PASTOR DARE OLATUNDE (Exhortation)
I KINGS 19:11-13
“11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”
Today, men have substituted the voice of the prophets for the voice of God. There is surely a place for the ministry gifts but they must never take the place of God. The voice of God is discernible by all. It has been discovered that people only want to hear the voice of God when they want to get married. However, it is often too late because they never paid attention to God’s voice in the little things of life.How does the voice of God sound? The voice of God usually interjects our second by second activities. So, we have to be very sensitive so that we don’t miss out on divine instructions. We must train ourselves in hearing God’s voice even if we make mistakes along the line. If we don’t faint in trying, we will surely get to the place where we get to hear God’s voice accurately.
PASTOR BOLA BELLO
The work of ministry is not for the ministry gifts alone. They are to equip the saints to carry on the work. Every believer is a child of God; no one is a grandchild of God. We all have access to God in the New Testament. Jesus is the only mediator between God and us, not any man, no matter how anointed he is.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF GOD
GENESIS 27:32,33; 1:21,22,28; 24:35,36; HEBREWS 5:7;
Esau wept because his brother Jacob supplanted him. He wept for a blessing beyond material possessions. There are temporal blessings and there is the Eternal Blessing. There is a Blessing that God has called us into that is intangible. As a result of the intangibleness of the Blessing, we often rate ourselves below how God sees us. It is easier to consider ourselves blessed when we have ephemeral and ethereal things. Abraham was great not because he had flocks and all that. Initially, he was not blessed in spite of his great possessions. He came to a place where he was actually blessed of God later on (Genesis 22:16-18). When Jacob reunited with Esau, they were both rich in material possessions but it was clear that Jacob was the carrier of the blessing of God that was passed down from Abraham. We must realize that there is more to blessing than the amount that we have in our accounts.
ROMANS 4:6
“6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”
Material blessings apply to all irrespective of religion, tribe or background as far as the right principles of blessings in that realm are adhered to. However, the Blessing of the Bestowal of God’s Name on a man is an exclusive preserve of those who have a walk with God. The Benediction of God upon a man sets him apart from others and it has the capacity to produce, almost effortlessly, material things that the gentiles run after. Spiritual blessings, by default, engender material blessings.