News – Page 2 – Fresh Inspiration

Uzo Nwuga

I was pushed hard so that I was falling but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:13-14 (ESV)

I love the song by Donnie McClurkin ”..we fall down …but we get up”. The other day, my family and I were studying Luke 8 as we are currently doing the New Christmas Tradition which is studying the book of Luke from December 1st and by Christmas Eve one would have read the entire account of Jesus’s life. We intend to do this every Christmas and it is not too late for you to start either. So, we came to the Parable of the Sower where Chris and I asked the children a few questions as usual.

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Uzo Nwuga

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 (NLT)

In my attempt to stay fit and svelte (lol!), I decided to upgrade my daily power walk to a run every few km, walk, then run again. Okay, it could be 1 or 2km……..or even half a km at a time J but that is not the point. The point is that I have graduated to running, yay! Now any sports person or sports shop will tell you that you need to wear proper running shoes for jogging or even power walking. On this particular day, I absentmindedly put on my trainers and went jogging, sorry running. I was absolutely proud of myself that I had run several km without stopping. Very proud indeed! However, I noticed whilst running my second stint that my feet were aching in a funny way. I thought maybe it was due to my running style and tried to adjust. Along my route is a hill and when I know I am struggling, I tend not to look up when jogging up the hill. So, I didn’t and then noticed I HAD THE WRONG SHOES ON! I was not wearing the right running shoes and even though I could run, it was with so much discomfort and pain.

Uzo Nwuga

“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. And praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never be put to shame”. Joel 2:26 (NKJV)

The other evening, Chris and I came home with slices of chocolate, red velvet and carrot cake from an event we attended. Our kind and gracious hostess had insisted we take some cake and so I did for our children. They saw a plate covered with foil and asked if I had brought them something. Oge asked, “Is it red velvet cake?” and I replied yes. Kanye my youngest asked, “is there carrot cake?” and I said yes again. Oluchi, his older sister not usually a cake person also asked, “is there chocolate?” and there was another yes yet again. I chuckled at all three questions which I had kinda expected. All three children were excited. They completed their chores happily and everything else they needed to do that evening without a fuss. Wow, see what unexpected cake can help accomplish, lol!

Fola Komolafe

For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). 2 Peter 1:3 (AMPC)

Have you been the guest of somebody very important where before you wake up breakfast has already been served, lunch was on the table before you asked and dinner was laid out extravagantly in front of you before you even knew you were hungry. Such extravagance and such generosity lavished upon you not because you asked but because you came to visit. God does even much more than this for you everyday because you dwell permanently in Him, you are always in His house, in His presence, in His Kingdom. He has provided everything you need before you even realised that you needed it.

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Fola Komolafe

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)

I am steadfast, I am not moving, I am staying in the Lord because I know that all I do in Him is not in vain. I say this so many times to remind myself that I have chosen to be steadfast in God and in His word. How about you? I hope you have made a decision to be steadfast, a decision that you make now before situations and circumstances that may try to cause you to move comes, things that try to cause you to move from a position of stand you are taking because of the word of God firmly fixed in your heart. It is so important because it takes an attitude of steadfastness to fully see all the promises of God evidenced in your life, an attitude that says I am not giving up until I see the goodness of God manifested exactly as God promised it to me. I am staying in the word of God, believing it and declaring it because God said so!

Fola Komolafe

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV)

God want us to win always and the truth is that He has done everything He needs to do to ensure that no matter what we face, no matter what we go through we can always win as long as we keep believing and looking to Him. I was watching a football game recently in which one of the teams had come from behind to win. They did not win in the ninety minutes allocated to the game nor did they win during the extra time but they won eventually during the penalty shoot out.

Fola Komolafe

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36 (KJV)

Freedom is something that is so valued and appreciated by anyone who has been held bondage, captive and in a position where their will, opinion and thoughts did not matter. They were under the rule of one who exercised power, dominance over them and subjected them sometimes in the most inhuman way to their bidding. It is such a terrible place to be that we see the Israelites crying out to God in the old testament to be set free from the bondage in which the Egyptians held them. Jesus died to set us free and the bible says, “So if the Son liberates you (makes you free men), then you are really and unquestionably free.”

Fola Komolafe

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13 (NKJV)

I can because God says I can! It sounds audacious, sounds bold, sounds just like God. I believe God wants us to go around saying I can do it to everything in His word and everything He asks us to do. I can live by faith, I can be led by the Holy Spirit, I can be filled with the fulness of Christ everyday, I can triumph in all things, I can be victorious through Christ Jesus, I can live in divine health and prosper in all respects – I can and I will because God says I can! It is not arrogant, it is my faith and complete belief in God and in His word.

Fola Komolafe

But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Matthew 14:30 (MEV)

As you walk or drive around everyday you see so many things, and some you pay more attention to more than others. Some things you see determine your actions and what you do, for example if you see a red light, you know you have to stop because that is what the law says. In a similar manner what you see and pay attention to in your faith walk matters because it determines how far you go. Those very simple words, BUT WHEN HE SAW…made a whole difference to a journey that had started confidently and boldly in faith, walking only on the words of Jesus. Peter was doing the impossible, he was walking on water but he saw the strong wind and he was afraid. I sort of wonder, what did the wind, which had been turbulent before he started walking have to do with him walking on water? Absolutely Nothing! He walked on water because he asked, Jesus said, ‘come’ and he obeyed.

Kay Komolafe

[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! Psalm 27:13 (AMPC)

It was a bright sunny Sunday afternoon in 1987, lying on the hospital bed was this lean underweight young man with no strength in him, to enjoy the best life has to offer. He had been in hospital in and out for 6 months suffering from ulcerative colitis which was deemed untreatable. This bright afternoon, his aunties and sibling came to see him in hospital, they stood around his bed and watched in despair, what will become of him, he will not survive, they seem to whisper to one another. Watching them huddle together outside and whispering to one another, fear came upon him and he thought to himself, “this is the end, death is upon me“. Tears rolled down his face as he laid on the bed. This was a dark moment, the last moments perhaps. Then, a man walked in to visit him, it was his father’s handyman, plumber, he saw the tears running down the man’s face, the handyman chasticed him, “where is your faith?“ he asked, “if you believe, read the bible and pray, there is nothing impossible for God“

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Uzo Nwuga

For surely there is a latter end (a future and a reward), and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off. Proverbs 23:18 (AMPC)

A few weeks ago, I went to pick up my son from school with my daughters. His teacher came with a giggling daughter to the car and informed me that my son was very upset because his tooth that had fallen out. It had gone down the sink into the drain as he tried to wash it! As a result, he feared that the tooth fairy might not visit him and so his teacher told him to write a letter. His teacher playfully admonished the girls for chuckling because my son is 10 years old, yet still believes in the tooth fairy and …Santa. His sisters encouraged him when he came into the car by telling him it had happened to them, but he still felt that without the tooth there was a good chance the tooth fairy wouldn’t come. That evening, he moaned about such a bad day he had – losing his tooth down the drain and accidentally butting heads during football practice. I tried to cheer him up to no avail.

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Fola Komolafe

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8 (KJV)

The Holy Spirit Pumping on the inside of me! Sometimes I find myself using expressions in my personal time to try to explain what it feels like to be full of Christ and full of His Spirit and one morning as I was thinking about the great and awesome power of God in us, I found myself talking about the Holy Spirit pumping on the inside of me. I sort of think Jesus did the same when he used the illustration of a river flowing out of our belly to explain the power of the Holy Spirit on the inside of us. Jesus said it better in John 7:38 when talking about the Holy Spirit, He said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

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Fola Komolafe

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)

As believers you and I have the mind of Christ, that is the ability through the Holy Spirit to think like Christ and then to conduct our lives according to His mind. One mind is so important in our relationships as over and over again, the Holy Spirit through Paul encourages us to be of the same mind one toward another (Romans 12:16); to be of one mind (2 Cor 13:11); to be likeminded and of one accord, of one mind (Phil. 2:2) and to all be of one mind (1 Peter 3:8). One mind is so important as this enables us to pull together in unity in the same direction which is why I particularly love Romans 15:6 which says, ‘that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God.’

Fola Komolafe

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 (KJV)

God’s word is always sure, always steadfast and always settled! It does not change, and it does exactly what God sends it to do. And we need to know that the same steadiness and assurance of the word of God remains today when we declare it boldly, confidently and in faith believing that it will accomplish its purpose in our lives.

As I looked at the skies this morning I was overwhelmed by the fact that the sky under which I sat has been there just like this since the foundation of the world when God created it. It has not changed, it is where God said it should be, settled in its place! Ever before civilisation came, before the place where I stood was discovered and inhabited, ever before I was born and after I am gone the skies will remain because God said so. No power, no force, no devil and nothing seen or unseen across all ages has been able to stop the sky from being right here because God said so. The sky will always be right here for as long as this earth remains because God said so.

Fola Komolafe

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 (NKJV)

God is a God of First Times! As you read through the bible you will see some things that when they happened it was the first time ever. When Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, it was the first time such a thing had happened when you consider their ages and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. When Moses stretched out the rod to part the red sea, it was the first time such a thing had ever happened in history. When the children of Israel received manna from heaven for food, that was definitely the first time. God is a God of first times and He is not limited only to things He has done before in your life or in the life of somebody you know. As long as you have the word of God you can believe God for the extraordinary, the things that are impossible for men, the exceedingly abundantly above and greater works.

Fola Komolafe

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV)

Most people like a good deal! It could be a shopping deal, or a deal involved in negotiating for something big. It does not really matter how small or big the deal is, the sense of knowing you just struck a deal or achieved a good bargain makes us feel good. I am not a bargain hunter, although I like a good deal, but I know people who would wake up early and travel miles just to get a good deal. The joy in their faces and the excitement in their voices about the deal they struck is just awesome to see.

Fola Komolafe

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 1 Peter 3:10 (KJV)

I was praying the other day and found myself saying, as I sometimes do, that God has given me my tongue to glorify Him and not to speak guile and declaring my commitment to measure my words and use them to glorify God in all circumstances. I knew this was in the bible and that the word guile meant bad, evil and ungodly words. Guile is such an old word that we don’t really use today. It was used only eleven times in the entire old and new testament, so even then, it was a word that was infrequently used, and every time it was used it was associated with the negative, the ungodly and evil. Psalm 34:13 says, ‘Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.’ Guile is another word for deceit, deception, dishonesty and lies. The dictionary defines it as dishonest behaviour that you use to deceive someone.

Uzo Nwuga

Every gift God freely gives is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no shadow or darkness and is never subject to change. – James 1:17 (TPT)

Dictionary meaning of ‘match’ – correspond, or cause to correspond in some essential respect, be harmonious. Synonym: harmonise with, blend with, complement

In order to change an old system, an organisation needs to understand what they require for the future (this is usually quantified and qualified), what the system can do and how they fit together. And the business functions in the organisation must be able to work with these criteria even if in most cases this would be changing their ways of working to ensure the progress, growth, effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.

Fola Komolafe

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Colossians 4:5 (NKJV)

Time is our most irreplaceable possession, once gone you cannot get it back! I would usually say to young people that there is a season of life that is best to do certain things, so let’s endeavour to be doing the right things especially by God in the right season of our lives. Solomon said it better in Ecclesiastes 3:1 when he said, ‘To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.’

Fola Komolafe

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah 53:1 (NKJV)

I want to emphasise the importance of believing God’s word, and before you say, “of course I believe,” I want you to really think about whether you do believe or whether you merely agree in your mind quite casually with who God is and His word / report. You will remember when the Bible said in Gen 15:6 that Abraham believed in the Lord, and He (the Lord) counted it to him (Abraham) as righteousness. You see all the promises of God belong to the righteous and so the original translation of the conversation with Abraham gives the impression that God considered, thought about and added up everything that Abraham’s belief meant – and then determined that it was equal to righteousness, that is right standing with God.

Kayode Komolafe

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world…our faith 1 John 5:4

Have you ever taken thought of what success or victory means to you? Some of us gauge our daily joy meter with results and achievements, how much of our “To Do List” is ticked off and how close are we to our strategic goals. Whether it is in our work life, our home life, or our Christian walk, it’s easy to become overly interested in results, goals and performance. We can become caught up in measuring success by cultural standards. We turn to gimmicks and fads to get “results” when living the Christian life seems difficult or when the gospel seems to fail us in the here and now. We easily forget how Christ measures success in this life.

Kayode Komolafe

“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. …” (Ezekiel 37:26)

When we go through life’s trials and challenges, struggle with finances, debt, health, unemployment, bad relationships, issues with children behaviours, living in war torn region and faltering fellowship with God, our hearts get troubled, and we become anxious and fearful of what is and what could be. We say we are not at peace. This is man’s definition of peace; we define peace as absence of war or hostilities with ourselves or absence of disturbance within oneself. In contrast, God’s peace is not the absence of all the trials and tribulations in the world, because Jesus said they will happen as longs as we are on this earth, but we can take comfort in the fact that He has overcome the world, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Fola Komolafe

But against any of the Israelites shall not so much as a dog move his tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. Exodus 11:7 (AMPC)

God makes a distinction between His people and the world. There is so much mess going on in the world right now that it is possible for the children of God to think that the same things that happen to people in the world will happen to them. It is a lie of the devil so do not be afraid! For throughout the history of the Bible God Almighty has always looked after His own, protected His own and distinguished them from experiencing the same fate as the rest of the world. Satan is the god of this world and he is behind all the evil in the world. BUT we belong to God, in the world but not of the world and called citizens of heaven and members of the household of God (Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 3:19).

Fola Komolafe

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 (KJV)

Hope comes from God and His word! Hope is a confident expectation of good.

How do you know someone who is full of hope? You see joy and peace all around them not because of the situation they are in or anything in the natural but because of their faith, their belief in God and in the power of the Holy Ghost that is on the inside of them. The opposite is true of people who are said to be hopeless – around them you sense a heaviness and a restlessness because they can’t see beyond their eyes. In a way they have defined their reality by what they see rather than what they believe and who they believe. Hope for us as Christians comes from God, He is the source of hope and it fills our hearts bubbling over every time we choose to believe God and His word.

Fola Komolafe

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. Ecclesiastes 5:20 (ESV)

I read this scripture, smiled broadly, and prayed that God would occupy our hearts continually with His Joy.

In life there are so may things trying to occupy our hearts which is why we are encouraged to guard our hearts diligently. However Solomon on reflecting on the vanity of life and the good things which come to us as a gift from God then makes this awesome statement about God occupying or making our hearts so busy and active with Joy that this is the significant thing we remember about our life.

Fola Komolafe

Also, no one ever pours new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would break them. The wine would spill out, and the wineskins would be ruined. You always put new wine into new wineskins. Luke 5:37-38 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

I remember being in the Girls Guide and our motto was ‘Be Prepared.’ At the time I did not fully understand what it meant being quite young but as I have grown up I have come to realise the importance of preparation for the things we desire to do well and to be successful at. People prepare for exams so that they can pass and do well. People prepare for job interviews, house moves and so many things because they aspire for success and don’t want to miss out. I believe that as Christians we also need to be prepared for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives and walk with God for this season and this day in which we live. It is usually said that success comes when preparation meets opportunity.

Fola Komolafe

Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (AMPC)

Only be strong, vigorous (forceful) and very courageous! Joshua was taking over from Moses to lead God’s people into the land God had promised them and he knew that the task before him was going to be hard and rough. He had walked with Moses as his assistant and had seen some of the amazing things God had done for the Israelites, but the time had come for him to lead doing all the things God commanded to be done. In Deuteronomy 31:7 Moses said to Joshua and the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.”

Fola Komolafe

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 1 Corinthians 11:26 (KJV)

Jesus is coming again! Yippee, I don’t know exactly when, but I hope that is wonderful news to you as it is to me. And till He comes, He said we should eat this bread and drink this cup reminding ourselves constantly of His life, His death and His resurrection. The Living Bible says, and I love it, “that every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are retelling the message of the Lord’s death, that he has died for you.” Do this until he comes again. You are retelling the message to yourself, your situation and the devil that Jesus has died for you.

Fola Komolafe

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. Mark 11:14 (KJV)

Have you noticed how often toddlers say, “No!” I mean at that stage of their life it is their favourite word sometimes to the frustration of their parents. I have often wondered why they learn to say No before they learn to say Yes. I am yet to see a toddler who just says Yes all the time. One parent I read about said her daughter would say, “No” 328 times a day and each time she would have to remind herself that her child is going to grow up to be a strong adult. A medical article said, ‘if your toddler’s favourite word is “No!” and his or her default position is defiance, Relax! New research suggests that this behaviour in very young children is both normal and a sign of a healthy parent-child relationship”

You have authority 2 : Victory in Battle.

Kayode Komolafe

And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:22-23

When a nation sends an army to war and the soldiers in the battle front are being fired at by the enemy, the soldiers do not get on the radio or send message to the Prime Minister asking the Prime Minister, what shall we do? Should we use our weapons and fire back at the enemy? They have been trained and given all the necessary weapons to attack and subdue the enemy, so they have to use the weapons backed by the authority of the commander in chief.

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You have authority 1 : Your Position of Authority.

Kayode Komolafe

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:6

Our elevation is wholly of the wisdom and grace of God. We did not earn it, but it is by right as children of God elevated to the right hand of the Father, not by any act of devotion. We should recognise the fact of this position and take our place with humble acceptance. Despite being seated with Christ, there are born again Christians, spirit filled, full of hunger and longing to experience God’s power and they believe they should have it. The simple truth is that, as a believer, we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Fola Komolafe

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” Matthew 9:18

I am always intrigued and forced to think for long moments when I read Matthew 9 because it is packed with miracles of healings one after the other done by Jesus as He was on His way. The two that really get me thinking is the ruler, Jairus, and the woman with the issue of blood. These two people had not met Jesus before this incident yet they were very confident that He would, not could or maybe, but would do for them what they believed based on what they had heard.

Fola Komolafe

What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need. Matthew 6:33

Some days you wake up just knowing you need to affirm who you are in Christ and your position in Him once again. It may be because you are believing God for something and you are actively standing in faith or you need to take control of the thoughts that are trying to capture your hearts. It is at moments like this that you know what is really on the inside of you. I had one of those moments earlier this week and I was so reassured to hear myself saying immediately, “my heart is steadfast trusting in the Lord and God keeps me in perfect peace because my mind is stayed on Him.”

Nesochi Awujo

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills [around Jerusalem, to sacred Mount Zion and Mount Moriah]—from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”- Psalm 121:1-2 (AMP)

What is help?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, help means to: “Make it easier or possible for someone to do something by offering them one’s services or resources.” Some synonyms of help are: Assist, aid, do someone a favour, bail someone out, come to someone’s rescue, give someone a leg up, and cooperate with.

The Hills or The Lord?
The psalmist here talked about looking up to the hills and asked “is this where my help comes from?” In other words, is this where assistance, aid and favour come from, will they bail me out or rescue me?

Nesochi Awujo

When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place and the hour is already late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” – Matthew 14:15-17 (AMP)

People are hungry
Matthew 14 recounts how a large crowd of people followed Jesus into the desert to listen to him talk about God’s kingdom. At some point, the disciples began to worry; the people would be hungry and thirsty, and it was getting darker and darker… a bit like our 21^st century world today. Everyday we are bombarded with news of wars, terrorism, political turmoil, economic uncertainty, disease, abuse, poverty and violence on the streets, in schools and in homes. It’s getting darker and darker out there and people are hungry and thirsty for truth… for something meaningful to believe in. The challenge for us Christians is that we know the truth (Jesus) and we know that God has called us to shine a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:16), but, how could the little we bring possibly have an impact in this ‘multitude’ of issues?

Fola Komolafe

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. Romans 8:19 (NIV)

I know that we are in a time when the children of God need to really walk in the fullness of all that they have believed and do believe about God, His power and His love for us and for His creation. I don’t think there has ever been a time as we are now when we all need to stand up and be counted for our faith in God, to stop talking alone and to start demonstrating the power of God in us through the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Fola Komolafe

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn away to death, and those who totter to the slaughter, hold them back [from their doom]. If you [profess ignorance and] say, Behold, we did not know this, does not He Who weighs and ponders the heart perceive and consider it? And He Who guards your life, does not He know it? And shall not He render to [you and] every man according to his works? Proverbs 24:10-12 (AMP)

Our strength should not be small because He is the Lord our Strength! Psalm 18:1 says, ‘I will love you fervently and devotedly, O Lord my Strength.’ Jehovah Chezeq is the Lord Our Strength, so you and I have the strength to be victorious and to overcome in the day of adversity.

Fola Komolafe

The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22 King James Version (KJV)

You and I are rich because of the blessing of God on our lives. In the bible there is an account of how Jacob became blessed by his father Isaac instead of his brother Esau. Isaac placed his hands on Jacobs head and blessed him. The blessing was irreversible, it did not respect the traditions of men

Fola Komolafe

So that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:7-8 Modern English Version (MEV)

There are a number of definitions for God’s grace that I agree with but the one that stuck with me and which I love the most is ‘God’s ability and willingness to do for us so much more than we deserve.’ As I read Ephesians 2: 4-9, all I see is how magnificently God shows us the richness of His mercy, the greatness of His love and the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Fola Komolafe

The righteous keep moving forward and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger. Job 17:9(NLT)

As I considered this verse I thought about a man planning a journey to a very nice and exotic place but who for one reason or the other could not move out of his house or where he was. He would consider the traffic and the potential volume of cars on the road, he consistently monitored the traffic news and spent hours listening to the weather forecast and he was not certain that he had enough money

Denika Campbell-Lee

“Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.” 1 Samuel 17:3 (NLT)

In these verses David had been asking what the reward was for killing Goliath. It had been said that the king was offering his daughter as a reward and no taxes for the man’s family who kills Goliath.

Fola Komolafe

Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2 (NKJV)

I believe we could miss the important and wonderful significance of this verse if we only think of being imitators of God is the sense of copying God. It is so much more than trying to copy our father God because it uses the context of ‘as dear children.’

Kayode Komolafe

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).

As I walked down to the office along the Midsummer Boulevard, a lady walked up to me and begged for some change, she was hungry and homeless. My mind, my brain, automatically switched into logic, what is she going to do with the money? All sorts of stereotypical answers ran through my reasoning, but at the point of saying “I have no change”, the Spirit man stepped in to remind and encourage “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

Kayode Komolafe

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” Psalm 139: 23-24 (NIV)

In the programme management office, we carry out project audits. The essence of the audit is to ensure the projects and all the associated documentation, processes and essential health KPIs are on track, if not you help the project manager bring it back on track and coach the project manager to develop and plug any skills gap. This exercise is usually misinterpreted as a litmus test of the project manager’s capability and competency which may lead to discipline or negative performance reporting. For this reason, many project managers dread project audits. In same spirit, we believers don’t like to search within ourselves in case we don’t like what we find. It is essential for us to search within ourselves and glorify God for the good qualities we have and recognise the areas that need improvement and give it to God.

Denika Campbell-Lee

“Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.” 1 Samuel 17:31 (NLT)

The fact that David’s questions had been passed onto the king and he was sent for, shows that David is the only person who was brave enough to even show interest.

Kayode Komolafe

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3: 12-14 (NLT)

It was one of the beautiful evenings that I remembered from our marriage counselling sessions. The wife telephoned and just said she needed to talk because she has reached the end of the road there is no point talking her out of divorce. It was a long day at work and we were tired, but when someone needs your support, you must give, so we asked them to come over. They arrived about 8:00pm and as they walked through the door I felt the tension, and they made the hatred for one another very tangible, you can almost touch it.

Fola Komolafe

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:3 (KJV)

Blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ! I remember the first time I read this verse and my first thought was oh no, I want all the blessings here on earth and I want them right now Lord. This was because I read the verse as saying these blessings were in the spiritual realm, in heavenly places waiting for me. I laughed at myself as I realised with the help of the Holy Spirit that the word, ‘spiritual’ and ‘heavenly’ in the original Greek translations are adjectives describing the source and origin of the blessing. For example, if I say to you that I bought a German car in the UK. I am describing the origin of the car as Germany and not my current location which is the UK. So in essence I have the German car with me now and I am fully enjoying the benefits of this car in the UK.

Fola Komolafe & Denika Campbell-Lee

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” Matthew 12:25 (NIV)

How can we as a church, city or household be divided against ourselves? Paul was writing to the Corinthian church and in his letter he was appealing with them to grow up spiritually and to stop acting like mere infants, fighting and arguing amongst themselves. In verse 3 of 1 Corinthians 3 he says,” For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” The Amplified version says, “For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?”

Kayode Komolafe

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

The word “attitude” here is the Greek word phroneo, which means: “To think, to exercise the mind, to have an opinion or attitude.” The attitude that is being called for is the one in Philippians 2, verses 3-4, which is one of humility: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Fola Komolafe

Therefore, I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24 (KJV)

I spent some time today looking at all the different ways Jesus tells us that we shall have them; them being the things we believe that we receive when we pray. Other translations say: they will be given to you, it will be yours, it will happen for you and God will give them to you. It should fill your heart with so much confidence that God wants to give you everything you ask for according to His will. His word is His will and faith can only begin when you know His will, so always find the promise for what you need or desire in His word. The Amplified version says, “For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.”