In this rendition of Imela and What a Beautiful name, we declare the splendor of God’s Majesty in all the nations
Tag Archives: God
The Secret to my Thrive even during The Pandemic – Nathaniel Stephen
Nathaniel Stephen is a healing Evangelist based in the Nigeria. He is full of the power of The Holy Spirit, and is being used mightily by God to bring revival upon Nigeria and the globe.
In this interview with Koinonia Art’s Journalist, Godwin Wobo, Stephen that shares with us, his life story.
(Interviewer’s Questions in Bold Italics)
Tell us about your Background.
I am from a good family background. My Mom was an Evangelist, not necessarily by title, but she did the work of an EVANGELIST alot.
She would be sick, yet, would still go for Evangelism. Her bad health could not stop her. She was definitely a woman full of pious love and reverence for the things of God.
My Dad was not really stable, but God was helping him.
I got born again in 2014. It was a beautiful experience. But a while later, I backslid. I fell from The Faith.
I totally changed in 2016. No one preached to me. I had an Encounter with God that transformed me overnight, and made me come back to the Lord.
How was the inception stage of your ministry?
It was pretty cool. I think I would have preferred it to what I see now. I hated crowds. I love to be hidden. Then, it was just myself and twelve others that the Lord had sent to me. Eventually, things began to change. Doors of expansion began to open, and here I today, more known than I was before.
What was your greatest challenge in ministry?
I have faced several challenges in ministry. Both Physical and Spiritual challenges. But I think the greatest of these challenges is that, I was very determined to know who my wife would be, (laughs).
I was so interested in knowing God’s will for my marital status, that I began to get distracted from God’s purpose for my ministry.
Thank God for His enlightenment. I realized it was a mere distraction. When the right time comes, the right woman would come.
But it was a challenge overcoming those thoughts and obsession with who I might marry.
You have witnessed several incredible miracles of God in your life. Yet, which of these miracles would you describe as very fascinating?
For me, there is no Miracle which is greater than the miracle of salvation.
As you said, God has performed incredible miracles in my ministry. I have seen miracle alerts, HIV Positive turn Negative, deaf ears opened, Blind eyes seeing, Ulcer dissipating etc. The list is endless. God has been very faithful to us.
In spite of these, I’ll still say that the Miracle of salvation is the greatest.
There is no Miracle as great as a sinner becoming a saint; a strumpet becoming a prophet; an atheism extremist becoming a lover of the Gospel.
These are miracles we see daily. Lives transformed. Minds renewed. There is no Miracle as great as that.
Ever since its inception, your ministry has thrived. Despite the Pandemic and lockdown, it keeps growing bigger. Evangelist, what is the secret to the continuous thrive of your ministry?
Quite a lot of persons have asked me that question. And when they ask me, they probably expect a big answer.
But the secret to my success in Ministry is that I always follow the leading of The Holy Spirit. What He says I should do, I do. What He says I shouldn’t do, I do not do. The Holy Spirit is very important to success both in ministry and in every other endeavor.
I do not even see this work as my ministry. It is His Ministry. I am merely the caretaker.
He has His compass orchestrated for the leading of His Ministry. As His caretaker here on Earth, my job is to continually look at that compass and align myself with the angle it is reading.
Sir, you’re a a student, as well as a preacher. These two facets of life can be quite tasking and demanding of attention. Yet, you’re excelling in the both of them. How do you do that?
God helps me in my academics. It may seem unbelievable, but when I’m preparing for exams, I do not read the entire topics in the recommended texts.
The Holy Spirit directs me to the topics from which the exam questions will be set. I study those topics intensively, and discover on the day of the exam, that indeed, the exam was set from them.
What are some of the things you are grateful for in Ministry?
I am presently in full time ministry and am grateful for many things.
The crowds that turn up at our crusades.
The speed He granted me.
His mercies He has shown me.
The signs and wonders .
The expansion in finances, numbers etc.
I am very grateful to God for these things and I attribute them to nothing else but His Grace.
What advice would you give to ministers globally. Especially the young ones?
While you have alot of prophecies over your life, ensure to yield to divine Instructions and principles. Young ministers are particularly stubborn when it comes to following God bureaucratically.
The passions of ones youth can tempt one to serve God recklessly. But God is a God of order. And He be followed based on the Principles which He has revealed in Scriptures, and the Instructions which He gives to us through The Holy Spirit.
Never attend a meeting God wants you to attend without leaving that meeting with a decision made and an action to take.
________________________
We hope you have been blessed by the written highlights of this phenomenal interview with Nathaniel Stephen.
Meditate wholly on these things. Imbibe the lessons into your heart, and practice them.
The Lord Bless You.
Do not forget to drop a like and leave a comment. We would love to hear from you.
Poetry: Soil Thy Lips
Soil Thy Lips
Hurtful words
From unbridled lip, Let them never.
Friendship is too sacred for a moment’s reckless foly.
Thus, to dissonate and mar.
Let your tongue be soft and sweet..
Let them be full of courage
Let them always edify
Soil thy lips.
Nkemjoy
Poetry: Love covers All
Life connects us to men,
Deep calls unto deep,
Wounds may never heal,
Scars might not be wiped off,
But love conquers all.
Emotions indeed have suffered,
Feeling has been trashed,
Hatred looks for whom to host,
Hearts then, have been cracked,
But love conquers all.
Souls have experience torture,
Men’s love continually wax cold,
Tales of heart break fills the air,
Tales of broken trust makes the first,
But Love conquers all.
Enough tears have been shed,
Enough time has been spent,
Why wallow in depression,
Why engage in unforgiveness,
But love conquers all.
To err is human,
To forgive is divine,
To love is our design,
To shut yourself from love,
Is to put yourself to disdain,
But love conquers all.
Take your time to heal,
Take the mandate to Love again,
Experience the love of Christ today,
Make yourself available for his love,
Dress yourself beautifully to accommodate,
His wonderful love,
Because His love conquers all..
Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh
Beholding Eternity
Image Source: Klipfolio
2 Corinthians 4:18: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”
This world we live in, is a material world, which will surely fade away someday. If this world has a beginning in time, then certainly, it will have an end. Hence, the Apostle calls it a Temporal world.
Due to this, even while we go about our daily endeavours, our sight must be set on the things which are not seen. Our sight must be set on the realities of eternity, and not the materialism of this world.
Years ago, I asked someone for the secret to living in ardour and piousness on Earth. I did not receive a satisfactory answer. For many years, I sought for the answer to this question. It was until I came across 1 Corinthians 4:18, that I discovered this answer.
A man’s destination will be determined by his focus. If you are journeying Eastwards, yet, your eyes are set on the West, your journey will be futile. We are Pilgrims in this world, who are on a journey to Eternity and Immortality. If we will arrive at our destination, our sights must be set on it.
Now is the time, when we must look beyond the economy of the nation wherein we dwell. The Pandemic has taught us that even the economy of the nation is unreliable. We must look beyond the wearing of masks and gloves and Covid protocols (even as we give strict adherence to them), unto the Eternal and Unseen creator.
Now is the time for us to realign our sights. For many years, believers have been too engrossed in the affairs of this world, that we have almost forgotten that there is a world to come.
Colossians 3:3 “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand”
In the aforementioned text, two things are revealed to us; a reality, and an Instruction. The first is that we have been raised to new life with Christ. This is probably the most powerful of gospel revelations.
It is the revelation that we have been raised into a new life with Christ. The Life we live now is a higher brand of life. A life which is higher than the life of the world. The Life we live now is the resurrection life; when Christ resurrected, we resurrected with Him.
We have been raised above sin, carnality, misery, sickness, shame, pain and reproach, unto a new kind of life. The Apostle called it ‘new life’, because this kind of life has never been in existence in the world.
It came into existence after Jesus resurrected from the grave. It is God’s kind of life. This is the life that we have, and that we live. It is a life of faith in the eternal realities of God.
The Instruction: set your sights on the realities of heaven.
There are realities of heaven. Immortality, divine health, prosperity, divine wisdom etc. these are heavenly realities. Our gaze must be on them.
Though one might not be able to see them physically, yet, with one’s heart, one can continuously gaze on them and picture oneself living in them.
As you walk on the face of the Earth, let there be a picture of eternity in your heart.
Even when things seem to be tough, with your heart, look beyond the physical. The pain, the pandemic, the lockdown, no matter how long these things might seem to be, they will surely pass away.
But one thing that will never pass away, is the Eternal Word of God. His Word abides forever. So why fret yourself over the visible but temporal things. Open your heart and look in anticipation of the salvation of your Redeemer.
Set your gaze on the realities of God found in His Word.
Fix your thoughts on His Promises to you and your family, both here and in Heaven. See them happening in your life.
Do not let your vision be blurred by circumstance! Instead, let it be guided by your faith in God’s word.
God bless you!
As far as You can See
Abraham’s staff had a quarrel with Lot’s staff over grazing land for their cattle. This led to Abraham and Lot agreeing to separate.
Lot was given to option to choose between the breathtaking city of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the less attractive land which they dwelt in at that moment. Lot chose the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he left Abraham with the less attractive site.
Probably Abraham stood after Lot had left, gazing at the beautiful sight of Sodom and Gomorrah, and wishing he had the opportunity to rear his cattle in such a plain.
But the Lord appeared unto Abraham.
God came to change Abraham’s sight, from beholding the dainties of Sodom and Gomorrah to beholding the far greater wealth he had in store for Abraham. He said to Abraham, “I am giving you all this land, as far as you can see….”
The kind of seeing that God was talking about here, isn’t the seeing done with the physical eyes. It is that which is done with the inner sight. It is the seeing done with the Imagination.
God told Abraham to look Northwards and Southwards and Eastwards and Westwards. There was certainly no way Abraham would have been able to the entirety of these four cardinal points with his physical sight. But God expects the child of God to see by faith and not by what his physical eyes show him.
The question a believer must ask himself is, “What am I seeing?”
One of the facts which psychology has proven to be true, is that every human who walks and works in this Earth, has a mental picture of himself and his future which guides his decisions and actions.
Even those who claim to see nothing are actually seeing despair, emptiness and a future void of greatness.
In the midst of this pandemic, what is that which you are seeing with your inner eyes? There might have been a lockdown on your business, but there can never be a lockdown on your imagination!
Do you have a mental picture of a great future in mind? Or have you conceded to the picture of gloominess and darkness in your future.
The reason God gave us a lot of promises and ensured they were all penned down is so that in the time of challenges, we may look at those promises, and see them manifesting in our lives. Using your mind to picture the promises of God towards you and your family is not a way of escaping or trying to deny reality. Rather, it is the way to elevating your whole being to living in a higher reality.
Things to see happening in your life
1) Your children becoming great: You might have children who right now, are stubborn and might even be ungodly, yet, do not let your vision be limited to who they seem to be at present. Rather, see them as the kind of children that the Bible has promised for those who fear the Lord.
Psalm 112:2: “(the man who fears the Lord) His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.” (KJV)
See your children becoming great businessmen, politicians, leaders, ministers in the society. Let this be your vision for their lives, and let it drive you to give them the best guidance needed to attain this dream.
2) See yourself having a prosperous home: What makes a home prosperous is not money alone. Love, care, peace and the thriving of your family members can make your home prosperous.
Envision the kind of family you want to have. Envision the kind of spouse you want to be, and start making decisive steps to becoming that spouse now!
3) See yourself living in good health and long life until you leave this world:
Psalm 91:10: “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” (KJV)
No matter how contagious the pandemic might be, God has promised that it will not come best your dwelling.
Peradventure it came, see yourself getting healed of it.
See yourself alive, even in old age, spending the holidays with thriving children and grandchildren and even your great-grandf
THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING SPIRITUAL CAPACITY
From the previous message of this subject matter, we have known the strategies for building spiritual strength. If you have implemented them, its benefits will definitely not elude you.
The importance of building spiritual capacity include:
1. FITNESS IN THE INNER MAN
The true fitness of a man, is not measured in the level of his/her physical ability, rather, it is measured in the level of his/her spiritual ability.
What really makes us fit and tough in the face of challenges, is our fitness in the spirit. Whatever challenge you are going through, if there’s fitness in your spirit, you will victoriously come out of it.
If besetting sin is your challenge, you can tackle it because you have the strength it takes.
The Bible tells us that while there is some value in physical exercise, spiritual exercise is much more important.
1 Timothy 4:8: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto ALL THINGS, having promise of the life that NOW IS, and of that which is TO COME.”
Godliness is a lifestyle that is retained through spiritual workouts, you can’t benefit godliness without EXERCISING yourself unto godly living.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:7: “….Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
The passage in 1 Timothy 4:8, shows that spiritual exercise gives both contemporary and eternal benefits. With the contemporary benefits, we can have access to the benefits in eternity.
We CAN lay hold on the promise of eternal life, and there will be stability of confidence within us.
Hebrews 10:35: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath GREAT RECOMPENCE OF REWARD.”
In the context of the above scripture, ‘confidence’ is the ‘assurance’ of your faith in Christ Jesus. There are believers who failed to take time to build strength into their spirit man, and as a result, they ended up casting away their confidence.
If your convictions and faith must be intact, you must sustain the inbuilt strength. With that, you CAN hold on to the end.
2. ENHANCEMENT OF MENTAL FACULTIES.
Both the physical and spiritual mental faculties, can be enhanced through meditation. However, there is a limit to what our physical mentality can fathom, this is because its faculty cannot exceed the natural level.
Job 11:7 (AMP): Can you discover the depths of God? can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?
The above scripture is a question that Job asked the natural man with natural mentality, and the answer is No!
But when spiritual capacity is built, it will suspend you on a higher plain where you can understand the things that looks deep and ambiguous. At that plain, your spiritual mentality can comprehend things that are beyond human understanding.
Ephesians 3:3 (KJV): How that by revelation he made KNOWN unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words.
“….To you (who have been chosen) it has been granted to KNOW and RECOGNIZE the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Luke 8:10 (AMP)
Our spiritual mentality has a faculty, when your faculty is enhanced, your spiritual mentality CAN substantiate the unseen and unbelievable things, which God is conveying in your spirit.
But if your spiritual mental faculty is lacking enhancement, it will suffer from deficiency.
3. STRENGTH FOR SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
Spiritual battle requires not only the whole armour of God, but also spiritual strength. The armour can protect you against spiritual attacks, you can use the armour to war against dark powers, but it does not give you STRENGTH FOR WAR.
Even though your spirit man is armed with instruments of war, you can still be defeated if you have no strength to handle the warfare instruments, you’ll be vulnerable to your opponent if you don’t have the CAPACITY to fight. This is why it is important for every believer to build spiritual capacity.
David is an example to us. He and his four hundred men pursued after the Amalekites, but the above mentioned scripture proved that he alone, slew more number of the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 30:17: “And David SMOTE them FROM THE TWILIGHT EVEN UNTO THE EVENING of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.”
Indeed, he is a man with strong spirit, if it were by physical strength, it would not had been possible for him to slay from twilight till next day evening. He was full of strength beyond natural, even after the war, he wasn’t looking like a tired man.
That’s amazing about David.
Build up your spirit to know no weakness in warfare.
As a christian pilgrim, you will be frustrated on the pilgrimage if your spiritual strength is small, most unfortunately, you will continue struggling with sin if you don’t have strength to withstand them.
Start building spiritual capacity, its benefit cannot be overemphized.
Let us pray!
Written by David Chikwado Caleb
A Virtuous Man
The Virtuous Man
A Virtuous man is God’s heritage
A man whose carries God’s expression
A man whose words catches the heart of his Lord,
A Man who has traded his weakness for strength
A Virtuous man has a pure understanding,
A man whose Insight comes from the holy fountains,
A Man whose character is firm and standing,
A man who knows how to plain mountains
A Virtuous man is a man of Honor and dignity,
A Man whose desires are filled with Goodness,
A man who has a lot of wealth despite in his poverty,
A man who detest every form sin and lukewarmness.
A Virtuous man is steadfast and Holy,
A man who is magnificent and noble,
A man who is an epitome of beauty and glory,
A man who gives hope to the weak and feeble.
A Virtuous man is sensible and stable,
A man who is delightful and perfect,
A man who gives the needy from his table,
A man who is useful and corrected.
A Virtuous man is a joy to many Generations,
A man who holds ultimate power and never use it for his anger,
A man that who will always triumph in every tribulations,
A man whose desires is not power to trigger fame.
Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh
Daily Worship: Excess Love
The Love of God is Powerful and All-inclusive. This morning, we sing of His infinite love for humanity, through this enthralling rendition of Excess Love.
Follow me as I follow Christ
Being a leader is not an easy task,
Taking up the mantle is a decision.
Teaching your followers is not an easy cake,
Standing firm requires precision.
Trusting people is selective,
Loving people is a commandment.
Hurting people is manipulative,
Blessings lives is our Divine assignment.
Speaking right reflects our attitude,
Knowing what is right shows our altitude.
Never give up on your destiny,
Never go after impurities.
Go not after vain ideologies,
Seek after Christ pathology.
Follow not the call of babylon,
Follow after the call of the kingdom.
Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh
A Cheerful Giver
2 Corinthians 9:7
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
The Bible remains one of the greatest books in history, not for its grammatical accuracy, nor its mind-blowing storylines.
Rather, the Bible is regarded as the greatest book in history for it is the only book that possesses the quality of being straightforward in its description of people.
The Bible knows no sugarcoating. It states things as they are. In the Bible, foolish men are called fools, there is no application of Euphemism in it.
Similarly, when the Bible attributes a quality to a person, it means it. When the Bible calls a person wise, study such person well, he carries wisdom.
In the aforementioned text, the Bible told us that God loved the Giver who gave cheerfully.
We have been taught all these while that God loves givers. Yet, we discover that scriptures went on to specify the kind of Giver that God loves; a cheerful giver.
Hence, we should ask ourselves, if we are qualified to bear this description.
Are you a cheerful giver?
The answer is not far-fetched.
How do you feel when you the Pastor in the church calls for donations to Church projects?
What comes to your mind when it is time to pay the Tithe?
God is not interested in any gift that is given grudgingly. He is not interested in any gift that is given out of the feeling of compulsion.
We mustn’t give because we feel the church would not survive without our giving.
We must see Giving to the Lord’s work as a Privilege.
We must see it as an opportunity to prove our love and loyalty to God.
We must see Giving to the Lord’s work as an opportunity to receive from the Lord’s abundance.
Giving to God’s work open more doors for us than even prayers.
Prayer is Powerful. Prayer is necessary. But there are some things that prayer can never procure. There are some doors it can never open. These doors are mostly financial doors and doors to generational greatness.
The key to open these doors is in Giving.
David decided to build the Lord a House, for that, God established an everlasting covenant with David.
David never got this covenant through Praying. Neither did He get it through Fasting. He got this Everlasting covenant through His Giving (2 Samuel 7:1-16).
You might not be financially buoyant enough to build a Church building for the worship of God.
But have you given your mite to support the building?
Have you given your services to ensure the House of God internally and externally, is in good shape?
Are you Building the House of God, or are you pulling it down!
David isn’t the only man who got open doors through His liberal heart.
His Son, Solomon, followed his footsteps.
Solomon’s sacrifice so pleased the Lord, that The Lord appeared to Him, saying,
‘What do you want me to do’
Prayer could not get this unlimited access from God.
Fasting couldn’t. Yet, the sacrifice of Solomon gave him access to the unlimited bounties of God.
God is so interested in Giving that He sat at the Temple, watching the offering of the men.
God wants you to Give!
God is a Giving God.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world; that He gave His only son”
God loved mankind, and He expressed this Love by giving the gift of His son.
What Gift have you given to mankind?
What Gift have you given to your family?
Are you a Giving Christian? Or are you the Christian who is this selfish and self centered.
What should I give?
1. YOUR MONEY.
No matter how little what you have is, you are not exempted from giving. In fact, the kind of giving that moves God most is when we give out of the little we have. That is what is truly a sacrifice.
Give Sacrificially! May we be like David who said, ‘I will not give to God what will not cost me something’.
This is the law of Trans-generational wealth.
Even in the Occult world, Satan does not demand gifts that are irrelevant.
He demands the life of a relative or loved one before blessing the person who comes to him. This is because the true evidenced of love and honor is sacrifice.
If you honour God, you’ll give your finances Sacrificially to His Cause.
2. VALUE:
What Value do you possess that can be added to the Church? Do you possess the ability to sing, or to play an instrument. Or do you possess Event Management skills?
Whatever these may be, ensure you use them to promote the work of the Lord.
And remember, to do it Cheerfully. Do it Happily.
That is the Sacrifice which is Acceptable unto the Lord.
God Bless You
KOINONIA ART 