WHAT IS THY NAME?

MEMORY VERSE: And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:27-28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 9:1-28

Names are very important in the Bible because names represent the person. Take for instance, the name “Jacob”. It means “holder of the heel” or “supplanter”. If it were to be today, we would have called him a fraudster. He duped anyone dupe-able. Esau, after he was duped said to Isaac (his father),” Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? (Genesis 27:36)” Names are not just a means of identifying a man; names speak volume about a man’s destiny. The name "Ishmael" means "God hears”. This by implication means a destiny whose success and fulfillment depends on the power of prayers. No wonder when his mother, Hagar, was driven out of Abraham’s house and there was no water for him to drink, God miraculously provided water when he cried. Genesis 21:17- 18 says: “And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.” Sadly, Ishmael did not capitalize on this. He stopped praying after that day. I think his descendants must have realized his mistake, hence they pray many times a day today. My surname used to be “Fatoki” (Ifa is worthy to be adored). Ifa is a Yoruba deity. Several years back, God spoke through a minister that my dad should change his surname. He obeyed and chose “Oluwatoki” (God is worthy to be adored). Not many years after he changed his surname, he built his first house. In my personal life, God is indeed worthy to be adored.

Genesis 32:27-28 says: “And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” What is thy name simply means who are you? Might i ask you the same question this morning, what is thy name? Friend, who are you? Who are you when you are not in church? Who are you when the pastor or brethren from the church are not around? What is your name at work? What is your name when you go out of town? Is it kerb crawler (a person who drives around areas known for street prostitution soliciting prostitutes for sexual activity)? What is your name when you are alone in your room? Is it pornographer? Asides the fat salary, degree, houses and properties, big church title, who are you? When the angel said to Jacob, “what is thy name”, he responded saying “Jacob”. Jacob was the name people – his father, his mother, his brother, friends and family – were calling him. Whenever his father wanted to send him on an errand, he would say “Jacob do this for me”. Whenever his beloved mother wanted him, she would say, “Jacob come here!” Whenever Esau (his brother) wanted to check on him, he would say “Jacob how was your day?” Since everyone was calling him “Jacob”, he assumed that he was indeed a "Jacob". Thank God, the angel challenged that name and changed it. Today, you must challenge the names people have been calling you. Tell them, you are not a “dullard”. You are not who others say you are. Your bank balance does not determine who you are. You may be in red but that does not mean you are poor. You are more than your finances. You are more than you past failures. You may have failed an exam but you are not a failure. You may not have a child today but you are not barren. There is something good about you. You are unique in every way. The people around may not see your uniqueness but you are unique.

NOTE: You are not worthless. You are worth dying for because Jesus died for you! Don’t allow anyone to tell you anything different.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

EXPECT A CHANGE OF NAME

MEMORY VERSE: Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. Isaiah 62:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 21-24

Names are very important. They are so important, the word of God says if you are asked to pick between a good name and great riches; pick a good name. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” Why are names so important? Your name can either make your or break you. Bro Jabez – whose name means pain – suffered from pain all his life until he cried unto the Lord (2 Chronicles 4:9-10). His life, from the day he was born, was synonymous with pain. On the other hand, Solomon also known as Jedidah (Beloved of the Most High) enjoyed God’s attention and love all through his life. When he asked God for one thing, the Lord game him two. He asked for wisdom, the Lord gave him wisdom and great riches. Just by changing your name, your lot in life can change. Not until God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah, the promise of a child did not materialze. What you call yourself matters. This is why you must never call yourself a failure because you failed one exam. Thomas Edison failed several times before he invented a light bulb.If names were not important, the Lord would not have bothered to give Jesus a name.

We live in a world where people prefer to address one by his challenges not name. Everyone knew Elizabeth’s name yet they called her “barren” because she had no child. Luke 1:36 says, “And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.” Everyone knew Bartimaeus’ name. His name was Bartimaeus Timaeus, yet people referred to him as blind Bartimaeus. Jesus healed him over 2000 years ago, yet, many of us still refer to him as blind Bartimaeus. Whilst we were in high school, there was one of our classmates who was nicked name “Egbon Jebete” because he was very short.(Mind you he didn't like the name ). Although he was very short, he was very tough. Most of the junior students who were taller than him could not bully him. Several years after we graduated from high school, he came to the UK and we decided to meet up. When I saw him, he had changed. We were almost the same height. I could not call him by his nickname anymore because he had grown so tall. He is now taller than most of those who referred to him as Egbon Jebete back in high school. Isaiah 62:4 says, “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.” I don’t know what name people are calling you but the Most High God will change your situation, and people who used to call you funny names will no longer be able to do so. God turned my short friend's -now very tall - life around so much that we don't even remember "the" nick name. Expect a new name because in this season God will grant your petition and those who have been calling you barren will now be forced to call you a mother. In this season, God will work wonders in your life and those who have been regarding you as Ms 'so and so' will begin to refer to you as Mrs. 'so and so'. In this season, God will change your name from a borrower to a lender.

PRAYER POINT: Father, remember me oh Lord.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

LORD, LORD, HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 34-36

BIBLE STUDIES: Matthew 7:21-23

The bible is full of kingdom truths! One of them is, if we do not sow, we will not reap. Galatians 6:7 says be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. We can pray and fast for 100 days, if we do not put something in the soil, nothing will germinate. If you and i do not sow, we will harvest nothing. This is why you and I must abhor such things as pool betting and lottery. People that get involved in these are those trying to get money without the sowing the seeds of labour and hard work. They are doing something wrong because they are flouting the divine principle of sowing and reap.

In the book of Matthew, Chapter 7 verse 21 is another kingdom truth. Jesus says, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.” I want you to know that those Jesus was referring to here are not the people in the occult or hired assassins. They are not Atheists or Agnostics. Jesus was referring to those who say they are Christians but not doing the will of God. He was speaking of churchgoers or workers in the vineyard of God; choir masters who are fornicating with choir members; ushers who are stealing from the church; deacons who forge invoice to get extra cash. Jesus said not all those who call Me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. There are those calling Lord, Lord, who are married and still committing adultery; there are singles especially brothers who call Lord, Lord, who visit brothels and watch pornography; there are pastor’s children who call Lord, Lord, who smoke Indian hemp and crack cocaine, some even commit abortion. If we are calling Lord, Lord, we must do the will of God!

Jesus then went further to say, many would say to Him in that day, Lord, Lord, I prophesied in Your name and it came to pass; i prayed for the sick in Your name and they became healed; i conducted revivals in Your name and many souls were won. Jesus said in that day , He would look them in the eyes , eyeball to eyeball and say i don’t know you, depart from Me, you that work iniquity ( Matthew 7:22-23). I pray that will not be your portion in Jesus name, amen. A lot of us use our spiritual gifts to measure our relationship with God. God still used to me heal the sick so i am all right; God still used me to minister in the church and everyone began to cry, after that, they became sober, really? After fornicating, Samson was still able to take hold of the doors of the city gate, together with two posts, put them on his shoulders and carry them to the top of a hill (Judges 16:1-3).

TO PONDER: Am i truly, doing the will of God?

Bro Samuel- Reaching the world for Jesus.

CALLING IT BY ITS REAL NAME

MEMORY VERSE: and Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them, Genesis 26:18

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 3, Rom 3, Jer 41, Luke 10

BACKGROUND: The Philistines are a wicked set of people. What could Abraham have done to them to warrant destroying his properties after his death? Out of envy and jealousy they went and covered up the wells he had dug with sand. Isaac dug the wells again and called them by names which his father called them.

ANALYSIS: Isaac could have given the wells new names. No one would have questioned him as to why he did that. But he did that to honor his father. Despite the fact that he dug the wells at a different time and season, he still gave them the old names. Another reason why he gave them the old names was because the old names represented something.

Words are powerful. Names are more powerful. How we describe a thing matters. I remembered as a young school boy I was suspended from school for a week and when I got home, I told my parents that I have been exempted from all school activities for a week. My wise Dad then asked, why? I had no other choice than to tell him I was suspended. I tried to play with words but I was caught. I knew that ‘exempted from school activities’ did not sound as terrible as ‘suspension’. To be suspended from school sounds very bad, but ‘exempted from school activities’ didn’t sound too bad.

Back in the days, sex before marriage or sex outside marriage used to be frowned upon by everyone including unbelievers because of the name that was giving to it. Sex before marriage used to be called fornication and sex outside marriage used to be called adultery. Today it is not so anymore , they call it names like ‘having fun’; ‘ making love’ ; ‘having a nice a time’ ; ‘spending time the night together’. These names have made fornication and adultery acceptable or look not so bad. It sounds ok when you say i made love with that sister but it sounds like a sin when you say I fornicated with that sister. Adultery is adultery and fornication is fornication not having a good time.

Back in the days anyone who partakes or commits a crime is called a criminal. Anyone who stole or robs a bank or do fraud or do credit card fraud or send funny emails with the intention to dupe e.t.c were all referred to as criminals but today it is now called ‘yahoo boys’; ‘sharp boy’; ‘fast boys’; ‘big boys’; ‘town boys’; ‘hustler’ e.t.c . A criminal is a criminal and a thief is a thief. When a woman sells her body for money or favor, it used to be called prostitution but today they call it ‘business’ or ‘runs’. We never used to hear of the word boyfriends or lovers or girlfriends. All we used to hear was fiancé or fiancée. Names can make an unacceptable thing look acceptable.

KEY POINT: No matter what we call it, what is bad is bad. God still frowns at sin regardless of how we describe the sin.