The Fowl & the Fowler

Mathew 23:37-38 says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. 

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” 

The Bible says “and they would not”, that is, they refused to be gathered under the wings of protection.  Israel, as a nation, knew the glory of God's presence among them. The children of Israel prospered and became strong as they followed the Lord. 

However, Israel turned from God by making wrong choices. Eventually, they came to the place where the presence of God was no longer among them. The glory of God had departed. 

Psalms 91:3 – “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence”. A reference to the fowler and the fowl. A predator, hunter, adversary, the devil and its prey, hunted, a target for food.  

The intention of the fowler is to kill the fowl for food. The devil is the fowler who is setting a snare for those redeemed by the blood of Jesus. 

The devil is interested in capturing the believer to make him to be his slave so as not to fulfill the purpose of God for his life.  The Lord’s care is compared to that of mother hen for her young chickens when they are in danger. 

It is the wonder of wonders that sometimes people choose to abandon the cover of the wings of the Almighty. May the glory of God’s presence & protection never depart from us and our families. 

We refuse to leave the protection shield of the Almighty, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen.  You will have a great turn-around this 2020. Remain blessed.  Shalom.

Managing the Journey Called Success

From Our Pastor's Desk

Success is not stationary, motionless or static. It is growth. It is movement. It is mobile. It is dynamic. One does not arrive at success but moves from success to more and greater success. 

The Bible rightly says in Proverbs 4:18 that “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” The moment we think we have “arrived” and that’s it, we begin to depreciate, diminish and see the little achievement deplete. 

Though, success is good but it is deceptive in the sense that it gives one a feeling of arrival and settlement.  

Success, little or huge, can ruin a person, if not handled or managed properly. I’ve seen it hap-pen too many times. It sounds strange. We plan for success, we dream about success, and – most importantly – we pray for success. 

Yet when it comes, we often self-destruct. So, success needs to not only be managed, but well-managed. And as pre-scribed by the scriptures, the Lamb’s Book of Life. It’s so easy to get distracted and lose our focus when we taste little success. 

1st John 2:16  says “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”. These three lusts appeal to what makes the flesh feel good (pleasure), materialism (possessions), and arrogance (position, power, praise). That’s what the world around us values. 

And when we are tempted and start focusing on these, our lives are eroded by worldly lusts and desires, and we become fools in the eyes of heaven.  Proverbs 1:32  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 

The grace to manage our God-given success will abound in our lives, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen.  

You will have a great turn-around this 2020. 

Remain blessed.  

Shalom.

The Influencer and the Influenced

 Ever tried to cook the most delicious meal and then you taste it, only to find that it lacks salt/seasoning? And then you add the salt and everything tastes amazing. That is the power of the salt. The salt has the greatest influence on how the entire meal turns out.  

Ever been caught in the middle of a power cut? Those from and in Africa will attest to this. An immediate reaction to a lack of power is the feeling of deflation. Questions such as “why did this light go out?”, “when is it going to be restored?” easily become the order of the day. 

To even plan out the day properly becomes an issue because you will need to light some candles to partially see, wear that rumpled shirt to work and start worrying about the food items in the fridge and freezer, etc. 

It really will affect our moods, our thoughts, decision, etc Once the electricity is restored, all of the issues mentioned above suddenly go away. There is no longer a need for worry. That is the power of the electricity (light). The light has the greatest influence on how our entire morning, day, week, etc turns out. 

 Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something and we are largely a people that function on influence.  

In our quest for a life of all-round success, regardless of our definition or attribution to the term, we need to regularly take stock of what we are influencing or being influenced by. 

Look at how the influence of Naomi contributed to Ruth marrying Boaz. This would not have been possible, had she not followed Naomi back to Beth-lehem-judah. We need to ask ourselves what our sphere of influence is. 

Who are we looking up to? Who/what contributes to our decisions? Whoever has our ears has our time. Are these influencers positive or negative? 

Let us assess them and weed out the ones that will not help us in our quest for success.  We must be influenced correctly and be the right influence to help us achieve good all-round success. 

The Lord help us in this quest , in Jesus mighty Name. Amen.  

You will have a great turn-around this 2020. Remain blessed.  Shalom. 

Defining Your Success

By Minister Tosin Agboola 

How do you define success? What has to be accomplished in your life for you to affirmatively declare - I have attained good success! 

Success means different things to different people, but by worldly standards, does anyone truly get a pass mark for all-round success? 

The world has standards by which it measures success and many cave under the pressure of those expectations. 

How we perform against these standards some-times defines how ‘successful’ we are perceived to be. 

If we are not careful and define ourselves by how people judge us, it can lead to disappointment. Little wonder, in these times that we live in, mental health has become more delicate.   

But the question is - What do YOU want? What do YOU aspire to be? What does success look like to YOU? How is YOUR success defined? But most importantly, when faced alone with your God, how is that success evaluated 

These questions require an inner reflection, a constant check to be sure that it is in alignment with God’s will, powered with a dogged determination to excel. 

The good news for us is that unlike the world, God’s expectations for our success are backed with His empowerment and presence to see us through every step of the way. 1 Kings 2:3, Joshua 1:7, Mathew 6:34 all point us to His expectations  – Seek God first, walk in His ways, turn not to the right or to the left, you will prosper in ALL you do,  ALL things shall be added unto you. 

As long as we heed those words, so shall it be unto us and therein we will find all round good success, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen.  

You will have a great turn-around this 2020.  

Remain blessed.  

Shalom. 

Real Success

From Our Pastor's Desk

 Proverbs 3:1-4 - M y son, do not forget m y teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 

Proverbs 22.1 - A  good name is m ore desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Ecclesiastes 7.1 - A  good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. 

If one has to choose between a good name and riches, Solomon says, “choose a good name.” All the scriptures above agree that it pays to build a name, a good name; the reward doesn't come quickly but it will come however long it may take and it lasts longer. 

In this context, a “good name” really speaks to your integrity, discipline, self-control, honor, esteem and fear of God, which makes a man wealthy, not the fat bank account. It’s about your reputation and the character you possess inside. It identifies who you are from a moral and ethical standpoint. 

Essentially it is what you are all about. It’s the everlasting legacy and good heritage left for one’s children and children’s children. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches…” 

That’s amazing when you think about it. Your good name is better than all the money in the world! And that’s real success, saints. May will bring forth in your old age. Your seeds and fruits will flourish after you. You will leave a long-lasting legacy, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen.  

You will have a great turn-around this 2020.  

Remain blessed.  Shalom.

October 2020- Our Month of All-Round Good Success

From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this our new Month of All-Round Good Success, in Jesus name. 

Joshua 1:8 says “This book  of the law shall not de-part out of thy mouth but thou shall meditate there in day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shall make thy ways prosperous, and then thou shall have good success”.  

Not all success is good; Proverbs 1:32 tells us that if prosperity is out in the hand of a fool, the prosperity will destroy him; it said the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 

So there is a kind of success that can even bring destruction. We will never get that kind of success in Jesus name. So when God said if we do the following you will have good success, it tells us straight away that there are successes and there are successes; some success can be good, some can be bad. 

And He said if we want our own success to be good; this Book of the Law, the Bible, shall not depart from our mouths but we should meditate upon it day and night. To observe and to do all that is written therein.  

Mercy Seatizens, welcome to our Month of All-Round Good Success, God said as we study the Bible very well, as we meditate on it and as we do what is written in it, He said not only is our success guaranteed, our good success is guaranteed. 

We will succeed and good shall be our success, in Jesus Name. Amen.