RHEMA From Heaven

Fight the good fight of faith

1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses”

Every Christian has a fight to face. This is not a fight with fist or carnal ammunitions. Ephesians 6:12 says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.

This fight of the believer is a spiritual fight. It is a fight against the schemes and wiles of the enemy. The bible calls it a “good” fight since it is a fight we engage in from the Lord’s side or on the grounds of victory. Nonetheless, until you take your stand with the word to engage in this fight, many things won’t go well for you.

You see, your fight of faith as a believer is what delivers into your hands that which you deserve. In this fight, you lay hold of what the Lord says is yours with the “force of faith” through prayer and positive confession. You must not allow the devil to use the arrows of doubts and fear to rob you of your blessing.

The Bible says, the devil is in to steal, kill and to destroy (John 10:10). But you have an advantage. God said “resist the devil, and he will flee”(James 4:7). You must learn to speak God’s word against any works of darkness.

Violently refuse the enemy access in your terrain. Don’t cry when you must stand and rebuke satanic works against you. Crying, complaining and worrying is not the solution. Don’t forget that tears or crying wins no combat.

As you engage in this good fight, vehemently refuse anything that is of the devil in the name of Jesus and declare all the promises and blessings of God for your life into manifestation.

Read: Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight”

Study: Ephesians 6:10-18

Refrain from sexual immorality

1 Corinthians 6:9 “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality” (New Living Translation)
Sexual immorality is a destiny destroyer. Anyone given to it will not see a bright future.

You see, sexual immorality has grave consequences that the believer of today must do everything possible to avoid. The Bible calls it a sin against ones “own body”. Proverbs 6:32 says “he who gives himself to sexual immorality lacks sense, and destroys his own soul”.

Proverbs 5:9-10 also reveals that immorality will cause you to lose your honour, and your labour will go to foreigners. Meaning that, your many years of accumulated wealth will be given to another. Friend, this is the price you pay for entertaining sexual immorality.

Don’t be an ignorant Christian when it comes to the consequences of immorality. Most of the troubles people go through today can be avoided if they learn to put their moral life in order.

David after being the man that God cherished most, lost his place of respect and brought calamity to his own family when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, Samson the Lord’s anointed hero matched from hero to zero because of immorality.

Samson aborted his heavenly assignment due to immorality. Not only that, he also died from it. Wise up! Because wise people know that, there is nothing like “free sex”, if the person is not married to you.

Keep the purity principle, avoid any embarrassment and walk into your greater glory.

Read: Ephesians 5:3 “But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints” (NASB)

Study: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

Overcome the fear of death

John 11:25, 26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The experience of life opens people to many fears. But God’s word is crystal clear on the subject of fear. In Isaiah 41:10 it says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. So for a believer, God does not want you to live in fear. No, not a day in your life.

Lack of truth on the subject of fear has caused many believers to still live in fear. Some live with the fear of failure, fear of sickness, fear of venturing new things in life, fear of marriage and the fear of death.

Our opening text however gives us an undeniable assurance on why the fear of death must never hunt us or be a worry to believers. When it comes to death, it is important to know that we have the physical death, spiritual death and the second death. Where spiritual death is separation from the life of God, physical death is the destruction of the body- where your spirit leaves the body, and the second death is eternal separation from God into the lake of fire.
Understanding death this way must give the child of God no reason to fear. Since being born again and living in Christ gives you victory over spiritual death and eternal death. Not only that, the physical death does not end your life but rather transits you to another life with God.

You see, the moment you received Jesus, the old life passed away and a new life came into existence. That was your real death experience. “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
Face up to it. You have already died and gone to heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5, 6). Sure, the world cannot understand this kind of talk, but you can. For God gives you understanding in all things (2 Timothy 2:7). You have been delivered from the fear of death since Jesus destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is the devil “(Hebrews 2:14).

You know what is going to happen when you leave your physical body. You will be with Jesus in heaven. It makes no difference to the child of God as to his place. No wonder the Apostle Paul wrote “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain “(Philippians 1:21).
Never give in to the fear of death. You have to live fearlessly with the knowledge of this truth and fulfill the purpose of God for your life. Not only that, as a Child of God, you are divinely protected from all evil; and God’s word says with long life he will satisfy you and give you his salvation.

Remember that when it comes to physical death, you just change clothes—from your earth suit to heavenly attire, but you will not experience pangs of death. There is no sorrow, fear, nor depression. Hallelujah!

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 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”

Overcome the Spirit of worldliness

1 John 2: 15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”
One sure way to safeguard your faith in this end times is to avoid being worldly – putting priority on the flesh as in to gratify it and living with the philosophies of this world rather than the word of God.

Worldliness elevates the urgings of the flesh over the teaching of the Spirit. Worldliness could involve being materialistic—the ambition of laying up treasures on earth (Matthew 16:19), the passionate desire for wealth without considering values (1 Timothy 6:9-10), or subscribing to the ideology of “eat, drink, and be merry making” indiscretionarily (Luke 12:19).

The tendency of being worldly is not far-fetched. It is a matter of staying balanced on the truths of God’s word by not being so “spiritual” without being relevant in this physical world or by not being too physical to the neglect of spiritual discipline and virtues.

You see, today’s Christian is under pressure to become worldly. Worldly pleasures and pursuits have become so common that you will see nothing wrong with it. Sometimes they call it, ‘right’, ‘freedom’, ‘civilization’ and the like. These has robbed some believers on basic practices like personal prayer, quiet time, and church attendance. They claim they are too busy, but the truth is that they have become worldly. Don’t forget that whenever you choose the methods of the world to make your living at the expense of God’s word you are ‘worldly’.

The Bible says, “Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. Don’t take the things of God lightly at all. Worldliness can’t get you into Heaven. Although it can give you “temporary solutions”, it has no eternal REWARD. Be spiritual, be scriptural and worldliness will exit your life.

Read: John 17:16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”

Attitude is everything

Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”

Your attitude as a believer should not be anything far from that of Christ. In other words, there should be a great resemblance in your attitude to that of Christ.

Attitude refers to your manner, disposition, and position with regards to a person or a thing. It also refers to how you express yourself in your words and deeds. This understanding of the word “attitude” makes attitude more mental. Thus, how you think, or your mindset will determine how you will relate to people or act when faced with situations.

Following from our key verse in Philippians 2:5, the Bible admonishes that we have the same attitude as Christ. Meaning that, in any given situation or circumstance you must ensure that your manners, feelings, and expressions doesn’t go contrary to what Christ would have done.

You see, as Christians our attitude is everything. Whether you like it or not, people will know you more by your attitude. Exhibiting a bad attitude will not only look down on God’s grace but will also put you out of favour with people.

To have an attitude that people cannot gainsay, you must always deal or relate with people as though you are dealing with the Lord.
Colossians 3:17 (NLT) says “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father”

You see, you can only have a good attitude with the right mindset.
Never excuse any wrong attitude in your life. Deal with it. Christ is the standard and not the fallen standards of society.

Read: Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had”

LIVE FOR A REASON

John 12:27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour”.

This were the very words that come out of the mouth of Jesus whiles He was on earth. In fact, He
was purpose bound that He could not but to proclaim it. He knew why He was on earth. His
purpose was clear to him that nothing could derail him from it.

On another occasion he told the disciples “For the Son of man came to seek and to save that
which was lost”. Meaning that from his birth up to the time He gave up His life to save humanity
Jesus was glued to His mission. He never swayed off His assignment. Not even the persecutions
or the accusations could hinder Him.

You see, like Jesus every person must be purpose bound. Life is not and must not be a funfair to
you. You are born for a purpose and you must live for that reason. In other words you are unique
with a divine assignment and are not on planet earth for nothing. You exist and live because of
something.

One preacher once said, “It is either you on earth for a mission or you are on an excursion”. Folks
who take life to be an excursion grounds only see things happen but never contribute to it but
those who live for a mission always cause things to happen.

Until you live for a reason you are just existing but not really living. Living for a reason will cause
you to do something for your generation. Living for a reason will make you particular in life, it will
make you responsible and it will put pressure on you to go about your activities with excellence.

You see, you must also be focused on your purpose to make it come to pass irrespective of the
challenges you may encounter. Never allow frivolous things, and fun fair shift your attention.
Never allow any negative thoughts of impossibilities, the fear of failure, disappointments,
rejection, criticisms and the like run aground your purpose.

Fight for it, stand up for it, no matter what happens walk on the path that will make you live out
your purpose.

Don’t forget this, You are born for a PURPOSE, so fulfill it.

Read: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.”

God can help you

Psalms 121:1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

God is the God of helps. Throughout generations, He has proven His ability to help us even in our worst moment. This characteristic of God makes Him the only one we can truly look up to in times of need and trouble without being disappointed.

Therefore David said in Psalms 34:5 that, “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy, no shadow of shame will darken their faces”.

When you make God your helper, he satisfies you with goodness and brings joy into your heart. That is why you must trust and look up to him and him alone in dire times. The problem of most people is that, they don’t look up to God for help. They have relegated him as last resort for help.

For instance, when some Christian get attacked with sickness, their families would first of all seek medical help, if it doesn’t work, then they resort to herbal medicine. When these two fails, then they come to the Church for divine healing.

They don’t seek God as their first point of call. In fact, they don’t trust in his timely deliverance and help. This applies to people in need of various things. Some money, others job, and others too a life partner to marry. Trusting in Gods help is what delivers to you every desire of your heart.

But the Bible says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).

You must understand that, only God can rightly help you. To trust man or other mediums for help would only lead you into frustration and disappointment.

God can help you, so learn to trust him.

Read: Psalms 20:1-2 “In times of trouble, may the lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. *May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem

Don’t fall in the day of trouble

Isaiah 37:3 “They told him, This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby“

There are many situations or issues that you may be faced with in life. Some may be good whiles others may not. For instance there are times when you can have more than enough and there are times too when things may be scarce. In fact, there are days of peace and there are other days too when you may be faced with troubles. However, as believers God expects us to stand in the day of trouble and not to fall or give up.

The Bible actually reveals the causer of all troubles, the devil. He is our chief adversary in life.

1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”

A real example of a day of trouble is what we witness about the righteous man, Job. In a single day, he lost his business, his family and his estate. As though these were not enough, his health also failed. But in all these, the Bible says Job still stood strong and never turn against the Lord. In fact, against the advise of the wife for him to curse God, Job rather looked up to God in all these troubles. (Job 2:9)

You see, the Bible teaches us to stand and not fall in the day of trouble. Proverbs 24:10 says “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small”.

No matter the trouble that will come to you, whether in your finances, marriage, relationship, work, ministry, or health, remain firm and believe that God is able to see you through it.

In the day of trouble pray, search God’s word and make it your confession. Never despair but encourage yourself daily.

Be strong, be encouraged. Weeping, like trouble may endure for a night but your joy, breakthrough, miracle will come in the morning and it will stay forever.

Read: Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”.

Part company with your past.

Isaiah 43:18 -19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing

The Christian walk is a “forward journey”. It is a walk with God and a walk away from the past life that was sin ruled. Thus, when you get born again, the world and its pleasures must be behind you and you must put the Lord and “entering into heaven” before you.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation”.

You see, when you get born again, it is not business as usual. The old life, the old sinful deeds, and the evil pleasures you pursued must be abandoned. You can’t claim you are born again and actively engage in the past sins you once lived in. No! That is a deception and it can send you to hell.

The Church today is in a “strange state”. We have people who participate in church stuffs who still continue in the “past things from which” they claimed they were saved.

Remember that, God saved you, delivered you, and empowered you to live the new life. This is why, you can’t give an excuse for anything. You can’t give an excuse of still living in fornication with a so called ex- boy or girl friend. You can’t give an excuse for your lies, fraud, and etc.

You see, you must be bold and decisive enough to do away with your past. Have no fellowship with your past.

Live the brand new life to the fullest.

You have been called out of darkness into light. Don’t entangle yourself with the affairs of this life. Be fully sold out to the Lord.

Maranatha- Our Lord is Coming!

Read: 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”

Imitate those who through faith inherit the promise

Hebrews 6:12 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises”.

One way you can make it in life is by imitating the heroes of faith that have gone ahead of you. By imitation, you follow in their example or learn of them how they did exploits in their walk with God here on earth.

You see, sometimes the best way of making it is by imitation. You must be humble to copy or follow the noble examples of people that have gone ahead of you.

Paul in teaching the Corinthian Church said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ). You must not read the word of God and still miss it. The Bible says that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

You must know that, the Christian is not left without an example. The bible has examples of people who demonstrated faith against every odd situation, it has examples of people who lived holy or consecrated lives in the mist of corruption, it has examples of people who lived in absolute patience to God and on and on goes the list.

Your duty is to search the word and see where you are lagging behind and learn from the principles of a gone hero. For instance, you can follow the faith, patience and obedience of Abraham. He obeyed and followed the word of the Lord, when God asked him to leave his father’s house, country and kindred. (Hebrews 11:8)

Again, he demonstrated faith in the word of the Lord and finally had a child at the age of 100. Not only that, he was patient to have his miracle after more than twenty years of the promise.

Let the exploits of such faith filled men be a source of inspiration to you in your walk with God.

Read: Hebrews 6:12 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises”.