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Bible & Prayer Nuggets 0602

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HANDLING CHILDREN

 

Excerpts from a sermon on GENTLENESS

DATE: 31st May 2009

Church: Champions Pariah, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Edmonton, AB Canada 

Minister: Joseph Agbi

 

Bible Nugget 0602 [Psalm 18:36; Hosea 11:1-4]

 

 36Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

 

Children are precious gift and blessing from God. Abraham was blessed with the birth of Isaac; Isaac was blessed with the birth of Jacob and Esau; and Jacob was blessed with 12 sons and a daughter.  The bible calls children heritage from God. Psalm 127:3

3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

 4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

 5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

 

Our focus today is how do you handle children whom God has blessed you with. We will draw our reference with the way God handles his children. Is God tyrannical towards his children? No. He created us in his image so can bring pleasure to him. David acknowledging God’s gentle character said in Psalm 18:36 that God’s gentleness elevated him from a nobody to somebody. We need to be gentle towards others, even if they do not deserve our gentleness because that is God’s character and it is programmed into our heart and  since he measures our heart by his heartometer he put in the inside of us, he expects the heart to be gentle towards all men just as he is gentle. Any thing the word of God says we should do it is because God has done it before and he knows  that we can do it too.

 

Peter asking Jesus said, how many times should a man offend me before I run out of patience or my barometer of forgiveness becomes empty and stop forgiving that person. Is it 7 times? Jesus said not 7 times but until 70×7 (490). That is a lot of counting. You either lose count or confuse the offences, so it is not even worth trying to count, that is what Jesus is saying. You can count offences of people easily. I find that when I try to do this at home against my wife after 3 offences I begin to confuse the offences or she reminds me that was on another occasion, so I stop even trying to count. From this it appears my threshold is 3 offences. But it is better to forgive the first time, because we are told in scriptures not to allow the sun to go down before your anger cools off.

 

God’s character towards man is an embodiment of gentleness. He showed this towards Israel despite their persistent rebellion.  Hosea 11:1-4

 

1When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

 2As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

 3I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

 4I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

 

How does a father treat a son? v 4 gives us the answer. Shower him with love.

 

Or what is the best tactic to lead a rebellious child to his senses, be gentle towards that child. Tell him to reason with you just as God told Isearl to reason with him. He said come and let us reason together “although your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, although they as red as crimson, they shall be as wool [Isaiah 1:18].

 

v2 shows the height of provocation. Imagine the mighty deliverance.

 

In v1, the sojourn in Egypt was compared to chronological age of a person. God covenanted with Abraham for a seed, conceived in the womb of Isaac, delivered as a baby in the person of Jacob, sojourned in Egypt as a child (in innocence, Hosea 1 v1], grew in adolescence sojourning  in the wilderness for 40 years offending God, God forgiving them, offending God again and God forgiving them. Then when they became fully grown, they rebelled completely and started serving other gods and God allowed them to receive punishment by allowing their enemies to rule over them. Yet, he continued to show mercy by sending judges, kings, prophets both major and minor and so on and so on until the fullness of time when he sent Jesus and Israel continues to enjoy God’s mercy, and when they rejected Jesus as their messiah, they became “cut off” so that we can be grafted into the covenant blessings of Abraham too.  His continued mercy towards Israel and towards any child of his for that matter is for a divine purpose, marked in God’s agenda with set date.

 

God’s word says “know that God’s continued goodness (or gentleness) is for that person to have an opportunity to repent.

 

Rom 2:4

4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

 

Rom 11:22

22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

 

Even till now Israel continue to enjoy the goodness and gentleness of God because God’s continued goodness will eventually lead them to repentance and accept Christ as their Saviour.

 

Hosea 3:5 

5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

 

So the best way to bring a rebellious child to his senses is to continue to show him love, gentleness and goodness, because he will ultimately come to his senses, before which he periodically reaps a variety of punishment for his action.

 

Prayer Points 0602

  1. Father Lord, thank you for your gentleness towards me. I will not take your love for granted in the mighty name of Jesus.
  2. Oh Lord let your gentleness distinguish me in the land after the order of Isaac in the land of the Philistines and David to all Israel in Jesus Name.
  3.  Oh Lord, mold in my heart the character of Gentleness towards my children; my spouse; the brethren and as many people you bring my way in Jesus Name.

Bible & Prayer Nugget 0601

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God’s “Heartometer” in Man

Excerpts from a sermon on GENTLENESS

DATE: 31st May 2009

Church: Champions Pariah, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Edmonton, AB Canada 

Minister: Joseph Agbi

 

Bible Nugget 0601 [Ezekiel 11:19]

 

19And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

 

 

The world has become so scientific that a lot of things are measured by instruments. For example, in a good auto diagnostic centre they you could be told how much life is left of your car engine. By using instruments you can tell whether the engine is brand new or it is so bad that it is at the verge of “knocking” or completing breaking down. Similarly, meteorologist measures atmospheric pressure by a barometer, a doctor measures blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer [simply called blood pressure monitor].  These are all in the physical world we live in.

           

In the spiritual, the gauge for measuring how much divine life is inside a man is the heart. God measures how good the heart he put in man is by the level of good things that heart generates. God’s measures “good” and “evil” by a standard heart, or new heart he put in man [the perfect heart or what in a term the Holy Spirit ministered to me called the “heartometer”].  If it generates good things such as the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace gentleness being some of them, that heart is performing well. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees said in Matt 12:34b-35

 

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.     

 

Everybody has the capacity to receive a new heart from God. A perfect heart like the one in Adam and Eve before the fall in the garden of Eden. Every good gift and perfect gift comes from God and the heart is one great gift because the spirit of God makes a clean heart his dwelling place.

 

Ezekiel 36:26-27

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

 

When you become born again, you receive this regenerated heart created for righteousness as said in the book of Ezekiel

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Even after making a decision to follow Christ, you need to continue to make that heart to produce good and not evil. To do this you need to walk in the spirit [or following the leading of  the Holy Spirit]. In fact, the Holy Spirit is there to help you succeed and live a victorious Christian life. The malfunctioning heartometer begins to function and receive signals from the Holy Spirit. You begin to want to please God by making good choices and not bad choices. When we walk in the spirit, we will not walk in the flesh. You life begin to produce the fruit as you become more mature and become more sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. You begin to bear the fruit of the spirit. It begins to ripen. People begin to see you and see Christ.  All these because your heartometer is producing good and not evil.

 

Prayer Points 0601

 

Pray the following prayers meaningfully and with all seriousness.

  1. Oh Lord, lead me in your path of righteousness. Let my heart be a place where you Holy Spirit loves to reside. Fellowship with me in your spirit and power in Jesus name.
  2. Lord Jesus, Let your overpowering light overpower me just as it did the apostle Paul on the way to Damascus and he never remained the same again in Jesus Name.
  3. Holy Spirit, make my heart to churn out tons of good things. Evil will not dwell in my heart and I will not compromise with evil things or evil men in the name of Jesus.
  4. Oh Lord, let the blessedness of the man who walks in the counsel of the godly be mine today in Jesus Name.

Bible & Prayer Nuggets 0505

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The winning Team (I)

 

Bible Nugget 0505 [1 Corinthians 15:58]

 

1 Corinthians 15: 58

“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

 

Team sport is very interesting. A team sport requires every member of the team to contribute their quota for the team to perform. If any member is not giving his best on the field, the team’s performance goes down and the team may even lose the match. Sometimes, the team members may be excellent players, but the coach is very lousy. That team is likely to lose as many matches in a row as there are team members because the coach will give conflicting instructions to the team members before the big games. However, a very good coach will see and exploit the talent of each member of the team for successes. He changes one tactic (by tapping on the talent of a team member) and puts the opponent team in disarray. That one tactical change may make all the difference. This is common in soccer where the goal margin at the end of a game is 1-0. The match could have been so close that if you stopped watching as a neutral spectator at the 89th minute and left the stadium or went to bed thinking the match was over you would wish you saw the deciding goal live.

 

The coach of a Christian is Christ. He is not just any type of coach. He is a perfect coach. He coaches you to success and victory only. No losing game when Christ is your coach. He knows the tactics of the opposing team – the enemy (that is, the devil and his works). He has a clear plan against the other opponent coach, Satan.  John 10:10 reads:

 

10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 

Because Jesus is the best of coaches, victory is guaranteed.  However, you and I have a part to play our parts to continue as winners to the end. The scripture says …. be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work [1 Corinthians 15:58]. The problem is not with the coach because Coach Jesus is perfect. The problem is with you and me. How much effort (or labour as v 58 says) do you put into the kingdom to see the kingdom of God grow. Be a tireless worker for the kingdom.

 

Daniel 12:3

3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

 

Proverbs 11:30

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

 

Be a soul winner. Be wise.

 

Prayer Points 0505

  1. I receive the spirit of an over comer in the mighty name of Jesus Name.
  2. I am a victor. I refuse to be vanquished. I enforce my victory in Christ over all the works of the enemy in Jesus Name.
  3. Oh Lord, grant me your divine wisdom. Help me to be a soul winner. Grant me the grace to work tireless in your vineyard in Jesus Name.

Bible & Prayer Nuggets 0503

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A Mother’s Love

 

Bible Nugget 0503 [Exodus 2:1-10, KJV]

1And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

 2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

 3And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

 4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

 5And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.

 6And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.

 7Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

 8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

 9And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.

 10And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

 

In today’s message let us reflect on how a mother’s love protects a defenseless child in the face of great odds and danger. A mother’s love will want the best for the child right from infancy. When Moses was born he was a proper child. Our focus today is to look at how such a great potential as a child could have been destroyed by a senseless decree of a king. The mother saw him, loved him and wanted to protect him. She must have prayed how do I protect this beautiful child. She probably saw the hidden treasure of a great man of God hidden in this little child. God gave her wisdom to beat the enemy in his own game. He deposited a time bomb right in the palace itself. Pharaoh’s daughter became the mother of Moses by adoption. Through this Moses, learnt all the acts of Egypt. Thee seed of and thirst for the true God continued to germinate in his heart. At the fullness of time, he came to himself and refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter anymore. All these because of the love of a mother who had a vision for her child. As you ponder over you child or children from day to day, trust God put your faith in him. His word says his love is stronger than the love of a woman for a child.

 

Isaiah 49:15

15Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.   

 

Notice the bible uses the word woman instead of mother in this comparison. The love of a mother is even stronger for a child, than just a woman and a child. A woman has to be bonded to the child to be a mother. To the teenage woman or any woman wishing to have a child: are you ready to be a mother to a child if God blesses you with a child. Are you ready to love and protect that God given blessing against all the odd’s the child will face without your help? To the mother, continue to commit your children to God. and God will lift them up as you do this.

Hannah was another mother in the bible who compassionately cared for her child. Having been blessed with his birth because she was barren, she saw to it that the child did not live a wayward life. The child also became a firebrand man of God because of the dutiful, prayerful character of Hannah.

1 Sam 2:18-21

18But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.

 19Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

 20And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.

 21And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

  To the fathers, thank God for being a parent. You too have a responsibility to the proper upbringing of your child but we will hear a sermon on that another day.  

 

PRAYER POINTS

Pray the following prayers aggressively:

1.   O God, thank you for making me a parent. Thank you for my child(ren). Show them your mercy all the days of their lives in Jesus Name.

 2. Oh Lord, make my children treasures in your household. Let them be a blessing to their generation in Jesus Name.

3.  Lord, let your love surround me. Let my soul continue to search for you even as a weaned child in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bible & Prayer Nugget 0409

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WISDOM SERIES: WISDOM OF THE CROSS (I)

 

Excerpts from a sermon on “Wisdom of the Cross”

 

DATE: October 05 2008

Church: Champions Pariah, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Edmonton, AB Canada 

Minister: Joseph Agbi

 

 

Bible Nugget 0409 [2 Corinthians 5:19]

 

 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

 

Today we begin a very important series, the foundation on which this gospel outreach is based. It is called the wisdom of the cross. Something outstanding had to happen for God to turn rebellious man back to himself. One thing that can be compared in minuscule proportion to this glorious divine act is what is commonly called ‘miracle’. Jesus rebuking the Pharisees, and scorners who came to his meetings said except you see a miracle, you will not believe. So he performed one for them to see. Some believed, and some did not.

 

We will start from the basics and then build up the sermon.

 

What is Wisdom?

 

Wisdom is defined as knowledge guided by understanding.

 

Connection of Wisdom to Power and Authority

If you have power and authority and you are not wise, you can lose the power and authority in a moment of time. Examples are

•         Monarchical Power: A king who does not rule by wisdom soon loses the respect of his people. They begin to disobey him in their words or action.

•         Moral & Spiritual Power: For example, Men of God who fall into sin.

 

Wisdom and knowledge of God Described

•          The wisdom of God described in one sentence. 

It is deep, rich, unsearchable and past finding out.

 

Rom 11:33

 

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

 

The Fall of Man

 

•         God’s love for us never ends. He created us to have fellowship with him.

•         He values man as his most precious creation. Because man was created in the image of  God [Gen 1v26].

•         Man trespassed in the garden of Eden

•          Adam fell and lost the glory God asked Adam “where are you”.

God could not accept the sin of Adam for two reasons.

  1. Man was made in the Image of God, and God gave him authority over his creation Gen 1:26

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 

  1. God’s eyes are pure, he does not behold iniquity. [Hab 1: 13]

 13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

 

God’s Redemptive Plan Jump Started at Eden

 

•          God’s battle with the enemy of our souls is like a general who goes to war and will not accept defeat when the enemy comes for a raid and the enemy gains temporary victory. An example was when David’s camp was raided by the enemy.

 

1 Sam 30 v 1-3

 

 1And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

 2And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

 3So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

 

David’s love for his family and his soldiers families drove them to arise from distress, seek God’s face and take the battle to the gates of the enemy.

 Similarly, the world is the kingdom of the enemy and God is fighting through the death of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to reclaim or reconcile us who are domiciled in the world back to himself. That is what our nugget scripture is making us to understand.

 

 

 

God jump started redemption right from the day man fell. Adam and eve covered themselves with fig leaves [the foolishness of man’s devised religion] but God said that is not enough to restore my glory. He covered man with animal skin, having shed the blood of animal because the without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin. God has made provision for your salvation. Accept Jesus today if you have not done so.

 

 Prayer Points 0409

Prayer of Salvation: Oh Lord thank you for including me in your redemptive plan. I ask for your mercy. I accept I am a sinner. I ask for the blood of Jesus to wash my heart clean. Lord Jesus come into my heart. Holy Spirit dwell in my heart. I will not go back to my sins or allow the devil to be my master. I will walk with you Lord. Light my path daily and make me heavenly conscious all the days of my life in Jesus Name. Thank you for not allowing me to die in my sins. Thank you for reconciling me back to yourself in Jesus Name.

 

If you are already saved, thank God for your salvation and pray these two prayer points.

  1. Lord fill me inside with your wisdom. Make my heart to be intimate with your Holy Spirit. Lead me through all the battles I encounter in this world in the mighty name of Jesus.
  2. Oh Lord, let me carry your full image, spirit, soul and body. I will walk in your glory and your power you have covered me with in the mighty Name of Jesus.

 

 

Bible & Prayer Nuggets 0407

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The Righteous is Blessed

 

Bible Nugget 0407 [Psalm 1 v 1 Amplified]

 

1BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

 

Rejoice because the promise of God is to bless you as you walk with him in righteousness and true holiness. You shall be the envy of all who do not know or wish to serve our loving heavenly Father. Wait on the Lord and see what he will do in your life. He will send blessing of salvation, healing, deliverance, spiritual and material prosperity abundantly upon you.  He will not delay. He is always on time. When the wicked are saying there is casting down, continue to say there is lifting up. Be blessed today in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

Prayer Nugget 0407

1.      Oh LORD, remember your covenant of blessing on anyone who calls on you with a true heart of righteousness and holiness. Rain down your blessing upon my life in Jesus Name.

2.       LORD, fill the field of my life with the dew of heaven. Let your river of blessing flow into every department of my life in Jesus Name. Amen.