Adventures of Faith

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. Mark 7:37 We are at that season of the year again where you are forced to take stock of your life, and all that has played out over the year. You may reflect over your goals for the year or your goals for some years past now, to see how far you have truly come in your life journey. You may also be reflecting over some particular desire of your heart, and how long you have been waiting on God to bring that desire to pass.   As you make this reflection, you may find yourself in a place of gratitude, because you have experienced so much of God’s blessing. Some other person may find themself in the place where they are in doubt of God’s love or if God really hears and answers, because some of those pressing desires are still not met. Regardless of what position you are, you need to just take a deep breath, and say to yourself He has done all things well. He has done all things well means that as long as you ...

We live in very challenging times, and this is regardless of which nation of the world you live in. Many people around the world, even in the most developed economies are struggling to make ends meet. Whatever you call it, be it an economic downturn or a recession, it isn’t new to God, and God isn’t anxious, neither is He confused about the situation. As a matter of fact, such seasons present the greatest opportunities for those who know how to take advantage. There is the popular saying that a rising tide lifts some boats and sink others, the question is how can you rise with the tide. We will draw our two steps from the story of a man that experienced increase during a recession in the bible. In Gen.26, we will see the story of the man named Isaac, he was dwelling in Gerar, and then a recession hit. God gave him some instructions, to which he abided, and he continued to prosper in spite of the economic challenges. So, let’s take a look at the two steps quickly; Obedience to stay in y...

The story of the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew chapter 15 is one that every believer must take proper note of, because from this story we learn one of the most vital lessons of our Christian faith. If you carefully read the story from Verse 21, you will see that this woman approached Jesus for the healing of her daughter, because she probably had heard that Jesus performed many miracles, and healed many people. If she could get to Jesus with this issue, there was hope for a turn around, and so she sought after Him. She finally had her opportunity as Jesus and His disciples passed by, and she took advantage and cried out for help where He could hear her. Jesus’ response was such as could throw anyone off balance - “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” It was a huge opportunity to take offence at Jesus, and lose sight of what she was seeking. For one thing, I always wondered why she did not take offence at those words. I know that today many believers ...

  As you study the popular faith chapter of the Bible, Heb.11, something will jump at you from verse 14-16. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. This is talking about the men and women of faith mentioned in this chapter. One of their distinguishing characteristics of faith was that they were not mindful of the “country” from which they came. Does this really mean just an earthly country like you have Nigeria or China? Yes, possibly, but in another sense, the country here can be used to describe their situation or circumstance. These men and women of faith were not mindful of their situation or circumstances, they were rather seeking another “country”. What was this new “co...

We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised. Heb.6:12 (GNT) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:4 (KJV) Today, we live in a very materialistic world, people are very quick to measure your progress by what you possess, and this puts a lot of pressure and strain on people, including believers.   It is not uncommon to find that many of the things we do are simply as a result of trying to measure up or trying to send a signal that we really can measure up. Worse still, is that there are many people who are getting away with doing little or nothing, and this culture is beginning to influence believers also. We desire to “make it” with almost next to nothing investment in knowledge and processes, but God doesn’t work like that. God is systematic and He sets processes in motion. That doesn’t mean that He cannot step out of His processes or system to...

Many times, you step into a new year all geared up for action. The motivation for success is usually at an all-time high, but as you get along, you may face challenges to various degrees, and these challenges have the potential to slow you down. When this happens, some people simply throw in the towel and give up, some others completely lower their expectations, with the thinking that they wouldn’t feel so disappointed at the end if they had no serious expectation to begin with. There are also a few people who will hold on tenaciously to achieving their goals, and by the help of God and some adaptability, they will do so. You see when God speaks to you about something you should do, or even when you set a goal for yourself under the direction of the Holy Spirit, there are many processes that needs to take place for that goal to be achieved. The challenge for you may be that while you have thought of the end goal, you may not have given so much thought to the processes that must be init...

Today we live in a very materialistic world, where it seems that progress is only measured by what you possess. This is not only a trend among unbelievers, but also amongst believers. The desire to acquire, and amass things in the shortest possible time has become so pervasive.   There are many young believers who no longer trust God’s process of making His people, but have now become more focused on being self-made. This is clearly one of the signs of the end of the age, but Jesus clearly warned us about what our attitude should be to these things. In Luke 12:15, Jesus said to take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.   The temptation is real, and we must take heed to the words of Jesus, so that we are not caught up in the world’s pursuit of material things. See the admonition of scripture in I Tim.6:6-9   But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world,...

As we reflect on the events that led to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and the implications of these events, we cannot but think very highly of God as having perfectly planned every of these events to the end that man will be forever free, never to be bound by any string of the evil one. Of these events that led up to the death and resurrection of Jesus, this piece will concentrate on the tradeoff that saw Jesus heading for the cross, and Barabbas – a criminal, heading home a free man.   We know from scriptures that the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time took him to Pilate so that Pilate could pass the death sentence on Him. Obviously, they didn’t have the power to kill Jesus by themselves, but they could influence the one that had the authority to pass the death sentence. Pilate having examined the case, saw no need for Jesus to be imprisoned, much more to be executed. In an attempt to release Jesus, after examining Him and finding no cause to pass the death sentence, Pil...

  "The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is unclouded, your whole body will be full of light. Matt.6:22 (GWT)   Many believers underestimate the importance of certain abilities, and by so doing, tend to miss out on a whole lot. One of those abilities that is often underestimated is Focus. The ability to focus is a very powerful thing, unfortunately, not everyone has got it. There are certain abilities that you don’t even have to be born with, you can develop yourself, until you have complete mastery, and Focus is one of such.   Our text says if your eye is unclouded, that is another way of saying if you are focused. There are too many people who are focused more on what others are doing than on what they should be doing, this is a wrong type of focus. Whether you are in an employment, in business, or in ministry, you must stay focused on the dream that God has placed in your heart, and do all that you can to achieve it. Don’t be the type of person who knows more...

  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. I John 3:1 (NKJV)   We often talk about how much we love God, and how far we can go to defend our love for Him, as well as defend our Christian faith, and this is a good thing in itself. However, we cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger picture – how much God loves us. The truth is that when you really come to know how much God loves you, your life will be changed forever. It will look too good to be true.   There are many verses in the Bible that tell us how much God loves us, and how He demonstrated and still demonstrates that love. Unfortunately, not many people truly believe that God loves them, and this is a foundational problem. In our text, the apostle tries to describe the manner of love that God has for us. From John’s gospel chapter 3, verse 16, we know that God went as far as giving up His d...