SHM Message at Christmas.

My dear friends, once again on behalf of Pastor K and I, Merry Christmas! I pray you have a wonderful celebration. Permit me to take a little of your celebration time to say something to you about the real essence of Christmas; hoping I am not barging in on your celebrations. In any case if you are reading this, maybe I am not disturbing your celebrations after all!

If you take time to read Isaiah 9 verses 6-7, you will discover that the real essence of celebrating the occasion of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ is to remember that He came to offer the last chance to mankind to fulfill our God-given destiny, and be grateful for it.

To fulfill his potentials, mankind must to align with God, His will and purpose. He after all is the originator of all good things. And Jesus Christ is THE ONLY MEDIUM. The good thing is that this is a painless alternative, and it is free to boot! Without re-aligning with God, man’s life will be fruitless toil as we can see from John 15:5. I pray that will not be your own portion IJMN.

So, as you wine, dine and visit during this declared season of festivities, kindly remember the real essence of Christmas – celebrating He who came to reconcile mankind to his destiny. It is not about any other thing, item or fantasy. It should therefore be a time to offer thanksgiving to God the Father for the fulfillment of His promise of a Wonder for all times, a Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; the agent of change.

My dear friends, as this season marks a new beginning for mankind, I decree and declare that you shall have a new beginning in every area of your life. The birth of the Lord Jesus brought joy into the world; in that name that is above every other name I decree and declare that every weeping heart will receive joy and as many who already have joy, that gift of God will never cease from your lives.

By the way, DO NOT FORGET TO SET GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR.
Now, please get back to your family and friends. Common, go on! Have a wonderful time, y’all!!!

SHM Weekly Charge_2012 Week 50 _ Preparing For The New Year, Part 1.

My dear friends, today begins the 50th week of this 52 week year, and my charge to you this week is to begin your preparations for the coming calendar year (that is if you have not already started as some would surely have) by setting your goals for it.

If you look at God’s own template in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 you will discover that before He did anything, He first lays the foundation. For example, to create mankind (the crowning glory of His re-creative works) He set a goal of it for the Triune Head in verse 26 of chapter 1. My dear friends, this is the best model for all mankind who wish to tap into the blessings of the Almighty God. That foundation is goal setting. The Lord Jesus Christ also confirmed this in Luke 14: 28.

Goal setting is fashioning a road-map, a plan for the future. Essentially those things you have the hope to do, achieve, become; and more importantly the essence of your existence. Setting goals allow you live a focused, systematic life. Any hopes or aspirations you might have are mere dreams until you write them down and set them as goals. It is indeed the first step on the journey to realize your potentials. And I believe that your potentials are great indeed. There are many principles on goal setting that you may know or read about, but let me just say that your goals must be S.M.A.R.T, that is SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT and TIME-LIMITED.

I want to suggest to you, dear friends, that you set goals for the coming year in some specific areas of your life. Do not, however, make these suggestions sacrosanct. Let your individual needs be a proper guiding light; but please have specific areas where you would set goals. (1) Spiritual Goals. This is the foundation of all things you will get from the Almighty. Forget not that He has ALL things in His command. Set goals to spend more time with Him – to study Scripture more; Praise and Worship Him better; pray more; be of qualitative help to others etc. (2) Health Goals. My sad discovery is that in the quest for success, relevance and financial freedom, many ignore the dream-killing potential of ill-health. My biological father (himself a Pastor) used to drum it in my ears that a failing health is anathema to successful ministry. How true for all areas of human endeavour! So, set goals to get that medical check-up you have been avoiding. Set goals on what and how to eat, drink etc. (3) Family Goals. Set goals of finding a spouse or renewing the wine of that godly relationship; set parenting goals (how much time you need to set aside for the children while you can still influence them); set goals on your relationship with your extended family members (many only focus now on their nuclear families) (4) Financial Goals. Set goals on how to increase your value – what new knowledge to acquire or master; what to read; who to associate with as coach or mentor; set savings and investment targets etc. (5) Help Goals. Set goals on how to be useful to others – volunteering, coaching, mentoring etc.

It was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American President who said, “A goal properly set is halfway reached”.
You will therefore discover that as you take time to put down your goals, the sub-text of each goal will begin to manifest in your mind. Please do yourself a favour and WRITE THEM DOWN as they come. It is immaterial whether what comes to your mind meets with your prior notion of what needs to be done. Trust me, this may save your destinies one way or the other.

Permit me to add that goal-setting is a tool that has worked for me, year in, year out since I first started deploying it since 1991. The interesting thing is that goal setting has afforded me amazing grace for discipline. It has encouraged me to focus like a laser beam on what my goals are; identify any conflicts with the set goals and avoid them like a plague. And I am still a work in progress!

My dear friends, I see 2013 as a year of great potentials. I charge you to steal a match on the year by setting your goals now. Ignore any predictions of hardship and/or doom for the coming year. Set your site on the Almighty God who has all seasons in His hands, who controls every situation; who can tilt any situation to your ADVANTAGE. Finally, do not set your goals with the aim of being self-reliant – ANCHOR THEM IN THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT, please. You shall excel IJMN. Shalom.

SHM Weekend Tonic_7th December 2012.

MY PRAYER FOR YOU….

As you head into the 49th weekend of this year, I decree and declare
that God will not forget you. He who remembered Joseph in prison will
surely remember all your petitions, past and present.

I decree and declare that God will do a new thing in your life. Our
God that put a new song in Hannah’s mouth will do something fresh in
your life. Celebrations will burst forth in your house, to the glory
of His holy name.

Our God took a relatively unknown to the throne of Israel and never
forsook him. I decree and declare that that God of David will stand by
you and raise you up for the glorification of His holy name. Those who
have mocked you will celebrate you IJMN.

I decree and declare that you will not only encounter blessing, you
will become a blessing IJMN. When God reformed Paul, he not only was
blessed but went on to bless millions and continues to do so till
today. Regardless of your past, you too will sing a new song; and
everybody will acknowledge that God has visited you.

I decree and declare that you will not spend this season in mourning.
He who watches over Israel without sleep or slumber will guide and
guard you and your loved ones. He will hide you under the shadow of
His hands, for His name sake. You will cross over to the New Year in
joy.

As The Lord lives before whom I stand, so shall it be IJMN! Do you believe?

Have a great weekend, my dear friends.

WHAT DECEMBER 2012 HOLDS FOR YOU.

My dear friends, at last you have made it to the last month of the year- Hallelujah! However, this is usually a double-edged month for some. Many will give thanks as we take stock of successes, achievements, promotions and even failures (yes that too for some is a source of thanks!) etc. At the other end of the spectrum, many more will question, query and harry the Lord as they recount failed ventures, missteps and missed opportunities. This has become a yearly ritual in many hearts and homes.

Perhaps dear reader, you or someone you know belong to the latter category, my task today is to encourage you and/or for you to pass unto that fellow how to make December 2012 different. It is a very simple solution – praise (not murmurings) brings the best out of the God of the Bible, the owner of the universe – before whom all issues are clear and laid bare. We have a classic example in the shepherd boy who was singled out for royalty – David, last son of Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem. As a young man and later as King, David broke almost all (if not all) the laws in the book! For offences that continue to truncate many other destinies, God found it easy to forbear David. Because God’s testimony is that he is a fellow after His heart. (1 Samuel 13: 14; Acts 13: 22). The psalms are replete with David’s wondrous praise to the Lord, remarkably from his tenure as a toddling shepherd boy till the time of his physical demise! He just kept delighting the Lord in praise! (Psalms 25, 30, 34, 35, 42, 57, 62, 63, 71, 103, 104, 146 to mention a few!)

Now, this point is interesting when you consider that this was a fellow who had problems right from his youth – regardless less of his father (a great slight in his culture); ignored for irrelevance by his elder siblings; persecuted by an insecure monarch; rebelled against by the excellency of his power, Absalom; assailed on all sides by envious and ambitious nations. For David, it was a life of unending strife and struggle, even as a king. So, what worked for him was his ability to get the Lord on his side, through thick and thin – by a life devoted to credible praise of the Almighty. God is so enamored of David’s life of praise and worship that he is not only relevant today, but will be in the new world to come!

My dear friends, you too can do this. I am sure some of you may be skeptical. But you see, the amazing thing about mankind is this – whether pre-planned or not, we are by default wired for praise. It is part of our DNA. God wired us that way SO THAT WE CAN OFFER HIM PRAISE – that is our reasonable duty! (Romans 12: 1). The only problem is our focus. On what do we shower praise – possession, position, person, or the God of all that?

So, this month my dear friends, as you begin to take account of the outgoing year, I encourage you to keep thanking Him even for those things you have been less than pleased about. Have this mindset – I am getting the best of the Lord, every day and in every way. That is renewing your mind and it will bring trans-formative power. See, if mankind really puts our mind to it, there will always be something to thank God for – even the fact that you are alive to take stock is worthy of praise. SO, DEAR FRIEND, RENEW YOUR MIND IN THIS MANNER – PRAISE HIM ALWAYS RATHER THAN COMPLAIN AND MURMUR! He loves those who praise Him, and He hates those who murmur! (Numbers 14: 27-29; 1 Corinthians 10: 10)

I decree and declare that as this year winds down, your lives will not wind down with it; rather your testimonies shall surely come; your season of favour has arrived; you will not be put to shame. As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, you shall be celebrated IJMN. Have a great day!

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