Dearly Beloved,

THE STRIFE IS O'ER

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15: 56-57 NIV).

The hymn “THE STRIFE IS O'ER” is often sung as an Easter hymn, and (in my part of the world) during burial services. This hymn reflects the victory that Jesus Christ has over the power of death. It also captures the triumphant joy of the His resurrection and the future…

Dearly Beloved,

THE TRIUMPHANT ENTRY: ANY SIGNIFICANCE?

(Text: Luke 19:28-40)

Palm Sunday, the annual celebration before Easter Sunday commemorates the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. The event happened on the first day of the Passion Week. The name "Palm Sunday" comes from John 12:13, "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna?'" (NIV). The celebration started around 3rd-4th century AD. However, does the event have…

Dearly Beloved,

"WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?"

"Then the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The LORD said, 'Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it" (Exodus 4:2-3 NIV).

Sometimes, we all feel inadequate, insufficient, incapable, unqualified and helpless to do something while in actual fact, the resources to do such thing are at our disposal. Moses found himself in a similar…

Dearly Beloved,

WOULD YOU ALSO REJECT HIS WILL?

"`This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.' Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, `Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly" (2 Kings 20:1-3 NIV).

King Hezekiah of Judah was unique out of the other kings of Judah. While…

Dearly Beloved,

YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ...I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them” (Ezekiel 34:2, 10…

Dearly Beloved,

BEWARE OF YOUR FRIENDS

"Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no-one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning" (Jeremiah 9:4-5 NIV).

The life of an average Jew in the time of Jeremiah was so deteriorated and corrupted that it was difficult to trust a fellow Jew. Each one was doing what seemed right in…

Dearly Beloved,

AN INTERRUPTING BLESSING

"While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. `Your daughter is dead,' they said. `Why bother the teacher any more?' Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, `Don't be afraid; just believe'" (Mark 5:35-36 NIV).

The story of the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead as recorded by two of the Gospel writers (Mark 5 and Luke 8) is a fascinating one. Jesus had just…

Dearly Beloved,

LIVE ABOVE BOARD

“Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right” (1 Samuel 12:3 NIV).

It really saddens me to hear the news about the conviction of David Yonggi Cho, the founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul,…

Dearly Beloved,

SEEK THE LORD NOT RELIGIOUS PLACES

“This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: ‘Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.’ Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it” (Amos 5: 4-6 NIV).

The Israelites loved religious activities.…

Dearly Beloved,

LOVE IS THE THEME

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1 NKJV).

Apart from serving for a decade as a general evangelist for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, USA in the 1910s and being a military chaplain in World War I, little was known about Albert C. Fisher (1886-1946), the hymn writer of the hymn titled “LOVE IS THE THEME.” However, his hymn is one of the inspiring hymns…

Dearly Beloved,

WHAT IS REAL LOVE?

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16 NIV).

Valentine’s Day (the annual celebration held on February 14 to commemorate love and affection between intimate companions) is around the corner. Traditionally, it is a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting gifts like flowers, and other gifts, sending greeting…

Dearly Beloved,

WHERE IS YOUR GOD?

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24 NKJV).

Ordinarily, a simple answer to the question “Where is God?” is God is in heaven. The psalmist confirmed this: “our God is in heaven” (Ps 115:3 NKJV. See also Psalm 2:4; 14:2; 18:13; 20:6; 33:13; 123:1). However, God is omnipresent and everywhere. This was what Jacob discovered on his way to Panda Aran when he was running away from Esau, his brother (see…

Dearly Beloved,

DO NOT BE A FOOL!

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1 NKJV).

There are some people who do not believe in the existence of God. They say there is no God. They are called atheists. The psalmist simply called such people fools. However, the psalmist’s explanation reveals that not only self-proclaimed atheists are making such claim that there is no God, even…

Dearly Beloved,

I had it in mind to base my message for this week on a particular theme, but the recent outcry against Nigerian government over the signing into law of anti-gay bill made me decide to resend the message below firstly sent out on November 12, 2011.

SODOMY: THERE IS NO OTHER WORD FOR IT

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural…

Dearly Beloved,

DO NOT SADDEN GOD!

“Behold, I am pressed under you and I will press you down in your place as a cart presses that is full of sheaves” (Amos 2:13 AMP).

Historically, God was so gracious to the people of Israel. A handful of people that went down to sojourn in Egypt became a great threatening nation to their hosts. God raised leaders in Moses, Aaron, Miriam and other prophets for the Israelites and brought them out of Egypt with many signs and wonders…

Dearly Beloved,

THE BLESSED ONE OF THE LORD

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of thewicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But hisdelight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV).

This year, as new year prayer, I was led to use Psalm 1:3…

Dearly Beloved,

OUR PRAYERS FOR YOU IN THE YEAR 2014

Praise the Lord for witnessing another year 2014!

As usual, Opeyemi (my wife) and our children (Boluwatife, IfeOluwa, Michael and Abraham) are joining me to welcome you into the New Year with these prophetic prayers adapted from Psalm 1:3 (AMP):

- The Lord will firmly establish you this new year and make you be like a tree planted by the streams of water;

- He will make your endeavours fruitful;

-…

Dearly Beloved,

LET’S TAKE A STOCK

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV).

It is the end of another year! The journey of another 365 days is about to come to an end. Just in few days, we will be in another year. Glory be to God! It is the usual practice of most companies to take stock of their activities for a financial year…

Dearly Beloved,

WHAT DOES THE CHRISTMAS MEAN TO YOU?

“[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 NIV).

One of the most celebrated seasons in the year is the Christmas season. The season is here again. Many people, especially the children, have been caught the “fever” of the season. There has been this controversy about the origin of season. Many are of the opinion that it…

Dearly Beloved,

LIVE A SELFLESS LIFE

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV).

The life and death of Nelson Rolihlahla…