Welcome to 2015, the year of the Great Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

Finally, the year 2015 is here. And the good news is that you made 

it. Wow! Congratulations! But then we must remember to give 

thanks to the One who made it possible for us to make it. All

Glory be to God.

The year has been christened the year of the Great Shepherd. This is a year to enjoy the goodness of God like never before. It doesn’t matter what your experience has been, I believe very strongly that this year is going to be very different.

I want to share with you seven things that will happen in your life as you embrace the Lord as your great shepherd this year.

Firstly, lack is over in your life. The number one responsibility of the shepherd to his flock is nurturing and nourishing. So with full assurance, the Psalmist said: I shall not want! This is a year to enjoy. Psalm 34:10

Secondly, there shall be restoration. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul (Psa 23:2-3a). All the pressures of the previous years of your life are going to be over this year. God is going to lead you to a place of refreshing—where you will find peace and rest. The Great Shepherd will take you to a place of satisfaction and fulfillment.

Thirdly, you will enjoy a glorious walk with God this year. The Psalmist said: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (Psa 23:3b).This is a year to live holy and walk with God. Maybe you have been struggling with living a life that is holy and pleasing to God, as you surrender to the Great Shepherd, He will personally help you. Your relationship with God will go to another level this year.

Fourthly, the presence of God is going to be more real like never before in your life. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psa 23:4). And by virtue of His abiding presence, you will not have any reason to be afraid. His presence will silence all your enemies.

Fifthly, closely tied to the previous point is the fact that right in the presence of your adversaries, God is going to do you good. The Psalmist said: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies (Ps. 23:5). All your detractors will see you prosper and do well. All those who have written you off, who have vowed that it will never be well with you, the Lord is going to bless you right before their eyes.

Sixthly, this is a year you will overflow in anointing. This is a year you will experience the power of God. Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over (Ps. 23:5). This is a year to do exploit for God. This is a year God will confirm His word in your mouth with signs and wonders following.

And then finally, the Psalmist said: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psa 23:6). Your life will be full of testimonies this year. You will overflow in testimonies. Your cup will full and run over.

However, all these blessings is subject to one condition: provided you make the Lord your shepherd. When the Lord is your shepherd, all these blessings will follow and overtake you. The implications of this are many. Most of us only know the Lord as our Saviour or Healer or Deliverer. But in this year, you will need to know Him as your shepherd—your master, your boss, your controller, your director, your teacher, and your coach. These are all the roles a shepherd plays in the life of the flock. The moment you don’t comply, the rod and the staff come into operation. And that is not pleasant at all.

But the moment you fully surrender to Him, the Lord takes over the rest of your affairs. Your needs become His concern, your enemies become His. Everything that concerns your life becomes His problem.

My prayer is that this year, you will fully surrender to Him so as to enjoy His goodness like never before. The good news is that it is also the year of grace. So if you think it may be difficult and challenging, grace is available for you.

Have a glorious and beautiful year.

Prosperity made Easy

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4 

There is no doubt about it; all human beings have some desires. We all have some aspirations in life. There are some things we want to have, status we want to achieve, heights we want to reach, places we want to go and so on. Many flood prayer houses and mountains in the quest for these desires. In the verse of the scripture above, David offers us a simple way out to meet our desires. It is in just one word: Delight!

One thing you will discover is that no matter what you desire to be or have, it is even far below what God has prepared for you. Paul says eye has neither seen it nor ear heard it (1 Cor. 2:9). It is so big it will beat your imagination. It is incomprehensible. You can’t figure it out. The best of your thinking and imagination on the idea is not anywhere near what God has prepared for you. Paul tries to capture it with some adjectives in his letter to the Ephesian church: 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Eph 3:20

Exceeding! Abundantly! Above all! That is what God has prepared for you. Hallelujah! 

But then how do you make this a reality? This is where most believers get things upside down. Sensing this great plan of God, some begin to pursue “greatness.” Some begin to invest in prayer. Moving from one prayer gathering to another; from one mountain to another; seeking God and “bombarding” the gate of heaven. 

But friend, that is like putting the cart before the horse. God wants you to be great much more than you want it. In fact the Bible says he has pleasure in your prosperity (Job 36:11). He wishes above all things that you prosper and be in good health (3 John 2). God needs people to finance the Gospel. He needs people to build churches for Him. He needs people to sponsor missionaries. Like the General Overseer used to say, God is looking for divine treasurers. 

Delight in the Lord

Friend, the way out is not in running after those things. It is not in pursuing things. It is in delighting yourself in the Lord. A delight is something that makes you very happy; something that gives you great pleasure or satisfaction. When God becomes your delight, your pleasure, your satisfaction in life, then the Bible says He will give you all your desires. While other men are running here and there looking for what is not lost, look at what David said he would pursue: 

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4

When you have no other pursuit outside of God, when God becomes all you think about, all your want to please, all you want to live for, then you are in for something great in your life. 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col 3:1-2

Delight in His Word

But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42

According to the Master, only one thing is necessary; only one thing is needful; only one thing is important in life, and that is delighting in His word. When His word becomes your preoccupation; when your thought is centered on His word in meditation, you are in for a great ride in destiny.

David caps it all for the man that takes delight in the word of God.

… but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psa 1:2-3)

When the word of God becomes your number one priority in life, your life becomes evergreen. You will not know what is called dryness. You will be ever fruitful. No wonder that was the only condition God gave to Joshua when he took over from Moses (Joshua 1:8).

Ministry 101: Gleanings from Chapter One of Gbile Akanni’s “Tapping God’s Resources for Life and Ministry”

It is not everything that works that God approves. 

No matter how fruitful you are, if you are not faithful you are not successful. 2 Tim. 2:5

Ministry: 1 Cor. 3:5

 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. NIV

Note the word “assigned”—ministry has to do with an assignment. It is simply an assignment, a task that the Lord has given a person to do. Each one simply does the work which the Lord gives him to do.

1 Cor. 3:6-8

 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

In ministry, there are planters and there are waterers. The same God who assigned Paul to plant, also appointed Apollos to water what was planted.

Consider this: Is it possible for Apollos to fulfill his ministry if Paul has not planted? No. Suppose Paul said, “No, how can I plant and another person will come, water it and get the credit for it?”

Apart from planting and watering, another person is also appointed and assigned to reap. The man who reaps, comes home with many sheaves that he did not know how they were planted, watered and weeded. People may ignorantly rate him higher than the planter. If you do, you are offending God.

So ministry is not competitive, but rather cooperative and complementary. What one man is assigned to do may actually become the basic resource for another person to carry out his own portion of the work. It is only the ‘ground’ that was ‘planted’ that can be ‘watered.’

Ministry is not an independent, exclusive property of an individual, even if that individual has been used of God to start it. Some people’s ministry begins only where some ended theirs. This is the basic principle to understand in order to tap God’s resources for ministry.

God’s assessment of a man is not necessarily in terms of quantity of activities. It is how faithfully he does what he is told to do even if it is a routine without excitement.

Power vs. Presence

I was in a forum recently where the convener   talked so passionately about how we needed the power of God.

How the power of God can bring an end to all the challenges we are facing right now. How the demonstration of the power of God can bring the much needed crowd to our churches. How the power of God can terminate the lack we are presently facing, because when the crowd comes, money comes. About how Elijah demonstrated the power of God. How Jesus demonstrated the power of God. How Paul demonstrated the power of God. Oh, how we need to cry for the power. How the power will solve all our problems. And on and on he went. Oh! How much we need to fast and pray for the power of God, He finally concluded as he led us in prayer to cry out loud for the release of power.

As I sat there I was pondering over the lamentation. And I could not agree more with what he said. Truly, the crowd will come. Our churches will be filled. Our pockets also will be lined. We will become popular. In fact, we will become celebrities. There will be fame. And we will have lots of fun! And then what?

Will that not be the end of it all?

One day the Lord asked me whether I wanted a good life or a great life. I asked him for the difference. He said a good life is good. You will have everything; everything money can buy. You will be rich and prosperous. You will have fame. But a great life may not be that good. But you will have an inheritance, not only in heaven, but also in this world.

Truly Jesus demonstrated the power. And the crowd came. But how many of that crowd remained after his death? There is no doubt about it; power demonstration will bring the crowd. But if care is not taken, that is what they will remain. Crowd! People who only come to watch. I once stumbled on this verse of scripture which terminate every quest for power:

Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. John 12:37-38, NIV

Wow! I'd thought power would do everything for us. Nay! Power will only bring a crowd of spectators. And when the "show" is over, to thy tent oh Israel!

But if we want to do a lasting work, we’ve got to sit down, like Jesus with the twelve, and labour over the people. At one time in the ministry of Jesus, there were about five thousand men present, not counting women or children. But only 120 remained when he left for heaven. Where were those five thousand men? Where were those uncountable women? They’d gone the way they came. Only the people He labored over remained. Only the disciples remained.

Yet, the way of discipleship is not popular. It won’t make you famous, not even with your disciples. Because disciple and discipline go together. But that is the way. That is the only way for us to do a lasting work. That is the only way to truly multiply the church. The way of discipleship is the method of Jesus. Though it is slow, but it is sure. Jesus was only able to turn out about 120 of them after three years of labour on earth. But those 120 would later turn the world upside down, right side up. Discipleship!

If you want quick result go for power. But if you desire a lasting work, go the way of discipleship.

I don’t know what your hunger or thirst is for right now. Maybe you are also hungry for the power of God. But nowhere in the Bible does it state that we need to thirst for power. Yes, he said they should tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they be endued with power from above (Luke 24:49). But he meant the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which most of us already have.

One night, in the midst of several night vigils in a row, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of RCCG, was crying and asking God for power like of old. God had to stop him and asked, the one I gave you what have you done with it? With bewilderment, he asked God, which power? And God said, “the one you received when you got baptized in the Holy Spirit!”

We don’t need more power, but more presence--the presence of God.

Instead of crying for more power, what my Bible says is that: "Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! (Matt 5:6 GNT). Our hunger and thirst should be for righteousness; how to be right with Him, how to be in alignment with His will and His way. When that is our thirst, and hunger, we shall be filled. In fact, we shall have all our needs met. Jesus goes further: “Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things” Matt 6:33-34 GNT

Friend, the first call in the Christian life is to be with Jesus. The issue of power is only secondary. It is as He wills, not as we will. When He deems fit, He will give to us.

He appointed twelve — designating them apostles — that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. Mark 3:14-16 NIV

Oh, how we need to spend time with Him. How we need to hunger for His presence like David (Psalms 42 & 63). How we need to pant for His presence like the deer! How we need to seek Him above everything else, not to get power but because we just want to do His will. I leave you with the words of David in Psalms 27:4    

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. NIV

Rethinking (Transactional) Prayer

Right from time immemorial, believers of all ages have benefitted immensely from the ministry of prayer. In fact, prayer has become synonymous with Christianity. It is even said that “a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian.” Believers have received tremendous help in the place of prayer. Burdens have been lifted in the place of prayer. Yokes have been destroyed. Enemies have been defeated. Many lives have been changed. People have received encouragement.

In countless scriptures, spanning from Old to the New Testament, the Bible encourages the believer to pray. We are even told to pray without ceasing. Men that walk with God like Abraham prayed. So was the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, no one prayed like Jesus. Yet if there was one that should not prayed, He qualified for that honour. But He still prayed. He spent more time in prayer that in any other task. He spent His free time praying. He spent all night praying. He woke up early to pray.

But the question to consider is this: what kind of prayer did these men of old pray? And that is the subject matter of this write up. Yes, the Bible encourages us to pray, but what kind of prayer is the Bible talking about.

Believing Africans in the south of the Sahara number millions. Our churches are countless. Most Friday nights are fully engaged in many churches for prayer. Prayer conferences, prayer seminar, prayer retreat and prayer meetings are regular occurrences in our churches. As far as prayer is concerned, we do so much with so little to show for it. Yes, there are testimonies here and there. But how few compared to how much we put in!

If Jesus prayed that much, we need to examine what kind of prayer he made before God. Could He be asking for bread and butter like we do today? Could Jesus be asking for the heads of his enemies? Could He be asking for God’s protection against the arrows of the wicked?

The sad thing to note is that most of our prayers are transactional. By transaction-al, I mean business like, deal, profiteering. And most transactional activities are motivated by fear, selfishness, and greed. Yet, Jesus said:

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matt 6:31-32, NIV

If Jesus said we should not worry about things like food and drink which are the most basic of human needs, He also meant to say that we should not worry about all the other things. If God could meet the most basic of our needs, we should trust him to meet the more advanced ones. If He is willing to do the ones that will cost Him daily interventions in our lives, certainly He can take care of the bigger ones that only happen once in a while.

We have come to believe that until we ask God for big things, He may not do them for us. And we have scriptures to support that. “You have not because you ask not.” (James 4:2). But what kind of prayers do the unbelievers around us pray to get to where they are today? What kind of prayers do they pray to have what they have? What amount of prayers did they make to become what they are today?

How come that with all our prayers we are yet to match the intellectual capability of the ungodly? How come that with all our prayers, it was the pagan Steve Jobs that invented the iPhone and the iPads? How come that with all our prayers the richest man in Nigeria is Aliko Dangote, a muslim? How come that with all the Christian influence and number in the United States, the president is not a believing and practicing Christian? What kind of prayer did Obama pray that made him the President of USA today?

Who sold us the lie that until we cry our hearts out in the place of prayer God will not do for us anything good? Many of us come back from prayer meetings voiceless. The preachers (myself inclusive) have made us to believe that until we outcry our neighbours God will not hear us. It’s as if God is hard of hearing or maybe His hearing aids need adjustment.

What is Prayer?

I believe in prayer. Prayer is of God, and prayer is communication with God. But communication, not commercialization. We have learnt to trade in the place of prayers. Yet, Jesus whipped people out of the temple for the same reason—transactional.

Prayer is devotional. Prayer is worship. Prayer is the true and real temple (Psalm 27:4). It is a place where your heart reaches out to its maker. It is a place of communion; heart to heart. It is a place where you bring your sacrifice, your life, as a sweet smelling savour on the altar (Romans 12:1).

Prayer is refreshing. It is reviving. It is a place of restoration (Isaiah 40:28-31). It is a place of waiting, when you are finished and famished. It is a place of rest. It is a place where you drink from the water of His presence; where you swim in the ocean of His love; where you refresh yourself in the fountain of His lovingness.

Prayer is contemplation. It is a place where the light shines into the darkness of our heart and soul. It is a place of enlightenment; where everything comes to the open. It is the place where the secrets of men’s heart are exposed. (Mark 11:25).

Prayer is also receiving—receiving fresh touch from His presence. It is a place of reconnection; where you’re reconnected back to your root (Genesis 2:7; Job 32:8). It is a place where you receive a fresh breath. It is a place of impartation. It is a place where you come under His influence again.

But, …

What about my needs?

Well, He promised to meet them. (Psalm 34:10; Matthew 6:31-33; Philippians 4:19).

What about my enemies? He promised to take care of them. (Isaiah 49:25-26; 54:17)

What about my future? He said He’s working it out. (Jeremiah 29:11; Hebrews 13:4)

How about my fears? He said you should hand them over to Him. (Isaiah 41:10; 1 Peter 5:7)

God has no Limit but (Transactional) Prayer does

Prayer will not meet your greed (Luke 12:13-15). God will not kill your enemies because you pray. Times have changed. These may be the days of Elijah, but we now serve the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them (Luke 9:56, KJV). God will not satisfy your lust because you pray. God is love, and love gives but lust always wants to take.

Many have lost the faith as a result of disappointment in prayer. What is meant to be a blessing has become a stumbling block. It is high time we rethink prayer so that we can get the tremendous blessings in it. As long as our prayers are transactional, we will always meet with disappointment. We are asking God to do what He never promised to do.