Author Archives: God's Favourite House
God Speaks Through Stories
‘Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables’ Matt.13:34
The benchmark for sacrifice is not the value of the money you have given. Rather it is what you have to give up in order to give that amount of money. At the beginning of the year 2012 I struggled with paying my first fruit. Well this might surprise some of you because I occupy the office of a pastor. But the truth is that pastors too struggle with giving especially when they have bills that are high. Well a lady walked into my office, gave me her first fruit, and told me the sacrifice she went through to give that money. And I knew that God Read the rest of this entry
Equal Sacrifice; Not Equal Giving
‘Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind as a special offering to the Lord’ Ex.35:22.
For some a financial sacrifice would mean ten thousand naira. For some other it would mean ten million naira. And for some still it would mean a hundred million naira. In my opinion, the people who usually miss it the most are the people whose sacrifice is ten thousand naira because they usually believe they do not have enough to give. When the Lord drops things in my heart that I do not understand, I ruminate over it in His presence. Equal sacrifice but not equal giving was one of such themes I had to ruminate on before Read the rest of this entry
Sacrificial Seed
‘Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions’ Mark 12:42-43.
The third thing you have to do to prepare for a miracle is give God your sacrificial seed. The owners of the donkey could have said ‘who is the Lord that I should obey Him’. The widow of Zarephath could have asked the same question after all it was her own food. ‘Who is the Lord, is He the one that provided it? If He is God why did He have to make us suffer?’ And the little boy could in his childish attitude say ‘who is Jesus that I should give him my lunch box?’
Un-communicated Demands II
‘For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: there will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!’ 1Kings 17:14.
The story is told of a church that was raising funds for their land. They had a member who was on welfare and so they did not want to ask her for anything. Yet the pastor understood that it is God’s work so he decided to approach her for a contribution. After all, if all she gave was a dollar God will bless her for it. When he asked the woman, she said she had been waiting to see if anyone would ask her to sow. So she told the pastor to wait and she went home and brought shares of IBM worth up to nine million dollars. She said she has Read the rest of this entry
Un-communicated Demands I
‘Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you’ 1Kings 17:9
Sometimes God does what I choose to call un-communicated demands of heaven. Take note because in your walk with God you will encounter this. There are certain things that heaven is demanding for from you now that heaven has not even communicated to you. In other words, you are totally unaware of these things. In my walk with God, I keep checking for the things that God requires of me and I have not even discerned that God requires them of me? In 1 Kings 17:1-16, God said to Elijah the brook Cherith has dried up, leave Read the rest of this entry
Jesus Needs Your Lunch!
‘Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it… He also divided the fish for everyone to share’ Mark 6:41
‘Where is this boy?’ This is the first thought that runs through her mind as she glances out the window at the setting sun. And then as though to answer her question, she sees her little boy skipping playfully up the road. ‘Yet who are these men carrying baskets behind him and where is his lunch box?’ So she washes the soap off her hands and heads out the door to get answers to the questions on her mind. The little boy comes running toward his mother as usual but even he cannot help noticing that her hug is not as long and snugly Read the rest of this entry
Go And Find Out
‘How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish’ Mark 6:38.
After focusing on God and not the problem, the next thing we need to do to prepare for a miracle is to assess what I already have to work with. Jesus puts it this way ‘Go and find out’. For a lot of us Jesus is saying bring the donkey, I need the donkey. And we are asking what donkey, where is the donkey? The disciples probably had the same question on their minds. But before they could ask, Jesus said ‘go and find out’. What is before you? The next thing you need to do is find out what we have. Don’t be quick to say nothing, Read the rest of this entry
Focus On The Maker
‘But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!’ Mark 6:37
The first thing we have to do to prepare for a miracle is focus on what God can do and not how difficult or impossible the problem appears. ‘But Jesus said, “You feed them’; in other words Jesus was saying obviously you cannot feed them in your strength or with the resources you have. Jesus was saying to them look to God to feed them. The truth is you cannot focus on your blessings and your problems at the same time. You can’t focus on God’s promises for you and the devil’s promises for you at the same time. God’s promise is Read the rest of this entry
God Is Not Surprised
‘Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.’ Mark 6:34.
It is important to note that it was not when the disciples encountered a problem that Jesus began to look for a solution. ‘But Jesus said, “You feed them’. Another version of this same scripture says Jesus said this to test them. It is important for us as Christians to know that it is not when we are faced with a challenge that God starts to think about a solution. In fact the challenges that you and I are facing today are not taking God unawares. God is not surprised. The truth is that God already has the solution even before we encounter Read the rest of this entry
Don’t Be Afraid! Don’t Be Dismayed!
‘Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’ Deut.1:21
What do you do when God has done what only Him can do? When He has made a provision that there is no way you could have had that kind of resource available and then He serves you the ball? Meaning the next move is yours right? What would you do? ‘Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it…’ Deut.1:21[KJV]. It seems God’s pattern is to set a land before His people and instruct them to go and possess it. In other words, the ball is in your court. Then the next thing God says, as represented in Read the rest of this entry
