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Psalm 91: 1

“He who dwells in a secret place of the most high, he shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.”

(i) Dwell:

The word dwell means to reside / live. It can be used in two different contexts.

“To dwell in” (to live in) this refers to a place of living. So if someone would ask you of your dwelling place, you would possibly give them a physical address or take them to a physical place.

Or “to dwell on” (to live on) this refers to something you putting your focus on, like dwelling on the word of God.

(ii) Secret:

The word secret refers to something that is only known to one individual.

Many people have secrets here; it would be shocking to know what kinds of secrets people keep.

Things that are only know by them alone and not even their husbands or wives have ever dreamt of.

So a secret place in this context will be a pace that is only known by you. You and you alone.

But I want us to see the deeper meaning of this secret place that is talked about in this scripture.

Which is this secret place?

Verse 9 “because you have God your dwelling place”

This takes us away from thinking of this dwelling place as a physical place. Because if you have made God your dwelling place, this means that God could be this place that is referred to here. In fact, He is the place being referred to.

Psalm 90:1 “Lord you have been our dwelling place for Generations”

God has been our dwelling place and still is our dwelling place.

Jesus speaks of a secret place. Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go to your room, and pray to your Father who is in secret. Then your father who is in secret shall reward you openly.”

When you begin from verse 5. Jesus says we must not be like the hypocrites for they pray to be seen and heard by people.

Whatever kind of prayer you can make publicly, you should be able to make that same kind of prayer privately.

You cannot discipline your child in public if you can’t discipline them at home. So whatever type of advice you can give your child in public, you must be able to give it in private.

Verse 6:

Go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is in secret. Now, when we go back to the main scripture, the bible says he who dwells in a secret place. And here Jesus says your father who is in secret.

Now this tells me that when you dwell in a secret place, you dwell in God. God is the secret place. (See Psalm 91:9)

You can think of any place that might be regarded as secret, but the most secret place you can ever find here on earth. It is in God.

It continues “your father who sees in secret will reward you openly”

This means that, the prayer that is made in secret is the kind of a prayer that is made on a one on one condition. It means you have a one on one conversation with God, because you dwell in him.

How can you live in God? (1 John 4:15)

This is a kind of a prayer where by you don’t even have to utter a single word. A prayer made in secret. You don’t have to stand by the street and shout for everyone to hear you, you don’t to come to church and pray in tongues so that everyone can hear and admire you. But this is the prayer where you pray from within your spirit and God answers immediately.

Psalm 91:10 “Evil shall not befall thee”

The fact that you dwell in God, doesn’t mean you will not face challenges. It does not mean you will not come across difficult situations. You will face challenges but they will not conquer you.

The devil may knock you down, but he shall not defeat you.

(Verse 15) because you live in Him, you shall call upon Him and He will answer, He will be with you in trouble.

 Verse 11

(iii) Abide in the Shadow:

The word “abide” as it is used in this context. It means to remain stable. Now, for one to remain stable. Something should happen to that person. That person must have gone through some storm and they remain stable.

(iv)The Shadow

The shadow is the protection of God. You shall remain under the protection of God.

When we look at the function of the shadow, it blocks out the sun and provides protection from it.

In this verse the shadow represents the supernatural power of God. And the word supernatural means something that is beyond the laws of nature.

It is that power that we find in the book of Luke 18:27 that say what is impossible with men, it is possible with God.

This supernatural power is seen when the children of Israel crosses the Red sea. Where water was separated with nothing holding it from side to side, and there is dry ground in between.

The laws will tell you that it is impossible for that to happen.

Again, we see the supernatural power in the wilderness when water came out of the rock.

The laws of nature will tell you that it is impossible for that to happen, but the supernatural power says it is possible.

We see this supernatural power when Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego were thrown into the fire.

The laws of nature will tell you that it is impossible for a man to enter into fire and do not burn. But the supernatural power of God says you shall enter into fire and fire will not burn but you shall turn into fire youself and you shall march in it.

“He who lives in God, he shall remain stable under the supernatural power of the Almighty.”

Closure:

For you to have your prayers answered, you need to live in God. You need to invite God into your life.

Sometimes it happens that pray and it seems like your prayers are not reaching God. The problem is not that maybe you no longer a Christian, but it is more about the type of prayer you are making, it is about the position you standing on.

You need to move into the secret place and have direct conversation with God.

It is more or less like the cell phone device. The fact that it has airtime doesn’t guarantee that it can make calls, but it is the connection it has to the network provider that will guarantee calls going out and coming in.

The bible says in the book of John 15:7 “if you live in me and I in you, you shall ask for anything and I will do it for you”.

The decision lies with you as an individual to choose to live in God and God in you. The bible says in the book of Revelation 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.”

As I stand here this moment, God is knocking at your heart. It’s you that will take a decision to open up your heart for Him to enter.

Come into the secret Place.

The Bible defines faith in the book of Hebrews 11:1 [faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.]

The bible says faith is the assurance, that means you are sure of the things you are praying for that you have them before you can feel them. and faith being the evidence means that you have proof, title deed of the things you praying for before they can be seen with a physical eye. you are confident that you possess them.

[And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him] (1 John 5:14-15)

Faith is the foundation of a Christian life, it will determine what will and will not happen into your life. Faith is not based on how bad or good are the circumstances, nor is it based on how we feel. But faith is based on the word of God. We are confident that He listens when we pray.

I love the teachings of Jesus, they carry so much power and wisdom. here is one of them that I want to take a look at.(Matthew 15:22-28) [And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters 'table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.]

Here it sounds like Jesus was being cruel to this woman, he doesn’t answer her as she pleads with him. he keeps quiet until his disciples plead him to send her away.

they did not mean to chase her away, but what happened was that this woman was so persistent such a way that she was annoying the disciples. then they asked

Jesus to help her so she could walk away. that was the only way Jesus was going to send this woman away.

the first answer Jesus gives to this woman was very discouraging, it seemed discriminating. he said he is only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.

this could have made someone to give up and leave, but this woman did not do so. she began to worship Jesus pleading for help.

the second answer that Jesus gives to the poor woman was very cold and say it is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.

it sounds like he was swearing at her, but the truth is that he was not. he basically meant it is not okay to take what is meant for children

of Israel and give to the Gentile. in that time they did not have spoons and knifes so they would break bread with their hands when they eat, as a result crumbs will fall on the table and they would pick it up with hands and give it to the puppies that were around the house by the table.

Jesus was not really being cold and harsh to the woman, he knew that at the end of the day he will help this woman.

but he wanted to activate her faith. it happens that we come across situations so difficult and when you pray to God, he doesn’t answer.

The question is, what do you do? do you give up and stop praying or you continue to pray until you get the response? most times we don’t get what we pray for

not because we don’t deserve it, but we give up so easily. we are not persistent enough, we fail to exercise our faith.

This woman knew and believed that by coming to Jesus her problem would be solved. the silence of Jesus did not stop her from believing and having faith in Jesus.

It’s like she left home with one desire only, that I am not going back home having not received what I came for to Jesus. You need that kind of attitude when you pray. Pray until something happen.

The bible says she persisted until the disciples were annoyed and began to plead with Jesus to send her away. they actually asked Jesus to help her so she could leave.

They were interceding for this woman in a way. Listen, you need to pray until people around get fed up and annoyed about you praying. pray until they begin to intercede for you not knowing they are. pray until they begin to call upon God saying He must have mercy on you and answer your prayer now, they must plead with God saying you are annoying them every day and night.

The bible says then Jesus answered but he didn’t give her the answer she was looking for. she still did not give up on her faith in the power of the holy spirit within Jesus. you need to persist on prayer having faith even if the response seems to be negative. you need to trust in God even if circumstances prove to be impossible.

This woman pressed on and she worshiped Jesus, and Jesus gave her another answer that seemed very harsh. “it is not meek to take children’s bread and give to the dogs'’

when Jesus said dogs he was referring to the word “Gentile dog” of which it was the only way for the Hebrews to refer to someone unclean. This woman said “even the dogs eat the crumbs that falls from the masters table” and Jesus was so amazed by this woman’s faith and said it is done unto you.

This woman exercised her faith and it worked for her. Jesus was moved by her faith. The bible says it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). We see in the bible that Jesus always healed in response of faith, he always said “your faith has worked for you, it is done unto you” most times our prayers are not answered, not because it’s God’s will not. but the problem is that you doubt Gods ability to change things in your life. like Peter in the book of (Matthew 14:29-31). He was okay while his eyes were fixed on Jesus, but the moment he looked at the water and the wind he began to sink. that’s what happens with most of us, you shift focus away from God and look at your troubles and the circumstances and begin to doubt that they can actually be changed. and said to Peter, Oh you of little faith. Faith is the key to unlock all your unanswered prayers. You need this faith of the Canaanite woman.

The bible says some would touch the hem Jesus garment and they would be whole. It wasn’t that Jesus had a robe with miracles, but it was the faith of those who touched it. they believed that by touching his garment they will be healed. the garment was the point of contact where they would release their faith. Paul sent out handkerchiefs, and Peter they would need his shadow to fall on them and they would be healed. you need to be able to release your faith like that and things will change in your life.

I know that this question might be very vital to someone that they would really need to get an answer to. Well, I am willing to give an insight to it.

Matthew 16:13-15

Jesus asks His disciples, who do people say that I am. And they answer that some say you are Elijah; others say Jeremiah; some say John the Baptist or one of the prophets. Then Jesus asks them who do they say that He is?

This is the outmost important question that Jesus asked His disciples. Jesus was going to send them to go and preach the gospel to the world, so it was very important that they knew who Jesus is. Otherwise they were going to preach about something they are not sure of. They would lead people astray and they would not fulfil the task given to them, to tell people about the son of God.

My question to you today is who is Jesus to you?

I have come across an interesting description of Jesus one day from a friend. And it goes something like this:

In chemistry, He turned water into wine.

In biology, He was born without the normal conception.

In physics, He disapproved the law of gravity when He ascended into heaven.

In economics, He disapproved the law of diminishing return by feeding 5000 men with two fishes and 5 loaves of bread.

In medicine, He cured the sick and the blind without administering a single dose of drugs.

In history, He is the beginning and the end.

In government, He said He shall be called the wonderful Councillor, Prince of Peace.

This is an interesting description indeed about Jesus. I say interesting because it describes Jesus based on certain aspects which will be revealed to you by the end of this message. But I want to take a moment and try to reveal Jesus and answer the question at hand from the book of life itself.

The gospel of John is preferably the first book you read when you doing your bible study. Reason for that is:

(I) this book shows us who Jesus is by the miracles He preformed

(II) It shows us who Jesus is by letting Him speak for Himself.

(III) It shows us who Jesus is by calling the witnesses who testify about Jesus.

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God."

This takes us back to the book of Genesis when God created earth and everything in it. God existed before the foundations of the earth, and He was at the beginning of everything. Here John tells us that in the beginning was the word, that tells me that the word predates time just as God does. The word is the beginning of the beginning, before there was the beginning, the word existed.

The WORD is translated in ancient Greek as logos of which it meant "the word of God". The Jewish rabbis would refer to God Himself as "The word of God".

John says the word was with God and the word was God. Here we see a being called the word and this being is God because he exceeds time, he was in the beginning. And this being is God because "the word was God", yet this being is not higher than what God is; he is the son of God. "THE WORD WAS WITH GOD".

We see two part of God's trinity here, God the Father and God the son and the son here is known as THE WORD. They are two separate persons yet equally God.

So if the word is the son, than the word is Jesus. If I would make my own translation of this verse, it would be: IN THE BEGINNIG WAS JESUS, AND JESUS WAS WITH GOD, AND JESUS WAS GOD. Jesus is the beginning of the beginning, He also declares Himself as the beginning in the book of Revelation 1:11. He says He is Alpha and omega the BEGINNIG and the end.

So in just this one verse John 1:1, we see Jesus as the word (beginning) and as the son of God and as God.

More confirmation of Jesus as the word is in verse 14 of John 1. “The word became flesh", now we know that it is Jesus that came to be man amongst us. Definitely the word is Jesus. JESUS IS THE WORD.

JESUS THE LIFE AND LIGHT:

Verse 4: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men".

When you receive Jesus you receive life everlasting. To receive is the same thing as accepting, so you accept and acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and saviour in your life then you receive eternal life.

John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life". Jesus declares himself as the bread of life in John 6:35 "I am the bread of life". Whatever spiritual needs you have Jesus is the bread of life, take Him and you soul shall never hunger. John 6:47-48 "I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life". He is making that statement about Himself, what more evidence we need to know that Jesus is the LIFE.

"And the life was light of men". In the book of Matthew 5:14 Jesus says: "you are the light of the world". Since you have received Him as the Lord in to your life, He becomes the bread of life and He brings light into your life. The Jesus that lives in you is seen through you. As He is light, you then become light. As He is life, you also possess life. He declares Himself as the light in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world". If you do not follow Him your life will be lost in Darkness. The other important picture of light in the Bible relates it to God’s Word: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). "Oh, send out your light and your truth! Let them lead me" (Psalm 43:3). Since Jesus is the Word (John 1:1), then it makes perfect sense that He is also the light.

JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF AS TO WHO HE IS:

John 10:9 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture".

He is the gate of life; whoever enters through Him shall be saved. He is the only door to heaven.

John10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep".

The good shepherd lives and dies for the good of the sheep.

◦The good shepherd sacrifices for the sheep

◦The good shepherd knows his sheep

◦The good shepherd is known by the sheep

That is what Jesus came down and did for us. He sacrificed His life for us, He knows us and yes we know Him. Jesus is the Shepherd.

One thing that is important about the shepherd is that in ancient time was that they would lead the herd of his sheep, the sheep would follow him. Jesus is our protector, because He laid down His life for us. Indeed He is the good shepherd. In other words we must walk in His footsteps; we must obey what he says. The shepherd will lead his herd only to the green pastures; Jesus is leading to heaven where we will rejoice forever. Where we will not thirst nor slumber.

John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth no one comes to the father besides me".

He is the way to God. Jesus is the only way we can get access to God, He hang on the cross just to pave that way for us. So He is the way.

He is the truth because He did not contest the lies we can believe He is the truth; because He was willing to die He becomes the channel of resurrection - the life to us.

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:36 so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. The truth will set you free, and when the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. Jesus is the truth and He will set you free from all the bondages of speaking lies and gossiping.

John 10:30 "I and my Father are one." Jesus makes an important statement, that. He and God are two separate persons yet one God, this clearly states that He is the son of God that forms part of the trinity of God. (John 10:36) "Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'?" Jesus is the son of God.

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches."

Jesus is the vine, and as we are the branches we need to bear fruits. The fruits that we must bear should represent the nature of the vine. If the vine is the tree of life, then branches will produce life. We need to bring life and light to the world and produce the fruits of this vine that is Jesus that we are attached into. Jesus is the vine.

These are the statements that Jesus makes about Himself that identify Him to us.

WITNESSES ABOUT WHO JESUS IS:

We have four witnesses that testify about Jesus. The first one is John himself.

1: John gives his testimony in (John 1:29) "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" Firstly, here Jesus is being greeted by His destiny that He is to take away the sins of the world. He is been reminded of the pain that He is yet to suffer in the end at the cross. There is a resemblance to what John is saying here and to what Jesus said in John 10:11. The shepherd and the Lamb of God has one thing in common, they both sacrifice their lives to save that of the sheep and the world respectively. For the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, it must lay its life. So in other words as Jesus spoke of Himself as the shepherd, He was also identifying himself to the Lamb of God.

Testimony is based on what you have seen and on what you have experienced. John tells us how he knows who this Jesus is.

John 1:32-34 "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." John’s testimony is simply based on that.

2: Then Andrew testifies about Jesus John 1:41 "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). Andrew tells his brother about Jesus because he himself has heard what John said and he has spent time with Jesus (verse 40), so he has experienced something about Jesus. Jesus declares Himself as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman in John 4:26 "I am the Messiah".

3: Then Philip testifies about Jesus to Nathanael. John 1:45 "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Again, Philip’s testimony is based on his experience with Jesus (verse 42). It is impossible that you can have an encounter with Jesus and you remain the same.

4: Nathanael gives his testimony about Jesus. John 1:49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel." And again Nathanael gives his testimony based from the experience he had with Jesus (verse 47-48).

How much testimony does one need to truly get to know who Jesus is? I say this is enough testimony about Him. Your testimony about Jesus will be based on what He has done into your life; it will be determined by what happened to your life just after you received Him. How He has changed your life. These men’s testimonies are only based on that.

JESUS SHOWS HIMSELF THROUGH MIRACLES:

In John 2, He turns water into wine. This was His first miracle, and it made His disciples believe in Him. They were already convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, but this time their belief in Him was deepened.

The wine represents Joy in this miracle; there was no longer happiness at the wedding. But because they invited Jesus, he turned that dull situation into joy. He didn't do anything to turn water into wine, but he gave instruction and as they followed instruction water turned into wine. When you obey God's commands, you shall have joy peace and happiness in your life. Jesus brings Joy; Peace and Happiness.

The second miracle He performs was in John 4:50 where He heals the son of the King's officer. He just spoke the word and order him to go, his son will live. Again Jesus don't do anything, he doesn't touch him but give an order. Jesus is the healer.

John 6:11. Jesus feeds five Thousand people. The first thing about this miracle that transpires to me is that Jesus teaches us to share. He never had bread and fish with Him, but He took it from a young man who had come along with the many people that were there. Here Jesus demonstrated the giving character of God, the same character that we should have within us. Jesus is the provider, He will provide in time of hunger; when there is no food on your table, He will multiply your crop, but the little that you have you must share with those less privileged.

John 11. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He revealed Himself as the resurrection; life. Just like he said in (John 11:25) “I am the resurrection and the life"

Oh how privileged are you that you got to know about this Jesus today, now it is up to you whether you receive and accept Him into your life today. Do not reject him, like they did in John 1:11. The reason the y did that was because they did not know Him. But you now know Him, so what is it going to be? But to those who received Him, the bible say in John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God".

Take Jesus today, and let Him be the Lord and saviour in your life. Let Him be the bread of life; let him be the Lamb that takes away your sins. Let Him raise you up from that death bed. Let Him calm the storms in your life, for even the wind listen to Him (Matthew 8:23-25). Nothing is impossible with Him!

Matthew 6:9-13 This is by far the greatest prayer of all. Why? Because Jesus taught it and because it has everything that you need to pray for. Because it's the kind of a prayer you need to pray when you talking to God the Father. verses 6-8

Allow me to break it down for you. [9 Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.] You call God as the father, you place yourself in a submissive position. You claiming your rightful place as a heir of heaven (Ephesians2:6) that way you get His attention. Tell me of a father that won't pay attention to his child when the child shouts "Daddy"? You praise Him telling Him that His name is holy. You make Him melt with love. Tell me of any man that will not be happy and melt if he's being praised by his clan names. Why would God be sad if you as His child praising Him.

[10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven]. You invite His kingdom, you invite the whole Heavens into world, you invite His presence into your world. You pray for His will to happen in your life, in your world. You give Him authority over your entire life. You asking Him to take over everything and rule everything in your life as much as He rules over everything in heaven.

[11 Give us this day our daily bread.] You pray that God be the provider in your life, you pray that He sees to your needs.

[12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors]. You pray for forgiveness, because we sin everyday and need to be forgiven for our sins. Sins we do knowingly, sins we do not by purpose. You also commit yourself that you have forgiven, because for you to be forgiven, you also need to forgive.

[13 And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.] You pray for protection that God must protect you from temptations, you pray for deliverance from any bondage of sin, you pray for deliverance from demonic spirits, from sickness and attacks from the devil. You pray for all of these to Him because this is His Kingdom He rules over it with His power and Glory forever and ever. Amen.

We have prayed all sorts of prayers and have taken this one for granted, but this Is the greatest prayer that we need to pray everyday. Jesus gave it for a reason. Let us not forget it after we have prayed all types of prayers, and pray this one. God bless you.

i want to speak to someone who may have lost hope; someone who might be discouraged; someone who just might be feeling bitten and defeated by the situations they are in or difficulties they are facing in their lives right now. it might be anything you are going through, you may be sick or your loved one is sick. you might have lost your job; you might have lost your parents; child; spouse; house, i mean anything. it does happen at times that we find ourselves in situations like these and when we look at them we tend to lose hope. God promises us that He has good plans for our lives. [Jeremiah 29:11- for i know the plans I have for you, the are not to destroy you but to prosper you.] well at times circumstances makes you feel like what the scripture is saying is not true. when you lose your parents both of them at the same time, it's not easy to find the positive in that. the pain you go through at that point in time is unthinkable.

if you lose you child, as a parent it's not easy for you to handle, because you obviously had big dreams for your child and no parent wants to bury their children, but they all hoping that their children will bury them. when you or your spouse is sick and the doctors have told you that there's nothing they can help you with anymore, you just have to accept that your situation will remain the same till your last day on earth. the thought that there is no one alive that can help you is enough to drive you mad. but in all that God is saying that He knows the plans He has for you.

it may happen that you have been going through all this pain and you've been praying to God day in and day out and yet nothing has changed. pastors and prophets have prayed for you yet there is no change in your situation. you haven't received your miracle. somehow, that could even make you to begin to doubt the word of God in your life, it could make you to lose hope in Him. under normal circumstances it is understandable for you to feel so, but i want you to keep this in mind that He said He has good plans for your life and just hold on to that.

I know that you might be asking yourself that "how is possible for me to hold on to these words while i have lost both my parents, my health has been declared to be the worst?" [Romans 8:28 for we know that everything works together for the good of them who LOVE the Lord, and are called according to His purpose.] it will be hard to understand this if you do not love God, you need to love Him and give your life to Him. the scripture says 'for them who love the Lord'. so it all begins by loving God, it begins by being in a relationship with Him. you can never be able to hold on to His word if you are not in a relationship with Him. you can not be called according to His purpose if you're not in a relationship with Him. your life could not be according to His plan if you're not in a relationship with Him, because you would be rebellious towards His purpose for your life. so everything begins with a relationship with God.

it might happen that you love God and you gave your life to Him, you are a born again christian yet you've been praying and your prayers haven't been answered. one of the reasons why your prayers are not answered is your commitment to Him. we have this problem of seeking God only when we need a miracle, when things are going right we don't even think about Him. we treat God like a booty call, we treat Him like a one night stand. but God wants intimacy with you, He won't respond to booty calls. He wants you to be committed to Him, it's all or nothing. He don't just want half of you, all of you. then again you might say to me that you are commited to Him, you gave your all to Him. the truth is, it does happen that even if your are that commited to Him, you find that there is this situation about your life that just won't change. you may have prayed all kinds of prayers, even prayed in tounges, casted demons out, shouted until you went polite. yet there's no change in your situation. the question is, "What could be wrong"? could it be that you are oding something wrong? well God says: "be still and know that i am God" [Psalm 46:10] when God tells you to be still, He doesn't say thst you must be still while things are going right, infact when something is being still. that means there has to be a storm but it stood still to it's foundation. God asks you to be still in your situation, He doesn't say when the storm is over you can be still, but right in the middle of your storm be still and know that I am God. because i know the plans i have for your life. what we seem to not understand is that, what you going through right now may be a set up for you to recieve greater things from God.

God may let you go through pain just to reveal Himself to people, He may let you go through poverty and supply for your needs just to make His name know amoung the people that surounds you. He could let you go through these things, but He won't leave you. He will be with you. i'm not saying that now you should now stop praying, continue to pray evn when things don not change. but i just want you to change the type of prayer you are praying. it could happen that you've been praying for deliverence or healing or prosperity or wealth. and all those prayers haven't been answered. [Matthew 26:39] when Jesus was going through difficult time He prayed to God to remove the cup infront of Him, that cup was filled with suffering; pain all the suffering you could ever imagine. but when He prayed for it to be removed, He then said "let not it be my will, but let your will be done". you see many times we pray for things we desire, but we do not pray for the will of the Lord. i want to encourage you today that you pray for the will of God in your life. the prayer that Jesus tought His deciples is now making sense. "let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". i want to encourage you today to start praying that prayer, to start meditating on that prayer. that prayer has everything you need to do when you speaking to God. you praise Him; you glorify Him; you give Him authoriy over your life.

Pray for the will of God, say Father let your will be done over my life, over my finacies, over my health, over my family, over my property, over my job,over my kids,wife, husband, mother, my daddy. father take control over everything. that should not be hard to trust on, for He said He has good plans for your life. it's time you let go and let God take over, your own efforts have failed. they haven't been sucssesful

This is the simplest question a person could ever ask you. You can easily give them your name, but I have come to a deeper meaning of the question. As I was growing up in my childhood days, I always had this question on mind. And it kept me worried all times when I ask myself who am I? I would look at my hands, my body in the mirror.

I grew up in a family of Christians. I knew about God and I was brought up by the word of God. I understood that there are some parts of the body that form this structure called human, the hands, head, and feet. And I always asked myself, if this is my body, my feet, my hands, then who am I? I wanted to know more than just my name. More than just this body, I wanted to know and understand the real me. The person beyond all that I could see. I had not yet given my life to Christ at that time. Well I couldn't get an answer to my question, and I never asked anyone about it. So I got no answer to it.

When I accepted Jesus as the Lord in my life and as I grew in knowing Him. Things began to be more clear. The scripture began to make sense to me as I read the Bible. I finally figured out the answer to my question through the word of God. (1John 1:1-3) "in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through, and nothing was created except through him."

This scripture reveals how everything was created. Verse 3 says nothing was created except through him. God spoke the word and said let there be, and it was. We find how God did that in Genesis1 God created everything by just speaking the word, "Let there be". When He was to create man He then said in verse 26: "Let us make man in our own image". This shows that humans are different to all other creatures, because they are created in God's image. The word "image" means "reflection". If you want to see an image of yourself you will stand in front of a mirror and look at the reflection of you. So God created humans as His own reflection.

Who is God then? The bible said in John1 the word was with God and the word was God. So if this is so, then how is it possible that God can look like me? Does this mean as I look at myself I see the word? Well of course you can't see the word. But let me reveal this for you. When God was making man, the process changed. He never spoke the word anymore. (Genesis 2:7) "Then He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person." You see t en the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath this time God took His time and built the body from the dust, and when He was finished a man was not yet alive. He was just the body lying on the ground with no use. But here is the wonderful part of this process, "He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person."

This is to show us that without breath a body is nothing, it's dead. God put life INTO the body. The body is just the house or the temple where this breath lives. Somehow it's coming clear that who am I. I am the breath; I am the spirit inside this body.

(1Corinthians 6:19) "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You are not your own." My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Remember what God said: "let us make man in our own image." so this tells me that I am the spirit, the spirit of God.

(John 4:24) "God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." You can't see the spirit, so God knew that He can't just let his spirit to just wonder in the air. So He had to make room for it which is the body in this case. So the answer here is that I am not the body that can be seen, but I am the spirit that is kept in the body. I am more than just the outward appearance, I am the spirit of God, and I am the reflection of God for I am made by the image of God. I represent God on earth; I am god to all other creatures on earth.