Divine Favor...Defined

From Our Pastor's Desk

Ruth 2:10 “A t this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you no-tice me — a foreigner?” 

Hear what Boaz said: ‘make sure you have large amounts of wheat for that woman and make sure nobody harasses her’. 

Ruth just realized she was having large amounts of wheat to gather and take home to her mother-in-law. 

What can you call that? It is simply favor! This was the favor that Ruth enjoyed while she was a stranger in the land such that when Boaz saw her, something divine and inexplicable happened; the favor of the Lord began to work for Ruth.  

God operates behind the scenes without our notice. This same God planted the love for Ruth in the heart of Boaz and his kindness towards her increased all the more and eventually they got married.  

The truth you must realize is that a natural man is selfish. It takes only God to put either your name or personality in the mind of someone, that you know or you do not know. 

This is beyond human comprehension. Things do not just happen, they are made to happen. Favor is the prerogative of God, so, it cannot be bought with money or fought for, but can be provoked.  

Heavenly Father, cloth us with your favor today; let your favor speak for us, in Jesus Name. Amen.  

You will have good success this 2021.  

Remain blessed.  

Shalom.

Unstoppable God - He is Risen

From Our Pastor's Desk

Matthew 28:6 - " He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."  “THE EMPTY TOMB IS THE PROOF THAT JESUS IS ALIVE” 

Today is Easter Sunday, all over the world. We are celebrating the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. 

The events of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are two undisputable phenomena that had proved beyond any iota of doubt that Christianity is not just mere religion, but a way of life. Besides, Jesus Christ is life. 

At the tomb of Lazarus, He said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…’ John 11:25. 

The empty tomb is a testimony to the truth that God took the greatest evil and created the greatest good. So, there is hope for you in any situation you may find yourself. So, rejoice, celebrate, for Jesus has risen. 

May His resurrection power avail for us, in Jesus Name. Amen.  

You will have good success this 2021.  

Remain blessed.  

Shalom

April 2021- Our Month of Favor on Every Side

From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this our new Month of Favor on Every Side, in Jesus name. 

Psalms 5:12–For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield The Psalmist says the righteous will be compassed with favor. 

Compass means to enclose on all sides; to encompass; to encircle, to cover; to surround 360-degrees, an uncommon favor unto us from up, down, across, and diagonal. 

No matter how hard you work, or how fast you run in the race of life, God’s own factor, is needed to make everything a whole. 

All men are born equal until favor separates them into classes. It is divine preference one enjoys above others Jesus had favor with God (up), man (across) and even the earth (down). 

Luke 2:52 – “A nd Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” Even the fig tree, storm, wind and inanimate objects favored Him and listened to Him. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:12 that concerning us – “…the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” 

So, Mercy Seatizens, welcome to April 2021, Our Month of Favor on Every Side. This month, God’s favor will encompass us on every side & speak on our behalf. 

We will enjoy the favor of God, man and the earth, in Jesus Name. 

Amen.

The Journey of Mercy

 By Deaconess Ronke Ademosu

The journey of mercy started with God, before the earth was created. Mercy made God create beauty from rubbles. 

He deposited treasure in it and hid it in Christ Jesus Colossians. 2:2-3.  Only those who love and seek Christ shall find these treasures. 

Matthew. 6:33  Brethren ,if only we can remember and count the number of times we had determined to do good, to be upright and steadfast in our callings, but we find our-selves deficient, doing the opposite, retracing our steps and procrastinating our salvation and rededication. 

Good news is: Jesus understands our nature. He said in Luke 5:32 “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” Halleluyah!! 

What a merciful God we serve! Today is Palm Sunday, we celebrate The Triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem before His Crucifixion: A remarkable event of remembrance each year. 

Today, the crowd celebrate and honor Him as they did thousands of years ago with shouts of “Hosanna in the Highest” Hosanna Means “save us now.’ He is passing that route of redemption again, expecting that we, will be among the beneficiaries of His mercies. 

Are you ready to reach out to Him today? He told Zacchaeus “...this day is salvation come to this house” Luke 19:9. As we reach out to Him today in surrender, may He accept us, cleanse us with His precious blood, envelope us with mercy and grace to finish well and strong, in Jesus Name. Amen.  

You will have good success this 2021.  

Remain blessed.  

Shalom.

...and Peter

From Our Pastor's Desk

Mark 16:7  But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. Let’s not quickly forget Bro. Peter. 

There were many latter men of God, albeit apostles, that committed some terrible blunders in their early days. If anyone should have been disqualified from ministry, it was Peter, not even Paul, even though Paul did some pretty awful things too, to Christians, and the name of Christ as well. 

But Peter? In Luke 22:33, Peter beat his chest and boasted to Christ “And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death” But when the time to “walk the talk” came, to put “his money where his mouth was”, he became wussy. 

Matthew 26:72-75 – “And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. 

Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, He denied Jesus. Not once. Not twice. But three times. 

But in Mark 16:7, this same Peter was given a personal mention, focused at-tention….”and Peter”. This shows that Peter's mistake was not final. He messed up, but he could finish well.  

It doesn’t matter how we started or what mistakes we made, may we finish well and finish strong, in Jesus Name. Amen.  

You will have good success this 2021. 

Remain blessed.  

Shalom. 

Mercy of God

By Deaconess Florence Oyedeji

There are divers stories in the Bible where people appealed to the Mercy of God or they threw themselves on the Mercy of God. Not something that we do so much these days....But we should.  

The principal Hebrew word for mercy speaks of an emotional response to the needs of others. It means to feel the pain of another so deeply that we’re compelled to do something about it. 

People in Biblical times believed that the seat of emotions was found in the intestinal area. That’s why the King James Version uses the phrase, “bowels of mercy.” 

Jer. 31:20.  This is the same as Christ’s mercy to us, this is what He did and continues to do for us. 

By showing this kind of mercy to others, we become like Jesus. Col. 3:12-13—”Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; For-bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye”.  

Thank you Father, for your tender mercies, in Jesus Name.

 Amen.  You will have good success this 2021.  

Remain blessed.   

Shalom.

Moving Past the Past

 

From Our Pastor's Desk

Our past is what Jesus came to die for and our past has been forgiven by Jesus.  Isaiah 53:5 says “… the chastisement of our peace was upon Him…” This means the chastening (that we should bear), punishment, rebuke, castigation, penalty, condemnation, and painful consequences due from our sins were already upon Jesus. 

And because the consequences of what we did or experienced in the past has been nailed to the cross, we need to put the past where it belongs, in the past, and focus on the future.

The Bible says in 2nd Cor. 5:17-19 “Therefore, if any-one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. 

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” In agreement with the above, Paul also said in Philippians 3:13-14  “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” 

The moment we give our lives to Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior, our past have being forgiven and we no longer live in the past. The devil loves using the past to torment Christians and steal their joy, peace and blessings, so he doesn’t want us to for-get our pasts. 

He knows that the moment we forget our pasts there will be peace of God in our lives. The Lord God has forgiven all our past sins and redeemed us through the Blood of Jesus Christ.  

Brethren, the difference between our past and present/future is MERCY. Thank you Father, for your tender mercies, in Jesus Name. Amen.  

You will have good success this 2021.  

Remain blessed.   

Shalom.