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

  Introduction Deuteronomy 7:1–11: Moses reminds the people that they belong to the Lord. He tells them that the Lord will drive out the seven nations that inhabit the land the Israelites are to occupy. He reminds them of the Lord’s love and exhorts them to obey God’s laws. Today’s Key Verse: Deuteronomy 7:6a GNT [Moses said:] “You belong to the LORD your God.” Read 7  “The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  2  When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy.  3  Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them,  4  bec...

  Justified Before God Scripture: Romans 10:9–10, NIV “ If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ” (Romans 10:9–10, NIV) This passage is the wonderful message of salvation. It is a work of God himself who alone can do this. Other passages of Scripture confirm this truth: “ My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. ” (1 John 2:1–2, NLT) Note that Jesus alone is the sacrifice for our sins. Nothing else is needed; He is the full satisfaction for the payment of our sin. This truth is further stated in Hebrew...

  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Romans 5:3–4, NLT When Pressure Comes The apostle Paul says that if you see pressure, difficulties, and setbacks the right way, if you stay full of joy and don’t get bitter, then that pressure is making you stronger. It’s doing something inside, getting you prepared for what God has in store. God knows how to put on just the right amount of pressure so we don’t get complacent, we don’t put our faith on autopilot, but we keep stretching and growing. Here’s the key: Pressure is going to produce either faith, hope, and endurance, or it’s going to produce discouragement, weakness, and “can’t do it.” The question is, What is the pressure producing in your life? Are you seeing it as negative, not fair, letting it defeat you? Have a new perspective. See it as healthy pressure. ...

  Gratitude: The Missing Ingredient Scripture: Luke 17:15–18, NCV “ When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. Then he bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan.) Jesus said, ‘Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine? Is this Samaritan the only one who came back to thank God?’  ” (Luke 17:15–18, NCV) It appears that man is not grateful for all of the provision God has provided for living in this world. We often tend to be self-centered, focusing more on the negative rather than being thankful for what we do have. It is counter-cultural to express gratitude and to have a thankful spirit. Most of the world is interested in asserting rights and demanding, “what is rightfully mine.” Many people want things to be freely given to them or to obtain them with a minimum amount of work. Our political system is built on who will give me more for free, taking from some in order to give to others. The...

  Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:16 Preplanned The psalmist David says that before you got here, God already decided your purpose. He already planned out your days, already put in you everything you need to fulfill His plan. You have gifts and abilities inside that you may not even see right now. Your part is to honor God, to keep Him first place, and you’ll walk into His prearranged plan for your life. This doesn’t mean you won’t have difficulties and face situations that are unfair. It means that God has already taken that into account. When He preplanned your life, He arranged the comeback for every setback, a solution to every problem, mercy for every mistake, and a new beginning for every loss. You don’t have to struggle and try to force what you’re concerned about to work out. It will happen as the Most High God orde...

  Focus Scripture: Matthew 2:12, ESV “ And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. ” (Matthew 2:12, ESV) Notice the wise men were told not to go back to Herod. In many ways, Herod symbolizes the world system. Nothing in the world system encourages us to be engaged in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The value system of the kingdom is in opposition to that of the world. The world system says to serve self and place your own personal needs above everything else. The value system of the kingdom is described in the Sermon on the Mount in the beatitudes. For the Christ follower, his focus in life becomes Christ-centered, not self-centered. “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”  (2 Corinthians 5:15, NLT) Notice that the wise men departed to their country “by another way.” When we trust in Jesus C...

  There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Philippians 1:6 Not the Slightest Doubt Oluwafemi, no matter what some people do, it’s never enough. There’s always a nagging voice telling them they should have done better. They live with this inner critic constantly putting them down, pointing out their faults, magnifying their weaknesses and failings. They also listen to critics and naysayers who tell them what they can’t do, limit their potential, and lessen their value. If that’s you, do yourself a favor and tune out both the inner and outer negative chatter. The truth is that God didn’t make you subpar, deficient, or less-than. He calls you a masterpiece. But none of us are finished products. God is still working on us. Even though we have things we need to improve on, you shouldn’t feel unworthy and go around being down on yours...

  Avoiding Mission Drift Scripture: Matthew 25:13, NIV “ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. ” (Matthew 25:13) We are counseled in Scripture to watch for many things. We are particularly told to be on the look out for the return of the Lord, which can happen at anytime. Our time bubble can pop at anytime, thrusting us into the eternal paradigm. We need to guard against mission drift.  Converterlators  are on mission and need to keep on mission. The following acrostic,  W-A-T-C-H , can help us keep on mission. W —WORD “ Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. ” (2 Peter 1:19, NLT) A —AIM “ So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will ...

  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day. 2 Timothy 4:7–8 Fight the Good Fight Nobody faced more hardships for sharing his faith than the apostle Paul. Second Corinthians 11 lists some of them: beaten with rods three times, given thirty-nine lashes five times, stoned by an angry mob and left for dead, falsely accused and put in prison several times, shipwrecked, deserted by colleagues when he stood trial. Paul had all these opportunities to be angry and bitter. But near the end of his life, he gives us the secret to living in victory. He said, “I have fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith.” He was saying, “Through all the difficulties, betrayals, and things I didn’t understand, God was in control and leading me to new levels of my destiny.” Maybe today you need to dig down a little deeper. You’re ...

  Open My Eyes Scripture: Psalm 119:18 “ Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. ” (Psalm 119:18) To understand the Word of God, we need special revelation from God through the Holy Spirit. Revelation and transparency are the hallmarks in any relationship. Jesus promised that both he and the Father would make their home with us and reveal themselves to us if we obeyed their commandments. For this to occur, we need to pray for the Lord to open our eyes and give us understanding. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”  (Luke 24:45, ESV) This is necessary because,  “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”  (1 Corinthians 2:14, ESV). Through the Word, God reveals the secrets of the kingdom to us. We gain understanding of God’s eternal plan and our role in it. The Word holds priority in the life o...

  Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14 Ministering Spirits We all face times when life is so overwhelming that we feel we’re at the breaking point. We may be dealing with an illness, a relationship that’s falling apart, or a setback to our business. We’ve done the right thing, worked hard, but the situation gets worse, and we don’t think we can take any more. It’s not that we don’t have faith; it’s battle fatigue. God sees what you’re going through, and He knows when it’s too much. The Scripture says, “God is a very present help in times of trouble.” He will send angels to strengthen you, to encourage you, to help lighten that load. They are messengers that God uses to carry out His will, to fight our battles, to push back forces of darkness, and to refresh and reenergize us. Be encouraged that God has already dispatched angels with healing in their wings—with strength, with favor, with fresh vision, with victory. You’r...

  Broken Cisterns Scripture: Jeremiah 2:13, NIV “ My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. ” (Jeremiah 2:13, NIV) Many people in the secular world look for life in the wrong places. Believers always need to be on their guard to avoid making this same mistake. Notice this verse begins with “My people.” They are accused of making to two big mistakes: forsaking the true source of life and looking to alternate sources for meeting their needs. The people of Jeremiah’s time had forgotten that God is the only true living source of life. Jesus tells us to abide in him so that he can abide in us. By not reading, eating, and living the Word of God, we abandon the source of the living power and nourishment we need to live abundantly in this world. The fallout from abandoning regular reading of the Word is like building broken cisterns that fail to hold water. We run the danger...