THE REAL THING ABOUT YOU

 What is the real thing about you?


But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

One day, the body will return to dust but your spirit will continue living hereafter in the Kingdom of God with our Lord, Jesus Christ. So, the real thing about you is not your body or flesh but your spirit. If the real thing about you is your spirit, then you are supposed to give more attention to your spirit. Faith is not of man’s body or flesh but of man’s heart or spirit. In the Bible, the spirit and heart are the same. Pay attention to God’s Word by meditating on it because God’s Word is Spirit and life. The Word of God has the ability to develop a spiritual force in the heart or spirit of man called faith. Faith is what makes you one with God and only faith pleases God.

PRAYER POINT: O Holy Spirit,create in me a pure heart and a right spirit within me that I may focus on You at all times.

We tend to spend more time and attention in taking care of our bodily needs and forget that the body is just a vessel for the real us. The real you is your spirit, when we leave this world, the real us will go away but the body will be left here on earth; to go become the dust it originally was. If we take this into thought, then we will realise that we need to spend more time taking care of the spiritual  more and more.

Let us nurture our soul, make it more comfortable for the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and have fellowship with us.  

I will liken the soul to the engine of a car, the, no matter how good looking the body of  a car is, a professional driver is always concerned about the engine, the engine runs the car. Admit that in the  series The Fast and The Furious, most of the cars used are not the most fancy looking ones, you could see that  the guys were more concerned about the engine. Be more concerned about your engine which is your soul.

Your clock is just a box without the engine, so is your toaster, water heater, stove, bicycle, the casing of your pen without the ink, these and many others make us better appreciate the importance of our soul. The well-being of our soul should never ever be compared with that of our body, a fulfilled soul is better than a perfectly kept body.

Stay blessed.

THAT REMEMBRANCE

Sometimes we underestimate the power of forgiveness. Not forgiving can be a hindrance to many blessings that can come our way. Holding grudges only slows us down, serves as a burden on us a always replaces the happiness we should have whenever we think of the person we are holding the grudge against.

Some sins seem unforgiveable, but if God can forgive us, send His son to die for us, who are we not to forgive our fellow man. Forgiveness only opens the way for greater things and brings us closer to our maker.

I will be sharing in this article, a brief message by Prophet TB Joshua of the SCOAN concerning forgiveness.

Please let us always try to forgive, no matter how hard it seems.

"Mark 11:25, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

You must always remember that you are a sinner saved by grace. It is the will of God for you to remember that you sinned and have been forgiven. For it is that remembrance that creates a loving, helpful and compassionate heart in you towards others. Forgiveness is not based on the magnitude of the sin but on the magnitude of the Father’s love. Jesus never bothered how grievous your sins were when He said, “Father forgive them”.

In mercy, we are not excluded. It is always unreasonable to forgive your enemy until you realise that you were once an enemy of God until He forgave you. It is this remembrance that creates love, compassion and helpfulness in your heart. Until that forgiveness is voiced and received, we should not pray because if we are not forgiving, the power of faith is short-circuited. Thus, it was Jesus’ great design to engage all His followers to love and forgive. As you read this, begin to remember, who you need to forgive today. Anywhere you are, as you have forgiven those who sin against you, get ready for your forgiveness to be voiced and received in the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ by faith.

PRAYER: Forgive me, Oh Lord; I will be forgiven, in Jesus’ name."

By TB Joshua

I personally find it hard to forgive in alot of situations, though I end up forgiving. This should let us know that forgiveness is not an easy thing.

I remember sometime back in school when a senior borrowed some money from me in his moment of need, I took more than half of my remaining money and lent it to him. He promised to pay me in a week.

Well let's call 5 months later a week, he came into my room one day and dropped the money on the table, walked out and never said a thing. It pained me because I never reported the matter to anyone, he should be laughing and telling me "hey boy, you are a good guy, you never disturbed me all this while and never reported".

No he walked away, honestly I never greeted him afterwards, I hated him for that. Count sometime down the line, I read about the importance of forgiveness and had no option but to forgive him.

We can forgive, yes.....as for forgetting, it is not humanly possible in all cases. I might be wrong though.

Have a nice time with Christ brethren.

THE DEVIL’S CHATROOM---- Secrets Of Cyberspace Crime! : Part 2

 continued from part 1

Largely enticed at the prospects of getting rich overnight rather than the desire to help, those involved would be stripped to the last penny. They would be connected to a fake bank where they would soon begin to lose money through remittances in an attempt to have the said funds transferred. Unknown to the victim, it would be the same fraudster, Benson, and a friend, playing the role of bank manager and his associate.

In some instances, he played the role of a beautiful girl looking for a man to marry online. He had hundreds of nude pictures from pornographic sites. These pictures he used in fooling men. In no time, he would begin proposing to travel to the potential victim’s country. Here is when the scam would really get going, as he would be asking for money to help with air tickets and other itineraries.

In yet another strategy, he had sophisticated illegal software which he secretly installed on public computers in cyber cafes. Back home, he would be able to follow every transaction by every person using the bugged computer. Such information he would use to dupe people through impersonation.

He had many people on his hit list and, unlike many of his colleagues in the trade, he netted the biggest catches. He even internationalised his network, with people representing him in other countries, particularly Europe.

He had become a master par excellence in his trade, to the extent that he duped people from across the globe of huge sums of money, which he deposited in various bank accounts holding tens of thousands of US Dollars.

Unknown to Benson, it was the evil spirits connected to the family idols that had possessed him and aided his nefarious gimmicks.

No Free Lunch With The Devil Satan gives with one hand and snatches back with the other. It did not matter how much money he made, he squandered it on beer and women – patronising bars and strippers. He started throwing the money around, as if it were scrap paper.

As he caused others to suffer, the demon also caused him to suffer. At one point, he was arrested while collecting $5,000 USD at a money transfer agency. Sometimes, he spent months in prison and would lose all of his ill-gained money in trying to get out.

The risky and evil life he led, defrauding people, resulted in a life fueled by fear and playing hide and seek with the police wherever he went. He returned to Nigeria and strange things started to happen under the influence of the crafty Idigun.

If he bought a car, he would ride it for a few weeks and it would develop mechanical problems. The more money he made, the more the problems. When he tried to invest in land, he lost everything. He would spend huge sums of money to purchase land and, from nowhere, another person would come with documents, claiming ownership of the land. He started building a house but clashes over the property led him to abandon the project after investing a large amount.

He also had been at the receiving end of evil attacks, dreaming of the two family idols, Idigun and Olokun, fighting over him. Idigun would have two heads, a human and a dog’s, while Olokun appeared with human male and female heads.

continued here

THE DEVIL’S CHATROOM: Secrets Of Cyberspace Crime! : Part 3

continued from part 2

Free At Last! He realised then that he was in deep trouble and the downward spiral his life had taken pointed to a bitter end. He knew he would be completely destroyed without divine intervention. He decided then to come to The SCOAN, accompanied by his younger sisters.

On that phenomenal day, the Man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua offered a prayer of rescue. It was such a powerful prayer that after others sat down at the end of the session, Benson remained in fervent prayer.

He prayed that his case would not escape the anointing of God and the moment came. As Wise Man Christopher stretched his hand in his direction, the once calm man snappily dressed in suit, contorted and suddenly changed into a wild and angry being. Light had caught up with the dark creatures illegally residing in him. It was now just a matter of time before the demons were cast out.

The dirty spirit in him, unable to withstand the power of the Holy Spirit, ruptured and spoke: "I am the Idigun in the family. His father dedicated him to me. I gave him the spirit of stealing on the Internet and made him a professional. He collects money from foreigners – Canada, Europe, Pakistan, India and all over the world.”

The demons confessed all the evil they had caused him and the destruction they had perpetrated in his life. According to the idol, some of Benson’s victims had committed suicide.

“He is the instrument I am using to make people suffer,” said the idol. Benson was delivered, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. He returned the following week, looking splendid and immaculately dressed. With him were his family members. He thanked God for his deliverance, but not without a warning to those abusing the Internet: “Those in my former state, you have nothing to gain; all you get is trouble. Surrender yourself to Jesus. Only Jesus Christ can set you free.”

This deliverance is a dramatic exposure of the ugly claws behind numerous frauds that reduce rich people into paupers, while turning notorious criminals into instant millionaires of dirty money that eventually ruin them. Today, free and saved, he lives a happy life away from Internet fraud, womanising and drugs. He has given his life to Christ and warns that evil begets evil and everything that starts dubiously, ends dubiously.

This article comes from the first issue of Read Us, the official magazine of The SCOAN! 

THE DEVIL’S CHATROOM: Secrets Of Cyberspace Crime! : Part 1

It is clear that the devil has infiltrated social media to perpetrate the most heinous activities one can dream of. The Internet, a good resource and networking base, has unfortunately become a conduit for the most sophisticated crimes in the world. Many banks and corporations have lost huge sums of money, while many individuals have been duped of their hard-earned cash by people they met on the cyber-network. The executor comes in sheep’s clothing, seeking friendship and later asking for what would appear a very innocent favour, just to deceive and strike a vicious blow when one least expects.

Such was the scandalous lifestyle of Benson, a Nigerian living in Ivory Coast. Born in 1976 in the midwest of Nigeria, he grew up to become an Internet fraudster. But behind the mischief was another malevolent being – a demon, which gave him the knack for hacking and raiding the Internet to perpetrate terror.

Born and raised in a polygamous and idol-worshipping home of four mothers, Benson was the first born from his mother’s side. From a very young age, he watched his father serve an iron god known as Idigun, while his mother had her own deity, Olokun, a marine spirit. Unwillingly, he would join the family in an infamous ritual, which involved bludgeoning dogs, cooking and eating them in a sacrificial act to their family gods.

Little did he know that although he detested such diabolical exercises, the two idols had nonetheless possessed him and would soon begin to torment him through criminal acts such as taking of illicit drugs. He also found himself lusting for women wherever he went, and joined one of the most notorious cult groups, Black Axe, while at university.

It was through this bad company that he was introduced to Internet fraud, at a time when he needed breakthrough, which was hard to come by. For 13 years, powered by the family idols, he prowled the Internet. He patronised dating sites, searching for potential victims, on the pretext of looking for love. When the friendship gathered steam, matured and trust was established, the unsuspecting victims would be cunningly defrauded of their money.

Sometimes, he would use search engines to look for email addresses of naive individuals. He would send them emails with touching stories they would fall for. He had a deceitful template he would send out in bulk, depicting a girl in her twenties who owned millions of dollars left for her by her wealthy late father. This girl would be looking for someone to help her transfer the funds from a dormant account to a safer off-shore account. Whoever agreed to help her would receive a hefty financial reward. Often, the girl would hail from a war-torn country and her father, a former top government official or private individual, but one who was filthy rich before his death or assassination. Blindfolded by the smell of easy money, gullible people would not see what hit them the moment they got involved.

Another format depicted a sick old woman whose husband, also a rich man, left huge sums of money for her. About to die, she would seek to give the money away. She would have about one month to live and before she died, she must have the money transferred to charity or otherwise. As soon as a person showed interest, the game of defrauding would start.

To be continued:

Culled from the first issue of SCOAN magazine READ US.

Let The Spirit Lead

Read this tragic story that shows us the importance of having self control and letting God's spirit control our lives.

Please note that the author's and other character's names in the story have been changed.

Hello readers, My name is John. I had a best friend by name Michael.

Our friendship was stronger than that of brothers, we schooled, ate, played and did everything together and our parents were so proud of us we always stood and fought for each other whenever trouble arose and 'happiness' was our best friend because we were always happy.

One day, I met a beautiful girl in my hometown, we fell in love with each other and she agreed to marry me. We celebrated with  Michael that night. He was so happy for me, you could see it in his eyes....they were glowing. It was like his friend has just being elected as the President of the Republic.

He was going to be my best-man for the wedding, there was no disputing that. We also knew that we were coming to the end of an era even though we were scared of talking about it.
We planned marriage without my knowing that the beginning of my end has come.

As time went on, we got busy planning for our wedding and my best friend was so happy for me, just like I was also hoping he finds his own partner for marriage so that he wouldn't feel so lonely with me now going into marriage.

Few weeks to our wedding, Michael visited my apartment, I was out to get fuel for my car, my fiancee was at home,Michael was not so relaxed with my being absent in the house, he called and asked to leave and come back later, but I asked him to wait at my house until I returned.

To my surprise, I got home and he wasn't there, only for my wife to tell me that my best friend was trying to rape her. I believed her because I loved her so much and this got me so mad. I was pumped up for action....foolishly ignoring the still voice that was asking me to calm down.

Quickly, I drove down to Michael's house and before he could say a word, I hit him with a bottle of flower pot which he sustained a serious brain injury and he got admitted at the hospital.
On going back to my house, I heard my wife speaking on the phone, "Don't worry Joyce, he believed everything I told him and I'm sure they're already fighting now".

Joyce was a girl that was dying to have Michael back in our school days but he didn't want to date her so that our friendship wont be jeopardised.
She was surprised when she ended the call only to see me behind her.

I rushed out without saying a word, running and hoping my best friend forgives me but it all went tragic when the doctors told me he died after a brain surgery. I weep everyday I wake up and I feel like killing myself.

HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID????
This is what happens, the devil brings spirits of confusion whenever he sees us happy and we fail to realise this.

Pray against the spirit of confusion in your life today, let the spirit of God guide you in all you do.

Jerry Bridges :Faith and The Power of God Part 2

Please endeavour to read the prelude to this text which is available through  Jerry Bridges :Faith and The Power of God Part 1.

Having finished reading the first part of this text by Jerry Bridges, this is the second and final part of it.

The importance of faith is further emphasized in Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question: “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matt. 17:19). He said it was because of their little faith. We are not told in what way their faith was deficient. We do know that Jesus had previously given them authority over demons to cast them out (Matt. 10:1–8), so why was their faith so weak at this time? Perhaps it was because the demon did not respond immediately to their command, and so they began to doubt the power of Jesus. Or perhaps they presumed that because they had been successful before, they would be at that time. So we see that faith not only involves a firm reliance on Jesus’ power and ability, but also a complete renunciation of any confidence in our own.

Last month we looked briefly at the subject of God’s providence. In Matthew 17 we see an example of it in action, in connection with a mundane event — the paying of the temple tax. Jesus, as the Son of God, was under no obligation to pay the tax. Yet in order to give no offense, He sent Peter to catch a fish in whose mouth was the required shekel. This brief account raises some questions: How did the shekel get into the mouth of the fish? How did Peter just “happen” to catch that fish and not another one nearby? It is possible that Jesus performed a miracle and created the coin out of nothing in the mouth of the fish.

It is more likely, however, that it was a work of providence. Someone “accidentally” dropped a shekel into the sea. A particular fish grabbed it, and it stuck in its mouth. The fish swam to the exact spot where Peter cast his net and the fish was caught. None of these events was miraculous; yet all of them were necessary to accomplish Jesus’ purpose, and Jesus was in control of each one of them. God’s power is as much at work in His providence as in His miracles. So as we struggle with our own faith, or lack of it, in the difficult situations of life, let us believe that God is able, whether through miracles or providence, to care for us.

Do you believe in Christ?
Do your friends believe in Him?
How well do you know Him?

Please spread the message of the gospel.

Jerry Bridges :Faith and The Power of God Part 1

                  

The healing of the demon possessed boy (Matt. 17:14–20) at first glance seems to be only one more in a series of miraculous healings recorded by Matthew. What makes this one unique is Jesus’ emphasis on the role of faith. It is true that faith is prominent in the miracles recorded in chapter 9, but in chapter 17 it is the lack of faith that is emphasized by Jesus.

That God is not dependent on human faith for accomplishing His work is clear from the accounts of other miracles recorded by Matthew. The transfiguration of Jesus immediately prior to the healing of the boy is a prime example. It was a spectacular miracle; yet no human faith was involved. This is also true in the feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21) and the four thousand (15:32–38). So the first thing we need to learn about faith and the power of God is that He is not dependent on our faith to do His work. God will not be hostage to our lack of faith.

The second thing we need to learn, however, is that God often requires our faith in the carrying out of His purposes. We see this in the healing of the demon possessed boy. Mark, in his account, brings this out sharply in Jesus’ conversation with the boy’s father. The father, in great distress, said to Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). He had already experienced the failure of the disciples, so he was not sure if Jesus could help. His faith at this point may be described as no more than an uncertain hope that Jesus could do what the disciples could not do.

Jesus responded to the father: “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes” (v. 23). Biblical faith may be described in different ways depending on the situation. The description of faith in Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” was appropriate for the Jewish recipients of the letter, who were facing severe opposition and needed to be encouraged as to the certainty of their hope in Christ.

For the father of the boy, faith would mean believing that Jesus could heal his son. We are often like the father. We may face what seems to be an intractable situation, and because we have prayed a long time without an answer, we begin to doubt that God can answer our prayer. But we must believe that with God nothing is impossible.

Sarah, the wife of Abraham, doubted that God could give them a son in their advanced age, to which God replied, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). Centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah wavered in his faith when God told him to buy a field in the face of the Chaldeans’ invasion (Jer. 32:6-26). Again God’s response was: “Is anything too hard for me?” (v. 27). To have faith in God, even in the face of unanswered prayer or a seemingly impossible situation, means we continue to believe that He can do what seems impossible to us.

conclusion part 2

TB JOSHUA :RISE ABOVE YOUR SITUATION

His Church in Lagos Nigeria

SHARE this post and SPREAD this message if you REFUSE to allow your family background to dictate your DREAMS in life! When you are connected to your destiny, NOTHING and NO-ONE can stop you – don’t give up!

Read this amazing short but encouraging story of Prophet TB Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations on how he rose above his situation to become what God originally planned for him.

TB Joshua: “I found myself in a family background that irritated me. My natural circumstance of birth was poverty. I come from a very humble background. Poverty loomed large in the family. The little education I had was through self effort. I know many people with a similar circumstance of birth who did otherwise. They allowed their circumstance to influence their will. Their dreams crashed on the rocks of disappointment, failure and setback.”

“Today, many people blame their situation on family background. Some would say, “I am poor because everyone in my family is poor.” If you make excuses for being poor, your poverty cannot be excused. Remember, you are responsible for what you give your attention to; so it is unnecessary to blame your situation on anyone. Today, it is common for people to blame their failure on their family background, whereas they attribute their success to their personal effort. If you attribute your success to your personal effort, you should also accept the blame for your failure. When we make excuses for our wrongdoing, such misdeeds would not be excused.

“I recognised early enough that victory obtained through Christ was a time past victory. I mean, it is victory assured. Rather than despair and blame my situation on family background, I began to be proud of my situation in order to feel Christ’s victory over me. I became content with my situation, knowing that my situation is redeemable through Christ and that the redemption was a time-past one. I mean, redemption assured. Then I began to take God at His Word in order to have His way.

“Nobody is too good or too bad to qualify for His grace. Remember, it was possible for me to sit somewhere and begin to make excuses for my situation. I never did. Whatever I am today is a product of that conviction that victory through Christ is victory indeed. The rest is history!”

TB Joshua


If someone could rise from grass to grace, from this dire situation, then everyone can.
That includes you, yes you!!! Rise up from whatever the devil is using to tell you that you can't make it.
Rise over your situation and be the one telling this kind of story someday.
Your situation shouldn't define what you become, but your faith should decide what your situation becomes.

God has given you all that you need to rise to the top, it is left for you to claim it. Just have faith and believe in His word.

False Humility

By Chris Donato

Dearest Uglúk,

Delightful. Utterly delightful. You have made wonderful progress with your subject. Not only has he come to embody a humility most false, he has begun to run with a crowd that will do naught but reinforce it.

You have done well convincing him, albeit subtly through the use of quasi-Christian spiritualists (some of our greatest allies), that it is “humility“ to disdain thinking for himself, and further, to regard everyone, even himself, as having got it wrong — whether it involves the non-essentials of that blasted Christian faith, such as apologetic methods, or its central tenets, such as trinitarianism(see footer for wikipedia definition). But it is nothing more than lazy pride, and for that we commend you. He wears it well.

The beautiful thing is, he needn’t leave the grossly orthodox church in which he is a member, for he can quietly infect the minds of others, if — and we can’t stress this enough — you take great care to keep his pseudo-humility in place. Every time he hears one speak boldly the truth about God and His Christ, make sure his automatic response is suspicion. Get him to think that the confident proclaimer of that tyrant’s so-called good news is an arrogant fool.

Even better, get him to reinforce that splendid assessment philosophically and sociologically. If you can do that, then you might just be able to consider this case closed. Do be sure, however, that he only dislikes it when the truth is proclaimed confidently. We want him to approve with gusto those truly arrogant sentiments having to do with secondary or tertiary issues, such as politics or moralistic blue laws. We like our “Christian“ warriors to fight over everything but that confounded gospel, you see.

Finally, a word about managing his lifestyle, for the sake of maintaining this false humility, is in order. In our experience, it is best to push him in the direction of rigid self-denial. While it might prove dangerous, in that such practices could bring him clarity and newfound Christian zeal, we find that it often leads to nothing more than self-gratification. A pious sham, in other words. We presently enjoy the company of a great many ascetics whose intentions, while quite opposed to ours, have nonetheless paved their road right to us. What we want is the “zeal“ without the “Christian.“ Got it?

Your Master,

Legion

 

Trinitarianism is the Christian doctrine that God exists as three persons (Greek hypostases) but is one being. The persons are understood to exist as God the Father, God the Son (incarnate as Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit, each of them having the one identical essence or nature, not merely similar natures.

Some parts of this letter seem very cryptic, please leave a comment below if you have any way of explaining it for the benefit of others.

What do you think is the general message of this letter?