The Audacity of God.

Have you ever being angry to the point where your arrogance exceeds your flesh? Hahahah it comes with an electrifying charge that make you want to run through a wall. Similarly if you have ever achieved a fit before that warranted a standing ovation, you almost feel the power and rush, the adrenaline pumping through. Its a feeling the breeds pride if unchecked, it makes one feel almost invisible. Now that feeling minus all its self centered intentions; that's an element of godhood, its a place reserved solely for in the infinite. Its power, glory and dominion all packed in one phrase called audacity.

The dictionary definition would help us understand better :1. boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions. 2. effrontery or insolence; shameless boldness

When God was leading me to write this article, I mistook audacity for arrogance so I callled it the arrogance of God, but after careful study, I discovered that arrogance is a completely different issue, as it concerns God, the right term is audacity.

The audacity of God is something that keeps coming back to be again and again. Its the sole privilege of God to be God.

To better understand this term. We should read deuteronomy where God warned Israel as regards going into the promise land, achieving and then claiming their success was of their own making. For the purpose of this article, we would read only verse 19 and 20 but the entire passage comes highly recommended (i.e Deut 8v11-20).

Deuteronomy 8v 19- 20

19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

20 As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

 This articles is some worth similar to another one I call the arrogance of success. That's because the take their reading from same scripture. Anyway back to audacity, when God says a thing,he expects us to believe it. That's because God never says anything that he cannot do. In the account of Zachariah the father of John the baptist, God sent word to him that he was going to have a son, he doubted, God made him dumb pending the arrival of the child.

The integrity of God is tied to his identity which defines him. Whenever God says anything, I mean anything, it means he not only have capacity to execute it, that statement would be executed by itself. In essence God does not need to move to get things done, things happen the way he says the would. You see that's a higher level. Making things happen requires effort but when things happen cos you said so; now that's real power.

God has said many thing in history and man is fond of asking how shall this things be? What we don't know it that things don't question God, things answer to God; so if God says no man would ever eat of a fruit from a particular tree again? Then the tree just responds by dying. Similarly when God says tabithakumi, then life finds its ways back into the situation and the child lives.

This is the wisdom that defines the concept of redemption by grace through faith. Its does not have to be logical, so long as God says this is what I would accept, that becomes the only condition for approaching his throne, its either the blood of jesus or nothing else.

The ability to define new rules and new terms are sole heritage and reserve of God, the world does not define how life evolves, God does; so if God says nothing shall harm you when you trust him, everything hears that statement and stay off your part. I tell my friends that we must not mistake the ranting of satan to mean there's a challenge between God and the devil, let's get something clear, God owns the devil, so is hell. God created the satan, I mean satan has a beginning and God orchestrated his existance. When you understand this, you would know that nothing is or can be above God.

He said because there is nothing higher than himself, he swore by himself. Now that's power. There is nothing bigger and more certain than God to hold him by so he swore by himself. Guys this is what am talking about. The validity of a contract or promise is tied to the integrity of the promisor, meaning that for money to be money, there must be a higher authority which in most human cases is the government, so for our hope to be certain, we were assured by God, the author of life that you'll never know shame.

The power to say and execute without change belongs to our God, until we understand that our security is in him, we might keep trying to interprete events instead of looking at him who is the author and finisher of our faith.

He said I AM GOD. Hahahah common guys, he shook jericoh and brought it down, he told Moses to stretch the rod and the sea understood the implication, the moment we obey, the forces of nature understand the objective of the instruction hence the follow through and the rest is what we call a mracle.

To enable you understand the certainty of the promise of God, you need to read the accounts of the bible again and focus on the audacity with which God speaks, he knows he's in charge, the problem is we doubt his supremacy, we often say we believe but true believe is reflected in the way we respond to Gods word. The willing to die syndrome that's inherent in the jihadist muslim is a reflection of how much they allow what the believe to infuse and influence them. The question is; would we be able to believe God unto death. The audacity of God is certain, he did not say anything in doubt but we take his word lightly hence we negotiate its acceptance based on circumstances we find ourselves, that is wrong. God is the same today, yesterday and forever. He meant what he said and he said what he meant.

As a child of God you should let your positive imagination of Gods abilities and awe run far and wide, then tell yourself that God exceeds that. The problem we have is that every time we think of possibilities by God, we interpret possibilities and timing through our own eyes. We need to start looking at possibilities as exceeding what we can understand, for God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly and far above all we can ask or think so when you feel God is late, please be quick to remind yourself that no, he's got a better plan that your mind could not imagine hence unable to expect, analyze or understand.

We are dealing with a God that's so big; the earth is a stool for him yet at his instance, he decided to live in our hearts.

Understanding the audacity of God requires having a strong imagination to help us sort out details of his unending show of power and glory through the pages of time as he worked to reveal himself in the way we can understand.   

God bless you

Igonoh Godwin

04/08/2012

"The Orchestration of God and the Rich Fool"

In the bible. God talked about the rich fool. He said he achieved by his power, whereas God gave grace for increase. Meaning that the application of knowledge that drives success is a product of an orchestration of God.

Every time we analyse God out of the equation of success, we instigate our own downfall

God rules in the affairs of men. In him we live, move and have our being.

Bible says all authority are put in place by God. It means all authority are orchestrated by God

So literally there are no coincidence with God.

So I walk into laterna and met a lady. She happen to be sane and Godly. On the surface it look ordinary but in the big picture, there's a divine selection taking place at all times. Especially when your will was not fully powered up at the time of conception of the relationship. That shows that someone else was at work.

Am still trying to fully articulate the content of this revelation. God rules yet man is responsible for his decisions. The purpose is Gods but that acts are mans. God uses our acts to fulfil his purpose.

Until we align ourselves with God, we'll never fully understand the truth that God saved us to walk us through the details of salvation. Its a complete package........ to be continued

The God of all Eggs & More.

Just to encourage you. I had a rough day before church on a certain day . Got news that unsettled me regarding the week ahead. I prayed about it but I was still worried. After church I went out and finished late so I decided to buy bread,eggs and milk. I went to bed asking God to step into my week and save me the embarrassment. Anyway at night I had a dream, I saw the eggs I bought the night before. I was told that some of the eggs were bad. I woke up and just before leaving home decided to fry the eggs. The first one was bad, so I started breaking each in a separate bowl. I had very bad eggs amongst all. Anyway just then the holy spirit said to me if God can be concerned about the eggs you bought, he definitely would do more on any issue that confronts you. Now I have peace to encouraged others knowing that God is still on his throne.

That said I know the problems confronting my family and business won't just go away but there's someone well able to handle the moments as they come. God can and will protect us all, he promised in his word that he would never leave us nor forsake us. If I have to break that down, it would read like this: I would sort you out in all situations, even in cases where you made wrong choices and you have to face the consequences of those choices, I would face it with you. So that God is not an insulation from challenges but he is a shock absorber. This understanding would help you stay calm in the face to trials and temptation.

Like he protected my breakfast by revealing to me that some eggs were bad, God is in the business of revealing details of yet to be events to his children; he certainly hopes that we would heed the warnings and do the right thing. For I would have lost the eggs if I ignored the warning. This goes to show that Christians have a role to play in bringing to pass the promises of God. There are certain requirements that need to be met to enjoy the benefits of the kingdom. E.g relationship and fellowship with the father.

Briefly let me touch on both. Relationship is what the sinner needs to access the promises of God. This means that you must be restored back to God through Jesus. You must confess your sins and acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God and he came in the flesh and died on the cross  for all of mankind and was raised back to life on the third day that who ever believes would have eternal life. This guarantees you a relationship with God.

Secondly we have fellowship; this is for Christians, its the essence of salvation. To commune with the father to enable us replicate his will in all situations at all time. For a believer to draw power for his relationship with God, you'll need fellowship. Fellowship in my view is the hall way through which we journey towards knowing God while relationship is the key to opening that door.

Relationship and fellowship summarises the purpose of God and man. Prayer, worship etc are instruments that are applied to building, maximising and running the relationship as the case may be. God is very much interested in every little detail of our lives. From little things like eggs to big things like sucess of our businesses or purpose in life; God is captain of all. We need to rest in this understanding and let God be God alone.

God bless you.

Igonoh Godwin

03092012 

Nuggets of Purpose

Surely; there's something about you that makes God wake you up daily. I think its more than your job, money or how pretty you look. Its important we seek out that singular reason why we are here. You can brush it aside or you can really think about it and start doing something more meaningful with your life; something bigger than self, cos time is running out. You are not a kid anymore. You are getting older by the day. Taking responsibility requires understanding what you need to be responsible for. Life is tangible enough to own, cherish and account for so live it well. Let the purpose of God drive your pursuit. Its never too late to start again. The objective is not to finish early; in fact the goal is to stay in the game no matter what. We finish when we draw the last cup from the well of time apportioned to us often called life. The events the fill the pages of history are lived daily; in essence we can define the quality and details of our history when we focus on a higher goal beyond self. Like I said before; you're not getting younger. Let's stand up and be counted; else "commot for road make I pass". The time to act on every new idea is now. A bigger failure is one that never tried. The sum of all attempt is the definition of sucess, for when we try, we get better and many betters make best. So quit complaining, do it again and again; until you are known for it. The next time you wake up; please don't wake up to your job; wake up to your work, for your work is your God given purpose. Invest in it. Igonoh. Godwin 10091012

I Love Pregnancy.

I love pregnancy; its fascinating. One seed carried for months produces another cry of a child, first word, a smile, a prayer and many activities that without pregnancy would never happen. The question is why did she have to carry the seed for a while, why not the ATM style, you want it? Punch in the pin and kposaaa comes the cash or the baby as the case may be. God had his reason for using pregnancy to incubate a seed. Its a programming stage. Every seed needs to be properly calibrated to deliver the right results. I love pregnancy;its fascinating. One seed carried for months produces another cry of a child, this cry unlike many is an announcement that a new addition to Gods purpose just arrived. During pregnancy, the host goes through a lot of crises, swollen feet,nose,more weight(seemingly disfigured shape of host) vomiting, restlessness etc. However after a few months; she not only get herself back, she gets more. The result and reward of incubation is a life. Yes I mean a life. God rewards every act of incubation or waiting with a transformation; a life is added, value is added. Therefore my dear friends if you are pregnant, either with a dream or a child, be patient cos after all is said and done, you would have good value for your waiting. Like I said before, I love pregnancy. We may vomit or even shit (pupu) on ourselves but when God is done with each of us, we would come forth as gold. The process of incubation requires long-suffering and patience. It would look like everyone is moving past you but trust me guys, when God is done with you, he would reveal something no one has ever dreamt of-YOU. You are in his will if you are born again. Don't let the odds intimidate you. What you seek would come. Just be a little patient. The process is important for optimum delivery of required results. I pray that God would assure you and keep you on this part of salvation regardless of the pressures you face daily. I wish you safe delivery. God bless you. Igonoh Godwin 18092012

Abused...just because I care?

Hello guys, I would like to share my thoughts on Abuse and I hope we can think briefly on few points. I would share a story then try to discuss few points that should guide us on the issue of abuse. Abuse is a very broad subject; we have child abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse etc. For the purpose of this discussion, we would limit ourselves to emotional abuse. Normally when a girl is 5 years old, she gets all the attention, dad would pick her up and tell her how special she is, he would buy her gifts and promise to love her no matter what. She gets older and soon form her own opinion about love based on the love her parents showed her. As we get older and independent, we go hunting, we start to meet people that we hope would affirm our belief that we are special and should be loved like dad said. Anyway like I said before I would share a story and we would all reason together. For the confidential reasons, I would replace the names of the parties involved. This is a true life story and I was involved so read and learn. I lived in a block of flats in Lagos Nigeria, most of us were young upwardly mobile professionals, I had this guy called Tony that lived across the hall, always keeping to himself, low voice and seemingly simple guy, I see him come and go with a particular lady called Onome, the look cute together. One particular day I got in from work late, at about 10.30pm I heard a loud cry on the corridor, a female voice echo through the hall way. I was wondering who it was so I waited a few minutes and if you know Lagos for what it is; people hardly come to your rescue on private issues, every one stayed indoor as Onome cried out for help, as I later found out, the guy (tony) locked her out, he first beat her up and then pushed her out. I went outside and persuaded her to come into my flat (wrong move I must confess) she unwillingly came in and cried so loud you would wonder if I was helping at all. Anyway I tried calming her down for about 2 hours, along the line I heard Tony's door open and close so I went out to see if we could talk but realized Tony threw Onome's things outside in a black waste bag. I brought the bag into my flat and when Onome saw this she jumped up and landed on the floor with a loud cry...Oh lord Tony why? Why? Tony put my things in a waste bag? Omg why why and she cried. I was surprised. For me I did not make a big deal from her things being in a bag but she saw it another way entirely. To cut the story short, we started talking. Me: Onome how did you get into this? Onome: …But I love him. Me: Can you see what you are going through? Onome: I can't believe Tony would do this to me. I have given everything to please him. I give money, my body and my time yet this is how tony repays me. When his mum died, I was there for him, when he had his exhibition and no family member was there, I stood my him. Me: where are your parents Onome? Onome: My mum is in Surulere. Me: Don't you think you should go back home Onome: No Me: Are you in school? Onome: I am a graduate from Unilag Me: what? So you have finished school? What are you doing here? Onome: I love Tony. Me: I don't understand; why don't you get a life and do something. Onome: No I don't want to do anything but love tony. I feel my goal in life is just to love Tony. Then she starts vomiting. Alcohol all over my floor! I try to help but the next vomit was on me. Onome was crying, vomiting and talking yet all she could say was I love Yony. It sounded insane to me. She had lost her senses to Tony. This certainly is not love. I later discovered that Tony was sleeping with another girl and beating Onome yet Onome felt it must be Tony or no one else. She said her mum warned her that Tony was no good but she did not believe her. Now here's my point, of the many types of abuse, the most ridiculous in my view is that which is self inflicted. I am yet to fully articulate how a man can consume alcohol and fall into the gutter yet do same the next day or how a lady would use her 2 legs to visit a man that raped her one too many times. It’s unthinkable to note that Onome would be told by her parents that Tony was no good for her yet she would rather stay and take all the mess. Most abused person live in the delusion that he or she (Abuser) would change. Most ladies that are abused either hope for a change or tell themselves it’s not that bad. It’s so unfortunate that many young ladies in an attempt to prove that they are now adults forget to check and check again certain attributes to see if this man is who he says he is. We are often driven by greed and a desire to be cared for that even the devil in an SUV is good enough. Ours is the only generation that can graduate with a good degree from the university yet lack ability to use our head to make sound decisions. It has become clear that most ladies fall one too many times not because they did not see the hand writing on the wall but because they decided to ignore it. It makes me wonder how you can be so loved as a child yet seem to align yourself with a substandard and half baked man all in the name of love. I have also discovered that many of us say we are adults but we are just over grown babies. We cannot make sound decisions neither can we let the right people counsel us. We are quick to think whoever counsels us is trying to run us aground. Another friend who ended up in a bitter marriage once confess to me that she made the biggest mistake marrying the man she married, in her words, “being a man is not about wearing TM shirts and straight pants, it’s about character”. Character is the only distinguishing factor between an animal and a man. It’s however sad that we embrace the beast clothed in sheep clothing. We love the cars and the gifts above the sense of hard work and commitment. We are quick to judge down the men that have character but lack the affluence we seek. We say we have our own monies but we are quick to make decisions based on what we can get. The question we need to ask is how did Onome get in to this mess? There are many of us like Onome, we sit in church every now and then yet we are victims not by mistake but byself election. We volunteer to be abused. We have been told by friends and family that certain decisions we make is not good for us but we seek to push home the point that we can be our own man or lady. Year in year out Christian ladies and men are victims of abuse; in the hands of shallow minded people yet we say God would do a new thing. We need to start by reassessing ourselves. You cannot say you did not know; the bible says no one can embrace fire and would not get burnt. It’s not possible to be called a bastered by a man that says he loves you and you say he would change. Who called you to change him? Or you are with a man that tells you there’s nothing wrong with hanging out with other ladies so long as his heart is with you- that is a big lie. My grand dad use to say man and woman cannot be friends for nothing, I don’t completely agree with that but I assure you there’s nothing like my best friend is a girl. A guy that is dating you and has another best friend who’s a lady is showing you a red flag; so is a lady that keeps male friends yet professes undying love to a man. Abuse is often eminent when commitment is founded on wrong principles. The crux of a good relationship is integrity, character and excellence (ICE). Any relationship that is built on lies and a shallow idea of love would never stand. Giving your body and resources with the hope of keeping a man is tantamount to postponing the true revelation of who he is. Sex has never been able to keep a man to a woman but character does. Character that’s built on anything other than the fear of God is the highest level of deceit. It’s completely impossible to find and keep a relationship using the dating principles of Hollywood. Moreover your said love for God is often tested by the quality of decisions you make in relationships. You cannot say you love God but you are driven by self aggrandizement. The humility that comes from walking with God often reveals the hidden intentions of people we seek to love of do business with.(Being sober helps vigilance) Onome was advised by friends and family that Tony was no good but she decided to keep the relationship till she became a punching bag; just like many of us who after many wise words from the Holy Spirit through pastors, friends and family we refuse to desist from certain relationships. We are volunteers or willing victims. An abuser would always have certain attributes that we must look out for: Complete disregard for God/Undistinguished sense of commitment for God Self aggrandizement /Ego/Pride/Arrogance Excuses/Procrastination/Lies Uncontrolled Emotions/Lust The list is endless, the bible say know yea not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost? Simply put, you have been bought and sealed with the spirit of God, that means your life must be driven by Godly principles, it’s not possible to think you can choose or find a man or woman that would give you peace using ungodly principles. I have said it before; because God knows that true love must be pure and without bias and he knows that finding love amongst us (Christians) can be hard once we step into our fullness, he often conceals the fullness of most Christian men so that only the faith of a willing Christian lady can unlock and release a Godly man into his abundance. That in my view explains why the most admirable and succeeding men in church are all married. If you ask their wives, they would tell you that at the point they decided to date and marry them, they had almost nothing but a sense of integrity, character and excellence. It also accounts for reason why only men that are engaged to be married look like men worth loving by other single ladies. God is in the business of setting us up for good. He protects the men from greedy ungodly ladies by ensuring their (Christian man) fullness is not revealed till a lady takes a loan of faith on them and believe in them because of Godliness. We live in a generation that integrity; character and holiness seem neglected for what we can see and what we can get. One lady once said Na integrity I go chop? Another said Godliness doesn’t pay bills. Anyway let me disappoint you, Faith is still the currency of the spirit, Godliness would keep what Integrity and character give’s you. The foundation of God remains the surest way to stay afloat in this game called life. When we let the world dictate and spell out how we live, we become willing victims for callus men to prey on. Abuse is inevitable when purpose is misunderstood. The purpose of a relationship is not “what you can get” but what you can both give to complete each other. God is the architect of love so we must look to him to help us make the best decisions. Whenever we decide to test the waters, we get burnt, It’s my prayer that God would speak to our hearts on this subject; that we would seek out relationships that add to who we have been called to be in Christ and not invest the best of us in relationships that demean us entirely. If you are a victim of emotional abuse, take a bold step, talk to a friend, preferably a pastor in church, there are phone numbers below that you can reach the leadership of this ministry on; so someone can speak with you. You need to look within you, ask yourself this: Am I not worth the commitment of a sane, decent and Godly man? Why should I be insulted and abused just because I care? God bless you. Igonoh Godwin 16/08/2012

MY GOD….the true blacksmith.

Growing up as a child; dad would smack me for not knowing how to do certain things. I was a bit surprised that the only language he used was the belt or the bulala (Hausa made animal skin) along the line it got me thinking, mum would always call me and talk to me, she would make effort to teach and then complain when I mess up. At least I knew mum was talking to me. Anyway mum was raised by a forest administrator (that’s my grand dad) while dad was raised by a blacksmith. It made me wonder if my paternal grand dad did not just panel beat my dad into shape. That said, I am an adult now, I had to make a decision along the line to start learning certain character traits on my own. The good thing was we were highly exposed to Gods word as kids. One big problem family had with me was the fact that I asked too many questions. I was just not comfortable with accepting things simply because you said that’s how it’s supposed to be, I needed reasons…..so from school to play ground and to the dinning table, I had an issue with everything. Now what I expected was to have someone teach certain things, I never got that. Rather I was smacked for either asking questions or not doing what I did not know how to do. I made effort to learn from certain people, one thing I bless God for is the fact that I could discern good people from bad people as a child. I won’t say I had it all together, because in the long pages of my past, I have littered, stories of wrong turns that obviously emanate from wrong choices. Now am an adult, I have had occasion to listen to so many speakers try to dissect the seeming refusal of young people to do certain things. One question that comes to mind a lot of times is how do you blame or smack a person for what they don’t know how to do. There are so many young adults who live the way the live because that all they know how to. It’s so easy for us to say in this computer age, one should easily pick up right qualities from the environment but I would ask which environment? The one that's littered with corrupt and disjointed principles? Please don’t get me wrong, am not trying to excuse or condone the laid back and reckless standards of our society; am just trying to help identify the root cause of the problem hoping we can better address it. It’s a fact that many persons come from families with peculiar issues, some of us are from broken homes, some from violently disposed backgrounds, and some don’t even have a background. My point in the details of the events that transpired within the years that make up our formative years always have far reaching implications on our adult lives. For example, love defined to a child is TIME. How many parents gave quality time deprived of fear to their children; even where they did, there were cases of strong external influence, either friends or an uncle or aunty somewhere down the line infiltrated the system and sowed a seed to contradict everything good we were thought. Love therefore becomes distorted either for the little boy or for the little girl who never had the privilege of having both parents under same roof to call a home. This child grows to be come an adult, pretty, elegant or handsome but broken. We pad up with the right job, business, cloths, church activities and so on. However the details of our brokenness are quick revealed in the lingering crises we face as we try you confront love and loving. ; then comes the Joe who blames us for not knowing how to do what we were never thought. Well, here’s my view. We might never be able to determine what life throws up at us but we sure can maneuver. As Christians, we are often thought to anchor our hopes on the lord, this is true. It’s rather unfortunate that many of us find ourselves in the situation where mentors are lacking in our society. However it’s very possible for you as a person to do a careful and critical review of your life, look at certain grey areas and seek help. It’s very important we tell ourselves the truth that the society that raised us is broken; it’s a place where the best of us never lead, it’s a place where the most celebrated are the run down elements of our generation. We celebrate mediocrity; we praise appearance in place of content. We compete using the wrong indices and the church is not an exception. However all hope is not lost. God in the last age is raising men and women like he promised, he said he would raise stones and out of the mouth of suckling and babes he would ordain praise. In clear terms, God is saying if those shouldered with the responsibility of leading my people would not, I would raise the unqualified and qualify them to do the job. With that; you see you fit perfectly for the job. Many of us are not qualified to be called the hand maid of God, either due to our horrible past or due to our inconsistencies but the truth is, God has decided to work with us. You need to begin to accept Gods definition of you, you need to begin to see yourself in the light of who God has called you to be, you need to begin to forget the things that are behind and press onto the things that are ahead. The bible in jer 31.33 said…at the end of the age, I will pour my spirit on all flesh…. That includes you. The beginning of change is acceptance of Gods define of you. Let your identity be drawn from the content of Gods character. Let the peace that drives you be of the knowledge of God and not the shallow acquisitions of our time. It is true that God is at work, it is true that it takes a process and it is also true that you might not feel God working in your life but my dear friend, is it not also true that life is not driven by feelings? No one finds fulfillment by working by their feelings. Feelings as true as the can be are equally incorrect. Faith is the word. The bible says, without faith it’s impossible to please God. In the same vain, I believe it’s impossible to see God at work if you don’t believe. ROMs 8.28 say for all things work together for good for them that love the lord and are called according to his promises. ALL THINGS mean ALL. As a child of God, you’ll have issues, you’ll face challenges but that wont negate the truth which is that you’re an over comer. Bishop T.D Jakes would say you’ll win if you don’t quit. Winning is a state of faith, we need to understand that the promise is worth the integrity of the promissory. God is our promissory, his integrity in unquestionable. He is not a man that he would lie. God said it; you need to believe it and that settles it. Even if you were raised by a blacksmith who literally panel beat you into who you are today or you were raised by the gentle touch of a forest administrator, God can use you. All you have to do is open up your heart and ask God to heal you and fix you for his use. Indeed there is nothing the lord cannot do. Thank you and God bless you. igonohGodwin. 14/11/11

The 3rd Commandment.

Hello guys, I went to see a brother within the city; an unmarried brother I mean, there were two of us in the house, I was in my room on one of the days when I heard him drive in, with him was a lady, I heard them laugh a few times. However something caught my attention and it forms the bases of my write up today. The lady had a very cheap way of using the name of Jesus at every instance. She would laugh at any event and say Jesus Christ and the gentle man would laugh along. Initially I was tempted to think she was so into God hence the frequent use of the name of Jesus. Not until I realised that a slap on her hips would still make her say Jesus Christ. The most disgusting part was when she ended up in the gentle mans bed. Its so sad that most of us abuse the name of Jesus even when he cannot lay claim to our lives. Its even more shameful when we can't remember the essence of his death and resurrection. How can you be financing sin yet declare the name of Jesus Christ. Most of us have lost the knowledge and understanding of the efficacy of the name of Jesus; such that we can be stripping butt naked committing fonication yet shouting the name of Jesus. It makes me wonder what we make of grace. The bible says shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (God forbid). More so how can we neglect such great salvation? We cannot keep sitting on the fence on matters that concerns God and hope to make it through this generation. In January of 2012, we had a prophesy that declared that this year is a year of maturity of good and evil. I would expect that we would thread carefully and gravitate towards doing Gods will; instead we have somebody singing the name of Jesus from unholy lips. We no dey fear God again oh?...Imagine!!! Guys; we need to sit up. Grace is not to be abused. Jesus is a lamb and a lion of the tribe of Judah. We cannot take his name for granted. Its completely unacceptable. An average un believer calls the name of their presumed god with much reverence. In fact every time the call the name; the bless him. That is for a man that died and was buried to be judged on the last day; but we serve a God that upholds all things by the power of his word. He sent his word and he dwelt amongst us, he became flesh, died and was raised on the 3rd day and he is seated at the right hand side of God forever and ever. This is the one without every knee must bow and confess to his lordship; then one ingrate would misuse the name simply because you've seen a man that tickle your fancy. I might sound a bit harsh but guys the question is shouldn't I be harsh? Thou shall not take the name of the lord your God in vain. Its a command not a negotiation. I pray that the holy spirit would re-echo this warning in our hearts. God bless you Igonoh Godwin 15/08/2012

Wrong Number

Many times I get a call and the man or the lady on the other end as for Ngozi or Hamza, its always one name or the other, it can be so annoying when they keep calling just to see if their expected line owner would pick the call. Anyway that is why I decided to call this article Wrong Number. Last Night I got a call, my phone rang and I picked, like the usual days when I get a call from a mistery caller, I usually say wrong number and hang up so I hung up; but the caller called back again and again till I decided to spare a few minutes, then I said who is this and what do you want but there was no reply, I repeated myself 3 times but no reply. I decided to keep quiet to see if I could pick any background sound, I became still and calm: just then I heard a male voice, he goes: Voice: Hi Godwin; do I have your attention now? Me: Yes and who are you? Why do you keep calling my line without saying a word, look I have things to do and I won't entertain people the call to waste my time. Voice: Godwin shut up and listen. Then all of a sudden, it felt like time stopped, every cell in my body froze. Then comes the shocker. Voice: I am God. I have been trying to reach you. I need to have a conversation with you. At this point I was stone cold, I could not speak, probably because he said shut up and listen. Then he asked Voice: Are you there Godwin? Me: Yes I am. Voice: Do you have anything to say? Me: Yes Voice: Speak Me: Am I dreaming? Voice: No you are not. Me: So let me ask you a question and you would answer to show you are who you say you are. Voice: Go ahead. Me: What was I doing before you called? Voice: You were in your room writing a letter and the last word you wrote before I called is "NOW". Me: At that point I was afraid to say another word because he was right so I said Lord am afraid. God: I know but don't be afraid. I need to talk to you about a few issues. I am worried about your recklessness and your complete lack of understanding of purpose. I have spoken to you time and time again but you keep falling into the same trap. Last week you asked for grace and mercy to be able to do my will, you keep asking for forgiveness of sins and I can't but wonder, what is wrong with you? There is grace already and my mercy towards you knows no end. You are forgiven of your sins, I need you to understand this. My objective is not to spank you but to have fellowship with you. What sin does is that it automatically create a divide between us, that's not my fault, its simply the order of things. I don't behold sin but once you say sorry, the lines are opened again and we should start talking freely but the way you keep asking for forgiveness for same sin makes me wonder if you really understand the efficacy of what I did on Calvary. The problem is that if you don't fellowship with me you won't understand my purpose and that applies to everyone else. I seek worship and commitment. Secondly, what is this thing I hear about "God is about to do a new thing". I am not about to do a new thing; I am already doing it. Godwin; are you listening? Me: Yes Lord. I am Where did you get the idea that I am about to do a new thing? Did I not tell you that at the end of the age, I will pour my spirit on all flesh? I have done just that. The effective application of my power is tied to the release of my spirit. Walking in power requires certain principles which I would share briefly. 1. Be Sober: Being sober is cardinal to hearing from me(God). Too much activity and noise makes hearing from God almost impossible. Many times you rush to speak to me and you walk away, conversation should be 2 sided. When you speak, listen and wait for the reply. Be expectant and you can only do this by being sober. 2.Listen: I am always speaking on matters you have not yet mentioned to me; like the other day you were chatting up that girl by the road; I told you to walk away; she's bad business for you. All she'll do is drag you to your knees but you were smiling and lost in lust, it took me using a bus driver to splash water on you to get you away from there. That lady way a well packaged plan by Satan , for your destruction. I need my children to listen. I am interested in speaking to each of you. When you read your bible, always know I will speak to you. Most of you think its just your mind thinking out loud. Let's get something straight; your human mind cannot think good or straight. Whenever your mind thinks pride,lust and arrogance, that's your human mind but when good things like forgiveness and giving etc come into your thoughts, that's me speaking to you. So stop thinking its your mind. I am always speaking to all of you and I need you to listen always. 3.Finally Prayer. Your prayer is too repetitive, do you think am deaf? Then what's all the shouting all about? I hear your thoughts so trust me; I hear you when you pray. Don't mistake my silence of deafness. Sometimes your request are contradictory, for example you asked for open door but you are not willing to meet new people in church or at work. How am I supposed to introduce you, when you are rude and nonchalant. Some of you want jobs, wives or husbands yet you feel too good to mix with others. So I keep quiet and you start shouting as if am deaf. There are principles that even I, can't break. If you sow corn you reap corn. If you are rude, proud and annoying, no girl or man would like you. Similarly if you are too busy to pick a call you won't have a conversation with me. Me: Lord can I ask a question? God: Ask! Me: what about the times we pray and you don't answer; like when we pray for Nigeria to change. God: Who is Nigeria? Is it not you and all your brothers and sisters? None of you wants to stand up and say or act against evil. You just pray. Prayer alone won't cut it. You need to speak up... I quickly cut in... Me: God; Is it like Nasir Elrufai and Tunde Bakare are doing? God: Yes; Nasir and Tunde are trying to do what all of you should be doing. God: So like I was saying before you cut in. Change only comes when you decide to act differently. I answer all prayers when you ask right and act right. I want to see more effort and dedication on your part. Leadership comes with a price but my grace is sufficient for you. Just then I heard Oshodi Oshodi; I opened my eyes. It was a dream. The question is; can we take time to think about all God said? Sober, Listening and Prayer. May be just then we would understand why certain things are the way they are and how we can change them. Igonoh Godwin 12/08/2012

The Silence of God

The bible says when we pray, we should believe we have what we ask for and it shall be so. Sincerely, there are times that we don't even feel heard; again feelings like I always say can never be trusted, be that as it may, we are often torn between faith and doubt because of the seeming silence of God. Many times the silence of God can be deafening as it comes with the frustration that cannot be put to words. Its the kind of silence that the children of Israel witnessed while in Egypt for over 400 years, whereby they completely lost hope to the point that even Moses when sent, had to ask God," who do I say sent me". That simply meant that there was no knowledge of an active God in their daily life, the oppression was enormous and the pain was great. This is a very common place in life, when it looks like God is on leave in matters that concerns you, we sometimes think God is deaf or dead. It happened to job and many other people in the bible, even Abraham had his fair share of the silence of God. In the new testament, we had john announcing the coming of Jesus, it was strange cos for many centuries, there was no prophet hence no God in the affairs of the children of Israel, same goes for the case of Lazarus; it often feels like God does not exist, we feel so alone, we want to keep believing yet all the odds seem to point at the folly of holding on, we feel stupid and mocked by the seeming absence of an active God; this is the concept God is revealing to me lately. Its the silence of God. If you remember; I said the silence of God can be deafening. Its an irony, the truth is God is never on leave or asleep, in fact the farther it seems he is, the more involved he is. The purpose of the silence of God has never really being clear to me as one would wonder why a caring God would leave his children to wallow in abject confusion while he stands at the background in eternity looking into time yet doing nothing. It depicts God as a wicked God; till you see the outcome of all the situations that he seem silent about, I have never seen any case that we often feel frustrated about that went out of hand when it was time for God to show up. In fact looking back at Lazarus, Jesus was told Laz was sick but he went about doing other thing, when he eventually came, Laz had been dead for a few days, Mary said if you were here, Laz would not have died. Let's look at another example, when Israel left Egypt and were faced with the sea and backed by Pharaohs troop, Moses cried out, at one point Israel panicked and complain that Moses had brought them here to kill, Moses cried to God and God said this is not time to pray, stretch out the rod. Now here's what God is saying to us, "I don't PANIC". God is God alone, from before time began, he is God, unchangeable, unstoppable and unshakeable;nothing eludes him. When we approach God with a panicky spirit, we make it look like if God doesn't act now, the situation would go out of hand but we forget that nothing can go out of hand when God is in charge, so God is in the business of letting us get to the end of our line, He loves to demystify our fears by waiting in the background. The silence of God does not imply the incapacity or inactivity of God. The bible says for we know that all things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to his precious promises. As a child of God, you need to see Gods lordship as transcending all time, he lives in eternity and controls time, there is nothing that's impossible to God, he can undo the age and start all over again, God is not oblivious of the urgency of your request, he just understands the best outcome and time to act so he waits in the shadows of other events in your lives; to act at the best time. That's why in all of history, no one can point at God and say he failed me, no one alive or dead can say God can fail because that would mean he is no longer God. The silence of God is an orchestrated event to enable him showcase the excellency of his power. Read the account of the blind man when Jesus disciples asked him, who sinned that this man was born blind? Jesus answered and said; no one sinned but that the power of God might be made manifest. In many cases, we forget we exist to showcase Gods glory and how else can his glory be revealed except when seemingly failed situation arise; so my dear friends, your case is an occasion for God to be glorified. The silence of God is a divine orchestration by God to bring you to his expected end. His hands are not too short or weak that he cannot deliver you, neither is he deaf that he cannot hear you. If you are not in sin and you have done all there is to do on your part yet there seem to be no answer to your request, kindly start praising God cos your answer is right at the door. Don't give up, just wait a little longer, it would look like the situation is about to kill you but trust me guys, nothing can touch your life when God is on duty, if you don't believe me, ask job. You are Gods workmanship, he sits as a refiner of silver above you. The bible says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil,for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me... Guys, be glad. Let your friends and family mock you for trusting God; stand. Let the earth beneath you be shaken, stand; for God is able to exceed your imagination. The silence of God is an occasion for us to praise him; its a divine orchestration to showcase the hand of God in your life. God bless you. Igonoh Godwin 04/08/2012

The Abuse of Abundance...God,Grace and Man.

How many times have you heard someone say God is dealing with me and you wonder what its all about. Anyway I just have to say that now, that God is dealing(teaching) with me. From the accounts in the bible its pretty clear that whenever God needs to send a message, he separates the messenger to have a unique encounter that would help him or her understand the depth of the message. Similarly God would take you away from the usual to enable us articulate the unusual. God has been dealing with me on a lot of thing and the abuse of Abundance is one of them. The first time HE dropped word on this issue I felt "but I don't even have money so how do I abuse abundance? Most of us measure abundance through the balance of our bank account, it took a while for me to understand that Gods primary concern was not cash but something else. Guys God is worried about us all,not about cash but about how we abuse time,health and above all grace. Man is on the verge of loosing his grip on life and all God has given;not because of the absence of what we need but because of the abuse of the abundance of what we have freely received. Grace is anchored on faith in Jesus Christ,its the only reason why we are having a discussion with the father,its our premium ticket, our diamond card to fellowship with the host of eternity. Grace however is not an occasion for abuse but that seem to have become the case in most lives. Like dew, life is filtering through your days and many of us live in the deception that there is time, we seem oblivious of the fact that the much anticipated wrap up of time is approaching. Earlier in the year, we had a prophesy at the this present house church Lagos,Nigeria; that in 2012, good would mature and so would evil. For me that was a deep revelation. God is announcing something so important yet all we remember to do is pray for a break through. In seeking to get my attention, God revealed the emptiness of pursuit and the imminent danger when we abuse abundance. The grace of God is like life, you either live positive or you die negative but you must live and die. The same grace that enables us to rise when we fall is the same grace that empower us to serve. The bible records that Elijah was a man of like passion... Just like most people you see around making an impact in divers fields, they are people of like passion, they use available grace to enable them develop the gift they were given by God, just like you. An abuse of abundance is an insult on redemption, we are not saved to waste but to serve, investing in the mandate you have received of God is a sure way to maximise what God has put within you. The concept of abuse of abundance is obvious in many areas of our society, from government to businesses, we abuse resources all to indulge, the church runs is harmoniously engage in a competition with the world to showcase the most ridiculous of life and style all in the name of prosperity. Its made worse by the ability to conjure scriptures to soot any objective. All abuse is done in the face of glaring difficulty;faced by many people , so its either the recklessness of our youths with life whereas so many are at the hospital begging for a chance to have the abundance of health or its the abuse of valuable time where as there is a need to constructively engage systems and demand change. ( For we are light of the world). I am yet to fully come to terms with effective use of available time and resources for the furtherance of Gods objectives but from the little insight I have; I understand the abuse of abundance as something that currently cuts across most lives, unfortunately, the custodian of the grace for redemption are also caught up in this dilemma of misplaced priorities on this subject. We think we never have enough where as we have all that needed to turn the world on its head for God. In trying to understand the mind of God concerning this issue, God revealed to me that productivity is not by effort but by commitment, so he said as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is; meaning mans becoming is a function of his thoughts. I discovered that what we dwell on would grow into a vision. The problem with is that we dwell on seemingly right things but the purpose is completely floored by our greed and endless craving for more. Its either we are hiding behind the shadow of God to advance our ego or we are searching the scriptures to discover a way to polish our misdeeds. We never really purse to think " is God really in this". For we know that if we dwell on the idea or thought that God may not be in this, we might. Come to our senses and repent; so the enemy keeps us busy in this rat race called life without fulfilling the real essence of what we've been given. Life is not an opportunity to walk the earth and get a degree then pass on, its an invitation to serve with all you have received to enable us restore the kingdom of the father here on earth, we are called to worship and to serve, to showcase the excellency of the power of God that's at work in us, to do of his precious will; not to party and aspire to galvanise our existence with mind bulging Igonoh Godwin 210712

Dynamics of Tongues

The most effective or efficient way to pray when your understanding is jammed with contradictory opinions that seem to or seek to negate the position of Gods word is praying in tongues. Praying in tongues simply put is the ability to operate on a higher frequency in the face of bad or poor weather conditions It makes praying easy. The limitations of words are better dealt with using the abundance of words groaned in the spirit. Understanding tongues is best when you practice it. Shut your human understanding to avoid negotiating with logic. The logic of tongues is a spiritual thing just like faith. Approaching the principles that are inherent in the new birth with human logic is tantamount to wallowing in confusion. That's why we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Obviously using Gods word. Human logic is a hindrance to divine revelation. 1corth 1 vs 18.... Read it all the way down. For the message of the cross is foolishness to them who perish but unto those of us been saved it the power of God unto salvation. Release your heart to believe and there would be a release from within to speak. For out of thy belly shall flow a river, where so ever it goes, what so ever it touches, it shall live. So like Pastor Amanda said; neglect of gifts accounts for reason for poor or lack of results. If you work it;you'll see results. Aight guys. Its all yours, go for it cos we are all sons&daughters. He(Jesus) loves all of us the same way. Yes even you. Enjoy your weekend. Igonoh Godwin 08062012

Fit for the Masters Use

Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, it means there are other ways, coated with lies and leads to darkness. Let me remind us of another scripture, Jesus said I am the good shepherd, it means there is a bad shepherd; let's get this straight, its possible to be fit for the masters use but which master? Once Jesus said to someone you are like your father the devil, it means that the devil has a fully functional deceptive system, designed to mimic the authority of God. Hence when we say fit for the masters use, we need to emphasis which master cos some of us are unknowingly or knowing living a contracts that contravene the authority of God. You cannot be visiting a witch doctor for charms and claim you belong to Jesus neither can you be sleeping around as a single person and claim you are with God. Don't be deceived, church attendance accounts for nothing, don't get carried away by your attendance, God is not impressed by attendance but by obedience. Of what use is a well attended service with completely unfaithful attendees. Our many works do not impress God when our hearts are far from him. Face it guy, being fit for the masters use is not just a cliché, its the confession of a believer who has been forged in the furnace of Gods workshop. The bible says by their fruits you shall know them. Any vessel fit for the masters(God) use would never be mistaken for otherwise; So check yourself again, are you fit for Gods use or just another porn making a caricature of the entire process of redemption. God said; if your neither hot nor cold I would spit you out. There is no sitting on the wall, you are either fit for Gods use or you are not. God is looking for committed hearts, people that would take a stand come rain or sun; so make a decision, that you fell is not an excuse to stop trying, its in your many attempt that you master the needed skill for doing the job. Practice makes perfect, endure that your purpose is right with God, a fall of a God driven person is just an occasion to be better, your greatest undoing is when you are neither here nor there. When you make a decision to stand with and for God, it comes with ap pending challenges but so is the limitless grace that comes with your decision for God has already provided all that's needed for the journey; so quit dwelling on one failed event and look at the bigger picture. To be fit for the masters use, you must be ready to be forged by the master and trust me guys, when I say forged, its FORGED. God would overturn every cell in your body till you realise that he is your destination and the journey is meant to reveal himself(God) in you. God is the master planner, in the decision to serve him is the decision to be crucified with Christ, this is something we need to understand to help us hold firm when it looks like the earth beneath us is caving in. So again I ask, fit for the masters use- which master; cos if it the God we serve, the unstoppable, unshakeable and unchangeable God; then you got to hold fast no matter what comes your way. Its a decision you must make independent of emotions and sentiments, cos until then you'll confuse fit for the masters use with fit for the masters use without really asking the question: which master? Igonoh Godwin 210712

And Peter Sank...doubt;the greatest hindrance

If there’s anything that limits the full attainment of the power or the certainty of the promises of God, its doubt, often driven by fear; this was the case in Mathew 14 v 30, the entire event started from v22 when Jesus had to send his disciples ahead of him, late into the night, Jesus went out to meet them ;when  his disciples saw him and thought it was a ghost, the cried in fear but he calm them down, but Peter said Lord if it be thee, tell me to come and Jesus said “come” . Peter stepped out in faith, he walked towards Jesus then all of a sudden, tragedy struck, Peter realized he was walking on water, his eyes were opened if you may, just like Adam and Eve in Eden, the moment they lost touch with God, their eyes were opened then they knew they were naked. Its so common for our eyes to open to reveal the worst of us, it makes me see the concept of an opened eyes as a closed spirit, in that the use of that term never seem to connote anything good other than they loss a place of excellence, so just like Adam and Eve, Peters eyes were opened and he saw the storm and Peter sank. How often do we ask the lord to bid us to come only to turn around and refocus on the little challenges around us, its good to know that Peter made progress so long as his focus was on the lord and not the storm, in fact the amazing thing is that the storm was there all the while, the bible records that there was a storm and Jesus walked towards the boat, how come all of a sudden Peter remembered that there was a storm? The point I want to make here is focus, your focus determines how long you will stay afloat in life, walking on water is a possibility so long as you are walking in the divine conditions of faith, the bible says “the that know their God shall be strong and do exploit”, it simply means that the limit of exceptional move of God you’ll see is determined by your focus or knowledge of God, knowing here connotes communion. And peter sank, we sink daily not because we sinned but because we loose focus of who promised what, its so easy to loose track of the promises of God the moment the storms buffet our ship, the moment the devil reminds us of our last fall, we give in to doubts and unbelief, that’s why we sink, not because we sinned but because we doubt, doubt is the greatest single inhibitor of progress for a should be faith driven life, doubt is the enemy within that silently seek to hinder you from walking in the fullness of the promises of God. Its also good to not that doubt often comes from fear, probably fear of failure or fear of shame, or even the unknown, fear defined as Fake Evidence Appearing Real can take hold of you and reduce the word of God to empty letters. I know people who are afraid of dying hence they don’t travel or get involved in any form of activity, I told one of them you are already dead, same goes for a lady who wont date cos she wouldn’t want to get hurt, I also tell her you are hurting already, when you let fear take hold of you, you literally become a dysfunctional person, you become paranoid, a skeptic and eventually a victim of your fears. We cannot let the devil infiltrate our lives by entertaining fear, for when fear comes in then doubt settles within. God said I am the lord, is there anything too hard for me? At times I ask my friends why don’t we see changes in our lives even when we say we believe, in the many discussions we had to understand that topic, we discovered that faith is not saying it but believing what God says and walking in it, it’s a common thing to say it but act contrary to what you profess. If you believe you are healed by God then act like you are healed, if there’s a business problem and you prayed then you should trust God and not only declare the problem is solved but act like its solved, same goes for the pretty lady looking to God for a relationship that works for a good end, you need to stop acting desperate, rest in the promises of God, he said he would not withhold any good thing from them that love him. Rest in the knowing that God is in control,theres no need to run helter skelter,let God fulfill his word and please stop trying to help God, his hands are not too short that he cannot deliver you. We need to understand that God upholds his word above his name. That said, you need to start by putting away doubt, how do you do this? by feeding on the word of God, faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God, exposing yourself to Gods word is the fastest way to validating the promises of God. And peter sank, then he cried out master save me, then Jesus reached out and held him, Jesus said oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? He doubted cos he saw the storm, my question is why did Jesus ask that question? I guess the answer is clear, true faith wouldn’t dwell on obvious crises, faith sees solutions. Jesus expects us to focus on the solution, you see we are back to the issue of focus again, friends walking with God requires focus, focus on the end, on the master, on the purpose of God, the bible records that Jesus endured the cross,dispised the shame for the joy set ahead of him, focus is the key. I pray that we would take a clue from Peters experience and work on our focus, it’s the underlining factor for the effective fulfilling of Gods promises in our lives as believers of Jesus. The word works. Halleluiah! Written by Igonoh Godwin 4/05/12

Journey of ONE…. loneliness of transition

Hello there! I have been thinking of the process of dying, it’s been on my mind lately; I don’t mean death but dying. Dying is when you have reached a point that you know that you are leaving this place for another, in dying there is room to think, you get to ponder on life and all you’ve done in the past, dying is different from sudden death, people like King Hezekiah in the bible days experienced dying, that was why he could pray to change it. Ok enough of the analysis of dying; my reason for pondering on dying is simple, at the point of dying, we often get caught up in the loneliness of the process, its so common to be surrounded by many yet feel so alone, that’s because in the physical you are surrounded by people by in the real sense of the process, you are alone. My quest to understand this process is born out of my experience in business decision making, I have come under immense pressure by family and friends for certain decisions I made about business et el,its so hard convincing onlookers that the part you choose is the right once, one of the times, I was told I was wrong where as I am convinced that am on the right part, in fact that said inner voice we seek to hear often reassure me that my decision is the right one, however its been a very lonely journey as only a handful ever appreciate the value of convictions. Its more amazing when none of the said family members or friends have ever been in business. Anyway my point is this, I have learnt to walk in unfamiliar territory, a very lonely one I must say. Its this loneliness that spur me to study the process of dying. The loneliness that comes with transition is something that can only be understood by people who have transited from one level to another, it take you knowing by faith that where you are in where you ought to be, I know that Christians are not often disposed to thinking of the death or dying thing but for me I believe there is a need for us to understand the need to make certain decisions alone, its not a “we” thing, it’s a you alone thing, I am hoping that in discussing this issue, we can pause for a moment and think about the need to be more fervent on matters that revolve around building a relationship with God. I want us to identify this fast approaching reality that one day you would do this process alone, you wont be able to hide under the umbrella of tph or twb or which ever church you belong to,you’ll have to face the process of your transition all alone, this should not scare you, rather it should spur you to think about strong words like accountability, righteousness, salvation, judgment, eternity etc. Am sorry guys, am not here to spoil your mood or fun, am just trying to help you understand decision making and the process of accountability that must take place after here. Your life is a gift, it would warrant a return on investment, living young can be fun and for most of us it comes with appending recklessness of this generation, we do as we like and if we want to be nice, we polish it with few scriptures, its so cool lately to be hip, however I hope we don’t loose hold of the entire mix called life simply because we want to be hip. I love being hip but I love knowing the cost of being hip, ours is a generation that’s fast loosing its sense of accountability, from government to churches, everyone seem carried away by the frenzy of the season that we soon forget that there is something called accountability. We are children of God hence we should know better, God would demand of us an account for time spent here. Dying would be alone hence the need for us to judiciously use the time allotted for the benefit of what really matters and by that I don’t mean quit your job and become a pastor, I mean live knowing that there are expectations, let your life count that men may see and give glory to your father who’s in heaven. Like the decision to stay in business or marry a person of your choice, walking with God is a decision you’ll have to make independent of anybody’s influence, making an effort towards being faithful as  a believer in Jesus Christ is not negotiable, Gods grace is available to see you through. This is not such a popular topic, probably because it wouldn’t have a lot to say about blessings; anyway I hope we can reminisce on the issue and do the needful, make adjustments where needed and lets keep focus on the goal. Ours is a call to worship with faithful hands. Don’t get into bed with the system; we are in this world but not of this world. I pray that we would wake up to the call to be steadfast in what God has called us to do even when it seems unpopular to advance our relationship with him. God bless you Written by: Igonoh Godwin 3/05/12

The Dilemma of the #ChurchGirl .

The "church girl" concept is made up of 2 groups, first would be the single ladies while the second group is made up of the unhappy and unfulfilled married yet could be termed single lady. In all, the concept of the church girl is a dissatisfied (embodied with loneliness) lady seeking frantically to understand the reason for her incompleteness even after embracing what looks like a relationship with God. Some call it a thirst or quest to be filled while others see it as a product of a social systemic abuse that has allowed greed to creep in; whatever the case, there's gross dissatisfaction right at the centre of her being. Not one but almost all the ladies seem to keep searching even after the might have found what many perceive as love. It’s like the case of lot’s wife looking back at Sodom and Gomorra even when she had her husband, kids and divine deliverance/ guidance (Angels on assignment) The average church girl is similar to an incomplete book or a book with missing pages, you’ll never fully understand what the book is all about till you find those pages, hence she's highly informed about the "logic of God" yet completely absent minded on the dynamics of God’s operation in certain areas of her personal life. I mean areas that were nurtured by notions that she inherited from a highly dysfunctional society. She fed on the imaginations of a few authors, pen down on the pages of a book or magazine, the analysis of what makes up the content of her understanding of her emerging female identity is a summation of lies and bias. Often tailored towards empowering her but eventually revealed as a design to destroy her. The philosophies that make up the secular idea of female gender liberation are built on faulty principles. To start with, the idea that female is limited by male is a gross misinterpretation of what really is. I strongly believe that to properly understand where the church girl is and where she needs to be, we need to understand how she was formed and the purpose of her configuration as a female. Being female is not a weakness, it’s a uniqueness empowered and contained in the seemingly weaker structure to support her function of caring, birthing, incubation etc. The idea that female is inferior hence in bondage and need liberation is an aberration. The propaganda for liberation may seem intelligent but so long as it’s basic premise is derived from the idea that male is stealing the show; then the whole liberation brouhaha is wrong. The bible says we are not of those that compare amongst themselves for such people are not wise. The authority that defines the identity of the church girl has clearly distinguished himself over the generations as accurate and perfect- God; HE is her maker (God), at creation, he saw her and called her good, the one that formed and fashioned her to meet certain objectives. Female is not a disease, it’s the completing software for the male man. Considering my assessment of the female man above and my leaning towards God, I guess it would suffice to say the church as it exist at the moment has the where without to fix the missing link; unfortunately that's not the case. The church should but doesn’t seem to know what to do with the female man. Asides the loud noise of "God would do it" the current leadership of the church seem lost in their attempt to figure out why the church girl seem unhappy regardless of all her commitment and fellowship attendance. Its like Hannah seeking God for Samuel, on the face of it, she should be glad seeing that she is loved by her husband, but the truth is that for every Samuel that is yet to birth, there would be dissatisfaction in the church girl. A good church girl knows that there's more to her than where she is currently, either as a single lady or married. Being fulfilled takes meeting divine objective. We would always feel single so long as our potentials are grossly undermined. Relationships (male and female) are the biggest un discussed issue in church and for the church girls, who’s wired to respond to love and attention, when that is missing at home, she turns to pastor for answers but as usual, pastor roll’s out scriptures aimed at bulldozing the problem away, continuously brandishing Proverbs 31.10 woman as the standard without diligently addressing certain issues that makes it impossible to attain that status. The deepest cravings of the church girl is finding human/male love (or acceptance as case maybe) even after she has found Gods love. Its so easy to say God would sort her out but from the little I know of God, he won't do again what he has already concluded, as regards the case of acceptance, God called her good at creation, God accepts the church girl but the challenges she faces and the seeming lack of understanding of situations around her seem to make her think otherwise. So the church girl makes mistakes here and there then ends up like our mothers, tied to the apron of another man who might know so many scriptures yet no articulate vision for the lady to "help meet”. This is part of the dilemma of the church girl, a gross misrepresentation of how God works vis-à-vis the constant inability of the man to utilise her gifting without feeling threatened. There's a great divide, a war of clashing identities, the world system seem to have conjured a new identity, elegant, attractive and seemingly outstanding definition of who she need to be so she can fit in as a stooge for media advert and anywhere else she might be needed, an object of pleasure today, tomorrow may be as a manikin for product exhibition, the use of the female as defined by the world system vis-à-vis her divine purpose seem to be in conflict hence she's trying so hard to meet up, a race set forth by the hidden hands that she first encountered in Eden, the same hands that sold the idea that once she ate the forbidden fruit of good and evil, she would be as God. That same hand is constantly working to keep the church girl busy to ensure her focus is distorted. From the above summation, its obvious she's at war with herself, however to fully understand the dilemma of the church girl we must dissect the male man. Just like Eden, the absenteeism of the male man who is supposed to be the custodian of the vision seem to have a direct effect on the obvious inability of the female man to accomplish purpose, this is because they were designed to function together, tending the garden (Eden) was a goal and in order to achieve maximum efficiency, a "help meet" was designed for the male man. When the male man is missing, blatant abuse of purpose is inevitable, its the same when the female man is missing in the life of the male man, his incompleteness shows in the exhibition of reckless animalistic tendencies that drives him into bed with every thing that skirts. The rhythmic consequences of having a visionary man available cannot be quantified. In creating a man and a woman, God seem to have locked up a lot about each other in each other hence we naturally gravitate towards each other. This is partly the reason why the church girl would seek to accomplish emotional balance by insisting on a successful love life. In this mix of identity crises is the God factor, the church girl is not without God or a form of God, she's born again, speaks in tongue, committed and professes faith, however the activities listed above have nothing to do with the practical application of God and Gods word. Its possible to be tongue blabbing, spirit filled yet be broke and clueless about life. One common mistake we make is to equate activities with understanding of God. We often embrace the person of Jesus while we toss to the bin his principles; whereas the world embraces his principles and ignore his person. Principles are everything, the universe was governed by laws/principles and so is the spirit realm. There is no amount of prayer that can save you should you decide to drive your car recklessly. Similarly walking in the fullness of Gods divine purpose requires an in-depth understanding of his will. There are laws governing relationships and an abuse of such laws would break you. The decisions we make often determine where we end up. As a lady or man, the choices we make have a lot to do with our philosophies, our philosophies are shaped by the quality of information we are exposed to; Unfortunately the church girl is exposed to a mix of good, bad and ugly information about who she ought to be. The media and social system seem to define who she should be at the expense of who God made her and as usual the glossy definition from the social system seem more attractive hence she embellish here and there with a few scriptures and a lot of activities to make the new identity look godly but at the end of the day, its all white wash. So much christainies yet no substance, we approach life with the said white washed and bible coated identity demanding a divine encounter which my friend is certainly impossible. You cannot sow into flesh and expect to reap eternal life or any spiritual substance, we cannot keep making decisions or living life using the new found standards (Social shenanigan) yet we seek to put a demand on the spiritual for something that’s of worth. That completely contravenes the scriptures. The bible says deep calleth unto deep, the true reflection of our value system is revealed in the decisions that govern our daily existence. We seem to have lost the sense of accountability that hitherto distinguishes us as people of God. There’s a very subtle way that our sense of godliness is eroded without our knowing. The bible calls it little little foxes that spoil the vine; so the church girl falls here and there, she prays so hard yet falls so easily, her list of why and when are endless, its back and forth, year in year out, the race is endless, the feeling of emptiness is ever increasing and we beg to understand like Apostle Paul, who shall save her from this life of misery, a mix of fulfillment coated with glamour, full attendance of daily Christian activities yet the feeling of insecurity knows no end. In the pages of history are littered the stories of other church girls that should ordinarily serve as a guide to the upcoming stylish church girl but unfortunately, the benefit of the experiences of those gone ahead of her seem to elude her, its still a mystery that we can make the same mistakes over many generations without understanding the pattern. Let’s take for example the case of choice as it concerns the average love life of the church girl. Its proven that most of the godly ladies end up with men less than expected, it’s a common phenomenon to have our best hands beaten and battered by one broken arrow called a man, I call him broken arrow simply because in my view, everyman that sees the success of a lady as a threat to his manhood is a highly incompetent and dysfunctional man, even if he’s a Christian, in fact that makes him more of a broken arrow. A man is meant to be the arrow head of Gods project in the last days, however most men have resolved to pursue their own agenda in place of Gods divine plan. Such men end up seeing the strength of the woman as a threat and his best shot is to shut her down to enable him flourish. The question I asked is how did the church girl end up with such a looser, what went wrong? The answer is simple; in the words of one of my friends, who happen to be in bed with such a man, she said and I quote” being a man is not about TM shirts and trousers, being a man is about character” I’ll never forget those words, she said them after she had the ring on, it was already too late. A very intelligent and God seeking lady; she however made the decision regardless of all the obvious signs. Yes I said obvious signs cos most times the signs are there, we just choose to ignore them. Its easy to conceal a habit like inconsistent study of the bible but its impossible to conceal complete disregard for everything that God stands for, yet there’re so many church girls that justify their romance with the shadow of darkness while hoping to change him. Like my friend above, she saw the signs but felt he would change, anyway the rest is history, it would suffice you to note that she also said people don’t change, situation would always bring out who the are. I don’t know about that but I certainly know she seem to have more facts and truth once she made a mess of her life by hobnobbing with the wrong man. Decisions are life lines for personal fulfillment, our decisions reveal the quality of our values, it’s the true indicator of where you stand as a child of God. It’s so easy to speak all the “bless you” without actually taking a hold of the substance of the God we seek to lay claim to. When we make decisions using shallow indices, what we get is always a shallow return. It reminds me of Prophet Samuels attempt to choose one of David’s brothers as king but God stopped him saying man looks at the outward but God looks at the inside. Its so common that the elegant ones are the misfit, whereas the seemingly dejected ones are the chosen ones, its still a mystery for me, I am yet to fully understand why God choose to conceal the best in earthen vessels while the empty pots always wear the pretty looks. It’s a spiritual mystery, its something the church girl needs to really understand that the scars of battle are not in themselves a disadvantage, in fact the are an indication that character is forged in the furnace of affliction. God is in the business of concealing the best in the mended pots hoping we would unlock it by the act of faith. Finally to conclude I would share a story with you, a certain church girl met a young man who really like her, she had knowledge that the guy was all up in her business; anyway when I asked her reason for ignoring him she said I don’t like him, I asked why, she replied he’s got flat butt, I was shocked, she had looked at all attributes and qualities in this young man, everything was good except his butt ,anyway it took the application of wisdom to get her to see the emptiness of her assessment. My point is we really need to work on our indices, the battle within us is best revealed in the decisions we make. The dilemma of the church girl is that of indecision and misinterpretation of God and Gods ways. Beyond all the spiritual gymnastics, its pertinent to seek understanding of who we are becoming. Use the word of God as a yard stick for measuring the worth of your decisions. It’s a continuous process, we need to keep assessing ourselves to enable us reap the benefits of a relationship with God. The bible says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, it’s an ongoing process; we need to be refined daily. There is hope for the church girl just like there’s hope for the broken dysfunctional male man but it takes commitment, it takes making the right decisions, I say ‘baby steps make giant strides. I strongly believe that we have all we need to effectively achieve success in all areas. Gods grace is sufficient for us, especially at this time when our strength seem small. To be continued… Author:Igonoh Godwin/27th April 2012

Thou shall have no other god before Me... I have none.

What's up guys? How's life with you? Do you remember the ten commandments? I learnt them as a child! My dad use to make us read up the entire Ex 20, it was so long for me as a child but what's amazing is that I never forgot those scripture even as an adult. Thou shall have no other god before me is one of the commandments! It has being ringing in my head with a new twist. Now here's what I mean. Whenever you go into church and its time for worship or any activity that requires the congregation participating, I noticed that so many of us are often too heavy to move. We are like run down molue, I don't understand why moving our bodies seem hardest in church. Anyway, God had been speaking to me on the above issue. There's a point you get to in life and you'll have to declare your loyalty and follow through. Its something the men of our time knew a lot about, I mean check out Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin of Uganda, Mormma Gadafi of Libya, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the list is endless, very bold men who took on their generation, many of them had selfish intentions, only few fought for a good cause; yet the fought to the death, suffered for what the believed, the moved so the world would move in their direction. I have never seen a people so obsessed by themselves or so uninformed about the person of their God like Christian, I know you'll say "its not true" but trust me, the way you move determines the knowledge/value you have of the God you serve. Worship and praise is never done in quiet, its not possible to be in your Molue mode and say you are worshipping. If really we say we serve a true God, why do we find it so hard to move and showcase our awe of him. Thou shall have no other god before me is a command and I say I have none, I make bold to say I have none and you can see this when I move. Can you say the same? What are we so obsessed about, what is in you that makes you too big of too classy to praise like a rascal, where do we draw the line between being civil and being grateful. If you believe God is all you've got, then act like you know. Let people in your office know that you are a son or daughter of the kingdom. Quit filling forms and writing Christian if you cannot showcase God in character. We are the custodian of the grace of God for the last days. We speak cause we believe. 1corth 1.18 says I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for its the power of God unto salvation. To lay claim to that scripture you'll have to do more than just showing up at meetings, you'll have to be actively involved. Infact to show you how much active praise and worship/participation means to God, the initial 3 commandments are worship based. Let's see them: 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me 2.Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 3. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Guys God says my glory will I share with no man. Its no joke when we refuse to worship, from the way God gave the commandments,I see that the soul purpose of man is to worship God. That's why we were created. Not to wear shoes and bags or drive Suv. We are the worship generation not the Prada or Gucci generation. Our first goal is worship. Praise is what I do. Worship is an art. Christians are people that act like Christ. If you are not bold enough to declare God, please start rehearsing in you room before your mirror, whatever you do please learn to move. I remember King David dancing his life out and his wife got upset he danced to the point of being naked. God punished her for querying David's devotion. God is interested in radical show off. I call it loosing your composure for God. Bring yourself to the lowest level to praise. Forget the hair, the shoes and bags, forget what they call you at work or how much you have at bank. God is Lord of all. Let everything that has breathe praise the Lord. Its my prayer that we would loosen up and praise like a rascal. Praise like you know who's the boss. Speak about him to someone as evangelism, just do something guys. Being docile is not good enough. We have grace for dominion. We are the arrow head of Gods agenda for the last days. Thou shall have no other god before me... Lord I have none. What about you? Igonoh Godwin 4/04/2012

The Science of God!

Good day to you! Let me go straight to the point by defining science as knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study. This is a tricky one, cos I just flip the God of science to get the science of God. The objective is simple, to help you understand the systematic culture of a constantly dynamic yet consistent God. Now that just made it more complex hahahaha. Anyway let me explain. God is the only unchangeable changer, so we see that he changes everything but he's a constant, if he's a constant, then systematically he can be predicted as unpredictable. The term systematic is a core part of the definition of science, this is because science deals with a body of fact that when subjected to test by anyone, the result would be the same. Hence if we test the hypothesis that 1+1 is 2, its expected that the result would be 2 all over the world. Science insist there must be certainty in out come of event, simply put, science is predictable. Now I know we were told that God is not predictable,however for the purpose of understanding what God is about to do in this generation, we'll be subjection everything we heard about God in the past to test. If you say God is not predictable then God is limited. What do I mean? If God is everything, alpha and omega, first and last, omnipresent and omnipotent, then God is everything hence God is a predictable God. Predictability implies being able to say what the outcome would be. If we constantly cannot hold God down by limiting him by our concepts and definition, then he is predictable by never allowing you predict him. The issue here is God cannot be held down or limited by certain facts, that in itself is certain. If we agree its true then God is predictable by being unpredictable. Where am I going with this you may ask? There is a need to understand how God works, its a common thing to say God cannot be boxed in yet we say his ways are not our ways. If we agree he has ways then we can equally study his ways. God dealt with Abraham,Isaac , jacob, david, Daniel, mishack, Abednigo, Esther etc using faith. Faith is a constant factor in dealing with God. When you study the account of Joseph,you'll see that he had a dream and saw the sun,moon and stars bowing down to him, his family felt insulted based on their limited understanding of the implication of the dream. However neither Joseph's family nor Joseph could predict the process that would lead to the revealing or performance of the dream. In fact Joseph could not have imagined being a prime minister in Egypt cos that would be incomprehensible seeing that he was in cannan and obviously not of Egyptian origin. There are so many things that God says and our minds cannot conceive its possibility, in fact many of us would not write down the details of Johns revelation on the island of pathmos, that's because it doesn't make sense. How often God shows us what he's about to do but we ignore it cos it doesn't make sense. We are a generation of sense racking experts, we know logic and we celebrate degrees. From Bsc to MBA and PhD, either from Harvard or Yale, its all out there. So paying tithe won't make sense neither would the idea that one can die for all make sense. The question is who told you God is a "sensible" God, since when did God start swimming in your ocean of logic? Its so easy for us to use scriptures to justify everything hence we also seek to use Gods word to demand he play by our rules. Common guys, wake up HE is God. From his antecedents we read in the bible, we can systematically prove that he is above board. God has ways and once thing I find interesting is that his ways are not our ways. The bible says the human mind cannot understand the things of the spirit, that means quit analysis of God using your natural or canal mind. Everything God says is true. We might not be able to break it down but trust God cos his word is yea and amen. Remember the bible records that if the devil knew the outcome of the death of Jesus, he won't have followed through with the crucifixion. God is a master planner, in faith we follow him believing that he knows what he's doing. Its important for us as believer to understand the nature of God as a science of walking in ways completely different from ours. When we say God can never fail, we simply declare that cos its proven that God always come through for those that believe in him. I feel ashamed whenever I see the way I easily take the words of my bank manager to heart when he says we'll give you the loan when you apply,same goes for my motto Mechanic,then my laundry man, even the okada man seem to attract more faith than God cos we gladly sit on a bike to be ridden by a boy we don't know, we've never had fore knowledge of his bike training but we just jump on the bike and off he goes, we trust him that he won't fail, we believe the Okada man but we doubt God. What an insult. This is the magnitude of mess we are in. Faith is the cardinal point of walking with God. Faith means believing in what God says. How come you find it so hard to rest in what he says? When would you stop trying and start trusting? Is it possible that all you need is unlocked by faith in God? Can you trust and let God so God can systematically unveil his plan for you? The science of God is the systematic walk of faith. Its historically proven that none can deal with God except you believe. The life of faith is not limited to confessions, its a practical walk. Faith shows in your lifestyle just like fear shows when you panic. Guys, our God is in the business of showing up in every situation but on his own terms. Like the case of Lazarus,Jesus knew he was sick but God had a plan. The seeming inability of Jesus to show up while Lazarus was ill did not negate the certainty of what God was going to do. Not even death could stall the certain resurrection of Lazarus via the hand of Jesus. By implication God is never limited by death or time. Our God is Omnipotent, no situation is beyond him. The science of man entails the ideologies of man, it is process based, similarly the science of God has its own processes, faith is a constant in understanding the science of God. Logic is the constant in human science, the problem begins when we try to use the logic of human science to demand interpretation of the science of God. It won't work. The bible says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need to be washed by the word of God,for faith comes by hearing of Gods word. I pray that grace would abound, I call it the grace to know. May God reveal himself in ways you can understand. Above all, may you receive understanding that God is not a man that he would lie. If you can trust your okada man, imagine what would happen of you put that same faith in Jesus. God bless you. Igonoh Godwin 24/04/12

The Aroma of Sin. (Understanding the road to a fall)

Hello guys!How's life with you? Its a new day and its April 1st, in fact the beginning of another quarter in 2012. I'm excited, not because of what I achieved in the past but because I have another opportunity to start and finish strong. I want to share few thoughts on certain issue, I call it the Aroma of sin, its actually aimed at helping you understand the reason for your last fall and hopefully assist you avoid the next one. If you've been to a bakery before, you'll notice the strong aroma of bread even from a mile away. Its so easy to tell what's cooking; if something is really cooking. Aroma is a product of heat effect on any substance. Put a piece of meat on the grill and you can be sure to draw attention in few minutes. The case of sin and the believer is a case we must openly discuss if we are to achieve relative sucess in our walk with God. There are habits that seem impossible to put away. We pray so hard yet we fall so easily. To fully understand this point, let's take premarital sex as an example. Its a common issue amongst young adults to struggle with sin of fornication. Its even worse when the church find it difficult to openly discuss our shortcoming in this areas even when its said to be the black-est sin around...if you know what I mean. Fonication or sex sin is a torn in the flesh, its the young man or young lady's greatest undoing. If you study the fall of every Christian in this area, you'll identify similar pattern. Many times we start out acting like it can NEVER happen to us and bla bla bla. I assure you that you may be victims sooner or later;(except we do the right thing) because we seek to negate the word of God that says "He that thinketh he stand should be careful less he fall." I have come to understand the scenario the precedes a fall to be one that must be dissected and exposed to enable us live above the fall and avoid subsequent falls. Christians are human hence flesh and blood. There's nothing like "it can never happen". The human body is a very vulnerable piece of art. If you try to under rate the power of inordinate affection/attraction between male and female then you might as well kiss your faith good bye. The bible says be not deceived, God cannot be mocked, what a man sows that he shall reap. If you sow into flesh you reap corruption,if you sow into the Spirit you reap life eternal. Many times we expose ourselves to dangerous encounters while acting like we have it all under control. Investing valuable time and resources into processes that would facilitate a fall yet dining the possibility of falling is tantamount to self deceit. The bible also says that who is he that would embrace fire and won't get burnt? We cannot keep entertaining the same people, environment or lifestyle that brings us to our knees yet claim God is in control. As a child of God, its expected that we would learn from past mistakes, there are certain people or events that you are vulnerable to, its the fact. Considering your weak position with God,(in that you are young) its important you guard your heart with all diligence and in the case of fonication or sex sin, its flee away from all appearances of evil. If you look at the last time you fell in the arms of lust, you'll identify certain elements: depression,insecurity and loneliness. Let me explain; for the young adult that feels left out in the fashionable game of our generation,in pursuit of fame and sucess, its so common to seek recognition and that is a sign of depression,insecurity or loneliness. I call it the big DIL. Big DIL (Depression,Insecurity and Loneliness) is a tool in the hands of the devil. Once you are tricked into believing nobody likes me, nobody cares and nobody see's me. You are about to fall. The ME factor always seem to precede self obsession of most young people which eventually leads to a fall. We can call the ME factor self centered-ness. Self is a seed that when fully formed reveals a tree called pride within you. The bible says pride goeth before a fall. Remember also that to be canally minded is death. For a better understanding, you should read the account of Lucifer. Before his fall;Lucifer was son of morning. He was the anointed cherub yet his heart was lifted up in awe of himself at the expense of God Almighty. Don't forget the bible records that God shares his glory with no one. The moment you become self obsessed with the idea that "ME" needs to be financed, then you are toast for sin. There's a direct correlation between self,pride,depression,insecurity, loneliness and all types of addictions. We cannot keep playing to the gallery on matters of sin and claim that God is in control. You are expected to work out your salvation with fear and trembling;that implies diligence. Be sober and be vigilant for the enemy runs around like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour. Diligence and vigilance helps you seek out the schemes used by the devil to bring you down. The Aroma of sin can be perceived by application of scriptures and constant practice of diligence and vigilance. Its the same old tricks guys, just different location and scenarios. The purpose has not changed. To steal,kill and to destroy. Understanding warfare requires walking in the spirit. The bible says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood.... But that does not mean that flesh and blood cannot serve as weapons used by principality and powers to frustrate you on the battle field. Friends, we need to rise up, sin is not a thing we dine and wine with. This is a call to order, you are Gods heritage, Gods workmanship. Yes you, I mean you reading this article, God is counting on you. The church of God is waiting for you to live an exemplary life so others can follow. Quit getting into bed with the enemy all in the name of liberty. Break that addiction, from sex to alcohol,from beating your wife to chronic telling of lies,begin to invest in fighting that habit,there is sufficient grace to overcome all weaknesses;you have grace to overcome the sins that easily besets you. I am confident in one thing that he who began a good work in us is able to complete it. That's the truth but that entails taking responsibility, sin dwelleth at your door step but God says you should have dominion. Check yourself, prune your friends and associates that seem to entice you into situations that get you compromised. Be yea unequally yoked with un believers;its still true that evil communication and association corrupts good manners. We need to end some relationships and start more productive ones. If after an hour with any friend and you feel empty then its time to let him or her go. Iron should sharpen iron. Friends are the window through which our lives are either refined or consumed. I pray that God would enable us to identify grey areas of our lives and deal decisively to prevent another fall. Now that's the benefit of understanding the Aroma of Sin. Igonoh Godwin. 1/04/2012