12 Baskets Full

From Our Pastor's Desk

John 6: 13 – “Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten” There are blessing and there are blessings. There are those blessings that will sink a ship (Luke 5:1-11). 

And there are blessings that you will need your neighbors to help you carry them (John 6:5-13). And there are cup-overflowing blessings (Psalms 23:5).

Those are the kinds of blessings coming your way this month & beyond, in Jesus Name. The little lad gave his lunch, willingly, to the disciples & Jesus, just five loaves & two fishes. That small gift became enough for feeding thousands, they all ate well and were filled.

Then the supernatural surplus. Twelve baskets remained, and the little lad took them home. What a blessing!. God’s blessings are always super-abundant, overflowing. Psalms 23:5 – “…thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over” We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to experience God’s banquet house.

His overflowing, abundant grace is something we experience as Christians in this life.  In John 10:10, Jesus says “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” That is a cup running over with God’s grace.

The life He gives us is perisson, meaning, “to have a surplus,” “superabundance,” “till it overflows.”  In Luke 5:1-11, an ordinary day turned into a divine adventure for Simon Peter because of his obedience. He agreed to Jesus’ seemingly insignificant requests, which led to supernaturally-surplus blessings for himself and others.

My prayer is that not only will we feed well, we will be filled & have surplus left-overs, our cups will run over to others, because we serve a God that “is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” God will move us from being overwhelmed with struggles to overflowing with blessings, in Jesus Name.
Amen. 

You will have good success this 2018.
Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

The Caleb Spirit

From Our Pastor's Desk

The Caleb Spirit was the Spirit of TOTAL obedience. Numbers 32:12 – “Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD” In  Numbers  14:24,  God  testified  of  Caleb  –  “But  because  my  servant  Caleb  has  a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it”

What a testimony! So often we follow the Lord mostly, or when it suits us. But when things get tough, and we must lean on faith rather than sight, we balk, fear sets in, and we follow our fears instead of our faith.

There is a spirit of disobedience in the world. Ephesians 2:2  “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the  children of disobedience”
Due to no fault of his own, Caleb was forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years. He suffered because of the faithlessness & disobedience of the children of Israel. 

Through all this, Caleb never blamed God but simply trusted God and waited for the day when he would be allowed to cross over to the Promised Land. And that day came. Joshua 14:12-13 – “Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were  great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance” The steadfastness of Caleb's commitment to God during these troubling (and wasted) years is a great testament to the character of the man, which is summed in one phrase, "different spirit".

We too must possess a "different" spirit in order to be pleasing to God. We must come to grips with the fact that we are not like everyone else. May the “different” Spirit of total obedience, rest more upon us, in Jesus Name. Amen. 

You will have good success this 2018. 

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Nevertheless, At Thy Word

By Bro. Franklin Erebor



The theme: ‘’Nevertheless, at Thy Word’’ connotes total obedience to the word of God, regardless of the circumstance. It also denotes a night of struggle, a morning of surrender and an afternoon of accomplishment.

When the Lord told Peter to let down his net, he did not want to as he had his doubts and disbeliefs. However, he totally obeyed the word of the Lord and the outcome far exceeded his expectations and imaginations!

The theme teaches us that God’s word is irreplaceable as He is the final authority in every situation, circumstance or thing. It means that despite the toiling and vicissitudes of life, there is still hope by virtue of His word.

The word of God brings life to everything - ‘’My words are Spirit and Life ‘’- John 6:63. The word, therefore, is our veritable source of power and strength; our armor and shield. Every creation of God responds to His word.

The word of God always goes forth to accomplish great things and never comes back void – Isaiah 55:10-11.  There are rewards for obedience – Noah obeyed God  by building the ark and he and his family were saved from the flood in Genesis 7.  There are also consequences for disobedience 1 Samuel 15:22. The account of Manasseh, King of Judah – 2 Chronicles: 33.

Remember: Obedience + Disobedience = Disobedience
Selective Obedience + Selective Obedience < Obedience
The Word = Total Obedience + Total Obedience = The Miraculous                     

We may not like what the Lord is calling us to do today, but I enjoin all to be totally obedient, receive the unction and join Peter and say ‘’ Master, we have toiled all night and taken nothing: Nevertheless, at Thy Word I will Let down the net’’

Brethren: Only you can let down your metaphorical net in total obedience. Will you do so and obey Him without compromise from this day forward in total obedience to His WORD?

I pray we all will and may God bless us as we do so, in Jesus Name. Amen. 

You will have good success this 2018. Remain blessed.  Shalom.

Total Obedience in a Perversive World

By Deaconess Ronke Ademosu

Literally, obedience and perversion are two opposite words- 'oxymoron'. We live in a world that was created perfect (Gen. 1:31), but turned wicked, imperfect, degenerated, malicious, spiteful!

One, diverted from true intent and purpose of its creator-God. A self-righteous world.
Yet, God still loves us dearly and His desire for us is to be holy, righteous, submissive, focused, unmovable, perfect, heaven-compliant and trusting in Him totally, irrespective of all forms  of degradation around  us.

Our God condemns perversion of any kind. Eccl. 5:8 says "If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they" 

How can we reconcile these two positions? 1John 2:15 -  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him"  By loving God wholeheartedly comes the willingness to obey and  surrender all to Him for He says "If ye love me, you l keep my commandment" - John 14:15

Total Obedience is voluntary but compulsory for believers  as we journey on earth’s pilgrimage in order to reach our eternal destination. That's why the Bible says in Isa. 1:19 – “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land"

How willing are you to partake of this blessing? What's the level of your obedience? Total or partial? Paul said in Phil. 3:10 – “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection…”  Are you ready for that power? May the fear of the Lord increase in us this month of Total Obedience, in Jesus Name. Amen.

You will have good success this 2018.
Remain blessed.
Shalom.

Stages of Disobedience

From Our Pastor's Desk

Sometimes, we think a little disobedience isn’t really that big of a deal. In our minds, as long as we mean well, everything would be okay. What we fail to realize is that a ‘little’ disobedience opens the door for big darkness.

Every tragic thing that happened in Saul’s life happened as a result of this ‘little’ disobedience – 1st Sam. 15:11. Disobedience opens the door to the devil’s influence to our lives, our families, children, destinies, blessings and future.  Ecclesiastes 10:8 says “…he that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him”

Disobedience breaks the divine hedge of God around us. This is a “wall of fire”, no evil power or devil can penetrate into the divine hedge - Job 1:10. But a little disobedience and we are ex-posed to all fiery darts of the serpent. Our God is the Good Shepherd and He has provided divine protection and defense for us, His sheep.

However, it is the responsibility of the sheep to ensure that this hedge is not broken by being totally obedient to His commandments.  If any of us are still out of the fold due to disobedience, this is the time to come back into the fold for safety, by repenting now. God will grant us mercy for our disobediences, in Jesus Name. Amen. 

You will have good success this 2018. 

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

June 2018 - Our Month of Total Obedience

From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this Our New Month of Total Obedience, in Jesus name. John 2:5–“His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do it.” 

The mother of Jesus knew the secret of receiving miracles, which is simple total obedience. At the wedding in Cana in Galilee, the hosts ran out of wine to serve the guests.

Jesus asked them to fill all the water pots to the brim with water and they did. They received a miracle as the water turned into wine, saving them from disgrace & humiliation.

If we, likewise, desire to receive a miracle in any area of life, financial, physical, spiritual etc, all we need to do is to obey God. In 2nd Kings 5:10, God did not ask Naaman to do a hard thing or pay a costly price to get healed. Anything God requires from us is something we can afford to do or give. He will not make impossible demands of us. Yet, as simple as His demands may be, some people still find it difficult obeying them. What simple instruction have you failed to obey?

Need a miracle like Naaman? Need a miracle like that of the marriage of Cana in Galilee? Then whatsoever Jesus saith unto you, DO IT. Isaiah 1:19 - “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land…” As you obey the Lord this Month of Total Obedience, you will receive your miracles. Whatever it is that you’d consider to be your own special break-through,

He will release upon you, in Jesus Name.