Dearly Beloved,

SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NASU).

Honestly, I was not familiar with the hymn, SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART, until an elderly pastor sang it as solo in one of the chapel services of my office. The way the pastor sang it made me have interest in the hymn and its lyrics. The hymn was written by Rufus Henry McDaniel who…

Dearly Beloved,

DO YOU NEED TO ASK FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT?

“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:6-7 NIV).

Recently, one of my online contacts asked me whether one can ask for the Holy Spirit or not. Let me based my devotional message this week on this question and the answer I gave the…

Dearly Beloved,

DO NOT REJECT YOUR GOD!

"Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah..., therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River...” (Isaiah 8:6-7a NIV).

The kingdoms of Israel and Aram were waging war against the kingdom of Judah (see Isaiah 7:1). The Lord sent Prophet Isaiah to the people of Judah to give them the opportunity of trusting in Him for victory. However, the people of Judah under the…

Dearly Beloved,

WHO IS YOUR "GOD"?

"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him'" (Exodus 32:1 NIV).

"As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him" (2 Chronicles 13:10 NIV).

The nation of Israel that Moses led out of bondage in Egypt was…

Dearly Beloved,

MAKING FAILURE YOUR FRIEND

“When these troubles came to him, Manasseh begged for help from the Lord his God. He humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. Manasseh prayed to God and begged God to help him. The Lord heard his begging and felt sorry for him, so the Lord let him return to Jerusalem and to his throne. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was the true God” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13 ERV).

Undergoing leadership studies of EQUIP® founded by the…

Dearly Beloved,

WHAT WILL BE YOUR SCORE SHEET?

“[Jotham] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done” (2 Kings 15:34 NIV).

Recently, the theme of the morning devotional thought in my family was about following good examples of fathers as it was demonstrated by Uzziah and Jotham. Both of them were kings in Judah. The former was the father of the latter. In the early years of Uzziah as king, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,…

Dearly Beloved,

HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODY

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV).

In 1987, World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) to be observed every year on May 31 around the world intended to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco…

Dearly Beloved,

"WHERE DID IT FALL?"

“The man of God asked, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float” (2 Kings 6:6 NIV).

“The company of the prophets” (or theological students of Elisha) faced a problem of lack of space for their training, so they tried to find a way of solving the problem. They suggested that they should relocate to Jordan where they would have a lot of space. They thought they…

Dearly Beloved,

ARE YOU MINDFUL OF DEATH?

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26 NIV).

Honestly, I am not afraid of death. My favourite Bible verse has always been Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (NIV). However, as I was reading John 11:25-26 some weeks ago, I was struck with…

Dearly Beloved,

REPENTED, BUT…

"In [Manasseh's] distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God" (2 Chronicles 33:12-13 NIV).

"I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah…

Dearly Beloved,

MOTHERS DESERVE MORE HONOUR!

“A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman — who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls” (Proverbs 31:10 AMP).

Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in the society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March (in most European countries and especially…

Dearly Beloved,

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN VOICE

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV).

"Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you" (Philippians 3:17 NIV).

My one-year-old daughter has adopted his older brother's way of greeting. Instead of kneeling down (as the custom of girls and young women among the Yorubas), she likes to prostrate (as boys…

Dearly Beloved,

"IS IT TOO LATE?"

"The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, 'This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.' Then you will say in your heart, 'Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these--where have they come from?'" (Isaiah 49:20-21 NIV).

I was with my father in his farmhouse some years ago when he was telling me his life…

Dearly Beloved,

EVERYTHING?

"So they pulled their boats up on shore, left EVERYTHING and followed him" (Luke 5:11, NIV).

"But all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake. Not only those things; I reckon EVERYTHING as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown EVERYTHING away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ" (Philippians…

Dearly Beloved,

O JESUS, I HAVE PROMISED

“You are my portion, O Lord; I have promised to obey your words” (Psalm 119:57 NIV).

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’” (Luke 9:57 NIV).

“Mo ti seleri, Jesu” the Yoruba version of the hymn, “O Jesus, I Have Promised” was one of the hymns I loved when I was growing up as a teenager. I could sing off-hand almost all the lyrics of the hymn in Yoruba. It is a hymn of…

Dearly Beloved,

DO YOU RECOGNIZE HIM?

“‘Woman," [Jesus] said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, [Mary Magdalene] said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him’” (John 20:15 NIV).

This year Easter season has come and gone, but many lessons are to be learnt from the events that surrounded the season. One of the lessons has to do with Mary Magdalene. Here was a woman that once…

Dearly Beloved,

JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE!

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (Revelation 1:18 NIV).

I once saw a sticker on a vehicle that reads thus: "If your God is crucified, try Allah." I laughed to yourself and pitied the originator of such idea. Apparently it refers to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but the originator of the idea and those that are promoting it do not know that the…

Dearly Beloved,

ARE YOU GROWING SPIRITUALLY?  (Part 3)

“…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).

Spiritual growth entails knowing the Lord Jesus Christ progressively better. This process starts after accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Spiritual growth is therefore expected from every believer because no believer reaches a point of no growth while living in this world.

There are many things that a…

Dearly Beloved,

ARE YOU GROWING SPIRITUALLY? (Part 2)

“…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).

It is a pity that the contemporary Christianity is no longer emphasizing spiritual growth. Our emphases have been shifted from spirituality to religiosity and materialism. Many Christians no longer want to grow in God; they rather want to work for God and expect God in turn to bless them materially. No wonder, many so-called…

Dearly Beloved,

ARE YOU GROWING SPIRITUALLY?

“…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).

Growth is very essential to any living being or organization. Nobody would want to remain stagnant where he/she was last year. Also, no one would want his/her child to refuse to grow. We all want to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, materially and in other ramifications. This should be applicable also to our spiritual…