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John 3:16-17
Are you tired of any circumstance in your life? Do you want it to change? If yes, then you have got to confront it now. Remember you can not change what you are not tired of neither can you confront what you don’t want to change. Unless you get tired of your undesired situation, you can not confront it.
Ever since I began reading the Bible, I have never come across any personality of influence
who changed his/her undesired situation for the better without first confronting it. Do you know of any? Maybe you can show me. If Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
had not confronted the idol worship of King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, they would
have remained bound to king Nebuchadnezzar’s idol worship like the rest. But they said, “Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves. If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will. But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty! ye be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the golden statue that
you have set up. ” (Daniel 3:16:18), Mind you, this was a king
they were talking to like this, he had the powers over their lives and property. But these
men could not stand this idol practice any longer, they were tired of it. So, they had to
confront and challenge the king. And at the end of it all, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were released and promoted to higher positions in the province of
Babylon (Daniel 3:30) Even king Nebuchadnezzar
praised the most high God because he saw how this God saved the three men from the blazing furnace (Daniel 3:28). Get tired of that situation, challenge it and you will see
it change. I know of a friend who had his girl friend with whom they had only sexual relationship every time they got together. It was like this for so long. Even when the boy got fade up and tired of this kind of relationship
nothing changed. He would determine not to sit next to her avoid arousing their sexual feelings but all in vain because whenever they met privately even to discuss other different issues they would end up at least romancing with each other. This was a serious problem isn’t it?
Well, it was not until he shared with me what he was passing through, that I advised him to talk to his girlfriend on how to lead their relationship or even turn it to just mutual friendship. And from this point onwards their mentality changed, they developed respect and unconditional love for each other. Why? Because both of them made it clear to each other that we are young, born again Christians who don’t deserve to live in fornication or in this kind of life. They decided to confront the situation. Now, they are even happier as friends than before because they were just living in bondage not really love as they thought was the case.
You may be going through a similar situation and you are wondering how you can come out of it. Please my brother and my sister there is a way out always as long as you are now tired of that life and you are also ready to confront your current situation. Surely, I guarantee you; you can come out of it as you live as a youth with a purpose.
GOD BLESS YOU!
David Lakuch
Asst. General Secretary
VCC Youth Ministry/ Chief Advisor YDVIO
WHY HE IS CALLED THE YOUNGEST RADICAL EVANGELISTIC PREACHER AND WRITER
From the records of the few preachers and writers, Mr. Bril Emmanuel Opanyi Born in 1985 is found to be the youngest Radical preacher and writer. Bril is a Kenyan Citizen and also a Ugandan Citizen by Birth. After a divine call of God upon his life in 2001 it took bril Emmanuel only 2years to begin doing exploits. In one of his statements Bril said that one day Napoleon stood up and said' An opportunity will dance with you only if it finds you on the dancing floor.' indicating that all our communities need is not condemning them but showing them the way, Truth and life through the Gospel.
Over the seven years of internet ministry Bril Emma has reached over 20million people across the globe. Many are getting saved, transformed and empowered. Young people are turning to the Lord, we have seen Miracles happen through prayers. Bril believes in showing Nations the way to attaining personal deliverance. However, inspite of all God has used Bril to do , He is not a Church Pastor but a minister at Victory Church Of Christ Ministries in Kampala Uganda.
Bril Emmanuel is one of the Youngest Evangelistic Preacher and Writer whose features are Christ like. When i look at him i see the likeness of Pr. Chris Oyakilome of Nigeria in him. The day he visited our ministry. The message he shared was worth listening to. In a nutshell, He is a man worth listening to.
I want to encourage you who is reading this to visit Bril Emanuel's blog you will like it www.yourdailyvictory.blogspot.com
With his likeness our Generation is safe.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE ABOMINATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY
Fellow Ugandans and the world at large please wherever you are in your own capacity, stand-out of the crowd and speak out against this monster of Homosexuality and lesbianism that has come to degrade and destroy the youths of Uganda. It is so surprising how our leaders are being pressurized by powerful western states to support homosexuality and refuse the anti-gay bill that appeared at our parliament recently. The future of our youths as the leaders of tomorrow and the future of Uganda and that of Africa is at stake because of the threat of homosexuality.
Homosexuality is a threat because it is being systematically advanced by a well organized homosexual’s fraternity together with their allies. Not only that they have brought the leadership and governments of the western world on their side.
In addition to that the recruitment drives of the homosexuals are very aggressive and backed with massive financial resources that the homosexuals are able to mobilize.
Homosexuals populate their ranks and file through recruitment .They are not interested in old people except for purposes of support, but they are interested in recruiting children and the youths.
The homosexual fraternity has stepped up their recruitment drives in Africa at this material time. So please for the sake of our youth and children wherever you are speak out against this horrifying act that has come to rob us of future prophets, presidents, and other important people in society.
So here from Bible reference we are told in 1Corinthians 6:9-11 that:
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulteress nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy, nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The word of God is very blunt about homosexuality just as it is about other sins. It says no homosexual will inherit the Kingdom of God. It also offers hope for the homosexuals, because in that very Corinthian Church there were ex-homosexuals who were set free because of God’s power.
So far church leaders who are paged by homosexuals to speak something nice to keep homosexuals happy in their sins and to help them victimize our young ones is a big disservice to the cause of Christ.
Yet 1 Timothy 3:15 calls the church as “the pillar and foundation of the truth”. The church leaders, teachers, students, and any concerned individual should uphold the truth about homosexuality. It is through the church that the freedom giving truth can be dispensed after all.
But also, the enemy of our souls is attacking and compromising the custodian of the truth.
There was a letter written by the Angelican Bishops of Southern Africa which shows you how serious things are.
The title of the letter is:
Statement of the Province of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill before Parliament in Uganda.
19 February 2010
We, the Bishops of the Anglican church in Southern Africa, meeting at Thokoza conference centre, Swaziland, from 8th to 12th February 2010 are disturbed by the debate among Ugandan Law makers of a draft Bill that seek to criminalize homosexuality and to prosecute gay people. It even proposes imposing death penalty, which we regard as a bread of Gods commandments,” You shall not murder,” given in Exodus 20:13. We also deplore the statement attributed to our fellow Bishop, distributing those who are opposed to this legalization as “lovers of evil”. Though there is a breadth of theological view among us on matters of human sexuality, we see this bill as a gross violation of human rights and we therefore strongly condemn such attitudes and behaviors towards other human beings. We emphasize the teaching of the scripture that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore must be treated with respect and accorded human dignity.
We are therefore also deeply concerned about the violent language used against gay community across sub-Sahara Africa. We therefore appeal to law makers to defend the rights of the minorities. As Bishops we believe that it is immoral to permit or support oppression of, or discrimination against, people on the grand of their sexual orientation, and contrary to the teaching of the gospel, particularly Jesus commands that we should love one another as he has loved us without, discrimination (John 13:34-35). We commit ourselves to teach, preach and act against any laws that undermine human dignity and oppress any and all minorities, even as we call for Christians and all people to uphold the standard of holiness of life.
We call on all Christians to stand up against this bill so that its provisions do not become law in Uganda or any where else in the world.
We also call on our President and Law makers to engage in dialogue with their counterparts or the rights of minorities.
It is unbelievable that this letter can be written by Christian Leaders. It is very clear that section of church leaders are consciously fighting on the side of the army of Satan. Whatever tittles these kinds of leaders carry, with contempt, reject their ideas. Talking of dignity, such leaders should know that there is no dignity in what homosexuals do because even animals can’t do what they do for sure I’m really disappointed in these Bishops. Yeah! it’s a very big shame. For example take this young man who got hurt by homosexuals who in their sexual acts prefer pushing their hands up to the elbow in to the rectum and pulling out the feaces that is there.
If I may ask, what does such a person hope to achieve by doing that and what dignity is in that?
Nothing but their agenda is to destroy the world of God by support homosexuality. In Gen. 19:1-29 we see God judged Sodom and Gomorrah and wiped out all its inhantants because of homosexuality. Again Judges, 20:46-48, twenty five thousands Banjemites were slaughtered by the army of Israel except for six hundred men who escaped. This happened because these people were involved in homosexuality and they defended it. There is only one type of human sexuality. The order of God makes this clear in Genesis 1:27 which say: “so God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
It is clear that, male and female he created them. It does not say male and male or female and female He created them.
Uganda must stand firm and pass the anti-gay Law. In fact Christians from U.S.A, U.K and Canada are sending messages to the church and the people of Uganda that this is a moment of truth.
This law is the hope of the world if it is passed. It will enable the blanket of homosexuality to be rolled back to those very nations that are strongly supporting it. Many would be set free and God’s Judgment and depution that comes through homosexuality will be staged.
I appeal to our Government and Parliament and to whomever is reading this message to pray and act so as to have this law passed.
The church leaders should also serve God. They should resist the temptations to trade our Children for money. Remember what 1Tim 6:10 says:
“For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, graving money have wandered from faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
Child of God, make a stand now and speak or keep quiet forever. I for one will do anything in my power to shun this abomination and horrifying practice. Let it be your plea, my plea and everyone’s plea and desire to see this outrage brought to nothing.
God Bless You!
The bible says in 3Jn 1:2 ‘Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth’KJV. God’s master plan my dear friend is that you may prosper and live in good health. Unfortunately many Christian instead are eaten up by poverty. Below I want to share with you the five reasons why many Christians are poor and in my next chapter I will share with you a very important subject and that is: WHY POVERTY MUST DIE
Let's now look at these five reasons below:
1. God will not give you what will kill you. It is like a small boy watching his daddy shaving and he says, “Daddy, give me the blade, give me the blade.” No matter how he loves the child, he will not give him the blade. So your spiritual level and your level of brokenness may be too low for God to entrust wealth to you. That is why the Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you.” They are automatic addition. Here comes the first question to you in this message. “Can you confirm in your spirit that the kingdom is in you? Are you a broken Christian? That is the first poverty destroying weapon
God may be looking at you and He is saying, “If I give this my child fifty million shillings, will he not backslide?” If God sees that anger, greed, dishonesty, lying, unkind, ruthless, quarrelsome and quick to judge others, Hypocrisy are still in your life, He will not give you His prosperity. Get the kingdom first; submit the whole of your life to God and then you will never be forsaken. This statement simply means take no glory for you. Avoid ‘I’, ‘My’ ‘Me’ in most of your statements. The Bible says that God never forsakes the righteous but you have to be righteous to have that privilege. There are many people now who are very serious with the Lord because they are poor. But when money comes, they would become irregular and totally they change contrary to the Word of God. I have seen pastors who at one point they were so badly off but when God blessed them they have now become another log before God who called them. Many are praying, “O Lord, promote my husband,” and God is saying, “When I have not promoted the man, he is running after strange women, when he is promoted, he will now build castles for them and abandon you completely. Why don’t you let us get him saved first?”
There are people who were working and praying hard when they did not have a fan in their house and at night mosquitoes came and by the time they slapped themselves thrice, they would stand up to pray. But now they got the fan, apply mosquito repellants and split air conditioner, and eventually they over sleep. God does not want that. Many forget the household of God immediately they obtain contracts. They would not be seen again in the church until the money is gone. Before then when you call a prayer point like: “Let every contract be released now, in the name of Jesus, they would pray and shake their heads and respond with a strong AMEN. But when they get it, the next place you would see them is the VIP lounge at the airport with very starched clothes, sitting down and eating meat pie and ingesting tea as early as 6.30 am. But when they were looking for it, it was dry fast everyday.
Many who used to come early to church when they had no cars now come late to church in spite of the fact that God has blessed them with cars and drivers. And when you ask them why they come late to church, they would say, “That foolish driver did not wake up on time to bring me to church.” But when there was no car and driver, they got to church before everybody, swept the floor, joined the prayer warriors, and then settled down before service. God sees all these.
Some people were praying very well when they had no job. But now that they have a job, they forget their spiritual duties because of over- time. Some prayed and fasted to get a job and by 5:00 am., they have arrived at the office. But when it is service days, you see them strolling in one hour late. God normally allows that which keeps a man from Him to be withdrawn so that He can get his attention. God has had to withdraw cars, houses and comfort from people in order to save their souls. Some of the few attacks you go through at time is to wake you up so you can seek God and make Him the Lord over your life. So, check your life today. Are you broken to the level where God can obligate the riches of the Gentiles into your hands? Do you have clean hands, a kind of hand that God will rest this sort of riches on? This is the first headache of the Almighty when it comes to prosperity.
2. Wrong giving is the second reason.
Proverbs 11: 24 says, “There is one who that scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty” The liberal soul shall be made fat. And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” And Luke 6: 38 says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” This is an area where the devil has blinded the eyes of many believers. Many pray that they want prosperity, but how is the prosperity going to come when they have sown no seed. It is like a student praying to pass his examination when he has read nothing. It is like a woman praying to get pregnant without a husband or without a man. You must sow a seed. It is that seed that the Lord will multiply for you. Someone who wants prosperity should do more than tithing. Some people have been writing me letters asking: “What should we tithe? Is it the gross pay or the net pay?” It is better for you to over pay than to under pay. If God is asking you for a tithe and you say, “O God, take 20 per cent or 15 per cent, it is better for you to owe me than for me to owe you.” You must not treat God as a beggar. You treat God as a beggar when you give Him the extra that you don’t need. If you cannot be generous with the Almighty when things are hard for you, you would not be able to give when there is abundance. Sowing in the time of famine attracts abundant blessings and prosperity. Remember the story of the woman in Mark 12:41-44, who just threw in some coins and God said, “This one has contributed more money than every other person.” So, if you find it hard to give a tenth unto God, of the money that belongs to you, you are inviting poverty. If you completely forget to pay your tithe and your offerings, you are inviting poverty. If you feel or believe that the tithe and offerings you give are too much, you are inviting poverty. If God gives you 20,000 shillings and you find it difficult to pay 2,000 as tithe, you are writing to poverty. Wise believers double the tithe. Also, they sow a big seed and challenge the Lord. Giving to God is sacrifice. You have not started giving to God until you feel the pinch. Many are so tight-fisted when it comes to financing God’s work. Tithe borrowers are looking for trouble too. It is foolish to borrow your tithe because the outcome can be grievous and it is also an insult to God. God can allow an ordinary boil to swallow 40,000.00. He can allow a single problem to take away the money you refuse to give to Him. The principle of giving will enable you to experience many financial miracles. Fear and unbelief will keep a lot of people in poverty. Many give sparingly but the Bible wants you to give and it tells you how to give. We must know that the money that the Lord needs to finish His work has been in the world before you were born. God will not force you to part with your money. But when you do it willingly, He will open the door of your life to blessings and many other good things will begin to happen. You must give sacrificially, that is, you give as much as you can until it pinches because your offering is measured by what you have left and not what you give. You should give according to your income. Not that you get a big income and you give a small offering. You should give cheerfully. You should give systematically. You should give at any opportunity you have to give without grumbling or complaining. You don’t give under compulsion. The Bible says, “Do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.” You should not be the kind of Christian who wants a gift from God but you don’t want to give to Him. You should give regularly. And the Bible says that you should give without display or open show. So, if you have not been giving that way or you have been giving only when the man of God says, “I want twenty people to give one million shillings each,” then you march forward and people clap for you. That has no blessing. So wrong giving is the second reason. That is why we say, ‘change your offering and change your destiny.’
3. Psalm 78:41 says, “Yea they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy one of Israel.” The third reason is that many of us limit God. Many limit God by the way they talk and act. Many do not believe that God can do something outside their normal salary or income. So, anytime they pray, they focus their attention on what appears to be obvious. They are not on the look out for the miraculous or supernatural. They limit God completely. That is why sometimes when you ask some people, “How are you?” They would answer “rough, Fair, or fifty fifty.” Negative and inferior thinking invites poverty. You should not limit God. The Bible says that with God, nothing shall be impossible. It is only in our dictionary we find the word impossible or difficult.
4. Staying in the wrong business and wrong profession. In Luke chapter 5, we see the example of Peter. Peter was trying to catch fish when he was destined to fish for men. God will not bless the wrong thing you are doing. Check prayerfully whether you are in the right business. That is the reason I said that if you are a bit confused about what to do, you must pray to God to make His way plain before your face. If you have no business or job, pray and get direction from the Lord on what to do. Forget how prosperous you were before, face realities now and ask the Lord to show you the way.
The fact that God is your Father is enough to make you find out what He wants you to be doing. If you are doing what God wants you to do, you can refer back to Him when there is a problem. You don’t just enter into the university and study anything just for the sake of having a degree. Ask the Lord what to do. For God will not prosper what He does not support. Some are spiritually lazy and will not stay before the Lord for a long time to receive from the Lord. When you ask such for people to go and pray, they come back the following day to say that they did not receive anything. The fact that God is refusing to talk to you about your own life shows that you need some spiritual adjustment quick, and you must make this adjustment. Once you are in the right thing, you must surely prosper even if it is a very small thing.
Sometime ago, I learnt of a story were one small boy of about seven would come to the Bus stop and wait for cars and would ask drivers which kind of passengers he should call.” This young boy when asked why he was doing what he was doing, he said, “This is how I feed my daddy and mummy”. A boy of seven running bus conductorship for some hours everyday and whatever he gets, he takes it home for all the members of his family to feed on.
5. Giving place to the enemy. Ephesians 4: 27 says, “Nor give place to the devil.” If a person gives room to the enemy, he would allow poverty to operate. There are spirits of poverty and there is also what we call poverty dreams. Regular dreams of being naked, roaming about the market place, being broke, selling and not getting result, are signs that the spirit of poverty is in operation. You should bind the spirit of poverty. This spirit looks ugly and tattered in the spirit. Sometimes, it appears like an old ragged man with one leg. What I am saying is that, some people have already given place to the spirit of poverty in their lives and it does not matter whether you give them ten million to run a business, they will soon finish everything and nothing will come in. When the spirit of poverty is in operation, the person will be experiencing unexplainable loss of money. He would not know exactly what he does with his money. The person may be bombarded by starving and unrepentant relatives. Before he wakes up in the mornings, they are already knocking at his door. He may be facing wastage of materials. For example, his food may be getting spoilt without explanation. Cups and plates would break; the children would loose their bags in the school. Their money would be stolen, etc. It is the work of the spirit of poverty.
When a person is always being duped by fraudulent people, constant attack by robbers, attack by fire, uncontrollable birth of children, dismissal from various places of work, loss of materials including clothes are all signs of the operation of the spirit of poverty. Sometime ago, I was shocked when a man told me that his clothes were stolen while he tried to dry them outside his house. He said it was not few minutes he put the clothes on the line, and went inside. By the time he came out, the wet clothes were gone. The spirit of poverty has turned managers to servants. It has turned teachers to pupils.
WAY OUT
When you check your life and you find out that the spirit of poverty is in control, then you need to resist it. Think now about your finances. If you have cheated God, ask for forgiveness. Take a positive stand on what you will do in God’s house. If you have things that you have stored up somewhere and you know that you don’t really need them. Sell them off and put the money into God’s work. The last step to take is an aggressive one. It is to pray poverty destroying prayers. You must pray against the spirit of poverty with holy aggression. Some sicknesses are not ordinary. They are just ladders of poverty and you need to break them to pieces.
PRAYER POINTS
1. You heaven that has become brass, break open and bring rain, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every spirit of poverty, I break your control, in the name of Jesus.
3. Lay your hands on your eyes and pray like this: O Lord, anoint my eyes to see the hidden riches of the world, in the name of Jesus.
4. Lay hand on your head and pray this: O Lord, advertise your prosperity in my life, in Jesus’ name.
5. Lay one hand upon the other hand and pray like this: Let the riches of the ungodly be transferred into my hands, in the name of Jesus.
6. O Lord, let divine blessings shower my life, in the name of Jesus.
7. O Lord, give me dumbfounding breakthroughs, in the name of Jesus.
8. Every curse working against my destiny, be broken, in the name of Jesus
Are you laden with so much debts that it appears there is no way of getting out of them? Has it made life an unbearable burden for you? A nightmare that has been chronic and worse still you find yourself enslaved in accumulating more?
Or have your debts accumulated into a mountain that is still growing and yet you are so Busy with the hustle and the bustle of life that you have become unaware of the 'mountain hanging over your head by a thread?
A mountain that could snap without warning and crush life out of you? Shouldn't you wake up and realize the seriousness of the situation?
And now I will show you the only way out of such a problem. It requires someone willing to bail you out. When a banker decides to cancel a debt; it is not free, someone somewhere must meet that sacrifice directly or indirectly. Someone else is made to suffer the consequence. There is a banker who is willing to bail and how to get him, there is one thing you must watch out: Your immediate reaction! There are two alternatives; either to accept or reject the offer. (But when you reject it, it is a sign that your condition is very serious and requires urgent reconsideration.
It is like a dying patient rejecting the only cure. Wend, I would then plead with you that you act swiftly and accept to be helped otherwise it could be too late.
The banker is none other than Jesus Christ. He has a bank cheque ready for you. What you have to do is accept your name to be filled in and your debts will all be settled. We have all sinned and our sins have accumulated before God demanding to be accounted for. Whether you argue about this and dismiss it as something that does not concern you, still you will not escape the time of reckoning. (Hebrews 9:27)All have sinned (Romans 3:23).
The Law of nature demands that there is nothing for nothing. Likewise sin demands a penalty which has been met by Jesus, who atoned for our sins and appeased the wrath of God that could have come upon us in full force. Like wise every gift, you have to receive it in order to benefit from it. No other religion offers a solution to the problem of sin and bondage to sin, other than Jesus Christ. He gave himself for us to bail us out of indebtedness to death and he gives us life.
In Romans 6:23, the Bible says: "For the wages of sin is death, But the gift of God’s Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIV) This death referred to is not ordinary death but eternal punishment in God's Prison Hell (Math, 25: 41-46, Rev. 21: 7-8). You have only to receive this gift. “Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, lie gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NIV).
If you have never invited Jesus into your heart, I advice you to do it right now wherever you are, telling him with sincerity to come into your heart and ask him to be your Lord and Saviour and take control of your life. Ask him to forgive you all the sins you committed.
He will do it and you will have peace. Get a copy of the Bible and begin reading it daily, beginning from the New Testament. Fellowship with believers who will aid you to grow. You are now a child of God when you have invited Jesus into your heart. You have full rights to receive all kinds of help from God through his promises. (Mathew 6:32-33, 11:28),
In order for your needs to be met you have to exercise simple trust in God. Jesus says: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours” (Mark 11: 24 NIV). When you ask God, remember to do so in Jesus' name.
Friend, try and you will never be the same again.
I wish you the best in Jesus' name,
George Oduch (Senior Pastor), VictoryChurch of Christ
P.O. Box 34167Kampala,
Tel: 0414-222700, 0772-465293,
E-mail:victorychurch@vccmin.org
www.vccmin.org
This message was brought to you by the LOVE and CARE of YOUR DAILY VICTORY INTERNET OUTREACH. 2012
“How shall we escape (appropriate retribution) if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation (as is now offered to us, letting it drift past us forever)? For it was declared at first by the Lord (himself), and it was confirmed to us and approved to be real and genuine by those who personally heard him speak).
What is salvation? The dictionary defines salvation as the act of saving or the state of being saved from sin and its consequences. And what is this great salvation our text is speaking about? This great salvation is about what God has done about sin and its consequences in the lives of men. Whether one admits or not, sin is a reality in the life of every human being. Sin is a spiritual sickness that grips the life of every human being. Sin separates man from God and man from fellow man. Sin hurts. There is war between people because of sin. People are selfish because of sin. People embezzle because of sin. People hurt those they are supposed to love and protect because of sin. Marriages are wrecked and families are damaged because of sin. People are arrogant and proud because of sin. People refuse to share because of sin. People worship evil spirits, material things because of sin. Greed, drunkenness, drug addiction, abortion, murder, robbery, unfaithfulness, sexual immorality and all forms of deceit and so on are there because of sin. Sin is widespread, manifesting itself in all kinds of ways and sparing no one. People know about sin. They know that sin causes them to do bad things and to have bad attitude. People want to get out of sin but they cannot. And then they seek for ways at times through religion to get out of the power of sin and its consequences and they find that they cannot. Others then get frustrated and settle in sin thinking that there is no way out, for living under the power and control of sin appears to be the normal order of things. No, that is not how God intended man to be. Seeing that there is no way for man to come out of the power of sin, God, because of his great love for man worked out a way. That way out of the power of sin is what our text calls the great salvation. This great salvation tells us about God’s love for man in spite of his sins. It also tells how God through offering Christ to die on the cross met the payment for sin. That through acknowledging one’s sin, turning away from it and accepting the payment Christ made for sin; one is forgiven. That through Christ whose spirit comes to dwell in every one who repents and accept him as Lord and savior, one is saved from the domination of sin and its manifestations. Peace is then made between man and God and with fellow men. Through commitment to obey Christ’s words, power is then released into one’s attitude and morality. Through Jesus, God is able to deal with the problems of sin in one’s life. Through Jesus, a place is secured for one in God’s kingdom. That place or position guarantees that even when one dies, there is an assurance that one will live in peace with God thereafter. The Bible in Hebrews 9:27 says that, it is appointed unto man to die once and thereafter face judgment. If you have done nothing to allow Christ Jesus to save you, then how unfortunate will that be! Perhaps you have not taken any step to allow God to save you from your sins by turning away from your sins and accepting Jesus Christ to take control of your life. If you have not yet done so, why ignore such a great salvation? May be you are trusting in your good works thinking that it will earn you forgiveness and salvation from God. Could be you are trusting in your religion? No, religion won’t save you from your sin. That is why many horrible things have been done in the name of religion. It won’t help you. No learning, no philosophy and nothing else can save you from the power of sin.
Only Jesus can save you. He alone can deal with your life to ensure your freedom. This very moment, why not entrust your life to him and receive this great salvation that is being offered you if you have not yet done so. If you are ready to receive Christ as your Lord and savior, please say this prayer:
“Dear Jesus, I come to you as a sinner. Forgive my sins. I repent of them. Jesus, I believe that you died for me and God raised you to life again. Right now, I invite you to come into my heart. Be my Lord and my savoir. Thank you for saving me. Amen”.
If you said that prayer from your heart, you have been saved by faith. Find a good Bible based church near you where you can fellowship in order to learn and grow spiritually. Read the Bible beginning from the gospel of John. You will never remain the same. May God bless you.
George Oduch (Senior Pastor) Victory Church of Christ Luzira Kampala, P.O. Box 34167Kampala, Tel: 256 414 222700, 256 77 2 465293, E-mail: victorychurch@vccmin.org
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"Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elders. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" 1 Peter 5:5-6. (KJV)
Humility is being conscious of ones failings, lowering yourself in your own estimation, unpretentious, not boastful or excessive. Humility begins with submission to God. Submission to God is proven by submission to other men. That is why in the text quoted above, we are encouraged to recognize the authority of the elders. They may be elders by matter or age, spiritual elders or your seniors in ranks. Then we are told to be subject one to another. This means that inspite of the differences in position and ranks, we should resist the temptation to think that we are above and better than everyone else. Rather we have to remember that we have failings, we are not flawless and where we are weak, our strength may come from the others we are subject to. That is how the church benefits from its members as each serves the body with the gift within him.
You have to remember all the time how much God has done for you, when he forgave you all your sins to make you what you are now. Remembering that will cloth you with humility. When you fail to remember how much the Lord had done for you in respect to your sins and faults, you will become proud (insolent, overbearing, disdainful, presumptuous, boastful). Yet we see that God resists (opposes, frustrates and defeats) the proud. Pride can cause others not to remember that without God's mercy and grace, they would be just as wrecked as the people they may want to despise. Pride causes people to make wrong conclusions about others and be presumptuous. It is important to examine our motives behind everything we do or say lest it is pride behind it.
Examining your motive to ensure that pride is not the root will spare you the ordeal of struggling against God. God will oppose and frustrate any ministry that is being offered (even in his name) out of selfishness (pride).
Much of the stagnation in the church's spiritual growth can be traced to the ministers in leadership going their own way in pride, instead of God's way. In the end like Prophet Jonah, they get opposed and frustrated by God himself. This can occur in many areas of your life. It may be that you want your way in the choice of the partner you want to marry; in financial pursuit, in the way you spend money, in the choice of person required to fill a ministerial position or in the way things should be done. It can as well be boasting about a gift or blessing that the Lord is the one that gave you as though it were your own doing.
All this can be opposed or frustrated by God because it is not his way and takes his glory. If you have experienced frustration in whatever you have been doing over a long period of time, re-examine yourself. You may find that God is not in your plans most of the time.
There are many cases of frustrations and defeats that many children of God may attribute to satan without knowing it is actually God opposing them due to pride.
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you." God's mighty hand represents his authority and power. When you humble yourself under God's mighty hand by forsaking your way, you have submitted to his authority. Then God is ready to work with you. He will not fear exalting you.
The reason why he would want to exalt you is to bring you to a position of more authority, power and resources in order to enable you to serve him better. That is why in John 1:16 the word says that out of the fullness of his grace he gives us one blessing after another. Humility will cause God to make for you a way where there is no way. Through humility he will empower, bless, protect and exalt you and whatever great things he does for you, never forget it. Instead remain humble. Therefore, clothe yourself with humility and he will raise you!
God bless you.
George Oduch (Senior Pastor) VictoryChurch of Christ,
In Proverbs 28:13, the Bible says that whoever hides his sins cannot prosper. If freedom is to be won, then the first thing that an alcoholic has to do is to admit that a problem exists. The next step the alcoholic should take is damage assessment. Stock taking can begin with four key areas:
1.Personal health: Most often, the health of the alcoholic suffers especially if they have reached a point where they drink without proper meals, or enough hours of rest. Excessive alcoholic consumption also damages the liver. The overall result is that the body immunity goes down, rendering the body an easy target to other opportunistic diseases. Ill health will therefore produce a negative impact on the income of the alcoholic.
2.Marriage: Relationship in marriage is severely damaged as many alcoholics under the influence of alcohol tend to develop aggressive tendencies leading to quarrels and fights with their spouse. Wife battering by men are many times attributed to aggressive behaviour developed under alcoholic influence. Likewise, there are women who mistreat their husbands and abuse their children for the same reason. Alcoholic influence lowers the moral guard in many people leading them to get involved in extra marital affairs. I have heard many people attribute alcoholic influence to extra marital affairs that led to disastrous consequences for their marriage and life. Many have visited bars without any intention of having any affairs, but ended up with it.
3.Finance: Addiction to alcohol can eventually lead to financial drain with the result that the family or the addict suffers from lack of essential things such as food, clothing and so on.
The ability for the addiction to reduce a person to a very selfish individual can be evidently seen when an addict’s spendings are examined. The usual trend for most alcoholics is that only a tiny portion of their income benefits their families or dependants. The lion’s share is squandered through drinking. The result is that the family, especially the children suffer.
The addiction problem can progress and cause a reduction in the productivity of the person. Job loss or lack of confidence in employers to hire the addict thus causes further deterioration of the financial condition.
4.Parenting: Alcoholic addiction can progress to the point where the addict’s ability to be an effective parent is seriously hampered. One of the things that is commonly lacking between an addict and the children is quality time together. Many of the alcoholic parents especially fathers, spend much of their evening time in the drinking joints after their work. By the time they come back home, the children are already in bed. In the morning some of them are off to work before the children are awake. And if the children are fortunate to be going to school they are off before that parent who could be suffering from hangover is out of bed.
In addition some alcoholic parents under the influence of alcohol assault their children verbally or physically and are very hostile towards them. This creates further rifts between the parent and children; because of that some children are compelled to run away from home into the street, while others rebel against the authority of the parent leaving them even more vulnerable to destructive forces. Perhaps the most saddening aspect of alcoholism in a parent is that, unless otherwise, the same habit is invested into their children and manifested when they are grown up.
Having taken stock in the four areas mentioned, is it worth the cost of continuing with the practice?
You could be saying to yourself that you are just an addict not an alcoholic and therefore your condition is not bad. I want to remind you that every alcoholic begins as an ordinary addict. They began the first step into the practice with a tot or a bottle and little by little they were brought far into the practice. Whether one is an alcoholic or just an addict, the practice is enslaving, and costly in many ways. The Bible says in 1Peter.29that a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. You may be tempted to say that: “Oh I have no problem. I don’t disturb people when I am drunk. I just go to sleep.” No! An alcoholic has a problem. What about the harm they do against their bodies through that lifestyle? What about the things left undone because of neglect. From God’s point of view, drunkardness is sin. The bible does not mince words about the matter. It clearly says in 1Cor.6:9-11 that no one should be deceived about the matter: no drunkard will inherit the Kingdom of God. The good news is that you can find the help you need to come out of the captivity of alcohol or some other practice that is harmful to you or to others. Jesus Christ is able to help you.
Hear what He says in Luke 4:18-19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”
Even if you are not an addict to alcohol, you could still need help from a certain type of addiction that affects every man. And the Bible says that if that type of addiction is not dealt with, it will lead to our total separation from God and eternal condemnation. That is the addiction to sin. Rom 3:23-24 assures us of Christ’s ability to set us free from the compelling power of sin, through faith in Jesus Christ, who died as a payment for every shortcoming that men have. As many as there are shortcomings in the lives of men, there is only one solution: Faith in Jesus Christ.
Tonight I want to encourage you to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour! Not only will he set you free from your addiction, but he will free you from the power of sin and its penalty. If you have made up your mind to accept Jesus, follow this prayer after me:
“Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. Forgive my sins. I believe that you died for my sins on the cross, and was raised to life for my justification. I do now receive you as my lord and saviour. Come into my heart and change my life. Cleanse me by your blood. Free me from every form of addiction. Jesus, in your name I pray. Amen”.
If you have made this confession from your heart, thanks for receiving a wonderful saviour. Get a bible based church near you and fellowship there. Get the counsel of a pastor or whoever handles problems associated with addiction. If you are able to reach us, we shall gladly help you by God’s grace. Let us know about your decision for Jesus Christ. God bless you.
George Oduch (Senior Pastor) VictoryChurch of Christ, P.O. Box 34167Kampala, Tel: 256 414 222700, 256 772 465293. E-Mail: victorychurch@vccmin.org
It matters a lot what people speak over your life. Words can bless or harm. It can mislead or correct. Words can also heal or kill. There are places that are experiencing adversities because of words that have been spoken over them. There are millions of people who are being afflicted because of negative words that are tied to their lives in the form of names and injunctions. A preacher went through the countryside and found a village filled with drunkards and immoral people. He soon found out that the name of the place was called Sodom. Only after the gospel was preached did many of them get freed from the power of that name.
In 2 Sam 1:21, David in his lament spoke over Mt.Gilboa. He said that never would it have dew or rain again because Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle there. And to this day the place has remained dry.
Negative words spoken by your ancestors or spoken over them by others before you were even born may continue speaking over your own life.
Authority of God's Word
The Good News is that Jesus Christ became a curse for us so that we may come out of every curse (Gal 3:13-14).
You can deal effectively using what God has spoken in his word to nullify every negative or binding words invested into your life by your ancestors, bosses, jealous and malicious people, spouse or devil's agents.
Make no exceptions; deal with such words whether they were innocently or ignorantly uttered.
In Genesis 3:11 God asked Adam; "Who told you that you were naked?" As far as God was concerned, that was not his words. He had the ultimate authority; No other being should have determined their destiny, not even themselves by their own wisdom. It is his word alone that should have had the first place.
Look at the following power scriptures:
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee thou shall condemn." Isaiah 54:17
It is a powerful promise.
You have to assert this fact loud and clear to the devil. Notice that the tongue referred to above is a tongue used against you as a weapon; words spoken that are harmful to your interest. Notice also that you can do something about it: "Thou shalt condemn!" To condemn is to put out of action; to disapprove.
WHAT TO DO:
Name the weapons you know that the devil is using against you. Render them powerless in Jesus' Name. In the name of Jesus, break the power of every negative word impacting your life whether they were spoken in your hearing or not. Bring their effect to nought. Then in Jesus' Name speak into your life what God says you should be in reverse to what the negative words did.
A Steadfast believer, fully utilizing God- given resources can never be defeated. If you have doubt, look at these scripture below:
Jeremiah 1:9-12 GN
"Then the Lord stretched out his hand, touched my lips, and said to me, "Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak. Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" The Lord asked me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I answered, "A branch of an almond tree." "You are right" the Lord said,” and I am watching to see that my words come true."
Do you realize that the word of God invested into your life, spokenout into a situation or circumstance that needs to be addressed can impact nations and kingdoms. It can uproot what has been established over years. It can pull down what has been standing in defiance of God's will for your life. It can destroy i.e. it can terminate the retrogressive forces in your situation and overthrows what has been in dominion. The good that you want to see can be planted and build by the same word. And to crown it all, the Lord is always watching you to see whether you will speak out his words in your prayers or confessions, for him to back it up with the desired results. Take hold of God's word and undo all that the negative words have done or will try to do in your life.
BUT YOU MUST LISTEN TO GOD'S VOICE
God's voice is his words. To listen to God's voice is to receive his word and live by it. It is what guarantees the fulfillment of God's word in your life
Zechariah 7:11-13 (GN)
"But my people stubbornly refused to listen. They closed their minds and make their hearts as hard as rock. Because they would not listen to the teaching, which I sent through the prophets who lived long ago, I became very angry. Because you did not listen when I spoke, I did not answer when you prayed."
Listening to the voice of God will always bring the desired answer in prayer. The contrary is also true. That is what the Lord Jesus spoke in reference to himself as the good Shepherd:
In the parable of the Shepherd in John 10:1-11, Jesus referred to himself as the good Shepherd. He said that his sheep know his voice. They will not listen to another voice, Instead they will run away from such a strange voice.
He said he has come to bless and fulfill the lives of his sheep. You are that sheep. Receive the master's word and invest it into your life. Allow it to keep speaking over your life all the time. Refuse to listen to any other voice that is contrary to the master's voice. Reject and cancel any other word that is strange.
Don't receive it in your spirit. Instead, assert the master's words in your situation. When you are told that "you cannot make it," declare that you will make it in Jesus' name. When your old friends in the world tell you that you will backslide, tell them that you will go forward and not backwards in Jesus' name.
When your boss tells you that "your are finished!" Declare that you are just beginning in Jesus’ name! When you are told that you are dying of sickness, say that you have life and by His stripes you have been healed. When you are told that you are defeated, declare that you are more than a conqueror. Let the word of God reign over your life and circumstances! Then you will begin reigning with heaven on earth.
God bless you. Move to the next Glory!
George Oduch (Senior Pastor), Victory Church of Christ, P.O. Box 34107, Kampala. Tel 256-0414-222700, 0772-465-293,
