Category Archives: Holy Word

Holy Spirit: How the Spirit of God Can Help You

Posted by Oct 8, 2015 Holy Word, Gospel Evangelism, Podcast, Word of Faith Leave a Comment
Holy Spirit: How the Spirit of God Can Help You

Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and His primary assignment on earth is to help sustain the salvation of Jesus Christ in our lives. Holy Spirit is a powerful being. You can receive the Holy Spirit into your own spirit by submitting your power of choice to God.

 

Apostle Peter explained further in the book of Act chapter 2 and verse 38: “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Your invitation to the Holy Spirit is the first step for Him to help you. I have realized in my life that it is impossible to live a holy lifestyle without the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. Thus, the Holy Spirit can help you in various ways:

1. Holy Spirit Exposes Secrets of Sin

You cannot stop sinning if the Holy Spirit is absent in your life. The presence of the Spirit of God in you will serve as a beam of light to expose all the darkness of life. He speaks to your heart to explain the bad implication of participating in any sinful action.

You can’t stop sinning by your own strength through attending a school of theology, or exhibiting the spiritual gifts such as; speaking in tongues. But the Holy Spirit can help you to live a sinless life when you allow Him to take charge of your spirit, soul and body.

People without the Holy Spirit normally do what is bad, and thought they are doing something good. Jesus says in John chapter 16 verses 7-9: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin…”

 

2. Holy Spirit Teaches Righteousness

The Spirit of God is the best teacher of righteousness. He is the only One that could explain the details of holiness to your mind.
You might wonder how someone reading the Bible daily could still involve himself/herself in unrighteousness. The reason is simple! Such person did not allow the Holy Spirit to teach him the righteousness in God’s word. John chapter 16 and verses 8 say: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of…righteousness…”
The ability to become righteous cannot be achieved by your power. But, when you accept the Holy Spirit as your Teacher, then your righteous lifestyle shall be sustained in this sinful world.

 

3. You Will Escape Hot Judgment

Holy Spirit sees ahead of you, and He knows what will happen in the future. The presence of the Spirit of God will help you to understand the intention of God to good and evil doers.
Sometimes ago, the Holy Spirit told me that God is not pleased with the world again. “The world is just like a spoilt orange, and God will crush the earth very soon.” This message has a scriptural support in the book of Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”
This information the Holy Spirit spoke to my mind helped me to have a good understanding that God will not joke with His judgment. All atheists should wake up from their slumber!!

 

4. Holy Spirit; the Best Reminder

You will agree with me that we find it difficult to remember all information on every occasion. That is the main reason for the reminder apps on our smart phones.
Holy Spirit is the best reminder apps for your spiritual success in life. Jesus knew it might be difficult for His followers to remember all His teachings. So, He made a promise in the book of John chapter 14 and verse 26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
Holy Spirit has been my best reminder, even at the point of stumbling into sin. He speaks the word of God into my mind, and I quickly remember the right way to tackle temptations.
Holy Spirit will come into your life when you surrender your life to Jesus. His presence in your life will make you successful in all your ways. And the Spirit of God will help you to live a righteous life towards heaven.

10 Ways to Overcome Temptation

Posted by Sep 30, 2015 Holy Word, Gospel Evangelism, Podcast, Word of Faith 4 Comments
10 Ways to Overcome Temptation

Temptation is described as the desire to do something that is against the righteousness of God. Satan is the master-tempter of humanity, and his intention is to make us lose the glorious relationship with God.

I discovered that in every hundred temptations that comes my way, less than ten tends towards doing something harmful to my neighbor. Thus, temptation always appears to be something enticing to do.

 
Our mind is always the channel through which devil introduces temptation to us. The book of James chapter 1, verse 13 and 14 says: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed”.

 
Some new converts always express their bitter experience about temptations to me. They thought that the acceptance of Jesus into their life will bring an end to temptation.

The acceptance of Jesus into your life will cleanse your ancient sins (through His blood). Then Jesus will give you the power over temptation and sin. All the children of God are free from sins, but not from temptation. Jesus, the son of God was also tempted when on earth.

Thus, you are not a sinner when you struggle with temptation. You become a sinner when you give-in to the temptation. So, what are the best ways to overcome temptation?

 

1. Identify Your Seducer

Remember I told you devil is the tempter and he amplifies temptation into your mind. Satan can use human being or things of this world to seduce you.If you cannot identify your seducer, then you would find yourself in the mess of the temptation.

For example; if your close friend advice you to buy an expensive cloth you don’t need in a supermarket, then quickly identify such person as a seducer to the temptation of extravagance. Take your eyes away from such cloth, and tell your friend that you don’t need it.

 

Devil pretended to be a good friend to Jesus in the book of Matthew chapter 4 verses 8 and 9: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” But, Jesus identified him as a seducer from onset, and He rebuked him in verse 10: “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”

 

2. Digest the Bible Daily

Reading the Bible like a newspaper cannot give you the power to overcome temptation. But digesting the word of God into your mind is a way to overcome any temptation that comes your way.

Jesus Christ did not joke with the Bible during His young age. I discovered this in the book of Luke chapter 2 verses 46: “Now so it was that after three days they found the boy Jesus in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.”

So, Jesus was able to overcome devil’s temptation through the use of the Word of God when He became an adult.

 

3. Discipline Your 5 Senses

The power to be holy comes from God, but if your power of choice that controls your 5 senses is not surrendered to God, then to overcome temptation will be impossible.

You must discipline your sense of; sight, smell, touch, hear and taste. Let your 5 senses be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

For instance, if you did not control your sense of sight and your eyes were engaged in all sort of erotic movies or magazines, then you have open the door of your mind for immoral and sexual temptation. Jesus advised us to take extra caution with our sense organs in the book of Matthew chapter 18 verses 7 to 9.

 

4. Your Regular Prayers Tackles Temptation

After I gave my life to Jesus, I felt bad when I fell into temptation of lies. Since, I knew all liars will have their part in lake of fire, I cried out to God for help.

And the Lord told me to set up a regular communication with Him, and this solution is helping me in a great way. Your church or night sleepy prayer is not enough to overcome temptation.

Cultivate the habit of engaging your mind with praises and prayers to the Lord always. And no form of temptation will overcome you anymore.

 

5. Be Alert to Defeat Temptation

You must be sensitive to your surroundings. I’m not saying you should always expect temptation, and I don’t mean you should be afraid of temptation.
Just keep watching and don’t be carried away by the fun of life.

Jesus was sensitive to discover the presence of Satan during one of His discussion recorded in the book of John chapter 14 verses 30 and 31: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming…Arise, let us go from here.”

God had given us the power to overcome temptation, but we would find it difficult to use such power if we are not spiritually alert.

 

6. ‘Jump the Fence’

I am aware of a temptation that anointing from God cannot overcome. Whenever a sexual temptation stares at you, please do not cast and bind the demons, just run away from the premises. Joseph in the book of Genesis chapter 39 verse 10 to 12….’jump the fence’ and he overcame the temptation.

But the anointed king David refused to ‘jump the fence’ as recorded in the book of 2Samuel chapter 11, and he could not overcome the temptation.

 

7. Endure the Temptation

Do not give up to any form of temptation that stays too long with you. Temptation to steal or swindle had been a common attempt in the mind of many poor Christians.

I had listened to testimonies of some Christians who endured the temptation for many years and never gave up. The power of the Lord in you is the strength for your endurance to defeat temptation.

 

8. Walk in the Spirit

Walk in the Spirit means obedience to the instructions of the Lord in every decision you take. Eve walked in her thinking (flesh), and she admired the forbidden fruit. If Jesus had not walked in Spirit, He would have turned the stones to bread after His forty days of fasting.
Whenever temptation comes your way, listen to the spiritual response from God always!

 

9. Put on the Armor

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…”(Ephesians 6:13-18)

 

10. Don’t Fear the Temptation

One of my former lecturer defined the acronym of letter F for the word ’Failure’ as ‘Fear’. If you are afraid of temptation, then you will not be able to overcome the tribulation.

Jesus says in the book of John chapter 16 and verse 33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”.

How to Invest Your Talents

Posted by Sep 22, 2015 Holy Word, Gospel Evangelism, Podcast 2 Comments
How to Invest Your Talents

God gives everyone talents to make life more pleasant to live. Talents are unique actions you perform without finding it difficult to do.

Talents are gifts from the Lord for physical and spiritual benefits of humanity. Few examples of talents performed for physical benefits include: occupational skills, academics, leadership skills, language skills, etc. Talents performed for spiritual benefits are recorded in 1Corintians chapter 12 and verse 7 to 11 which include; word of wisdom, word of knowledge, gift of healing, discerning of spirits etc.

How to Know Your Talents

1. Have Confidence in Yourself
It will be difficult for you to identify your talents, if you don’t believe that God had designed special abilities into your life.

Some people thought that only the popular icons are talented people, but that is not true. It is the level of talent-investment that determines the popularity of a talented individual. Thus, everyone has something good to offer the world.

2. Your Easiest Task
Don’t be surprise that one of your easiest tasks might be the most difficult puzzle for another person or group of people. Pick a pen and list all the tasks you can do without stress.

For example, if you can compose eight tracks of classical songs in two hours, then you are a talented musician who must invest in the life of other music composers who spent twenty-two hours to bring up a single track.

One of the easiest tasks I discovered during my teenage was ability to write long essays in the class. So, I found it easy through the power of the Lord to be a Christian Blogger today.

3. List Your Achievements
Your talents are channels of achievement in life. You can easily identify your talents when you go through the actions involved to attain every unique success you made. God had embedded useful talents into you for spiritual or physical gatherings.

Invest Your Talents

God gave you the talents for the physical and spiritual benefits of everyone around you. So, it is unwise for your talents to be kept in a corner of your soul. God recommended Bezalel and Oholiab to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle, because He knew how talented they were. God told Moses: “…I have given special skill to all the naturally talented craftsmen so they can make all the things I have instructed you to make…” (Exodus 31:1-11).

Joseph invested his talent of interpretation of dreams to save the whole country of Egypt and its neighboring countries from the sufferings of seven years famine. (Genesis chapter 41)

Always use your talents to provide solutions to people around you and to your society. You can save the life of somebody through the talents the Lord had given to you.

Jesus Christ explained in one of His parables that a fearful coward who does not invest his talents into the lives of people will not gain heaven. Jesus says:”… And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mathew 25:14-30)

Identify your talents and invest today. God Bless you!!

No Jokes! No Jesting! No Hell!

Posted by Sep 15, 2015 Holy Word, Church, Gospel Evangelism, Podcast , 4 Comments
No Jokes! No Jesting! No Hell!

Jokes are an untrue stories or exaggerated events to make people laugh. Jesting (twisting stories) is not uncommon in the Christendom. Jokes had become so famous that there are many websites updating ‘online Christian jokes’. Does God support jokes as a form of fun for Christians?

I was a good jester from teenage, and I grew up to be an expert in formulating jokes to make people laugh. When I gave my life to Christ, I never heard a pastor preach against my clown lifestyle, so I thought jesting was a good talent for the congregation.

One day, I was meditating on ‘entrance to heaven’ when I read the book of Luke chapter 13 and verse 24: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” I prayed to God to give me the strength to survive the ‘rough road’ to heaven. God knew my jokes had sapped a lot of spiritual strength from me, so He referred me to read Ephesians chapter 5. When I read verse 4, I had the greatest shock of my life.

If you want to know how to live a good Christian life, I recommend the whole passage of Ephesians chapter 5 to you. Verse 4 says: “neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” I read this verse which condemned jokes and jesting repeatedly, and I kept wondering about its less popularity on the pulpit.

I am not comfortable with the major acceptance of jokes and jesting in the Christendom of our generation. Some pastors make jokes on the pulpit, because they want the congregation to laugh. But jokes and jesting are not the right medium to achieve cheerfulness.

There is no scriptural basis for any act called clean jokes or holy lies. “Let’s call a spade a spade”… you cannot be a liar and a righteous child of God at the same time. 1John chapter 3 verse 10 says: “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

Characteristics of Jokes

• False stories
• Unrealistic narration
• Exaggeration of true life incidence
• Offensive expressions
All these characteristics can make you laugh, but the origin of jokes is from the father of lies, beware! If you listen to a lot of jokes in the church or media, you will agree with me that jokes are bunch of funny lies. Thus, if you are a Christian who long to dwell in heaven where liars are not allowed, I want you to think deeply on this topic. Revelation chapter 21 verses 8 say: “But the cowardly …and all liars … shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

I am not giving an impression that it is wrong to laugh; there are lots of funny real-life incidence which occur every day. If you narrate a true-life incidence without the intention to mock the people involved in the story, then you are not playing jokes. But a true-life incidence played into joke is offensive and not scriptural.

I believe jokes are one of the Devil’s devices to baptize every one into the rivers of lies. Devil had been able to secure a date on the world calendar; April 1st is always a day of ‘fun’ filled with lies, and it’s celebrated across the world. Is it possible for Christians to have fun through the medium of lies? Jesus says in Mathew chapter 7 and verse 18: “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.”

Effect of Jokes

1. ‘Expensive’ jokes had crashed some happy marriages and relationships.
2. Respect for the Jester diminishes, because no one knows when he is lying (jesting) or when he is saying the truth.
3. Listening to jokes in the church or on the media does not edify your spirit, thus, it causes spiritual separation from God.
4. Anyone under the influence of jokes is possessed by spirit of lies.
5. Jokes causes hatred in the society- racism (ethnic jokes)

The Bible made it clear on how we can make ourselves happy through singing songs of praises to the Lord and not through jokes. (Ephesians 5:4)
Devil is the father of all liars, so do not participate in any form of joke anymore. Your new status as a Christian must show the Christ-like character everywhere you go. Have you read a verse in the Bible where Jesus makes jokes? There is none, because God does not joke, he respects every word that comes from his mouth.

Joke is an ancient practice, but Jesus never used jesting in His style of preaching when on earth. I remembered He warned us to be careful of joining the category of people who catch fun through jokes in the book of Matthew chapter 12 and verse 36: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.”

Since the Lord had called you to be in His righteousness through the Holy Spirit, then frown at jokes or foolish talks because the content is filled with lies. Christian lifestyle is not a boring one, so be cheerful and catch fun by listening to wonderful gospel music and musical instrumentation. The grace of the Lord is enough to make you happy. So, do not gain pleasure in jokes anymore. It is full of lies and hell!!

End-Time Prophecy: Is Jesus Coming Back?

Posted by Sep 8, 2015 Holy Word, Gospel Evangelism, Podcast, Word of Faith , 2 Comments
End-Time Prophecy: Is Jesus Coming Back?

Jesus’ end-time prophecy was a sign for us to know that this present world will come to an end one day. There are arguments about the reality of the end-time. Some people said that this world will exist forever, while some argued that it may probably be destroyed by the meteorites in the space.

Late Harold Camping was so mathematical about the end-time prophecy, and he fixed dates for the end of the world (September 6, 1994 and May 21, 2011). But his predictions failed several times, thereby misleading a lot of people.
Is Jesus’ end-time prophecy true or false? Let’s check it out!
The book of Matthew chapter 24 explained how curious the disciples were interested in the end-time prophesies, and Jesus gave full predictions from verse 4 to 14;

1. Many will Come and Proclaim to be Messiah

This was the first end-time prophecy predicted by Jesus, and it came to pass few years after His ascension to heaven. Among these false messiahs are Dositheus, the Samaritan, who affirmed that he was Christ; Simon Magus, who said he appeared among the Jews as the Son of God; and Theudas, who persuaded many to go with him to the river Jordan, to see the waters divided.

Matthew chapter 24 verse 4 and 5 says: “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.’’

2. Wars will Break Out

This second end-time prophecy came to pass in the history of Rome that the most violent agitations prevailed in the Roman Empire before the destruction of Jerusalem. Four emperors, Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, suffered violent deaths, in the short space of eighteen months.

In consequence of these changes in the government, there were commotions throughout the empire, Parties were formed; bloody and violent wars were the consequence of attachment to the particular emperors. Mathew chapter 24 verses 6 say: “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

3. World War/Famine/Earthquake

This third end-time prophecy started its fulfillment at Caesarea in AD 59, the Jews and Syrians contended about the right to the city, and twenty thousand of the Jews were slain. At this blow the nation of the Jews was exasperated, and carried war and desolation through the Syrian cities and villages. Sedition and civil war spread throughout Judea; Italy was also thrown into civil war, by the contests between Otho and Vitellius for the crown.

The First World War centered in Europe on 28th July 1914, and the Second World War in 193. The occurrence of these world wars is a strong sign for you to believe the end-time prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 805 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, (one in nine) were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2012-2014. The worst affected countries include Ethiopia, Malawi, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea.

Earthquake had been a consistent occurrence since the first record of 1769 near Los Angeles. Mathew chapter 24 verse 7 and 8 says: “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

4. Great Persecution

This end-time prophecy started its fulfillment when Peter and John were brought before the council as recorded in the book of Act chapter 4 and verse 5 to 7. Paul and Silas were also beaten and imprisoned. Stephen was stoned to death, and James was killed by Herod…

Mathew chapter 24 verses 9 and 10 say: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another”.

5. Emergence of False Prophets

This end-time prophecy came to fulfillment when Simon Magus, Hymeneus and Philetus, (2Timothy2:17) emerged in the early days after Christ’s ascension. Many false prophets are also available in our time.

Mathew chapter 24 verses 11 say: ‘’Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”

6. Sin will be Common Everywhere

This end-time prophecy gave me the understanding that the living sacrifices of Jesus’ blood on the cross will only wash the sins of people who genuinely surrender their lives to Jesus. This generation is filled with enough grace to live a holy life, unfortunately the love of many Christians had gone cold and sinful occurrences can be found everywhere.

Mathew chapter 24 verses 12 and 13 say: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

7. Global Evangelism

Global evangelism is the only end-time prophecy that is not fulfilled yet. The Good News must get to the nooks and crannies of the earth before the second coming of Jesus. Presently, bold missionaries are taking the Gospel to the tough regions of the Asia continent. And majority of the Evangelists are making use of the internet facilities to preach globally through the website.

Mathew chapter 24 verses 14 say: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the entire world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

The end of this world will come when all the nations are fully aware of the Good News. Since, all the end-time prophecy had come to pass except the seventh, then I want you to believe that this world will surely come to an end.
Live a holy life according to the instructions of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible, to avoid missing the glory of His second-coming. Make sure you get ready for His second-coming every day you wake up from bed, because only God knows the D-day. Matthew chapter 24 verses 36 say: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

The end-time prophecy is coming to pass in our generation, so it is not a joke, but a reality that Jesus Christ is coming back to take the saints to Heaven. Are you ready?