'TOB'

Okay, GOD wants me to talk to you about Tob.

Yesterday, the sermon was taken out of Judges 11 and the preacher preached from just a few verses there. However, what caught my attention was just one verse in the entire scripture for the day.

Judges 11:3

“Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him”.

Now, at the time Jephthah fled from his brethren he was what one would call a ‘nobody’. In fact, his brothers chased him away from home because he was the son of a harlot! However, the ‘vain’ (worthless) men ‘went out with him’ when he got to Tob! Ironically, however, they that appeared and were considered worthless were able to identify worth. They identified Jephthah’s worth and followed him!

In life, many follow those who are already famous. However, when one follows you and believes in you when you are not yet successful, he or she recognizes the worth in you that remains hidden from the rest. You should be careful to keep him or her close to you on your journey to success.

The more I reflected on ‘Tob’ the more I realized that many of us fail to recognize value. We often look at one’s origin and shun him or her – we chase him or her away because of certain circumstances. However, today, I want you and me to ask GOD to open our eyes to the value in people. That value that no one else can see. This value is usually something that only the Spirit of GOD can reveal to us. This is exactly what happened when Peter said that JESUS was the Christ. It was not revealed to him by flesh and blood but by the Spirit of GOD.

Matthew 16:17-18

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

One day, I met a young woman that I would only meet occasionally and she said something that shocked me. She said, within the hearing of my sister, ‘but do people know what a good heart you have’? Now, this is something I have always known about myself but did not think that anyone else had noticed. You must remember that this particular woman and I rarely met and, when we did, we did not talk for long for her to notice something like that. Now, a few months back, a man who I had only met for the first time that day said the same thing to his girl. He told her not to ‘let go of me’ because I have a good heart. These people see things about people or about situations that no one else has told them...things that only GOD can reveal to one. It is also without a doubt that GOD revealed it to me!

Consequently, today, my prayer is that GOD reveals your worth to you so that you can glorify His name upon revelation as well as when He reveals it to someone else. It is my belief that GOD put that worth in you for a reason and that that reason is so that multitudes would be delivered and His name glorified!

I would like to encourage you that GOD has revealed your worth to someone else. However, the question is, ‘do you sometimes see the value in others despite their origins’? I must say that I have sometimes been guilty of not seeing the worth that is hidden from one’s physical possessions or acclaim. Therefore, my prayer is that GOD reveals your worth as well as that of others to me. I pray that He opens my eyes to things about strangers and strange situations that no one has ever told me before.

It is also important for us to be aware that one has to have a following. Everyone needs at least one person who sees his or her worth and follows him or her. This following is also that which GOD will use you to influence or to change multitudes for His glory. I am of the view that the lives of those ‘worthless’ men in Tob who recognized Jephthah’s worth did not remain the same, especially, after he became ruler in Gilead – their lives changed! In other words, every revelation has a prize attached to it. In fact, those who are blessed enough to recognize your worth will be beneficiary to the prize attached to it just as Peter was. You see, it was due to the revelation that JESUS was the Christ that JESUS said that upon Peter (‘this rock’) He would build His Church! It is true that I can never think of those two people who saw my hidden worth without praying for them. In fact, the man won my heart and I am quick to see his good side and to put in a good word about him to his future wife. I must also say that I will often drop whatever I am doing just so I can honor his invitations.

Therefore, I implore you to be one of the seemingly worthless men in Tob who followed Jephthah. I pray that your inner eyes and ears will see and hear what others do not see and that you will follow a future leader.

Prayer

Dear GOD, I ask you to reveal my worth to me so that I can glorify you for it.

Heavenly Father, I thank you and glorify your name because you have sometimes revealed my hidden worth to those with whom I rarely interact and who do not know me well enough. However, I admit that I have sometimes written off others as worthless. Please forgive me. Today, I ask you to reveal the hidden worth of all those you bring my way to me so that I can appreciate them more and align with them if I have to. I also ask you to give me the prize that is always attached to revelation of hidden worth. In JESUS’ name, I have prayed, amen.   

GOD BLESS YOU.

Hidden Victory

We wrongly assume that victory is like a blazing torch on a hill and that everyone, including the one holding it, can see it. However, this is not always the case. You see, we often engage in battles without knowing it and hence making the ensuing victories hidden from our sight. When we commit our ways to GOD, He uses us to do His will without our being keenly aware of it.

As usual, I started the day (yesterday) by asking GOD use me to do, say and hear His will other than mine. Yet, as the day progressed, I became increasingly disappointed that it went so fast and nothing seemed to go as I had planned it to. You see, even if I ministered to a couple of people and uploaded one poem that was in the queue to be released I did not edit or write a book or a poem. Oh, how the feeling of disappointment threatened to hold me in its tight embrace! I was so focused on this feeling that I did not consider that my main assignment of the day was the Muslim woman (‘GOD Answers Simple Prayers’) and that the poems that I sent her were my only important activity of the day. In fact, the implication of what I had done was hidden from me until much later!

As I sent her twelve of my poems that I had never sent her before, I prayed over them and asked GOD to use them to minister to her and to heal her. Nonetheless, since I am so used to saying such prayers and doing such things I did not stop to think of their outcome. Therefore, I was not alert to the sharp pain that pierced my left shoulder as I hoisted my laptop bag onto my left shoulder in preparation of returning home. An insect had entered my dress and begun its torment on my flesh! Recognizing it as an attack, yet not knowing the source, I immediately reached out for my spiritual weapons and prayed off the stings. Although, I still could not tell the source of or the reason for the attack, I realized that the day had been very productive. You see, Satan sometimes attacks me depending on the level of victory I have secured against him by the grace of GOD.

Now, interestingly but not surprisingly, I did not make the connection until a few minutes back! The Spirit of GOD reminded me of the Muslim woman. You see, in addition to the other things I prayed about, I prayed for her healing reminding GOD of His promise to heal all those with HIV/ AIDS. Most important of all, however, was the fact that I prayed for her salvation as well and asked GOD to use those poems to preach to her. Of course, it is hardly surprising that Satan was not be happy about that! Therefore, he attacked me but to no avail. As I sat here basking in that revelation of the victory that had been hidden from me until today, I thanked GOD for using me as His vessel.

It is, therefore, with this mindset that I encourage you to endeavor to keep in step with the Spirit of GOD. Commit all your senses and activities to Him and let His will be done through you every day. Secondly, I know you hold a ‘staff’ in your hands, ‘Moses’. Allow yourself to use the staff (your gift) to reach out to those who have not yet given their lives to Christ and lead them into the Promised Land. Use your staff to preach to them even as you commit their other needs to GOD.

Prayer

Dear GOD, I confess that I usually have a set plan on how my day should go yet you too have a plan for me. I know that your plan for me and for my days far outweighs all the plans I could ever have. Please forgive me. Today, I choose to lay down my plans and replace them with your divine plans for my life and for all my days. I commit all my past, present and future days and activities into your hands and ask you to use me to do your will. May I do, say, and hear all that you want me to do, say and hear. Open my eyes and ears, dear LORD, so that I can clearly see and hear your instructions concerning others and myself. Keep me so alert that I will know that I have accomplished your will for my life as I go along.

King of kings, I commit my ‘staff’ into your hands and ask you to use it to win souls for your kingdom. In JESUS’ name, I have prayed, amen.

GOD Answers Simple Prayers

It is unfortunate that we often wait to say some ‘complicated’ or long-winded prayers thinking that GOD will only hear us then. It is also sad that we wait to receive answers to our prayers after a long time yet GOD will often answer immediately! If we simplify our prayers, GOD will also simplify His response. In other words, when we speak to Him using simple methods He will also respond in kind using simple methods!

Yesterday, in order to inspire a Muslim woman who is paralyzed from the waist down and is now bed ridden I decided to send her another set (twelve) of my poems. However, the internet connection was very slow and just as I was about to lose my peace about it I said a ‘halfhearted’ prayer asking GOD to bridge the gap between the uploading circle. Okay, in case I confused you, what I refer to as the ‘uploading circle’ is that circle that appears on a file while you are uploading or downloading it. My apologies to the computer wizards for lack of proper jargon.

Now, I went ahead and took care of other things only to return and find that almost all of the poems had already been uploaded! You see, I had said a halfhearted prayer in a very uncomplicated way and then took my attention off the problem! I even thanked GOD for bridging the gap between the two ends of the circle before I saw any results!

Psalm 69:30-31

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”

Therefore, today, I want to encourage you to say what you would consider a simple prayer, take your eyes off your circumstance, thank GOD for answering your prayer, and then take care of other things. I also would like to encourage you that what you considered a halfhearted prayer was heard by GOD and your answer is you are about to receive your answer!

GOD BLESS YOU.   

Repentance and Forgiveness of Sin

This is a message that I came across a few minutes back. The Spirit of GOD gave it to me way back in January 2009. As soon as I read it, I knew that it applies to me and to you as well. Together, let us preach the real gospel.

The real message is repentance and forgiveness of sin. Many give messages talking only about the good but my message to you, when I was going back to my Father, was to preach about me and to preach about repentance and forgiveness of sin. No one is preaching it and yet you have to make the bride ready for me. I have to come back for a bride who is without blemish; holy and blameless. How is it going to happen if you are not preparing people? I am about to come back so please prepare my bride.

Luke 24:47

“Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. 

Prayer

Dear GOD, we confess that we have been focused on preaching about so many other things but repentance and forgiveness of sin. Please forgive us. We now return to the real gospel even as we ask you, Holy Spirit, to enable us to preach it well. In JESUS’ name, we have prayed, amen.

Out of ICU!

I will often ask the Trinity to precede me to my prayer closet – I ask Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to go ahead of me and, sometimes, the results are shocking!

When I got there, one of those times, I thanked GOD for waking me up and carrying me into His presence that night. Suddenly, I was reminded of the various times my family and I had spent outside the Intensive Care Unit when a family member hovered between life and death. I was then led to thank GOD that none of us was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the time but I did not stop there. I then interceded for those who were in that critical stage but also for the loved ones who could hardly sleep because of anxiety. I asked JESUS to make His rounds in the various ICU wards and heal them all as He had healed my father one time. I continued in this prayer line for a number of days and then moved on to something else. To be very honest with you, I did not think much of it seeing that I knew of no one who was critically ill. However, something happened to alert me to the fact that that prayer had indeed been led by the Spirit of GOD and that GOD had actually listened and acted.

As if by mistake, I was alerted to a facebook post about someone’s father who was in the ICU! Even if I prayed for him, I did not know, immediately, that GOD was communicating something. Just two days back, I met a certain woman who told me that her father in-law had been admitted to the ICU the previous week – it was during that season that I said that prayer. She also told me that he had been discharged out of the ICU and out of the hospital and that he was now recovering from the ailment. In addition to that, just yesterday, I met yet another woman who told me of an in-law who had been admitted to the ICU for about five days but had been discharged a few days back.

Of course, all these women stood in the gap and I cannot nullify their prayers but it simply amazed me that GOD led me to pray for people I do not know and will probably never meet. He then ensured that I hear the testimonies that resulted from this.

Therefore, today, I encourage you to ask GOD (in His fullness) to precede you to your prayer closet. Empty yourself and let Him pray through you, by His Spirit, and then wait to hear the testimonies.

Love you,

GOD BLESS YOU!