Father's Day greetings

Beloved Sisters, as we join our Husbands, Dads, Brothers, Sons, Friends to celebrate Father's day, let us first of all give honor to our Heavenly Father, our Eternal God and King for who He is, appreciating Him for being our Father and our everything, each and every day of our lives.  Let us thank Him for our Husbands, the spiritual leaders of our homes and the father of our Children and also for the other Men in our lives.




May the good Lord continue to strengthen and empower them to be godly fathers and be whom God has called them to be in Jesus name.

Happy Father's day to all our Men.

Recognizing Your Calling

   Romans 12:1, 4--8   
 by Kemi O.

What is your Ministry/Calling?

Beloved, what is your purpose on this earth? 

Why are you really here? I believe like me, that is the question most of us have asked ourselves at one time or the other. 

Well, beloved brethren, I am here to tell you that we are on this earth to serve 

the Lord God, His church and the world at large.God created man in His image and

 for fellowship as we see in the book of Genesis 2 through 4 until the enemy came in

 and destroyed that beautiful fellowship God had with our first parents. He created us 

for Himself to have an intimate relationship with us through praise, worship, 

communication etc. But thanks be to God for a second chance at fellowship with 

the Father, He sent His only Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to restore 

that broken fellowship through His precious blood that was shed for our sakes.

And now, we, believers through the selfless sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

now have a primary ( higher) calling and that is, to serve God using the talents, 

spiritual gifts, strengths etc, He has deposited in us for the propagation of His

 Kingdom. Sisters, aside from our secondary calling as wives and mothers, we

 are called to minister (serve) to God and others in various ways in order to 

fulfil the great commission Mark 16:15-20.

God had called us to be His servants on earth and it is not until we have been

 ordained by man's authority before we know we are called; for the moment

 we make the decision to follow Christ, we are instantly called to ministry. At first,

 we may not know what our ministry or role is in the body of Christ but over the 

course of our journey, it will be revealed to us. However, its quite unfortunate that

 many have died without realizing what their actual calling was.

There are so many believers today that are not doing what God has called them 

to do. Although, they are still serving in their various local assemblies or in

 para-churches etc, they are not doing what He has purposed for them to do. 

For example, you have individuals who are called to serve as teachers of the word,

 but instead are busy pastoring churches. There is nothing wrong with been 

available to serve in other areas of ministry in which you have skills or talents, 

should the need arise, but do it bearing in mind that this is not your God given 

ministry and so therefore not lose focus. So many including myself, have fallen 

into this situation and became so overwhelmed with the work or assignment 

especially in our local churches that we become ineffective and lose interest quickly.

We need to find out what God specifically has called us to do and do it well, 

for at the end of our race, we are going to stand before God and give account 

of our lives, what we did, and how we utilized the resources and gifts He had 

given to us. It is important to remember that our obedience to God will be weighed

 on that great day and that is what we are going to give account for and not our

 sacrificial good works 1 Sam 15:22 " To obey is better than sacrifice." The spiritual

 gifts and talents that God deposited in us is aligned with the ministry He has called

 us into. We were fearfully and wonderfully made by God and so we know he carefully

 took His time to mold us and fill us with what will help to serve Him effectively 

Psalm 139:14.

I believe at the time of conception, our talents (natural gifts) i.e music, creativity, etc

 were given to us and then when we became born again, He now deposited and 

assigned spiritual gifts to each of us and so having said this, I encourage you to

 trust God for your life, your calling, trust him who fashioned you, to sustain you

 in the ministry He has called you to, because He has equipped you with everything 

you will ever need to fulfil your individual ministry and purpose.

How do you know when you are already fulfilling your purpose?

I believe you know when you are operating in your ministry or calling when 

you go through trials or difficulties and you still remain standing. Nothing or no 

one can uproot you from where God has positioned you for by His strength you are

 able to complete the race set before you.

Do you ever wonder why some churches close down before they even reach their

 second or third year anniversary? A lot of times, they are not where the Lord has 

called them to be. It appears everyone wants to pastor a church but God has called

 them into other areas of service. So many times, I have seen servants of God starting

 churches which eventually crumble or remain stagnant for years and yes, it may not

 necessarily be because they are not positioned in the right area of ministry but who 

is to say, that is not the reason. I have heard of some who actually know the Lord has

 called them to be teachers, evangelists, or missionaries in the field, but refused to 

obey for one reason or the other and stay where they are, some times it could because 

of the monetary benefits they are receiving as a Pastor but beloved, this is sheer 

disobedience to God and there are consequences as we know for knowingly 

disobeying God.

Brethren, I encourage you today to be confident in God's choice for you, in John 15:16 ,

 He states that He is the one who does the choosing and not us. It is only Him who

 understands why He has chosen us for our particular ministry and so you have to 

trust him to see you through by His grace.

In conclusion, I will ask again " What is your ministry" Your specific purpose here

 on earth" Are you called to be a Children's Sunday School Teacher, Pastor, 

Evangelist, Administrator, Counselor, Music Minister, Helps/Welfare Coordinator etc ?

Do you have a vision or dream that you are yet to fulfil and you believe the Lord

 has given you this vision? If yes to these questions, pursue it with all your heart

 knowing the Lord has equipped you with the resources, gifts, skills that is required 

to fulfil your vision and ministry.

If you would like to know what your spiritual gifts may be, click on this helpful link below to take a spiritual gift analysis test so that you can begin to prepare your self for God's work using the gifts He has given you.  You are welcome to share this information or link with friends, family, members of your local church or fellowship etc.
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi

Overcoming the pain of Adultery

Scripture Text:  Proverbs 6:23-33
 by  Kemi O.

It is very depressing and sad when you look around our world today and see so many marriages in turmoil. The most shocking of it all is that, it is very rampant today in the body of Christ i.e the church.

After reading books, watching the news, listening to loved ones and counseling a few, I have come to the conclusion that one of the greatest marriage destroyers of all time is " Adultery". It is not only a sin against God but it is a sin that causes so much emotional pain to the other parties involved (spouse and children).

If you look at the statistics today on the divorce rate, you will see that over 50% of the marriages that end up in divorce is as a result of infidelity/adultery.

By the way, what do we mean by Adultery? Adultery by the dictionary definition is extra marital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes with marital relations. Some people confuse adultery with fornication because they are both transgressions before God. The difference between fornication and adultery is that fornication is the act of having pre-marital sex with another unmarried person so it usually pertains to someone who is single, however adultery pertains to sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse.

The sin of Adultery is a disastrous reality that has existed and afflicted mankind since the beginning of time. For believers, one of the most well known accounts of adultery recorded in scripture is revealed in the story of King David and his affair with Bathsheba. 2 Sam 11:2-27. Although King David actively pursued Bathsheba, the strange woman in his home, some respected and annointed men of God like King David have fallen victim to the beauty and flattery tongue of the strange woman Prov 6:24-25. And as a result, the annointing of God in their lives was destroyed and sometimes their homes, and in such cases it will take the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit to restore them. There was an incident in the church I was attending a few years ago where a man of God whom I so much respected had been having affairs with the women in the church. He was quite a handsome preacher and 90% of his congregation were women but I just saw the annointing of God on his life and how the Lord was using him mightily. It never occurred to me that such a thing would happen to him and as a result of his succumbing to the flesh, his ministry suffered a terrible blow, marriages were destroyed, for a couple of women he was sleeping with also happen to be married. It was a very unfortunate incident and so brethren, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed in the church today. We are an adulterous generation.

When adultery taints the purity of the marriage covenant, the road to reconciliation is usually quite difficult especially for the spouse who has been betrayed.

Sadly to say, many christians have skipped the reconciliation process because they find it difficult to forgive their cheating spouses. Decisions of separation and divorce is therefore made in haste out of pain and anger. Can you really blame them? However, we should ask ourselves will this be God’s will for me if I do this? Many have used the famous words of Jesus Christ in Matt 19:9 to justify their decision for divorce but if everyone who has been through the pain of adultery decide to obtain a divorce, how many marriages will truly remain standing? There has to be room for forgiveness. the same scriptures tells us to forgive those who have trespassed against us and also that God hates putting away i.e divorce Mal 2:16. As painful as the betrayal is, an effort at saving the marriage should be made especially a christian union that has been ordained and blessed with children. God’s thoughts towards us are good and not of evil to give us an expected end ( future). Divorce was never in God’s plan for man and therefore it is evil, it is the work and plan of the enemy to destroy marriages especially christian marriages. His only job is to kill, to steal and to destroy, John 10:10.

It pleases the Lord to see the Man and the Woman reconcile because it also causes them to be reconciled back to God as a family. He assures us that he will be with us always even in times of trouble.

Having said all this, we know that rebuilding a relationship is definitely not an easy task for it will take both time and effort on both sides to make it happen. Above all, it will take the grace of God to bring harmony back into the home again.

The first step to rebuilding the marriage is for the adulterer to be willing to repent. he/she must genuinely confess their sins and repent.

The betrayed spouse(victim) must be willing to forgive in order for the healing process to begin.

Couple should seek biblical counseling immediately for it helps both parties to understand why it happened and how to avoid it from happening again.

In addition to counseling, the couple should spend time in prayer seeking God’s face and asking for his grace and power to get them through the tough times.

- The adulterous spouse should be accountable to someone in order for that trust to be rebuilt. Mostly likely he needs to be accountable to his spouse, pastor or counselor.

Based on my own experience of a failed relationship, I would also say that in addition to seeking counseling, talking to a close friend or loved one also helps the healing process.