All posts by Tunde Soniregun

A Deadly Desire

Devotions

A DEADLY DESIRE
2 Samuel 13

Certainly, every wrong and evil desire will lead to a route of destruction. Absalom, Tamar and Ammon were all children of David. The Bible describes Tamar as a lovely person. It is recorded in 2 Samuel 13:2, “Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her.” Any desire that is causing man to be in a distressful situation could be that such desire is not in line with God. When such desire remains persistent or continuous, it could be considered as a route or avenue to an untimely death. Ammon was so much consumed in the love for his sister to the point of sickness and to the point where an agent of evil stepped in as a counselor. The one and only better way of making any decision on confronting issues of life is in seeking for Godly counsel. Ammon’s crafty friend became his counselor in regard to dealing with his fleshly desire. This is what the word says about Ammon’s friend: “But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Now Jonadab was a very crafty man. And he said to him, ‘Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?’ Amnon said to him, ‘I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.’ So Jonadab said to him, ‘Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him’, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” (2 Samuel 13:3-5) On the first note, the desire of Ammon was a foolish one. In his desire, he should have received help from a Godly counsel. The crafty friend was the wrong one for Ammon and at the wrong time. Also, it was indeed foolishness for Ammon to listen to counsel where there was no wisdom. Wisdom, knowledge and understanding make all the difference in different steps that we take in life. It is important for us to know that, “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil…” (Proverbs 2:10-12) Ammon did a shameful and disgraceful thing when he forced her sister to lay with her. After Ammon had fulfilled his desire concerning his sister, he hated his sister more than the love he had for her. Absalom could not let go the evil committed by Ammon so he sent his servants to kill Ammon. Evidently, Ammon died an untimely death because his desire drove him in the route of death. 

Prayer for today: Cause my heart to be kept with diligence against every thought that is not in line with Your Word.

Seek Him Endlessly

Devotions

SEEK HIM ENDLESSLY
2 Chronicles 26

The same King Uzziah who died before Isaiah could see and receive his calling was described as a king who started right but ended up wrong. At the beginning of Uzziah’s reign, he sought God. The Bible records that as long as Uzziah sought the Lord, God made him prosper. (2 Chronicles 26:5) As he continued in seeking God, he won wars of conquest and wars of expansion. By virtues of his victories, “…he became exceedingly strong.” (2 Chronicles 26:8) God made him prosper in every area of his direction and he became victorious all round. It is recorded of him that, “…his fame spread far and wide; for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.” (2 Chronicles26:15) Evidently, God does not bless or increase man by accident. Uzziah was not elevated to be strong and famous across the nations by accident. Uzziah was doing what was right in the eyes of God before God began to elevate him. The Bible makes us realize that Uzziah sought God. Are you expecting elevation from God? All that it requires is seeking Him diligently. The fact about seeking God is that there should never be an end in seeking Him. As long as there is life in your being, seeking Him should never cease. Seeking Him should be a daily and ongoing routine. The seeking of yesterday will not and cannot be counted for today. Further, to stop in seeking Him is to cease from dwelling in His presence. Uzziah enjoyed the hand of God in every area of his life, “…but when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2Chronicles 26:16) The fame that spread for Uzziah when he sought God made him to feel strong all around him. With his fame, pride set into his life. What pride does is to prepare man for a ride into self destruction. Evidently, Uzziah rode into self destruction because of his pride. Are you beginning to feel strong in what you are doing? To be strong is not an evidence of not to be wrong. To be strong could lead to the sense of self accomplishment. In self, the danger of pride inhabits. With pride, man is set-up for self-destruction. Uzziah got carried away by assuming a position of a priest in his attempt to burn incense on the altar of incense. Are you shifting focus in any area of your calling? Keep focus on God and your purpose will never be diverted.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, I ask for help never to take my eyes away from what You have called me for. Impact in me the grace to seek You all the days of my life.

August 2009 Issue

Monthly Newsletter

“…We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint…” (Romans 5:3-4)

It is better to be lost and found than to be found and then lost. The children of Israel were lost and down in bondage for over four hundred years before God visited them with favor and salvation. They were lost and found; they were set for the Promise Land. He that found the children of Israel will find you. If you have been found by the grace of God from the depth of sin, He wants to take you to an expected end–a Promise Land that was purchased for us by the blood that was shed on Calvary. God that found and brought the children of Israel out of bondage did not mean for them not to get to the Promised Land. To be free from bondage is incomplete until your arrival at the final destination. Many ways lead to the promise land, but the only way that will enable you to get there is the way of the wilderness.
WAY OF WILDERNESS
It is not your choice; it is the choice of the one who called you. To get to the promise land, you will have to go through the wilderness. Any other way will take you back to Egypt. The way of the wilderness is a way of no return. Exodus 13:17, “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, ‘Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.’”
WHY WAY THE OF WILDERNESS?
The way of wilderness is for you not to return, but to keep you going. It is the way that God has put everything in place for you to travel within a reasonable amount of time. It is a way where you are going to be equipped on how you will live and enjoy where He is taking you to. Are you on the way to your promise land? On the way, you will bump heads with the enemy because the enemy does not want to see you prevail. However, if the way you have taken for yourself is smooth, with no ups and downs, no head-on collision with the enemy, it may become a way that seems right to you, but you may also be in the same direction as the enemy. You are no threat to the enemy because you are heading in the same place. The way of wilderness, is not a habitation, it is a passage.
CHALLENGES ON THE WAY OF WILDERNESS
The children of Israel, by virtue of disobedience, inability to wait on God, inability to let the past be in the past so the future could emerge in there life, and inability to focus on God for direction, lost track in the wilderness. The journey was to take them eleven days, but they journeyed for forty years. All that started the journey above the age of twenty did not get to the expected end except for Joshua and Caleb. The way of wilderness that we are in is not to kill us, it is to keep us and get us to where we are going. You may have been wondering why you have all these difficulties in your way. If you will only let God take control, then you will see all that you have considered as difficulties to be challenges that will make you grow. Nothing is accidental for us as a child of God. Deuteronomy 8:2, “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not.” Do you really trust God as the only God that will always remembers with favor and always visits with salvation?
KEEP FOCUS
In the way of wilderness, when you lose focus, you will begin to complain, you will begin to remember all your past that can easily contaminate your present. You will rebel against the people whom God has put in place in your life as a shepherd. You will not be able to see help where God has positioned help for you. Do not look back like Lot’s wife. Let all your wants rest for now. Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Focus on where you are going. Where you are now is your building process. Believe that God is with you and He shall see you through if you are focused on Him.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”(Numbers 23:19)

Fear That Raids

Devotions

FEAR THAT RAIDS
Matthew 14:22-33

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” (Matthew 14:22) The disciples needed to get to the other side where Jesus wanted them to be. Jesus knew what it would take to get to the other side and what the other side had to offer for the disciples in order for them to continue in following Him. Jesus could not have been unaware of the storm ahead when He made them to go on before Him. In sending the disciples, the multitudes were not allowed. Whatever represents “multitude” in your life can trigger delay or hindrance in getting to the other side where He wants you to be. Did He call and send you? Are you in any storm yet? If you are not yet in the storm, the storm will come. It came for the ones that He made to go before Him. The storm that went for the disciples was not in the beginning of the journey, but rather in the middle of the sea. The only way of escape while in the middle of the sea and storm is in the hand of Jesus. “Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear.” (Matthew 14:25-26) Jesus did not delay in His response to their cry. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14:27) Jesus’ response was a sigh of relief that prompted Peter’s request for the permission to join Jesus in walking on the water. Operating faith and fear simultaneously is not a possibility. Jesus, having just showed up and letting them know that He was with them, was enough to terminate any fear or doubt. When we ignore His presence and make a choice to be afraid, we are consciously or unconsciously telling Him that we do not acknowledge His presence. Peter, while seeing Jesus walking towards him, decided to look into the challenges of the storm. “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’”(Matthew 14:30) Peter operated in doubt. He was faulted with fear and right there, he withdrew himself from the presence of God. With fear, faith withdrew and Peter began to sink. He did not send them through the storm to sink them but rather to strengthen them. Do not be afraid in your storm. Faithful is He who called us and He will see us through.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God and my Father have mercy and let Your enabling Spirit allow faith to become a manifestation in my life.

Entertain No Fear

Devotions

ENTERTAIN NO FEAR
Jeremiah 42

Receiving and releasing the Word into your life will give you life. The word can be pleasing or displeasing at the time you receive it, but it will always deliver you in all your ways. When the Jews who were left behind after the captivity began to seek for a means of avoiding the challenges from the Chaldeans opposition, Jeremiah was consulted to inquire from God. “Now all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ‘Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”(Jeremiah 42:1-3) The remaining Jews after captivity (the remnant Jews) wanted to hear from God. The Jews promised Jeremiah before inquiring from God, “Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” (Jeremiah 42:6) Jeremiah went before God and was able to receive a message for the Jews. The message for them was not to run and dwell in Egypt because they had set their faces to run to Egypt as a safe dwelling ground. God promised in Jeremiah 42:11-12, “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him”, says the LORD, “for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.” The Jews, however, did not listen to the message for them. The point here is that they were afraid and it is apparent from their case that to be afraid is to lose the presence of God that will deliver and show mercy. The Jews could not remain in the land just as God had sent Jeremiah to them. They were afraid and they eventually moved to Egypt. The Jews lost their ground and they could not retain the presence of God and as a result, they could not retain life. The remnant Jews disobeyed the Word of God. Egypt could not prevent them from dying by sword, by famine and pestilence. Obey His Word and you will live and not die. 

Prayer for today: I ask O Lord that You keep me from any mind blocking agent that can cause man not to receive and live by Your word.