Oluwafemi .The Word of God is a light to my Path.

                                                                                                                      Suffering is a normal part of the Christian life “They helped the followers grow stronger in their faith and encouraged them to continue trusting God. They told them, ‘We must suffer many things on our way into God’s kingdom.’” (Acts 14:22) The apostle Paul was traveling a lot. He went from one city to the next to spread the Gospel. In Acts 14, we read how Paul and Barnabas were preaching at Iconium “in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed” (Acts 14:1). Their work bore much fruit, but also met opposition. Finally, Paul and Barnabas had to flee the city since people tried to stone them. In the next town, Lystra, Paul was actually stoned. The people drew him out of the town, assuming they had killed him. But Paul was not dead and he just went on preaching the Gospel in another place. Some time later he returned to Lystra and Iconium — the towns

Silence is Not an Option “ Then they said to one another, ‘We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.’”  (2 Kings 7:9) The siege was on by Aram, and people were starving in Samaria. Four lepers decided to surrender to the enemy, hoping they’d be allowed to live. When they went to the location of the enemy camp, the lepers discovered the soldiers had fled. The Lord had made the soldiers hear sounds that caused them believe allies were approaching to help. In their haste to flee, the army had abandoned all of their food and valuables. The lepers plundered what they could, storing as much as possible for themselves. Then they realized that what they were doing was not right. People were starving just over the hill! Remaining silent was not an option.  They felt compelled to share the good news of their discovery. Is this not wh

  Lord God, I love you with all my heart, soul, and strength. Keep me faithful and obedient to your will. I want to obey your commandments and honor you always. In your holy name, I pray. Amen.

  A New Way of Living “ But… the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ ” (Deuteronomy 17:16) After the wise men’s encounter with the newborn King, the Lord instructed them to return to their homeland by a different route. Things change when Jesus Christ assumes control of our lives.  We become new creations and are transformed into instruments for service to God. We abandon the old ways of doing things. We no longer try to earn our way to God through works. Instead of living the law of the flesh, we live by the law of faith. We become ambassadors for Christ. As we practice the concepts of  soak ,  sow ,  and  flow   (explained in the book,  Kingdom  of God ), our attitudes, thinking, and behavioral patterns change. The love of Christ compels us to live in harmony with the will of God. Even though we are wasting away outwardly, we discover we are being renewed inwardly daily. As we consider this transformation process, the words of John the Baptist come to mind: “

  Keep Moving! “ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. ’” (Exodus 14:15) A paper weight on my desk has the inscription, “Don’t wait for your ship to come in. Swim out to it!” In practicing  Kingdom  of God, we aggressively look for ways to invest our talents for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. People often make the mistake of waiting for their ship to come in – hoping for something to come their way. Good intentions alone are not enough to accomplish any worthwhile objective. Perhaps the Lord is saying, “Stop waiting for your ship; start swimming!” Someone said it is a lot easier to steer a moving car than one that is standing still. As we participate in worthwhile Kingdom efforts, we can more easily see how the Lord is guiding us to the places where we can be the most productive. We need to be alert to areas in which the Spirit of God is moving and blessing the efforts being made on his behalf. Then we have to “swim” out to thos

  Lord God, teach me to be one of your holy people. Keep me grounded in your teachings so that I may reflect your love to neighbors near and far and live and serve with justice. Amen.

  “They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!’ For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.” Jeremiah 33:11 Because of Your Praise In today’s Scripture, Jeremiah prophesied that God would bring back the people of Judah and Israel from their captivity to the Babylonian conquerors. He was saying that when you thank God and offer up a sacrifice of praise even when you don’t see anything good happening, He is going to reverse negative situations and restore what’s been stolen. When you don’t see how it can work out, but you go through the day saying, “Father, thank You that the answer is on the way, thank You that this problem is turning around,” get ready for God to bring a restoration. He’s going to reverse finances that are down, reverse a bad health report, reverse a legal matter, and He’s going to restore what should have been yours. He’s going to restore years that

  Where’s Your Permanent Home? “ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. ” (Hebrews 11:16) Being heavenly minded, but earthly sensitive, is a core principle in practicing  Kingdom  of God. What does that mean? It means that we know we’re passing through this temporary world on the way to our permanent home in heaven. With that in mind, we make choices in light of investing the three Ts –  time, talent, and treasure  – for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Those who came before us did the same thing. Hebrews 11 lists people of faith who, from the beginning of time, chose to listen to God and guided their lives accordingly. The list included Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abram, and Moses. They willingly exchanged many of the temporary pleasures of this world so they could inherit the promises made to them by God. In faith, they looked forward to heaven. We have the same opportunity. Emp

  “They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!’ For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.” Jeremiah 33:11 Because of Your Praise In today’s Scripture, Jeremiah prophesied that God would bring back the people of Judah and Israel from their captivity to the Babylonian conquerors. He was saying that when you thank God and offer up a sacrifice of praise even when you don’t see anything good happening, He is going to reverse negative situations and restore what’s been stolen. When you don’t see how it can work out, but you go through the day saying, “Father, thank You that the answer is on the way, thank You that this problem is turning around,” get ready for God to bring a restoration. He’s going to reverse finances that are down, reverse a bad health report, reverse a legal matter, and He’s going to restore what should have been yours. He’s going to restore years that

  Be Sure to Pray! “ Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. ” (Isaiah 37:14-15) I heard someone say that it takes three things to accomplish the purposes of God in this world: prayer, leadership, and money. Often, in our haste to do things or to “do” ministry, we forget to pray for God’s blessing and direction. This is a big mistake. Hezekiah , after receiving a threat to his kingdom from the King of Assyria, took the letter defining the threat, went to the temple, spread it out before the Lord, and prayed about the problem. In response, God moved in a miraculous way and destroyed the enemy. The power to change, the power to overcome obstacles, the power to overcome sin, and the power to defeat the evil one is sourced in Almighty God. We are told to boldly come to the throne of Grace to receive mercy, and to find help in the time of need. Prayer is a key

  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6 Put Your Feet Up In Psalm 110:1, God said that He would make the enemies of Christ His footstool. It’s a picture of the rest of faith we can have, because we are joined to Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places. God used “footstools” to remind us to stay at rest. When we face difficulties, things we don’t see coming, things we don’t understand, the first thing we should do is put our feet up. We need to come back to that place of peace. You have to do it by faith. Every thought will tell you why you’ll never get well, how your family will never be restored, and why your dream will never come to pass. That’s the enemy trying to deceive you into standing up. He knows that when you’re seated in peace and trusting God, all the forces of darkness cannot stop you. What may have been meant for your harm becomes your footstool. Inste

  Feel Insignificant? “’ Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’”  (Judges 6:15) It’s easy to feel insignificant or lost in this large, dynamic world. But sometimes, that very insignificance plays a key role in building God’s kingdom. Gideon  was the least in his family, and his clan was the weakest. God had a purpose for this. He wanted the people to realize that  God  was going to be the deliverer, and not the power and strength of the people themselves. Paul  said that he would boast of his weaknesses so the power of Christ could rest on him. Paul also said that God chose the weak things of the world to shame the wise. Jesus  used the two fish and five loaves of a young boy to feed 5,000 people. These examples could indicate that being “weak” makes us the kind of vessel God can use to facilitate the marvelous works he is doing in our world. When we realize our weakness, we can begin to loo

  “When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2 By Invitation Only When you face adversity, is your typical prayer, “God, get me out of this”? There’s nothing wrong with that prayer, but before you get out, you have to invite God in. Sometimes the miracle is in what God wants to do in the situation. Why don’t you start praying, “God, come into this hospital room, come into this troubled relationship, come into this anxiety”? More powerful than God bringing you out is when He comes in and gives you favor despite who’s trying to push you down. He comes in and gives you strength you can’t explain. He comes in and gives you the grace to outlast the challenge. In today’s Scripture, God says that although adversities are going to come, He will be with you in them. Are you trying to get out of the fire God is going to take you through? Are you fighting the fire, wondering why it happened? Everything will change if you s

  Remember! “ Put Me in remembrance…. ” (Isaiah 43:26,) We live in a world of challenges and turmoil. But, as believers, we are rooted and grounded in the person of Jesus Christ, the anchor of our soul. To keep things in perspective, we need to remember what God’s Word says: Remember:  The whole world is under the sway of the evil one. Remember:  Great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. Remember:  Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Remember:  He must increase, and I must decrease. Remember:  All the promises of God find their fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ. Remember:  Come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find help in the time of need. Remember:  Prayer and the supply of the Spirit will deliver us, empower us, heal us, and reveal God’s will for us. The  Kingdom  of God practitioner puts God and his promises in remembrance throughout the day. Today, ask yourself: In what ways will I put God and his promises in remembrance today?

  Then the LORD said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the LORD still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.” Hosea 3:1 Be a Hosea The wife of the prophet Hosea had abandoned him and their children and had been living with many men. Finally, her circumstances got so bad that she was about to be sold as a slave. Despite all the pain and humiliation she’d caused, after all the rejection and unfaithfulness, Hosea still had an undying love for her when God spoke today’s Scripture to him. He went and found her beaten down, dirty, and clothes torn, and bought her back. We’ve all been unfaithful and gone our own way, but God who is rich in mercy didn’t turn His back on us. He came down to the messy places, to where we failed, and bought us back with the price of His own Son’s life. Since God rescued you, will you be a Hosea and rescue somebody else? There are hur

  How Wise! “ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ” (Matthew 2:11) The wise men were students of their age. They followed the star, found Jesus, bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts. Perhaps these were the first strategic kingdom investors in the church age. What an example for us to follow! As students of our age, our purpose or mission is to be  heavenly minded , but also  earthly sensitive . We know there is a world to come, the real world. Preparation must be made to enter that world if our life is to echo into eternity. The wise men first gave their hearts to the Lord by bowing down and worshiping him. The “star” in our life is Jesus Christ.  Once the Lord has our heart, he has everything else related to us. We seek to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gosp

Lord Jesus, thank you for the mighty strength that you provide and which is at work in me. In whatever struggles I may face, I know that you are there to help and guide me. Amen.

  You are God’s Instrument Scripture:   Genesis 41:41 “ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.’”   What a life Joseph experienced! Favored by his earthly father; abandoned by his brothers, sold as a slave, falsely accused of assaulting the wife of his boss, thrown into prison, made second in command over Egypt, and finally, the savior of his family. All this happened by the time he was 30 years old! Through all of these experiences, Joseph maintained a proper attitude, trusting in the Lord. He never became bitter over the brutal treatment, abandonment, imprisonment, and false promises made to him. God worked and broke the “impossible” circumstances that literally imprisoned Joseph. God favored Joseph. As Christians who practice the principles of Kingdom of God, we, like Joseph, have been redeemed from every lawless deed so we can proclaim the praises of him who saved us. We are a special people who are zealous to do the good works of the King