Faith in the Promise Keeping God

What is faith?  It is the confidence assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see.  God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.  Hebrews 11:1-2 NLT

It is important that we build our faith on a regular basis to see the manifestation of God’s promises in our lives. In describing faith, let’s use the illustration of a pregnant woman.  The moment a woman conceives and tests confirms that she is pregnant, we say she is expecting.   Having faith is similar to being pregnant, you conceive when you believe and you then start to expect those promises to come to pass. 

You have to spend time or intercourse with the Word of God so you can be pregnant with His promises because faith cometh by hearing and hearing of the word of God.  Faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good news about Christ.  Romans 10:17 NLT.

Recently, I told God that ‘I needed more faith’ because of some things that I want to see happen in my life.  God asked me ‘how much time am I spending with His word.  He made me realize that the more of someone’s words I hear, the more faith I will have in them.  So if I want to increase my faith in Him, I need to spend more time with His word so that I can conceive His promises in me by the Holy Ghost.

Faith is activated by speaking God’s word.  ‘For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved’. Rom 10:10 NLT.  Jesus demonstrated this principle in Mark chapter 11: 20-23 when he cursed a fig tree and the tree withered from the roots.  The disciples were surprised when the fig tree dried up to the root just as Jesus commanded but Jesus was not surprised because he was expecting the fig tree to wither from its roots.

Your expectation is a sign of your faith so check your expectation.  A pregnant woman will not be surprised when she gives birth because she will be expecting to deliver a baby after nine months.

Some of us will say that I read my bible everyday but I don’t seem to have faith.   We need to realise that our heart is the soil for the seed of God’s word and we are responsible for making our heart a good ground.  Here are some of the things we need to do to make our hearts good grounds:

Ø  Stay close to the living water so that your heart can receive the nutrients it needs to bear fruit. Psalm 1:1-3

Ø  Keep negative thoughts and doubts from your mind.

Ø  Pray instead of worrying because the cares of this life will crowd out God’s word from your heart.

Ø  Study until you understand what God is saying, you can’t believe if you don’t understand the word.

Ø  Believe and hold unto God’s word because persecutions will arise for the word’s sake.

Have faith in God's faithfulness.

Blessings,

Dupe

God's Passion for Children

“Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish”. [1]


As I reflect on this verse, I can see that God is passionate about children. Passion means fervour, delight, excitement, enthusiasm, commitment, dedication and devotion. He wants children and young people to be saved and have abundant life, He wants them to experience and know Him personally. He wants them to come to Him so He can touch their lives and bless them. A teacher friend of mine was telling me about her conversation with God concerning the students in her class. She was thinking of leaving the school because of the behaviour of some of her pupils but God was saying it was not yet time to leave. God told her how much He cared about those young people in her class. According to her, those words changed her perception, she now relates with her pupils with an understanding of God’s love for them. She rebukes them when they misbehave but she doesn’t hold it against them. Isn’t that the same way with God? He rebukes us when we sin but he doesn’t hold our sins against us.

A role to play

We all have a role to play in making sure our children have a personal encounter with God, we need to make sure that they know God for themselves. This is important because they need to be touched by God. The spiritual child is the child who knows God personally, a child who has received Jesus as his or her personal saviour.

“One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very displeased with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God. Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them”. [2]

In order to ensure that children and young people’s lives are touched by God, we need to introduce them to Jesus by presenting the gospel in the language they understand. “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”. [3] We need to get the attention of our young people; they are looking for security in things or people to fill a void that can only be filled by God. Many of our teenagers are confused, they are dealing with issues that are greater than them. Some of our girls are dealing with low self esteem which makes them vulnerable to all sorts of abuse and unhealthy relationships. Our boys are joining gangs everyday because of insecurity and the need to feel important. They need to know that God is the true source of self-esteem, security and significance.

We need the Holy Spirit As we prepare to reach out to them, we need to seek God’s face consistently in prayer in order to release His power into the lives of our children and young people. Let us adequately prepare in prayer before our activities, classes or events. We need the Holy Spirit to transform their lives because we cannot do anything of lasting value by ourselves but our sufficiency is of God. We also need to pray for more workers in the children and youth ministry. He said to His disciples, “the harvest is so great but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields”. [4]

Children are not to be despised or looked down on. To us they might seem insignificant, like the lost sheep, but to God they are precious. He cares about every single child and wants to reach them with His love because only the power of God that can truly transform lives.

[1] Matthew 18:10 -14 NLT, [2] Mark 10:13 -16 NLT, [3] Romans 10:14, [4] Matthew 9:37-38 NLT

Best regards,

Dupe Makinde

The Great Commission

Trust you had a good Christmas day. Mine was really good; my husband & I had the privilege of hosting my mum, dad and brothers. During the preparation, I was a bit tired but at the end of the day, it was worth all the effort. It is an opportunity to be able to be a blessing and have your family around. I’ve been blessed with wonderful parents and siblings and I am always so grateful to God. We had fun and I am already looking forward to the next one by God’s grace. Anyway, the hosting continues today as we host my husband’s cousins.


I came across the passage below today ; it’s good for us to be reminded of what Jesus asked us to do as Christians. As we enter a new year, I pray that you will fulfil this mandate by God’s grace.

Matthew 28:18-19

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” NIV

Shalom and have a good Boxing Day.

He cares for you.....

Since last week, this phrase has been coming to me, 'Cast your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you'.  I will encourage you to trust in the Lord even when situations looks impossible because with God all things are possible.  I leave you with Zechariah 4:6-7 NLT.

This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel; It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him.

Best.

God's plan for your children is wholeness

I will encourage you to pray more for your children particularly that they will enter God’s plan for their lives and for God’s grace to abound in their lives. We know that His plans are perfect because He knows the thoughts and the plans He has for their lives, they are great plans, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and hope.(Jeremiah 29:11).

I believe we need to pray more for them so that the grace of God will abound in their lives to be who God has called them to be and to walk in His ways. As the grace of God abounds in their lives, it will bring salvation to them, it will teach them to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in their generation.  I leave you with this passage in Titus 2:11 -12

‘For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind. It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world. (Amplified

Blessings

Handling Peer Pressure

Handling Peer Pressure

Do you want to run and not be tired?

Hi All,


I hope you've had a good weekend? This weekend has been a bit busy for me and it went by really fast. If you want to run and not be weary, you have to wait on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord means staying in His presence and meditating on His word. We have to wait on Him to walk in His grace. Going forward is all about relying on the Lord and not our effort. Grace will only abound in our lives as we wait upon Him for those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles and walk and not faint.  I leave you with Isaiah 40:28-31 (Amplified Bible)

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted. But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired".

Have a fantastic week in His presence.

Dupe