RHEMA From Heaven

The prayer of faith, saves

James 5:15 says “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”
Prayer is one subject that has been extensively dealt with in the Bible. The Bible teaches on the different kinds of prayer (Ephesians 6:18). Our opening text reveals a kind of prayer – the prayer of faith.

Praying the prayer of faith means that you stand on God’s promises to make a demand. Not only that, but after praying, you consider it done no matter the manifestation.
Prayer of faith actually leaves the manifestation of the request onto God.

That’s to say that, after praying in and with faith, you are at rest in your spirit. Prayer of faith does not look at circumstances but looks at the promises of God which are yes and amen.

What situation are you faced with now? What challenge is trying to overwhelm you? What attack has the devil launched against your life? Well, none of these should move you.
Search out God’s word on your case and pray the prayer of faith.

The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and it shall save any situation that is trying to bring you down.

Read: Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not”

Study: 1 John 5:14

Lie and die

Acts 5:3,5 ” Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? [5] When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened’
One of the remarkable happenings in the early Church is that of Ananias and Saphira.
The two died in Church from telling lies.

You see, as simple as you will see it, lies truncated the lives of some Christians in the early Church.

Ananias and Sapphira had sold their land to help God’s work. But their conspiracy to hide the actual cost of a land, and to give part of the money with the intention to deceive the Church, the man of God, didn’t end well. They lost their lives.

When confronted by the man of God, Ananias was not cursed to die, the Bible says “When Ananias heard what Peter said, he fell down and died”

This truth must stay with you as a Christian that, when you lie, especially to your pastor, Christians or the body of Christ, you have lied to the Holy Spirit and not mere men.

What are you lying about? What have you lied about? Are you testing the Spirit of the Lord?
Don’t forget that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Don’t kill yourself or take off God’s protection from over your life. Remember that, God is a JUST God. What you sow will come to you.

Let Go off lies, before your lies let you go into an untimely death.

Read: Proverbs 6:16-17 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: a lying tongue…”

Study: Psalm 34:13

Don’t lie – be truthful!

Colossians 3:9 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds”

Speaking the truth is one character trait that every Christian must exhibit.
The Bible places great emphasis on this subject.
Thus, living the Christian life must be devoid of telling lies.

When people lie, they make a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive. A lie is also an intentional untruth.
One dictionary also defines a lie to mean, speaking falsely or utter “untruth” knowingly, as with intent to deceive.

You see, as a Christian, there should never be an occasion when you should lie. Whether saying the truth will serve your interest or not, the truth must be told.

Leviticus 19:11 says “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another“
Proverbs 12:22 says “Lying lips are extremely disgusting to the LORD”.

When it comes to speaking the truth or not lying, it is a commandment from God. This is why you must obey this word in your dealings with people.
You can succeed in lying to people, but not God. But know that, when all is said and done, the JUST GOD, will respond to your actions.

What lies are you telling today? Which people have you made to believe a lie? Who have you deceived all these years? Who have you intentionally misinformed?

Don’t forget that, if words are powerful, then the lie you said is no different.
If you are born again, you must put off lying. Never be deceived about the temporary benefit that a lie will bring to you, because it destroys many things afterwards.

Don’t lie to people- friends, parents, pastors, and the body of Christ.
Don’t lie!!!

Remember that, YOUR LIES will oneday bring you down.

Read: Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Study: John 8:44

You are not a slave to sin

Nonetheless, living out the “sin free mandate” is a choice.
You must come into terms with the truth of the new identity you have in Christ to let go of every evil, wrong, or bad deeds you once subjected your life to.

Ephesians 4:22 says “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires“.
You see, at salvation God is now at work in you and has given you the power to put off every old way of life.
In Ephesians 4 again, the Bible teaches the believer to put off the following acts: lying, stealing, fruad, immorality, anger, bitterness, speaking vulgarly.

Never take sin lightly. It is not something you must meddle with after salvation.Sin is not a friend of anybody. It is a hideous enemy. It’s out with subtlety to disappoint destiny.
Sin is not a lifter, it is a destroyer! Sin is not a promoter, it is a demoter!

Read: Romans 6:22 “But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life.”

Study: 1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again-who is reborn from above-spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.”

Master the virtue of Self-Control

Proverbs 25:28
“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”.

Having self-control means you have control over your feelings and actions.
It also means you know how to exercise restraint over your emotions and desires.

Every believer has what it takes to be self-controlled. The Bible declares that, our recreated human spirit has self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 says “But the fruit of the spirit (recreated human spirit) is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…“

Without self-control, a person will easily be carried away by what he feels, sees or desires.
Self-control is one virtue that makes us live to do the will of God.
You see, you can’t walk in holiness, love and integrity without self-control.

But thanks be to God that you have what it takes to control yourself.
Never be carried away by any wrong desires and feelings.
Let the Spirit of God in you dominate your life to put your flesh under control.

Mastering self-control will cause you to enjoy your fellowship with God and people.

Read: Proverbs 25:28 “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”.

Study: 1 Corinthians 9:27

Be strong !!!

1 Corinthians 16:13 says “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong”.

Continuing in the faith requires inner strength. That is to say that, you have to be strong – spiritually and mentally.

You see, life is not without challenges or difficulties. Whether you like it or not, you will go through different phases in your life. Every phase comes with its own unique opportunities and challenges.

Sailing through this uncalculated and sometimes weird moments demands that you have to be strong. You need strength- spiritually and mentally to keep a proper disposition when you are faced with all these challenges.
You need strength to handle betrayals, disappointments, regrets, hardships, persecutions and sometimes your own mistakes.

Don’t forget that your strength is most often revealed in times of trouble. That’s when it is needed most. Don’t fall away from the Lord when things get tough.
Pray! It will keep you empowered.
Study the word! It will build you spiritually and mentally to be tough.

Whatever happens, BE STRONG. Stand your grounds for the Lord and what you believe!

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed”

Study: Psalm 27:1

Reach forward to what lies ahead

Philippians 3:13 says “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead”.
As a Christian you must be on a divine pursuit. You must be on the move to doing the things that lies ahead in your calling, and walk with God.

As a Christians, your walk with God must be progressive. You must move forward always. You must forget what lies behind, and keep pressing on.

This “going all out” for God demands that you become sold out.
There are higher things you must pursue as a Christian, but you have to be focused and forceful in your approach.

Like the Apostle Paul, don’t treat your call as a Christian and your call to do the work of God lightly. Press on daily in this noble mandate.
Despite the Apostle Paul’s earlier achievements, he was never complacent.

Be admonished and move forward in your calling.

Read: Philippians 3:12 “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus”

Study:Philippians 3:12-15

HE HAS BORNE OUR GRIEVES AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS

Isaiah 53:4
“surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”.

It is always a great thing to know what the Lord has done for you as a believer.
This will make you confident or bold in appropriating what belongs to you in Christ.

Isaiah 53:4 puts the topic under discussion this way “surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”.
This is a statement of fact, because it is an accomplished work or reality. You can call it a done deal.

Griefs and sorrow must not govern your life as a Christian. In fact, nothing that brings them either must have mastery over you. Because Christ has already borne them. Jesus has catered for that.

You see, sickness and diseases should not ruin your life as a Christian. Neither must you also give room to sin to bring you pain, sorrow and grief.
The elements of this world that brings corruption and destruction must no longer have power over you seeing that you have being brought into the new life in Christ.

Christ has brought you into a life of “liberty” and you must stand fast in it.
Your deliverance has already been settled, your healing has already been claimed and your peace has already been granted.
All you got to do is to appropriate it, take it by faith and make it yours.

Be the person that God wants you to be and never allow the world to form you into it’s mold.

Read: Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”

Study: Isaiah 53:1-5

Joy from the Lord

Psalm 4:7 says ” Thou hast put gladness in my heart , more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased”.

One of the greatest virtues you can express as a believer is joy. But joy, is independent of circumstances or happenings in ones life, it comes from God.

As Christian, your joy should be dependent on the goodness of God. You must not depend on material gains or benefits to have joy in life.

You see, having joy, or gladness in the heart is God given. It is a great deception to think of joy or gladness as coming from the material gains or material things you have in life.

Many who have limited the source of their joy to external things don’t truly enjoy the peace and the sound mind that the joy of the Lord brings.

Let God be the source of your joy. Remember that, heaven and earth shall pass away, but God will not. What is more fulfilling than”being with God” the one who has no beginning and end.

The Psalmist said, “Be glad in the Lord , and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart” (Psalm 32:11).
Let God excite you, let the things of God excite you.
That’s the way, to keep increasing in this joy.

Don’t join the “company of the unbelieving believers” who only holler and put on a smile in Church or life when they have material wealth. That’s not real joy. In fact, joy is independent of all these “I have this” and “I have that” claims. Real joy comes from knowing God as your father.

Be joyful in the Lord!

Read: Psalm 35:9 “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord : it shall rejoice in his salvation”

Study: Habakkuk 3:17-18

Only one thing is necessary

“But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42).

Being busy, worried and anxious can make you lose sight of the most important things that demands your attention at certain crucial moments of your life. It is therefore necessary for you to keep assessing the things you have been doing every now and then to ascertain whether that is the most important thing at that particular moment of your life.

Knowing the important thing to do and doing it was the separating line between Mary and Martha in the above scripture.

You see, you have to come to the point where you can distinguish between routine activities that are less significant in contributing to your success and one-off activity that can significantly affect your destiny.
Mixing or putting every activity into the same level of importance will never make you succeed since you will lose sight of the most pressing and significant ones.

When Jesus visited the family of Mary and Martha, the principle of prioritizing things in life was revealed. Though Martha was concerned about preparing a good meal for Jesus as courtesy demands, Jesus never applauded her decision. To Him (Jesus), Martha has misplaced priority by given heed to an unimportant agenda. Jesus placed premium on the attention that Mary gave by listening to him than doing any other thing.

To Jesus, his presence, and the word he was teaching must be put first.
You see, know what is important and urgent, know what is routine but can wait, know the value and impact that every activity you engage have on your destiny, and you will press the “right keys” for your success in life.

Read: 1 Chronicles 12:32 “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment”

Study: Luke 10:38-42