All posts by Tunde Soniregun

December 2009 Issue

Monthly Newsletter

“Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error…” (Ecclesiastes 5:6)

GOD HEARS
In the hands of God there is no accident. When God blesses, He does not bless by accident. In addition, when we speak to His hearing it is never going to be considered as an accident. Have you been very conscious of your communication? The book of Ecclesiastes warns us, “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error…” (Ecclesiastes 5:6) Whatever progresses from our mouth under heaven, either in making a vow or praying or careless talk must be constantly positive. The God that we serve is the God who hears and responds to our spoken word. Psalm 94:9-10, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct…” The God we serve is the living God who allows nothing to pass by Him either in communication or intents of the heart. Our God does have His ear to hear all of His creation.
COMMUNICATION
Are you engaging yourself in a positive or negative communication? It does not matter if you are communicating as a group or individual. Be careful and understand what your communication is about because there will be no excuse if it brings forth negative response. Through the pages of the Bible, different communication brought about different consequences. Once in the days after the flood, men gathered and stated, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4) A careless thought will bring forth a reckless communication. They communicated pride and what it will take to terminate pride when they claimed that they did not want to be scattered. God who planted ear and eye heard and saw the reckless motive of men and He responded, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” (Genesis 11:7-8) Evidently, when God heard the communication and saw the move of the people, their agenda was terminated. As if this was not enough for men to learn from and understand to know and curb their mouths, the children of Israel also took to the route of termination by virtue of their communication.
NEGATIVE COMMUNICATION
The children of Israel, in spite of having witnessed a great act of God when coming out of bondage of over four hundred years, could not confess positive in their response to the negative report of the men who went to spy on their behalf. The children of Israel responded to the negative report with negative communication, “…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, who yearns jealously for our faith in Him, responded to the negative that He heard from the mouth of the children of Israel, “…I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 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 14:27-29) God hears you every time you communicate. What are you speaking to His hearing? The children of Israel spoke and pronounced death for themselves and death became their portion as they all died and did not get to the promised land; except for Joshua and Caleb. In a journey where the Red Sea could not terminate them, they allowed their negative communication to terminate them.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?
Communicate your request and do not terminate your existence by not calling on Him in prayer. Just as negative communication gets His attention so our positive communication (PRAYER) gets His attention. It is recorded in the Book of Luke that once during the time of John the Baptist, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’” (Luke 3:21-22) Jesus demonstrated that prayer is the Heaven opener. Some might have been getting baptized with nothing happening, but when Jesus opened His mouth and prayed, God heard Him and the Holy Spirit showed up. God’s voice was heard and Jesus was identified by God. If the Bible can point out that we praise God with understanding (Psalm 47:7), let us also know to pray to Him with understanding. He hears and sees it all. 

Communicate your request and do not terminate your existence by not calling on Him in prayer.
In the hands of God there is no accident. When God blesses, He does not bless by accident.
Tunde

Only Praise Him

Devotions

ONLY PRAISE HIM
Psalm 100

When there is understanding in our calling the name of God to give praise, He will raise us above challenges of the wicked. King David was speaking from his life time experiences when he testified, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praise; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:4) David understood quite well what it meant to be constantly praising God. He knew what he was saying when he mentioned enemies. Praise will stop every hand of enemies not just enemy. Every enemy that confronts us on a daily basis requires constant praise for them to fall down flat. Through the Bible, there were numbers of war that were fought just by praising God that is worth of praise. Praising Him is not in the mouth, but in the heart through the mouth. David was confessing the kind of praise that delivers him from every hand of his enemies. Is your praise rooted in the heart? The praise that provokes the hand of God is the praise that is embedded with understanding. Psalm 47:7, “For God is the King of all the earth: sing praise with understanding.” Have you been singing your praise with understanding? The understanding that you have in praising God is the one that will carry you into His court. Access into His court will give you an edge over every area of life. Praise is power, if you will be constant and consistent in praising Him, you will be constant and consistent in being raised by God. Psalm 100, “Enter into His gates with thanks giving, And into His courts with praise, Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” It is clear that thanksgiving will get all that call on Him into His gates, but praise is what will actually get man into His court. Praising God has won battles and also creates ways where there was no way. Once in the journey of the children of Israel to the Promised Land, they encountered a wall of hindrance. It was the wall of Jericho. The wall did not just come down, but it came down flat when the praise began to get to heaven. Praising God can never be too much. Praise Him when you’re going out and praise Him when you’re coming in. Praising God in the morning, afternoon and night will get a believer into the presence of God. God inhabits the praises of His people. Psalm 22:3, But you are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.” What will it cost you to let praising Him be your only language as you enter into a new day, and a new week? Constantly praising God is what will make all the difference in every walk of life. Praise the Lord!!

Prayer for today: I ask O Lord for the grace to be constant in praising your gracious and merciful name.

Give Him Praise

Devotions

GIVE HIM PRAISE
Exodus 7

God alone is worthy of all our thanksgiving and praises. He is the God of gods; the King of kings and He alone inhabits eternity. Give thanks to Him and praise Him because He inhabits the praises of His people. Are you ready to praise Him today? If your answer is a resounding yes, you have invited Him into all that are before you. He is God of miracles; He is a miracle working God. Miracles are of God, while magic is a device of the enemy. Miracles lasts forever and run deep. If magic glitters it will only be for a moment and magic never lasts neither does it runs deep. Despite not being able to see in the physical that you have come too far and close to your breakthrough, let not magic come into play. Magic will fail you no matter how it glitters; waiting on the miracle hand of the Almighty God is the only way out of every failure. Pharaoh was reluctant of letting the children of Israel go and serve the Lord at the request of God through Moses, “So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.” (Exodus 7:10-11) The magic worked for the magicians and Pharaoh, but it could not answer or match up with the hand of God in the rod which Moses carried. Any power demonstration outside of the name of God will not stand but fail. The enemy can copy but he cannot coordinate for the result to be established. Imagine what would have been the reaction to the children of Israel if they were in the place at the time the magician’s rods were dropped down and became serpents just like that of the rod of God in Moses’ hand? Doubt would have built up in the hearts of the children of Israel and they would have increased complaining against Moses. Magic could not last as the rod of the magician failed to survive. “For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Exodus 7:12) If you will look up and hope in the Lord your miracle will come at a set time and every distraction of the wise men, the sorcerers and the magicians of Egypt will not have its way in hindering your breakthrough. Magic is a fake and it will fail but miracles will not fail you.

Prayer for today: Keep me from the snares they have laid for me and let the enemy be the victim of their snares in Jesus name.

Listening Ability

Devotions

LISTENING ABILITY
Psalm 29

Jesus stated in, John 8:43, “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.”He asked the people a question of why they lack understanding and he gave the answer to them. According to the word of Jesus, the reason why understanding was lacking then and now is that the people have a listening disability. When we take Jesus’ answer into consideration, it is evident that when there is listening there will be understanding. Listening is important for there to be understanding in the living Word of God. It is through our listening that we come to understand God. To understand the Word of God is to fear God. With the fear of God, our knowledge of Him becomes inevitable. (Proverbs 2:5) It can be assumed that listening is the point at which knowing God starts. Listening can then be defined as the ability to do what you have heard. It is possible to hear conversation or noise from a distance, but without listening such conversation or noise becomes distractive or meaningless. When we focus and give our full attention, then our listening and understanding becomes established. Hearing The Word is possible, but hearing without listening is not enough to establish understand the spoken word. When listening is in place one is able to do what the Word requires. It is impossible to listen and hear the voice that is communicating the Word of God and not do what the Word says. Psalm 29:4-9 describes the voice of God. “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, yes; the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”” (Psalm 29:4-9) Is it possible to listen and hear God and not do what he says? Often times listening is confused with hearing. It will be very difficult to hear God speak and not do what He says. What have you been listening to? Have you actually been listening and hearing from God? Proverbs 1:33, “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”The Word of God cannot lie. The Word said whoever listens will dwell safely and secure. Identify the cause of your listening disability and let the Word of God build you up.

Prayer for today: Father I ask for the grace to be delivered from every cause of hearing disability.

Avoid Captivity

Devotions

AVOID CAPTIVITY
Jeremiah 29, 30

When God speaks to one He speak to all and He never change. He is the Unchanging changer. He is the Almighty, the Creator, the ancient of days and He has been in existence before the foundation of the earth. He stated in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”  The same word speaks to each and everyone of His creation. He knew all of us before we were formed; however, He does have different assignment and divine schedule for each and everyone of His creation. Our God is not evil or wicked. He is a loving and merciful God and all His thoughts and plans toward us are good. God confirms His good thoughts for us when he said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Therefore, whatever is good comes from God. By virtue of God’s good thought for His children, one would wonder why then His children often end up in captivity and self destruction? God is not the author of evil but, we often authorize evil to have his place by how we opt to live life. The Word of God pointed out what could be the reason why the evil of captivity of destruction habitually strikes when He stated, “…But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.” (Isaiah 5:12-13)Without any doubt, it is knowledge to consciously and constantly be attentive to His command because when He gets our attention, He will always attend to us. It is a good practice for us to always regard God by thinking highly of Him and constantly relating to Him in our thoughts. When we always think of and acknowledge God, we are glorifying Him for who He is. Romans 1:21, “…although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”Every believer that claims to know God, should not draw back from constantly glorifying Him. Our knowledge of God is the key that keeps us from self destruction and life in captivity. The source of His knowledge is in understanding His fear. Proverbs 2:5 stated, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” God is a good God with good thoughts for all of us, both now and in the future. He does not want us to perish. With the understanding of His fear, knowledge to prevail will not fail us.

Prayer for today: Put your fear in my heart O Lord. Let me not depart from you all the days of my life.