Royalty and you

As we all welcome Britain’s royal baby, the Prince of Cambridge, I cannot but think about how not too long ago (thirty-one years precisely) we rejoiced at the birth of his father, Prince Williams. I have observed this family from the time Prince Charles married the sweet Princess Diana (thirty-two years ago) till date and I tell you, it is never a dull moment.

I lost a bit of interest after a while but my interest for the royal lifestyle came alive again when the Prince of Wales announced his engagement to a commoner. Oh! How my eyes glowed with light and my heart leaped for joy to know that the son of the People’s Princess lived up to expectation. Not just because of the lady he chose, but I am also excited about the fact that the new link between the Prince of Wales and commoner Kate Middleton will breed a new generation of royalty like we have not experienced since 1660. Those who love history will ask what happened in 1660 but I would rather leave you to find out while I focus more on how this whole thing concerns you and me.

Royalty and you

Many of us have come to lay claim to royalty, thanks to some biblical texts that refers to believers in Christ as Kings. In my opinion, the most popular scripture that refers to believers in the Christian faith as royalty is 1Peter 2:9 which says “But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (NASB).  I have no problem with that because I believe that as children of the King we are indeed of a royal lineage. But if truly we are children of the King are we not supposed to live and reign like Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses (cf. Revelations 5:10)? Are we not supposed to go by principles laid down by our Lord and King? Do Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses live as they like or do they follow a certain pattern of life that behooves royalty?

Yes! Oh yes! Royal people live by rules which were laid down by their ancestors and rarely does anybody suddenly change the rules. Let us consider three (3) things we notice about royalty.

a) Order

Contrary to the lifestyle of many believers today, royal people do things decently and in order (cf. 1Corinthians 14:40). Hardly, if ever, will you find a disorganized Prince or Princess. They seem to walk orderly, talk orderly and generally act decently in the public. Take for instance; they marry before they have children and not the other way round. Can you imagine what it would have been like if Kate Middleton became pregnant before marriage? Unimaginable! Unlike most people who care less about what anyone thinks about their actions, people of royal descent are trained to do things orderly and give a good impression at every public appearance.  

Several Christians are very disorderly but claim to be royalty. They live anyhow, do whatever they like, have no particular pattern of living and some even openly dishonor the name of the Lord. They go to church late, and when they do get there they behave so unruly. Order in the church!   

b) Control

Sometimes I wonder why many people from royal families hardly express their emotions in public. Take for instance, on September 6 1997 when Princes Diana was to be buried, I observed all members of the royal family and I did not see any of them shed tears. Let us assume the older members of the royal family have been trained enough to imbibe the culture of self control, how about the two boys whom the Princess left behind? If anyone would miss her most, it would be Prince Williams and Prince Harry; but I did not see a tear drop from their eyes. All they did was wave at the crowd that was lined along the way to their mother’s grave. It is not for me to judge the moral quality of their action, however I believe that they felt some emotion but due to their training they had to control themselves in public.

Lesson: When we are pressed to overreact in public we should apply control especially when our show of emotions cannot make any difference. Royals may have a lot to say but they have learnt to say what is required and keep silent when necessary. They do not throw tantrums in public and hope people understand. They, like every human, have times when they are pushed to the wall and are tempted to misbehave; but they know how to control their emotions and reactions.

c) Respect   

People from royal lineage do not break ranks, they respect authorities. Just like the centurion told Jesus in Matthew 8:8, they understand the flow of authority and recognize that whoever is put in charge of them deserve the utmost regard. They respect themselves and act responsibly. One of the ways to identify a great personality in the crowd is by how they show respect to people in authority. For example, some years ago I had an event and I invited several top personalities. I instructed the ushers to make sure they identify all the VIPs and take them to a special seat reserved for them. After about forty-five (45) minutes into the event the crowd was distracted by some noise coming from behind the auditorium “do you know who I am? How can you give me a back seat? For what?” the male voice yelled. In the first place, this man came late and in the second place, he was very rude to delegated authority which tells us that he does not understand authority and would probably abuse power if giving the chance to lead. Well, the ushers handled him right as he was put out of the meeting and not too long we heard news of him being stripped of his position. A true man of authority will respect and submit to authority.    

Have you heard some people speak disrespectfully about their leaders in public? Or have you seen the way some criticize a system they are supposed to represent? That is so disrespectful and you would never see anyone from the royal family speak about the King or Queen or even any member of the royal lineage, with such impertinence. When you see someone who speaks about people in authority rudely, you can be sure that they are not in any way of the royal order.

Dishonorable act

Recently we read in the news about some leaders in Nigeria’s River State house of assembly who were involved in a physical fight. I am not as concerned about what led to the fight as I am about the dishonorable act. Should a leader lose his temper in public to the point of hitting someone? Some may argue that he was pushed too hard till he lost it; but isn’t that where control is needed?  Maybe somebody in there was not supposed to be there. Maybe none of them should be there. Then again, if they rose to such positions by crooked means, it would amount to foolishness on our part to expect anything reasonable from such irresponsible, uncultured and dishonorable fellows. My recommendation is that before people take public positions (no matter how they got there), they should be taken through some kind of training and in light of recent happenings, maybe anger management should be one of the compulsory courses.

Royal nannies

I hear that Prince Williams and his wife may not be hiring a nanny to help with the upbringing of HRH Prince George of Cambridge; but we know about the traditional process of hiring a Royal nanny or nannies to help. With that tradition in mind, permit me to compare the job of those royal nannies to that of church pastors.

If God is the King of Kings and believers are Kings and princes/princesses and the church is called out from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light, then the pastors’ job would be that of nanny to new believers. It is the responsibility of the pastor to inculcate into believers the royal mentality. All believers need to learn Kingdom philosophy -as opposed to worldly ideologies-, spiritual etiquette and every thing they need to represent the King; and these they must learn from the pastor who is trained and very verse in matters of royalty.

Then somebody may say “how about when they are grown and do not need their nannies?” Well, when the time comes and the children become sons, they step up to another class where they are trained to be skilled sons and custodians of the royal heritage.

Now the question to you is; are you true royalty? Are you bringing disrepute and shame to the lineage you claim? If you are, I encourage you to put off this old garment and walk worthy of your call.

Coach to the rescue

Intro

I didn’t think it was possible for someone to go about life without a clear definite vision, but sadly, it seems that many people do not have any set goals for their life, family, business, and community. It is not a good thing to live without direction. I repeat, it is not good to live your life, run your family, business or ministry without clearly set out goals.

Game plan

For everything you do, you must have a plan. It is like a soccer game, you have to know who/what you are up against and work out a strategy to win. Without a game plan you sure are going to lose. Even if you win a game of soccer without a game plan, you cannot win in life without a plan. You need to have a clear vision and a plan of how you want to achieve that vision. Where are you heading and how do you want to get there? You cannot wake up everyday, go to work (if you have one), get back home, eat, play with your phone/Ipad/Tab/, sleep, wake up the next day and continue the cycle. When you’re asked “where are you heading?” You answer “to work”. No! You should know what you came to do on earth and how you want to achieve it. Your job should be a means of achieving your vision and not the vision itself (unless you run your own company).

Vacancy: Leaders wanted

There are those who have a vision but do not know how to navigate their “ship” to the “expected end”. Many folks occupying positions and having titles lack leadership skills. How do I know? By their fruits we know them. We see how you have run down your life, business, church or company. I mean you and I know how some people have tricked the public and got into government and because they are not good leaders they have messed up their country by the bad decisions they make. Have you not seen how many people occupy the office of a pastor but struggle in relating with their members and cannot move the church forward? Do I need to tell you about yourself and how you have messed up your beautiful “temple” that even you do not like your naked body when you look in the mirror? You may show the world what you want them to see, but you know the real “you”. You might pretend about many things in life but you cannot pretend to be a good leader. If you are a good leader, it shows in your life and everything you are involved in. It is either you are a leader or you are not. You and I are leaders of our own lives and many others occupy leadership positions; so what it means is that we have to learn how to be better leaders. Read on to learn how.

Go to your mentor

Mentor- a trusted counselor or guide; -Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Everybody needs a mentor. Every leader needs a mentor. There comes a time when you run out of ideas, get frustrated and your life/work/project/vision comes to a “plateau”; that is when you need your mentor. If your project is not growing, it is obvious that you need someone to help you move forward. Do not tell me God is your leader and you need no other; yes He is your leader, however He uses people to mentor, guide, instruct and help you reach your Goal. When people say they have been instructed not to submit to anyone, then trust me, pride has enveloped them. In many cases if you look at such people’s project/vision, it is stagnant, stunted or dead. If you find yourself experiencing any of the above in your business/project/ministry then humble yourself and go to your mentor. You need someone who is not afraid to tell you the truth, experienced enough to help you avoid too many scars, bold enough to give you the needed “push” and strong enough to carry you when you are feeble. He must be someone who loves God, shows he has faith in you, has been where you are, successful in his chosen field, and not self-centered,    

NB: Your mentor must be versed in the area you need mentoring

Question: Can I have more than one mentor?

Answer: Yes you can have more than one mentor as it were. Let us assume that you are a guitarist in your local church/band, you work in an IT firm, you are the area coordinator for a charity organization where you volunteer, you are the captain of your neighborhood soccer team and to keep a balanced lifestyle you work out daily at a nearby gym; you might have different people who influence you on the different aspects of your busy life. Your guitar tutor may not be your gym instructor so you may have a couple of people who mentor you on specific areas. However you might need one major figure in your life, a strong personality who has greater grace than you and your mentor has and who can influence you to do what is required to move you up. You need a coach.

Coach to the rescue

A life coach performs almost the same role as a mentor, but while you can have various mentors who help you in different aspects of your life, you need only one life coach who helps you in every aspect of life. He/she is like your manager. Life coaches are trained either in contemporary schools or school of “life”; they are more knowledgeable, more experienced and their power and influence over people is stronger. When you relate with one, it doesn’t take you ages to experience improvement in every area of your life. Someone has described his life coach as “God sent”. They may be a little more persuasive in dealing with you but as the first law of motion states “every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion, in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it” it seems that most of us will not do certain things unless it is impressed upon us. That is what life coaches do, they press us to grow, improve and achieve God’s purpose for our lives.

To avoid consulting several people who are experienced in different areas, most people choose to have one person to play such a role in their life. If you are like most 21^st century upward mobile professionals; versatile, busy and growing in various vocations they are involved in- then you need a life coach. Or maybe you are yet to find your footing in life, still struggling to understand how to build your vision and pursue your goals; you need someone to help you with step-by-step guide to rise to greatness’ you need a life coach.

NB: For the avoidance of doubt, the use of the words “Life coach” and “mentor” is a matter of semantics. I think mentor and life coach can be used interchangeably. To make it easier, we can say that a life coach is a mentor of mentors; a leader of leaders; a teacher of teachers.

Too critical to grow

After reading this article, some will ask constructive questions to help them learn more, run with what they have learnt, apply them and grow beyond their present condition; but some others will sit back, criticize and make nonsense of everything said here. It is up to you. You either make a move that will take you higher or stay where you have always been and listen to people who have “parked their cars”  yet do not want others to overtake them. Choose what you will do with this information.  

#Quote

“What I've found about it is that there are some folks you can talk to until you're blue in the face--they're never going to get it and they're never going to change. But every once in a while, you'll run into someone who is eager to listen, eager to learn, and willing to try new things. Those are the people we need to reach. We have a responsibility as parents, older people, teachers, people in the neighborhood to recognize that”-Tyler Perry

While you wait

 A few weeks ago I spoke with a young man who told me he was waiting for the “waters to move” so he can jump in and take his portion. It sounded good to me so we spent some time discussing the details. He gave me some very sweet scriptures and you know I love scriptures. But shortly before I left I asked him how long he had been waiting and he said “twelve (12) months”. Sounded long to me but to make sure it was not what I was thinking I asked him “what have you been doing during those twelve (12) months” and he said “nothing”. Ladies and gentlemen, I froze. I was shocked. Nothing!? Who sits down for a whole year doing nothing? Now listen, I cannot spend a day doing nothing, how much more one year.

Does waiting on the Lord mean doing nothing? Is my young friend acting in “faith” or is he simply foolish? Do not let anybody convince you that it is an act of faith to waste a whole year doing nothing. No, it is not faith because whoever has faith also takes action. “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:20 NASB) A man of faith is known by the kind of step he takes. You do not have to tell us that you have faith; we can see your faith by your works. A man/woman of faith has vision and every day he takes steps towards his/her vision. If you have faith then you know that no day should be wasted.

Does that mean people should not wait on the Lord for as long at it takes? Of course not! What it means is that as you wait on the Lord there is a lot you can achieve. You pray and study. And if you pray and study you will get creative ideas and the Lord will speak to you which means you will also write. Some of those ideas will require immediate action so you will be on your toes taking action. If you truly wait on the Lord, it is never a dull moment.  

When this same young man called me today to say he is depressed and feels like God had abandoned him I snapped at him. “Do not bring God into this, God cannot tell you to wait on Him and let you get depressed” I yelled. And yes I meant it. God will not lead you to a place and abandon you so if you are depressed, you can be sure that God is not in it. People who have faith are too busy to be depressed. Faith does not give room for worry. Faith makes you enthusiastic. I challenge you today to mix your faith with action and you will experience unprecedented breakthroughs.

  

PS: And by the way if you are wondering where I have been all this while, I have been busy working on a couple of projects one of which is my new book. It should be out soon so watch out. I am back now and will load ya’ll with a lot to read. Enjoy!

How funny is this?

A few weeks ago while I was out in the field exercising, a young boy fell off his bike and his friends broke out into wild laughter. I know how it hurts when you fall off your bike and for that reason I walked over to the boy to make sure nothing serious had happened but alas, he was injured. He had scratches here and there and was bleeding (and probably had a broken toe); I wandered “who laughs and jokes about a fall?” “Who makes a mockery of a fallen friend?” Yeah, I know who does such; Children!  Immature people who don’t know when to laugh and when they should show empathy.

I have observed that many things that should make us weep and pray to God for mercy make us laugh. Why is it that when something negative happens to a Christian leader we- fellow Christians- spread the news, laugh and make mockery of the person involved? When did it become funny that a comrade is wounded? What exactly is funny or praiseworthy in the failure of a fellow believer?  It is childishness, irresponsibility, illiteracy and absolute foolishness to laugh and publicize the failure or fall of another.

How come it is very difficult for us to pick up our phones to call people to share the good news of Gods love, yet, when we hear of an issue with our fellow laborer in the vineyard we have plenty time to call as many people to talk and laugh about it. We used to have zero tolerance for gossip and backbiting but these days several Christians and even some so called pastors have made their homes a place for gossip. It should not be so. We should be instruments of healing and not objects of destruction; but we have made a mockery of ourselves and the World is watching us disgrace ourselves thereby dragging the name of the Lord to shame.

Some gossip with fellow Church folks and others gossip with non-believers; are we not shamed of what is happening among us? If a brother falls into sin should we not pray for his restoration rather than laugh about it? If a brother’s marriage fails should we make a mockery of him and spread the news? Is the Bible not clear about how we should handle issues relating to a brother/sister’s error?  Did the Bible say “when you hear your brother has fallen, pick up your phone, or jump on your computer and make a call/send an email and spread the bad news abroad”? Did the Bible teach that we have a right to judge and condemn those who make a mistake or fall into sin, or fail in ministry/marriage? No! When things like this happen we cannot “…publish it in the streets…lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph” -2 Samuel 1:20

Before the wrath of God comes upon us I send out this warning:

1)     Refrain from gossiping about men/women of God. God has not made you their judge- Who are we to judge another man’s servant? (cf. Romans 14:4)

2)     Rebuke members of your family or sheepfold who involve themselves in this hideous act

3)     If you are one of those whose wives have what someone has called “verbal diarrhea”, please call her to order before she brings a curse to your home

4)     If your husband is one of the unfortunate men who involve themselves in “old wives’ tales”, I implore you to implore him to desist from such demeaning lifestyle; men ought always to pray and not gossip (cf. Luke 18:1).

5)     It is not too late to repent and ask God to have mercy on us.

Finally my brethren, I urge you to consider your ways. Let us not tempt Christ as some people did in the past and were killed by snakes. Stop gossiping and murmuring as some have murmured and were destroyed. Let him/her who thinks he is standing strong be careful else he fall (cf. I Corinthians 10:9-12). Let God judge His servants who bring shame to His name, stay out of it, you are too small to be involved in this. If you have to say something about it, pray; if you cannot pray about it then, sorry to say, shut your mouth.

Help for my Native Land

Every morning when I wake up, I kneel down to pray and give thanks to God for my life, my family, friends, partners and everyone connected to me in one way or the other. I used to have a prayer list, but now, I must confess I do not have a list anymore. It is probably not possible to keep a list of all the people I pray for. But anyway, I do find a way to pray for everyone connected to me directly or indirectly. However I am concerned about certain things happening in my home land. My motherland.

It hurts me to see that almost every day of the week my home land is in the news. It is either some crazy terrorists have blown up a church and somehow someone connected to me is either hurt or killed, or a plane crashes into a building and several people are roasted. Many times I read about armed bandits waylaying travelers, they rob and sometimes kill. Robbers can strike anywhere; homes, banks, schools and etc and at any time with such impunity and I wonder, do we still have police there? Which should I mention? The ritual killings, Police brutality and acute corruption, the lack of leadership, Government embezzlement of public funds, Poverty, Sicknesses, Commercial Motor bikes maiming people daily?

The most painful is news related to the Church. The so called body of Christ in Nigeria seems to be in a state of complacency. I use the word "complacency" for lack of a better word that will not make it sound like I am anti church. Honestly, I am concerned about the Church. My concern dates back to the 90s when the prosperity message took centre stage. People were told that it was not possible to serve God and not have money. I'm not sure I hate money, I'm not sure I love it either. But the problem is that the preachers made it look like prosperity is money and whoever does not have money is not prosperous. Not as if they taught people the principles of making money. No, people were made to see God as a "money doubler"- "give to God and he will double what you give". Preachers started living extravagantly, brandishing expensive cars, houses, wristwatches and etc. I wonder who they really look like (definitely not our Lord Jesus whose lifestyle was an example for all). After many years of such preaching only the preachers and a few hard working Church goers who understood the principle of 'sowing and reaping' (buying where things are cheap and selling where it is expensive, investing in various fertile areas) and a few others who learned to provide services that people need, prospered. Then came the miracle preaching and preachers.  And then the prophetic preachers. And now, I am afraid to say, might be harsh, but I think the Church in Nigeria needs urgent "Spirituomedical" help.

I am not here to talk about the Church, but my concern for my country is that if the church is in such a state then she is powerless to help the nation. I believe that the church is so powerful that if we, who are called by His name, can only get our act together, team up with others (denominations and Para church organizations, etc.) and take a stand, things will change in that land. I believe that we are not just the salt of the earth; we are the light of the land. But when people's motive for entering the ministry is money then you know that the journey is far. When Christian leaders keep fighting for positions within the church then you know that ignorance has taken over the church. When you see preachers staging miracles just to prove to people that they are what they are not, you know that the end is near. When you see lying prophets in the house and nobody is bold enough to tell them they are telling lies, we are finished. When church folks laugh, applaud and agree with every message preached by different preacher, then something is not right.

I pray for my country Nigeria that God would purge the land and wipe out, in His own special way, all those corrupt politicians. I pray for the great citizens of that country that the eyes of their understanding be opened to know who they are and what the Lord has invested in them. I pray for those bringing shame to the nation that God should bring them to repentance.

And for those killing innocent people, blowing up Churches and shedding blood, I have prayed that the same measure you give shall come back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over; bloodshed will not cease in your household and your generation. To the perpetrators of wickedness and all their sponsors God will punish you and for the remaining days of your miserable life you shall not see anything good.

Indeed it takes more than prayer to solve the problems of my dear native land. We expect the emergence of a new generation of creative thinkers and leaders. I think this current crop of politicians (who indeed are the same old breed), need to sit down or be made to sit down so the fresh brains and fresh hands can apply modern leadership techniques and see how the country can stand back on her feet. I think that people should begin to stand up and speak up. I think we should all begin to do something small in our various corners to effect change. I believe that the time has come for all true Nigerians to stop doing things for self aggrandizement and start doing things for the good of the nation. Let us not criticize the government of corruption when we are corrupt in our own kitchens. If we do not remove the speck in our own eyes as individuals, how can we then see the logs in the eyes of others. Change is now and change starts with you!

This husband of mine- For ladies only

Is it just me or are there other women out there who wonder why our sweet husbands sometimes get on our nerves? I mean, he used to be sweet and extremely caring (saying the right words, doing the right things and etc) before we got married. But now…Hmm! When he was dating me he said all kind of sweet words to me, sent me several text messages every day, tells me how much he loves me and how desperate he is to make me his wife and live with me “… happily ever after”. He remembered all the special dates and did something special every year. He called over five times in a day to check on me, he opened the car door for me, held my hand to help me out of the car; he made me feel so wonderful and special. He sent me several surprise gifts; in fact one day he showed up in my office and made a ‘sweet little show’ of love. I loved it. I loved him so much for the sweet things he did to woo me. Even when some people thought he was not the best for me I paid them no attention because I saw his actions and it convinced me beyond every reasonable doubt that he was the man for me.

Now we are married and it feels like there is a little bit of change. Sometimes I have to ask him if he loves me before he responds sluggishly “I love you baby”. He wakes up and rushes out to work and when I text or call him he is always in a hurry and goes “…baby I got to go now I have a…” and he hangs up. When he comes back from work he is so tired that sometimes he sleeps off while having dinner and other times he dozes off while I tell him how my day went. The hugs are still there though, but a lot less than it used to be. Now I get hugged when he's about to rush off to work (when he remembers) and sometimes when he gets back (if I’m home). He kisses me like once (when he is in the mood) and for sex? You don’t want to know.

I talked with my friend Katy about it the other day and she told me that my case is a lot better and I was like “are you kidding me?”. Well, when she told me her story I ran home to go love my sweet Joe who is working hard to take care of me and our two kids and probably need a little bit more involvement from me than I am giving. I have always thought that if a man loves me he should come get me. True that, but again, I realized that a good man who loves you will go the extra mile to provide for you and sometimes in the course of that he will return home tired, harassed by work, boss and people ( that he comes home to me alone is a big show of love). I realized that I can bridge the gap between us even though I am busy too. If he is not texting me, then I can text him. If he is not calling then I can call him. Since he is at work it doesn’t make sense for me to call him and take all the time telling stories about how Tina offended our boss; I can call him briefly and tell him I love him and ask him what he would love to eat or what he will want to do when we get home. I learnt that when he is at work there is little I can do to help his day, but when he comes back home there is a lot I can do to make his “homecoming” pleasant, pleasurable and sweet. I didn’t know this but I have come to know that I can have a big influence on his day by what I do when he is home. Now I understand why God made the “…Sun to rule by day and the Moon by night”. I am taking my place and I am reigning in my domain. I have decided to give him a great memory every time he comes back home. I talk less and let him see more of me. I offer myself to be an effective and efficient “…help meet for him.”



I know ladies like to be chased and we expect the men to come for us, but this man chased me and got me, he is working hard to support me and our kids; there is nothing wrong if sometimes we switch roles. So sometimes I let him chase me and when he slows down I in turn chase him to bring his whole attention back to me. Love is give and take, sometimes you give and other times you take. If you want anything, give it and you should get it back. So far, it is effective and we both enjoy it when we have to be chased. Don’t be fooled ladies, men also like to be chased sometimes; there is always that element in all humans-we all like to be desired, petted and sought after. So does your man, if he does not do those sweet things anymore, it might be that it is your turn to chase him and win him back. If you love him, do everything godly, legal and what your heart permits you to do to get him coming for you.

Enjoy!

Names mentioned is this article are fictitious and has no relation/connection to anyone you know.

It is in your mouth

Our world offers neither help for today nor hope for tomorrow. The news

 everyday seems to tell us that we are hopeless and useless. We hear of wars

 and rumours of wars, famine, poverty, diseases, shootings, untimely death and the likes. You can't seem to be able to avoid it; it's in the newspapers,

on Television and internet; it's just everywhere! It is easy to allow these

discouraging events around our environment affect our lives and our

perception about who we are and what Christ has done for us. But thanks be

 to God who leads us to triumph! Yes! He is leading us to triumph over the

 host of hell and the enemies of our soul. He is leading us to victory over

 affliction and all strange infirmities. He is leading us to cast down every

 word and strange imagination which has risen against us and against his

 word and will. Thanks be to God for we are not swallowed up by the heart

 breaking news we hear daily rather we rise above the storms of bad

 news by counter- attacking them with Gods word.

·      God's word is strong, powerful and very efficacious. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands for ever (cf. Isaiah 40:8).

·      Heaven and Earth shall pass away but God's word shall not pass away (cf. Luke 21:23)

·      By his word the heavens and the earth was created (cf. John 1:4)

·      God’s word is life, strength for the weak, hope for the hopeless, grace for tomorrow. His word is sharper than any two edged sword (cf. Hebrews 4:12)

indeed the word of God is a light that shines in darkness  and darkness cannot comprehend it.

 We need to understand the power that we have in God's word. For when we

 understand that, we are able to overcome the attacks of the evil one and

 his wiles. The evil one has connived with several of his agents  (including all propagators of bad news) to weaken and frustrate us, but we  can overcome him by '…the word of our testimony*…' Revelation 12:11. Yes!

 The word of our testimony!

 There are two important things we need to consider:

1.     The word of God as a tool

2.     Our testimony as a weapon

 *The word as a tool*

 Faith comes by hearing…and hearing 'word' (cf. Romans 10:17). So also fear comes by hearing words. If we continue to hear negative words, it won't be long before fear envelopes us. But the word of God is a strong device with which we counter every negative word. The more of God's word we speak the less effect the enemy has on us. The more we speak God's word the more we weaken the hold of the devil upon our lives.

For “it” to be 'word' it has to be spoken.  ["Logos" is Jesus, the spoken word of our Creator; the action in God's command.  The "doing" moves things from God's 'to do list' to God's 'it is done' or 'it is finished' list].  Jesus came as God's spoken word to convey the good news, which we call the Gospel. What if He would not speak of God's love to us?  But He did, He could not remain quiet.

You do not keep quiet and hope that the word which you know will make a way or fight for you. Even though you know the word and have it in your heart, you have to 'speak' for it to have effect. The lord said to the prophet 'prophesy to these bones and SAY …' [emphasis mine (cf. Ezekiel 37:4)]; what this implies is that the bones have ears. Those challenges in your life have ears. Prophesy to them. Speak to them! If you can say to this mountain be removed, it shall be moved. For nothing is impossible for you (cf. Matthew 17:20). Just speak the word!

*Our testimony as a weapon*

 "In the law <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law>, *testimony* is a form of  evidence <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_%28law%29> that is obtained from a witness <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness> who makes a solemn  statement or declaration of fact"  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony).

When we open our mouth to tell of the goodness of our Lord, we declare to the world that God's word is true. Many times we speak the word of God over our circumstances and yet do not have results, could it be that it’s because we have neglected the great commission given to us by our Lord Jesus. *The gospel is the '…power of God unto salvation…' (cf. Romans 1:16) *and not telling the good news of God's wonderful works in your life may just delay someone's salvation.

I know you may have some temporal challenges in your life right now, but there is a lot God has done for you and sharing it can save someone out there. There may be weaknesses in your body right now but your miracle may just be in your reaching out to those who are lost. You may be facing some "goliaths" right now but you can overcome them by '...the word of your testimony'. Child of God, open your mouth and tell your friends and neighbours about the goodness of the Lord.

There is a miracle in your mouth; speak the word to our sick world. Raise your voice, hold not your peace. Tell about God's faithfulness. Let the world know that indeed 'our God reigns'

 *God In need*

 We often pray for the Lord to meet our needs, but how many of us have interest in meeting God's need? God has a need too! He needs you and me to be his worthy ambassadors here on earth. He needs you to be his agent of truth in a world where lies have been magnified and 'holyfied'. He needs us to be instruments of change, restoration and healing to a dying world. God needs you.

Let us not keep asking God to meet our need. If you know how to meet His need he will take care of you. I dare you to meet God's need and watch him bless you beyond your wildest imagination. I dare you to commit yourself to God's mission and see the lord make a wonder out of you. Then you will be a victor rather than a victim. You will become the head and not the tail. Be a man/woman after God's heart; meet the masters need. Talk about his awesome faithfulness. Let the world know that our God is an awesome God.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, " Your God reigns*!-Isaiah 52:7 (NKJV