The engine 1

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever used a car which has engine problems? It is better to be without a car than to have one with engine problems. You end up spending more money and it can refuse to start at anytime even in the middle of the road. But the engine can be replaced to bring peace to the owner. The heart is the engine of all issues of life and must be kept diligently. Out of the heart comes faith, wisdom, and even folly. The heart of all life matters is the matter of the heart. The strong point is this: if you can keep your heart diligently, you can handle all issues of life, be it spiritual, physical, health, finances, marriage, career, relationships. I mean ALL. When the heart is wounded, the life is wounded!

The Easy to read version simplifies this statement in Proverbs 4:23. It says, “Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.” The implication is this if you are careful about what you are thinking then you are keeping your heart diligently. And if your thinking is right, your life will be right. The question is this how do you become careful of what you are thinking or how do you keep your heart? This question will be handle in subsequent messages.

Let me quickly make the second point in this introduction. A new engine must be serviced if you want it to last and give you peace. In the same way, your heart or your thinking pattern must be serviced for you to handle issues of life successfully.

May your heart be filled with the wisdom of God in Jesus name.

Prayer for today:  Oh God help me so that my heart is right with you in Jesus name.

Faith is a force

“For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?” Mark 5:28-30

When you act on your belief you generate a force that makes things happen. This is the force of faith. This force can kill infirmities, poverty, failure and such. It can make fire to lose its power to burn and it can prevent lions from eating flesh. This force can bring about unusual unexplainable promotion and can also shut down your adversaries.

In our text this morning, a woman who had an infirmity for twelve years activated the force of faith to terminate the infirmity forever. She believed that Jesus had power to heal her. She proceeded to act on her faith by touching Jesus. The touch drew virtues out of Jesus. Jesus knew it, the woman knew it.  Let me ask you, if you are sure that God is with you, what will you do right now about your situation?

This force can also be generated by bold declaration.

 Jesus said in Mark 11:23, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

The force has capability to terminate any mountain harassing you if you activate it by speaking words that are filled with faith.

May your mountain move into the sea; may your troubles be terminated as you activate the force of faith in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: I speak to the Jericho wall standing between me and my breakthrough to come down in Jesus name.

Faith is a risk

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17

“(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” 2 Corinthians 5:7

Faith is a risk that must be taken to enjoy supernatural life. Faith is a risk that is based on a substance.  The substance is either the word of God or His promises. If you take it, you live; but if you reject it, it leads to death (stagnancy, wasted years, open doors for the devil).  Faith is a risk that if taken gives you victory over fear. Faith is a risk that if taken proves that you believed God. Faith is a risk that if taken makes satan to fear you.

“But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Mathew 14:27-29

Peter stepped on water. Why? Because Jesus said so. Jesus said to him, “come.” So he climbed out of the ship and did the humanly impossible, walking on water to meet Jesus. Faith is a risk that must be taken if you want to walk on the water of sickness, debt, poverty, limitations and such. If God tells you to give the last money in your hand, what will you do? If God tells you to leave where you are and go to another place, what will you do? If God gives you an assignment that is more than your physical capability, what will you do? Beloved, if you really want to see increase, growth and promotion in any area of your life, faith is a risk that must be taken.

May you hear God and obey in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Oh God give me the grace to hear you and to obey for my supernatural lifting in Jesus name.

The necessity of praying through

“And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.” 2 Kings 13:18-19

Pray through on your visions, goals and your destiny. Some people pray, see little miracle and then stop praying. Sometimes praying is like digging a well. The first contact with water is dirty water and colored water but it is still water. If you dig further, you will get to the aquifer where the water is clean and pure.

Praying can also be like hitting a wall with an hammer. The first strike may not show but the wall is wounded within. You may have to strike for about hundred times before the wall collapses. The wall starts collapsing with the first strike but if you stop at the ninety-ninth strike you may not see the breakthrough. The King in our text missed the total breakthrough because he stopped after three times.

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” Luke 18:1

“And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Genesis 32:26-28

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24

Receive grace to pray through in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Holy Spirit help me to pray as I ought, intercede for me with groanings that cannot be uttered in Jesus name.

The necessity of taking godly risk

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” 1 Samuel 17:34-36

Be prepared to take actions because you believed God. Be prepared to take risks be because you heard God and you are willing to obey Him at all cost. The future belongs to godly risk takers. Enlarge your capability to receive God’s miracle by taking risk based on your faith in God. Be prepared to leave your comfort zone because you believed God and you are willing to be carried by Him alone in order to experience supernatural increase and enlargement. If you are not willing to do what has not been done before you are not qualified to experience the miracles and breakthroughs that have not been experienced before.

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,” Hebrews 11:17

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”” Esther 4:16

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”” Daniel 3:16-18

You want to be blessed beyond your imagination, you want protocols to be broken and be promoted supernaturally, then be prepared to take godly risks. It is more risky not to take risk. This is because if you are not taking godly risks, you are sacrificing your future for the present.

Prayer for today: Speak to me Oh God and I will obey at all cost in Jesus name.

The necessity of focus

“And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.” 1 Kings 20: 39-40

Your goals need all your energy, don’t break your focus. When focus is broken, chances of success are reduced and in some cases may be totally lost. Beloved, don’t be busy here and there, focus on your assignment and God will bless you with success.

In innovation, concentration (focus) brings illumination. When you focus, you will be able to see all that is needed to see and consequently be able to do all that is needed to do. Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Focusing all your energy on one major important assignment you have identified, will give you breakthrough. The servant in our text today was given an assignment to keep a man during a battle. He was told that if the man should escape, he would pay a fine or worst, with his life. But the bible says, as the man was busy here and there, his target escaped. He lost because of broken focus.

Beloved, deal with distractions and your success is guaranteed.

Prayer for today: Oh God help me to focus on my assignment (s) this year, deliver me from any form of distraction in Jesus name.

The necessity of continuous learning

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:” Proverbs 1:5

Be current, be relevant in your field if you don’t want to be left behind. I don’t care about when your formal school education stops but you must continue to lean and unlearn to stay in the game of life. Ignorance is the strongest enemy of life. An ignorant person will be stagnant, prone to frustration, pay more and can be easily subdued. Inadequate knowledge in any field or business is one of the reasons for failure.

“The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.” Eccl 10:15.

“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Provers 23:23

No price is too much to pay in order to gain knowledge and kill ignorance. The cost of being ignorant is always higher than the cost of acquiring knowledge. Fortunately, we are in the information age, there is hardly anything you cannot learn on the internet. Documentaries abound to make you better in your field and also for you to contribute. Your choice of friends can also determine whether you will remain ignorant or you will gain knowledge. There is someone there who knows what you don’t know, if you follow him, you will gain knowledge.

Be aggressive in learning, your future depends on it.

Prayer for today: Oh God give me passion for knowledge in all areas of life in Jesus name.