All posts by Tunde Soniregun

FEBRUARY 2015 LETTER

Monthly Newsletter

WHEN CHALLENGES PERSIST

Challenges by nature  serve as a call to battle or contest. Challenges have the tendency to be ugly and painful, especially when they persist or refuse to cease. When challenges persistently become painful, it is possible to cause man to wonder or question if God remembers or sees them in those challenging situations. Are you facing a long enduring challenge that seems like it will never end? It is important to understand and know that God is not asleep and at appointed time deliverance shall come as you continue to remain focused on God for His intervention. Jesus already warned about challenges being undeniable in the life of man. However, the antidote for challenging time (tribulation) is peace for those who receive and believe in Him. John 16:33 buttressed, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” In this world, tribulation will come either man likes it or not. However, it is better to accept Jesus for the purpose of having peace during tribulation or man can make the choice of not having Jesus to engage tribulation without peace. In challenging situations, patiently waiting on God is the key and, how one chooses to wait determines the outcome of waiting. It is certain when we wait on God, God will not fail and the time of waiting cannot be wasted. The Word promised in Isaiah 64:4-5, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.”
When challenges persist and it seems like heaven is not attending, one needs to attend to the words of God as identified in Psalm 71:10-11. The psalmist must have been   facing challenges when he stated, “For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, saying, God has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”(Psalm 71:10-11) The psalmist, after having mentioned his challenge went further to identify what he did while waiting on God for intervention.

First, the psalmist stated, “But I will hope continually…” (Psalm 71:14) Hope can be identified as the heartbeat of faith because faith is the substance of things hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1) As a believer waiting on God, one must know to hope continually. The life of a believer is like that of a race runner and it is clear that continuity is the rule of a race. To stop hoping is the evidence of faith-failure. Until heaven intervenes, hoping on God without complaint is a sure way to wait on God and not waste.
Secondly, it is mentioned, “And I will praise You yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14) As challenges increase giving God all the attention through praising should never reduce but increase. God inhabits the praises of His people. Are you praising him enough instead positioning yourself as a vessel of pity? God will show up at an appointed time. Do not stop praising Him, but rather increase praising Him by setting praise worship time between you and your God.
Thirdly, “My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits.” (Psalm 71:15) Our righteousness is in Christ Jesus, He is our salvation in God. To engage challenging times by talking more about God’s righteousness and salvation to others rather than constantly talking about one’s challenge is enough to get heaven’s attention for God’s intervention. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, were set to die in the furnace of fire because they refused to serve any other god beside the Almighty God. In spite of the threat they were facing, they did not stop talking about their salvation from God and responded to the threat from the king by saying “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”(Daniel 3:16-19) When we declare God in our talk, regardless of the challenge He will decorate us with divine intervention. The three friends of Daniel, regardless of their challenge, declared God through the words of their mouth and God showed up on their behalf. No man knows the limit of God’s deliverance power of saving His people but it is certain that He alone is the Almighty deliverer.
The psalmist identifies the fourth action to be engaged with when waiting in time of challenges stating, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God.” (Psalm 71:16) The word of God is the strength of God. Exodus 15:13 buttressed the truth that the word of God is the strength of God when it stated; “…You have guided them in Your strength.” Truly, God used nothing else to guide the Israelites to the Promised Land but by His word which is also His presence. Why not engage the word of God, the manual of life to navigate through persisting challenges? God is true to His word and He shall never fail. The word of God is the strength of our salvation. Rest in the word to resist your challenge; be strong and do not be discouraged, your challenge shall subside and His name shall be glorified in your life.

ALLOWING CONFUSION?

Devotions

Faith Capsule: Confusion does nothing but builds up disruption in your relationship.

Genesis 11:1-9

In every journey where there is confusion it is evident that lack of understanding is having its place. Confusion is not of God it is of the enemy to deny continuity. With continuity out of place transformation is terminated. Have you allowed confusion or you are experiencing confusion in any of your relationships? Is it in your journey of life that you are experiencing confusion? There is absolutely no challenge that is too minor or major not to take before God for intervention. A wise saying states, “Every situation that is good needs prayer and ones that is also not good needs prayer.” Confusion is also rooted in destructive pride which sneaks into man unconsciously. You may have started to think you are doing too much more than your partner. You may have started to assume your partner is doing less. Are you looking more into where your partner is doing less in comparison to what you are doing?
If your case or situation fits the above, you are definitely heading towards Babel.
Babel means confusion. In any relationship where the spirit of Babel has been allowed, confusion has taken over the driver’s seat of your journey for transformation in life. Do you wonder why use the word Babel? Babel was a huge brick structure intended to magnify humankind and preserve the unity of the race. In your relationship, you are beginning to magnify yourself rather than the Uncreated creator, Magnificent God of creation the Providing provider. As a result, you have entered into a state of confusion. You, as a person, have become pregnant with confusion. Confusion does nothing but builds up disruption in your relationship. Confusion will affect communication. When your communication becomes affected, then circulation of information ceases. Remember that information is the agent of transformation. With no transformation, your journey becomes stagnated. Without communication you are bounded to be scattered.
At any time, on any ground, in any relationship, the spirit of confusion should not be allowed. Avoid thinking or building outside of God. Genesis 11:4, “And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’” When self begins to take the ground, heavens will be the next challenge. The Tower of Babel (Tower of Confusion) began with the thought of building here on earth and goes as far as building into the heavens. If you have been occupied with the thought of doing more in your marriage or in your fellowship it becomes evident that you are setting a stage for confusion to take charge. Do not think outside of God, disallow confusion. Give God all the attention in your entire journey and relationships in life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from every spirit of confusion.

RECEIVE HIS WORD

Devotions

Faith Capsule: Identify with the word of God to make up your world.

Hebrews 11:1-16

It is written, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11) Without doubt, receiving and possessing the promises in the word of God is in having faith. What we receive is determined by what we believe. Also, what we believe determines what we become. At an old age, when it was impossible to have a child, Sarah did not doubt but received the promise that she would have a child. The word she received gave her the strength to conceive. The strength to do the impossible is through faith in the word of God.
After the death of Moses, Joshua the new leader was set to engage unknown terrain. God spoke to him, “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:2-5) Through the journey of life to the time of Joshua’s death, his walk testified that he received the word by walking the word of God. It was his conviction in the word he received that made him to conclude in life stating, “…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
The secret behind receiving and making the word of God to manifest is in being simple at heart. Psalm 119:130 encourages us by stating, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Understanding that God is light is only for those who are simple and able to receive the word and hope in the word. The simple at heart are none other than those who believe. Proverbs 14:15 reveals, “The simple believe every word…” Do you believe enough to allow the word of God to shine and terminate every agent of fear in your heart? The Bible records that Sarah judged God who had promised her to be faithful (Hebrew 11:11) that is she settled in her heart that God would perform it. Sarah heard the word, she mixed it with faith, it strengthened her and she was strengthened. It is faith that will make a believer identify with the word of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to bestow on you the grace to receive and hold on to His word.

SHOUT

Devotions

Faith Capsule: Are you too quiet to be victorious?

Joshua 6

It was shouting and trumpeting that brought down the wall of Jericho for the Israelites to continue their journey where there was no way. Shouting and trumpeting gave them a supernatural breakthrough. The Israelites, having been out of bondage of over four hundred years passed through on a dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. Having experienced such a passage justified every reason for them not to expect any more hindrances before getting to the Promised Land. Yet, it was a different story when they encountered the Wall of Jericho, attempting to deny them of their progress. It is written, “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in” (Joshua 6:1). The shut-up Wall of Jericho was a representative of hindrance to the children of Israel. God, in His goodness and mercy, revealed to Joshua what needed to be done to break through the shut-up Wall of Jericho. As commanded by God, under the leadership of Joshua, “…the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city” (Joshua 6:20). Shouting and trumpeting to God denied Jericho from hindering the children of Israel’s progress.  Are you too quiet to be victorious against the forces hindering your life?  Understand and know it is in the word of God to shout out against your shut-up doors.
Once, during the reign of Abijah in Judah, Jeroboam and his forces ambushed Judah from the front and the rear. There was no way for Judah to turn. The Bible recorded that, “…they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand” (2 Chronicles 13:14-16). In this case of Judah, when their peace was threatened, it could have been that the Priests remembered how shouting and trumpeting worked in the past to deny hindrance. As a result, shouting and trumpeting was applied to regain peace by destroying the enemies. God is eternally consistent, and when the understanding and knowledge of His testimonies and how He obtained deliverance and breakthrough for His people in the past become applicable in the present, victorious result becomes achieve-able. Do not allow your too-quiet nature deny you of your supernatural victory. The word of God encourages, “Open your mouth wide, and He will fill it (Psalm 81:10). Shout and trumpet to the Lord!

Prayer for today: Ask God to bestow on you the grace to know and shout when where there is a need not to be quiet.

DWELL IN HIS HOUSE

Devotions

Faith Capsule: Amend your ways; begin to dwell and all the promises of God will answer in your life.

Psalm 27

God spoke through Jeremiah to those who were attending the Lord’s house stating, “Jeremiah 7:1-3, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.’’” (Jeremiah 7:1-3)
Are you attending but not dwelling?
It does not matter and it will not count before God how many hours one spend in the place of worship or how long one has been entering into the Lord’s house. Also, it will not count if one is an active worker but not actively walking in the word of God. Many enter on a regular basis without dwelling in the presence of God. One that matters is to enter and dwell in the presence of God. The word of God through Jeremiah was not to those that do not come to worship but to those that come to worship. Does the word only apply to the people of Judah? Indeed, it was a direct message to the people of Judah, but it also directly communicates to all acclaimed believers yesterday and today.
God wants us to amend our ways, not our excuses or concerns for just entering and not dwelling. It is about time to begin to dwell after all these years of your entering into the church building. Dwelling is to be living the word of God that is behaving the word. Determination to dwell will not work. When there is a desire in place then devote to your desire and God will deposit what it takes to dwell. The Psalmist knew what he was asking for when he lifted his voice and asked God for his desire. Psalm 27:1-5, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.” There is so much to gain by dwelling instead of being a seasonal worshiper or one that only comes and go on Sundays only. God has positioned so many promises in His word if obeying the word will be our garment. It is very clear that Jesus’ life as a gift of salvation is an unconditional love, but obedience to His word is the condition to be blessed. Amend your ways; begin to dwell and all the promises of God will answer in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to grant you the grace to continually seek Him.