RHEMA From Heaven

It is good to receive good things from people. It is also good to do good things. But more importantly, as Christians, you have a responsibility to do good to people who have done you good.

Doing good in return for the good done to you is a great way to express your gratitude.

The good you offer in return to others who have been a blessing to your life may not necessarily be financial. It may be an act of good conduct and honor towards them.

You see, you must always have it at heart to relate well and be a blessing to the people that God has used and is still using to bless your life. People who have done you good must not be rewarded with evil from your hands. It is wiser to do nothing at all than to repay them with evil.

It is not an act of love to be wicked towards people who have sacrificed their comfort for your achievements in life. Whatever the occasion may be, “render good” for the good you have once enjoyed.

For instance, it would be a strange scene to see people act wickedly towards their parents who once helped them, fed them, schooled them, and trained them. Such evil must not emanate from a Christian. Always be thoughtful in your actions so that you don’t end up repaying your benefactors with evil deeds.

Be guided by God’s word and do good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith and those whom God has used and is still using to bless you.

Read: Galatians 6:10: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (NIV)

Pride is a sense of self-worth that makes people elevate themselves above others. More often than not, pride makes people arrogant and causes them to look down on others. Folks who give in to pride always find it difficult to admit faults and are unwilling to accept advice.

You see, despite the fact that people think their relevance can be seen and appreciated when they are proud, that’s not the case. Pride is not the way to the top.

Pride will never give you the best outcome in life. Regardless of what you think, pride can’t give you a place of honor and recognition. You don’t have to live in arrogance and “self-exaltation” before you can be honored or recognized in life. Don’t forcefully give yourself a “false standard of living” just because you want to show off.

Contrary to the opinion of men, the Bible in Proverbs 29:23 says, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Pride never elevates a man. Pride will rather bring you low.

If you want to succeed in your endeavors as a Christian, practice humility. The Bible says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Humility is not about feeling that you are inferior. When you are humble, you have a modest view of yourself and take every opportunity to learn. You also appreciate people’s input and contributions to any task at hand. This is why humility serves you better than pride.

As a Christian, never think of being great if you can’t pay the price of humility. Humility is a factor that will make you learn from others, submit to authority, and give you a teachable spirit. Let God’s word guide you in life. Always reject the temptation to live with pride.

Read: 1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time” (Amplified Bible).

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to live in humility and overcome the temptation of living in pride.

To serve God genuinely is a call to serve with sincerity. When it comes to serving God, one can easily miss the mark by having wrong motives or serving the Lord with negligence or without the necessary respect. The Bible, in Hebrews 12:28, enjoins us to serve the Lord in an acceptable way. This is what real or genuine service is about.

As a Christian, know that God considers the kind of worship or reverence we give to Him. Sometimes, what we call worship or serving the Lord is not genuine worship. Jesus, in the book of John, spoke about the era when people would worship in truth and offer genuine worship to the Lord. John 4:23-24 says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Know that the Lord is seeking genuine worshipers. He desires people who are willing to give their all to serve Him sincerely. Commit to serving the Lord wholeheartedly, letting go of anything that hinders true worship.

Remember, genuine worship is inspired by love for God and faith in Him, rather than a desire for material things. Don’t serve the Lord with the wrong motivation. Your desire for worship, prayer, praise, and solitude must be driven by love, faith, and inspiration from the Spirit. Never assume that merely attending church means you are genuinely serving or worshiping God.

Read: Isaiah 29:13: “And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote’” (NLT).

No one’s flesh or body is born again. Being born again is a spiritual encounter. This encounter brings your human spirit, which was once hostile toward God, to be at peace with Him. It has nothing to do with your flesh or the body you live in.

Thus, it is important as a Christian to tame your flesh and let it conform to the new life you have received spiritually. You must tame your desires so that they don’t go contrary to the word of God. Your senses of taste, sight, hearing, touch, and smell must be controlled.

As a Christian, you must make your body serve you. Don’t live to serve your body by allowing its dictates to govern what you do or don’t do. When you allow your body or flesh to do as it pleases, you will destroy yourself. You must understand that the flesh always desires anything that gives it pleasure. But allowing yourself to be carried away by any pleasure-seeking will cause you to miss the mark.

You see, the problems some Christians have with being hot-tempered, alcoholism, immorality—whether fornication, masturbation, adultery, or pornography—are related to how they tame or control the flesh.

Bringing your body under control is a fight. Your spirit is on one side, and the flesh or the body is on the other. But you have only one option: to fight and win because you have what it takes. This is a battle we will fight until our bodies are redeemed when Christ returns. Everyone is in this battle: the rich, the poor, pastors, church members, men, women, and new believers.

Help yourself in this fight by keeping the right company as a Christian, maintaining an active personal prayer and word study life, and always evaluating yourself. Work at this constantly. Refusing to tame the flesh to obey God’s word can cost you dearly. It can lead to living a sinful life and both demonic and social problems.

Be wise and tame the flesh. Never give it room to lead you astray.

Read: James 3:2: “For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses]” (AMP).

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to always put my flesh under control.

It is important to be word-minded as a Christian. You must always allow God’s word to fill your heart and mind. If you want to experience life and peace, you need to be word-minded.

Christians who are word-minded give priority to what the Word says in any situation they find themselves in. They avoid at all costs the reports of the world that are contrary to the provisions in God’s word.

You must not let your mind wander into ungodly and unscriptural activities. Sometimes, these worldly opinions and philosophies are weapons that stand against the prosperity, well-being, and consecration of the believer, and you must be ready to deal with them.

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord. Notice from this scripture that you aren’t automatically protected as a Christian. It is a matter of the words you allow or disallow. That’s why, when you hear something inconsistent with God’s truth, you must condemn it by not engaging in it or by speaking what the word of God prescribes.

Being word-minded is your duty. As you go through life, many things—ideas and sayings—will be thrown at you, but decide to focus only on God’s word, and you will excel in all your endeavors.

Read: Psalm 1:2-3: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to remain word-minded in this perverse generation.

You are not different from what you think. Inasmuch as man is a spirit, he has a soul and lives in a body. Critical to how you function as a human being is your soul’s activities, which include thinking. This has the potential to affect the quality of life you will live as a Christian.

To think well, you must give yourself the right atmosphere for that. You can’t watch things that minister depression and expect to operate in joy, and neither can you take in all the bad news in the world and think that your faith will grow. This is because these things affect how you think.

No one thinks in a vacuum. We think based on the things we expose ourselves to. When you want to think well, it comes at a price—the price of being selective in what you hear and watch. Although some may think this practice restricts you, it is more beneficial than allowing the wrong things to affect your thinking.

The encouragement to think well can’t be overemphasized since your life will always move in the direction of your dominant thoughts. Be careful what you are thinking about. Study and meditate on God’s word always, and it will help you think well.

Read: Philippians 4:8: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to keep my thoughts on Your word.

As simple as it may seem, nothing comes to a person as a surprise. Whatever comes to you emanates from the kind of person you have made yourself. This truth can be deduced from the early teachings of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 7:6, Jesus instructed that valuable things should not be given to people who have made themselves averse to them. He teaches metaphorically that holy things should not be given to dogs, nor precious pearls to swine. What people make of themselves determines the kind of things they will receive in life.

You see, as a Christian, you must position yourself to receive the best things in life. This calls for a change—it could be a change in character or attitude. You can’t be quick-tempered and prone to reacting negatively to situations in life and still expect to benefit from the counsel and wisdom of others.

Often, the change we want to see must start with us. That’s how we can benefit from God and others to manifest the change we want in life. Don’t think you can live and behave any way you want and still attract good things in life.

Many people have lost opportunities because they didn’t build the character to value the things others could offer them. Beloved, if you make yourself an embodiment of unholiness and someone who places no premium on important things, no one will waste their time delivering such things to you.

Read: Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to put out a character that can attract greatness 

One benefit you receive as a Christian from God’s word is “correction.” As a Christian, you may not always get it right in your walk with God and with others. But God, through His word, gives you the opportunity for “correction.”

You see, God’s word is not only for you to claim promises. It is also available for remedial purposes. Through the correction you receive from the word, you can make things right, fix errors, and improve yourself. These corrections can span every aspect of your life—spiritual discipline, character, and personal development.

Thus, anytime you read the word or hear a teaching or apreaching that presents corrections, accept it. Don’t get emotional or spiteful; instead, live out the essence of the correction that has been presented to you.

Correction is part of the package that can make you thoroughly equipped for every good work. Remember, correction is not meant to belittle you but to improve who you are in every area of your life. Be wise and always be ready to accept and appreciate corrections.

Read: Proverbs 13:18: “Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored” (NIV).

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to always heed correction.

One great recipe for success in life is being responsible. No one can attain success without being responsible. The practice of being responsible must cut across every sphere of your life. That’s how you can be assured of achieving anything valuable.

The shepherd boy David, as young as he was, exercised the quality of being responsible in his endeavors. As part of his duties at home, he cared for the family flock. When the occasion demanded that he attend to other needs—such as carrying food to his brothers on the battlefield—he placed the sheep in his custody into the hands of another shepherd.

This action or attitude of David is born out of the quality of being responsible.

You see, as young as David was, he was industrious. He knew that things must not be left unattended, and he understood how to handle many things simultaneously.

One thing you will learn and appreciate as you grow is that life doesn’t present you with straightforward situations. You will also realize that many things will demand your attention. Your ability to deliver on all these productively is what guarantees success. So as a Christian, you may go about your prayers, Bible study, and other worthwhile Christian practices, but if you neglect being responsible, you will fail.

Being responsible is a deliberate activity. It requires thinking through issues, learning, and building a character that can withstand difficult moments. Whether in your education, career, finances, marriage, ministry, etc., without being responsible, you will fail.

Read: Ezra 10:4: “Stand up, for it is your duty, and we will be with you. Be brave and act.” (Amplified Bible)

Prayer: Lord, I pray for the grace to be responsible in life. Amen.

The Christian life is characterized by many blessings and promises. This truth notwithstanding, the presence of tribulations, hardships, and afflictions can’t be ruled out.

Being a Christian does not automatically exclude you from life’s difficulties. Rather, you must arm your mind and strengthen your heart in and with God’s Word to go through such difficult times. It was due to this truth that the Apostle Paul went through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch to encourage the believers of old to keep their hope alive when life became tough.

Jesus made this truth clear when He said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Beloved, brace up! Yes, the tides may turn against you as you serve the Lord, but be of good cheer. Never allow discouragement and depression to kill your joy.

In the face of any challenge—whether in your marriage, career, finance, ministry, or life—stand your ground, believe in the Lord for His deliverance and justice, never compromise your faith, and don’t give in to sinful living. Psalm 34:19 says, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (NIV). Cheer up, God will deliver you.

Remember that God never leaves you in the storm; rather, He sees you through it.

Read: Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (NIV).

Prayer: Lord, I pray for grace to go through any difficulty in life.