CHILDLIKE FAITH

Hello friends!! It's been quite a while. So sorry for the long break. Guess what? Am back! And with a bang!! Miss you all.

I will like to start out with this very inspirational story on faith. Childlike faith. Just read patiently! It's worth your time.
Isaiah 65:24 :- “Before they call, I will answer.”

This is a testimony written  by a doctor who worked in Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.
 
Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates).  “And it is our last hot water  bottle!” she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.  They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

“All right,”  I said,  “put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.”

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten -year-old  girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.  “Please, God” she prayed, “Send us a hot water bottle today.  It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.”

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, “And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?”

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say “Amen?” I just did not believe that God could do this.

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.  Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put  in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly.  Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I  felt the.....could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried.  I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, “If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!”

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!  Looking up at me, she asked, “Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?”

“Of course,” I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.

And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it “that afternoon.”

“Before they call, I will answer.” (Isaiah 65:24)

When you receive this, say a prayer. That's all I ask. No strings attached. Then just send it on to whomever you want to – but do send it on.
  Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another.
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SWITCH TO THE PRAISE MODE

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TEXT: ACTS 16: 16 - 26

Around this time last year, a four year old girl was wheeled into the theater for brain surgery. She was such a cute little sweet girl with a glorious future. Before then I have been praying for her healing intensely. The parents and other believers in Christ all held on to God in faith for her healing as well. She was such a great burden to me to the extent that I had acute headache all through the time she was being operated upon.

She was wheeled in around 2 pm and the waiting game started. Two hours passed then four, eight, ten and we are still counting. The wait was harrowing and agonizing. Then I became very worried. I had earlier on given her name to my Choir (Healing Streams of God) for special prayers towards the surgery. So while the time kept ticking away and no news came from the theatre, I became very worried. I sent another panic message to the married women wing of my choir, telling them how scared and worried I have been because of the surgery that has taken practically the whole day. Then a sister, inspired by God gave me a word which changed my entire system. She said, “switch to the praise mode sister.” That for me was the key. The key that liberated me from the fear that held me captive for several hours. So I switched and gave God quality praise. She was finally wheeled out of the theater after about 14 hours, hale and hearty to the glory of God and the shame of the devil.

What is holding you captive? What do you do when you are down and out emotionally, exhausted and worn out with life’s challenges and difficulties, when you are faced with seemingly impossible situations? Switch to the praise mode!!! And you will see the salvation of the Lord like Paul and Silas did. Your situation cannot be greater than God.  Remember the song that says “…..God is greater than every mountain I can or cannot see?” Do not let the devil rob you of your joy. God thrives in an atmosphere of faith and joy. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12: 3 NKJV). However, the devil functions to his maximum capacity in an atmosphere of fear, gloom and doom. The choice is yours. Create a conducive atmosphere for God to intervene in your issues by SWITCHING TO THE PRAISE MODE. You need joy to draw your desires from God. As I minister to you, I minister to myself. Peace!!!

STRATEGIZE

    The Isrealites were about to go into war with their brothers the Benjaminites because of the terrible atrocity committed in the tribe. (Judges 19) But before they did that they asked for God's approval. God gave them the go ahead but surprisingly they lost the battle against the Benjaminites. Twice God told them to battle and twice they lost gallantly to the Benjaminites. Totally devastated each time they lose a battle they come back to God and God continued giving them d go ahead to battle until the 3rd day. But why did God continue giving the Israelites the go ahead to battle with the tribe of Benjamin and they continue to loose d battle. Is d fact dat God gave them a go ahead not enough for them to win?  I guess it is not enough.

But something happened on the 3rd day. The Israelites did something different that day. THEY STRATEGIZED. What does it mean to strategize? It means to map out a plan of action to achieve a desired result. They must have thought that though God has promised them victory they also have a part to play. Even with their strategy it looks as if they were losing. The Benjaminites have started rejoicing that they will wipe them again like before. But after a while the game changed. The Israelite started defeating their enemies. That was how they finally won the battle using God's promises and their strategy.

Brethren in the same vein God has promised us Victory in this battle of life through Jesus Christ His son, . Why are we still experiencing defeat? Why does it look like our enemy the devil is having the upper hand? Could it be because of our lack of strategy? Are you failing in that business because you lack a plan? Before God, your plan is as important as His promises. Both of them must go paripersu before we can be truly victorious. Map a plan for your success today. You already have His go ahead. As I minister to you, I minister to myself. We will succeed ijn. Amen.

WORD FOR THE WEEK

 

Hello friends!!!

This is the word of God for you this week. Embrace it and confess it throughout the week.

This week the glory of the Lord will be revealed in your life and everyone will see it in Jesus mighty name.

Have a terrific week!

TESTIMONY OF HEALING: ADEOLA ADEMILUYI

While I was on the write up, Overcoming Through Prophecy, after lunch precisely I noticed some pains in my body. I disregarded the pain and continued writing. By the time I was through the pain had spread all over my body from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet. Acute pain all over. It was unbearable. I suspected malaria and thought of going to the hospital. Then I remembered the article I just wrote and decided to believe God. I had my bath and I started

shivering. The pains increasing. I thought of using a pain reliever and I remembered my article again and decided to trust God and practise what I just preached. It was not easy but I was determined. So whenever I feel the pain I confess Isaiah 53:5 and command the pain to go to hell reminding it of the finished work of Christ on the cross. I must have done that for over a hundred times before I started getting a little bit relieved. So I slept.

By the time I woke up the next day, i noticed my mouth was bitter. All the pains I felt the day before had disappeared and concentrated on my stomach. So all the pains I felt now was in my tummy. I continued confessing "it is finished, by His stripes I am healed" but there was no difference. Then I thought of the communion. I took the communion just when I was about to have breakfast and after some minutes the pains totally disappeared without using any drug not even a pain reliever just the word and communion. I bless the name of the Lord because His word cannot be broken. Praise the Lord!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!.

OVERCOMING THROUGH PROPHECY

pastorjesufigueroa

My transition from December 2015 to January 2016 was very rough. It was full of unpleasant situations which I had in successions. I became completely overwhelmed.  Not discouraged, thanks to the teaching of Rev. Sam earlier in the year which had adequately prepared me and taught me what to do in tough times and to some wonderful friends who kept encouraging and checking up on me. But I must confess that there is a thin line between overwhelming situations and discouragement because the devil is always around the corner, behind our ears whispering how God had failed us, flagging and displaying all those unpleasant situations we are passing through as evidences of God's unfaithfulness. He is always there taunting and reminding us that God had not paid off.  Anyone who have had this experience will agree with me that it is not easy fighting to hold on to God's faithfulness inspite of all the unfavorable situations around.

Well, this was the state I was in when God in His infinite grace and mercy led me to Ezekiel 37:1-10. Let's take a journey through it together.

Hopeless situation
Ezekiel 37:1-3

God led Ezekiel in the spirit to a valley which was full of bones. Valleys signifies a low and a hidden place where nobody sees us. Dry bones on the other hand signifies all the hopeless and unpleasant experiences of our lives. This was the type of situation prophet Ezekiel found himself, completely hopeless case. The bones were not only dry but in a valley.  How hopeless can this case be. Some of us are in such hopeless state right now where there seems to be no way out. We are like prophet Ezekiel who cannot boldly say whether the dry bones could live again even after God asked him. We do not want to doubt the power of God and at the same time too uncertain to believe our situations have any solution. So we console ourselves by answering like Ezekiel did: "O Lord God you know,"  Ezekiel 37:3b NKJV

Prophesy 
Ezekiel 37:4-10

With this story of the dry bones I have come to learn that before God there is no hopeless situation. All of our difficult situations can be turned around to testimonies if we can PROPHESY!!!!!! God is omnipotent and He wants to be involved in our lives if we can open our mouth and prophesy. He said to Ezekiel in verse 4: "prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, o ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." Let's take a closer look at this particular verse.

1. God's Instruction: 

God Instructed Ezekiel to prophesy if he wants to see the dry bones come alive again. If we must see results in our lives we too must hid God's instruction to Prophesy!!!! Prophecy simply means saying what God had said or is saying regarding any situation of our lives. This has to do with opening our mouths and speaking directly to that situation. Do you know that your tongue carries power? Proverbs 18:21 says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereoff." Just as God created the world with His words, you can also create your world with your words. That is how powerful your tongue is. Will you draw life with it or death? The choice is completely yours. Jesus also encouraged us to speak to our mountains. It is time to start speaking out. It is time to look at our mountains and difficult situations in the face and prophesy!! Remember it is an instruction from God Almighty.

Have you taken out time to hear God’s instruction regarding your difficult situation? God’s instruction to Ezekiel was to prophesy. What instruction is God giving you. It might be to make a phone call to someone, it might be to visit someone, it might be to sow a seed towards a project or fast and pray. Whatever the case may be, take time to listen to God’s instruction and obey it.

2. Dry Bones Can Hear: 

By now I believe we all know what I mean by dry bones. Am happy to let you know that our difficult situations can HEAR!!!!! If not God would not have told Ezekiel to say to the dry bones: "O ye dry bones H-E-A-R the word of the Lord" verse  4 Everything in life can hear because everything was created by the WORD from the very beginning. Every miracles Jesus did in His time here on earth, were through the word. Remember how He spoke to the storm, raised Lazarus from the dead, opened the deaf ears and blind eyes? We can go on and on. So stop murmuring, stop complaining and announcing your predicament to the whole world. Instead look at those problems and prophesy!!! They can HEAR!!

3. Speak the Word: 

John 1:1 says: " In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God". The only language our mountains and difficult situations understands is the WORD OF GOD.  And if God is the word as written in John 1:1, then it only implies that only God can move our mountains. And just as God needed Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones, God also needs us to prophesy and speak His word to our situations. Why did God not speak to the dry bones Himself? Or can’t he? Of course He can, but He won’t. Having completed the work of creation, He gave us the mandate to continue. If you will ever see any new thing or miracle in your life, you have to create it by your words. Just like He did in the beginning.

This is not as easy as it sounds because to speak the word of God effectively you must have access to the word and to have access to the word you must be born again. Meaning that you must have accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour. That's the first step. The next step is to locate all the verses of the scriptures relating to the situations you are passing through. You need to write them out and begin to confront your situations with them. 

For example if you are battling with sickness and diseases, you can start to confess Isaiah 53:5 to the sickness. For financial difficulties, you can confess 2corinthians 8:9. Locate the relevant scripture verses pertaining to your situation. If you believe and confess these scriptures religiously, consistently and in faith coupled with a holy life, before you know it you will begin to see results and all those mountains will move into the sea in Jesus name. God will always honor His word. You will see results just like Ezekiel did in verses 7-10. Any time you feel the pain, confess the word. Anytime you are in a fix financially, confess the word. Now it does not matter how many times you do this, just do it all the time you face any obstacle or feel any pain, do it until you see result. DON'T GIVE UP!! PROPHESY!!! However this has to be backed up with a life of Holiness and complete obedience to His word.

I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that as you put all these into practise, there will be a noise and a shaking. Dry bones will begin to come together, bone to bone in Jesus mighty name. Sinews, flesh and skin will cover them and the Zoe breath of God will make them come alive again and they shall become an exceeding great army in the mighty name of Jesus. Remain blessed in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Shalom.

WORD FOR THE WEEK