Life calls unto deep,
Frail men can’t understand it,
The light shines at the end,
Darkness takes over the dead.
Teach us about life,
That when she comes,
We will be able to overcome,
For she gives birth to sorrow,
In the lives of many men.
Leave everything in the hands of God,
I have detected in the jaws of men,
She uses sorrow as a tool of destruction.
Teach us to overthrow her,
When she rises like a flood.
Greenhills Emmanuel Amrayahweh
Exodus 12:13: “The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy [you] when I strike the land of Egypt.” (HCSB)
The story of the Passover is one which no believer is unfamiliar with. Yet, it is a story which only few believers have discovered the great wealth of divine revelation concealed underneath it. This is due to what one would call, ‘over-familiarity’ with the scriptures.
I intend on bringing to our understanding, a knowledge which is needed at this time more than ever.
In the text above, God was about to strike the nation of Israel with a plague. It was going to be a plague that would kill the firstborn of every living creature, man or animal, in Egypt. As providence would have it, the Israelites happened to be living in Egypt as slaves, at that time.
Such a season could be compared to the season we are in presently. The Bible tells us that are the spiritual Israel.
We are God’s people who are presently mixed up with the Pagans and unbelievers. We are people in covenant with God who are living amongst people outside of God’s covenant. Just like the children of Israel centuries ago, we find ourselves in a world full of corruption, oppression and hatred towards Christians.
In the USA, for instance, Joe Kennedy, a former Washington state high school football coach, was fired, for praying in the pitch, before and after every match of his team. This and more instances, show how believers are being oppressed by the evil ones sitting at the helm of world affairs.
God saw the oppression of His people, and He was about to send a plague to strike the land. But God had to distinguish His people in order to shield them from being affected by the plague.
The distinguishing mark was going to be the blood of a young lamb, sprinkled on the door posts of the Israelites. They obeyed, and they never got affected by the plague.
In a season of plague like this, you do not need to kill a lamb and shed its blood on your doorpost like the Israelites did. What they did was only a shadow and figure of what God was going to do in our generation.
The lamb which was slain represents Christ, who is the lamb that was slain for our redemption (1 Peter 1:19-20). His Blood was shed on the cross of cavalry, and till date, the Blood still speaks.
Hebrews 12:24: “And to Jesus, the Mediator (Go-between, Agent) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].” (AMP)
The Blood of Jesus speaks of mercy, not judgment. Where there is mercy, there is preservation; grace and protection. The Blood of Christ shed for us shields us from every plague and pestilence in the land.
But as a believer, you must apply the Blood to yourself and your household. You must not live in complacency or assumption.
We apply the Blood of Christ in our Household through two ways,
a. Declaring it
b. Teaching it to our household
Firstly, you must declare the Potency of the Blood and its efficacy in your life and family. Say this, ‘I declare that I am covered from this plague by the blood of Jesus through my faith in the finished works of Christ. Therefore, I and my household are safe and protected from this pandemic’. Do not say this alone; lead your family members to confessing it with you daily.
Teaching the importance of the Blood to your household is very important if they are going to benefit from it. When you explain the significance of applying the Blood, their faith is built up to trust in the covering of the Blood of Jesus.
Know that no matter how the condition of this pandemic gets, you will survive it, because you are covered by the blood! You are like the Israelite and your house is like the Goshen city where they dwelt. You are secure in the Blood of Jesus. And so is your family.
Amen.
Wisdom Cries
Come unto me and receive rest,
And I will help you overcome life’s greatest test.
Come into me and waste not your youth,
And I will purse devourers off your booth.
She calls to all pigmentations of men,
‘Come unto me and I will give you rest.’
‘Let me in’ she says,
‘That I may come and sup with you.’
The foolish knows not her voice,
Without her the weak becomes void
Silver and gold are at her feet,
Honour and glory are part of her gifts.
She is an anchor to kings
And she is the crown of queens.
GreenHills Emmanuel is the writer of this poem.
We are commanded in Scripture to always give glory to God for whatever possession we acquire, or position we attain.
He is the source of all good and perfect things. Therefore, this day, we join Mavin Sapp to say sincerely to The Most High, that we ‘Never would have made it’ without Him.
Enjoy!
Sometimes it takes time and spiritual growth to learn how to put God’s love to work for you. We don’t grow up spiritually overnight.
You can’t put an adult head on a baby’s body, and sometimes it takes time to mature in love.
My brother Dub was a good example of that. It took him time to mature in love because of his upbringing. Dub was always big for his age. By the time he was six¬teen, he was 6 foot 4 inches tall.
But Dub grew up with a chip on his shoulder because he’d been orphaned and kicked from pillar to post. He wouldn’t take anything from anyone.
In fact, when he was a seventeen-year-old boy, I saw him whip four grown men.
But then Dub got saved. And, really, if you’d known where he’d come from, you would have known that something miraculous happened to him to change his nature.
But even though there was a dramatic change on the inside, sometimes he still had a hard time keeping his flesh under. He had to learn to mature in love, and really, he came a long way from his younger days.
But one time, for example, Dub was out in California, and he went into a little coffee shop. He was sitting at the counter, and he ordered something to eat.
When the waitress brought it to him, he bowed his head to pray before he ate. After he prayed, the fellow sitting next to Dub asked him where he was from. Dub said that he was from Oklahoma.
Then the man asked, “Do you know Oral Roberts?”
Dub said, “Well, I don’t know him personally, but I’ve shaken his hand.”
Well,” the fellow replied, “He’s a so-and-so,” and he called him a name.
Then the fellow asked, “Do you know Kenneth Copeland?”
“Yes,” Dub said. “I know him personally.”
“Well,” the fellow replied, “he’s another so-and-so.”
Then the fellow said, “Do you know Kenneth Hagin?”
Dub replied, “Yes, I do.”
The fellow said, “He’s another so-and-so.”
When the fellow said that, Dub knocked him off the counter stool. Then he picked him up and carried him outside.
The owner of the restaurant called the police, and when they got there, Dub was holding the fellow up against the building praying for him.
The police officer said, “What’s the matter?”
Dub said, “This man said my brother was a so-and-so. By saying that, he was calling my mother a dirty name too. No one talks that way about my family!”
The policeman said to the fellow, “Did you do that?”
The man said, “Yes.”
The policeman said, “Why, you ought to have better sense!” Then he asked Dub, “Who is your brother?”
Dub said, “Kenneth Hagin.” The police officer said, “Oh! I’ve read his books and listened to his tapes.”
Then he turned to the other fel¬low and said, “What’s the matter with you!”
The fellow said, “Well, I guess maybe I did do wrong.”
My brother Dub told the fellow, “If you want help, here’s my card. Come and see me.”
The man came to see Dub the next day and got saved!
Now I don’t advocate getting people saved that way, but I just told you that to show you that sometimes it can take time to learn to keep the flesh under and to mature in love.
But Dub came a long way from his younger years. It took him a while, but he grew in love. The Lord had worked Dub over on the inside and made him a new creature, but then Dub had to learn what to do with the outward natural man.
It took him some time to learn to put on Christ on the outward man (Rom. 13:14) and to mature in the God-kind of love.
But it’s no use laughing at Dub, because the Lord is still teaching some of us how to bring the outward man subject too!
___________________
Kenneth E. Hagin
Meditation involves studying, which is a step higher than reading. The word of God is not meant to be read alone, but to be meditated upon. It is PRIMARILY meant for us to encounter.
Meditation is the practice or act of pondering (focusing) on a written or spoken discourse. It means expressing considered thoughts on a subject.
Wikipedia defines meditation as ‘a practice where an individual uses a technique –such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity –to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.’
If you want to meditate, the basic things to do, includes:
1. SUSTAINING THE APPROPRIATE POSTURE
It was Apostle Edu Udechukwu that said that “the feedbacks you get from the scriptures, is dependent on the posture that you sustained before approaching it.”
Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the MEDITATION OF MY HEART, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
If your heart must receive divine revelation, the state of your heart must sustain the appropriate posture of: “entering the scriptures in the spirit, encountering the word beyond the mind, and interacting with the Spirit of the Word.”
With that in place, you will not be distracted and, your mind, body and spirit will be aligned and ready to meditate on the Word.
II Timothy 2:15 (NASB): “BE DILIGENT to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling (expounding) the word of truth.”
Diligent meditation will create pictures of the events that happened and what led to it.
By this, you will have insight and understand the contextual meaning of the passage.
If the appropriate posture is not sustained, you certainly will have problem with meditation.
You will look mechanically into the scriptures, but will not be able to BEHOLD the person of Jesus Christ.
You will be unable to apprehend divine realities in your spirit. You will be far from COMFORMING to the image of Christ. This is what leads one to explain scriptures only with the natural human intellect.
2. CONSIDER THE CONTEXT
“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” 2 Timothy 2:7
Your mind and heart must be exercised to gain insight that is embedded in the scriptures. This is what the above scripture entails.
You have to consider by meditation, before the Lord will give you understanding. You ca not get right understanding of scripture (by the Spirit) until you consider by medication.
Considering the context of scripture is necessary for application. It is wise to ask questions such as these:
To whom was it written? By whom?
What were the circumstances?
What are the precise meanings of the words in the original language?
What related scriptures might provide additional insights?
With the following questions, you will see yourself digging deep and understanding it through the help of the Holy Spirit.
Psalms 8:3 “When I CONSIDER thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.”
From the aforementioned verse, David –The Psalmist, was meditating on the handiwork of God, and that led to what he said in the next verses.
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet” Psalms 8:4,5, 6.
Reading without meditation, is what causes misconception.
Misconception of scriptures leads to misinterpretation, and misinterpretation leads to misapplication of scriptures. This is how some heresies come into the body of Christ.
3. PERSONALIZING THE PASSAGES
Personalize it by rereading it in the first person; using I, me, and my.
For example, John 3:16 could be personalized by saying,
“For God so loved ‘ME‘, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if ‘I‘ believe in Him, ‘I‘ will not perish but have everlasting life.”
Colossians 3:16 could be personalized by saying, “Let the word of Christ dwell in ‘ME‘ richly in all wisdom.”
When you personalize the scripture, it becomes a living expression within your heart. This is also an aspect of meditation.
After that, read the personalized verse repeatedly. That will make room for better understanding of that
verse.
However, this method is not applicable for all scriptures because not every scripture is meant to be personalized.
MANTRA MEDITATION
Mantra in this context refers to a phrase REPEATED to assist concentration during meditation.
You can do mantra meditation by repeating a verse, phrase, or a word in the scripture. For example;
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in ME richly in all wisdom.”
Do some ‘figuring out‘ in your spirit to substantiate the passage. You can do this by representing some items in a coded way which only you may understand.
As you continue meditating, your understanding of the verse deepens, your illustrations will expand.
While asking yourself questions, you can give answers to them by introspection. You can be linked to other related scriptures, you will get to know a verse from other passages, it will widen your understanding and enable you to balance the context of scriptures.
When you have done your diligent meditation of a particular verse, chapter or book, then you will be able to illustrate and summarize the main concepts found within the passage(s).
Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK on these things.”
While you diligently read and meditate, the Holy Spirit will drop a message(s) in your heart.
When this happens, you will able to discover where you had ignorance and deficiency in accurate Understanding.
Apply them accurately in the areas they are required.
David Chikwado Caleb
The blind leading the blind,
Life calls for the inclined,
Time is the unit of destiny,
Such is Life.
Stand your ground,
Lest do not be proud,
Open your eyes wide,
For life is not a game.
Living in bad debt.
Yet death looms around for men,
And where can you find life,
Such life is in Christ.
Such is life is what they say,
We can’t do better they claim,
Yet destiny calls your name,
Frivolousness ends your race.
Say your name to grace,
Tell her about your race,
Find the path to destiny,
Never bring yourself to sympathy.
Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh
Proverbs 6 vs 6
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; Consider her ways and be wise”
The ant is a very special and interesting creature. Though very small in size, it has a lot of interesting and amazing characteristics.
According to science, ants can lift up to 50 times their own weight. So small yet strong and mighty. Another interesting fact about them is that they have no ears. Yes! They lack ears. All they depend on for hearing are vibrations.
These little creatures are ubiquitous. I mean they can be found anywhere and everywhere you go.
Some species of ants can actually live up to 2 hours after their heads have been ripped off their bodies.
These creatures are so amazing and unique, establishing the fact that size doesn’t matter when it comes to surviving in thus world.
Aside these amazing facts, there is also a lot to learn from them such as the lesson of hardwork and determination.
But that is not the only thing we can learn from the ants.
One evening, I was sitting under an almond tree enjoying the coolness of the shades and the evening breeze.
Then I felt something walking on my neck. I quickly threw it off my neck, and I inquisitively went to check what it was.
I discovered it was a little ant which I crushed while trying to take it off my neck.
It lay there wounded. I decided to leave it on the ground, hoping it would heal and gain enough strength to walk again.
I kept going to observe whether it would move, at intervals.
Several minutes later, I spotted another ant coming.
After a few seconds, it got to where the injured ant was and touched it with its antenna. It did this for about 30 seconds.
Then suddenly, it picked up the injured ant and started moving it away from where it was towards their little ant hole buried in the ground. Soon they got to the hole and entered.
This little act of this ant amazed me. It saw its fellow ant helplessly wounded and did not abandon it.. Instead, it helped it to safety.
Everyday, we hear stories of devout Christians falling into grievous sins such as fornication, fraud etc.
We see some at the verge of backsliding because they feel that they have fallen so deep they ca not be saved or used by God again.
Hearing this, instead of becoming a helping hand, we Christians take it as an opportunity to criticize and condemn them.
Instead of showing them love, we become mean towards them as if we are the world’s perfectionists. Instead of encouraging them, we talk them down., instead of correcting, we criticize.
Lots of Christians have commuted suicide due to this. The place from which they expected to get love, faith, strength and Correction, they got hatred, shame and criticism instead.
I want us to know that our maturity as believers is not only measured based on how fervently or how long we pray. Nor is it only measured based on on how well we get deep revelations from the Bible. It is also measured based on how we handle situations around us.
We are on a journey and this journey is a journey filled with stumbling blocks. No one is perfect but we are moving towards perfection.
Many are going to fall but it is the job of those who are already strong in those areas to bring them up, love, encourage and correct them.
Let us help each other on this journey.
Let us carry each other along.
Let us intercede for one another.
Let us fellowship with one another.
Don’t make anyone feel bad for falling. Remember it could happen to anyone and even you.
The Apostle said, “Let brotherly love continue”.
The Road to Eternity is full of thorns and trials, but if we stick to one another, we can definitely overcome.
Written by Tolu-Taiwo Victor
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.
Whitney Houston was undoubtedly one of the most skilful musicians in entertainment history. From her unparalleled song lyrics to her high-pitched voice, She was certainly one who made great impact in the entertainment industry.
Her concerts were sold-out. Her songs were unique and quite appealing to the emotion. Without sentiment or bias, I still say till date, that we have never had a musician as innovative and skilful as Whitney Houston.
This musician, who started music as a young adult, achieved a lot of success in music.
But she had a problem.
Her problem was not a singing problem, as she had one of the best voices in history. Neither was her problem finance, as she was equally among the richest musicians of his days. Her problem was not fame and popularity.
It was a struggle that was invisible to the eyes of her fans, followers and even close friends. In February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston was found dead in her room at Beverly Hotels. Valid reports showed that she died from severe drug addiction.
The five-star singer, who was one of the most admired singers in history, passed away at 48, because of drug addiction.
Although, her death was shocking to the world, it was not the first of its kind. Neither were her personal and emotional problems, the first of its kind. History has always let us know, that despite their huge successes on stage, there are several American singers with very terrible personal lives.
From divorces, to promiscuity and even drug addictions, they are able to maintain balance on stage, and act goody-goody, yet, when the fans are gone, and the concert is over, and they are back to their hotel room, a negative reality of who they really are, beclouds their reasoning again.
This leads them to take several doses drugs, painkillers as well as sleep inducement drugs, thereupon damaging their body systems due to the frequent intake.
What caused these things in their lives? – The lack of a life guide.
Most of them who died tragically and prematurely, had medical advisers, musical advisers, professional instrumentalists, loyal and dedicated staff, but there was no record of them ever having a Life Guide or a Life Coach. No matter how talented or skilful you are, if you do not have a Life Coach, you will have fame, popularity and wealth, but you will lack inner tranquillity and stability of mind.
The purpose of a life coach is not to make you a better professional; it is to make you a better person. It is not to give you vocal training, but give you the training required to sustain your inner tranquillity. A life coach’s job is not to make you better on stage; it is to make you better off-stage.
A Life Coach is one who will love you for who you are, and not for what you have. One of the truths that we have to accept about life, is that most people who claim to love us do not really love us; rather, they love what we carry.
They do not really love you; rather, they love your voice. If you had no voice, you would have no fan. They love the gift, and not the gifted. No matter how cool the love of the fans may be, they can never suffice for the love which you will get from your family, and the encouragement which you will get from your Life Coach.
Do you have a Life Coach?
Your Life Coach is that person who can teach you how to balance between your tight schedule as a performer, and your personal life.
Your Life Coach is the one who is able to look beyond the costume and makeup, and see the real you. Oprah Winfrey once said a life coach or mentor is, ‘One who is able to make you see the hope inside of yourself’.
Medical personnel can only prescribe drugs to reduce your body pain, but there is no drug that can heal your emotional pain. They can prescribe drugs to help one sleep past the inner anguish, but no amount of sleep can help one to permanently escape such anguish.
The only personnel who can help you heal your emotional hurts, overcome your fears, and build a strong spirit; is your Life Coach.
Your Life Coach can be your pastor, youth pastor, pastor’s wife, father, mother, friend, teacher etc. But he/she must be one who you can confide your pain and struggles with, and who can help you overcome these things.
Ecclesiastes 12:11: The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd.” (MSG)
Old age comes with weakness and frail mind
A time between adulthood and death.
When old age creeps on me
When wrinkles appears on my face,
When All my hair turns gray,
When life’s candle goes gloom,
When my eyes grow dim…
I will keep glancing
Never retiring but refiring.
Stretching forth my hands to finishing domestics work,
Rendering more service to the creator,
Telling life tales to younger ones, and also
Thinking positively the rest of my life with optimism.
I shall embrace you without fear
Because my adolescence and adulthood shall have been Worthily spent.
Come, the late dawn.
*Nkemjoy*🌹
KOINONIA ART 