YOUR LAST DAY OF AFFLICTION

Exodus 12:41 says, “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.” Who said that it is late for your prayers to be answered? Who said that God cannot do anything about your situation anymore? Who said that you will have to enter the New Year with that pain and burden? Who said that the promises of God will no longer come to pass? That devil is a liar! I have a word of prophecy for someone; today is your last day of affliction! Today, you are coming out of your Egypt, in the name of Jesus! For many years, the Israelites suffered in Egypt, but the Scripture says that on the very last day of the four hundred and thirtieth year, God delivered them. Don’t know for how many years or months you've suffered that sickness or disease; don’t know for how long you've suffered as a result of the curse, don’t know for how long you've been oppressed and tormented, don’t know for how long you have been sad, sorrowful and worried, I have good news for you, it is expiring today! I speak life to your body, be free in the name of Jesus! I command the pains to go! You chains of oppression and infirmity, be broken, in the name of Jesus! By the reason of the anointing, I command those yokes to be broken now, in the name of Jesus! You evil spirits of pain, sickness and disabilities, I disallow your continued activities, let go in the name of Jesus! Thank You Lord Jesus for the victories and deliverance: glory to Your name forever! Amen. Follow @PastorChinae

2012 in pictures

THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH

Follow @PastorChinae “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.” Exodus 40:1-2. If you are familiar with the Scriptures, you’ll have noticed that God values the first things; He talks about giving Him firstfruits, firstborns, and so on. In this case, all the things needed for the setting up of the tabernacle were ready, but God asked Moses to wait for the first day of the first month before he set it up. That’s noteworthy. Not only was the tabernacle to be set up, Aaron and his sons were also anointed and clothed for their ministry on that same day. After all was done on that first day, “a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34. As we enter a new year, I suggest that you make good use of the first day of the year: let it be a special day between you and God. I need you to understand that you can determine how good and glorious your year will be by what you do on day one. Permit me to quote Abraham Lincoln: he said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Isn’t it wise for us to use the first day of the year to prepare for the remaining 364days of the year? I think it is. God will give some of us personal instructions on what to do: if you are a parent, gather your family together for prayers and prophecies. Commit your ways to the Lord, talk about the things you want to see and achieve, pray for your promotion, prosperity, protection and fulfilment of your purpose. If you are a businessman, pray for your business; pastors, pray for your ministry. Here’s what will happen: the glory of God will rise upon you, your strength will be renewed and your entire year shall be glorious!

FROM ‘NOTHING’ TO ‘TOO MUCH’

Let’s talk about God’s ability to meet our needs. If you’re like most people, you’re tired of not having enough, you’re tired of having to call people for money whenever you need to get anything done, you’re tired of having empty bank accounts, you’re tired of having today and not having tomorrow, and you’re tired of receiving some salary that cannot meet your needs. As it were, you've got nothing. The good news is that, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8. God is able to make you to always have all things in abundance. I’m not referring to your ability to make money, nor am I talking about the quality of your contacts, neither am I extolling your high financial IQ; I’m saying that God is able to take you from the place of nothing to the place of abundance where you have too much of everything. He has done it several times before, to people in every generation. Guess what, it’s your time! The blessing of the Lord makes rich: and I’m asking the Lord to bless you today. How old you are is irrelevant at this point, I've read stories of people who made their first millions in their teen years, they are people like you and me. If God could bless them, then He will bless you too! Psalm 72:18 says, “Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” He only does wondrous things; in other words, He doesn't do small things, He doesn't do insignificant things, He doesn't do unnoticeable things – only things that cause wonder and excitement! This time next year, you will testify of the wonders of God in your life! Amen. Follow @PastorChinae For enquiries and information, please send a mail to spiritandlifedevotional@gmail.com

THE LORD’S OFFERING

Before we go further, may I say that a truly saved Christian has no problem with giving; it is carnal men and women like Ananias and Sapphira who withhold things from God. Check yourself whenever you find yourself grumbling about giving to the Lord, you’ve most likely begun to fall in love with the things of the world. The believers of the Early Church sold their lands and houses and laid them at the feet of the apostles! That’s remarkable: something for you and me to seriously think about. God said to Moses, “Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD.” Exodus 35:5. Here’s how the people responded: verse 21 says, “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering.” Verse 29 says, “The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.” Why do people want God to speak to them first before they give to Him? Meanwhile, these same brethren won’t wait for God to speak to them before they pay their children’s school fees, build a new house, buy a new car, pay house rent and contribute to associations they belong to, or causes they believe in. If you consider those to be necessities, how about something God Himself wants done? Paul noted that the Philippians continually gave to him to meet his needs; they gave again and again even when no other church gave to him; they even gave to him when he was in Thessalonica, another land. What they gave him made him full; he called it, “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” That was when he said, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:15-19. Get this: If your willing offerings have not been going up as a sweet smell to heaven, don’t expect supply from heaven in time of your need! Follow @PastorChinae If you want the messages sent to your email daily, please send a mail to spiritandlifedevotional@gmail.com. Thank you.

GLORIOUS PEOPLE

As soon as I entered a friend’s room, while in the university, he said he saw the glory of God on me. At another time while at work, a woman told me she saw the glory of God on me. People of God, we are glorious people! For lack of words, I’ll say His glory is upon us, but it’s actually more than that, the glory is not just on us, it is who we are: we are glorious people. It might not be visible to the human eyes, but we are glorious: the disciples didn't see the glory of Christ until He was transfigured before them – His face shined as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light (Matthew 17:1-2). Moses was with God for forty days and forty nights receiving the words of the Old Covenant; all the time he was receiving those words, he was being “glorified”. The words he received so affected his physical body to the point that it shined. And he didn't even know – of course he won’t have known, since he had stayed in God’s glorious presence for quite a while (Exodus 34:27-35). If the words of the Old Testament had such tremendous impact on the human body, then we can imagine how great the glory of the New Testament is. Here’s what Apostle Paul said, “If the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:7-9. The glory we have is greater than that which Moses had. But amazingly, we haven’t even attained fullness of the glory! 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Hallelujah! The more you have fellowship with the Lord and His word, the more glorious you become, and by reason of that, darkness will flee from you effortlessly! Follow @PastorChinae

LESSONS OF CHRISTMAS

1. When God sought for a man, Jesus volunteered Himself. We should always be willing to work for God. 2. Jesus did nothing except the will of God. He said, "I come to do Your will O God." Stick to God's will for your life. 3. Jesus sacrificed the riches and glories of heaven when He came. How much we love will determine how much we sacrifice 4. Jesus was humble. Though being in the form of God, He took the form of a servant, and the likeness of men. Be humble. 5. Christmas is a proof of God's faithfulness. He never stopped loving us, even when we did. Be faithful to your spouse 6. God gave us His only begotten Son. There's nothing too big or precious that we should withhold from God whenever He needs it. 7. Christmas is a fulfilment of prophecies. God fulfils every word He says. If He says it believe it; it'll come to pass 8. God did this much for us even though we didn't deserve it. We should love one another even when they don't deserve it 9. It was us who sinned, yet God took the first step to save and forgive us. We should quickly forgive those who hurt us 10. Jesus' humble beginning didn't affect His future greatness. You may have been born poor, but you can still be great! Merry Christmas!!! Follow @PastorChinae

JESUS, GOD’S GLORY REVEALED

One day, Moses said to the Lord, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.” Exodus 33:18. Not many could have requested for it, Moses was a friend of God, and God spoke to him face to face as a man speaks to his friend. God granted Moses’ request – oh, what a rare opportunity that was! But as awesome as it was, God allowed Moses to see only His back, not all of His glory. But on one certain day, that which had never happened occurred on earth, God came to earth in human form! What a great day that was! Unto us was born God! John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14. What Moses begged for was offered to us! And that’s what Christmas is about: the revelation of God’s glory to man. Jesus was God in human body. Paul wrote, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” 1Timothy 3:12a. What an amazing thing it was to be with Jesus at that time: John couldn’t hide his feelings, he wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.” 1 John 1:1. Today, you and I are the most privileged people on earth! Because God lives in us! Jesus was born in the world so that He could from then on be reborn in our hearts. Awesome! God is in us today and you and I possess that glory that Moses earnestly desired to see! What a treasure we have in our jars of clay! Carrying the glory of God from place to place, and manifesting it to our world! I wish you all a Merry Christmas! This season, manifest the glory of God to your world. Follow @PastorChinae

WISDOM TO DO

Most of the church is acquainted with only wise words, wise quotes, wise sayings, and not the wisdom to do, or the wisdom to produce excellent and outstanding results. We take courses, attend seminars, understudy our colleagues but have never really asked God to fill us with His wisdom. There’s such a thing as the spirit of wisdom (Exodus 28:3), and it comes from God. We hear people talk about the difference between those who work hard and those who work smart. This is more than being smart; it is working with the wisdom of God. When God wanted Moses to get a job done, He asked Moses to call for those He had filled with the spirit of wisdom: the spirit of wisdom that was in them made them produce the very best results possible in their time. Joseph was filled with the spirit of wisdom, and by that spirit, he being just a man preserved the whole world for seven full years! Christians should be relevant in music, medicine, technology, science, management, politics, economics, education, agriculture, et cetera. We should be inventing and propounding mind blowing theories, we should be many times better than our peers! I think we’ve been talking too much: it is time to do! The world is looking for cures for many sicknesses and diseases; as well as solutions and new ways of doing things: guess what? It is time for the manifestation of the sons of God! You were born again to be a genius! The same God that made Solomon wise is our God! Follow @PastorChinae

TO BE HOLY IS TO BE GLORIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL BEFORE GOD

Start to talk about holiness, and some believers become scared and concerned. Why is it that everyone wants to re-define holiness? The truth is that Satan’s greatest fear is a bunch of holy brethren and he is doing all he can to ensure we do not understand it, and that we corrupt ourselves. On the other hand, there’s nothing more pleasing to God than seeing His holy kids. Truth is, when we are holy we are glorious and beautiful in the sight of God. God said to Moses, “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.” Exodus 28:2. May I speak to the unmarried for a moment: the most handsome brothers in the world are men who keep themselves from sin, and the most beautiful ladies are the daughters of God who have refused to stain their garments with sin and worldliness! You want to marry a truly beautiful sister or a handsome brother? Now you know whom to look for! When we worship the Lord, what truly gets His attention is our beauty that is a result of the radiation of His holiness and glory upon us. Psalm 29:2 says, “Give to the LORD the glory due to his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” The International Standard Version says, “Worship the LORD wearing holy attire.” That holy attire back in the Old Testament was called beautiful! That’s why God made us holy and wants us to remain holy. Every time we sin, we become people with scars and the glory disappears. What makes us truly special before God is holiness. That’s why He made us holy by the new birth when we believed. Here’s God’s word to someone today, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.” Ephesians 4:22-24 NLT. Follow @PastorChinae

DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS

God doesn’t send a man on an errand without instructing him on what to do. As simple as it sounds, it is very important. A brother met me for advice; he was beginning to doubt his calling and was getting discouraged. I asked him, “What exactly did God tell you when He called you?” When God asks you to do something, you won’t just “think” that He did, He will give you specific instructions. As we mature in the faith, we live by knowledge rather than assumptions. God is not an Author of confusion: He gives specific instructions about what He wants done and how He wants it done. The very first thing God did when He created man was to give him instructions (Genesis 1:28). Almost every page of the Bible is full of instructions, because that’s how God leads us. The Christian life is a life of obedience to instructions; how successful you will be in ministry or in your walk with God will depend on how well you obey His instructions. Noah received detailed instructions about building the Ark, Abraham received instructions to leave for a land that He would be shown, Moses received instructions about making the Tabernacle, when Jesus sent the disciples to preach He gave them power and instructions (Matthew 10), Peter was instructed to go to the house of Cornelius, and Paul was told, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Acts 9:6. The Bible is an instruction manual: when in doubt about anything study the Bible for instructions. By the way, to instruct means to furnish with information and directions. A man without information and directions is as a blind man walking around without a guide. Cheers.

THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING

When God was to pass through the land of Egypt to slay the firstborn sons, He asked the Israelites to strike the blood on the doorposts of their houses, so that He would pass over them when He saw the blood. Revelations 12:11 says, “And they overcame him (Satan, the accuser of the brethren) by the blood of the lamb.” Based on these two instances, many believers erroneously “plead the blood of Jesus” over their lives and their properties, hoping to overcome Satan and evil thereby. Brothers and sisters, it is wrong. May God grant us understanding of His word. Amen. According to Hebrews 12:24, when we believed, we came to the blood of the sprinkling, that speaks better things than the blood of Abel. As you may know, blood speaks and God hears it: Abel was murdered by his brother, Cain, and his blood cried for vengeance against Cain; and God heard it. Contrariwise, the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for us speaks peace, grace, mercy and many other good things for us. Hallelujah! Now, when we believe, something happens: we are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. This is similar to what Moses did to the Israelites (Exodus 24:8). Hebrews 10:22 says our hearts were sprinkled from an evil conscience. 1 Peter 1:2 says, we were “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ.” By the sprinkled blood of Jesus on us when we believed, we became the elect of God, and overcame Satan. In other words, we overcame Satan the very day we believed! Go back to Revelations 12:10 where we are told that Satan accuses us before God: he is just wasting his time! We are God’s elect, having been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus! Romans 8:33 says, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” Verse 37 says, “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Or, through Him that died for us and sprinkled us with His blood when we believed. Glory to God! That sprinkling was enough: Jesus doesn’t need to sprinkle us all the time. Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Verse 12 says that after He offered that one sacrifice, He sat down at the right hand of God. What it means is that everything about your protection, salvation, deliverance, healing, peace, sanctification, etc, have since been settled! It is a done deal! Do you understand? Satan is forever under our feet! Stop living in fear! Pleading the blood upon your life, your car, the road, your food, and so on is absolutely unnecessary because the blood was always on you since you believed!

HE HAS GIVEN HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU

I discovered some time ago that many people pray because they are afraid – Christians and Unbelievers alike. Some years ago, while I travelled with a luxurious bus, this big guy led prayers in the bus; you needed to have seen him pray all manner of prayers for protection, sweating profusely as he prayed; you would have thought he was a prayer warrior, until he quarrelled with another passenger in the course of the journey. The truth is that he was a very fearful man. I say only a little prayer when I’m travelling, whether I’m flying or going by road. To be sincere, sometimes, I pray just to fulfil all righteousness. Why? Because I live by knowledge! Here’s one of the truths I know: that God has given angels instructions about me! They are with me all the time to ensure my safety. I so believe it to the point that I do not believe in falling down physically; and they make sure I don’t. I can testify of many times I’ve been delivered. God said, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20. Psalm 91:9-12 says, “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” As you travel this period, going from place to place – to the village, to visit friends, to work, or market, or school; wherever – go with the knowledge that you are never alone. God has assigned some angels to you, and charged them with your safety. Believe it, relax, and have a safe journey! Cheers.