Have you ever wondered why King Saul was rejected and King David was accepted?

King Saul who was then the King of Israel was given specific instructions in First Samuel 13: 8 – 14 to wait for Samuel to come and offer the burnt offerings which out of fear he felt he needs to do it, after all, is he not capable of offering the burnt offerings and God is the God of all flesh. Be careful not to overstep your boundaries. And in First Samuel 15: 1 – 23 to go and annihilate the whole of the Amalekites nation by the Lord. But Saul decided to act the way he see fit-out of sentiments. Be careful the way you carry out God’s instructions – your lack of plan, order, or direction on what you have been told to do leads to serious consequences. The same army whom he (Saul) trusted in later abandoned him after being rejected by God years later (Second Chronicles 12). I want to say this that family or friend of yours or position that you are trusting because of your love for them will jump ship the moment the consequences of your disobedience begins to spill out. The only thing in your mind of which you may never say at that time but later is, “Had I known I would have done what I was told by the Spirit of God”.

I pray that we repent of these so-called little sins and disobedience that frustrates and hinders our growth there by causing us to keep questioning God in areas we know that He has already answered us in Jesus name….Amen!!!!

If there’s anything Christians need in this end time is godly wisdom and understanding. There are so many things clamouring for our attention but how can we prioritise and then remove the ones that look good yet are not necessary for our us (purpose)? The answer is godly wisdom. Beloved, I want you to be sure that you must be ready to walk on the lonely path where few walk, having boldness and courage as your greatest weapon because you would be seen as someone who must have lost their minds. Remember that as a child of God you have faith already so we are not discussing faith here but be sure that you can’t come to this point without having faith. Godly wisdom is when God is reaching out to you using dreams, His servants or your fellow brothers and sisters, situations, burden or nudge, and the Scriptures to guide you in life. When we ignore or reject God’s direction we pay dearly for it. This is why some end up being overwhelmed by the same situation that they have received instructions but because it does not fall in line with what they want to hear or do they go about looking for solution other places. 

My question is what do you expect when you choose to stubbornly go on your way instead of that of the Lord your God – Distress, discomfort, anxiety, depression, you keep sinking in unproductive thinking. Our Father in heaven is a loving Father and desires all His children to live in peace, without fear or dread of evil circumstances. No matter how far you’ve gone on the wrong path and you are still alive reading this please make a U-turn and go back and start all over on the right path asking God for His mercies and the grace to follow willingly.

Prayer: O Lord help me always to accept Your divine guidance even when I see no reason or am pressured into doing other things. May I be obedient always and continue to be an expression of Your love in Jesus name…..Amen!!!

There are so many things that can hinder our prayers such as a husband not treating his wife (1 Peter 3:7), leaders disrespecting their office by dishonouring genuine men of God (Numbers 16), not giving our best to God (Genesis 4: 3 – 5), etc. We shall look into some so as to avoid the pitfalls as we journey in our Christian faith. 

Unconfessed Sins – Psalm 66:18: As a child of God when we refuse to confess our sins it haunts us continuously and separates us from God. Unconfessed sins is like a brick wall that we build around us that stops us from accessing God. If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then let us confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John 1:9). 

Lack of Faith – Mark 6: 1 – 6: Unbelief strangles our hope in getting anything from God. A person with divided loyalty (lack of faith) is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do (James 1: 5 – 7). As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Doubt is a lack of confidence or assurance that God will keep His promises. Faith is active confidence that God’s promises are always true.

Unforgiveness – Matthew 6: 14 – 15: We find it difficult to forgive those we love or those who are very close to us. To err is human, to forgive is divine. We should beer in mind that unforgiveness eats up the soul just like the way cancer eats up the body. The story in Matthew 18 : 23 – 35 illustrates what happens when we chose not to forgive. Whenever the thought of not forgiving a person comes remember that unforgiveness is like choosing to stay trapped in a jail cell of bitterness, serving time for someone else’s crime.

Many of us have allowed pride, stubbornness to keep our prayers hindered and have made some of us stunted in spiritual growth all because we chose to be living a life of secret sin such as seen above. 

Prayer: Father help us to repent of our egos and stubbornness that causes us to refuse to forgive and to still want to have our way instead of yours each time Your word comes to us. Empower us O Lord to submit to Your word so we can make a true confession that brings forgiveness and deliverance from You in Jesus name…Amen!!!

I am writing this to every child God, wherever you are now. Life is not about trial and error. We are not created to direct ourselves in life because we lack the capacity that’s why we need divine direction. It becomes necessary to seek divine direction from the Holy Spirit who is our Helper for He knows all things and can do all things (John 14:26). For us to live right, operate well, be profitable and be free from the trap of the wicked here on earth we need divine direction. Many become victims in the journey of faith because they refuse to seek divine direction from God or because they simply rejected it. 

Our Lord Jesus is perfect in knowledge and infinite in understanding (Isaiah 11:2). He knows problems that will come out next 10 years and how to proper solutions. The global pandemic ravaging the world today has shown that humans are limited and the need to put their trust and depend on godly wisdom is imperative. It is an exclusive privilege for every child of God to enjoy divine direction. It is so sad to see those who are God’s own special possession suffering out of ignorance. In life there are times and seasons, and the key to success is not just to have believe in God alone, you must learn to walk with Him in His own time and His paths. Choosing our time to obey and paths to follow will not only put us in harm’s way, but it will also stagnate our spiritual growth and eventually end in getting frustrated. 

For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who are living according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose] – Romans 8:5. 

As sons and daughters of God, we have no right in Christian service to be guided by our interests and desires. This is one of the greatest tests of our relationships with with the Holy Spirit. Our every day, ordinary life – sleeping, eating, relationships, going to work and every other thing we do in life needs to be placed before God. The same attitude Jesus had even though He was God, never held onto the advantages of His divine status. He was guided by the Spirit, we are to do the same by holding not to our choices and rights.

We don’t throw our lives away, rather we willingly and deliberately lay it down just as Jesus did (Philippians 2: 6 – 7) for the Father’s interests and His interests in other people. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, but if we are surrendered to God, we have no goals of our own to serve (Romans 8:28). Sometimes we tend to be devoted, not to our Lord Jesus, but to the things which allow us to look spiritual and have more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Christ (2 Timothy 3: 4 – 5). To say we are of God’s kingdom and still think, act and devote ourselves to the things of this world will never help us grow spiritually. When we copy the behaviour and customs of this world we corrupt ourselves (the pure teachings of the gospel we have received) and thereby bearing sinful fruit as seen in Galatians 5: 19 – 21. This is why we have so many today who are more religious (half baked Christian) than spiritual (born again). There is no way we can claim to know God and understand His ways when we refuse to set our minds on the right things of life which are eternal.

The effectiveness of a pastor has to do with his character. This is a basic requirement. Stability in character is of utmost importance and cannot be neglected before God and man. Some people are solid and unshakable before the Lord while some are loose and unstable in all they do. Their loyalty is divided and their environment and situations determine their character flow. This should not be so as a pastor. These men have no conviction in anything and they are unreliable. 

In Matthew 16:18 it says, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”  

Peter whom the Lord made this statement to was then an unstable person but you see God always addresses us not with our present situation instead of whom we shall become. When that statement came from Jesus, He was also addressing the church at the time. Meaning no matter the troubles, persecution and trials, the church will keep on marching forward. The church is built on a foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. This implies that a pastor who refuses to trust in God’s Word and His promises will keep on swaying back and forth. They cannot be able to discharge their duties appropriately because if and when they encounter a challenge they can easily give up and just the way Peter returned back to his fishing business (John 21:3), so will the man start looking for alternatives where he is not supposed to do so. 

What man can’t do God’s grace works it out. Just as in Peter who was seen as a wavering person he now became a fearless man, bold and solid, who could stand to speak and challenge the elders and people who gathered to question their authority of speaking in different languages (Acts 2: 14 – 41). That same day three thousand people were added to the church. The power within us is great and we should stop allowing ourselves to be governed by our emotions, afraid of loss (seeking in our own happiness alone and afraid to suffer because of our faith), and being afraid of men. A man’s emotions are unstable and this is why many today have been rejected by the Lord. I pray and ask that we come out from being pastors who are being driven by emotions to pastors driven by faith. By faith the men of old earned good reputation, divinely approved and commended (Hebrews 11:2). Allowing your emotions to lead you will cause you to wreck God’s work and your service to men. Such pastors are always doing things on the impulse (spur of the moment). But walking in faith builds your character and makes it effective and relevant as you keep your steps in line with the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom is knowing what to do and doing it at the right time to obtain the right results. It is also the correct application of knowledge. The proof of wisdom is results. It is a practical application of God’s word in life (Matthew 7:24).  Wisdom is to be desired more than anything in life. Wisdom will give you good things and help you succeed in life (Proverbs 3: 13 – 18; Ecclesiastes 10: 10). Divine direction is following God’s path to get to a specific direction. Divine direction makes life worth living. Being led by God to get to your desired place. Life can be joyful and worth living when divine direction is applied. To get to heaven you also need divine direction from God. When you reject divine direction and leave the way you want you fail the way you don’t expect. Life is too precious to live by guess work, struggles and stress. In Psalm 32:8, God will instruct us in the way we should go so as to prosper and for it go well with us. If you allow God to direct you, you’ll enjoy the best of life (Isaiah 48:17).

Why Do we need to Seek Divine Direction?

1) It’s our birth right to be led by God in all direction of life. It’s an exclusive privilege for every child of God to enjoy divine direction (Romans 8:14; John 10: 3,4 & 27).  

2) We are not created to direct ourselves in life because we lack the capacity to direct ourselves (Jeremiah 10:23). God knows the end from the beginning. 

3) God is perfect in knowledge and Infinite in Understanding (Psalm 147:5). We are humans and we are limited in our understanding. No matter how skillful you may be in your area of discipline you don’t know everything. The global pandemic has proven to the world that man is limited. God knows and sees what we can not see and He knows the problem that will emerge in the next 10yrs. He knows how to give solutions. So allowing Him to give us the idea for business, we shall profit more than ever. It is better and safer to seek for God’s divine direction (Job 36:4). God knows all things..Ominpresent, Ominscience, Ominpotent.  

4) To Operate Safely on Earth because the world is full of wickedness (Psalm 74:20; 1 John 5:19). A woman was under a building and a voice said to her move away from this building and she moved and right after that the building collapsed.  We escape the wickedness in the world as we obey divine direction. 

5) In order to live right, profitable and well free from trap of destruction. In life it is not every open door is genuine, some are traps in disguise. Some persons have travelled as doctors to other nations to become cleaners. Never go to where God does not send you. It is only those He leads that ends us as leaders.  

6) For God to go ahead and clear all Obstacles (Isaiah 45:2). When God leads He goes before you. 

Beloved to enjoy divine direction you must be born again (John 1:12; John 10:27). God must be your shepherd before you as the sheep can hear His voice. The moment you accept Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour. You must recognise the Holy Spirit as your Guide and develop intimacy with Him (John 16:13; Proverbs 3: 5 – 6). You must be ready to go where He sends you (Psalm 25:9). God knows us all and knows what is best for us all. You must reverence God (Psalm 25:12). Ther fear of God is hatred of evil and reverence of His word. God Word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our paths. Stay tuned to God’s word (Joshua 1:8), and ask the Holy Spirit the grace to yield every day to His leading and be sure to live peacefully and finishing your work here well.

Excerpts from Pst David Ibiyeomie’s message

Life looks easy when you are under a covering. I would say it’s good because when you are under a covering let’s say under a multinational corporation that pays well and takes care of all medical, insurance, and travel expenses, etc. If care is not taken you begin to take it for granted. The feeling – “I can do it better on my own” starts if I you move to start a branch of your own without proper knowledge of the company’s blueprint on how to build, manage and grow their business as well as your clients. 

1) Placing  Demand on Things You are not Prepared For:-  It is an error for a man to have millions when he can’t manage thousands. The prodigal son was verbally ready but not mentally prepared. We live in a world were majority love the public image. Evil is being promoted as something good and acceptable while the media sells it daily and make it look good and true. Many will follow these evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers and the way media propagates it, the way of truth will be slandered (2 Peter 2:2). Before you make request ask yourself if you are capable to handle such a position or thing placed in your care.  

2) That which You are Prepared for You Don’t Struggle for:-  Sometimes we long and pray for things, and it seems it’s not coming forth. Check and see if you are really prepared for it or you are seeking for such a thing just to impress others (James 4: 1 – 4).  As Christians, we must not be the want conscious Christians rather the God-driven. No matter how much you love your child you will not give him or her your car keys to drive the car until he or she comes of age and “knows” how to drive (Galatians 4:1).  

3) To Live Life Without a Guide:- A Christian who believes he knows it all and doesn’t need the help of man or the teachings of men that God sends his way is bound to be limited and may end up in self-destruct (Proverbs 19:27). We all need a covering and most especially the covering of God. As Christians we should obey our parents and spiritual parents because we belong to the Lord, for this is the right and honourable thing to do. If we honour them, “things will go well for us, and we will enjoy long and fruitful life  (Proverbs 27:8).  

4) There’s no Completion without God:- No matter what we have or have been entrusted in our care, be sure you can lose it. I want to correct a notion that as Christians you can’t lose anything given to you…..this is a lie. We are still in the world and not in heaven, so we should be aware that as long as we are here you may lose our businesses due spiritual attacks or to natural disaster or the mistakes of others (Job 1: 13 – 19). If we trust in our abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us accountable every time we refuse to submit, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us. 

As children of God, let us keep our eyes on Jesus, stay on course, and not allow the good things of this life make us stray away from the right path. 
Prayer: May the Lord grant us the grace not to depart from the truth and never to stray away from the covering God has placed upon us for His glory in Jesus name…Amen!!

Excerpts: AJS Message

The Word of God does not come to make us high, entice or to make us just feel good.  God does not waste words, neither does He speak for the sake of speaking because He has something to say. So when we hear a specific instruction from the Lord on a particular matter, our response should be like that of Abraham in Genesis 22: 1 – 3.  When we choose to deliberately disobey God’s specific instructions or commands, we open the door for the enemy to strike us (Ecclesiastes 10:8b).  To be a child of God means living the life of Christ and submitting our will to God’s will.  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh by God to warn them of the danger coming because of their sin. But Jonah chose to do the opposite by disobeying God.  

My worry here is that some of us have become too familiar with God ; His mercies and miracle of healing and restoration the way Jonah did, and we fall into disobedience by our way of response to God’s Words and instructions. God “may” have revealed to Jonah that if these people repent He will forgive them and not bring the disaster again (Ezekiel 18:23), so what’s the need of going there.  I believe this is the same position some of us come to and we choose not to go because it looks like a waste of time. Beloved God does not waste words, and to every assignment He is sending us. It’s a privilege and an honour that you and I have been chosen. It is not to be taken lightly. Any matter brought to us by God is weighty no matter how insignificant we may think of it.  To every obedience not only is there a blessing, it is also for us to lead others back to Him at that point or in the future. We are letters from Christ read by others, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 

Prayer: O Lord help us not to become complacent when Your word comes and may we not become to acquainted with thy Voice that we take Your instructions for granted and become disobedient in Jesus name….Amen!!!

There are diverse kinds of assumptions. Some people assume to be students until it comes to the time of exams or paying their school fees. Some think they are ready for marriage until they get married they now know they are not ready. Some pray for a better job until they are into such a position then the job will teach them to be humble because they are not prepared. There’s one assumption that cannot be rectified, and that is when you assume you are heading to heaven until you see yourself in hell. And there’s no need for Christ as long as you do good you will go to heaven until you find yourself in hell – that cannot be rectified. Some Christians who started with God are no longer walking with God (1 Corinthians10:12).  

In Luke 2: 42 – 47 we see how Jesus’ parents assumed that He was with relations during their trip back home. Nothing changed until they reached home…lo and behold He was nowhere to be found. Many have lost good relationships that would’ve lifted them but because of what they think of the person(s) which may not be true have refused to accept them into their lives (Luke 10:16). God most times gives us long room to repent but most of us keep taking God’s mercies for granted until His patience runs out.  Beloved let us not become nonchalant about life, careless in the way we live, take things for granted, become distracted by the material things of this world. Don’t allow fame or riches make you arrogant, unrepentant, unteachable, and foolish in your decision making most especially when it comes to eternal view. We should be mindful of what we do and how we do things in these end times so that we don’t cry had I known (Luke 16: 19 – 31). 

O Lord help us to value your presence, take your Word as the standard guide for living, and refuse to play with sin in any form. May we honour You O Lord and consistently walk with You all the rest of our days here on earth in Jesus name…..Amen!!!