All posts by Tunde Soniregun

Take A Step Of Faith

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God.

Mark 3:1-5

Jeremiah 10:12 declared, “He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.” (Jeremiah 10:12)He is the only God and His ways are higher than our ways. Waiting to see Jesus move the same way He moved in your neighbor’s miracle will take forever in you receiving your healing breakthrough. Jesus does not move by man’s calculation, but by His compassion. Who can calculate how or what His move is going to be? At the time of His healing the man with leprosy, “…Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing: be cleansed.’”(Mark 1:41) It was Jesus who stretched out to heal the man with leprosy. The same Jesus approached a man with a withered hand and commanded him to stretch out his hand in Mark 3:5, “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as a whole as the other.”Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God. In miracles, you do not know how your expectation is going to be manifested. Miracle is an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers. Why not take a step forward in faith for your own miracle? Before the man with the withered hand encountered his miracle, there was a need for him to step forward. Mark 3:3-4, “And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward…”The man took a step of faith and all that could deny his miracle were silent. What are the issues that are holding you from stepping forward when you need to step forward in your breakthrough miracle? Are you calculating how your miracle is going to happen? Jesus is not a mathematician or a magician, but He will move on your behalf if you will take a step of faith. Taking note of how He did your neighbor’s miracle will not help you because to the leper He stretched out His hand. The same Jesus requested the man with withered hand to stretch his hand. With understanding in the word and work of His hand, gain the knowledge that He will not fail you. The man with the withered hand stepped forward; he did not wait for Jesus to stretch unto Him. Your miracle will come in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Hear my prayer and let my cry come up to You. Do not hide your face from me.

Comparable Helper

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: Whatever God meant to be right and for good, the devil meant to be wrong and evil.

Genesis 1, 2

God created heaven and earth by His word. Genesis 1:3-4 recorded, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters…” God spoke to many of His creation, but when it came to the creation of man, the Bible records, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) Man was hand made by God but not by spoken word of God. Just as man was created differently so were greater light and lesser light. Genesis 1:16-17 stated, “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.” God, our creator, knew exactly what He was doing after the creation of man. He recognized the need for His special hand made (Adam) and He put him to sleep, “…He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman…” (Genesis 2:21-22) The purpose of making a woman out of Adam was to create a comparable helper. Knowing the devil for who he is, whatever God meant for good, the devil meant it for evil. God’s plan for both man and woman (comparable helper) to function successfully was in a transparent relationship. It is written, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) Helping each other evidently became hurting each other when Eve ate from the fruit which God had warned against eating. With transparent relationship, Eve would not have eaten against God’s command before telling Adam. Eve violated the command of God for a comparable helper.Is your relationship with your comparable helper transparent? When you begin to eat where your comparable helper does not know about you have allowed the enemy to have a place in your relationship. The absence of transparency between you and your comparable helper is the evidence that nakedness is absent. Deny the evil one from sowing the seed of asunder into your relationship with your comparable helper. The perfect God knows what is good for your relationship. Beware of the fact that lack of transparency might last but it will not take your relationship far enough in your life journey. Changes are never too late if you will acknowledge your violation of God’s command.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, I ask this day for your word to have its place in my marriage.

Pride Ride

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: Pride is nothing but a personal ride into self destruction.

Jeremiah 13

“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.”” (Jeremiah 13: 8-10) It was a time God was speaking to the children of Israel through Jeremiah. God was speaking to Jeremiah about those who have pride and how he could deal with the situation. When God speaks to one He speaks to all. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday and forever. He alone is the Unchanging changer. In His word to Jeremiah, God had no plans for those with pride but to pass them unto destruction if they refused to humble themselves. In His word, it can be pointed out that the other name for the one who has pride is the evil one. The important point in the word of God through Jeremiah is what causes a man to fall into category of those who have pride. The word that Jeremiah received stated that, evil people (those who have pride) refuse to hear the words of God. They are in a position to hear but they choose not to hear the words of God. Just as it was then so it is today. Manifestly, not to hear the Word of God will cause a man to follow the dictates of his heart. However, following the dictates of one’s heart is following the way that seems right to man. The book of Proverbs makes us to realize, “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Pride is nothing but a personal ride into self destruction. Are you one of those that have been taking a deliberate step out of the Word of God? It is good to examine our self and see if there is any unconscious step out of the word of God. Ask God for forgiveness. He is a good God and ready to forgive. Undoubtedly, God is abundant in mercy to all those who call upon Him. Among many destruction inhabited in pride is, to end up in shame and take ride into captivity. Deny yourself from taking a ride into captivity but ride on in humility and you shall get to the expected end.

Prayer for today: Restore me O Lord; cause your face to shine on me that I shall live.

 

No To Entanglement

Devotions

FAITH CAPSULE: Your enemy will pester and press but you should persist to prevail.

Judges 16

In the days of Samson compared to now, the world today is under the same attacks of the wicked one who constantly looks for someone to devour as he seeks to steal, to kill and to destroy. The Word of God warned, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2Timothy 2:4) Have you been enlisted as an army of God? Samson can be considered as an enlisted soldier for God. Samson was enticed as he entangled himself with Delilah. Samson’s entanglement with Delilah’s enticement exposed him to eventual termination from life. By his entanglement with Delilah, the lords of the Philistines were able to locate him in the secret of place of the Most High God. The Bible stated, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”(Judges 16:5-6) The lords of the Philistines used Delilah to entice Samson for the revelation of his God given strength. In the process of seeking the information, persistency was the weapon of the enemy. We have to be constantly aware that the enemy is stubborn in his attempt to bring us down. After three failed attempts, it was recorded that, “…she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” (Judges 16:16-17) Take note, your enemy will pester and press but you should persist to prevail. Samson succumbs to pestering and pressure of the enemy and became a captive of enticement. Before his death, he recovered his strength but not his sight. Samson recovered his strength but could not remain under the covering of the secret of God for his life. Engage yourself in the Lord, disallow enticement and understand that the enemy will persist in his attempt to destroy you.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, Let those who seek to destroy my life, go into the lower parts of the earth.

March 2010 Issue

Monthly Newsletter

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Revelation 12:11,

If there is any ground a believer needs to be standing on during the challenging days that are here, it should be on an overcoming ground. The Bible helps us realize that there are two major overcoming powers that are in place for every believer that will take the position of an overcomer. Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Two overcoming powers that can be identified here are: Blood of the Lamb and word of testimony.
Blood of the Lamb:
Jesus is the Lamb of God that shed His blood on the Calvary for those who will receive and believe in Him. John the Baptist referred to Him, “…Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, ‘after me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” (John 1:29-30) Have you received Jesus and believe in Him as your Lord and Savior? Truly as lamb, He shed His blood on the Calvary and that is the reason why He stated, “…I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) If you will get yourself in the flow of His blood, you will be set for overcoming.
Word of Testimony:
Testimony can be defined as an open declaration or profession. As a believer, what are your open declarations concerning the greatness and might of God? In most cases, whatever you declare is what will decorate you. The Word states that they overcame by the word of their testimony. As a believer, when your testimony to great and good things He has done and those that He is doing becomes consistent in the word of your mouth and your meditation, great and good things will become your decoration. Inhabited in every testimony is positive or negative confession. Through the pages of the Bible, there is evidence of what positive or negative testimonies delivered into the lives of the testifiers.
Evidence of Positive Testimony:
King David, by the word of his testimonies, had a great and mighty deliverance when he overcame Goliath. In his attempt to go and fight Goliath, King Saul was discouraging when he said to David, “…You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33) David refused to be discouraged, but gave account of what he was able to do as he responded to King Saul. “…Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” (1 Samuel 17:34-35) David was not intimated by the confronting challenge that was posed by Goliath neither was he slowed down. Instead, David dwelt on what The Lord his God had enabled him to do in the past and he gave a testimony, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) David, by the word of his testimony, was able to overcome the giant challenge of Goliath that was before him. 
Evidence of Negative Testimony:
The children of Israel experienced the great miracle when they were coming out of their bondage of over four hundred years and passing through the Red Sea on a dry land. However, by the word of their testimonies, they shut down their Promised Land. In responding to the spy’s negative report after investigation of the Promised Land, they had no better testimony but to confess, “…If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.’” (Numbers 14: 2-4) God distinctively heard the children of Israel’s request of death in the wilderness and He responded by sending Moses, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.’” (Numbers 14:28) In truth, entire numbers from twenty years old and up except Caleb and Joshua, failed in getting down to the Promised Land because of their negative testimony.
What are your testimonies? Which words are being produce in you and being released by your tongue as testimony? Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of tongue…” David saw challenges, he testified to the power of God and he overcame. The children of Israel saw challenges, however, confessed negative and could not have life. In facing your challenges ahead, think of the great testimonies in His Word and the ones in your life. Meditate, confess and you shall have life and overcome.

In most cases, whatever you declare is what will decorate you.
Which words are being produce in you and being released by your tongue as testimony?
Tunde