The Lion in You Must Roar!

Lions are known for their courage and strength. They are commonly used as symbols for royalty and stateliness, hence the phrase 'king of the jungle'. Fortunately, among the many names that the King of all kings likes to be called is being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  The King of the universe has many names depending on the characteristic or the purpose He likes to emphasize or express. Prince of Peace for example shows the part of Him that denotes peace. Meaning his reign and presence is that of peace; He is the King that gives peace.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is a powerful name. It is a name that denotes the supremacy of His power in this present world. It is a name that shows the existence of dominion in the realm of powers and principalities. It is a name for wonders and miracles.

And we know that lion exercise territoriality. Lions are animals that advertise ownership in many forms through scent markings with urine, faeces and roaring. If we digest further this name; the Lion of The Tribe of Judah, we can quickly find it in two parts;

The Lion which of course denotes strength and dominion and

The Tribe of Judah which denotes ‘the redeemed of God’, ‘the believers’, ‘the sanctified.’

Ipso facto, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah implies the powerful God that exercise ownership (dominion, protection, victory etc) for His children, the redeemed. Rev. 5: 5 that introduced this name said the Lion of the Tribe of Judah…… has Prevailed…. This name is a symbol of war and victory. My prayer for you is that that victory will be yours as you call on this name in Jesus name.

He is not far away like most of us believe. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is within everyone that has surrendered his/her life to Him. Gen. 2: 7 says He gave a part of himself into us and we became alive. Therefore, we all have a living Lion in us.

However, one of the ways in which lion exercise dominion is by roaring. The lion in you must roar!

For a lion to roar very well it must be strong; it must be well fed with the right food.  Many of us feed the lion in us with fear, anxiety, former experiences of yesterday and all kind of bad news.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Your lion must roar and this can work very well when you feed your mind with the right word! Search the scripture on daily basis, feed your lion and call on the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, your case will not defile solution in Jesus name.

Have you fed your lion today? What bible passage/verse did you study?

Sam. O. Coker

How sharp is your signal?

In those days, most houses used externally hung antennae for their television sets. Even though antennae are still being used today, it is much easier to use with improved technology; some of these come with a remote control where directions can be changed to boost signals at the comfort of the living room, others only need one adjustment during installation and the signal remains strong except for bad weather or a deliberate shift in signal positions.

Just like how the quality of TV broadcast depends on the strength of the signal it receives, so also do we humans totally depend on information. As the saying goes, knowledge which is factual information is power. Excellence in simple language is having the right information plus the capacity to act plus acting if coined into an equation.

Excellence = Right Information +Capacity to Act +Action

Without accurate information, decision making becomes a tedious and an energy-sapping task. Daily we are faced with choices; who to marry, what career to undertake, where to stay, what business to do, when to invest and many more that has given some the opportunity to create another business- a fortune telling business.

It is not a bad idea to consult others, however, in consulting others, many have incurred more problems and many have made mistakes with serious consequences. Husbands have been named the downfall of their wives, parents have become witches and wizards over night and medical issues seem to make more sense with spiritual sources. Imagine that a prophet after praying for a youth told him he has seen that he has two girl friends presently (light and dark complexion) and he should be careful of the dark one because he can lead to unwanted pregnancy but he can continue with the light one, it will not result to any complications. The prophet turned himself to such a human contraceptive.

It is worse because some of us, the so called believers are patronizing fake prophets (including prophets with signals from Satan). Rather than fast and pray for direction, we would rather check it out with “baba ye mi wo” (Herbalist). When the Spirit of Truth is to guide us into all truth both present and future according to John 16:13.

How sharp is your signal? Do you receive from God or you have refused to develop yourself to that level. Sometimes, our signals can be so poor that we cannot even differentiate these fake and real prophets and this make us prone to heresies, lies and deceits.

Every child of God is entitled to hear from the Holy Spirit. It may take some time, but it is your heritage in the lord. Spend quality time with the Holy Spirit, and your day will be settled. Remember there is a spirit (breath) in man, the inspiration (Holy Spirit) of the Almighty gives him understanding (Job 32:8). The secret things belong to God; those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever! Revelation is also your heritage!

HOW BIG IS IT? HOW SPECIAL IS YOUR REQUEST?

Do you that over 100 billion neurons of the brain form the main control center of the body only? Do you that no one knows for sure how many animal species exist on earth? Though, in 2011, scientist indicated that there were about 8.7 million known species of animals on earth while some 10 thousands species are discovered every year. Do you know that the world population currently stands at 7.3 billion?

All things bright and wonderful, all creatures great and small, the lord God made them all in their great numbers! He single handedly destroyed a legion of army without raising a sword. He was the one who replaced eye balls without any surgical instrument. He decided to raise multitude of soldiers from dry dead bones. He even decided to make a sea divided in order to make a path in it.  

Do you know that thousands call on him per second all over the world and He still hears them all? Do you know that it took him just 6 days to have in existence the water, the land mass, the air, the elements, the animals and even man?

Is there any limitation to what this mysterious God can do? He has done so much that He got names for each line of wonders (Jehovah Nissi…Victorious God, Jireh…Provider God etc.). Is there anything impossible for God to do?  

In 2010, according to Pew report, about 2.2 billion were Christians. Amazedly, if all call on the names of God at the same time, He can choose to hear them all! Little wonder the Yorubas call him abeti lukara bi ajere (God with multitude of ears over His body).

Though there is no searching of His understanding, but some things are known about God, He honours His words. Which means that if He says, He will do! He is trustworthy. Are you expectant to receive from Him? Your expectations will not be cut short. Do you have a court case and it seemed you are cheated already? He will turn the situation around to favour you. No disease can disobey His words. For His words are angels if only you will speak to the situation.

How big is your problem, I bet it cannot be bigger than His word! Your situation is just another example of the solved cases that waited on God. The world awaits your testimony and you will testify. Amen!

Election Goodie Chain

It is hard not to talk about it these days. Election stories is probably the most interesting stories and news you hear these days; on the electronic media (radio & TV), social media, tabloids, you get to hear propaganda, promises, advertisement, debate, campaigns and a whole lot about INEC.

Here in Oyo state, there is nothing more interesting to the younger minds than the political arena. Not even football nor internet business nor how to make money as everything is tied to who get that position or occupy that space. The fact of the matter is that almost everything is in a state of inactivity; contracts are neglected waiting for who to occupy that position, employment opportunities are waiting, school admission are waiting, even some private business owners have put a stop to transactions, either because they travelled only waiting until after election or for some other reasons.

Parties or no parties, we have roles to play in this election (or electioneering process) one way or the other. May be you are not the Mike Tyson with a cutlass or gun who can steal the pollen unit, or fight passionately for your candidate, may be you are not that controversial pastor, who can declare vehemently his/her support for a candidate, may be you are even the partisan type, who only follows the party’s activity gently without causing any problem to the opposition or you are the type who love writing and therefore not afraid of expressing your opinion on the social media for others to gain and learn or you are one of such people who have considered yourself too old to be part of this election. To cut the story short, one way or the other, we have been influenced by our decision about this election.

These are some facts, now the truth. If your candidate wins, he will consider himself first! His immediate family second or his godfather before considering his extended family, his friend, well wishers and his party members before considering the nation; the largest proportion of the people who voted him/her into power.

What is your exact position in the goody chain? Change or no change, if you are not the one contesting, then the closest you can get in the goody chain is to be an immediate family member or an important godfather without whom the election would not have been successful and therefore must have had a covenant with the election candidate of his choice before the election on the list of benefits that will be accrued to you! Yeah, you will benefit greatly, it will pay you better than others.

However, is that the best you can get? One need to weigh out the risk /reward ratio (RRR), what percent of one’s effort or resources is needed to get to get a certain profit? Does the reward worth the risk? If I hack down this opposition candidate with my cutlass, does it worth the risk?

We are all risking something taking that action or inaction as the case may be. Am not sure how profitable this election is to you but am certain of this fact. There is no better transaction than this; that a man would lay his life for his friends, for we stand to gain 100% with miniature efforts.  Election would come and go, peace would come and go, wars will come and go and even the earth would pass away but we would all give account of that spirit, that breath of life because it was freely given to us.

On that day, when it is your turn to be weighed, when there is no longer any opportunity to be preached to, when you can no longer give a valid excuse, what will your scale weighs? Zero Kg or 100%? Somebody paid the price bro., why not take advantage of this, you have little to lose other than that pride, those old friends, that fleeting pleasure and that habit. There is no better time to take that action than now. Accept Jesus as your lord and personal savior! Take advantage of the 99.9% RRR. Choose life and live!

Timing- The Case Study of The Widow in The City of Nain

I had a dream, but before I share with you the dream I had, let me ask you this question. Do you know how difficult it is for a woman to lose any of her children? Do you know how difficult it is for a woman to lose her only son? Do you know how difficult it is  for a widow to lose her only child- to be without any one to comfort her?

The Lord is always on time but man may be delayed! The widow in the city of Nain could have been delayed. According to the story in the book of Luke 7:11 & 12, exactly when Jesus was near the city gate that he saw a dead young man- the only son of his mother who was a widow and Jesus had compassion on her and raised this man from death and gave him life once again.

This widow could have been delayed by weeping at home, causing God at home, busy on how to commit suicide, busy pointing accusing fingers to family members and human enemies. She could be busy expecting compassion from men. If she had been a second late to the city gate, what do you think could have happened?

You are right! She could have missed her chances; she would lose her only chance forever. Joy could never have been restored to her for she was a widow. The most important, the most essential ingredient to her, the restoration of her joy was the right timing; she met the lord right there at the city gate before Jesus could passed her by. A little delay could be dangerous. Delay may be caused by the person who needs a miracle or by another person who is being used to cause one to miss his/her blessing.

In my dream, I saw how a man was given a special assignment in the church. After many complains about his current predicament of not having a gainful employment, the Holy Spirit convinced him to accept the special assignment to lead a group of people. On the day that he would be announced to be the new leader of the group and carry out his first role, he prepared to go to the venue of the occasion, on his way, rather than go straight, he branched a company where he had submitted his application letter for some time despite the Spirit warning not to branch. When he got there, he realized the position he applied for had been filled by another person who happened to be his friend because they did not see his phone number on his file when they wanted to call him. He was so furious that he started serious argument with his friend who was an intern in that firm and could have gave out his number before they decide to put her in the same position. The argument took some time and despite the Spirit warnings, he persisted and wasted so much time in hat place.

After he finally realized he was late, he set out for the venue, when he got there; he realized there was another group of people in the same venue already rejoicing with their leader. While he was asking questions about his own group, where they should be having their meeting, he could not get attention as many had surrounded the leader of the group checking out a letter. By the time he got closer, it was an appointment letter. A well coveted position in a well known company. When he asked what happened, and he was told how a man walked in and said he was directed by God to give this letter to the leader of a particular group he would meet here, immediately he knew the letter was met for him.

Unlike the widow of Nain, he allowed little delays to prevent him from his blessing. It is not the bigger things that prevent us from the presence of God; lateness to services sometimes is like not coming at all. Many children of God will target only praise and worship session of their fellowship with God when their miracle is within the Sunday school services. Sometimes, we focus so much on short term blessings; blessings that we can see rather than the long term ones. God’s plan for us is to give us long and permanent blessings. Let us all change for a better future, let us know that God should not be waiting for us, rather, we should wait for Him. He that has ears let him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the churches!

Who is on the hot seat here?

When a masquerade dances well, its guide is happy. A man told his son who had just succeeded in securing an admission into the university to ask whatever he wants and he will do it for him. After the first day, his son is yet to come up with a request, the 2nd day passed, yet, there was no request from the son. On the 3rd day, the man called his son, son, why have you not asked a thing? This is the 3rd day, are you still thinking about what to request? His son answered in a timid voice, how could I asked, when I know you have just lost your job! His father looked at him straight in the eye and asked in a harsh tone: Who is on the hot seat here? Who need to fulfill his promise? Who made the promise? He told his son, point of correction, I didn’t lose my job, I quitted starting my own company because I got a contract enough to sustain the company for the next 10 years.
This little story reminded me of what Jesus told his disciples. He said in John 16:24
“ Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” As compared to the abundance of what the Father has for His children, the disciples did not ask. Are the present disciples of the lord Jesus asking better than the former?
God made a lot of promises, He is the one on the hot seat; He is the one responsible to bring every promise to pass, but like that man who made a promise to his son, our God is more than capable. But most of the promises He made to us seems not to be available, or are they? If they are, every true disciples of Jesus; every bona fide child of God should enjoy the abundance of resources

How Important Are You?

It is good to be important before men, and especially before God. It is good to be singled out among men who called upon God on a daily basis. Everybody wants to be eligible to receive, but not all are willing to do that which is required. Everybody wants to be privileged, but not all want to do what it takes to be privileged.

What exactly makes a man important before God?

How important is your God to you? Is God a Nokia 3310 that can fall anytime and you pick it up or an iphone 6 that you are so careful with? How important? Because the more the importance you apportion to God, the more the importance God apportion to you. Therefore, the blessing of a man is determined by the importance of God in His life. In the book of Genesis, it was written that Abraham saw those three men and ran from the tent door to meet them-a lesson we must all learn. Many of us in that position will not move an inch seeing those visitors in the heat of the day, many will walk majestically and few, very few will run! That same day, Sarah became a woman blessed with the ability to give birth.

Many of us break our fasting because we have visitors, many receive calls in the church, many ping in the presence of their God, and many chat on social sites while they are in the fellowship before God. If you honour Him, you should not pick your calls when having a quiet moment with your God. How important is your God to you?

It is not just our righteousness that put us in favour with God but God’s goodness and mercy; His generosity towards mankind. How can we then make God exceedingly willing to bless us? I realized recently that one of such ways is how you love and reference him. responses to questions like chief, how did you make it? Aha it is the lord’s doing before adding your other activities moves God more! David understood this secret when he wrote the song in Ps 16: 5,6 that God is the portion of our inheritance, and that God maintains our lot.

As we reference God more in lives, may His blessings continue to rain on us in Jesus name.