Tuesday 18 October 2016

Sin Is A Disgrace

Spirit & Life Devotional
Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Sin Is A Disgrace

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34 NKJV

Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery? She was disgraced: imagine being caught in the very act, and then dragged out of the bedroom, probably naked or half naked; out of the house, into the streets, being seen by many, being jeered at by men and women alike, with stones in their hands; that's a disgrace, the height of humiliation.

You say it's because she was caught; yes, but whether you are caught or not, you must realize that sin is hurting you in so many ways than you can ever imagine - physically and spiritually! All may seem to be well, but I assure you, sir and ma, that all is not well; you are being ruined by the sins you keep committing!

Listen, there's no escape from the effects of sin except through genuine repentance! Which means that you must confess it and forsake it! You can't be a sharp guy in this; there's no sharp guy: Numbers 32:23 says that your sin will find you out! Another translation says it will track you down! What's a greater disgrace, than being told on that day, depart from me you worker of iniquity, for I know you not? Oh my God! It will never be our portion in Jesus name! Amen!

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

Monday 17 October 2016

Devoted To Prayer

Spirit & Life Devotional
Monday, 17 October 2016

Devoted To Prayer

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2 NKJV

We read in 1 Timothy 4:13 that Paul wrote to Timothy, "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." Timothy was asked to devote himself to the word of God. Now, in Colossians 4:2 Paul gave a different instruction to the Colossians, asking them to devote themselves to prayer.

Brothers and sisters, if there's any one thing the Bible asks us to do continually, apart from love, it's to pray. Jesus said it, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. And Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to pray without ceasing.

Our success as Christians, and especially as ministers (we are all ministers) depends largely on how devoted we are to prayer. Prayer must become a habit for us. Prayer must become as important as eating to us; it must become as important as our jobs and businesses! We must pray as if we don't pray we would die! Why pray? Because it produces results. James 5:16 says that "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

Saturday 15 October 2016

What Have You Done For The Lord?

Spirit & Life Devotional
Sunday, 16 October 2016

What Have You Done For The Lord?

"Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself." 2 Chronicles 2:1 NKJV

Some people have been Christians for five, ten, fifteen, twenty years and more, and there's nothing significant that anyone can point to that they have done for God. What a life!

Notice that I didn't limit it to tangible things; if I did many would be found wanting. It's so bad. And it's not as if they have nothing to give, or nothing to do; they haven't just considered it as a priority: but these same people are first to make humongous demands from God! They haven't learnt the secret!

By the time Mary broke her alabaster box and emptied the very expensive perfume on Jesus, Jesus told everyone present that what she did would never be forgotten. Brothers and sisters, you won't need to be begging God every now and then to remember you and your family if you are wise enough to do something for Him that will touch His heart! Oh hallelujah! Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!!

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

The Salvation Of Your Loved Ones

Spirit & Life Devotional
Saturday, 15 October 2016

The Salvation Of Your Loved Ones

"For I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’" Luke 16:28 NKJV

The destiny of everyone who dies without Christ is eternal damnation. Let me state it clearly; they will spend eternity in the Lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Listen, you cannot be genuinely saved and be unconcerned about the salvation of your loved ones. The mere fact that they are loved ones means that you would do everything necessary to ensure that they do not perish. To watch them perish is proof that you do not love them!

Our loved ones will not go to hell in Jesus name. But it's not enough to pray for them, we must preach the gospel of salvation to them and intercede earnestly for them until everyone of them is saved. Brothers and sisters, the time is short; we must do what we've got to do now with a sense of urgency. God is not willing that anyone should perish; neither should we.

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

Saturday 6 August 2016

You Are Not Useless!

Spirit & Life Devotional
Saturday, 6 August 2016

You Are Not Useless!

"Who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me." Philemon 1:11 NKJV

Has anyone ever told you that you are useless? Have you been told that you are a mistake, that you are of no value where you are, and that you are a jerk? Brothers and sisters, they lied to you, do not believe such words about you!

Unfortunately, sometimes it's your spouse who makes you feel worthless; they treat you badly, talk to you rudely and look down on you; for some, it's your parents and siblings who should show you love. I don't care what others think about you, only two opinions about you are important: what God thinks about you and what you think about yourself!

Listen to me: in Christ you are as good as anyone else! Even if you were "useless" before, you are not anymore! In case you didn't know, the Bible says that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise; He chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised He has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are! Know it today that you are very valuable and soon it shall be said about you, that the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; it is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes! Hallelujah!

Prophetic Declaration:
I am who God says I am. I reject every satanic lie about who I am: I am somebody special!

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

Friday 5 August 2016

Your Money And You

Spirit & Life Devotional
Friday, 5 August 2016

Your Money And You

"Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Psalms 49:6‭-‬7 NKJV

The problem with a lot of us is that we put our trust in money. You notice that you feel confident when you have a reasonable sum of money in your bank account; it's like you are secure. The truth is that it is a false sense of security. For some it's possessions; having lots of assets makes them feel safe: Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke 12:15

Don't get to the point where money becomes everything to you. Money should never be your sole or primary motivation in life. The truth is that it is wrong for us as believers to be crazy about money or anything else of this world, and it's time we told ourselves the truth. Many of us have been trying for years to serve two masters; and some find it hard to give, even to the poor, because it will seem as if a part of them is dying. What a shame.

Paul wrote to Timothy: "Give this command to those who are rich with the things of this world. Tell them not to be proud. Tell them to hope in God, not their money. Money cannot be trusted, but God takes care of us richly. He gives us everything to enjoy. Tell those who are rich to do good—to be rich in good works. And tell them they should be happy to give and ready to share. By doing this, they will be saving up a treasure for themselves. And that treasure will be a strong foundation on which their future life will be built. They will be able to have the life that is true life." 1 Timothy 6:17‭-‬19

Prophetic Declaration:
I declare today that my hope is in God alone. From today I am rich in good works, happy to give and ready to share. I am a blessing to my world.

Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim
Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56

Thursday 4 August 2016

Dreams Journal

Dreams

A) God wants us to dream

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17

B) Good and bad dreams

Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his Lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there  is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”
Genesis 40:5‭-‬13‭, ‬16‭-‬19 NKJV

C) Train your mind to think right thoughts

"For a dream comes through much activity..." Ecclesiastes 5:3

D) Acceptable Dreams

1) Dreams of a bright future

Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
Genesis 37:5‭-‬9 NKJV

2) Dreams of ideas

“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
Genesis 31:10‭-‬12 NKJV

3) Dreams of victory

And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To  my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
Judges 7:13‭-‬15 NKJV

4) Dreams of Divine Direction

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Matthew 2:13 NKJV

5) Dreams of divine visitation

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it  is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how  to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord , offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
I Kings 3:5‭-‬15 NKJV

Prayer: Lord, from today, I am dreaming only acceptable dreams in the name of Jesus. I bring my mind in subjection to the word of God, I think only good and righteous thoughts in the name of Jesus. Satan get out of my mind in the name of Jesus! Satan stop messing with my mind in the name of Jesus!