Christ Diplomat (Exhortations)

TEXT: 2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. MESSAGE A past President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria noted that one reason why the most populous and arguably the most endowed African country was living very far below its capacity is because there are more think tanks than there are 'do tanks'. How true is that of us today? How many brilliant plans, ideas, prophesies and revelations of yours have killed by procrastination and left embalmed in the pages of your diaries and planners? Oh: did you think that you simply manufacture that brilliant concept? Is that why you think you have the right to either implement of kill it? No! As a child of God, you have the mind of Christ (if you study God's word) and many of our concepts are Holy Spirit inspired concepts. They could revolutionalise our world and lives if only you allowed them to manifest. In all these, what do you think has been your bane all these ...

CEASE FROM YOUR LABOUR AGAINST SIN; LIVE IN GOD'S REST TEXT: Prov 3:5&6  5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths MESSAGE Folks who have just given their lives to Jesus often have this feeling that they have made a pledge to live a Holy and a consecrated christian life and as such have the obligation to make it work. Thus many have expended a lot of energy trying not to sin all to no avail. Let me tell you the truth; you have no business TRYING not to sin. You shouldn't be doing that. You don't need to TRY to live a Holy life. What you should be doing is to concentrate on growing  up by feeding on the word of God. As you do so, Holiness will flow naturally out of you as a natural characteristic of a healthy Christian life Fine,  you may not yet be able to fully operate as mature Christians should. You may have a hard time keepi...

DEVELOPING A HEALTHY CHRISTIAN LIFE TEXT: 1Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: MESSAGE Virtually all you do with your baby is to relate with him and breastfeed him. You know that when he ingests good food that is appropriate for his age, he grows and he is physically healthy. But if he is malnourished, his growth might be distorted and he may not be able to do things that are expected of his age. The Holy Spirit reveals that the balance diet on which you can feed for proper growth in the Lord is the Word of God. The Apostle Peter counsels: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby". A child may not be able to do all that a normal human being should do. But when he is grown enough, he should. A baby may crawl, but soon when he is of age, he'd walk. Every parent knows this and much as he desires to see his child walk and run around, he concentrates more on feeding him  than comm...

TEXT: Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. MESSAGE The Gospel of Grace is the Good News of God's unconditional love for man which he expresses in giving us Jesus His only begotten Jesus so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but  have the same life that God has--everlasting life (John 3:16). It is the news of God unusual love by which he offers His best, His life packaged in Jesus to condemned criminals like us who deserve nothing but death and destruction. Now that you are in Christ Jesus, the Gospel of Grace tells you that the unconditional love of God does not end after conversion, neither does it become qualified or conditional. Rather it remains with you. " [If] While we were still God’s enemies, God’s Son died. He died so that we could become God’s friends. So, even more certainly, now that we are God’s friends, his Son will save us. Christ will save us because he...

TEXT: Luke 23. 39-43  39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.  40  But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?  41  And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.  42  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. MESSAGE One fateful day, a young man is led out for execution. He is a robber and full of evil. So bad is he that Crucifixion is the sentence deemed fit for him. But there on the cross and just within earshot is the Lord of righteousness. That is the turning point in His life! That is how a journey of doom was instantly changed and ended up in paradise just some few seconds before its final bus s...

1Pet 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. MESSAGE Every one of us is concerned with one issue or the other at various time, season or period. We worry about getting married and for that matter, married to the right person. We worry about what to eat, what to wear, where to stay and even what someone may say about us. Some have spouses that don't care about them and their feelings. Others have troublesome children that give them concern. For these and many more, many have cried themselves to sleep and others have wearied themselves to death. It shouldn't be so, dear Chritian. You have a Father that you can actually speak to. He cares, He hears, He listens. He is interested in you and so He wants to bear your burdens for you. Now that is a work of Grace. God's grace is so great that He wants to be your burden bearer. God says that you should cast ALL your cares on Him. All means ALL to the exclussion of none. In as much as it is a cause of concern, i...

TEXT Judges 6:14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? MESSAGE When God says "GO", He has completed the job. he has performed the miracle. He only wants you to experience it. It is in your trusting and obeying the instruction that you experience the miracle already wroth. In Luke 17, when some Leprouse men prayed to Jesus for their healing, verse 14 records that " he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed." Steping out on the Word of God, doesn't make God to perform the required miracle, (He has already done it) rather it makes you to experience the miracle already performed. When God says 'GO', it doesnt matter how unqualified you are, His bidding is His enabling. All you need to do is to trust and obey Him and the glory of the Lord will be seen in your life. Take God at H...

TEXT: Judges 6:14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? MESSAGE: What the Lord is saying today is that you should let the might that God has made available to you propel you to recover your inheritance. Let the consciousness of the presence of God put springs in your steps. Let it put faith in your heart and courage in your soul. Say to yourself, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me" (Psa 118:6). Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). Engage your adversary with the power God made available to you. What ever task is before you now, engage the might of God and you will come with excellence. Paul says, "... I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me." (Col 1:29) Quit resting on your oars. If Gideon had sat down at home, no matter th...

TEXT: Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you MESSAGE : Many people complain that they do not get result. They seem to be enstranged from the mercies of God. When you tell them God is a merciful God, deep down in their hearts, they do not agree with you because they have not exprienced God's mercy. All they know of God is judgement. They do their best at things and not get result. They pay tithe and things seem to get tighter. They give offering and they keep suffering. They sow and don't reap. Is there a way out?  Well there is. The reason why you are workin like an elephant and eatin like an ant is becuase you are not reaping in mercy. It is the mercy of God that makes us have a bountiful harvest (Rom 9:16). When you reap in mercy, the little you put your hand will yeield aboundantly. How can you ensure that you reap in mercy? God says to sow in...

TEXT:2Cor 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, we saw that the secret of doing exploits is in knowing the LORD. Someone may ask, How do I get to know God? You can know God by knowing Jesus. John 1:18 says " No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." This is because ... [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God...(Col 1:15) and " in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col 2:9). Thus if you want to know God, the only way is to to know Jesus. He encourages us to learn of Him. But the question now turns on how do we know Jesus. Now hear what He says " Search the scriptures...they are they which testify of me" The scriptures testify of Jesus. Now that is the first step to knowing Jesus--searching the scriptures. But yo...

TEXT: Isaiah 41:8-13 8  But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9  Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12  Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13  For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Its the beginning of another new year. Glo...

Text Rev. 19:12-14  12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Beloved, let me introduce you to one awesome personality. He's the strongest being in the universe and all realms.  He's called THE WORD OF GOD. The word of God carries the power of God. In John 1:1-3 we learn that He's God and all things were made by Him. In Heb. 1:3, we are told that the word of God is that by which He sustains all things. The word of God is the captain of the host of heaven. All the angels in heaven are under His command. In Psalms 103:20 we see that the angels who excel in might hearken to the Voice of the Word of God. Can you see that the Word of God is all powerful? Not...

ALL THINGS ARE YOURS 1Cor 3:21-22  21  Ther your good.or 3:21-22  21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;  22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; On Friday, we saw how that the mercy of God makes the difference in a man's life. Success is not a function of your efforts, it is a function of God's mercy. We also saw that we the children of God are objects of mercy. But one more thing on mercy, God's mercy has put all of God's resources at our disposal. Therefore He says, "all things are yours. (1Cor 3:21-22). That sure blows my mind. All thing! And as if to say “for the avoidance of doubt”, he added,  “All things…whether life, or death, or things present or things to come”. He says all things are yours. They are put under your authority. No matter what it is, no matter what condition it is, you can make them work for your advantage because ...

Bible reading: Luke 5:1-7 Beloved, on Monday we started discussing on this scripture. May we revisit it again to extract some honey from this divine rock. Remember Peter's condition? He toiled all night but his skills, expertise and timing yielded no fruit. We do not downplay the fact that many factors, ranging from physical to spiritual, could have been responsible for Peters failure and disappointment. Whatever was the reason for Peter’s failure in his endeavor, it definitely proves the veracity of the word of God to the end that success is not a product of man’s effort "I returned, and I saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."(Ecclesiastes 9:11). Now that leaves a man totally helpless as he cannot determine what when or how he can be successful. The probability of success would b...

Hi friends have you ever read these words: "I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:22-24) Now, that was Paul the mighty Apostle. His reference was to his struggle before he met Christ. He was a scholar and a strict disciplinarian. but he owned up to d paradox of life fully evident in his life. in fact he stated his greatest conflict--the conflict of laws working in him. Much as he wanted to obey the laws or God with his heart, another law was in his members making him a slave to the Law of sin. Oh How much this sincere Paul looks like most of us today. we face a lot of conflicts going on within us.  Your sincere heart must have wondered how can you be wholly free from sin, sickness and poverty. Our experiences seem to fight our beliefs...