“WHO ARE YOUR FRIENDS?”

“But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.”  2Chronicles 10:8
It doesn’t matter how smart you are. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, which skills you have, where you are born, or which family you came from. All that counts if you want to be successful in life is the people you surround yourself with.
Rehoboam had the benefit of his father’s inner circle, men who gave him wise counsel, but he will not take their advise, he preferred the advices of the sycophants that were milling around him – the “palace jesters”. Evil companionship proved his destruction. His father Solomon says in Proverbs 3:5-6 that “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
We take the colour of the society we keep. We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the colour of our moral character, from those who are around us. Be slow to form your friendships. Endeavour first to take the measure of every man who courts your company. Be sensitive enough to surround yourself with people of character, skill and wisdom. People with experience, who have been down the road of life and understand it, people who place God first and uphold His values, people with sound mind, no ulterior motive, who will look at issues from all perspectives before offering advice. People who love others and value them more than things, whose relationship with you is of mutual benefit.
A large amount of how successful you will be in life comes down to the people you spend time with. Who are your friends? Who are the people you spend time with?

GOD KEEPS RECORDS.

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your Book? (Psalm 56.8 NKJV)
God is represented as having records of men, of their works, and of God’s dealings with them.
The infinite and eternal God is a personal God and He relates to everyone individually. He knows all things, and has a record of all human conduct, including thoughts, words, acts, and motives. In the above passage, David referenced a book belonging to God: Book of Remembrance meant for every believer. Malachi informs us that “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. (Malachi 3:16 NKJV). This book holds every act of faithful service done for the Lord. This book is directly connected with another very important book called the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5; 20:15). If a name is removed from the Book of Life, that person’s good deeds will also be removed from the Book of Remembrance.
These two books will become handy during the time of the judgment, “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Satan will stand to accuse us before God that we are not worthy of eternal life. He will point to all of our sins and lay our faults in the worst possible light, declaring that we don’t deserve any more than he does to be saved. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan the “accuser of the brethren…which accused them before our God day and night.” Jesus does not excuse our sins, but rather points to the immortalized record of our lives and shows Satan that every one of those sins have been confessed and forgiven by Him, that His blood covers them and only our good deeds remain. This is very good news for us! “……… but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20b).
But as we rejoice, we must also remember not to take the mercy of God and His grace for granted by trying to cover up or ignore our sins. They must be confessed and forsaken. John emphasised that “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 21:27)
Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the record, but will stand as a witness against us in the judgment.
May we search our hearts sincerely and make things right with God so that our life’s story may be shared throughout the endless ages.

 

BLESS AND CURSE NOT

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Romans 12:14)

This cannot be the natural reaction of an average man.

It is indeed humanly impossible to bless those who are persecuting one or wishing one evil. Man naturally, will go around badmouthing people who are not nice to him. He will want to run them down, speak harshly about them and possibly persecute back. But this is what the Word tells us we don’t need to do and we should not do. Paul here, describes the kind of love we should show to people particularly those who are unfriendly, mean, maltreat or oppress us. Paul gives some very practical help on this.
In verse 17 Paul says, Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Later, in verse 19 he adds, Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, It is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord. Revenge is one of the most natural of human responses to hurt, injury or bad attitudes. We always feel that, if we treat others according to the way they have treated us, we are only giving them justice. We can justify this so easily. “I’m only teaching them a lesson. I’m only showing them how I feel.” But have forgotten the many times you have injured others without getting caught yourself. But God hasn’t forgotten. This always puts us in the place of those Pharisees who, when the woman was taken in adultery, were ready to cast stones and stone her to death. Jesus came by and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone, (John 8:7). None could for obvious reasons.
Paul’s admonition is, Don’t try to avenge yourself. First, because God knows it and he is already doing something about it. Leave room for God’s wrath. Second, God alone claims the right to vengeance because he alone can work it without injury to all concerned. He will do it in a way that will be redemptive. We don’t give God a chance when we take the matter into our own hands. May the Lord teach you this hard lesson of blessing and loving those who have done us wrong.

 

SET FREE TO DO BATTLE

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11).    

 

Life is basically a struggle. It is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield. The battle is manifested in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the physiological and mental illnesses, in family fights and church struggles. It is even seen in nature, where all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive. The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, “the world rulers of this present darkness” (Eph. 6:12)

 

But the good news is that some have been set free through the coming of that “stronger one,” Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, “to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8b). Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.

 

They are however set free to engage in the fight, to overcome in their own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free. How do you do this? Paul’s answer is in one phrase: “Put on the whole armor of God.” Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. This is the amazing thing we must learn. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip. May the Lord tear away the delusive veils by which we have allowed ourselves to be rendered powerless in this great battle. 

 

‘Ranti Orioke

The Purposeful God

The Purposeful God
“Then Job replied to the LORD: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:1-2).

There are many times in the life of man that God may appear silent and uncaring. That appears to be the case of Job otherwise why did He not intervene? But what the book of Job shows is that behind that appearance, God is always exactly what He is, a loving, caring and concerned God, deeply aware of our problems. He is concerned about us, carefully controlling everything that touches us, limiting the power of Satan and allowing certain expressions, according to His knowledge of how much we can bear (1 Cor.10:13). He is patient, forgiving, and ultimately responsible for all that happens.

In the beginning of this book, the reader’s attention is focused on three personalities: God, Satan, and Job. By the end of the book, Satan has completely disappeared. All you have left is God standing before Job, saying to him, All right, Job, I’m responsible. When Job begins to see what God is working out in His vast, cosmic purposes and what He is making possible by means of Job’s sufferings, he has no questions to ask whatsoever. The final view of God in this book is of a Being of incredible wisdom who puts things together far beyond human dreams and imaginations, who is working out incredible plans of delight and joy that He will give to us if we wait for His purposes to be fully resolved.

The Lord mentions a time when all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7) at the creation of the world, but other Scriptures tell us about a future time when the sons of God will be revealed (Romans 8:19), when all creation will shout in a greater glory than was ever hailed at the first creation in the new creation that God has brought into being by means of the sufferings and trials of this present scene. That explains why the Bible speaks in numerous passages about our light and momentary troubles that are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17). When that day breaks, the one thing for which we will be infinitely thankful is the fact that out of all the created universe, we were chosen to be the ones who bore the name of God in the hour of danger and affliction, problem and trial. There is no higher honor than that.

Give glory to the God.

THE PURPOSEFUL GOD
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence”? Please contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Ranti Orioke

Hanging on to the character of God

HANGING ON TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:13-15 NKJV)”
God appeared to Abraham and made him a promise: “Through your seed shall all people of the earth be blessed,” (Genesis 22:17-18). This promise was later confirmed by an oath, God swearing by himself that he would fulfill what he had said. The above passage says Abraham believed God’s promise and his oath.
For twenty five years this promise was not fulfilled, and to make the matter worse Abraham and Sarah his wife were growing older and had expired the time of life when it was possible to have children. Despite this, Abraham did not give up, he believed that God had told the truth about Himself, and that God must be true to his own character which he had expressed through both the promise and the oath. He saw nothing, yet he believed.
Abraham hung on to the character of God, believing and following God regardless of the situation and circumstance.  This is the secret of faith and upon this lies where we stand with Jesus. Either he is telling us the truth, and we can trust what this One who is like no one else who ever appeared in human history says to us, or we must reject him and repudiate him as a self-deceived impostor who attempted to foist some crude and foolish ideas upon the human race. That is where faith rests. From that ground everything must follow.

“HANGING ON TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD”
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Either he is telling us the truth, and we can trust what this One who is like no one else who ever appeared in human history says to us, or we must reject him and repudiate him as a self-deceived impostor
Ranti Orioke

DESTINY CONNECTION PRAYERS

I will start with a story in 1 Samuel 10: 1-2. Saul went in search of Prophet Samuel because of the loss of his father’s donkey. After Samuel anointed Saul, the higher anointing restored his loss and he said to Saul “When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found.” By divine arrangement, after leaving the presence of the Prophet, two strangers were strategically positioned to give Saul good news.

Life is about God linking you up with your destiny helpers. In life there are 2 kinds of people you will ever meet – Destiny helpers and destiny killers.

When God links you up with your destiny helpers your tears will be converted to joy, your torment to peace, your labour to favour, your pain to gain and your Goliath becomes your stepping stone to the place of celebration.

Destiny killers are those who always wonder can anything good come out of this life? they say this with their mouth, their attitude and their actions. Destiny killers always see the negative side of you and are always out to discourage your efforts.

No man can by himself fulfil his destiny. Everyone needs a destiny helper. Jesus did not walk alone. He had 12 helpers who promoted his destiny.

  • Power of God hook me to my destiny helpers in Jesus name.
  • Lord Jesus hook my destiny helpers to my destiny in Jesus name.
  • Blood of Jesus link me up with my helpers in Jesus name.
  • Every witchcraft gathering assigned against my good news scatter in Jesus name.
  • My stolen crown be returned and be restored by fire in Jesus name.
  • If I be a child of God let my helpers locate me in Jesus name.
  • My manifestation cannot be stopped. I decree that my star shall shine, my voice will be heard, my enemies shall bow, I shall dance, I shall sing, I shall move forward and I shall breakthrough in Jesus name.

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Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.