From Story to Glory

From Our Pastor's Desk

2nd Samuel 9:10-13 – “Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table.

Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants...As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons…

And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet”.

This is a very wonderful and interesting story from the Bible and it shows that it is not over until it is over.

Welcome to our Month of Beersheba. The good news this month is that the stories of our lives are about to change, because our God is a Destiny-Helper, Promise-Fulfiller, Need-Meeter, Covenant-Keeper, Chain-Breaker, Way-Maker, Burden-Bearer, Prayer-Hearer & Answerer, Yoke-Destroyer etc; we are, therefore, expectant. 

The name, Mephibosheth, means "he who scatters shame” He was also called Meribbaal in 1st Chron. 8:34, which means contender with Baal. But, he was, instead, a carrier and bearer of shame, a victim and casualty of Baal.

What a life contrary to his name he lived, until Mercy and Grace knocked on his door. God can use anybody, when the set time has come. Imagine the life of that crippled boy at Lodebar, without any hope. But God used king David to change all that.

He gave him lands, and servants to work the land, and a place of honor at the king's table.  It does not matter how long you have spent in captivity, the important thing is that Jesus will intervene in your situation.

Your story will turn to glory.  Divine help and intervention is already on the way for you, now. The story of your life will be rewritten for good, in Jesus Name. Amen

You will have good success this 2018.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

December 2018 - Our Month of Beersheba

 From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this Our New Month of Beersheba, in Jesus name. Isaac did not stop at Rehoboth. Genesis 26:23 – “And he went up from thence to Beersheba”  Beer means “well”, and sheba means “oath”. Beersheba, therefore, means the “well of oath”.

This is our month of the well of oath, covenant kept, promise fulfilled, rest, reconciliation & peace. The month that the enemies will come bowing at our feet.

King Abimelech, with an entourage, approached Isaac in Beersheba for mercy & reconciliation. They made two good confessions – “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you”; “You are now the blessed of the Lord”

Isaac forgave them, made them a feast, and sent them on their way in peace, to complement Proverbs 16:7 that “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” It is the month that speaks of God’s faithfulness to His promises, covenants & oaths.

God renewed & kept His word with regards to Abraham & Isaac, as He will also do for us too, as the year ends, in Jesus Name.  We are encouraged that whatever promises of God there are (“For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” – 2nd Cor. 1:20), we draw from His “well of oath”, until all that God has said and promised shall be fulfilled in our lives, in a wonderful way this month of Beersheba, in Jesus mighty Name.

Amen.

Dangers at Rehoboth

From Our Pastor's Desk

Genesis 26:22-24 – “…and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And he went up from thence to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night…” Success is good but beware & be cautious of its snares.

Rehoboth was a place of success for Isaac, a place of plenty & rest. It was a place for him (as is for us) to rest awhile, not to be at rest. It is never permanent. It is slippery.

We are not to set success before us when we attain, but always put it behind us. It should always be regarded as issue of the past while we then place God goals ahead of us.

That was what Isaac did, by putting the success of Rehoboth behind him & going to where an altar for God he built. Satan is most dangerous when we are facing lack/need, but he is just as dangerous (if not more) when we face abundance/prosperity.

Suffering tends to sharpen our spiritual senses, driving us to realize our need for God. But when things are going well it becomes easy to forget God, our Source. Deuteronomy 8: 11-14 – “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God…when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses…and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God…”

Countless times we think that if we only had more money we could prevent problems from coming our way. We think money would not only allow us to enjoy a better life, but that it would allow us to enjoy life better.

The sooner we get over the illusion that more stuff means a better life the better off we will be. Then we can pursue true treasure, a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus.

The Lord will grant us grace to look always unto Jesus this year & beyond, in Jesus Name. Amen
You will have good success this 2018.  Remain blessed.  Shalom

Keep Digging

By: Deaconess Kemi Epidi

Genesis 26:22 says, " And he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, ‘At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land. (NASB)'" 

Today, many people are experiencing opposition at home, office, marriage, career, business, ministry, and in all other walks of life by forces that are not of God. The good news is that your opposition is your divine privilege for sudden promotion.

Rehoboth does not just signify ordinary enlargement. It means enlargement in the face of opposition; promotion in the face of commotion; shining in the face of striving and progress in the face of persecution.  Does Rehoboth come automatically when we are persecuted? Not really. 

It comes by our persistence( Isaac did not give up until he climbed up);  patience ( Isaac did not hire thugs to fight the Philistines and did not return their fire for fire); prayers ( don't for get that Isaac was a child of Abr aham, so his petition to the God of his father was real) and praises ( in all things, let the altar of praises be higher than the altar of needs).

Rehoboth is an answer to questions and a solution to problems.   All of us will encounter multiple obstacles on the road toward our promises. The contentious wells of Esek and Sitnah tend to drain the life out of us rather than provide any refreshing.

Their waters are bitter. They are the hard places where we are most tempted to quit.  We must learn to see the solution even when problems are barking and biting. Whatever you may be facing that seems insurmountable, see them as opportunities for advancement. 

You are about to move from the pits to the palace simply because you didn’t give up. God will prepare that room for us and that’ll just be the beginning of greater and better things to come, in Jesus Name. Amen

You will have good success this 2018. 

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Getting to Your Rehoboth

By Bro. Sumbo Adefila

Just like Isaac, we all have aspirations in life and have revelations from God and the Holy Spirit, and just like Isaac, we sometimes face adversaries and challenges.

God’s plan for us becomes unfulfillable to us in our hearts. We lose faith, focus and sometimes even loose our trust in the Lord.

We can stop this trend by imitating Isaac and some of his fore fathers by actually believing in the revelation from God to us and continue to work for its fulfillment.

Thus says the Lord your God in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

King Solomon with his wealth of wisdom revealed this to us in Proverbs 16:1-2, The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. 

But on your way to your Rehoboth, these are some questions that you may need to answer
 What are your aspirations and what guides your plans? Why do you need to get to Rehoboth?
 How do you know if you are progressing? How sure are you that you gradually progressing towards Rehoboth?
 What are you plans for getting to Rehoboth? What are you new plans for reaching Rehoboth?

As we wait on the Lord for His revelation and continue to worship Him in spirit and in truth, my prayer is that His promise to guide us and lead us right through all faces in life will be fulfilled, in Jesus Name. Amen

You will have good success this 2018. 

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Room in Tight Places

From Our Pastor's Desk

Isaac faced much contention & strife for his dug wells, in Genesis 26:17-22. But eventually he dug a well far away from his contentious neighbors, and was left to enjoy the fruit of his labor, so he called the place Rehoboth. This means breakthrough

Psalms 4:1 - Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. The phrase “enlarged me when I was in distress” literally means “made room for me in tight places”; means “relief” (according to the NIV version).

The verse reminds us that there is a God who can offer us relief, make room for us in tight places or distress. Most times, we try to make our own space, handling things independently and attempting to solve our problems without ever calling on the One who best knows how to enlarge, no matter how tight the space.

It’s His specialty. Rehoboth means "broad place," broadway, and it refers to the land of inheritance that only God can give and that the enemy cannot steal from you. The Philistines did not contend for Rehoboth. God kept them away.

Rehoboth reminds us of the place God brought King David when he announced in Psalm 18:19 - "The Lord brought me forth also into a broad (large) place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me." In the scriptures, God made room for several people, they reached their Rehoboth, their place of expansion, enlargement, increase, breakthrough and rest.

Giving his boat to the Lord to use one morning, Peter who had toiled all night, got his breakthrough. He caught so many fish that his boat began to sink. Thereafter, he was promoted from a fisherman to a fisher of men.  You too will have your breakthrough!

The Lord will take you to your Rehoboth, a land of rest and expansion – a place where enemies will stop contending with you, in Jesus Name. Amen

You will have good success this 2018.

Remain blessed.

Shalom.

November 2018 - Our Month of Rehoboth

From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this Our New Month of Rehoboth, in Jesus name.

Genesis 26:22 – “And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” 

Rehoboth means breakthrough, broad places, fruitful, a place where the Lord makes room for His people. Isaac moved to the valley of Gerar and lived there. Then he started searching for water. He dug several wells but the local herdsmen forcibly took them from him.

Eventually he dug a well far away and he was left to enjoy the fruit of his labor, so he called the place Rehoboth,. Some of us are “digging our wells in a dry land” and by His grace, we will suddenly come across water, or abundant oil in our well after much prospecting and digging.

Our thirst will be quenched, and money will begin to flow. We will achieve expansion, rest, break-forth, and breakthrough after all our efforts. Psalms 31:8 – “And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room” 

In this Our Month of Rehoboth, the Lord who did it for Isaac, will also make room for us in every area of our lives, set our feet in a large room, and take us to our desired haven & wealthy place, where the enemies will stop contending with us, in Jesus mighty Name.