Days before the day when I was to preach, I tried to encourage myself with diverse articles on how to speak confidently in public, but none really helped. Then, I started praying to God for help, because what the devil whispered in my ears was all negative: What if you make a mistake on the altar? You will choke up there. You won't really appear good. They won't appreciate you, and so on.

Then, at some point as I presented my fears before the Lord in prayers, I felt this sudden upsurge of confidence in my spirit, and I could perceive God telling me, Son, go ahead and just preach. I will be there with you as soon as you grab the microphone.

And He did as He promised!

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 – [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, so that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God. (AMP)

Many of us believers are drawing back from what God has called us to do for Him in our world today because we lack the confidence just to go ahead with the task, not really because we don't want to obey Him.

We consider our weaknesses too much whenever the devil flashes them before our eyes, and we have allowed these strongholds to deter us from obeying God's instructions.

Friend, it doesn't matter what you look like, what background you have, what your academic qualifications are, what people have said concerning you, or how bad your speech is. None of our weaknesses really matters when God is in us. It is in Him that we are made complete.

Today's passage tells us that God is aware of our inadequacies and insufficiencies, yet He deliberately picks the foolish and weak things of this world to accomplish great things. In other words, He calls the unequipped and equips them for greater works. Remember that God chose David, the youngest boy in his family amidst his handsome elder brothers, and made him king of Israel.

Hence, as we proceed through this new year, be determined to cast away your weaknesses, fears, doubts, and worries that have deterred you from accomplishing your God-given assignments, goals, and ambitions in the previous year, and just go ahead to become what God has destined you to be. He has chosen you to go and bear fruit.

Pray with me.

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for bringing me into a new and fruitful year. This year, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, enable me not to faint but to find strength in You to do all that concerns my goals, dreams, and aspirations. Thank You, Jesus, for renewing and refreshing me. Hallelujah! Amen.

Hebrews 12:11 – For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness — in conformity to God's will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God]. (AMPC)

Beloved, this text tells us that there isn't any discipline that is sweet when applied at the beginning, but later on, as we grow through every discipline meted out to us, we will become better persons at the end, and we will prosper in every area of our lives.

2 Timothy 2:3 – You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

One sure way that God uses in making soldiers out of the ones whom He loves is through discipline.

Hebrews 12:6 – For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. (ESV)

To become what God has spoken of us in Christ Jesus, we must be ready for His discipline. We must get ready to leave our comfort zone and become soldiers of Christ, and we can achieve results only by yielding ourselves to spiritual discipline. Most importantly, we must humble ourselves before God almighty, because only humility will enable us accept every discipline that He would mete out to us.

1 Peter 5:6 – Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you. (AMPC)

We must cast away pride and accept every discipline as from God Himself in His gracious attempts to make us what He has spoken of us in Christ Jesus.

Friend, is God trying to discipline you? One great mistake any growing Christian will make is to see God's discipline as punishment. God loves us so much, so do not feel punished, and do not be rebellious either. Surrender to His discipline and watch yourself grow into what He has destined you to be. Hallelujah!

Pray with me:

Prayer: Father, I thank You for Your love towards me and my family. I thank You for lessons learned thus far in my walk with You. Today, I surrender to every discipline of Yours, and I pray for the grace to obey and to do Your will forever. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Naaman almost missed his only chance of getting healed of an incurable ailment because of his inability to obey a simple commandment. Thank God for Naaman's servant who did not relent in talking sense into his master to obey by washing in the Jordan, and Naaman was healed.

While I meditated on this text of the Bible, the Lord drew my attention to something that I heard in my spirit:

Many seeking Me today are like Naaman. They only want the miracle, they want blessings, they want the healing, yet they refuse to follow My commandments and obey Me, yet in My commandment lies everything they seek. Holiness is no longer the watchword. Many have become lovers of pleasure and self, more than their God.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 – Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. (NKJV)

Friend, obedience is better than sacrifice. What God wants from us isn't money or material possessions. Though He could sometimes request some of these things from us, what really matters to God in our lives is our obedience to His Word. Christ said to His disciples, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15 NKJV)

Obeying God's Word could be a Herculean endeavour at times, especially when we are relying on our own strength to obey. That's why we must rely on God for help. There are so many clear commands in God's Word, and as Christ's disciples, we must obey them. For example, God's Word says that it's a sin to fornicate and defile our bodies, so if we fornicate, we ask the Holy Spirit for help to obey, to repent, and to quit fornication. His Word says that we must forgive our offenders no matter their offense against us, so we have no choice but to forgive as well.

That's how we begin to walk in the miraculous and in God's plan for our lives.

James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (NKJV)

Friend, from today, let's begin to obey God's Word in all earnestness. Let's make obedience our lifestyle, and watch our miracles abound. Pray with me.

Prayer: Father, I thank You for Your living Word. Please forgive me if I have not been following Your commandments properly, and help me to do so from now on. I repent of every sin of disobedience and stubbornness. Thank You that I am renewed, refreshed, and cleansed, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

When I was younger in the faith, I recall God starting to teach me about the person of the Holy Spirit. On weekends, I would locate a public school close to my house and find an open, shaded place devoid of distractions. Then, I would sit there and pray in the Holy Spirit for a few hours.

As I sustained my fellowship with the Holy Spirit, I began noticing a huge difference in my understanding of Scripture whenever I read the Bible. It was as if the scales on my eyes had fallen off. I could go out on evangelism and preach boldly. The fire of hunger for God in me increased tremendously.

As believers, if we truly desire to walk in the supernatural, in holiness, and in God's will for our lives, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and be constantly in fellowship with Him. It's almost an exercise in frustration trying to walk in holiness without the help of the Holy Spirit, for only the Holy Spirit can help our spiritual weaknesses and strengthen us when the chips are down.

The Holy Spirit also helps us to pray when we need help in praying.

Romans 8:26 – So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. (AMPC)

As the Day of Pentecost approaches, let's decide to make the Holy Spirit our friend and to fellowship with Him constantly, creating a deeper fellowship with God. We can be sure that when we ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit, He will do so, for He is loving and willing to give when we ask.

Luke 11:13 – If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him! (AMPC)

So, friend, be bold to ask the Father today to fill you with the Holy Spirit. He will do exactly that. As we continue to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we will continue to walk in God's divine plan for our lives as the Spirit guides each of us into all truth. Pray with me:

Prayer: Father Almighty, I thank You for the free gift of Your Holy Spirit. I ask, Lord, that You would fill me with Your Spirit this day and help me to walk in understanding, in faith, in holiness, and in Your divine plan for my life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Isaiah 55:8-9 – For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (KJV)

Because of my background when I was growing up, I never saw myself in church, not to mention preaching God's Word. But today, by His grace, I am born again, and I preach His Word. As a young chap, I was consumed with a passion for becoming a doctor, but God helped me to discover more about myself, and as I grew older, my passion for other things grew stronger. Though this hadn't been my plan and dream, I ended up as an agriculturist.

God's ways and thoughts are not even close to ours. At times, we get consumed in our own plans for the future. We map out strategies to ensure that our plans materialize, and we forget that God is the One in control.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. (AMPC)

So, it's wise for us to cast all our cares upon God and pray that His will be done in our lives, instead of trying to figure out everything by ourselves. When we cast all our cares upon Him, we no longer hold tenaciously to our own ambitions; we no longer try to work out our future by our own might and intelligence; we are no longer perplexed when things aren't going according to our plans, because we believe that God owns our future and that He is faithful to do what He has promised.

Friend, no matter how wrecked your plans concerning anything may be, no matter how derailed they seem to be, just know that God is the One in charge of the future.

Refuse to be flustered when it seems like you are going off target, for "all things work together for good to them that love God". (Romans 8:28a KJV)

If it's God's will for your life, it will come to pass. If it isn't His will, do not try to force it, but only thank Him in everything, and trust Him more.

Pray with me:

Prayer: Father, I give You glory for everything that has happened in my life. I know that You have good plans and thoughts concerning my life and future. Jesus, I trust that You will work out every dream and plan that I have. No matter what, thank You that in Your mighty name, I shall be victorious at the end, and I shall finish strong. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Growing in Christ has been lovely and exhilarating for me. As time has passed, I have found myself always bringing words of Scripture into my everyday confabulations with friends and family. One day, someone said to me, "Why do you always bring the Bible into every discussion?" At that moment, I didn't have any answer for the fellow. How could I possibly tell someone how sweet God's Word is?

The Word of God should never taste bitter or boring to His children. It should rather interest and excite us whenever we hear or see it.

Jeremiah 15:16a – Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. (NKJV)

Ezekiel 3:3 – And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you." So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. (NKJV)

Believers for whom the Scriptures taste bland will always sleep during church sermons. They will always want to walk out of the church after praise and worship sessions, and talk about something else. The exact location of their Bible at home will remain unknown to them. They are always not in Sunday school or Bible study classes.

Friend, I tell you solemnly, being in that state is spiritually unhealthy, because Christ said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:4b NKJV)

This means that if we feed on physical food alone and fail to feed our spirit with the spiritual food of God's Word, we could be fine and good-looking outwardly but spiritually malnourished. Eating is good, but eating only physical food is bad for Christians.

How do we acquire a love for God's Word? Firstly, we must recognize that we are unable to cultivate a deep longing for His Word on our own. Instead, we must ask the Lord to give us a great love for it, and He will do that, because it is His will.

1 John 5:14-15 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (NKJV)

Let us start with a Bible verse or Bible passage each day. Follow gospel posts online. Keep only gospel movies and songs on your phone. Keep the Word of God in sight by meditating on it and memorizing it always. There is safety and life in God's Word. Pray with me:

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to taste the sweetness in Your Word and help me to become incurably addicted to knowing Your Word. Above all, may I be a doer of it and not just a hearer only. In Your mighty name, I pray. Amen.

Christmas season in Nigeria can at times be crazy and full of razzmatazz. Most people here see Christmas as a festive celebration that must be flamboyant and elaborate, rather than a time of sobriety and holiness. Consequently, it is often characterized by many evils and iniquity.

Oddly, most believers, who are supposed to be light at Christmas, can hardly be distinguished from unbelievers in the manner in which they celebrate and comport themselves. They just celebrate Christmas exactly as those in the world celebrate; they focus on the eating, drinking, and merriment only, and forget Jesus, who is the reason for the season. They neglect holiness and spiritual discipline, and become wild.

2 Corinthians 6:14 – Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? (AMPC)

As Christians, we should be light in the midst of darkness; we ought to teach others in the world how Christmas should be celebrated. We must let Christ who is celebrated be seen in us, and through right living, change every wrong notion about Christmas this season.

Christmas is a period of forgiveness, joy, and peace. It's also a period of soul winning, as sinners must be led to Jesus who is born. It's a period of confession of sin, rededication of ourselves to God, and, finally, charity and love.

Friend, let's refuse to celebrate this Christmas like those in the world.

Matthew 5:16 – Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven. (AMPC)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may Your love, peace, and joy be our portion and that of our families this season as we celebrate Your birthday. O God, help us to live in a holy and right manner so that Your light in us will be seen by those around us, and so that they may glorify Your name forevermore. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.