Alive In Christ

#SpiritAndLifeDevotional 
Wednesday, August 5
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

Alive In Christ

1 John 4.9 "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." You want to know how terrible Satan really is? Study what he did to Job: in one day, Job who was one of the wealthiest men in his generation, lost everything! In just a day, Satan destroyed his oxen, his sheep, his camels, his servants, killed his children, and later took his health! That's how mean Satan really is! But, glory to God! Jesus came that we might live to the full! He came, not just to restore what was stolen, He gives us brand new life! Hallelujah!

Romans 6.23 says that the wages of sin is death. So while we were sinners, it was okay to experience death in any area of our lives. But if any man be in Christ, old things have passed away! It means that death has passed away! Come on! Nothing should be dead anymore! Your health, your finances, your relationships, your body, your business, career, etc, ought to be alive! Ephesians 2.1 says, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins!" The life in your spirit ought to invigorate every other area of your life!

I am alive in Christ! I disallow death in my life! Just as Jesus said, Satan has nothing in me! Everything pertaining to me is alive! I have life in abundance! Yes! Glory to God! Be healed in the name of Jesus! Be delivered in the name of Jesus! Rise up and walk in the name of Jesus! Your health is revived, your businesses, your joy, your financial condition are being revived now, in the name of Jesus! Amen!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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You Are Coming Out

#SpiritAndLifeDevotional 
Tuesday, August 4
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

You Are Coming Out

Acts 5.19-20. "But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 'Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

Many signs and wonders were being done through the hands of the apostles; believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes gathered from the surrounding cities, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Then the high priest and Sadducees rose up, and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in prison.

You see, when you're small, average, doing nothing significant, no one cares, they may not even notice you. But when big things begin to happen, when they notice that you've got a great destiny, then they begin to come after you, they try to extinguish your fire and stop your momentum. But they will fail in Jesus name!

The apostles were put in prison, but at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out. Hallelujah! Maybe you're in some kind of prison right now; it could be an unpleasant situation; a precarious condition; maybe you have been limited in some way; I've got good news for you, God has given His angels charge over you; you are coming out, in the name of Jesus! They were brought out at night: those that put them in prison were asleep; they could not stop them from coming out. Nothing will stop you from coming out, in Jesus name. Say Amen!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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Doing His Will With Joy

#SpiritAndLifeDevotional 
Monday, August 3
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

Doing His Will With Joy

Psalm 40.8 "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.”

"A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go."

Thank God that the first one went eventually. Thank God that he regretted his previous action. What's your response to the will of God? What's your reaction to His will? How swift are you in doing the will of God? What's your attitude to the word of God that you hear? David said he delighted to do the will of God. He took joy in doing God's will; he was always happy to do His will.

Jesus said His food was doing the will of God for His life. That's how passionate and committed He was to doing the will of God. What if doing the will of God was really food, would you be full or hungry? Some of us are always busy; I just hope we're busy doing, not our own will or the things we want to do, but His. Know God's will for your life and for your daily living; know God's will concerning everything you're involved in; decide today to always do His will; do it with joy! Hallelujah!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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On Tithing: A MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH

On Tithing  (6)

A MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH 
(TIME TO CHANGE)
Sunday, August 2
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

There's an interesting story in the Bible, in 1 Samuel 30. Ziklag, the town where David and his men resided, was attacked in their absence. The town was burned with fire; and their wives and children were captured. David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?' And He answered him, 'Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.' David and six hundred of his men set out to recover their families and property: but by the time they got to Brook Besor, two hundred of them were so tired that they couldn't continue in the chase. The other four hundred went with David, and as God had told David, they recovered all that was stolen from them.

Then there was a problem: after their victory, the two hundred men who were tired and stayed back at the Brook went forth to meet David and the people that were with him, and David saluted them. Quickly, some of the men who went to war said, "Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart." David said, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

The Bible called those who made the suggestion not to give anything to the two hundred men "wicked men and men of Belial". I dare say that some of us in the Church of Jesus Christ have been acting like those "wicked men and men of Belial" by denying certain members of their churches recommendations, privileges and positions because of what they give and do not give. It is so wrong, even though it has been done for quite a long time. Many ministers don't realize the damage we have done to the faith of a lot of people because of our greed and lust for money. The time for the reformation of the Church is now!

I've written and published articles on tithing in the past few days, and I encourage you to read them; let me conclude with these words,

Don't use tithes to determine a person's membership of a church

Don't use tithes to determine if a person qualifies for assistance by the church

Don't use tithes to determine if a person qualifies for leadership

Don't keep records of people's tithes for the wrong reasons.

Don't judge and condemn people who don't tithe.

Don't lie to people that they will go to hell if they don't tithe

Don't tell people that they will experience financial hardships if they don't tithe

Don't accord special privileges to people who pay tithes

Don't call God's children thieves.

Don't promise people miracles if they pay tithes. Jesus, the Apostles and even prophets in the Old Testament didn't do that. Miracles can never be bought or paid for. People in Bible days didn't pay tithes in order to receive miracles from God.

Stop praying special prayers for those who tithe. God is not partial.

Stop calling God's children cursed. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law!

Stop compelling people to give anything.

Stop manipulating people

Be loving.

Teach the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God.

Don't be ignorant of the truth.

Some people have no business opening churches but they have done so because of their desire to receive tithes, especially. May God have mercy on us all.

Amen!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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Hope Beyond This Life

#SpiritAndLifeDevotional 
Sunday, August 2
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

Hope Beyond This Life

1 Thessalonians 4.18 "Therefore comfort one another with these words."

The Early Church used to pray for the early return of Christ (unlike some of us today who don't want Him back yet); they used the word, Maranatha, meaning, "Come, Lord Jesus". It was more than a greeting, it was an expression of hope, a desire within them to be with the Lord, and a constant reminder too, that the Lord was going to return to take them to forever be with Him.

1 Corinthians 15.19 says that "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." But we have hope beyond this life! We know that whether we die before the second coming of Christ, or whether we are still here by the time He comes, we would be united with Him Who we love and adore. And that's why even when we lose our loved ones in Christ, we do not mourn as though they are gone forever, we know it's only a temporal separation, therefore, we are comforted and are hopeful.

1 Thessalonians 4.16-17 says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." That's exciting! That we someday, soon, we shall always be with the Lord! Hallelujah!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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DON'T LEARN TITHING FROM JACOB

On Tithing  (5)

DON'T LEARN TITHING FROM JACOB 
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

SELECTIVE PERCEPTION/SIGHT

Genesis 28.20-22 "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

Selective perception is the tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that causes emotional discomfort and contradicts our prior beliefs. A lot of people have this problem. You know, the tithe is mostly monetary today, and you know the power of money - so when people read the Bible about tithes, because it's money, they don't notice other important details in the Bible.

Notice this when you read Genesis 28:20-22, Jacob said that the Lord would be His God only if He kept and provided for Him. Jacob was obviously an unbeliever as at the time he made that statement. That statement was made the same time and under the same circumstances as with his vow to tithe. Why don't people notice that? Selective sight!

CONDITIONAL WORSHIP, CONDITIONAL WORSHIP, CONDITIONAL LOVE

Here's the point that we are slow to understand, especially when we use this story of Jacob to teach about tithing: Should serving God be conditional? Should giving to God be conditional? Jacob spent over twenty years with Laban, assuming he eventually fulfilled his vow, it means he paid tithes only once in about twenty years.

You see, we don't decide to serve God or to give to Him because of whatever He gives to us. Because He has actually given us, and done everything for us! By sending Jesus to die for us, God took care of our protection, prosperity, salvation, deliverance, healing, and every other thing, once and for all! Jesus said, "It is finished!"

In 2 Corinthians 8.1-5, Paul said about the Macedonians, "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."

Unlike Jacob who was going to serve God and give a tithe to God if God protected and provided for him, the Macedonians gave and were willing to give even more despite the fact that they were paupers. And notice again, that they were not giving just a certain percentage of their earnings, but "according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability".

WHAT GOD CARES ABOUT

I pray you catch this truth! In the New Testament, God is not worried about whether we're giving Him a tenth; instead He's looking at the heart with which we give to Him, according to our abilities. 2 Corinthians 9.7 says, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."

GIVING IN MEASURES

Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38

It's both English and mathematics: according to the words of Jesus, if we limit our giving to a tenth, then we'll receive tenfold blessings! Right? Paul said, "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." That's true, you'd reap according to the measures you sow.

GIVING WITH A RIGHT ATTITUDE

But despite that, God is not particular about the measures we give, He said, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart." You choose in the New Testament what you want to give to God, and as long as it's with a right attitude, God will accept it. Give to God knowing that He "is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

Hallelujah!

Twitter: @PastorChinae
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No Need To Worry

#SpiritAndLifeDevotional 
Saturday, August 1
Chinaemerem Joshua Ibezim

No Need To Worry

Someone asked, "Can someone just be worried but you don't know the reason, you are just bothered, what does that person do?"

Jesus said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things." There are people like Martha, they worry themselves about a lot of issues, including those that don't even concern them! They are just too nice, they want everything to go as planned, they want everything to be in place and ready on time, they just want to be sure that there are no issues whatsoever. The problem with them though, is that they often get in the driver's seat when God should be the one in control.

There's another set of people, the fearful ones. Their own worry is a result of fear: they worry about losing their jobs, losing their lives, losing their health, losing their family, losing their business, etc. These people should stop watching the news! The bad news affects them: the news about the economy, the security situation, the condition of infrastructures, and so on.

Then there's this last set of people; they've got little or nothing, they are paid poorly, and yet there are so many bills; these set of people are not sure of the next meal, yet they have dependants; they fear falling sick, because there's no means of taking care of themselves if they do.

Brothers and sisters, whatever your situation, I assure you that there's no need to worry! There's no reason at all for you to be anxious about anything! Why? Because you have a Father who cares for you! Know His love for you and the extent of His power. He's an ever present help in time of need! He knows what you need, and He is willing and able to supply them all!

Welcome to August! We hereby declare it to be a worry free month! You will see God at work in your life, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Twitter: @PastorChinae
PIN:568E2E56