All posts by Tunde Soniregun

JUNE 2019 FAITH-MAIL

HOPE IS IN THE HEART

In the journey of life, to arrive and remain at the center of divine assignment, having hope in the heart is critical. Claiming to have hope in God is not only by mouth but must be rooted in the heart. Anyone that does not keep his or her heart diligently as requested by the word of God, does not understand and therefore cannot have hope in God.  According to (Proverbs 4:23),Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The question is, do you have a heart with hope in God?
The Bible records what it takes to have hope in God: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” (1 Peter 3:15)) A heart that is sanctified (separated) for God will have hope in God. A heart that is sanctified to God is a heart that seeks God diligently; to have hope in God is meditating the word of God.
Let us take a closer look at what meditating the word of God really means according to the book of Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” According to this statement, giving one’s heart to God in His word day and night without any doubt will help in the journey to have hope in God. Giving self to meditating the word of God day and night will help one to know God enough in order to trust and remain standing in hope for God’s response. Do live to meditate the word of God without depending only on the memorizations.
Sanctifying heart to God is hallowing God:
Hallowing God according to His command is the evidence of heart with hope. When the word of God locates a man for direction, hope in the man’s heart will do as commanded. Moses could not do as commanded by God but do against the word of God. The Bible records about Moses failure to hallow God: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”  Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:7-12) A failure not to believe God for His word is not having hope to do as commanded by God. Trust in God without hope is not complete:
Many have received God by their confession but cannot believe God by the testimony of their heart with no hope. For example, it is good to trust in God when people gather to pray but with no heart with hope people will be confessing negativity over what has been prayed for.
In your prayer of trust before God, move forward with the heart of hope to experience the manifestation of prayer point before God. Jeremiah 17:7 pointed out the importance of understanding and knowledge of trust and hope as the combination of being blessed, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.”
All men should desire and cautiously trust with the heart of hope claiming the promises in the word of God, doing according to God’s command. Psalm 146:5 buttressed, “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
Description of hope in the Bible summarizes, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Manifestly, hope is the life wire of faith, it is crucial for a believer to move forward with the blessings of God; claiming the blessing of God, consciously trust with the heart of hope in God.

AVOID TEMPTATION

FAITH CAPSULE: Prayer is a way to stay away from temptation.

Luke 22

Every engagement with Satan is temptation enablement.
It was the day serpent engaged Eve that the temptation to eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden became a manifestation in her life. Eve ate against God’s command to become disobedient to God and was distanced from God’s presence.
Judas Iscariot engaged Satan. The Bible records, “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So, he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad and agreed to give him money.  So, he promised and sought the opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.” (Luke 22:3-6) The temptation will come with disobedient. Disobedient to God is the evidence of betraying God. The temptation is the key which opens door to all kinds of sin.
Jesus emphasized that prayer is a way to stay away from temptation.
The Bible records “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:39-40)
Sleeping in the place of praying will lead to the avenue of temptation. While He was praying the disciples were sleeping. Jesus was praying earnestly but the disciples were sleeping with sorrow. Jesus approached them and said, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46) Jesus must have seen what was about to happen when He came to speak to the disciples about their sleeping in the place of being awake.
At Jesus time with His disciples, “…a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Judas, the one Satan entered sold out his Lord and savior cheaply.  Consequence
Is there any way you have been selling Jesus out consciously or unconsciously?
At the time Jesus woke them up from sleeping they have entered the situation that caused all of them to be scattered, to save their life.
At the time Jesus woke them up from sleeping instead of praying Peter was set to strike instead of him to allow Jesus to speak to the situation.  Peter struck by cutting off the servant of the high priest’s ear. Jesus responded by speaking to the situation.
With temptation in the place of prayer, man will end up denying and selling Jesus out.
Engage unceasing prayer to disallow temptation.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be strengthened on prayer altar.

GOD IS NEAR ALWAYS

FAITH CAPSULE: Walk obediently to be near to God.

Genesis 5

God is always near to all man while man is far from God.
What does it mean to be close to God or far from God?
To be walking in the line of God’s word is obedient to God, to become near to God by walking with God or walking before God.
DISOBEDIENT DENIES MAN NOT TO BE NEAR TO GOD
One in disobedient to the word of God will not be near to God that is never far from man (He is never sleeping but see all at all time)
One in disobedient will hid from God’s presence.
The sin of Adam and Eve made them be far from the near of God as stated in Genesis 3:6-10, “So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Caring God created all man for His glory to keep all man near to Him but the sin the evidence of not knowing God keeps all far from God.
Just like Adam and Eve, sin will expose a man naked, which is a state of shame that should not have a place in the life of a man claiming to be walking in line with God’s word.
For a man to be far and not near to God is the result of being afraid in this world which is the evidence of not fearing God that is a sin before God.
We are to be dressed by the word of God and not be naked by putting on the world that we live.
Are you living obediently or disobediently before God?
Obediently, give self to God’s word to be walking in His presence.
Enoch was near to God because he walked with God. Genesis 5:21-24, ” Enoch lived sixty-five years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
It is important to be walking in God’s word to be near to Him.
The presence of God is His glory. Romans 3:23 buttressed, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” With sin, all will be short of His presence, not being in His presence that is always near.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be near to God all the days of your life.

GOD’S TIME

FAITH CAPSULE: God’s time will answer without fail.

Genesis 37

Time belongs to God while the clock belongs to man.
Time of God is controllable only by God.
There is no man in the position to move God’s time forward or backward.
Any man is possible to move the clock forward or backward.
In life, there is a process in God’s time to locate any man for His assignment.
When it is God’s time, He will locate or dislocate any man as it pleases Him regardless of age or challenges that seem impossible for any man to answer to God’s calling.
When it was God’s time for calling Abraham into the divine assignment, Abraham could not refuse but answered to God’s calling. The Bible records, “…Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:4) At the retirement age, seventy-five years was God’s time to call Abraham for his assignment to God.
Who would have thought of a journey of such magnitude for an aged man like Abraham?
The time of God’s calling does not come the same way for all.
The time of Moses’ calling by God was after his forty years in the palace of Pharaoh of Egypt. Moses had no choice to move when the time of challenging issue took charge over his life.
Under heaven, there is no time that is outside of God’s intervention.
The challenge of Moses was his accidental killing of an Egyptian that forced against one of his Hebrew brethren. Moses could not hide his doing, Pharaoh heard about Moses’ deed. The Bible records, “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:15) At age forty Moses’ situation forced him to run unknowingly in the direction of God’s plan for his life.
God’s time will answer without fail.
Joseph the dreamer, at his young age of seventeen unknowingly entered a time of journey of his placement to bring his dream to manifestation. Joseph did not plan to enter into the journey of his life when he went to check on his brother as directed by his father. “Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” (Genesis 37:14-15)
The time of wandering into entering the pit, Joseph began a journey to the center of his divine assignment.
Regardless of your age or where you are, do not struggle with God’s time of visitation; God is on top of it all.
Could it be that it is the time of your journey to the center of your calling?

Prayer for today: Ask God for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in the time of your calling.

SOW SELF TO GOD

 

FAITH CAPSULE: Sow your self for God by your way of living life.

John 10

It is worthy to ask self, what have I done for Jesus lately?
What have you been giving back to Jesus?
Do you owe God for the sake of Jesus?
The main reason why Jesus was given to all is for all to inherit eternal life.
Every step that you are taking to inherit eternal life is exactly what you are doing to give self back to Jesus.
Do you believe in God?
All acclaimed believer should walk in His righteousness, living obediently to His command as giving back to Jesus.
Living life should be serving God.
What are you giving back to the Living God that gives life?
With understanding comes to sow self for God by serving Him.
It is true that what a man sows are what a man will surely reap.
In life, it is impossible to sow the seed of deception and expect to reap the fruit of perfection.
Any man that sows the seed of lie will reap the fruit of being deceived.
A true believer of God should know Him and not be living life as a liar.
Word of God admonished, “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this, we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1John2:4-6)
God invests so much in the life of all but the majority extends so little in return to God.
Today, what do you sow before God?
Be mindful and know that there is nothing that passes outside of God that sees all under heaven.
What kind of seeds are you sowing?
At reaping time, prayer time might have expired and too late to avoid the consequences of failure to sow right before God. It is now that prayer must be activated against the only THIEF with the agenda to kill and deny all from God’s abundance. The word of God makes all to know that, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11)
Celebrating Jesus should not be seasonal but should be of continuous engagement. A Seasonal celebration of Jesus will not count as a way to sow self for God.
Living life to the glory of God will provoke the hand of God in the life of a believer.
God creates all for His glory as stated in Revelation 4:11, “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will, they exist and were created.”
What are you created for?
It is your new turnaround to sow self for God, live life for His glory.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s hand to draw you near for His glory.