WHERE’S THE OLD HUNGER

MEMORY VERSE: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Revelations 2:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 1-5

Hunger and thirst are mechanisms God has put inside every living creature, especially animals and humans, to ensure their survival. Without these mechanisms functioning as it should function, the human race will become extinct within a year. That is, if we all decide to stop eating and drinking, within 6 months we will all be dead. Hunger and thirst do not only act as mechanisms for survival but also mechanisms to achieve our God-given goals. Proverbs 16:26 says: “He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.” Hunger for good grades caused some of us to do some things when we were in the university. I remember going to ‘Infinity’ to read. ‘Infinity’ was an uncompleted primary school building, on a fairly large expanse of land, where students go to at night to read. We gave that building the name ‘Infinity’ because it was a spot to read till Infinity i.e. till you are tired. At infinity some students study for 12 straight hours! I remember i was once awake for more than three days, studying and going for exams.

When some of us gave our lives to Christ, the hunger to serve the Lord caused us to take some actions. I remember days after i had the dream that changed my life, i deleted 6,000 tracks of songs from my PC. I had Lil Wayne, Bob Marley, Aerosmith, Gnarls Barkley, Pink, Nelly, Bone Thugs N Harmony, 2 PAC, B.I.G, Fela, Just name it. I had virtually songs from every artist you can think of, i had albums, mix tapes, etc. In one day, i deleted all because i wanted to burn the bridge between my horrible past and the glorious future Christ had for me. I deleted over 100 movies, threw away close to fifty worldly novels, and threw away some clothes. Then i had two pairs of Ed Hardy jeans, each costing around 150 pounds at that time. I threw them away because of the skulls that were drawn on them and what it stood for. A particular sister was sharing with us that when she gave her life to Christ, the hunger to burn the bridge between her past and the glorious future Christ had for her, made her to return all the gifts - clothes, bags, shoes, etc, her ex boyfriend bought for her. Not only that, she burnt all the pictures of her wearing clothes that exposed her body and the ones she took with her exes.

Also, that hunger to serve Him caused some of us to join the group of workers in the church. That hunger to please Him caused some of us to start personal evangelism. That hunger to be close to Him caused some of us to spend time with Him learning the scriptures. That hunger to be His special sons and daughters caused some us to give some special offerings. And whilst we were doing all these, He kept on increasing us and blessing us. He kept on anointing us and giving us deep revelations. Some of us even began to see visions and hear His audible voice. As we were doing all these, we kept on growing in the Lord. Some of our spiritual growths even astound fellow brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, that old hunger has now died in the life of many of us. Many of us are no longer hungry to serve the Lord. The hunger to please the Lord is missing in our lives. That hunger to be close to God is no longer there. Majority of us cannot remember the last time we thought about heaven and the second coming of Christ. The hunger to be His special boys and girls is no longer there. Back in the days, it was standard for many of us to spend quality time with God at least once a week. Today, that no longer happens. What is God saying to us? “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelations 2:4)?

QUESTION: Where is that old hunger to grow spiritually? Where is that old hunger to please the Lord? Where is that old hunger to excel in the things of God? Where is that old hunger to be the best you can be for Jesus? Where is that old hunger to live holy?

PRAYER POINT: Father, please create in me a deep hunger to please you.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

“THOUGH THY BEGINNING WAS SMALL”

MEMORY VERSE: Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. Job 8:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 40-43

Don’t worry about your humble beginnings. Don’t worry about starting small. You don’t need to start that project in a grand style to finish it in a grand style. The fact that you started small does not mean you will end small. Job 8:7 says, “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Every giant is born as a baby. Even Goliath, champion of Gath, was born as a kid. He went from being a child to become a youth and then a mighty warrior. 1 Samuel 17:33 says, “And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” One of the biggest shrubs in the world is the mustard. They sometimes grow as a big as a huge tree. It will amaze you that mustard seeds are one of the smallest in the world. Has the Lord given you an assignment and you are losing sleep because you want to start it in a mega way? Forget about starting mega, just start small and leave the rest to God. One of the best secondary schools in Africa – most of their students end up in Harvard University or Cambridge University – started with only one student. The founder started the school with her daughter as the only student, today it is a different story. Don’t be afraid to start small. Don’t compare how you started with how others are starting. You don’t have to start your marriage life with a big wedding. A big wedding does not equate a happy and long lasting marriage.

Don’t despise your small beginning. Recently, i heard about a top military brass that started life as an orphan. That orphan of yesterday is now a General today. Starting small is not a bad omen. It is not something you should dread. Joseph started life in Egypt as a slave and ended up as a Prime Minister in the same Egypt. He was brought to Egypt in chains but when he left Egypt to go and bury his Dad, he went on a royal Chariot. Genesis 50:9 says, “and there went up with him both Chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.” People may despise you because of your stature. Sisters may even look down on you because you are not rich and you don’t wear the latest designer outfits. Brothers may look down on you because they can’t see your beauty. Because you don’t dress sexy or ‘show some skin’, they may even call you old fashioned. Don’t worry about all that. A day is coming when they see you, they will wish they had married you. Some thirty something years ago, a skinny law student walked up to a very pretty sister and spoke to her. The sister said to him, “Even you, a skinny mosquito wants to date a lady” and she walked out on him. Few years later, that law student graduated and founded a thriving law firm in the heart of a city in West Africa. One day, a man walked into his law chamber, seeking employment. Since he was brilliant and knew what he was doing, he was offered employment. Several months later, the wife of this employee begged him to invite the founder of the firm for dinner, to show their appreciation. The brother invited his boss and he agreed to come. The boss arrived at their small apartment (compared to his huge mansion) and they welcomed him. When the wife of the employee saw the founder, she almost fainted. The man she called a ‘mosquito’, years back, was his husband’s boss and the founder of the firm. It does not matter what names they are calling you today. A time is coming when they see you, they will open their mouths wide because of what the Lord must have done in your life. Just remain connected to God. Remain humble. Remain diligent. Keep serving God and ensure that you are always available for God to use in whatever capacity. Keep on living right. Don’t compromise your faith; very soon you will be a wonder.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: How a man ends is what matters not how he starts. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says: “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

PRAYER POINT: Father, please make me a wonder.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

TAKING LITTLE THINGS FOR GRANTED?

MEMORY VERSE: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:20

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Corinthians 3-4

Recently during one of our mid-week services in church, the Lord used an unfortunate incident that happened, to wake every one of us present that evening ,to the fact that we have been taking some of the little things we enjoy (as a result of God’s goodness) for granted. It was time for the service and none of the brothers in the media department was around. The brother who was going to lead the opening prayer went into the media room, picked a microphone, stood by the altar and began to lead prayers. Suddenly, we started hearing a high pitched static sound coming from one of the speakers. One of the brothers went into the media room to check what’s wrong and see the possibility of fixing it. The brother tried and tried but the noise persisted. At this point, we could barely hear anything as the noise was deafening. After a lot of removing-this-cable, plugging-that-cable, tuning-the-mixer, adjusting-the-amplifier, the Lord took control and the noise stopped. The service continued but we had all learnt something valuable. Firstly, you don’t know the value of a thing until it is gone or develops a fault. Although we appreciate the selfless work the brothers in the media department are doing, the Lord used that opportunity to show us all, their worth. Every one of us, minister and the congregation, are used to a 'functioning’ media equipment. Do you know those equipment don’t function well without an expert, like those brothers in our media department, standing by them, tuning them to get the perfect sound and preventing that high static sound during a church service? 

Secondly, don’t take things no matter how little for granted. Every one of us at that service – and many more Christians – is guilty of taking little things that are functioning in the church for granted. After that incident, the Lord opened our eyes to see how we, all, have been taking little things that are functioning in our lives (as a result of God’s goodness) for granted. A lot of us take it for granted that after every meal, we don’t have to inject our body with insulin. Sometimes last year, a friend and i went to greet another friend. When we left the place and got back into car, he took out a machine to inject himself with something. Out of curiosity i asked him, what are you injecting yourself with and why? He told me his body can’t produce insulin so whenever he eats, he has to inject himself with insulin to break down sugar. I pray for everyone sick person that the Lord will heal you in Jesus name. Some of what could happen if he does not inject himself after eating are kidney damage, stroke, eye damage, heart attack, etc. A lot of us take it for granted that we can hear. I heard about the daughter of a millionaire who had to quit her job to look after her dad who lost his hearing. One thing she said that touched me was her father can't hear anything even if you put him beside a loud concert speaker. Even If he is about to walk into fire and you shout at the top of your voice, he won’t hear. A lot of us take it for granted that we can bathe ourselves or brush our teeth or feed ourselves. There are many who have hands but can’t use them because they are paralyzed. Don’t take it for granted that you can control yourself when you want to urinate or defecate. Always remember to thank God for those little things. Ephesians 5:20 says: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” That you are able to sleep is something to thank God for. Psalm 4:8 says: “I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” There are lot of people who can’t sleep no matter how tired they are. That you slept last night and woke this morning is a cause to thank God for. Psalm 3:5 says,” I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”

CONFESSION: Father, i thank you for those little things that you have done for me.

ACTION: Thank God for those little things you have. Most of the 'big' things you are asking God for will mean nothing to you, if you have them without little things like the ability to see, to hear, to speak, to feel cold and hot, to move your hands, to move your legs, to bath yourself, to stand and sit,etc.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

60 seconds with Jesus

Someone sent the piece below to me on email and it really blessed me. It is a very important message and it chimes with our God-given objective to share Christ with the world. I pray that as you read it, the Holy Spirit will speak to your heart. Please feel free to share it with your friends and family.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 19-20

THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS:

At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

At the time, crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.

The nails were driven into His wrist, not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself so that He could breathe.

Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back, then using his legs just to continue to breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.

Jesus endured this brutality for over 3 hours.

Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering?
A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from His wounds.

From common images, we see wounds to His hands and feet, and even the spear wound to His side... But do we realize His wounds were actually made in His body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even larger nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. But before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture.

He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.

Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest.

All these without mentioning the humiliation He endured after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in His face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where His hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience, so that we can have free access to God.

So that our sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception!

Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” The way out of eternal damnation is Jesus. Accept Him as your personal Lord and saviour and live.

HIS RETURNS

MEMORY VERSE: Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Haggai 1:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Mark 1 - 2

God, like every other businessman, expects 'returns' on His investments. He has invested a lot into our lives. He gave us mouth to speak, nose to breath, eyes to see, legs to walk, ears to hear, a sound mind, functioning brains, etc. What kind of 'returns' does He expect from us? Praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 139:14 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” How often does He expect these 'returns'? At all times. Psalm 34:1 says, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” The fact that you bathe yourself this morning is a reason to thank God. The fact that you are able to feed yourself is a cause to thank God. The fact that you have children that are always making the house dirty is a reason to thank God. Sick children don’t make the house dirty because they are always in the hospital or lying down on their bed. Praise and thanksgiving is one area we are all lacking. We spend little or no time thanking Him. We praise Him too little and when we do it, we are in a haste to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Whenever one brings Him the returns of praise and thanksgiving, He makes them whole. Out of the ten lepers that were healed, only that leper who returned to give thanks to God was made whole (Luke 17:11-19).

Another investment He has made into our lives is the power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” That you are gainfully employed is God. That you have a job at all, even if it is part time, can only be God. Asides these, the strength needed to work comes from Him. A sick person cannot run a ministry or a business. In addition, no employer wants a sick staff. This is why employers sometimes request for HR files of those they want to employ (which contains their sickness record) from their former employers. What kind of 'returns' does He expect from this investment? Offering and tithes. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” He has promised to open the windows of heaven and pour down His blessings to those who bring these 'returns'. And to those robbing Him? A curse (Malachi 3:9). Another ‘returns’ He expects is payment of building funds. Haggai 1:8 says, “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.” Do you owe building funds? Pay it up. We build God’s house by being faithful in the payment of our building funds. You can also buy a microphone, a speaker, musical equipment, etc. Neglecting God’s work or the building fund can cause every effort made in other areas not to yield results (Haggai 1:4-7). Also, out of the much He has given to us, He expects ‘returns’ in the form of helping the poor and needy around us. Deuteronomy 15:7 says, “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:” It is our duty to help the less privilege around us. For all He has given to us, He expects something back. One major ‘returns’ He expects is soul winning. Someone preached to you and led you to Christ, you have to preach to someone and lead them to Christ.

NOTE: A lot of people find it difficult to witness because they are shy and they don’t know how to go about.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to give you the spirit of boldness and ideas on how to witness. Speak to your pastor or the outreach leader in your church about evangelism. I want you to know that not everyone you witness to will give their lives to Christ the first time you speak to them. It took me up to six months to win a particular sister to Christ.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

TRUST HIS WISDOM

MEMORY VERSE: And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Genesis 12:5

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 24-27

Don’t marry a brother or sister out of pity. You don’t marry a brother because a lot of sisters have disappointed him. Also, you don’t marry a sister because a lot of brothers have broken her heart. It will be a naive thing to do. It is never too late to stop a relationship if you are not sure if it is God’s will. It is not a pleasant thing to do, actually, it can be very demanding and a lot of emotions are involved. But, if you have prayed and you are convinced that the brother or sister is not God’s will for your life, stop the courtship. It does not matter how far you have gone in the relationship, as far as you are not married and there are no kids between the two of you, i will advise you both to go back to the prayer room. Don’t marry a brother or sister because of what you can see in that brother or sister’s life today. When it comes to the decision of who to marry, wait to hear from God.

Genesis 12:1 says, “Now 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:” Abram moved out of his country, his kindred i.e. his tribe or clan, but not from his father’s house. Genesis 12:5 says, “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.” There was a reason why God told Abram to leave his nation, his kindred and his father’s house. There is always a reason behind God's instruction. The reason(s) may not be obvious at the time of the instruction, but i want you to know that God will never ask you to do something without a reason, and most likely it is always for your benefit. In the case of Abram, God saw what Abram could not see. The Most High saw the future; He saw the fight between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen even before Lot was born (Genesis 13:4-6). He knew Lot was going to turn against his uncle, Abram, so He told Abram to move out and take no one with him – including Lot. Abram didn’t understand God’s instruction.  To him, Lot was just a boy. Actually, at the time God spoke, Lot must have been a well behaved young man for Abram to have taken him along.

Abram never envisaged that Lot was going to turn out to be an ingrate.  It never, for once, crossed his mind that Lot will become a thorn in his flesh.  When God warns you against a particular relationship or a fellow, please take heed. At the time of warning, you may not see anything wrong in the relationship or with the fellow. Actually, the person may appear very hot for the Lord and you think the fellow is a saint. It is until later that you will realise that God was right. John 7:24 says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”Trust God’s judgment of a fellow or a situation, because He knows more than you do. If you don’t take heed when He warns you, you will have yourself to blame. I hope you will take heed so that it will be well with you.  God knows what people will do at a time in the future, so He warns us in advance. Abram thought He knew Lot but He didn’t. God knows that sister more than you do. God knows that brother more than you do. God knows that business more than you do. By the time the real Lot came out, Abram was dumbfounded.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: When you allow people who are not meant to be in your life into your life, what is not meant to happen to you will happen.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please uproot every tree you have not planted in my life.

twitter@BroOluwatoki
 

TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE

MEMORY VERSE: Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead for days. John 11:39.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 11-12, Matthew 17-19

There are three basic attitudes to work. Attitude one, you delegate work to people, competent or incompetent, sit back and relax. This is full of disadvantages. Firstly, you get what you inspect not what you expect. If you give out tasks to people and you don’t inspect it as they are carrying it out, you will be disappointed at the end of the day. Recently, a friend, who is into photography and media business, was sharing with me how he gave a job to a cameraman, to cover a show. When the cameraman got the job, he promised heaven and earth. Thank God, this friend was diligent enough to be at the show before time. The cameraman who was meant to be at the show by 10 am did not turn up and did not pick up his call until 5pm. His excuse was he went to club the previous night and overslept. If all a man wants to do, as the leader, is delegate tasks, sit back and relax, the work will go on forever. People generally love to work at their own pace, which many a time is at snail’s speed, in their own way and if care is not taken, one will end up paying ten people for a job that two people should have done.

This is what informs ‘attitude two’ to work which is, 'do everything yourself'. One of the advantages of this attitude is that you complete the work in record time without any complains. Also, none of your staffs will be able to hold you to ransom because they know that without them, you can manage quiet well. In addition, the quality of the work will be to your taste. This has few disadvantages and one of them is you will experience a burn out. A lot of people are being treated for exhaustion as we speak. Also, this could affect one’s marriage. This could affect one’s service to God. There a lot of ministers of God, who labour so much on ministry that they no longer have time to minister to God. To wake up at night to pray is now an uphill task because they have worked and worked - visited this family, settled that quarrel, spoke at this event, travel to another part of town to give a speech, and so on. Many a time, they rarely spend time with their family – their number one ministry. There are a lot of wives who are experiencing a burn out too. Although they have grown up children, they are the one who does the cooking, the cleaning of the house, the laundry and so on. Added to this, they support their husbands especially by praying for him, and still go to work.

What is the solution? How did Jesus, the most hardworking man that ever lived, the most effective man that ever lived, the most successful man that ever lived, managed to do all He did within a space of three years and the bible never recorded that He experienced a burn out or could not go out to minister as He was too tired? Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit. There are other secrets too; if the Lord permits we will touch them. One thing He usually does when there is work is that, He did bulk of the work especially praying and fasting, and delegated some out to his disciples. This is attitude three. Jesus never tried to do everything by Himself. For instance, when He wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:39-44), He delegated tasks out. When He got to the tomb, He told some people to roll away the stone at the mouth of the tomb. After praying and calling out Lazarus from the grave, He told another set of people to lose him and him go. Also, when He wanted to feed five thousand (Mark 6:36-43), He didn’t do all the work by Himself. He got some people to make the people sit down. After praying, He got the disciples to share the bread. After everyone had left, He got another people to clean the whole field and pack the remnants.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: If Jesus, our role model, delegated tasks, there is nothing wrong in delegating task. Also, whilst Jesus delegated the tasks, He did bulk of the work and supervised the tasks.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please strengthen me and give me the wisdom to use the resources you have given to me.

twitter@BroOluwatoki