Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”

Most people don’t have respect or value for little things. Nonetheless, truth, fact and wisdom shows that little things matter greatly in life. Most often than not, the occurrence of any great thing is embedded in something little. For instance, all humans are born small, but they grow up to become adults and some even become giants. Trees are sown as seeds, and they later turn up to be great in the forest. These two examples, clearly tells why little things can’t be despised.

The nature of “little things” makes people overlook them in life. This is why some little things, especially wrong things, when left unchecked has the power to destroy big things in life. You see, most of the times you don’t have to do something big or “great” to destroy something awesome in life. All you have to do is just something “small”.

Life experience will teach you that, sometimes you just need one act of carelessness, one idle word, one negative comment and one wrong act to destroy something big and good in life.

Meaningful relationships, like marriages, ministry alliances, business associations, that has been built over years can go down in just a second because of “small things”.  In fact, small things have brought ministries, marriages, friendships to a “surprise” end

Solomon puts it this way “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards…” (Song of Solomon 2:15). You must know that, it is not the supposedly big things that you have your in mind that might be destroying something in your life, ministry, marriage or education. It may be something “small” left unchecked.

What wrong little thing are you tolerating in your life? Don’t be deceived that because it is not something big it is not a problem. Give it time, and you will see its devastating effect.

Don’t wait for something little to destroy something big, deal with it. Is it about not being punctual, too much talking, overspending, anger, being quick tempered, or disrespect? Deal with it

Read: Ecclesiastes 10:1,“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

It is God’s desire that you bear fruit as a Christian. In fact, much fruit. You increase your value and become an asset when you are fruitful.

Just as a tree when planted goes through many phases till it gets to the fruit bearing stage, God expects our Christian life to be so.

You see, fruitlessness is of no use or benefit. The Bible records a parable of a man who ordered his fig-tree to be cut off because the tree failed to bring forth fruits even though it was time for it.

Luke 13:7 says “So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'”

As a Christian, God has invested so much in you that you can’t choose to remain unfruitful. You must bear fruit at all cost. Your life as child of God can only influence and impart others when you bear much fruit.

Don’t remain a Christian with nothing to show for it. Your life, your character, your faith, love and purity must be one of a kind. These are the fruits you must bear as a Christian.

Another area you must be fruitful in is in soul winning. You must endeavor to reach out to the unsaved and get them born again. You must not only limit your Christian faith to church attendance. Go beyond that and become an asset to the kingdom.

Bear awesome fruits. The Bible says, you will be known by the fruits you bear.

Read: John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Ephesians 4:1-2 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering forbearing one another in love”

The word vocation is the same word translated as calling. It implies a new relationship or task. The Christian life is a calling. This calling brings us into fellowship with God and one another. Every born-again believer has been given such calling and is expected that you “walk worthy of it”. People who do not see their calling as a great thing never make any progress with it.

Ephesians 4:1-2 says, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering forbearing one another in love”. This calling is to be treated with some awe. That is why every Christian must live a life of dignity and virtue.

You see, if you would walk worthy of your call then the virtues of meekness, longsuffering and forbearance should not be neglected. Without these virtues your Christian walk will be worthless. These virtues must be the lenses through which you see life.

For instance, lowliness is what makes us conscious of our own nothingness and enables us to esteem others better than ourselves. “Meekness” or “gentleness” is what makes a person keep his power under control, instead of blowing up at the smallest problem. The virtue of longsuffering enables you to tolerate the shortcomings, blunders and frailties of others. Not only that, you are also able to bear with one another in love.

You must draw from these virtues constantly as you relate with people.

Yes, it is a fact that some will look down on you while others may take you for granted in the process but you must let these virtues speak.

Anytime these forces are at work, pride, arrogance, hatred, anger, impatience are conquered. Today the body of Christ suffers because many believing folks have ignored these virtues.

But master the act of humility, longsuffering, lowliness and forbearance. These virtues will make you win in life and pleasing to God.

Read: Ephesians 4:1, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,”

Proverbs 9:9 “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.”

Real life experience always reveals that people can either learn the easy way or in a hard way.

Learning the easy way simply means getting things done by following the wisdom that had produced results. It also means hearkening to instructions and directions to get “somewhere” without troubles. On the other hand, learning the hard way involves suffering unnecessarily by doing something without following a reasonable and timely instruction given.

Nonetheless, there are some people who always want to learn the hard way. They tend to end up in life’s school of “hard knocks”. Such people find themselves in challenging and serious hardships which they could have avoided by listening to a godly and wise advice.

You see, no matter who you are, you can put yourself in a tight corner if you don’t easily follow instructions. Sometimes it is better to learn by having knowledge imparted to you than to learn from a bad experience. 

For instance, you must not be diagnosed of an incurable disease just because you allowed your feelings to send you on a pleasure fair in sexual immorality before you learn to stay holy. This is nothing but a hard way to learn.

In fact, if there is anything to do to help yourself in life, avoid going to the school of “hard knocks”

Some bad and hard experiences will only steal your joy and kill you at the end of the day.

Hearken to a godly counsel and stop living like you know it all. That is nothing than pride. The bible says that “lean not on your own understanding”. Break the spirit of pride and foolishness that may want to control you from following wise counsel

Read: Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Hebrews 12:14 “Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord”

There is nothing comparable to peace. In fact, it is one thing that has no substitute. Its either you have peace or you don’t have it. There’s no middle ground. God is a God of peace and He wants us to be no different. Hebrews 13:20 says “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the again says “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Ephesians 2:14 says “he is our peace“…

As a Christian you must be an epitome of peace wherever you find yourself. To be a person of peace means that, you don’t create situations that leads to conflict, misunderstanding, fights, and disharmony. It also involves being a unifier and not a sower of troubles amongst people.

Hebrews 12:14 says “continually pursue peace with everyone…”. Meaning that, you must make it an everyday and every time activity to walk and live in peace with people.

For instance, your dealings with people must not be characterized by quarrels, resentments and grudges. Not only that, the Bible enjoins Christians to pursue peace. That’s making peace a priority. You must do everything and anything in your means to let it happen.

You see, until you make peace a priority you can’t enjoy it. Every relationship you have with people must be upheld with this truth.

Never do anything to jeopardize the peace you have. Allow the love of God and the wisdom of God to guide you as you go about your endeavors and peace will definitely manifest.

Read: Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God”

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life”

Just like spirits, words don’t die. This is the more reason Christians must be more cautious of the words they release when they talk. The nature and power of “words” makes it an important factor in life. This means that one can’t play with words and walk away.

It is by words that blessings and curses are released. This is to tell you the power of words.

There are four important things with which one can describe and understand words. First, words are vehicles. They transport or transmit faith or fear, love or hate, life or death. In Romans 10:17 the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Also Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”. Thus, any time you talk, you transport something or set something in motion spiritually. What have been transporting you all these years of your life? Is it faith or fear, love or hate, life or death?

In Mathew 12:36 the Bible says, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment”, thus men shall give account for every useless word they spoke, on the Day of Judgment.”

Secondly, words are seeds (Luke 8). Thus, just like any other seed, words when spoken get sown. It is just a matter of time and you will see the impact – whether negative or positive of the words you have spoken or keep speaking. Not only that, words because they are like seeds produce after their kind.

Thirdly, words are amplifiers. They amplify and reveal your thoughts. Words also amplify and reveal your character. Matthew 12:34 says “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. This is the more reason why you must not take for granted what people say.

Are you careless in talking? Do you make the wrong confessions about your life? Do you release words of doubt and hate? Well, no matter what you think, the spiritual nature of words can make your life bitter or better depending on what you say or don’t say.

Read: Proverbs 18:20-21 “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit”

Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”

Obedience simply means compliance with an order, instruction, request, or law. It also means submission to another’s authority or will.

When it comes to obedience, you can obey easily when the person to whom you must submit is around or has a direct supervisory role over you. Instances where you must obey an order or instruction of someone who is not physically present or directly going to oversee you is when your obedience is really tested.

Most people may pass the first test of obedience where they must obey an instruction from a leader, master, or a supervisor who is physically present. The second situation may be a challenge where only few can pass. Nonetheless, the Bible is admonishing us to be obedient in all situations.

You see, you must not wait for the person to whom you must obey to be present before you do that. That may equally be eye service. Nurture yourself beyond this level of attitude.

As a Christian, you must be disciplined enough, responsible enough, and wise enough to take heed to instruction, orders, and commands whether your instructor is present or not.

For instance, you don’t need your pastor to mount a surveillance on you before you live right or neither do you need your parents to monitor your going out and your coming in before you do what is right.

Learn to be obedient. Irrespective of what the situation may be like. That’s how to make progress in your endeavors.

Read: John 14:24, “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

John 14:1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you”

Man’s life on earth is transient. In fact, it is a journey. No one will be here forever. Some will sleep in the Lord and others too will die (because they didn’t know the Lord), whatever the case may be, man will definitely leave this world.

After this world, everyone will be faced with the realities of heaven and hell. How you lived in this world, what you believed, what you gave your life to will determine which of these two destinations will become your “home”.

On the other hand, going to heaven or making it to heaven is not by chance. It is something you must prepare for by accepting Jesus as Lord and saviour to begin with. The gospel of John calls it the born-again experience (John 3:3).

Preparing for heaven also involves living by the word or putting to death the activities of the flesh. Colossians 3:5-6 says “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience”

You see, you can’t live anyhow and expect to land in heaven. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Thus making it to heaven involves preparation. Prepare by being born again, prepare by living for the Lord, and prepare by working for the Lord.

Read: 1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God“

Looking back at the world of sin with interest or desires to be involved will enslave you. You must learn to put the world behind you and the Lord before you. We are only instructed to look up to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith and not the world. Many Christians are confused today because they are walking forward but looking back. Certainly, the backsliding and the non-achievements of these people won’t be a surprise. The call of God must let you let go of the past and journey into the new life.

This is why serving God and working for the Lord requires focus. Anyone who accepts the call to the new life, and to also do the work of ministry must be of a single heart despite the challenges that may come.

In Luke chapter 9, Jesus thought on the principle of focus or not looking back when it comes to following the Lord. When people look back in their quest to follow the Lord, it shows that their interest or passion is not fully in the Lord. It also means that, they have other things that they prefer or give priority to.

In the book of Numbers, we see this looking back syndrome amongst those who left Egypt to the promise land. The challenges they had in the wilderness made them look back to the so called “good moments they had whiles in Egypt”. In Numbers 11:5-6 some of them said “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.“

Again in Numbers 14:4 “they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” Their looking back, or having the past in mind never brought some of them to the promised land. They missed the greatest privilege to get into the promised land.

As Christians, we are no different from being tempted to look back. Challenges, and “seemingly good things” of the past can make you think that, looking back and going back is rather the way forward. Don’t be like lots wife who was glued to the things of Sodom and Gomorrah to the extent that she had to turn back and look at the collapse of worldlines to her ruin (Genesis 19:26)

Don’t retreat when it comes to following the Lord and serving in the ministry.

Read: Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul”

Luke 22:31-32 “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”

Hear it again that prayer secures your future. Life is not only physical or natural. There is a spiritual dimension. There are many happenstances beyond the control of man. It mainly takes prayer to have a secured future and not only by plans and talks.

Everyone anticipates a great future. This hope about positive outcome in the future makes people think that things will be better no matter what. In fact, some go the extreme by saying that since Jeremiah talks about the promise of God concerning the believers’ future irrespective of what they do, everything will be fine. See Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” But this is far from the truth. The promises of God must be laid hold on in prayer and constant confession.

Thus, saying the future will be great without praying about it will only end you with no results. You need to pray about the future- your future and how you want things to turn out to be in your life in the light of scriptures. This is how to have a great future.

There is a God side and a man side to every promise. God’s side is a done deal. But every person must take hold of all those promises and influence them with his prayer for them to materialize. Whether it is evil or good that is about to befall you in the future, your prayer is and will be the game changer. In Luke 22:31-32, we see how Jesus influenced Peter’s future by praying for him. Thus, the negative happening that was determined against Peter was averted.

In the same vein, you must also pray to bring to pass the promises of God concerning your life. Even though God promised deliverance for the Israelites after 70 years captivity in Babylon, they never enjoined it till Daniel prayed. So, although you are a victor in Christ your lack of prayer to change the events of life to your advantage will make you a victim. Since Satan is the god of this world, he uses his agents and other cohorts to impede God’s plans for the believer.

It is lack of prayer about the future that has made many believers frustrated because they have waited for a great future that never become possible.

Pray about your future because your prayer “brings down” and “shuts down” all satanic obstacles. Pray into your ministry, family, career, education, marriage and all that pertains to you. Remember the violence takes it by force what is rightly their own.

Read: John 16:24 “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete”