the Lord
makes one rich, riches are not the blessing.
Indeed, the riches that the blessing of the Lord
confers are significantly different from those
of the world. This is because God has not chosen
the rich of this world. Instead, He has chosen:
“the poor of this world to be rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which He promised
to those who love Him.” (James 2:5).
“Can you bless me with 1000 naira?” “No, I
cannot. But I can pray for you.”
When the beggar at the Beautiful Gate asked
Peter for money, Peter gave him Christ instead:
“Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have,
but what I do have I give you: In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’”
(Acts 3:6).
Blessings are spiritual
A blessing is something that is spoken or
uttered, and which has the power to confer
goodness: “For You meet him with the blessings
of goodness; you set a crown of pure gold
Success in life, ministry: Persevering to succeed (3)
The truth about prayer of agreement!
JESUS said: “If two of you shall agree on
earth as touching anything that they shall
ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)
The prayer of agreement Jesus is talking
about, is the spiritual agreement of two people
of God who have His Spirit, because if any
man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
Christ, as written in Romans 8:9c: “Now if any
man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
While the blessing of the
Lord makes one rich, riches
are not the blessing
upon his head.” (Psalm 21:3).
Like a curse, a blessing is immaterial.
However, it has an inherent power to confer
goodness on the person to whom it is
invoked.
God does not bless with money. God
blesses with His word. Whenever God blesses,
He says something instead of doing
something. In the New Testament, our blessings
are pre-eminently spiritual. Paul says:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3).
The perennial carnality of the Church is
that we have largely refused to believe the
word of God. Where the commandments
of God seem to contradict self-interest, we
simply ignore them and effectively re-write
scripture. So, when people give testimonies
about being blessed, the testimonies hardly
ever conform to the blessing prescriptions
laid down by Jesus in the beatitudes.
According to Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, only those things that take
us along the path of eternal life, or those
things that move us closer to God in heaven,
are blessings. (Matthew 5-7). However,
Christians do not say we are blessed because
we are bereaved or mournful. We do
not say we are blessed because we are merciful.
ITION
NTRODUC
We are continuing
our study of
Perseverance as a
subject in the
light of faith reality.
Certainly, we
do not talk about
perseverance if
there are no obvious
challenges or
Pastor Akinola
frustrating oppo-
sitions. Why do you think God will be
speaking to Joshua that he should be
strong and of a good courage when he
was taking over the baton of leadership
from Moses in Joshua 1:6-9?
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for
unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land, which I sware unto
their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous,
that thou mayest observe to do according
to all the law, which Moses my
servant commanded thee: turn not from
it to the right hand or to the left, that
thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou
goest.
8 This book of the law shall not depart
out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou
mayest observe to do according to all that
is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou
shalt have good success.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be
strong and of a good courage; be not
afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the
LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever
thou goest
We shall be considering the spectrum
of perseverance in the light of these vivid
instructions from God to
Joshua.
GOOD SUCCESS NEVER
COMES EASY
Probably you will like to ask
me what good success is all
about. First and foremost,
good success comes when a
person has found out the purpose
of God for his/her life,
and gets fixed on fulfilling
that one and only purpose in
life. We can call this the foundation
level, but however there
is more to success than this
level. After discovery of divine
purpose, a person needs to
pass through several stages
that tries our faith before entering
into fulfillment. When
Robert Harold Schuller said,
“Success is Never Ending, Failure
is Never Final”, it means
that success is a process, and
not an event. Furthermore, success
is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
You will discover that in a
marathon race, the athlete begins
to increase speed towards
the end. Similarly, in any process,
an evaluation done towards
the end causes a review
of parameters used in order to
optimize (or make maximum
returns from) the process. Both
of these call for much perseverance.
THE BOOK OF THE LAW
In verse 8 of Joshua 1 above,
the Book of the Law, (the Word
of God) is provided for us as
the Instrument for parameter
his.”
Majority of believers in Christ have not
the Spirit of Christ, because they have rejected
the truth, which is the gospel of salvation
that seals every believer in Christ
with His Spirit as written in Ephesians 1:13.
Many believers in Christ think that when
they hold hands together to pray, then, they
are in agreement. This is the spirit of error!
In Matthew 26:36-37, it is written that
Jesus went to Gethsemane, to pray with three
We do not think we are blessed because we are
persecuted for righteousness sake. We do not
consider it a blessing to endure temptation. We
never think people who die in faith are blessed.
But John says:
“I heard a voice from heaven saying to me,
‘Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they
may rest from their labours, and their works
follow them.’” (Revelation 14:13).
Counterfeit blessings
But we believe we are blessed when someone
gives us money. Thereby, we re-write the scriptures
according to the ways of the world; according
to the carnal and vainglorious nature
of man.
Jesus says: “It is more blessed to give than to
receive.” (Acts 20:35). Here we see the pre-eminence
of the spiritual in new covenant blessings.
The man who gives loses materially but gains
spiritually and is thereby blessed.
But if we see blessings only in terms of the
physical, our carnality will disqualify us from
true blessings. Jesus says:
“If you have not been trustworthy in handling
worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
And if you have not been trustworthy with
someone else's property, who will give you property
of your own? No servant can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and
Money.” (Luke 16:11-13).
Begging to give
Normally beggars beg to receive a gift. But
have you ever seen a beggar that begs to give
and not to receive?
The true Christian is a peculiar person. (1 Peter
2:9). On earth, he is a foreigner and a sojourner.
Therefore, he should act very differently
from the unbeliever.
Take a good look at the Macedonian Church.
Paul says they were begging to be able to give to
the saints: “Imploring us with much urgency
that we would receive the gift and the fellowship
of the ministering to the saints.” (2 Corinthians
8:4).
review, as we navigate the
route to success. As we meditate
day and night, we see
factors that can hinder us
from fulfilling the divine
purpose, so we remove them.
Our path then becomes
clearer, and get brighter and
brighter to the perfect day.
(Prov. 4:18). This is by no
means an easy process, and
that is why Perseverance is
highly needed
CONCLUSION
In the next serial, we shall
look at those needed components
of perseverance that
made God tell Joshua to be
strong and of a good courage.
It follows that perseverance
can only be acquired
upon the understanding and
acting upon certain principles,
without which it will be
mere legalism or mechanical
exercise. We shall begin
to look at this from the next
serial. This is the pathway to
divine success, or rather,
good success. .
J.K. Akinola. (Senior
Pastor)
The Gospel Faith Mission
International (GO-
FAMINT), Ibadan, Nigeria.
E m a i l :
flprofenassociate@gmail.com,
08033376660,
08055405095
•Pastor Kumuyi
Jesus died for you on a stake,
and cried out in bitterness
of agony, due to the terrible
things you have committed,
which are difficult to utter by
words of mouth and may not
pass as printables.
That singular sacrificial act
of love makes it possible for you
to come boldly to the throne of
grace to receive mercy and pardon
for sins committed; and the
instant you receive Jesus as your
Lord and Saviour, that death
wish ticket, assigned to sinners
and the eternal punishment reserved
for all those who disobey
the commandments of God,
will no more have a noose effect
in your life.
Again, when the scripture says
in Isaiah 45:22 "Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of
the earth:" it reveals that the call
of God is for all and sundry; and
it is without discrimination, partiality
and exception.
Hence, God wants you to take
full advantage of His offer of
salvation so that you would be
of His disciples who were in spiritual agreement
with Him, leaving the others behind
amongst whom was Judas, whom Jesus called
a devil. (John 6:70)
As Judas was amongst the twelve disciples of
Jesus, so also amongst the people of God are
found wicked men who set traps to catch genuine
children of God as written in Jeremiah 5:26.
Praying together with them brings a snare to
souls of children of God, just as making friendship
with an angry man, brings a snare to one’s
soul, as warned in Proverbs 22:24-25. And the
wicked amongst the people of God are under
God’s anger, as written in Psalm 7:11.
WHAT PRAYER OF AGREEMENT HAVE
Although they were poor, their deep poverty
abounded into their liberality: “In a great trial
of affliction the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of
their liberality.” (2 Corinthians 8:2).
Why would they behave like this? Jesus provides
the clue: They loved much because their
sins, which were many, were forgiven. (Luke
7:47).
The question then is this. Do many Christians
not believe the word of God, or do we not
want the true kind of blessings associated with
giving? The so-called blessing associated with
receiving is actually very limited. What has
happened to all the gifts, money, clothes, and
shoes that we received when we were ten years
old?
When a man receives a gift, the gift will only
be good to him in this world. It has no use in
the world to come. Even the spiritual gifts administered
to the church by the Holy Spirit
are of limited value: “Love never fails. But
whether there are prophecies, they will fail;
whether there are tongues, they will cease;
whether there is knowledge, it will vanish
away.” (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Jesus told a bed-ridden paralytic: “Son, be
of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
(Matthew 9:2). He did not ask him to be of
good cheer because he was going to heal him.
But he should be of good cheer because his
sins are forgiven.
The forgiveness of sins makes the man an
heir of salvation; whereas good health is bodily
exercise; it profits little. David says: “Blessed
are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man
to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” (Romans
4:7-8).
When a man receives anything in this world,
its value is limited to this dying world. But
when a man gives in this world, he will qualify
for rewards not only in this world but also in
the world to come.
Accordingly, Jesus told his disciples: “Do not
rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to
you, but rather rejoice because your names
are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).
Salvation is free (3)
saved from sin, and from the punitive measures
sin attracts upon all those who fancy
embracing the odious side of disobedience
against the commands of God.
God loves you so much and that is why He
sent Jesus Christ to eat the bitter humble pie
for your sake so that you would not suffer the
regrets of refusing His call for your salvation.
This offer will not remain on the table
for ever and since life is brief the time to act
for every sinner is now.
As you tag along with God, you will begin
to experience a new life in God and the power
to live this kind of abundant life would become
part of your character traits which genetically
originates from heaven. Through
this process, the provision of eternal life will
also become your portion.
Isaiah 35:4 "Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your
God will come with vengeance, even God
with a recompence; he will come and save
you."
Isaiah 53:4-6 "Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed. All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all."
Because of your transgressions and sins,
Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. That is
why, today, He has decided that He will take
away the guilt sin has deposited in your life.
He wants to take away the problems sin
and Satan has left behind, which are now
causing great distress and sorrow of heart to
you and your family.
To be continued
THE CHILDREN OF GOD WITH THE
WICKED WHO ARE UNDER THE ANGER
OF GOD?
To be continued.
Christian Gospel Church
(The Truth Centre), 4 Christian Gospel Avenue,
Beside Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu,
Benin City, Edo State
Email:cgc.com.ng@gmail.com
Telephone: +234(0) 7052061135,
+234(0)9030731406
Website: www.cgc.thetruthcentre.com