“Homes are built on the foundation of wisdom and understanding. Where there is knowledge, the rooms are furnished with valuable, beautiful things.” Proverbs 24:3-4 (GNT) Anything built from the ground up starts with a solid foundation. When a tree … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Edging God Out. How easy it is to fall into the trap of self-sufficiency
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John_15-7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” John 15:5-7 (NLT)
Oh, how easy it is to fall into the trap of self-sufficiency! We see something that needs to be done and instinctively we jump in and do it without hesitation or thought. Yet when we do not abide in Christ what we do through self-sufficiency does not bear fruit. Think about that for a moment…How many times has self-sufficiency produced hollow and empty results, “I achieved, yet what did I achieve?”
Prior to becoming a Christian, I was the poster child for self-sufficiency. My motto was if I was going to find what I sought, I had to take ownership of my success and happiness in myself. Funny thing about self-sufficiency is that once you achieve what you seek, there is emptiness in having achieved it. No matter how much success I achieved, promotions, increased responsibilities, or more money, nothing seemed to deliver what I thought would be the results of my achievements. (There are a lot of “I’s” and “My’s” in self- sufficiency!)
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:13, 19 (ESV)
Recognize the warning signs of self-sufficiency, believing you are in charge, believing that if you alone have to do what needs to be done, believing you don’t need anybody. See a trend? Self-sufficiency leads to believing in no one but you and depending upon no one but yourself. In other words, EGO = Edging God Out.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
Abiding in our Lord and Savior is the most liberating feeling you can have, “try it you’ll like it”. Once you give your life to Christ an amazing transformation begins to take hold deep within. There is an inner peace that exists within you and what was once your driving force, “you”, gives way to the spirit of Christ within.
John_13-34: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV)
“We exist to show God’s love in such a way that people would exchange ordinary living for an extraordinary life through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.” Piedmont Church’s Mission Statement
If you find yourself being the CEO of your EGO, pause and look up and ask yourself this question, “Is what I’m doing filling the hole in my soul and bringing glory to God?” If not, ask Jesus to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. It will be the best day you ever have because you will receive what you so desperately sought through self-sufficiency;
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 (ESV)
Proverbs_3-5-: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)
Prayer:
Gracious Father, blessed be Your Holy name. Lord God, we humbly come to You in heart felt prayer thanking You that while we pursued self to find our glory, You through Your grace gave us Your Son who knew no sin but became sin so we could be righteous before You. Lord, there are no words on our lips that can tell You how much Your sacrifice for us means to us. For You are the creator and we the creation, blessed be Your name.
Lord, we ask You to come into our hearts. May Your light shine through us and may we reflect Your light to others through the love You gave.
Father, it is in the name above all names, the King of kings, Lord of lords, Jesus Christ that we pray.
Amen
May God Bless Nigeria, America And Israel And Take Care Of Us; May God Make His Face Shine Upon Us, And Be Gracious To Us; May The Lord Lift Up His Countenance Upon Us, And Give Us Peace, In Jesus Christ Name, We Pray! Amen!
May The Grace The Lord Jesus Christ, And The Love Of God, And The Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit Be With You All. Amen!
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True Worshippers. Worthy Worship? Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship … Continue reading
Almighty God Will Find Your Service Worthy And Acceptable In His Sight In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Worthy Service. By Pastor E A Adeboye.
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Memorise: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 Read: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 22 And Samuel said, Hath … Continue reading
Accept Jesus Into Your Life Today. Perfect Knowledge Of God, By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. Romans 1:19 Read: Matthew 11:25-27 25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord … Continue reading
Things Of This World. Christian Atheist? By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 Read: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 1 This know also, … Continue reading
Songs And Dancing. Practical Worship. By Pastor E A Adeboye.
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Memorise: Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. Psalm 149:3 Read: Psalm 103:1-5 1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that … Continue reading
Worship As A Lethal Weapon Of War, By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were … Continue reading
God Is A Spiritual Being. His Existence Cannot Be Investigated Or Proved Scientifically; Neither Can He Be Searched Out Through Philosophical Investigations. Worshipping The Unknown God? By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. John 4:22 Read: Acts 17:16-23 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when … Continue reading
Jesus Christ is Lord. There Is Power In The Name Of Jesus. Sermon And Prayer Point By Pastor E A Adeboye.
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Memorise: Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2 Read: Philippians 2:9-11 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is … Continue reading
Attitudes To Worship. Sermon And Prayer Point By Pastor E A Adeboye
Pastor E A Adeboye. Open Heavens. RCCG
Memorise:
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Read: Isaiah 40:12-22
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Colossians_3-16-3: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. God Answers Prayers
Message
Prayer involves much more than asking God for our heart desires. It also involves praise and worship, both of which are very much related. While praise acknowledges God for what He has done, worship acknowledges God for who He is. We need to understand that God expects all creatures to worship Him (Revelations 5:13). No matter what or who they are, as far as they exist, God expects them to worship Him.
Pretty much everybody in existence has received something from God (Acts 17:28). However, only those who acknowledge what they have received as coming from God can be deemed worshippers. Among this group of people, there are those who feel contented with what they have received from God. If you are in this category, praise and worship God. On the other hand, there are those who feel they have not received enough from God. These are people who feel God has done much but not enough for them. Such people believe they need more blessings from the Lord, and some even feel that God has not done enough to warrant their praises. It’s among this category of people you will find those who compare their wealth and other tangible achievements with that of those they think are more privileged than themselves. More often than not, people who engage in such comparisons conclude that God has not been fair to them. No matter how little you think the goodness of the Lord is in your life, it is imperative that you praise and worship Him.
Many people feel as though God has done nothing for them. In their opinion, God is not good at all. This kind of feeling is wrong and dangerous. If the devil is ministering to you that God is not good at all, resist the devil and worship God for who He is. It is easy to fall into this state when you are afflicted. Examples of those afflicted are the bereaved, the sorrowful, the disappointed and the discouraged. We should worship God even when afflicted. A classical example of someone who did this is Job. Job was a man who worshipped God in prosperity (Job 1:5) and he also worshipped God in the midst of satanic afflictions. Job 1:20-21 says,
“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Note that Job still worshipped God at the end of his trials (Job 42:1-5). Worship characterises vessels unto honour. Are you a vessel unto honour? If your answer is yes, go ahead and worship God, whatever your situation might be.
Prayer Point:
Father, grant me the grace to worship you, no matter what I am going through.
May God Bless Nigeria, America And Israel And Take Care Of Us; May God Make His Face Shine Upon Us, And Be Gracious To Us; May The Lord Lift Up His Countenance Upon Us, And Give Us Peace, In Jesus Christ Name, We Pray! Amen!
May The Grace The Lord Jesus Christ, And The Love Of God, And The Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit Be With You All. Amen!
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Keys To Answered Prayer By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Psalm 65:2 Read: Matthew 7:7-11 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 … Continue reading
True Love. Sermon And Prayer Points By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 Read: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become … Continue reading
Sin Shall Not Have Dominion Over You. Sermon And Prayer Points By Pastor E A Adeboye.
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Memorise: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 Read: Romans 6:1-6 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 … Continue reading
Sanctification Precedes Divine Commissioning. Sermon And Prayer Points By Pastor E A Adeboye.
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Memorise: If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21 Read: John 17:13-19 13 And now come … Continue reading
Satan’s Attack Or The Lord’s Chastening? By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 12:6 Read: Hebrews 12:4-6 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which … Continue reading
Living By Vision And Revelation By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1 Read: Genesis 41:38-43 38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, … Continue reading
Leadership By Example By Pastor E A Adeboye
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Memorise: If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. John 13:14 Read: Daniel 2:46-49 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that … Continue reading
Do you really think that God doesn’t know you?
1-John_1-9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
Song Of Solomon 4:7
You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.
Jesus tells us His bride, “You are all fair, My love, and there is no spot in you.” But our reply to Him tends to be, “Me? All fair and no spot? You don’t know me, Lord!”
Do you really think that God doesn’t know you?
God sees reality like no one else sees it. He sees the perfection of His Son’s finished work in your life. By one offering of Himself at the cross, Jesus has perfected you forever! (Hebrews 10:14) You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And you will never find any spot in this righteousness that Jesus died to give you.
So God wants you to see yourself righteous—all fair and spotless in Christ. Every day, be conscious of your righteousness in Christ. Say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ. There is no spot in me whom He has perfected with His blood.” When you do that, you are honoring Jesus and His finished work.
If you are conscious of your sins, then you are not honoring the work of Christ. You may think that you are being humble or holy by being sin-conscious. But do you know that the Bible calls sin-consciousness an “evil conscience”?
Hebrews 10:21–22 tells us that since we have Jesus as our High Priest, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience”. What does the writer of Hebrews mean by “an evil conscience”? If you read the beginning of the same chapter, you will find that he is talking about a “consciousness of sins”. (Hebrews 10:2) Paul calls it a “conscience seared with a hot iron”. (1 Timothy 4:2) The Greek word for “seared” here is kauteriazo, and it means to carry about with you a perpetual consciousness of sin.
So don’t carry with you an evil or seared conscience. Your lifetime of sins has already been punished fully in the body of Jesus at the cross. Be conscious, instead, of your perfection and righteousness in Christ. Because of what Jesus has done for you, you can boldly declare, “I am all fair. There is no spot in me!”
May God Bless Nigeria, America And Israel And Take Care Of Us; May God Make His Face Shine Upon Us, And Be Gracious To Us; May The Lord Lift Up His Countenance Upon Us, And Give Us Peace, In Jesus Christ Name, We Pray! Amen!
May The Grace The Lord Jesus Christ, And The Love Of God, And The Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit Be With You All. Amen!
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Come. O Thou Prophet of the Lord
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Come. O Thou Prophet of the Lord, Thou great interpreter divine, Explain Thine own transmitted word, To teach and to inspire is Thine: Thou only canst Thyself reveal. Open the book and loose the seal. … Continue reading
Prayer Point 