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The Hiding Place (9)
(Continued from last week)
MY personal doctor is God
Almighty Himself. His promise
is that provided I will stay close to Him, and listen to His commandments and do whatever He asks me to do, He will bring no sickness upon me.
He is the One who made us and knows whatever is wrong with us from the moment we complain. He knows what is wrong and He can put it right. As a matter of fact, if there is something that is damaged in your body, he has spare parts in heaven to make a replacement. He would do this again and again, anytime you need it. What He is even saying is that if you obey Him and keep your head cool, you will not even fall ill at all. One thing is to be sick and another is to be healed. Another thing is never to be sick at all.
We do not have to be afraid of evil tidings too, according to Psalm 112:6-8: “Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.”
All that you need to do is to trust God. Make up your mind whether you want to serve God or not. Are you going to trust God or you are going to trust the devil?
Once vour mind is fixed on Jesus, then you do not need to be afraid of evil tidings.
The Bible also says in Psalm 15:1-2:
“They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.“
I trust in the Lord, so I shall not be removed.
For the wicked, the Psalmist says they wil1 have terror by night. The wicked are afraid to sleep because of the works of their hands. They have problems by day too. the Psalmist says there is pestilence by night and destruction by day.
In Deuteronomy 28:66-67, the Bible gives a good description of those people who have not surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ: “And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shall fear day and night, and shalt have non-assurance of thy life: In the morning, thou shalt say would God it were even! And at even thou shalt say, would God it were morning! For the fear of thine heart wherewithal thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.“
The wicked do not know peace. The Bible also says in Isaiah 48:22: “There is no peace,” saith the LORD, unto the wicked.“
There are various kinds of fear. Firstly, many people, for example, are afraid of sickness. They are afraid that sooner or later, they would fall sick. They are afraid that all money they have saved will be wiped out by one illness or the other.
However, the Bible tells us that provided you give your life to Jesus Christ, and you obey Him, you do not have to be afraid of sickness.
Exodus 15:26 says: “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”
Why shall we not be afraid of sickness and diseases?
This is because the moment we give our lives to Jesus Christ, we have got a Physician.
There are some people who are afraid of man. They fear the enemies because they do not know when they are going to strike. They do not know when somebody is going to put something on their seats in the office. They do not know whether the woman next door is planning to kill them.
Once you give your life to Jesus Christ, you have nothing to fear from man. Psalm 27:1-3 says: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.“
If God is for you, why should you be afraid of a man?
When the enemy tries to kill you, they will fail. If the whole world decides to rise up against you, fear not, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of hosts. It does not matter the number of your enemies; Jesus Christ has more than sufficient soldiers of Heaven to deal with them. In Proverbs 16:7, the Lord says even further:
“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.“
The Almighty God has a way of silencing the enemy. He will simply tell your enemy that you belong to Him and that he must not molest you.
When Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den and the lions saw him, they thought food had come; but the Almighty God prevented them from eating Daniel. He made them to be at peace with him.
When your way pleases God, He will make your enemy to be at peace with you. When your way pleases God, then Ephesians 1:19-23 will apply to you: “And what is exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His body the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”
This passage is saying that everything has been put under the feet of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Head while Christians are the body of Christ. If you lift up the head, the body must rise also. Since we are the body of Christ, everything is under us.
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Take It By Force!(4)
Last week, I taught on three benefits of prayer
provoking help from God, mercy and angelic in
tervention. This week, as I conclude this series. I will be showing you other benefits of prayer.
Prayer brings deliverance from afflictions: Prayer is one of God's vital solutions for afflictions. It is a prescription for deliverance from oppressions. James 5:13 says: Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. That means anyone that is battered, tormented or depressed is expected to pray for deliverance. If you want to see that yoke on your life broken, you must pray. If you want the forces beclouding your destiny to be shattered in this new year, prayer is the kingdom force recommended for your deliverance.
You are not born for afflictions; you are created to reflect God’s glory, and prayer is what it takes to enforce your manifestations. Prayer is what you use to free yourself from all afflictions of the enemy, and for the restoration of your beauty in Christ. When Hannah was afflicted with barrenness, she went to the temple and prayed. God heard her and gave her a son called Samuel (1 Samuel 1:9-20).
Paul and Silas were locked up in prison, after having been beaten with stripes. But at midnight, they prayed and sang praises to God, and He came down in an earthquake and loosed their bonds (Acts 16:25-26).
The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years. God only sent them help after He heard their cries in prayer (Exodus 3:7-8).
So, until you cry out against that affliction in your life, it remains. God only responds to your voice in prayer, to put a stop to the assault of the devil in your life.
Apart from destroying afflictions, prayer puts you on the line for divine visitations and turns your captivity. Don't watch that long-standing problem — joblessness, barrenness or lack of peace in your home destroy •••you. Cry out to God in prayers against it, remind Him •••of His promises in His Word that exempt you from such afflictions, and you will be free! It is not God's will that the devil should afflict you; your prayers can stop him.
Prayer consecrates: Prayer is one of the spiritual forces needed to live a consecrated life. This is because the forces of desecration are equally spiritual. Zechariah 3:1-3 says: And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee...
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. This tells you the source of the conflicts you face, in your desire to live a consecrated life. Joshua, the high priest, did not choose filthiness. It was forced on him by satanic forces in the unseen realm. That is why God gave us the weapon of prayer, to pull down the strongholds of the enemy that stand against our walk in righteousness.
This illustration reveals that most of the habits that destroy people are remotely controlled by spiritual forces. That is why no matter how hard the victim tries to come out of it, the more he finds himself going deeper into it, against his wish.
There has to be a heavenly means of destroying such satanic hold. It took the intervention of the angel to stop the activities of Satan, and to put a change of raiment on Joshua (Zechariah 3:4).
You know we release the angels through prayers (Matthew 26:53). As we communicate with God in prayer, He sends angels down as private emissaries. They remove the filthy garments from us, give us a change of raiment and cause our iniquities to pass from us. No matter how genuine your desire to please God is, or how sincere you are in your longing to live right, you must understand that it is not possible by power or by might. You need divine help. That is why people who lean on personal efforts to live right live frustrated lives. They put themselves under all manner of bondages.
So, unless you can send your heart ahead of you to God through prayer, your physical efforts in the conflict with sin is useless. When Jesus laid down the principles for effectual prayer, one of the things He said we should say in prayer is: ...Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil... (Matthew 6:13). Living a life without spot or wrinkle has to be by divine help, which you provoke in prayers.
Friend, enjoying consecration starts with giving your life to Christ by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. That way, you are born again. If you are ready for it, say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. Forgive me my sins and save me. From today, I accept You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for saving me. Now I know I am born again!
I will continue this teaching next week. You are already on Eagles’ Wings! You won’t disappoint destiny! I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. Our midweek services hold on Wednesdays between 5 and 7 p.m. We have two services on Sundays. The first one holds between 7 and 10 a.m., and the second one between 10.30 a.m and 12.30 p.m. May God bless you!
Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books – Towards Excellence In Life And Ministry, Winning Prayer and Success In Marriage.
I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Bishop David Oyedepo, Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Or call 7747546-8; Or E-mail: bishopoyedepo@yahoo.com Take It By Force (4)
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