RHEMA From Heaven

Luke 12:48 says “But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. *From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked*”.
The above scripture teaches that one can be responsible in life. It also reveals how God will measure our output at the end of the day.

As Christians, whatever we receive from God places a certain degree of responsibility on us. Thus any gift, skill, wisdom or talent that God empowers you with, will one day be accounted for.
The Bible teaches that, God will expect nothing less from what he has graced you with.

What God will expect of you, is as a result of what he has made available to you. For instance, God will expect more from a matured Christian or someone who has walked with Him for many years than a new believer.

As you journey in life, make every effort to use to the maximum,anything that God has blessed you with. Never do less, after receiving much from God.

Read: Luke 19:13 “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come”.

Study: Mathew 25:14-29

Galatians 4:19 says “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you”.
Growing in the new life is a process. But this process must be consistent and continuous up to the point where Christ will be formed in you.

The Bible records how Apostle Paul after preaching to the people in Galatia continued to pray for them for Christ to be formed in them.

Meaning that hearing the gospel and believing it does not end it all. Rather you must grow to the point where Christ is formed, and established in you.

You see, you need to go beyond the cross. Move on to glory. Move on to the point where the power, the word and the Spirit of the Lord fully dominates your life. Come to the place where you are more concerned about the things of God, come to the point where you are heavenly minded. This is where we can say that Christ is formed in you.

Just as the Apostle Paul prayed earnestly for the new believers, you can in the same vein pray for yourself that Christ be formed in you. You can also pray for new believers that you are raising in the Lord.

Don’t remain a “baby Christian “. GROW! Feed on the word. Pray for your growth and establishment in the faith and you will never backslide.

Read: Ephesians 4:1″Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”

Study: Acts 20:32 “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”.

2 Corinthians 4:17 says
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
The Bible again says that, “many are the afflictions of the righteous…”(Psalm 34:19).

Life is not devoid of afflictions, especially when you are a Christian. You may sometimes find yourself in difficult and complicated situations with less options of making things work.

But God says that, these afflictions are but for a moment. All your afflictions have an expiry date. No matter how strong and disastrous they may seem to be, you will not be consumed by them. Even if the affliction came because of sin, confess it and move on in glory.
Psalm 107:17,19 says “Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress”.

Refuse to be destroyed by any affliction. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says “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”
Don’t allow distress or affliction quench your joy and faith in God.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel. God indeed got your back. Move on!

Read: Psalm 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word”

Study: Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.”
Luke 16:16.

Nothing good comes easy in this life, so applies to a good and quality Christian life.
You see, to have a life of good quality, it requires time, effort and dedication.

The above scripture, talks about how the good news of the kingdom is being preached and how people are “forcing” their way into it. Meaning that, you must do everything possible within your means to live a godly live and to please God.

You see, being a Christian, doesn’t mean the absence of trails and challenges, it doesn’t mean you would not go through tough times or even have failures. But you must force your way with the grace to the top.

Develop a lifestyle of prayer, word study and build your Christian virtues. Strive to maintain them despite the challenges you might be facing.

Never let the circumstances of life topple you down, stand and live for the Lord.

Read: Jeremiah‬ ‭6:16‬, “Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein.”

Study: Philippians 3:10-15

“Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart” (2 Chronicles 25:1-2).

Your heart plays a significant role in what you do and what you don’t do. The state or condition of your heart can make useless a good act. As a Christian, God wants your heart and your act to be in agreement. Don’t do things without a good heart.

God is interested in both your good actions and your good heart. You see, the real you is your heart or your spirit. Thus, acting in the flesh by doing good things to and for people but still have bad thoughts and feelings towards them in your heart will render your works useless before God.

The Bible says that, as a man thinks in his heart so is he. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (Proverbs 27:3). Don’t say one thing with your mouth and hold another thing your heart.
You see, although you can win the approval of men from doing “heartless” things or doing things without the backings of your heart, that won’t pass the test of God.

Let God’s word dominate your heart and allow the promptings of the spirit to inspire your heart, this is how to put your heart in a perfect state. When your heart is guarded against every evil, you will act or do things wholeheartedly without any seed of deception or hypocrisy.

Read: Proverbs 17:3 “Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart”

Study: Luke 6:45

“So Abram went, as Jehovah had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran “(‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12:4‬).

Everybody needs someone, because no man can live on an island. It matters who you are connected to and the role that individual plays in your life.

As a Christian, your life is not by accident or coincidence. God carefully planned and designed you to fulfill a particular purpose. This is the more reason God places “godly” people in your life to help you succeed in your life spiritually and physically.

Your ability to recognize such godly connections will determine how far you can go in life. In Genesis chapter 12, we see how God instructed Abraham to move to a different country and kindred and how Lot his nephew followed him and got blessed in the end. He also became rich and wealthy (Genesis 13:5-6).

You see, your vision cannot thrive everywhere and with everybody, but can only thrive at a particular place, and with some selected people.
Know who God is connecting you to, and stay connected.
This is your key to making it in this end time.

Read: Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding”

Study: Ruth 1:8-22

“And besides this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue: and to virtue knowledge: and to knowledge temperance: and to temperance patience and to patience godliness” 2 Peter 1:5-6.

The life of the believer must be holistic or complete in every way. It must not be a matter of only confession (words) without profession or living it out. This makes the Christian’s life beyond theory and religion. It is living the divine life in this very life.
You see, when you become a Christian or after being born again you must live to display or manifest virtues that bring glory to the Lord.

Mathew 5: 16 says that “we must let our light (life) shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify God”. Thus, after believing in the Lord as your savior, you must surrender yourself to the new order in Christ by adding to your faith the virtues in Christ. Being a born again Christian must result in a total transformation of your life. The spiritual regeneration must affect your spirit, soul and finally your body.

2 Peter 1:5-6 teaches that, Christians must add, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience and godliness to their faith. Don’t be a Christian whose life is nothing to write home about. Don’t be a Christian who is good at Church and bad at home or in any other place.
People who claim to walk with God and never manifest or grow up in these virtues are only playing religion.

Constantly feed on God’s word and nurture your spirit to impart your life.
You must not allow the wrong standards of this world to corrupt you. You are different. You are called to influence your world.
Constantly walk in love, faithfulness, honesty and patience.

Read: Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”

Study: 2 Peter 1:3-8

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new”.
No one can deny the happenings of something that is past or a person’s past life. Your past can be your achievements or accomplishments and even mistakes. But whatever the situation, God wants you to enter into every day with something new.

You see, if you dwell on your past or live in your past, you have no future! Especially if your past produces guilt or a sense of condemnation and a sense of complacency. Thus, how well you build a glorious future is contingent on how well you master your spirit and mind to put your past down and walk into your new dawn era.

*Nobody walks and get to his destination by facing backward*. People who dwell or live in the past comfort themselves with “unreasonable things”. You see, the fact that today has come means that, God wants you to do something with today and not yesterday. Learn to put your past where it belongs. Walk it out of you. Whether good, bad or ugly- God wants you to progress beyond your past failures and achievements.

*Remember that you can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re thinking about yesterday today*. Do something with today and let go of yesterday. Also remember that, YOUR PAST DOES NOT and cannot STOP THE GRACE OF GOD from reaching you. Seeing today after yesterday is nothing but Grace.
*Drop the “past stuffs”*. It is a new morning, it is a new day and it is a day that the Lord has made. Do something better now and your life will move from glory to glory.

Read: Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past”

Study: Isaiah 43:18-19

There are many things people live for in this life.
Some live for their career, others live for their spouses, while some too live for their money, with others also living for their own ego. But none of these can be compared to living for Christ. Christ must be the motivation for your life if you are to make any impact in this world.

You see, there is nothing wrong when people pursue career ambitions and other wealth generating activities in life. It only becomes wrong when people put themselves at the centre of all these pursuits and put Christ second. Putting away Christ and pursuing other things in life won’t pay off at the end of the day.

The scriptures teaches us to place premium on anything that is Christ’s. This is how you can live for him. To the Apostle Paul, living for Christ is making Christ known to the world irrespective of the cost it places on one’s life.
You see, the brevity of life demands that, we put more of our efforts into things of eternal value.
Don’t let anything cloud your thinking to prevent you from living for the Lord at all cost.

Live for Christ whether you are rich or not. Live for Christ whether you are pursuing a career ambition or not. Live for Christ whether you are married or not.
Whatever the case may be, LIVE FOR CHRIST.

Read: Acts 20:24 “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace”

Study: Phillipians 1:18-21

Obedience is a very important virtue every child of God must possess. It takes obedience to actually walk with God. Thus where Obedience is lacking, one cannot have a successful relationship with God.

To obey means to do exactly what someone tells you to do or to comply with a specific instruction. It also means to adhere, follow or keep to a command. Thus obeying when no one is watching is to do exactly what you were told or instructed to do even in the absence of the one who gave the instruction.

The true test of your obedience is when the giver of the instruction is not with you to see what you will do. Many people can pretend to be obedient when in actual sense they are not. You don’t need to be obedient only when you are under watch. This is nothing but eye service.

In Philippians 2:12, Apostle Paul teaches the clear pattern of biblical obedience. “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”. Always remain obedient no matter who is around or who is not around.

Obedience is a key issue in this end time. Therefore, can God count on you to obey His word even when you are alone? Can your parent trust you to obey an instruction in their absence? What report would people give of you if your obedience was to be in question?

Strive to walk in absolute obedience even when no one is watching or paying attention to you.

Read: Ephesians 6:6 “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart”

Study: 1 Samuel 15:1-15