FINISHING STRONG

Anchor Scripture: Psalm 86: 9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." Focus Scripture: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."    - 1 John 3: 16 Admonition Wow! It is another Friday again! How time flies! I believe it's been another beautiful week learning at His feet again. May He keep us in Him and help us FINISH STRONG in Jesus' name. Amen. This is our final lesson in the worship of God, at least for now; there are still things to say, but which my Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God, decided to keep for a later date. I pray He keeps us safe in Him till then, in Jesus' name. Amen. Let us start today by saying that worship is a deep relational interaction between the worshipped and the worshipper which is often rooted in love. The involvement of love takes worship beyond the physical realm. It brings in ...

Anchor Scripture:  Psalms 86:9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." Focus Scripture: “ Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” – 1 Samuel 15: 22b Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace!   All through the Scriptures, one major factor that determined whether one man was to be accepted by God or not, was the obedience to God’s commands. Most of the times that He disowned His people, the Israelites, and left them to the mercies of their enemies, they disobeyed Him. God hates disobedience and He never overlooked it for once (Proverbs 11: 21). His hatred for disobedience is the reason He sees it as a rebellion, that is, a challenge of His authority and majesty, and He likened it to witchcraft and idolatry (1 Samuel 15: 23). This tells us how well our Father hates disobedience. God’s punishment for disobedience has always been very grave: it cost Saul the t...

Anchor Scripture:  Psalms 86:9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."    Focus Scripture: “ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit” – John 4: 24 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! One of the major burdens in relationships is incompatibility. That is a situation where both parties share very few things in common. It is therefore not uncommon to see such relationships hit the rock in no distant time from their starts because of behavioural differences and the overwhelming feelings of disappointments, both spoken and unspoken, arising from their differences. It is for the reason of relationship upheavals above that Prophet Amos queried thus: “ Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3: 3) I want to over flog the importance of the Holy Spirit in our Christian race, and let me say it right now that anyone who calls themselves a Christian but h...

Anchor Scripture:  Psalms 86:9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."    Focus Scripture: “ Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. ” – Leviticus 19: 2 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! Again, I say, worship is central to the kind of relationship we develop and have with God. And the kind of relationship we have with God determines whether we would FINISH STRONG in Him or not. The ordained mission for which God called this ministry to reach out to the world is “. . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1: 17) And He said we will achieve that by opening “. . . their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. . . .” (Acts 26: 18) To be holy is an express command from God as espoused in our Focus Scripture this morning. However, holiness, or lack of it, emanates from our lifestyles. I once told somebody that ...

Anchor Scripture:  Psalms 86:9 "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." Focus Scripture: "He must increase, but I must decrease. " - John 3:30    Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! Worship as a topic is very central to our relationship with God. And because the type of relationship we have with God is also crucial to whether we would FINISH STRONG or not, I am trusting my Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God, to allow us to dwell a little on this topic, for a clearer understanding so that we may be able to fine-tune our relationship with God. Most times in some of our churches, we are often admonished to "let us be in the mood of worship, as we worship the Lord Almighty." then, the choir will bring up a piece of slow sobber music with the instrumental going slowly underneath and almost everyone present in the church will raise either one hand or the two hands up, waving them slowly as ...

Anchor Scripture: Psalm 24: 3   “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?”   Focus Scripture: “ With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation . ” – Psalm 91: 16 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! Wow, it’s another Friday! What a time Living in His Presence! My prayer is that we shall never depart His Presence in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen. Let me quickly use this opportunity to appreciate those of you who have called or sent messages to appreciate the good work the Lord is doing with FINISHING STRONG DEVOTIONALS. Thank you for your testimonies of how God is using it to bless you and your families. Thank you for calling my attention whenever I post late. Thank you for keeping me on my toes in Him. Thank you for helping me fulfill my DIVINE mandate. I appreciate you, all. My prayer is that the good Lord will uphold us all and help us FINISH STRONG in Him in Jesus’ name. Amen. Today bein...

Anchor Scripture:  Psalm 24: 3   “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?”   Focus Scripture:  Psalms 92:12    "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: . . . ." Admonition Greetings from the Throne of grace!  Arguably, one the most valuable trees created by God is the palm tree. It has been said to produce seven different products. Besides these products, the making of the palm tree itself speaks volumes. For example, the back of the tree is weather resistant and its root system ensures it's firmness in the soil, such that it is difficult if not totally impossible for any wind or storm to uproot the tree. More so, unlike other trees, the leaves of the palm tree do not wither; winter or summer.  All these characteristics mentioned above  made me believe that the choice of "Flourish" as against "blessed" or "prosper", by the Holy Spirit this morning is quite deliberate. And it was meant to...

Anchor Scripture: Psalm 24: 3   “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?”   Focus Scripture:  “ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” – Psalm 32: 8 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! One of the major impacts a father could have on his children is providing them a sense of direction. In fact, fatherhood will be rendered meaningless if the children are left rudderless. And if anyone must FINISH STRONG in anything and even with and in God, one inalienable requirement is a sense of direction. That is why God says in Hosea 4: 6 that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: . . ." God provides us with the reason this is so in Jeremiah 10: 23, saying, “. . .  I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”  It is because of this fact and the fact that He's a good Father that God...

Anchor Scripture: Psalm 24: 3   “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?”   Focus Scripture:  “ Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” – Psalm 91: 3 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! One of the things that appall me most in Christianity today is that most of us who claim to be children of God are living in dastard oblivious ignorance. And because of that, many have willingly attached themselves to the aprons of their pastors, G.Os, Bishops, and the likes. There are even some of us who have special prophets to whom they run at the slightest itch from the devil and his agents. There are also some of us who live in perpetual fear of one thing or the other. Some Christians are, in actual fact, not under the bondage of the devil, but under the bondage of ignorance and fear. I told us yesterday that I am a very pragmatic person and that I didn’t become ...

Anchor Scripture: “ Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?  ” – Psalm 24: 3 Focus Scripture: “ The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. ” – Proverbs 18: 10 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! Permit me to specially welcome you into the last part of the series, Living in His Presence,  that we started two weeks ago. Here is a quick reminder of what the Holy Spirit has taught us in the last two weeks: in the first week we learnt what it means to live in His Presence and last week, we learnt what to do to live in His Presence. This week, our Teacher, the Holy Spirit of God, will be taking us through the Benefits of living in His Presence. And today, we shall be examining the first benefit of living in His Presence, Safety and Protection. As espoused by our focus Scripture this morning, our safety as children of God is in Him, as a Father. If there is anything God special...

Anchor Scripture: Psalms 24:3    "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" Focus Scripture:  "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." - Matthew 5:37 Admonition  Most of the time, many professing Christians find it difficult to differentiate between the things of God and those of the devil. I understand that there are factors responsible for this, and the major three of them are, traditions and customs, wrong teachings and the absence of the Holy Spirit. But chief amongst these is the absence of the Holy Spirit because He is the one that was to teach us all things (John 14: 26)  To some Christians, even Pastors on the pulpit, there is nothing wrong in swearing, even using the name of God, which the Bible says is HOLY. Such people hardly could talk without saying "God" in order to convince their listeners that whatever they are saying is the truth, even ...

Anchor Scripture: Psalms 24:3    "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" Focus Scripture: "My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly." -  Psalms 119:167 Admonition  Man is a tripartite being; the body, the spirit and the soul. Both the spirit and the soul are under the influence of the soul. That is, the soul controls both the body and the spirit. That is why when there is a change in man's state, it is the soul that is involved, not the body nor the spirit. So, wherever the soul is yielded, there the body and the spirit goes. For example, as children of God, we are to win souls, not the body or the spirit. That means that when we preach to a person, we are appealing to the unseen soul to yield itself unto God.  The above is the reason that God says that if we must live in His Presence, we must not yield (lift) our souls unto vanity. That is because by yielding ourselves unto vanities, our spirit...

Anchor Scripture: Psalms 24:3    "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" Focus Scripture:    "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." - Proverbs 4:23 Admonition  Arguably, the heart is about the most important organ in the body because it actually keeps the body alive.  One of the prescriptions of God in answering the question posed by Psalm 24: 3 in verse 4 is that we must have pure hearts  if we must enter God's presence and by implication, live there.  Jesus Christ Himself when teaching about the things that defile a man in Mark 7: 18 - 23, mentioned it that it is what comes from the heart that defiles a man, not what, such as food, that enters therein. That is why our anchor scripture this morning is warming us seriously to keep our hearts with all diligence because it is the one that determines whether we live in His Presence or not.  Now much as what enters ...

Anchor Scripture: Psalms 24:3    "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" Focus Scripture: James 4:8    "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; . . . ." Admonition   In my own part of Nigeria, Southwest, there is a popular adage by which the people encourage the younger folks to be of good behaviour. The adage goes thus: "a child who knows how to wash their hands will dine with the elders". And while growing up, you dare not start eating without washing your hands. Scientifically too, it is believed that germs could hide under one's nails, and if hands are not properly washed, the germs could contaminate foods and cause diseases in the body. So, we can now see that the importance of having clean hands is not only divine and spiritual, it cuts across almost all facets of life, and it cuts across all ages.  Out anchor Scripture since last week, Psalm 24: 3 is asking a ver...

Anchor Scripture: “ Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?  ” – Psalm 24: 3 Focus Scripture: “ And ye shall seek me, and find me , when ye shall search for me with all your heart. ” – Jeremiah 29: 13 Admonition Greetings from the Throne of Grace! You are welcome to another beautiful week in which the Lord has made it possible for us to meet in His Divine Presence again. We return all the glory to Him for the past beautiful weekend. May His grace keep us for many more if He tarries in coming back again, and if He chooses to come, may He find us in Him, functioning, anytime, in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen. As was said last week, we shall be using this week in His Presence to examine the second part of this long series, Living in His Presence. This second part shall be examining what qualifies us to live in His Presence. This becomes necessary in the light of the stern warning our Lord and Saviour gave in Matthew 7...