Thriving Words

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against   principalities, against powers, against   the rulers of   the darkness of this age, against spiritual   hosts   of wickedness in the heavenly   places. - Ephesians 6:12 One of the most vital scriptures when it comes to the Christian warfare can be found in Ephesians Chapter 6.  Paul explained the type of warfare we are into. Knowing the type of fighting you are fighting is one of the requirements for victory. Many folks today fights the wrong battle, pray the wrong prayers and even apply the wrong weapon. The battles of a believer are not carnal, they are spiritual in nature. A believer who rather than fights spiritual fights physical will always be Lose. Our fights is against the devil and his cohorts. They are the real enemy we must faced. What the devil does is to use human agents against us and it will be very wrong if we are focused on fighting humans beings because the devil will simply find another p

Last post was about extensional blessings, how people get blessed simply because they are close to someone who walks with God, so they too get a part of the overwhelming blessings of God. But do you know that one can also be cursed simply because of association or relationship with wrong people.  When the wall of Jericho was pulled down by the Israelites on their way to Cannanland, Joshua placed a course saying such a person will lose his first and last born. (Joshua 6:26). And guess what? Surely the man who indeed rebuild Jericho lost his first born at the starting and his last horn at the finishing. (1 Kings 16:34) Curses are powerful. Sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of these things. The children of Hiel (the man that rebuild Jericho) just happen to be the crossfire victims. Their dad rebuilt the wall, but they were the ones that suffered it. The same thing also happened with Achan - the man that brought trouble upon the whole nation of Isreal simpl

"..for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake." Genesis 30:27 The words in the above verse was spoken by Laban to Jacob. He recognize the presence of God in the life of Jacob and by extension his own live. Also in the house of Potipah, the presence of God was on Joseph and by extension, the house of Potipah was blessed. " From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph...." Genesis 39:5. Do you know God can bless you and others close to you simply because they are close to you? The blessing if God usually rub off on the lives of those who are close to you. The blessings of God are not usually what you alone will contain, it will always spill over. God will bless your place of work simply because you worked there, God will favour your class simply because of you. God will bless your family simply because of you. It was

There is this story in the Holy Bible about a guy named Samson, He was born a warrior to defeat the enemies of his country. He did that pretty well until he went off the track. He fell in love with a lady named Delilah whom he couldn’t resist. She was his downfall. ( Judges 13-16) Samson was destined to be great but unfortunately he ended his life on a poor note. God always have something great for us but the moment we step out of His line and will for us, we will be destroyed. The prodigal son would have been destroyed as well had he not returned back. To someone reading this, are you running on your own or you are doing what God want you to do.? You are never better off without God.  Until God intervened in Abraham’s life, his existence was meaningless and not impactful.  Each and everyone of us have our Delilah’s, It represent those who seek our downfall knowing or unknowingly, they could be our friends, habits, jobs, desires etc. What profit a man if he gains

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yours elves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 CSB I will be honest; I have lived a large part of my life not really being selfish but being self-Centre. How? I obviously do consider others but mainly after I have considered myself. I look out for myself first before others. It kinda makes sense. I strongly believe you’ve got to take care of yourself first before thinking of others, at least God blesses us so that after being blessed, we can bless others. So it’s not the first part that bothers me, it’s the second: in humility regard others as better than yourselves. And what I find hard about this second part is precisely what I found valuable about the first: I don’t know if you can love others well if you don’t love yourself. I don’t know, that is, whether you can treat others as wo

“ You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I’ll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I’m looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity. And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God to no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.” Philippians 4:15-20 MSG In his final chapter of his epistle to the church in Philippa, Paul acknowledge the consistent giving f

I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everybody We've all heard you can't please everybody, and that you shouldn't try to be all things to all people, but have we ever thought about linking failure to trying to please everybody? When I read this quote, it rang true on a few levels. One, is you can't ever please everybody. Also, when trying to create something that pleases everyone… that's not only impossible, but often is the recipe for a terrible product, blog, whatever that something is. So instead of trying to create a blog that has something for everyone, that pleases “everyone” stop for a second. At what cost is it to your blog's brand? Your mission? Your purpose for blogging in the first place? It's ok to please a few as opposed to the masses, you just might find it'll be easier to please yourself that way. You do NOT try to please everybody. Successful Folks are OK with being disliked by mo

      When we look at the story of Elijah’s flight and subsequent prayer for death, we wonder at his sudden reversal from power and boldness to fear and panic. It is startling to think of someone so strong as Elijah frightened away by the threat of Jezebel. He had just had a “mountaintop experience” in defeating the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Fire had descended from heaven, the people of Israel acknowledged the Lord, and the false prophets were all put to death. But that experience was followed by an episode of fear and failure in Elijah’s life: the prophet was afraid and ran for his life from Queen Jezebel. One who have thought Elijah will in same manner he dealt with the sons of Baal dealt with Jezebel but that was not the case. He literally ran away. Elijah represents many believers today and Jezebel represent challenges they faced. Elijah ran away when he heard Jezebel is practically killing the other believers at that time and he even thought he was the only one l

Imagine:  A group of brethren deserted me on campus because i started wearing eye glasses. A pastor saw me on jean trousers and queried: "If you wear jean trousers, then what do you teach others?" A pastor started wearing eye glasses recently,then another pastor started accusing him of having joined a secret cult. A brother came inbox to counsel me against losing my salvation,just because he realized i loved football. I heard a great preacher recently speaking against perming her, and using of iPad to preach.  ....................................................................... Learn to deal with your sentiments; What you don't like or what you don't do might not necessarily be wrong. Your sentiments are lines of preference and disgust occasioned by your person,background and exposure. Its got nothing to do with scriptures. Trust me,if you grow a little,you will change your mind. Be careful not to attempt to impose your sentiments

Welcome to the new millennium, when we are provided constant opportunities online to voice our opinions and slay any opposition. But what happens when our beliefs and opinions are challenged? We prepare for defense, we prepare for verbal retaliation. And when we do this, we ultimately disregard Christ’s commandment to love one another. As believers, we are put in a position to influence those around us. The power of our words can be used to build up or tear down. Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us that there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. But when? How? To discern the difference between knowing when to speak or be silent, we need to humbly seek the Lord through prayer, immerse ourselves in Scripture, and ask for his wisdom and discernment. When Is Silence Best and Blessed? Naturally, when we are not opening our mouths, we are more inclined to open our ears – whether toward others or toward God. We are forced into self-reflection and obedience in our silence, whi

God made you on purpose to make a difference. God doesn't make mistakes, and He created you intentionally and purposefully to do good. Paul writes, "for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" ( Ephesians 2:1 0 ).  There’s a deeper longing within us than just the desire for a purposeful and fulfilling occupation. Christians are also searching for God’s will for their lives because we believe that God should have something to say about our futures. We think the choice of a job is not fully up to us. But what if God never tells us what he wants us to do? What are we supposed to do if God seems eerily silent whenever we ask him to tell us what he wants for our lives? God is not playing hide-and-seek with His plans for you. He desires for you to know and fulfill His purpose for your life.  No matter what God is calling you to do, His plan is always best and His plan always leads to your

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. - James 1 : 2 -3 The path of life is not an easy path to walk.  Life is filled with all kinds of trials and temptations.  You have probably heard the saying, “when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade!”  Throughout the Bible there are people who have turned: Defeat into victory Trial into triumph They were, Victors instead of victims – temptation on the outside.  Do you want to turn your trials into triumphs?  Then we must obey four imperatives: count    (1:2)         -a joyful attitude know    (1:3)         -an understanding mind let         (1:4, 9-11) -a surrendered will ask       (1:5-8)      -a heart that wants to believe Jesus warned His disciples “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  Paul told his converts that “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of

It’s the start of a new week! As much as many people do not like Mondays, being the day when you have to go back to work and the day that signals the end of the weekend, it is the day that may set the tone for how your week will be. This is why everyone should love Mondays. It gives you a chance to start again. If the previous week was terrible for you in one way or the other, this is the time for you to change that. Relax over the weekend. Go out. Have fun. Prepare for the coming week. Monday should be your day to get up with a positive attitude an focus on your tasks for the week.  It is important to note that one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day. Smile. Think of something (or someone) that makes you happy. Let out a little smile. You will find yourself feeling better. We hope this will help you stay positive all through the week. It may get really hard but your positive attitude will go a long way in getting you through those tough ti