All posts by Tunde Soniregun

Abiding In The Word

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: If there is no abidance in the Word of God, there will be no abundance of His work in the life of the acclaimed believer.

John 15:1-11

The Word that was sent to them in the Bible days is the same word we are receiving today. It is written, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! (Psalm 107:20-21) He sent His Word; it is not written that He will send His word. The Word of God is sent for our use and advantage over every circumstance because there is no circumstance that is bigger than the living Word of God. God sent His Word to us as power that brings wonderful works to life. Is the Word of God working as much as it should be working for all the acclaimed receivers of the word? The Word of God will only work when we walk in the Word of God; not just when we work where the word is being preached. Many are walking in the word and they are reaping the results, many others, however, are working where the word is being preached but the word is not working as expected. It is not enough to be entering where the Word is being preached when there is a failure to abide in the word. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:5-7) Jesus stated clearly here that abiding in Him and the word abiding in us is what will make the difference and it will also build the relationship that makes the Word of God to work. Any failure not to abide but just to enter is not enough and it will not work. The Word of God is entertained in the heart before it over takes in the physical, but a heart that is not simple will have no way of abiding in the word. Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of your words give light; it gives understanding to the simple.” It is not enough to be fluent in the language of the Word. If there is no abidance in the Word of God, there will be no abundance of His work in the life of the acclaimed believer. God cannot be deceived. God knows what He expects and He will give back in the same measure for His name to be glorified.

Prayer for today: Let Your Word have its place in me O Lord my God and my Savior.

May 2010 Issue

Monthly Newsletter

 

               The vehicle of transportation for His calling is continuity.
 
CONTINUITY
Whom He calls, He will always send. He has a clear and defined purpose in His calling and sending out. In every of His calling, regardless of the magnitude of the assignment, there should be in place a vehicle that will carry the called through. The vehicle of transportation for His calling is continuity. Answering God’s call will not be established in the life of the called if there is no continuity. Continuity is to be constant and consistent in focusing on God. The journey of life is like racing towards a mark, and the rule of the race is continuity. Having a purposeful mind is the officiator. When God called on Isaiah, he responded and there was no record of Isaiah falling short in continuing to answer the Lord. “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”” (Isaiah 6:8) From the time of Isaiah’s calling to the end, there was no record of discontinuity recorded against Isaiah. Daniel, despite the challenges of being held captive at a young age, was never recorded against him any iota of complaining against his God. There was no excuse for him to discontinue in serving the Lord; rather, he continued serving the Lord with his heart, and serving God became an identifiable custom in the life of Daniel. In Daniel’s life, it is clear that as a captive, continuity was carrying him and a purposeful heart became an officiator in the life of Daniel. Have you in anyway received the calling of God or you have decided to call yourself? God is not a failure and He will never fail.
POWER IN SALVATION
When He places His call on any of His creation, He will back it up with power. He alone called the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years. The Lord chose Moses to lead them out of Egypt. God frustrated the plan of Pharaoh with plagues upon plagues before Pharaoh could let them go. When it was time for the children of Israel to be released and go forward to the land that has been promised to them, they left with boldness. “And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.” (Exodus 14:8) Despite the threat of Pharaoh the children of Israel entered into the calling of salvation and deliverance of over four hundred years with boldness. Indeed, the Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament. Just as the children of Israel received salvation from bondage so we have received salvation from bondage of the devil and the world of wickedness. At the time of salvation we entered into His calling with boldness.
BOLDNESS AND CHARACTER
Every new believer always starts the race with boldness that is rooted in the word of His promise. However, in the course of the journey, different scenes start to unfold. The children of Israel left with boldness but it did not take long before it evaporated and fear became incorporated in the life of the children of Israel. The Bible recorded in Exodus 14:10, “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.” Boldness turned into fear. When He places His calling, it has to be answered with boldness and character. The children of Israel believed, but they could not behave what they believed. The word that took them–the word that brought us–to the saving knowledge of God is with power and it generates boldness. However, when there is a failure to be living the word, there will be no character of the word in place in the life of the believer. Boldness and character are the winning combination. Complaint is the root of rebellion and the substitute of disobedience. The children of Israel had boldness and complaint instead of boldness and character. They could not hold on to the victory the Lord placed in their hand. As a result, they became lost as a nation. God said to them, “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.” (Numbers 14:29) Without any doubt, the race is for those that finish it. If you have received the grace of His calling, continuity is the rule of the game; a purposeful heart is the officiator. Run the race with boldness and character and you shall become a winner to the glory of God. He will back you up if you will not back yourself out of the race. 

Continuity is to be constant and consistent in focusing on God.
Complaint is the root of rebellion and the substitute of disobedience.
Tunde

Calling On The Lord

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: It is not about emotional calling, but a call of expectation for manifestation.

Exodus 6

After Pharaoh has rejected God’s request for the release of the children of Israel as presented by Moses, Moses went to question the Lord about why He had brought trouble on the children of Israel. The expectation of freedom became dim as Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters to inflict more labor on the people. God reassured Moses that a strong hand will surely prevail and the children of Israel will be let go. “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ’I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.’” (Exodus 6:2-3) Out of all the names He answers to, no other god shares or answers to the same name with God. He alone is the Almighty. All that Moses, Aaron and the children of Israel needed to hold onto was the name of the Lord. Knowing about His name is different from knowing His name. Do you know His name? Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.” The writer of the Book of Proverbs was talking about the Lord God who repeatedly introduced His name to the children of Israel and brought them out of the bondage of over four hundred years. He is talking about the same God who was before all the beginning; the same God who is and the same God who will always be. His name is the LORD! Have you consciously called on the name of the Lord in regards to your circumstances? It is not about emotional calling, but a call of expectation for manifestation. Asa, a king in Judah, once in a confrontational war, did not hesitate to call on the name of the Lord, “And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” (2 Chronicles 14:11) It is important to get the understanding that the name of the Lord is the entire weapon that will make you to become an over-comer. When you call on Him, He will not only remember you, but He will rescue you from bondage and redeem you with His outstretch hand. When you know to call on His name, He will deliver you and defend you. Calling on His name requires knowing Him and knowing to call on Him will cause Him to visit you with salvation.
Prayer for today: Ask God to help you with the understanding in knowing to call on His name indeed and in truth.

Run The Race Well

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: The title that you carry will not represent a pass mark, but it is rather the task that you engaged yourself with.

2 Chronicles 16

The winner in every race of life is the one who runs accordingly to the end. It is not all who starts well are winners, but the one who runs it to the end according to the rule is declared as winner. Many starts well and good, but halfway through or during the last leg failure takes its place. The title that you carry will not represent a pass mark, but it is rather the task that you engaged yourself with. Asa, king of Judah, started his race well and God intervened and blessed him with rest. Asa did all that was right before God and he did not allow even his family to contaminate all that he was doing to the glory of God. 2 Chronicles 15:16, “Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.” This testifies to how far Asa went for the Lord. Asa was running the race so well and did not experience war until his thirty-fifth year as the king of Judah. In the thirty-sixth year when Baasha, king of Israel, came up against him he sought help outside of God who was the One that had been keeping him in all areas for years. Asa sought help rather from the king of Syria. As a result of him seeking help outside of God, he lost his footing inside of God and could not recover in the race. God sent the seer to Asa, “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.” (2 Chronicles 16:7)How could Asa faltered after going so far in the race and never turned to check to see how he was running the race of life? What is it that you are doing to keep yourself in check as you continue in the race? We cannot afford to shift focus, priorities and purpose of running. The race of life is for the one who gets to the end mark. Let us run this race in such a Godly manner so that we too can say as the Apostle Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”. (2 Timothy 4:7) God will have mercy in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Lord any force that will terminate me from running the race of life well, cause it to be terminated.

Study And Learn

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE:When there is rest, every force that causes man to be rusted will submerge.

2 Chronicles 14

At the early reign of Asa as the King in Judah, he had rest from God. With rest he was able to build and prosper. 2 Chronicles 14:7, “Therefore he said to Judah, ‘Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered.”When there is rest, every force that causes man to be rusted will submerge. Asa’s blessing of rest was not accidental, but it was rooted in the steps that he took in direction to the Word of God. The Bible records that, “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.” (2 Chronicles 14:2) Are you having the rest of God in your life? Having rest can be measured with how you are building and how you are getting prospered. Building and getting prosperity can be summarized as not lacking in any area of life. The Apostle Paul had the rest of God; he built and prospered in the calling of God for his life. He was able to encourage others with his testimony by saying, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Are you thinking of building and prosperity in material? God is bigger than materials! If you will seek Him; you will reap from Him the grace of no lack. Asa gained the grace of rest when, “… he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.”( 2 Chronicles 14:3-5)  Asa had rest all around him when he placed God and all that pleases God first in his position as king of Judah. What are you doing to enter into His rest? What is it you are doing to be restless in living life? God has not finished with the business of answering prayer and if you will call on Him to intervene in you life, He will surely lead you to the way everlasting. Today, settle down and learn from Asa because it is written for our learning and the difference will become glaring for you and to all who know you. The rest of God will become your portion in Jesus Name.

Prayer for today: Ask God to instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.