What Makes Us Sin, Sef?

From Our Pastor's Desk


Romans 6:17-18 – “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” Let’s talk about the other side of righteousness, which is, of course, unrighteousness, or in other word - SIN. 

We serve a miracle God, not a magician. Magic is trick, requires you to do nothing. But God requires obedience. He cannot bless sin.

If you live in sin, and you’re prospering, it is NOT God. It may be something else, somebody else, but definitely not God. God blesses righteousness, & holiness. Sometimes, we need to be careful of seeing material things as measure of God’s approval. 

Though the Bible tells us “All have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” (Psalm 14:3). Even though we have a sinful nature, but when we give our lives, bodies, souls & spirit to Jesus, as Lord & Savior, we are no longer under sin. 

So, why do we still sin? What makes us sin? While we look at that today, the good news is that God knows of our struggles with sin. He doesn’t ask for perfection, but a contrite spirit that earnestly seeks after Him.

The wisdom to run to Him after a fall, may He give liberally unto us, in Jesus Name. AMEN. 

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

The Tree of God

By Sis. Ehis Precious Bamgbose

Psalm 92:12 says, The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  First, I will like to tell you some facts about the cedar tree.

Cedar tree symbolizes resilience, strength, stability, immortality, and elevation. Cedar tree protects the forest and can survive in any challenges. Anything that flourishes does not wither.

A flourishing life is a blessed life. Something that flourishes is alive, healthy, and growing. This means that a cedar tree is a flourishing tree. In Jeremiah 17:7-8, God is using a tree as an illustration of a believer.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.  This is an assurance of fruitfulness. As a believer, if you are not productive in the kingdom of God, you need to re-evaluate your life and examine your connection with the rivers of water (which can mean the word of God, Holy spirit or healthy spiritual atmosphere) every tree planted by the river side must bring forth fruit as the Bible has stated. 

Psalm 1:3 also says that the “tree shall bring forth fruit in its season.” This means fruit bearing has its own season. You cannot judge a tree without its season because there is a season for everything that happens in our individual lives.

So, before you complain or lose hope on anything, before you lose the assurance of God’s blessings in your life, remind yourself that every tree has its own season. That you are not seeing fruit does not mean you are not planted by God or you are not planted by the rivers of water.

It only means it is not yet your season. Your season is here, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Standard of Righteousness

From Our Pastor's Desk

Righteousness means “to be examined and found in order”; “to have a right relationship with God”; “to be right, in right-standing with God”. To be holy. Revelation 19:7… “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” There is a strong call, by the Spirit, to a life of righteousness - practical holiness.

Unless there is a love for righteousness, there will be problems. It seems that when righteousness and holiness are being preached, when people are admonished to flee sinful lives and sinful tendencies, theological swords are drawn; people arm themselves for combat.

I believe that this is a generation that really wants to live righteously. There is now a cry in the land for heaven’s standards. No longer should the standard of the God of heaven be lowered so people can play the game by their own low and compromised standard.

God is the standard of righteousness. He is Jehovah Tsidkenu. Righteousness is part of the character/nature of God… and I pray that, in His mercy, He will impart this characteristic into us afresh, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

May 2019 - Our Month of Trees of Righteousness

From Our Pastor's Desk

Welcome to this our new Month of Trees of Righteousness in Jesus name. First, the Bible refers to us believers as “Trees”.

Psalm 1:3 – “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…” And righteousness is defined as without guilt or sin. Means right standing with God. As trees of righteousness, we have right standing with God, not because of what we did, but because of what Jesus did for us in God's great plan of redemption.

2nd Cor. 5:21 - “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” Noah overcame the world. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The world that he lived in was filled with violence, sin, demonic activity, immorality etc “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God”

He was declared righteous by God. He walked with God. Righteousness saved him, covered him, and protected him.  In this Our Month of the Trees of Righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus will save us all too. James 5:16 teaches… “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  Our prayers this month will be effective, powerful, and will rain down blessings, in Jesus Name.

AMEN

Sacrifice of Praise

By Deacon Olasumbo Yusuf

There are times when God did not come through the way we thought He would - medical test comes positive, spouse wants a divorce, child is wayward, mortgage company calls in the loan, creditor wants to foreclose, hearing of rumors of war, going through hardship, stuck in a hard place & can’t see a way out…

But when we  choose to praise God in spite of the storm, He is honored and our faith grows deeper. The sacrifice of  praise comes from a humble heart that has been  purified by fire - Romans 14:17.

It flows continually from a worship heart in good times and bad.  Acts 16:23-25. Heaviness is a depression. It is a spirit. It’s an enemy of our destiny, a spiritual robber. It stops God’s people from accessing God’s best for their lives.

While praising God, we are further empowered and equipped for spiritual weapons to conquer the spirit of heaviness. Certain blessings meant for you in 2019, you will see them in Jesus mighty name.

Anybody standing on your way God will replace them in Jesus mighty name. Shouting for joy, rejoicing on every side, singing are the activators i.e. things that must be in place for your packages to be delivered. 

Finally, Habakkuk 3:19 – “For Jehovah Lord God will be my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places”, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Stairway to Victory

From Our Pastor's Desk

Suddenly, the battle came to king Jehoshaphat. He didn’t ask for it, he wasn’t the cause; he didn’t induce it.

It just came. 2nd Chron. 20:1 - “It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle…” 

Young king Jehoshaphat was a beloved, righteous king who put everything into the service of Jehovah.

But he still came under attack. Three powerful kings just rose up one morning and decided to combine their armory, soldiers, strength and attack him. He did nothing to provoke these kings. Little wonder, David said, many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him from them all. 

But, before being delivered, the righteous faces attack too. It doesn’t matter how righteous we are, we face attacks, downturns, loss, adversity, afflictions etc. We are not immune. In fact, the more righteous we are, the more enemy attack we are likely to face.

Scary, right? Many are the afflictions of the righteous….. Jehoshaphat came under a confederate allied attack of a combined army of three nations, but he was victorious. And today, we would see the steps he took unto his victory.

Jehovah Sabaoth, the Man of War, One that has never lost & will never lose a battle, will take over our battles of life, in Jesus Name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.

Let the Shackles Off

By Pastor 'Tayo Adewale

What does it mean to let the shackles off? It means having a freedom to do as you please - Exodus 8:1.

Shackle hinders ones movement, it limits us, it causes us to isolate, makes us feel alone, dims our vision and robs us of hope. Shackles will not allow us to  praise God the way we really want to.

Things  that represent shackles; that hinder us from  praising God are sin, sickness, unforgiveness,  guilt, low self-esteem, bondage, poverty etc. 

Jesus want us to be free from the shackles that  may be binding us.

How to let the shackles  go off? Shackles won’t go off until you put praise on. Great examples were Paul & Silas, even though they were in prison, bound by shackles, they were singing hymns. 

Focus on God, because He’s the only One that can set us free - John 8:36  Grace and forgiveness, learn how to forgive, let it go, there is freedom in forgiveness!

In conclusion, wrap up in praise, don’t only take a coffee or tea break, take also a praise break, praise God for His attributes and acts, and as you do this, every shackle, and chain will break off permanently, in Jesus precious name. AMEN.

You will have good success this 2019.

Remain blessed. 

Shalom.