KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 4:12 ” For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

The power of God is encapsulated (or hidden) in His word. He speaks of the word in the following way, “All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made ” John 1:3. This is the living word.

Everything visible and invisible was made or created by the word. The Psalmist talking about the voice of God says “The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty”. Praise the Lord (Psalm 29:4). God’s word is majestic. The word rules.

 Please note this, God’s word does not just contain power, but it is all-powerful.

God communicates His power to men mainly through His word. Our key scripture says. This “The word of the Lord is alive and powerful. It is sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

The word of God answers every aspect of the human life.

It is ‘sharper’ means it strikes once at every challenge and the answer is ready.

From our key scripture, we see the following about God’s word

1. It handles both matters of the spirit as well as the soul. It gives the best solution to deep-seated emotional matters.

      2.     The word is the best solution for health and issues related to our body. (Proverb 4:22).

     3.      The word gives the best solution to all moral issues of men.

Our world is morally bankrupt because our societies are throwing the word away.

It is the word that ministers life to us. The Lord explained in John 6:63 as follows “it is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and, they are life”. The word is Spirit and has life”.  Is there anything dying in your life. Stop lamenting and panicking just give attention to the word. That is the power of God. Is it a health challenge? Attend to the word and do what it says (Proverb 4:20-22). The word would always create whatever it talks about.

  CONFESSION

God’s power is hidden in His word. As I feed my heart with the word, my spirit and soul is saturated with the power of God, thereby all things are made possible because the word makes it possible.

THOUGHT:DO NOT DOUBT THIS, GOD’S POWER IS OPERATIVE IN YOU, WHEN THE WORD IS ACTIVE IN YOU.

FURTHER STUDIES.

1 Kings 8:56” Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant”.

Acts 20:32 “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 11:40 ” Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God”

GOD, our Father, is all powerful. What must one do to experience this power in his or her life?

The Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. God’s power is not only for talking but to bring comfort to humanity, so God would be glorified. Please note this, anytime men are blessed by the power of God, God is glorified. John 2:11 “The beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed in Him”. In this instant as Jesus manifested God’s power, it came to answer a big crisis.

The angels that appeared to the Shepherd who were watching over the flocks after the birth of the Lord Jesus said “Glory to God in the highest and on earth Peace, goodwill towards men” Luke 2:14. God’s power always brings glory to God, yet it also comes to bless humanity.

How do we experience this power which God releases for our blessing and, subsequently, His glory?

 When the wine ran out during the wedding at Cana, Mary, the mother of Jesus asked Him to do something. The Lord told her that His time was not ready. Mary knew how to receive a miracle. She told the attendants to go to Jesus and do whatever He instructed. At the end of the story, he turns water into wine (John 2:1-11). A miracle was performed, and the crises were averted.

 What made the master respond just after He had said His time was not up? Mary did not wait for Jesus’ time. She acted in faith, placing a demand on the integrity of the Son to manifest His power. Faith in God always sets up the right time for God to respond.

In our key scripture, Lazarus was dead, and Jesus said, “If they would believe, they would see the power or glory of God.” Faith in God is always the key that unlocks God’s power.

The disciples asked Jesus in John 6:28. “What must we do that we might work the works of God?” They were simply asking how can we see the power of God in our lives. John 2:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent.” Faith always receives God’s power to be manifested among men.

  CONFESSION

I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation to all those who would believe. Jesus has overcome for us, and we must simply trust in His finished work to walk in His power.

THOUGHT: FAITH CREATES A CHANNEL FOR THE POWER OF GOD TO FLOW TO US

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Hebrews 2:3 “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

KEY SCRIPTURE. Psalms 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

The bible introduces God as the powerful creator of the universe. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. God is all powerful. Power is the ability to make things happen. To say God is all powerful means He can cause to happen whatever His perfect wisdom decides without any hindrance. God will not be God if He is not all powerful.

The Psalmist declares, ” God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God (Psalm 62:11).” This declaration places the father above any other being that may exhibit some level of power. I always read these program headlines that reads “Altar against Altar”. I do ask myself which altar against what altar? When God is pitched against any being, it is a mismatch. That context should not be thought about. Nothing in this universe can stand to oppose the power of God. When the Philistines who were ignorant of the power of God placed the Ark of the covenant before Dagon, their chief god, what happened? (1st Samuel 5:1-4). After the first day, they came to find Dagon with its face to the floor before the Ark of the covenant. They   made it to stand but was dismantled on the floor the next day. Dear child of God never hold any mentality that God goes into context against anything. When God shows up, that thing is no more.

Satan could not harm Job privately until He had wittingly sort permission from the Almighty. (Job 1:11-12).

The power of God in relation to the power of the devil is represented by the context between light and darkness.

John 1:4,5 ” In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And light shines in darkness and the darkness has never over powered it”. Satan is forever powerless before the Lord. God’s power is ultimate power.

Christians who live in fear of ‘whatever’ are simply uneducated about God’s power. Please note this it is one thing to be informed about God’s power, and it is another thing to trust your life into His hands.

    CONFESSION

What a Mighty and Powerful God we serve. Indeed, all power belongs to him, I have no fear for whatever the enemy may raise against me because my father the omnipotent, is on my side.

THOUGHT:IT IS A MISMATCH TO COMPARE GOD’S POWER TO THE DEVIL’S

FURTHER STUDIES.

Daniel 4:35 “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

2 Samuel 22:33 ” God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 6:19 “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil”;

The songwriter asked, “Will your anchor hold in the storms of life”. Please answer yes, my anchor will hold because my hope remains in the Lord Jesus! Scriptural hope is a supernatural anchor. An Anchor is something that holds a boat in place. Hope can and will hold our souls in place when we are in the midst of the storms of life. We must not give up hope no matter what we face. We can keep our hopes up by renewing our minds in the word of God.

Hopeless people do not protect their minds. They allow circumstances and the thoughts that Satan’s demons attempt to put into their minds to dominate their thinking. Hope cannot prevail if our minds are filled with negative thoughts based on the circumstances we face and the continual Satan’s demonic’ suggestions.

We must protect our minds when we face difficult problems. (REMEMBER THERE IS AN EVIL DAY FOR EVERYONE, Eph. 6:13). Our minds will be filled with the word of God if we faithfully obey our Father’s instruction to renew our minds in the word every day. When you feed your mind with the supernatural word of God, those seemingly hopeless situations won’t dominate you.

We must learn how to renew our minds in the word of God so we can get the promises of scripture out from the printed pages into our minds. We must also learn how to move the word from our minds into our hearts.

NB: We think with our minds, we believe with our hearts (Rom 10:10).

Both hope and faith are essential to trusting God. We will fail if we attempt to trust God only with the hope that is in our minds. We would also fail if we attempt to trust God only with the faith in our hearts. Hope and faith work together. Hope in our minds sets the goal and faith in our hearts gets something to bring into manifestation.

   CONFESSION

I am transformed by renewing my mind. I overcome every seemingly dangerous situation because my hope in the Lord is ever alive. The lies of the devil have no place in me. This keeps me winning with a very strong faith. Faith is strong when hope is strong p

THOUGHT: HOPE SAYS IT IS POSSIBLE, WHILE FAITH SAYS I HAVE TAKEN A HOLD OF IT.

FURTHER STUDIES:

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Rom 15:4 AMP “…whatever. Was written in former days was, written for our instruction that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to cherish hope”

There is no hopeless situation with God. Christians deny the word of God if we believe that any situation is hopeless. There is no place in the word of God where we are told that anything is hopeless. God never looks at anything as hopeless. His power and might are far beyond the limitation of our human comprehension. If we think something is hopeless, we are identifying more with the seemingly hopeless circumstances we face. Since we are with the tremendous power of the Almighty God, there is nothing called hopeless.

God knows that we would need hope in these last days before Jesus returns. Thousands of years ago He anointed forty human authors to write sixty-six books of the Bible. …. “…Whatever was written in former days were written for our instruction and that by our (steadfast and patient) endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope (Rom 15:4 AMP) .

This passage tells us that God has given us His anointed Holy Bible for our instruction.

Our Father wants us to learn continually from His supernatural word so that we would have steadfast and patient endurance so that we can hold fast to cherish hope. Our Father wants us to receive encouragement drawn from the Scriptures.

Our Scripture above explains the relationship between hope and receiving continual encouragement from the word of God.

 We must renew our minds in the word of God each day, so that we would not give up hope. We are instructed to hold fast to hope. Our heavenly father has given us….. Mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold the hope appointed for us and set before us (Hebrews 6:18 AMP).

 Our hope is Jesus. Our father has provided all of the strength within us that we will need to face whatever crisis may bring. (Phil 4:13, 2nd Corinth 12:9-10) Once again we are told that our father has given us strong encouragement so that we can hold fast to hope. We have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whenever steps out upon it) – a hope that reaches further and enters into the very certainty of the presence within the veil (Hebrews 6:19 AMP) .

 Jesus in the presence of the Father is the anchor of our soul.

       CONFESSION

There is no hopeless situation with my father, there is therefore no hopeless situation with me. I renew my mind daily with the scriptures and I am strengthened to face the future with hope.

THOUGHT: KEEP YOUR MIND RENEWED BY THE WORD, TO KEEP YOUR HOPE CONSTANTLY REFRESHED

FURTHER STUDIES:

Romans 4:18” Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be”.

Romans 5:4-5 “And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is  shed in our hearts by the Holy  Ghost

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. “

Hopelessness is the most miserable state one can find himself or herself.

 Hopelessness would shut up every sense of desire to win.

Hope in God excites every organ, every tissue, and cell, this sets the whole body on the path of recovery or departure from defeat. God’s solution for all humanity is placed in Jesus. Therefore, our hope is placed in Him. Acts 4:12 ” Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Our hope must be in Jesus. If our hope is not in Jesus, we have no hope.

Our hope in Him must be constant. We must not give up hope when we face severe adversity (Rom 12:12). “Rejoice and exalt in hope: be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

God’s ways are much higher and very different from the ways of the world. Our hearts should sing with joy when we face adversity. The word ‘excite’ means to leap for joy. We should be patient and steadfast in suffering and tribulation because we have not given up hope. We should pray continually with constant hope because we have absolute faith that God will answer those prayers.

 We see that we must pray with constant hope. Having hope means we are still holding on to the lifeline. Hope looks up to God with an assurance that the end has not come and that help is on the way. Faith takes hold of that help hope anticipates. This gives a beautiful blend of hope and faith.

Christians can and should have hope for the future regardless of worldly conditions. We do not deserve this hope. We have not earned this hope. Our loving Father has given us supernatural hope by His grace. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 AMP) “God our father who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through (His) grace (unmerited favour)”. In the days of adversity, if you would turn your mind from what’s happening unto the Lord, He would give you everlasting consolation and encouragement, and well-founded hope. Dear Christian, your hope has a solid foundation, even Jesus, who has conquered for us.

 CONFESSION

My hope is in the Lord Jesus, He is the strength of my confidence that cannot fail. I am of good cheer because He has overcome the world. In His name, I have also overcome.

THOUGHT: NEVER FEEL HOPELESS BECAUSE JESUS OUR HOPE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

FURTHER STUDIES:

Psalms 31:24 “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

Psalms 33:18, 22 “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Psalms 71:5 “For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.

Three abiding Christian virtues are faith, hope, and love. We have considered faith and love. We would also look at hope. Some people speak about hope as if it is not important to faith. The Scripture in Hebrews 11:1a clearly states that ‘ Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for….” It is hoped that gives faith something to work with or bring into reality.

We would discuss what the Bible says about hope and how it functions to keep us stable in our minds and in life as a whole.

The scriptural definition of hope is quite different from the way the use of the word today. Many people use the word hope today in a similar context to the word ‘’wish” when they are asked if they believe God will honor their faith, they say ‘’I hope so’‘.

The Greek words ‘alpizo’ and ‘elpis’ which are translated as ‘hope’ in the New Testament mean anticipation, expectation, and confidence. New Testament hope is much stronger than the wishy-washy use we make of the hope today. The hope of the unbeliever is based on worldly sources of security. The hope of Christians is based on confident expectation of help from God. The Hebrew words that are translated “hope” in the Old Testament are also much stronger than our word “hope”

The Hebrew word ‘tizuch’ in the following verse of Scripture means “expecting.” The psalmist said “…… You are my hope, O Lord God, you are my trust from my youth and the source of my confidence (Psalm 71:5).

The Old Testament points to Jesus. The New Testament confirms that Jesus is our hope. Our Lord Jesus gave His life, and took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, descending into hell and rose again so that anyone who receives Him as savior can have hope. 1 Peter 1:3.

Dear fellow Christian, maintain your sure hope in Jesus who did not remain in the grave but resurrected and is at the right hand of the Father on our behalf and will come back again.

WE HAVE A SURE HOPE.

You may sing this song;

 “WILL YOUR ANCHOR HOLD IN THE IN THE STORMS OF LIFE….

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?

When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift and the cables strain will your anchor drift or firm remain?

WE HAVE AN ANCHOR THAT KEEPS THE SOUL,

 STEADFAST AND SURE WHILE THE BILLOWS ROLL,

FASTENED TO THE ROCK WHICH CAN NOT MOVE

 GROUNDED FIRM AND DEEP IN THE SAVIOUR’S LOVE”

CONFESSIONS

The Christian has a sure hope. Jesus, who conquered death and is seated at the right hand of the Father, is coming back again. This is my hope, and no matter what happens, I always have a joyful heart.

THOUGHT: WE HAVE A SURE HOPE, JESUS WHO PASSED INTO THE HEAVENS, AND WILL SURELY COME AGAIN

FURTHER STUDIES:

Job 14:7” For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease”

Psalms 16:9” Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away”.

Love never fails. As we pull down the curtain on our study of love, we would now look at the fact that love never fails.

This point has two views. The first view is that true love would never give up under any condition. Love would survive under any condition. Love would not fail. Our earlier discussion on love has looked at this aspect extensively.

The second view is that love will always overcome every condition and win the offender.

The love of our master Jesus demonstrated on the cross, has won over many hardened criminals and even whole communities.

 This kind of love, which is the highest act of selflessness and sincere sacrifice, is called THE POWER OF GOD. (Rom 1:16, 1 Corinth 1:18).

Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion because the love demonstrated by the Christians won their hearts. These brethren did not curse but died joyfully.

Last but not least, many unreasonable husbands or wives have been won by the love of their spouses.

I would cite the following example to explain my point.

The story is told about Smith Wigglesworth., a British plumber, and his wife Alice. The wife was very dedicated to the master Jesus, while the husband was not. One day, the wife returned from an evening Christian service only to find out that the main door had been locked by this hot-tempered husband. This man would not open to let his wife in. This woman had to lie by the door throughout that cold night. The husband opened the door in the morning. The wife, instead of raining insults on the man, burst into a very hearty laughter. The husband also joined in this laughter. This incident had a very great impact on Mr. Smith Wigglesworth. He dedicated his life fully to the Lord Jesus, and was later used powerfully by Jesus to heal many sick folks and even raise a number of dead people.

Love never fails. Love would ultimately win. Don’t retaliate in the same manner if you want to win the next party who may be mistreating you. (Luke 6:31)

CONFESSION

I am not weak by loving, I am able to endure all things. I endure all adverse behaviors and always win them from their wrong actions. Love is excited at the defeat of wrong selfish characters.

THOUGHT: LOVE IS LIFE, HATRED IS DEATH, WHEN THE TWO COLLIDE, HATRED ALWAYS BOWS.

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 12:19-21 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”.

Matthew 5:44 ” But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”;

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:7(Love) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things”.

Love hopes all things. This means in every situation, especially in disappointing situations, love anticipates a better end.

Some marriages have gone on without the fruit of the womb. Many people advise the man to go for another, woman to bear children for him. Some men do yield to the pleas of their relations, yet, a man with the love of God, anticipates, that God’s word would come to pass. Despite the pressure, even from his parents, Siblings, and maybe, some close friends, still hoped that, one day the baby would come. (Well, faith takes hold of the answer before it manifests).

There are yet some characters, with certain, behaviors, that would cause a lot of people to give up on them, claiming nothing good would come out of such people. Love does not give up on such people. This drives them into intercession, trusting that the Holy Spirit would one day arrest such people and bring them to repentance.

The Europeans (there were two groups. One group were unconverted businessmen who came to enslave us. The second group was the converted loving missionaries who came prepared to die for Christ) who first brought the gospel to Africa, were maltreated at their initial moment of presenting the gospel to our forefathers. They were killed, and some of them died through, diseases like Malaria, yellow fever, and others. These missionaries despite these dangers believed that, one day they would win the Blackman for Jesus. Indeed, it happened, and we are the fruit of their labor. They hoped for victory and were very successful.

The Bible talked about the prodigal son, who took his portion of his father’s heritage and left off to a far country, spending everything. (Luke 15:11-32). When he was returning, the father saw him from a great way off. This father was all along expecting the son to come home. This was love hoping for all things.

Don’t give up on people or situations. Allow love to keep anticipating a change of events or situations. LOVE WOULD ALWAYS WIN.

CONFESSION

Because of the love of God, in me, I do not give up on people, I always anticipate that God’s word would one day come true in their lives.

THOUGHT: IT IS THE ANTICIPATION OF A BETTER END, THAT KEEPS LOVE HOPING THROUGH TO THE END

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 5:4-5” And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”.

Luke 15:20 “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. “

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:7 (Love) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things.

In our previous study, we considered the fact that love bears all things. Love does not tolerate, but love expresses longsuffering. How is this done? Love always forgives. Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”.

We can bear with the shortcomings of others as we do not take their offenses to heart. Love gives away the hurt. It is the nature of love to give out.  Giving out hurts is not a strange and difficult thing for love.

Unforgiveness is a product of selfishness. Unforgiveness does not hurt the offender, but the offended. Many times, the offended in his mind holds the notion that to keep the hurt and not to release the offender, gives him or her a sense of retaliation. This is a big deception.

An offense is a form of injury. The more you keep the offense, the more you will become bitter.

Secondly, when it is said, that love bears all things, it does not mean that an action that demands correction is allowed to go. Love bears with all things yet when an action demands correction, reprove or rebuke, love would do so. It is very wrong to withhold the truth about a thing to a brother or sister. Eph. 4:15. “But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ”.

Love also believes all things. This does not mean love believes the lies of Satan about God and His word. Love accepts whatever the second party says. He does not argue with him or her over what he or she says. If married couples would accept this principle, a lot of suspicions and contention in most marriages would cease. There are a lot of marriages that are on the brink of divorce because one party does not accept the explanation given by the other. He claims that what the wife is saying is a lie. The wife, on the other hand, maybe claiming the husband is telling lies. Well, this should not happen in a Christian home. Our yes should be yes, and our no is no. If a husband or wife gives clear grounds not to be trusted, then the ethics of a Christian home is seriously been trifled upon. Such a person needs help.

  CONFESSIONS

My heart is always ready to assist the weak. I do not keep offenses. I release them, and I forgive always all those who offend me. I live a life of peace.

THOUGHT: YOU RATHER PUNISH YOURSELF WHEN YOU REFUSE TO FORGIVE

FURTHER STUDIES:

Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled”

Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice”: