I CHOOSE TO SERVE 10: QUALITIES OF GOD’S SERVANT 4

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” Matt. 26:41 (KJV).

Foundation Text: 1 Tim. 3:1-7

VIGILANCE:

Be watchful! Be at alert! Stay awake! You can help me with other synonyms and applications. I must be sincere, the literal application of this quality makes me want to shy away from it. This is because I am not a pro when it comes to staying awake. I do that occasionally though, especially when there is a prompting by the Holy Spirit to stay awake and pray or there is a corporate vigil. My mentor sleeps barely four hours a day. I may not be at that level now, but with time, I hope to get there and even better.

How interesting it is that most of the time this subject is raised, the next thing that comes to mind is fighting the witches and wizards that are fighting us. It is not our fault, this is what indoctrination and dogmatism has imbibed in us. You see cases were people are given 7 days midnight prayer to fight demons, because that is the time they operate more. I do not intend to assert that those prayers do not work, but you must not wait till midnight to fight demons. What if the demon you are fighting from Nigeria is in Washington DC, USA? Well that’s not what I am treating now. I will be making available a series by my mentor titled THE NEW NORMAL on my blog soon. It will go a long way to help you understand my concern on matters of this nature.

From our focus scripture for this episode, you see Jesus telling his disciples, who were also his servants, why they should watch and pray. In safety training, we were told that PPEs do not stop accidents from happening, rather, PPEs protect the wearer from the adverse effect of the accident. In like manner, being vigilant will not stop temptations from coming your way as a servant of God, rather, it will help you not to fall into it. You only fall into temptation when you have let down your guards.

The more you give yourself to serve God, the more you are exposed to temptations. This is why in the service of God, laxity is not allowed. The truth is that the devil is not letting down his guards in his quest to discredit you before God. This is why Peter passed on the same instruction Jesus gave him that night to us in 1 Pet. 5:8 and I quote:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (KJVL).

Till I come your way in the next episode, step up your alert level, the times are bad. God will help us to be vigilant in Jesus name. Amen!
     
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(Transforming the World through the Word)

IT’S A PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY By Aleele Paago

Read Luke 15
“I shall not want…”

Surely if there is a statement in the bible that challenges our reality this is one. Let me sound this clear and upfront: it is not because you are the Lord’s sheep that you won’t lack. The Lord’s sheep die daily of want in abject poverty. I won’t be too bothered if it was just material poverty but we are also spiritually poor.

The question is why?

The answer is simple- for as long as the sheep doesn’t know its rights and privileges and boldly takes them it will starve to death even in the green pasture.

Do you remember the prodigal son? Do you remember his elder brother? He is the one we were taught to love. Take my advice, you must hate the traits of the so called  non-prodigal son. That guy was a big failure in God’s sight. Both sons were sheep both were living in the green pasture of their father one knew his right that he OWNED the father and demanded for his portion. Happily the shepherd shared it. Did you read anywhere that the shepherd was upset for the son asking that the inheritance be shared? Never. That was the father’s intention and desire. That his children will grow up to inherit their possession.

After the prodigal son  wasted all his portion and came back did the father scold him? NO! instead He gave him more. That got the elder brother angry and he is the one that gets a scolding.” I have served you faithfully all these years you never gave me a great dinner not to talk of a party yet you throw a party for this wayward boy as soon as he comes back?” His anger seems justified on the surface. The shepherd’s response is telling: EVERYTHING IS YOURS ONLY YOU HAVE DECIDED TO STARVE IN THE MIDST OF PLENTY.

So which sheep are you? A starving sheep or a fatted sheep? I shall not want!

Activity: List out three areas you are going to aggressively demand your possession. How are you going to go about it? What strategies are you going to use to ensure you get your share of God’s wealth?

© THE LAMB OF GOD
DeepWords Devotional

NOT THE PASTURE By Aleele Paago

Read: Gen 16:6-16
I shall not want

The sheep here declares his sufficiency. This sufficiency is dependent on the fact that it is the Lord that is leading and providing for it.
Remember we have established that you have the option of living two lives here on earth: your godly life (the one God has scripted for you) or your ungodly life (not necessarily a sinful life but it is a life not in sync with the original script).   I shall not want because my Shepherd is leading me to the place of provision as in my script.

This question of provision is so critically central to the psalm. Every sheep is provided for. Why then are some sheep better off than others. Why are some sheep poor? Is this provision just talking about spiritual needs or does it include material needs? Even when we look at it simply in spiritual terms why are some sheep more endowed, more effective, more impactful than others in their spiritual endowments?

Look at the life of Hagar for a moment. In today’s passage, Sarah dealt heavily with her and she ran out of Abraham’s house trying to go back to her country Egypt. Along the way, at the site of a well, an angel appeared to her and consoled her. Instructing her to go back to her master’s home. Hagar didn’t have a say in the events of her life. She wasn’t party to the decision to become her master’s concubine. It was a decision Sarah took on her behalf. Was that her script? Yes. Did it remove the hardships? No.

Compare this to the event of Hagar’s life in Gen 21:9-21 After the birth of Isaac, Sarah again insisted that Ishmael must be thrown out of her household. Abraham loved his son and objected to the idea. But God intervened and asked Abraham to eject mother and child. Now with the cover of the family life taken away, Ishmael faced certain death in the hot wilderness. His mother abandoned him to go weep a distance away for she couldn’t bear to see her son die. When she cried, God called from heaven and opened her eyes to a well of water right where she was sitting.

Was the well there before Hagar cried? May be, may be not. For God could just have created it at that moment for her to see.
What was at stake in each of these instances was the life of Ishmael, that is the sheep that we must look at. Was he in need? Sure. But because this was the script of his life, he was never overwhelmed. The script has made provision for his godly life. Had Hagar not gone back at the first instance, Ishmael would have a very different story. He wouldn’t be the great man he grew to become.

Bottomline is this, you must stay on the script of your life to stay within reach of your supply all the time.

List  three instances in your past you suffered severe lack, was it because you were not at the right place God intended you to be or was it because you were relying so much on your humanity – your relationships (eg parents or business contacts) than on God? Hagar thought without Abraham she would be dead, but her source was God not Abraham.

© THE LAMB OF GOD
DeepWords Devotional

I CHOOSE TO SERVE 09: QUALITIES OF GOD’S SERVANT 3

“Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he undertakes” James 1:8 (ISV).

Foundation Text: 1 Tim. 3:1-7

STABILITY (HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE):

I know some theologians will be tempted to attack me now for using this verse of the Bible out of its original context. I also am not a party to quoting the scriptures out of context, but I was amazed when the Holy Spirit took me to this verse as I was preparing to write this episode. I tried to get another scripture to drive home the message of this episode just like the last one, but the Holy Spirit would not let me. So do not take me to the gallows yet, until you read the last word of this episode.

For the records, I am not married as I am writing this. You will agree with me (especially those who are or have been married) that being married to one person is a great piece of work. The challenges marriage bring to table always comes with mixed feelings. To some, it is an interesting experience while to others, it is too much to handle. You can now begin to imagine what happens to a man with more than one wife (whether he is rich or poor).

One of the key attributes of a husband of more than one wife is INSTABILITY. This is because his heart is divided between two or more people (which connotes double mindedness). Marriages of this nature are prone to loss of focus in purpose and destination.

An unstable man lacks focus and ability to do great exploits. He easily gets distracted and loses sight of the goal. This is why stability is a vital quality in our service to God.

This was the problem God had with the Laodicean church of Rev. 3:14-16. They were neither hot nor cold.

You cannot say you want to serve God and yet you allow yourself to be a tool in the hands of the devil. If you are amongst church folks, you present yourself as an inter-ballistic prayer missile. But, when you go back to your neighbourhood, you are hailed as the baddest guy in the hood.

My friend, I do not intend to condemn you because I have had my fair share of the lukewarm experience. On the contrary, I came to challenge you to take that bold decision to stand for God and God alone. There is so much God wants to do with you, but He needs you today to be stable and focused. I pray that instability will not deprive you of your reward for service in Jesus name. Amen!
     
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(Transforming the World through the Word).

PRECIOUS SEEDS 003 By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

When Jesus does not sound like the answer….

It is common to hear phrases like: “I have prayed and prayed yet, nothing is working”. Few people in their quest to finding answers to threatening issues of life have turned open their ears to such mediums that were abominations in yesterday.

“I thought that at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knees will bow! Ironically, the knees on my case gathered reinforcement from more knees and stood up and tall, exerting greater unshakable tendencies over my case”, Someone said!

How do you continue to tell someone to hold on, that Jesus knows about his troubles when he prays more than you do yet sees worst results than you do?

Should you give up on him? Certainly No!

Jesus is the answer, but most times we want to use Him to solve the wrong questions. In some times, we only see Him in prayer and not in work; In other times, we combine Him with outdated methods. In extreme cases, we just try Him for trying sake. In some cases, He waits to see if we love Him more than the answers we seek.

Every need of man does not answer to prayer ; even if it did, our generation have perceived prayer as a shortcut to every answer. We have reduced every line of scripture to a prayer point. I still think that if prayer answers to every need of man, the prayer band of your church would probably pull the highest traffic of committed members.

Am I saying that prayer is not effective? Capital No! Some things goeth not except by prayer and fasting. In the same way, prayer is not the answer to physical hunger.

At the mention of the name of Jesus, food will not appear on your table, money will not appear in your pocket, you will not disappear from Nigeria and reappear in the US, a house will not appear for you to live in. Am I doubting God’s power? Capital No! God has an “I can” nature. He is not a magician anyway. He is a principled God. I am rather confronting a lazy soul who thinks that Jesus is his problem.

Is Jesus silent on your case? He probably has given you what it takes to handle it:

“behold, I give you power to ride on snakes and scorpions”

Use what you have been given!
then, carry yourself like an authority. Power intoxicates. Stop reducing your life to a misery. Jesus is more than your lunch that you are not sure of where it will come from. Stop using Him, Serve Him no matter what happens! He is your God, not your boy! Grow in the Faith and in knowledge. Be convinced that when you can’t hear Him audibly, His presence is with you to help you go through your dark seasons of life without defeat. Some answers don’t come easily. Knowing the right formula to use does not always mean that the answer will just appear without some more work.

In the end, the answer you need will appear, and you will look back and see Jesus in the process.

#justMyThoughts
Write me if need be. WhatsApp /sms: 08067499014

©PRECIOUS SEEDS
CAPTAIN

“Shooting up a healthy generation with inspiring wisdom seed of God’s word”

I SHALL NOT WANT By Aleele Paago

Read: Matt 6:25-34
I shall not want

O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. Psa 34:9 -10

The Hebrew word “châsêr” that is here translated as “want” has the following meanings according to Strong’s Concordance could also be translated “to fail, to decrease or to make lower” amongst other synonyms.
I shall not Fail:
I shall not fail to become what he expects of me. I shall not fail to reach the targets he has set for me. I may suffer setbacks in my pursuit of the ultimate goal, I may often miss the mark, but when all is said and done, by his guidance and under the tutelage of my  Shepherd, it is impossible for me to fail.

I shall not decrease; I shall not make lower…
There is every possibility that in the face of looming dangers and disappointments, we begin to lower the qualities of our dreams. We begin to let slip from our hands the visions that we have received from God about our mission on earth. We somehow begin to see that we are not worthy of such a high calling. Our background is not right. Our education is not right. The support we need is not available. For these and a thousand other reasons, we begin to decrease. We decrease in our perception of ourselves and call it humility. We shy away from our greatness and say we are being modest. There is no modesty in reducing the dreams and aspirations God has given us.

Consider Psalm 34:9-10
O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

The first “Want” here is machsôr; deficiency; hence impoverishment: – lack, need, penury, poor, or poverty.  The word “lack” really means becoming destitute. Young lions may become impoverished and destitute in spite of the great strength of the pride of lions to which they belong. The reason is by strength shall no man prevail.

Now here is the key to not “wanting” it is to seek the Lord. The sheep must seek the shepherd. How? Is it not the shepherd that seeks the sheep? No the responsibility here lies with the sheep.

Seek to know what the shepherd wants you to do. Then do it.

Seek to know what the shepherd says you are. Then  believe it and act it.

Seek to understand where you fit in the larger scheme of the shepherd in relationship to other sheep in the fold. This is where the kingdom principle comes in. The kingdom is far larger than any sheep, and though each individual sheep may have its targets set by the shepherd, each sheep still belongs to a fold (kingdom) whose goals supersede each individual dream. By understanding and participating in this bigger picture, you eventually fulfill the conditions for Matthew 6:33

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Activity: What do you think is the kingdom agenda of God for Christians in Nigeria today? How does it differ from the Kingdom agenda for Christians in USA? What are you doing to be a part of that kingdom move?

NO DECREASE! By Aleele Paago

David declares, “I shall not want.”
I may have needs, I may have challenges, I may have desires, but I shall not want.
The Hebrew word, chásér translated as “want” in the King James Bible also means Fail, Diminish, Decrease.
So here are other valid renditions of the verse:
The Shepherd is mine, therefore, I shall not decrease.
The Lord is my shepherd, therefore, I shall not fail.
Implied in these assertions, is the reality that something happened to this lamb, that was challenging his belief in the script God has just shown him. Something happened to challenge the supply and put him in dire need. Something was rising up to put him back in the place of slavery.
Friend, every word of God you hear must be tested. Every revelation you receive, must be challenged. Every prophecy given concerning you will first face a fight before it can become reality.
The question is will you decrease? Will you fail?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom 8:35-37
© THE LAMB OF GOD
DeepWords Devotional

PRECIOUS SEEDS 002 By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

Jacob was a person; Israel became a nation!

Inside this person were untapped privileges of a nation. It took an aggressive response to a divine encounter for this man to activate his national potential which was prophesied  while he was yet in the womb.

God cannot force a level on you. He cooperates with you on the level in which you want to operate under. There are battles angels can’t win over you; these are battles for a change of level. When Jacob pressed harder with a deaf determination, the Israel in him rose; He broke into  His Israel.

It is not enough for God to wish you well. You can carry a beautiful prophecy and live a miserable life. You can still have Abraham, possessor of Heaven and earth as your grandfather and be written off in destiny.

Fight!

When you dodge a battle, it waits for you in the future. Whatever you don’t deal with grows with you.

In life, force is the way forward! It’s either you take things by force or you will be forced out of your prophecy.

God has given you the weapon of FAITH. Don’t just admire it, Use it! Until the devil gives up on your case, refuse to give up. Your Faith can ride you across this level of life.

You are bigger than this struggle. Soon, it will swallow you up. Rise up and take action! Refuse to do nothing when a fight is starring at you. Of what use is the Israel in you, when it is not sponsoring your greatness?

(Now that these few words have unsettled you from that irrelevant rest, set up violent warfare prayers)

Write me if need be: WhatsApp /sms:08067499014

©PRECIOUS SEEDS
CAPTAIN

“Shooting up a healthy generation with inspiring wisdom seed of God’s word”

I CHOOSE TO SERVE 08: QUALITIES OF GOD’S SERVANT 2

“And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless” Gen. 44:10. (KJV).

Foundation Text: 1 Tim. 3:1-7

BLAMELESS:

Well, we all know the story here. I must say that I struggled with the Holy Spirit on the relevance of this scripture to the message to be communicated through this episode. Thankfully, He is the greatest teacher and knows how best to expound God’s word in our hearts.

First, I did a bit of research into the word blameless. The Hebrew transliteration of it is “náqui y náqui y” pronounced as “naw-kee”. It means to be clean and free from guilt and/or punishment.

Back to the scripture above, there is a pertinent question I am asking from there: why did Joseph agree to service as a way of declaring them blameless? Why did he not choose to give the person a jail term? Remember he was hiding the identity of his brothers from pharaoh and the Egyptians at the time of this encounter. That will be a message for another time.

When Joseph said you shall be blameless, he was not excluding anyone. The provision was also for the person the cup will be found in his possession. So he is invariably saying that even though the culprit will serve, it will not be like a punishment, because he will be free from guilt/or punishment.

This is what the Holy Spirit is telling me to tell you: For you to be blameless, you have to believe in your heart that you have already been presented to Him blameless. You were full of shit? YES. You made mistakes? YES. You have done horrible things that should disqualify you to serve? YES. But I bring you Gods word today:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” Rom. 8:1-2 (NIV)

“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault” Jude 24 (NLT)

Who told you that you cannot serve God because of your past life? Who told you that you are too messed up to serve? That devil is a liar! The ultimate price for your mess has been paid. All God is asking you to do is to live your life as one who has been set free from guilt and shame. Do not let your mess stop the message. In Christ Jesus, you are now blameless (free from guilt and /or punishment).

Let me round up by leaving you with these two scriptures:

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” John 8:36 (KJVL)

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up in slavery to the law” Gal. 5:1 (NLT)

I see someone coming out of that bondage of guilt and walking into a blameless state! I see someone shutting the door to past errors and mistakes and making a choice to serve God without fear of guilt and condemnation! In the name of Jesus Christ! Amen!

If you were blessed, please share with your friends.

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word).

PRECIOUS SEEDS 001 By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

Every man has a limit to overcome, an inner voice to obey, a breaking decision to sign up with, a sacrifice to pay, a setback to tear down, a profitable mindset to covet, a potential to tap, a success story to become.

Excuses don’t fit you. Rise up and BECOME! Break-through a dry ground and make history. You are God’s asset on earth-don’t make yourself a liability. You are good for something, God is the one telling you!

If everyone must not respond to the call of fulfilling their God-invested purposes on earth, must you be among them? Move your life forward! Jesus will not die again for you. He died once for all and through that death, He surrendered all His possibilities to you. Now I know that it is possible to be saved. It is possible to be rich. It is possible to blessed indeed. It is possible to be in charge. It is possible to work the works of faith. It is possible to disappoint a curse. It is possible to BECOME.

Just take a step and God will empower the rest. Overcome that pressure pulling you down. Refuse to feature in Satan’s demo. He shouldn’t use you to show the world that he has some power. Rise up and move. Don’t be lame in mind and will. ‘Will it’ enough to respond to it.

The laws of life and success are not difficult compared to the loss of not yielding to them. If God truly wanted you to do the difficult part, don’t you think that He would have sent you to die on the cross for yourself?

Think on this thing but above all, forcefully detach your destiny from this beggarly level. Jesus didn’t die for nothing!

©PRECIOUS SEEDS
CAPTAIN

“Shooting up a healthy generation with inspiring wisdom seed of God’s word”