Hope of Future Glory

By Sis. Praise Nnaji

God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light and has therefore mandated us to also shine that light in this dark world, so that all those who are seating or living in darkness can see His light through us.

In Isaiah 60:1-3 the Bible tells us to, “A rise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” 

Our lives should be attractive. You know why? Because we carry the glory of God! In the midst of darkness every bit of light draws attention no matter how little they may be.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world. ... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

The Bible also gave an account of Moses, when he came down from the mount after spending time in the presence of God desiring to see the glory of God.

 The bible made us understand that even the children of Israel, the people of God could not look on his face directly because of the glory of God upon him. He had to cover his face because the glory was shining like the sun, and as you may well know that he only saw God’s back. 

In Colossians 1:27 the Bible says that, “Christ in us is the hope of glory.” So, if Christ is living in the inside of us why are we not shining His light like Moses did? Or even better than Moses because He lives inside of us, we are to give hope to those that discouraged, those that are down cast, to the hopeless, even to the generation ahead.

That the children are the future armies the Lord is raising to show His glory. May the glory of the Lord that is risen upon us never be taken away, in Jesus Name. AMEN. 

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom

The Fowl & The Fowler

From Our Pastor's Desk

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 Name. AMEN. 

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed.

July 2019 - Our Month of Plants of Glory

  From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this Our New Month of Plants of Glory in Jesus name. Isaiah 61:3 – “…that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified…”

This verse talks about a “planting” of the Lord, and its essence is that the Lord “might be glorified.” A plant is a seed put firmly & securely in a right soil. Our God is a caring & meticulous Gardener.

If we submit to Him, He does to us whatever it takes to get us producing to our full potential, all to His glory. God’s glory is His manifest presence, by which He reveals His character of goodness and displays His power through signs & wonders. He does not share His glory with anyone.

But He reveals His glory in us, His children, as the “plants” in His garden. The purpose, reason or motivation for everything we do is to bring praise, honor, & glory to God.

Whether we eat, drink or whatever we do, we should do all for the glory of God. We must be plants of His glory. He desires His people to know Him, to glorify Him & to reflect His glory more.

In this Our Month of Plants of Glory, as we get to know God more intimately, the more His glory will be revealed to us and in us, greater, better, brighter, & sweeter each passing day, in Jesus mighty Name.

Amen.

What Type of Building Materials Are You Using?

By Deacon Joseph Nnaji

In 1 Corinthians 3:9-10, Apostle Paul states that, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid the foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he/she build.” 

In verse 10 apostle Paul admonishes the Christian man and woman, whether we by the grace God given to us has laid the foundation or are building on the ones laid by others.

We must be very careful how we build on such foundation.  The questions now are, what kind/type of materials are we building with, of what quality are they? Are they made in Aba, or made in China?

Are they just quantity, sub-standard, standard or best quality/top notch? In as much as we know that the foundation is the most critical point of any building, the other visible part of the build is also very important, as they are what people see, admire, or despise. 

People are either attracted to a building or turned off from it by how they look. In verses 12-16, “ Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”

“If any man’s work abides which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”  May our works abide after it has been tried by fire, in Jesus Name. AMEN. 

You will have good success this 2019. 

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

The House My Father Built

From Our Pastor's Desk

Gen. 12:1-3—”The LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”

According to Jewish history, at a young age, Abram had been taught the knowledge of the true God, and he despised the idol worship of his father and the people around him.

He therefore decided to do everything in his power to crush the belief in idol worship. He talked to all the visitors at his father’s house and convinced many that their belief in idols was false and foolish.

But Terah, his father, refused to listen to his son’s reasoning. One day, Abram took an axe and destroyed all his father’s idols. Only the largest remained intact.

When Terah saw his idols shattered and scattered all over the floor, he accused Abram. But Abram said that the largest of the idols had killed all the others in a fight over an offering brought to them.

Terah exclaimed that such a thing was impossible, since idols could not quarrel or fight. Then he realized that his son tricked him into admitting that the idols were made of stone

In the above-referenced scripture in Genesis, God told Abram to leave his father’s house.  Friends, at times a man’s greatest enemy is from his household.

God told Abram to leave his kindred but he took his nephew (Lot) with him and for as long as Lot remained with him God did not do what he intended to do in Abram’s life.

Brethren, know that there are some powers from our fathers’ households that we need to separate from before certain things can happen in our lives.

I pray for the Lord’s divine intervention, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed.

Shalom.

The Wise Master Builder

By Bro. Daniel Sangoleye

3rd John 2 – “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” God is not only interested in the spiritual part of our life, He is interested in our whole being! 

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then Kingdom of God lives within you. 1st Cor. 6: 19-20. According to the GMOV Week Theme, it is possible to be a foolish master builder. God is what differentiates the wise from the foolish.

A wise master build-er pays attention to the spiritual, personal/ self-development: money management, health and well-being, raising a Godly family, discovering your purpose in life, and how to handle life’s challenges and trials when they happen. As a wise master builder, using the word of God, we can build wisely in the following key areas of our lives:
  Faith – Faith is key in gaining access to God. Heb. 11:6 
 Health –God wants you to be healthy in mind, soul and body. 3 John 1:2
  Finances –A wise master builder must know how to manage his or her expenses wisely. Prov. 4:7   Family (Marriage & Children) as wise master builder, our devotion to our family starts with our marriage and spouses. Mark 3:25 
 Future – a wise master builder prepares for his future, and the future of his family. Prov. 13:22 

A call to being a wise master builder, is a call to developing and maximizing our God given abilities in building His kingdom. 2 Peter 1:3 God has deposited so much in us for His own glory, and now is the time to rise up to take our rightful place in kingdom building.

God is the Chief Master Builder. As we build His Kingdom, I pray that that He will build every area of our lives, in Jesus Name. AMEN. 

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

A Tale of Two Builders

From Our Pastor's Desk

Matthew 7:24-29—“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall."

 We can quickly see that there are noticeable differences between these two builders. Jesus wants people who not only hear the word, and applaud the word, but instead, he wants people who will do what the Word says.

James 1:22 – “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” Hearing without doing; or knowing without using the knowledge could make one look foolish. Knowledge only becomes relevant when it is translated into action; wisdom, which is the text-book definition of obedience; hearing and doing.

Then Jesus now said that the wise builder is the one who builds his house up-on the rock, the Word of God. And the foolish builder built on sand, disobedience & carelessness.

Today we all have some house to build (life, families, homes, marriages, relationships, careers, legacies etc.), and we are building them whether wisely or foolishly. The building may look great on the surface.

But remember the stormy test & trials are coming. May the Lord shower us abundant grace to build on the Rock, so that after all storm, wind & rain, we will STAND, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed.

Shalom.