He is Risen!

Happy Easter guys. As we celebrate the Easter holiday, let us take out time to remember the reason for the season, Jesus Christ who came to die for our sins because of the amount of love God had for us (John 3:16). When Jesus was crucified, do you think those who did knew He would rise from the dead again? Or that the devil knew there was a grand plan playing out? A plan that took us from the law and into grace (John 1:16-17, Rom. 6:14). A plan that ensured that we would no longer need a human high priest and would give us a High Priest that was seated at the right hand of God (Heb. 4:14-16, Heb. 8:1, Heb. 10:12, Heb. 12:2). A plan that brought us into relationship with God, symbolized by the tearing of the curtain when Jesus died (Matt. 27:51). Jesus died and rose again and in doing so enabled us to have a direct relationship with our Father (Heb. 4:16). If Jesus could overcome death and rise again, so can you.

As I thought of this in church today, I thought of how this applied to every area of our life. Whatever may seem dead or be dead, be it dreams, goals, relationships, careers, finances just know that the same God that raised Jesus is going to resurrect those dead areas. All you have to do is cast your cares and worries on Him (Phil. 4:6-7), trust Him (faith) and watch Him bring them back to life. Remember the valley of the bones (Eze. 37:1-14)!

I pray for you today, that every dead area of your life, every desert in your life will come back to life today in Jesus name. Amen.

Happy Easter and remember, He is risen (Matt. 28:6)!

P.S. GoT is back!

Photo cred: YouVersion Bible App

Sustaining Faith

^20. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal. 2 (NKJV)

While reading my Joel Osteen devotional a few days ago, I stumbled on something that struck me so strongly; a phrase Joel Osteen called Sustaining Faith. If you know me or have read any of my blog posts, one common theme you would notice across them is Faith. Maybe it is because of how fun it was to learn about it when I attended VBS (vacation bible school) back in the early 2000’s. Either ways, as a Christian, we are called to live a life of faith; after all, according to Heb.11:6, we can’t please God without faith. I’ll give you a good example. This morning, I found out that water had finished in the house and as usual, there was no light. I thought about my situation, prayed to God for light and went back to bed. A few minutes later, lo and behold, they brought light, I pumped water and minutes after I was done, they took it. As minute as it may seem, it was a miracle for me. Why? PHCN hardly ever brings light at the time they did; Joel Osteen called this delivering faith. Faith for when your situation instantly turned around. But what caught me was sustaining faith. While the bible doesn’t state the different types of faith, I found this concept interesting. One because I never thought of it and two because that is the faith we need to have when we are in the middle. When the excitement of starting something new (a company, a relationship, moving to a new place etc) fades away and reality sets in; anxiety, doubt and any other negative thought you can think of comes up and tells you that you will not make it. Or maybe you just recently entered the labor market after leaving a company you loved, 5 months down the line, no job offers, not even a congratulatory email to say you’ve made it to the next level of the application process. Or you've being believing God  for healing or freedom from an addiction and months/years down the line, there's still no change or it's even getting worse. This is the period when sustaining faith comes in and tells you to stand strong (like Eph. 6:13 said); tells you to trust in God and in the valiant arm of the Lord (Ps. 118:15 – 16). With this kind of faith, you will look the storm in its eye and scream: Though he slayed me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15); A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you (Ps. 91:7). Job was a great example of someone that had sustaining faith! He lost it all! Property, children, money (you name it! lol), everything! His situation was so bad that even his wife said in Job 2:9 (NKJV): Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? [a] Curse God and die!” Get this, the book of Job has 42 chapters, this was just chapter 2 and see what she told him. Do you know what he said? Check out Job 2:10 (that’s your assignment)! Despite everything Job went through, not once in the 42 chapters of the book of Job did Job say a single thing against God or turn his back against God and guess what happened? 

In Job 42:12 & 16 (NKJV) it said: Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.......After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. Imagine that! That my dear friends was sustaining faith and we all need that kind of faith. Faith that gets us through the night that is dark and full of terrors and the long winter (#GoT) lol. After all, remember what Heb. 11:6 said.

The charge is simple, regardless of any situation you’re facing or how long the situation has lasted, remember there was a man called Job. Remember that through it all, he never turned his back on God or spoke against God; draw strength from that, look the storm in the eye and scream Ps. 91:7, 118:13 – 17! Stay blessed!

P.S. Winter is here

Photo cred: YouVersion Bible App

Who Is In Your Room?

Thank God for answered prayers as I had been dealing with writer’s block for quite a while but God answers prayers and a one-minute sermon on IGTV opened my mind to a very powerful lesson.

^23. When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ^24. He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ^26. And the report of this went out into all that land. Matthew 9.

When challenged by Pastor Steven Furtick, to come up with sermons based on one-liners from a play called Hamilton, Bishop TD Jakes talked about the power of being in the room based on the one-line "The Room Where it Happens". When we go through life, at different points in time, different people occupy the room of our life. Some leave the room for the better while others leave it looking like a tornado went through the room. But as Bishop Jakes said in his spontaneous sermon, it does not matter who is in the room with you or who has left the room. What matters is that Jesus is in the room with you and because you’re in the room with the right person, you will always get back up again and say to yourself: Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him (Job 13:15); A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you (Ps. 91:7).

In conclusion, even if everybody leaves your room, as long as Jesus is in the room, you can still get back up again (I paraphrased Bishop Jakes). Ask yourself, is Jesus in my room? If He isn’t, know that He is standing at the door of your heart and knocking (Rev. 3:20). All you have to do is open the door and let Him in. Have a great weekend!!

P.S. Game of Thrones is baaaaack!!

Photo Cred: The Room