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THE DANGEROUS SLEEPDr. D. K. Olukoya

One of the places that man suffers his major defeat is in the bed. The sudden trouble of a lot of people started on their beds. One wonderful thing that God can do for you in life is to give you power over the battle of the bed. When you win that battle you will start moving the way God wants you to move. You will not become a prayer warrior if you are still in the bondage of the bed. You will not be useful to the Almighty if the bed is still your cell. You will not become anything powerful to the Almighty if you spend too long a time on your bed.

I read the story of a man who died at the age of 75. He spent almost 25 years sleeping and about six months praying, out of 75 years. It is clear that the fellow had gone to hell fire. He spent one-third of his life sleeping. If you are still caged by the bed then you cannot make any headway spiritually. The major spiritual battles that many people won in their lives were won after midnight.

Matthew 13:25: “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares, among the wheat, and went his way.”

The enemy does not come to entertain. Sometimes, we start firing at the enemy when he had already planted his evil seed and is gone. We start firing when the destruction has already been done. Sometime ago, a friend of mine boarded a vehicle to Lagos from somewhere in the eastern part of the country. He sat beside the driver and as they were going he noticed that the driver was dozing. He told him to park the vehicle and sleep for a while before continuing on the journey, to avoid an accident. But the driver abused him and told him that he was not sleeping. He slept off again and before they knew it, they had ended up in a pit. The accident occurred because the driver was sleeping but did not admit he was doing so, like many people would do. Some people allow the spirit of slumber to operate their spiritual life. Today, they are awake and tomorrow they are asleep. Witches and powers of darkness look at many of us in amazement because they don’t sleep. They don’t need coffee to remain awake. I know of a fellow, a child of the devil, who decided to hold night vigils against a person for one month. For the one month, from midnight to 3.00 am, he was cursing the man. The person being cursed was busy sleeping until he started seeing himself walking into a coffin.

Please, at this juncture I would like you to pray like this: “You the powers of the night, my life is not your candidate, in the name of Jesus.” If you are the kind of person who sleeps so heavily that you cannot wake up at the first tap, you need deliverance, because it means you are going deep down and to the level that anything could happen to your spirit man. If your spirit man can sleep that far, there is a problem.

Romans 13:11 “And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

Paul said they were sleeping and had to wake up. If physical sleep is very bad what about spiritual sleep?

Sleep is a period of rest during which the sleeper loses the awareness of his surroundings. So, the danger in sleep is the loss of awareness. The elder brother of sleep is what medical people call “coma.” Some people are in spiritual coma. Messages and prayer do not worth anything to them. They may be at church service but would not hear what the preacher is saying because they are already dead spiritually even though they are alive physically. When a person falls asleep, all his physical activity decreases, his muscles relax and he could have a nightmare. Occasionally a person sleepwalks. A person who is sleep-walking can rise up, go to the kitchen, drink something go back to the bed and continue to sleep. And if you say, “Who drank this thing?” He would say, “I never stood up, I did not go there.” This is not common in Africa though. I pray that it will not happen to you, in Jesus’ name. Some people even discuss in their sleep. That is why a local proverb says that sleep is the friend of death. It is during sleep that the agents of Satan in our environment lay evil eggs in people’s lives and they try to make sure that their victims do not know what they have done, because if they know, they will shake off the evil eggs. That is why the Bible says that while men slept, his enemies came quietly, planted evil and went away. It is not all enemies that will attack you directly. In fact, most enemies will not attack you directly. They just come, lay their evil eggs and go away.

When you lose the battle of the bed, you lose all battles. Satan has destroyed so many good things because of sleep. When you are addicted to sleep physically it is bad, but it is even worse when it is transferred to the spirit man. Sleep gives the enemy a chance to sow tares. While men sleep, many human tragedies occur. For example, fire, hurricane and tornadoes sweeping homes and cities away sometimes before the victims wake up. So, sleep is a time of insecurities, you cannot protect yourself at that time. It is a time of inactivity and a time of delusion when you assume that all is right only for you to wake up to see a great change. So, we need to be aware of the dangers of spiritual slumber. Great changes may occur for the enemy would be at work. Some people would say, “When I went to sleep last night, I was okay but by the time I woke up, I had become another person.” Some people go to bed sound only to wake up mad. The powers of the night waited for them to sleep and planted things in their lives.

Please, take this prayer points: “Every seed of the power of the night, roast, in the name of Jesus.”

The Bible categorizes spiritual sleep into many classes. We will look at some of them. This will help you to know whether you are awake or not. The fact that somebody’s eyes are open does not mean that he is not sleeping spiritually. 1. The sleep of Jonah: Jonah 1:5-6 : “Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.”

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SLEEP OF JONAHIt was an unrealistic sleep, a sleep of illusion. The storm was raging, men were in danger but Jonah did not realize it at all. Likewise many people today think that they can put a cover over their head and all the bad things they are seeing around them would go away simply because they are sleeping. No, they will not go away. The sailor confronted Jonah, “What meanest thou, O sleeper arise, call upon thy God. Can’t you see what is happening around?” There are many people like Jonah, a lot of things are happening around them, yet they are sleeping. Many, today are roaming about sleeping unrealistically. Their sin is raging like the hurricane and is as dark as the night and the danger is great but they want to believe that everything is going to be all right. That is why Paul warns: “Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and the light of Christ shall shine upon thee.Unfortunately, many will die under this delusion because their eyes are covered, they think that the world will just go on like that and that nothing will happen. They believe that politicians will be politicians, military men will be military men, governors will be governors, etc. No, very soon, things will happen. If you are sleeping like Jonah, I pray that the Lord would deliver you, in Jesus’ name.Some people have the call of God upon their lives and God has told them where to go but they have slept off like Jonah and have also decided to go another way. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but he headed for Tarshish and slept off on the way. Eventually, he went from his bed of sleep into the mouth of a fish and was there for three days. He did three days dry fast in the belly of the fish because of unrealistic sleep. He was running away from God and consoled himself by sleeping.

2. The sleep of the apostle and the sleep of the disciple: What is the nature of the sleep of the disciples? It is the sleep of weariness. Mark 14:37 says, “And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldest not thou watch one hour?” He first called him Peter and later called him Simon. There is a difference between the two names. Peter means rock while Simon means reed. Anytime Peter began to do a slow motion in the Bible, Jesus would not call him Peter, He would say Simon. And when he was doing well, He would call him Peter. When Peter left Jesus and began to fish after the resurrection, Jesus said, “Simon son of Jonah lovest thou me…” Here He called him Simon which means a reed, somebody who shakes here and there. “Simon, sleepest thou? Couldest not thou watch one hour?” That is, could you not do one-hour night vigil? There are many people like that. The only night vigil they do effectively with minimal sleep may be the ones organised by the church. Such people are deceiving themselves. When you cannot sit down and do a personal vigil for at least one hour, you are sleeping the sleep of the disciple. Jesus asked His disciples to pray for danger was coming. The betrayal was to come that night and soldiers were coming. Perhaps if Peter had prayed that one hour prayer, he would not have denied the Lord. When danger came, they stood up and were wide awake but that could not help the situation. I pray that you will not wake up when it is too late.

Today, people are exhausted and weighed down, and their senses are dumb spiritually. There is a need to be watchful, for the enemy will attack when we least expect. While righteous men sleep, the enemy does not sleep. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant for the devil, your adversary walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Evil lurks in every corner when the righteous people are weary. The disciples slept the sleep of weariness and we see where it landed them.

3. The sleep of Samson: It is very sad to know that many men are sleeping the sleep of Samson. They leave their wives at home and locate a local Delilah somewhere and are sleeping there. To worsen their case, their friends who will come and smoke cigarette at their funeral are encouraging them to die. Samson, whose birth was prophesied by an angel, a supernatural man, could not withstand the lap of Delilah.

Judges 16:19: “And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.” The seven locks of head stand for perfection.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE SLEEP OF SAMSON? It is the sleep of presumption. That is the spirit of “I can handle it, no problem,” the spirit of over-confidence. Samson knew that he was in danger for Delilah was after the secret of His power, but he could not help himself. Delilah made him to sleep on her knees and she cut off his hair. When he awoke due to the cry of the Philistines, he said, “I will go out like other times.” But the Bible says that he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. He was surprised that day because he had presumed that everything was still okay. Then his eyes were pulled out and he was made to grind pepper in the mill of the enemy. It is wrong to presume that you are safe and therefore place yourself in danger. One day, you may wake up and find that the Lord has departed from you.

4. The sleep of the sluggard: A person who will sit for exams and is sleeping eight hours everyday will end up a failure. Proverb 24:30-34: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well. I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.” Many Christians are very lazy. They don’t want to do the Lord’s work. Just as a lazy person cannot do well physically, also a lazy person cannot do well spiritually. Laziness is the reason people give excuses for not doing what they are supposed to do. For example, they would complain that Bible studies usually take time and that is why they do not attend. Many are inactive when it comes to sowing the seed to the kingdom. Lazy people lack spiritual exercise. Family worship and Bible study are foreign to them. Just as a lazy farmer will not receive the best crop, a lazy Christian too will not receive the best from the Lord. The sleep of carelessness that many people sleep cannot fetch them anything from the Lord.

5. The sleep of Eutychus: Act 20:7-12: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep; and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.” This is the longest sermon in the Bible. Here was a man who had a bed at home and could have slept at home, but he did not do so but came to the house of God and decided that everything they were saying there was sleeping tablet and he started sleeping. And as he slept, his enemy that pursued him to the meeting said, “We shall use you to disgrace them here.” He slept until he fell down. If a fellow would be sleeping like that while a message is going on, it shows that he will not be useful at a night vigil. He would be a useless disciple. One of the things that has captured especially this country is that there are some people who wake up in the morning while believers are still sleeping and take over the whole day. They give orders to the day to co-operate with them while Christians are still sleeping. If you wake up at 8 a.m. and pray a five-minute prayer, and later you say, “I don’t know how today went,” that is the sleep of Eutychus.

6. The sleep of the foolish virgins: We have their story in Matthew 25. They did not have sufficient oil in their lamps and yet they were sleeping.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE ALREADY DEEP IN SPIRITUAL SLEEP?

When prayer ceases to be a priority to you. When you become content with the spiritual knowledge that you have already acquired. When your biblical knowledge is not applied inwardly. You just go to church, hear the message and read the Bible but you cannot apply them inwardly. They have no effect on your thought life or on your way of life. When thoughts about heaven and eternity cease to be regular in your life. You don’t think about heaven. It does not cross your mind that this world is not a permanent place. You are only concerned about material wealth. It is a sign of spiritual slumber. You forget that our period on earth is temporary, that very soon all you have acquired in this world would become raw materials for fire. When services in the house of God hold no delight for you. You are not interested in what goes on there. When spiritual discussion becomes a source of embarrassment to you. For example, in your office, talking about Jesus or spiritual things becomes highly embarrassing because you know that those around will certainly know that you are not behaving like a Christian. When things like leisure, sports, recreation, entertainment, etc. take a large part of your time, sleep has crept in and if you don’t wake, up the enemy will come and sow tares or lay eggs if they have not already done so. When you commit the sin of the mind and body without your conscience pricking you. When the aspiration for holiness is no longer paramount in your heart. When you look for Scriptures to back up your unholy behaviour, you know the truth but you are running away from it. People can always recognize the truth when they see it and they can always know when they are trying to wriggle away from the blunt truth. The truth may be bitter and unpalatable but it is very stubborn. No matter what you do to it, it will stand looking at you. If you knock it down, it will stand. You throw it away, it will stand. You bury it, it will come up. It is very stubborn. It may take time to manifest, but it must manifest. When acquisition of worldly material is the major part of your thinking. When you are singing Christian songs and chanting Christian words just from the lips and not from the heart. Surrendering to Jesus, only what is convenient is a sign of spiritual slumber. Taking the Lord’s name in vain shows that you are sleeping. You talk about the Lord as if He was your houseboy. Saying that He has spoken something when He has not spoken: you did not receive a revelation and you say you did. Watching dirty movies and T.V shows and reading impure literature is a sign that you have already slept. A lot of people can stay glued to the T.V for hours without sleeping but immediately you say, “Let us pray” they sleep off. When with the slightest excuse you avoid spiritual duties, you have slept. When you are contended with your lack of spiritual power and you no longer seek power from high. The first key to spiritual power is lack of rest in your soul because you are not satisfied with your present level. When you pardon your sin and your laziness by saying that God understands, you are spiritually sleeping. When you as a Christian can easily adjust to the life style of the world. You dress differently to church and differently outside. It is a sign that you are spiritually asleep. If you still crack dirty jokes with unbelievers, or they feel at ease in your company to do whatever they like, then you are asleep. The correct position is that they should find it very difficult to do or say certain things before you. When you are willing to cheat your employer, you have slept. Today, my cry to God for you is that you will wake up like Paul said. Paul was not talking to unbelievers. He was talking to Christians. He said, “Awake thou that sleepest and Christ has shown you light.” So, it is time to awake from our sleep because now is our salvation nearer than it was before. Do not waste time clearing the evil eggs that the enemy has laid in your life while you were sleeping. The time you should do useful things for the Lord, you are busy using it to do deliverance for what happened to you while you were sleeping. It is better to be awake and pursue the enemy right into their gates. This is a serious matter and must be tackled aggressively.It is not a good thing for you to say that you go to church and God does not speak to you. You cannot hear Him even on simple things of life such as your job. You are a Christian, yet you are gambling with life. When somebody begins to experiment with life, he does not get the best out of it. The best thing is to be in the right place at the right time and to be sure what the Almighty wants to do with your life. The fact that what you are doing is good does not mean it is divine. If you have things to sort out with the Lord, do that now. Look back at your spiritual life. Look at what is happening now. Are you having the best? Haven’t you noticed the mistake that you have made because you could not hear from heaven? Haven’t you noticed the mistake was because you were spiritually asleep? You have given your enemy opportunity to plant weeds. Sort yourself out with the Lord. Make a promise that as from now on, your spirit man will be on fire and that fire will be burning on the altar of your life. Why should your ears be making noise and you are hearing nothing? Why should your eyes be itching but you are seeing nothing. You know everything about your field of specialization but you do not know what the Holy Spirit is saying about your life. Please, pray aggressively.

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, wake me up from every spiritual sleep, in the name of Jesus.2. Every evil seed sown into my life while I was sleeping, be removed by fire, in the name of Jesus.  

THE SCALE OF THE ALMIGHTYDr. D. K. Olukoya

It is one thing to call yourself something; it is another thing for God to call you something. One of our elders in the Lord said, “You may decide to call yourself a pastor or an apostle or an evangelist, but in the book of God, which is the only book that matters, He writes that you are a messenger.” It is not what you call yourself that matters; it is what God calls you.

Daniel 5:1-2: “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank the wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein.”

The party went on for a long time. Then all of a sudden, probably because of the effect of alcohol, the king ordered his servants to bring the vessels that were taken from the temple in Jerusalem. At that level, he overstepped his boundary. I pray that you will not overstep your boundary, in Jesus’ name. He went too far. A person can go too far. He can push himself to a level where the Spirit of God no longer strives with him, a level where God gives up on him. At a time the Spirit would be urging you to pray, read the Bible, watch your temper, etc. But a time will come when the Spirit would no longer strive with you. Once a person gets to that level, destruction is certain. I pray, that that will not be your lot, in Jesus’ name.

Daniel 5: 3-7 : “Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: (Why did the fingers go to the plaister of the wall? Because there was some light there and the writing would be seen clearly. It was like watching a cinema show) and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him. (He knew that whatever that writing might be, it would not bring a good message) so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon. Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came all the king’s wise men, but they could not read the handwriting, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled and his countenance was changed in him and his lords were astonied.” They brought Daniel who said in verses 25-28, “And this is the writing that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. (Look at so many words crammed into one word.) TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

At the time Daniel was interpreting the writing, it was too late for the king to change the situation. Those who would destroy his kingdom were already banging at the door, because he had gone down on the scale of the Almighty. He had failed completely on the balance of God.

We are in the habit of making one mistake or the other when we weigh things. But there is one balance in heaven which is absolutely perfect. It does not make mistakes. A pastor could make a mistake; he may say that you are the best person around and give you a spiritual assignment. But there is a balance in heaven which never makes mistakes. Other balances can get out of order. Their chains may break or one thing or the other may go wrong, so that when you measure something and it says it is one kilogram, the measurement is not really one kilogram. It may be less a little bit or more. But the balance of God never loses its judgment. In God’s balance, one kilogram is one kilogram. No mistakes.

The incident we are discussing happened in the kingdom of Babylon. Babylon was a paradise of architecture. In fact, in all the kingdoms or empires in the world, there was none greater in splendour than Babylon. The most elaborate structures of modern times that we see around are mere shadows of what was found in Babylon. The most sophisticated architectural design of these days would not compare to those in Babylon before its fell. Millions of men were employed to build the walls around the city which was 60 miles in circumference and had 25 gates of solid brass on each side of the square city. Some houses in Babylon did not join one another on the ground, but a bridge passed from house to house. It had many other fantastic structures. But as beautiful as it was, when it was weighed on the scale it was found wanting and it fell.

Our God has the knowledge that is beyond human reasoning. His ways of doing things are very strange to the human mind. God has His own way of detecting counterfeit or genuine services. If the service you are rendering to God now is counterfeit, He knows how to measure it. If it is for show, He knows. If you are just an actor, when He puts your acting on the balance, it will go down.

Many years ago, a sister prayed certain prayer points and God told her to just watch and see. All of a sudden, she saw a picture of rapture and everybody was being caught up. She was looking but could not go up, although she had attended a Bible college. At first she thought it might be because she was fat, but when she looked up she saw people double her size going. She tried to jump but something held her. She started crying and an angel came to her and said, “I want to show you your mark on the balance of the Almighty.” The angel gave her a piece of paper which read 22 per cent. It was completely inadequate, so she could not go anywhere.

When you are serving the Lord, He tries your service by fire. He has His own method of testing you. According to I Corinthians 3:13, if you are singing, it will be made manifest, if you are preaching, it will be made manifest. Whatever you are doing would manifest. If you like, do the work of God deceitfully, it shall be made manifest. If you like, be stealing materials from the house of God, it shall be made manifest. The day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire, which shall try every man’s work.

God has His own way of measuring our financial contribution. The way He measures is different from ours. Mark 12:43-44: “And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” God measures your tithes and offerings by how much you keep for yourself. So, you must take heed to yourself so that you do not offer the gospel to others, while you remain a stranger. Take heed so that you do not become a human signboard or a spiritual tout, shouting various bus stops, but never taking to take a seat inside the bus. Be careful beloved that you do not perish while you are warning others not to perish. Take heed so that after warning others to run away from hell fire you do not enter the place yourself. Do not be a tailor who goes about in rags while you are cutting and sewing clothes for people everyday. Think about it. God has His own way of measurement. He took three million Jews into the wilderness and took just two of them into the promised land. As far as His own judgement was concerned, that was a success. Man would say, what a fantastic failure but God was not worried. After all, the Bible says that God would not mind turning a whole nation into hell fire if necessary.

There is the story of that brother who was interpreting in the church and suddenly fell down and died. His wife sent to his people to come and bury him. On the fourth day, when they came to collect his body from the mortuary, they found tears in his eyes and all of a sudden, he opened his eyes and started talking. He said that immediately he died, he found himself in a pit of darkness, that the darkness was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. But inside there was a narrow path, so narrow that it took one leg to move at a time. He said that by the side of the narrow path was a wide road and there were lots of people on it but at the end of it was a big hole burning with fire. He said that the rate at which people including school girls were going inside was as if a tipper was dropping sand. But he did not find another person on the narrow path which he said, led to a very high mountain. He said that occasionally he would nearly fall but someone would appear before him and say, “Do not fall,” and he kept moving until he got to the top where there were angels who had one small television set, the size of a shoe polish can. He said that immediately one arrived there they asked his name. And on his mentioning his name, every sin he had committed, right from when he was an infant, would appear on the television set. He said that at a stage while they were relaying the sins of a certain man, including the incest he committed with his younger sister, the man cried: “Please, switch it off. I don’t want to look at it again. Switch it off because it is terrible.” However, anything that you confessed and called the blood of Jesus to cleanse would not be shown, unless you went back to the sin. When the angels switched off the television set and asked the man, “What is in your pocket?” he put his hand in his pocket and brought out anger. The angels said, “Since you call yourself a Christian, how come these things are in your life?” The man said, “I am sorry, it is the devil.” They shouted, “Lucifer” and all of a sudden, he showed up, laughing.

The brother said that he also heard the scream of another sister who had died in his church about three years back and used to sing a special number. This sister was boiling and shouting with her soprano voice in hell fire. When the brother heard it he started crying. That was when he shed the tears that his people saw at the mortuary.

If the Lord begins to weigh you today, where do you stand? That rich man said, “My soul, rejoice and be glad, I still have many years.” But God said, “This night, your soul shall be taken away from you.” All the things you had gathered, to whom shall they belong? All you had acquired by running around, who shall have them when you are gone?

I have often said that there are two places where sermons are effective: the cemetery and the leprosy colony. In fact, one of the best altar calls I have ever seen was at a cemetery. The preacher began: “Three days ago, this man was drinking Coke in my house. I did not know that in three days time, he would have gone. But he is here now. One day, whether you like it or not, whether you refuse to grow old, whether you are polishing your hair and carrying your body cream everywhere you go, one day, you will land here too. And other people will say, Oh, he has gone home. But who knows where you are going? Who really knows?”

God’s balance weighs many things. David’s father had many sons, some huge and handsome and some who looked respectable and holy. They seemed qualified to be the king of Israel, and Samuel almost made a mistake when he saw Eliab coming. He said, “Surely, this is him.” But the Lord said to him, “Look not at his countenance nor his frame for the Lord looketh not as man looketh, a man looketh at the surface but I the Lord, I look at the heart.” So, God had looked at the heart of all the sons of Jesse, weighed all of them and only David measured up. In fact, David was not allowed to come. He was the smallest son and was looking after the sheep. But Samuel said, “Go and bring him, we will not sit down till he comes.” And he remained standing with his anointing oil looking for the head to pour it on.

Many people lift up their hands and pray, “Anointing fall on me.” Some of them are goats and the heavens are saying, “You want anointing, but there are horns on your head, break the horns, so that you can become a lamb, then we can anoint you.” One goat would say, “No, anointing fall on me.” The heavens would say, “Okay, since we said, break your horns and you refuse, we will pour the oil on your horns.” Then the person will begin false prophecy. He would pray, pray and pray but two spirits will be quarrelling inside him. He would be preaching to thousands of people and at the same time he would be sleeping with a spirit wife. Two things would combine themselves in his life. He would sit down and read the Bible, up to the point that people will be saying that he is running mad, but at the same time, when he sleeps, he could be playing with masquerades. So, there are two conflicting things in his life.

The balance of God can weigh men and determine their integrity. Job 31:6 says, “Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.” God’s balance can weigh men of low degree and high degree. Psalm 62:9 says, “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.” Vanity is zero. But the scripture says that somebody can weigh less than zero. There are many like that in the house of God. God is weighing you. He is looking at you and because He is looking at you, you are taking Him for a ride. That is because the Bible says that He does not want anybody to perish. He is long-suffering, so you take Him for granted.

Recently, before one girl died she came to see me, and she wrote a list of 40 men she had slept with. What pained me most was the last man. He was the one who converted her to Christianity in a holiness-preaching church. The man slept with her, who was a new convert not knowing that she had HIV. So, he signed a death sentence for himself. The same brother would jump forward and scream, “Without holiness, no man shall see God.” He would come forward and say, “Holiness is our watchword” and would sing in bass tone. But God is weighing him, and all those his songs will stand against him on the day of judgement. He will be asked, “Did you not sing these songs?” Did you understand what you were singing?” He will reply, “I sang. I understood.” The angels will now ask him, “Then what happened?” He will say, “I don’t know.” The angels will say, “Get him away, let him join the goats at the left side.”

In any church, there are two groups of people: the goat and the sheep. The goats go to the left hand while the lamb go to the right hand. A lamb is a foolish animal. It does what you want it to do. It appears like a fool, but it does not perish as easily as the goat.

God can weigh men of low degree and those of high degree. Eventually, some of the big men will realise that in heaven, unlike on the path of life, there is no first class person. No, it is not like the way things are done here. No angel can change what he has written about you because you say, “When I was in the world, I was living in a reserved area. God is weighing you everyday. If a person allows himself to get to zero level, the devil will come quickly and kill him and he will go to hell.

God’s balance can weigh the paths and the ways of men. It can weigh your path, the way you go, all the people you visit, the kind of relationship you have with your fiancée, etc. So, you can see that the balances of the Lord are very interesting. It is the same balance too that is written about in Job 28: “To make the weight for the winds, and he weigheth the waters by measure.” God can weigh the wind. In Proverbs 16:2 we also read about the balances: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirit.” He can weigh your spirit. I Samuel 2:3 says, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

Beloved, if you want to experience the power that the apostles experienced, you should examine yourself carefully. If God were to weigh your spirit now, do you think that you are up to the required standard? Some raise their hands everyday and pray, “O God, heal me, heal me, I will serve you till I die.” And God says, “Okay, receive your healing.” They collect their healing and that is the last day you see them in church.

God weighs our actions. If He weighs your actions now, do you think you will be up to standard? The scarcity of the power of God in any generation is not the fault of God but the unavailability of men and women that He can use. By the time God grabs a person and says, “I want to use this one,” He has seen that it is the kind of person He can use. If God were to weigh your integrity as a Christian, are you up to the standard? This is the question to ask yourself.

One of our ministers prayed for a certain rich man who had a bad leg and the Lord healed him. Later, the rich man gave the minister a very nice brief case which he was carrying about proudly. One day, he offended the man who gave it to him and the man began to speak against him and reported him to me. He said, “My wife used to prepare tea for this pastor. She used to do this or that for him. I used to carry him about in my car. He is an ungrateful person. I gave him a brief case.” At a point the pastor said, “G.O., what can I do?” I said, “This is why I warn you pastors running around some rich people? You see yourself now. Prostrate and beg him.” The pastor prostrated saying, “I am sorry sir,” and the man said,” That is all right. You can stand up.” This was a person who had no leg to walk and now he could walk.

If God was to measure your financial contributions, do you think you will be up to standard? Somebody prayed and the Lord blessed him with 20,000 dollars but to pay the tithe of 2,000 dollars was hard for him. He said, “It is hard.” Of course, the Lord allowed the devil to create problem that made him spend that money. Eventually devourers were released upon the money that he had thought was heavy. For a person to steal from God, he must be a fantastic thief and a dangerous person to live with. If your husband is stealing from God, you have married a dangerous man. If your business is stealing from God, it will soon become a graveyard, unless you quickly do restitution. If God were to weigh your financial contribution, where do you go? You are a student. Yes, they give you pocket money, you should pay tithe on it. If not, ordinary malaria can squander the pocket money.

If God were to weigh your zeal for lost souls, will you be up to this standard? If God were to weigh your spiritual activities in the church, do you think it will be up to standard? If God were to weigh your love for others, do you think it will be up to His standard? If God were to weigh your zeal for the house of God, do you think it will be up to His standard? Human beings may be dishonest about their balances or about their measurement cups. You can knock your cup inside, but not God’s. The balances of God will not make mistakes.

“Thou art weighed and found wanting,” were the words that came to Belshazzar. You may be born in the church or dedicated in the house of God. Your father may be a pastor, your mother may be a prophetess, but the day you are found wanting on that scale, that is it. Belshazzar did not get a second chance. His time was up, he had gone too far. His mistakes were many. He lived in pleasure and alcohol, just as some people who come to church are still drinking and saying, “I’m not a heavy drinker, the Bible doesn’t say, ‘Don’t drink,’ it says, ‘Don’t get drunk.” Is that really what it says? Such people are putting a curse on themselves. The Bible says, “If you want to be a prophet of God, a priest unto God, you should not drink. But if you want to perish, drink.” The book of Revelation says that if after you have read it and you decide to be doing evil, continue and if you decide to be doing good, continue. But behold, Jesus is coming quickly and His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his works. This means that after reading it you may continue in iniquity. The Bible says, “Give wine to those who want to perish.” If you insist on taking alcoholic drinks, all the prayer points, “I fire back every arrow of witchcraft” you are praying are only a joke. Demons will say, “Which arrow is he firing back? He drinks the arrow every night.”

Belshazzar loved alcohol and parties. There are some people who like going to parties. Some do not go, but they would send their children. Some put on their little girls trousers and earrings that they themselves do not wear and send them to a party. The earrings could be those they inherited from their grandmothers who died of cancer. They push their teenage daughters to parties and they come back and say, “This is my boyfriend.” You now say, “No, don’t do that kind of thing in our family.” But you pushed her too far.

Sometime ago, a woman pushed her daughter who was under 15 to me, saying, “This one is not serious, she doesn’t pray at home. When we pray at home, she sleeps.” Immediately I was about to pray, the Holy Spirit said, “She’s not sick, she’s pregnant.” I told her mother that she was not sick and that the reason she could not pray was that she was pregnant. The woman screamed, So, I said, “Madam, don’t cry, even you, you are with your fifth husband, so she has just collected your anointing.” When she heard me, she stopped crying.

Belshazzar cared very little about God. He decided to insult God. He was a proud man. He said, “Art thou Daniel of the Hebrew slaves that my father brought?” The man said. “Daniel would have said, “Yes, I am Daniel, but listen, I am not interested in becoming the third in command. The kingdom will fall anyway, but listen, your father, Nebuchadnezar, suffered. God threw him into the forest to suffer for seven years and made him eat grass like animals so that he might know that God is the ruler of men. You, the son, you were alive, you saw it and in spite of the fact that you saw it, you refused to learn from your father’s mistakes, so the hand that wrote the ten commandments of Moses now came down.”

There are two sins that the Bible says cannot be forgiven:1. Sin against the Holy Spirit.2. Willful sin.

Willful sins will attract punishment and sometimes without remedy. Sin against the Holy Spirit will attract punishment sometimes without remedy. When the Holy Spirit says, “Thus saith the Lord” and you say, “No, I will not follow it,” or “Thus saith the Lord, and you say, “It is a demon that is saying it,” there would be no remedy for your punishment. If you offend the Father, the Son will beg for you, or you offend the Son, you can ask the Holy Spirit for your forgiveness. But if you offend the Holy Spirit, you are finished. Belshazzar knew all these things but he continued in sin. Do you know that many churchgoers are like that? Since I got born again, I have learnt something from counselling. The sins that glue people to themselves are fornication and adultery. Such people feel sorry for themselves while hearing the word of God, only to fall back into sin soon after.

Forget the notion that it is only handsome men and beautiful women that commit fornication. No, that spirit has nothing to do with beauty and being handsome. Sometimes, it is easier to get a witch delivered, because once that anointing of fornication and adultery comes upon a man, he forgets that the person somebody is his house help. He forgets that this is the younger sister of his wife. He forgets that this one is his relative. He completely forgets that he has a family, that he has eight children to feed and that a new baby or wife will be an additional problem. When this anointing falls on him, he completely forgets that there is something called gonorrhea. He forgets its repercussion He does it and after about ten minutes, regret sets in. If the person has the Holy Spirit at all, he will be like someone mourning the dead. If he wants to pray, the Holy Spirit will not rise with him. If he reads the Bible, it will not be clear again. He goes for deliverance and prays only to fall back in sin again. Unless such a person cries unto the Lord now, the handwriting will soon be on the wall against him: “Mene, mene, tekel, peres upharsin” he is weighed and found wanting.

Somebody put in his room the emblem, ‘Angels on guard,’ Christian books, tapes of messages of holiness by men of God and he is committing sin in the same room. The Lord will not listen to excuses such as “everybody has weaknesses, my weakness is women.” He will not listen to excuses such as “there is a limit to human-endurance.” He won’t listen to excuses such as “I tried but I failed.” He won’t not listen to “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” He would not listen to any excuse. The only sin that God forgives is that not preplanned. Once it is a willful sin, it reduces your weight in the balance of God. Willful sins include anger, pride, lying, gossiping, bitterness, envy, backsliding, etc.

Every good word we say goes to the balance. All our spiritual actions go there. All our offerings go there. Every gesture we make goes there. Every help we render goes there. They all add up to help us against the day of reckoning. All the good things you do are increasing your weight in the balance of God. But when you begin to commit willful sin, it begins to cancel your weights and one day you may commit a single sin which can wipe off all the good you have done all your life. A single willful sin may make the balance to read zero. What do you weigh on the balance of the Almighty?

A man had a vision which revolutionized and revised his spiritual life. He had prayed many times asking for spiritual power. He did not see any changes in his life. He bought books on how to work on the supernatural and found that it did not work. He bought books on “Power from high,” He found that power did not come from anywhere. He tried fasting and prayer but before he broke his fast, somebody would bring food for him to eat in the dream. He broke his fast in the dream.

One night in his room, he prayed and saw a vision of an angel of God who came to him and showed him his mark recorded in heaven: Love 2 per cent, patience 1 per cent, gentleness 10 per cent, faith 5 per cent, self-control 3 per cent, evangelism 0 per cent, useful praying 10 per cent, holiness 1 per cent, doubt 30 per cent, love of praise 70 per cent, pride 69 per cent, useless praying 90 per cent, anger 90 per cent, bad thought 80 per cent. It was seriously below standard. The angel that came to show him the paper looked at him, shook his head, folded the paper, threw it at him and went away in anger. What do you weigh in the balance of the Almighty?

God has no regard for persons. Obedience is better than being religious. The Lord is looking for vessels to fill. Many vessels have disappointed Him. He is looking for people who will become His battle axe. So, if you are reading this magazine and you don’t have control over your thought, your balance may be reading zero, if you find it hard to break from any bad habit, your balance may be reading zero. If you cannot identify what you have done for the Lord, your balance may be reading zero. If your spiritual life is going up and down, your balance may be reading zero. If your main purpose of coming to the house of God is for prosperity and protection, your balance may be reading zero now. If you don’t have the joy of salvation, your balance may be reading zero. If you are not interested in soul-winning, your balance may be reading zero. If you have been avoiding paying your tithes or you have people you don’t greet or you keep malice against people, or you live a life of fornication, your balance may be reading zero.

If we have to go back to our roots, we must go back to the foundation and bring quality repentance unto the Lord, so that we can become what He wants us to become. Talk to the Lord about your life. Say, “Lord, what do I have? Where do I stand? I may have been calling myself one thing and you are calling me another. I don’t want to continue this life of nothing. Time is going. I am not getting any younger. Something must happen in my life. I know that this is not the best thing you have for me.

It can be very sad if you have been coming to the meetings of the old pathway and your life has not started to move in the old path. Settle it before the Lord. There are prayers to pray. But if as you are reading this message you have not given your life to Christ and you want to do so now, declare this loud and clear: “Lord, I thank you. I surrender my life to You. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with your blood. I ask you to come into my life and make me a new person as from today. Thank you Jesus, in Jesus’ name.”

I have seen many people in the spirit struggling. If only they will allow the Lord to break off the horns of the goat so that they will become a lamb, the enemy holding onto that horn will have no more horn to hold. It is because there is horn on the head that the battle is still strong. The day you become what God wants you to become, all the warfare that you are fighting will surely come to an end and you would have victory over your enemy, and the enemy will have no landing place in your life again. But when you prepare a loophole for the enemy, he will take full position.

The Psalmist says, “The day that I cried unto the Lord, then shall my enemy turn back, this I know, for God is with me.” The reason some people are doing deliverance upon deliverance is because they refuse to depart from their sins. Some people will say, “Well, by the grace of God, I am living a life of holiness.” Holy life and there is malice in their lives. Holy life and there are people they don’t greet. Holy life when they are just holding their anger inside. Holy life and they are still stealing money from where they work. Holy life when they borrow money from the cooperative and they don’t want to pay back. Holy life when they buy things on credit and refuse to pay back. Don’t deceive yourself, bring quality repentance unto the Lord and your life will not remain the same.

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, deliver me from the spirit of hell fire, in the name of Jesus.2. O Lord, show me where I stand, in the name of Jesus.3. My inner man, receive fire, in Jesus’ name.4. Every witchcraft deposit in my life, die, in Jesus’ name.5. Every power pursuing me out of the way of life, die, in Jesus’ name.  

The Benediction

You may have attended a church service where the minister pronounced a benediction or blessing at the end, e.g. “May God bless and keep you.” Blessings and curses are prayers spoken over another person, place or thing. Most people don’t believe these words actually mean or do anything, but in reality our words do confer blessing or cursing. These prayers are a compilation of precisely structured and arranged words. A benediction to bless can be poetic, artistic and very eloquently presented at special occasions such as at a bar mitzvah, a graduation ceremony or a wedding. A wicked incantation may be presented in tribal countries that use an evil form of voodoo to combat enemies. I am not saying that all tribal nations who practice voodoo intend harm to others. There is a such thing as good voodoo, witchcraft and spells that are beneficial. On the other hand, I have been in Christian prayer circles that placed a curse on another person because the words spoken violated their free will and asked God to bring about hardship or sickness that would make that person repent of their sins!

Blessing and cursing does not have to be a formal petition to God conducted during a ceremony or spoken directly over another person. It can be something as simple as an email. I’m referring to those nutty emails that have a wonderful blessing in them. Then as you scroll through, there is message such as, “if you don’t send this to at least 5 people in 5 minutes, you will have bad luck for years.” Let me remind you that a blessing should never threaten you with a curse. Those emails that curse you if you don’t respond are the lowest form of spiritual bribery. They are a manipulative way to get you to do something by using fear tactics. Whenever you get one of those emails, just delete it. If you feel you must forward it, then at least cut and remove the curse before you send it. I have never responded to this type of email and I have had extremely good luck. I believe that a message or blessing in the Kingdom will always reach you when you need it.

A Formal Blessing

Speaking a blessing over someone was a common practice to the early Jewish people. They believed that when God blessed something, He gave it life, and when he cursed something, it died. However, a simple observation of someone or their situation is not an indication as to whether they have been cursed or blessed. When people have sickness or hardship, it does not mean they are cursed. By the same token, if someone is well and prosperous it does not mean that God has blessed or favored them. As you will read in chapter 10, experiencing difficult circumstances in life shows one of two things: that the person decided before incarnating to learn his or her lessons through difficulty, or that the person is not aware of the Law of Attraction and is manifesting by default.

You may be familiar with the story of Esau and Jacob in the 28th chapter of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. They were twin brothers born only minutes apart to Isaac and Rebekah. The blessing of the birthright belonged to the firstborn, Esau, but Rebekah wanted her favorite son, Jacob, to have it. She devised a plan and disguised him as his older brother and sent him to his father with his favorite meal. Isaac was old and blind and didn’t realize that he had blessed the wrong son until later when Esau came in expecting to receive the blessing. Even though it was gained by trickery, the blessing of the firstborn held power and came true.

Some blessings and curses may not be so consciously presented. They can be given without one even being aware of it. When you are talking about someone with another person and one of you says something like, “I hope it all works out well for her. She is a wonderful person, and I’d like to see her really prosper.” Do you realize you just blessed that person without their knowledge? On the flip side of the coin, cursing can be done in the same manner while standing in checkout line at the grocery store or driving in traffic. I am not talking about using profanity, but about the cursing of others with words and thoughts that throws energetic slander and hatred towards them. Anytime you speak or wish evil, harm or ruin to another person, you are cursing them. Doesn’t everyone have enough stress without sending these poison darts? But they have cursed me, you might defend. That’s all the more reason to bless them. Jesus taught his disciples to bless those that curse you — even your enemies. Doing so transmutes the harmful energy to beneficial energy for both the receiver and the sender. That’s powerful!

The Bible used to scare me half to death when I was a teenager because I knew that God’s righteousness condemned sinners. I understood as humans we were under divine condemnation because each has rejected the revelation of God through salvation in Christ. So essentially, we were “cursed” if we were not under the umbrella of a fire insurance policy against going to Hell. It didn’t help growing up in a strict Methodist environment and later to an A.M.E. Church. One associate minister used to get so passionate about his sermon delivery, I thought, “Oh my God, one day he’s gonna have a heart attack if he keeps this up.” Yes, he had a heart attack while I was sitting in the front row. I saw him pass out in the middle of his sermon. I sat there stunned because it just crossed my mind the week before and I did not “say” it aloud, only in my mind. Although I was not aware of the principles at the time, I felt some inner connection in what I said and what happened to Reverend Lewis. Were my words that powerful that I had cursed him? The heart attack did not kill him, thank God, but he left the church for a long time before preaching again. Needless to say, I left church in Washington, D.C. and moved to a galaxy far, far away – Los Angeles!

I was made the “official” spiritual advisor for a radio station in San Bernardino, California a few years ago. I visited the studio on occasion to answer a few questions from callers and sometimes in-studio guests. One of the show’s hosts, a female disc jockey, asked me to “read” her on the air. I did so, as she requested. I made a comment about her having a baby. I had a hunch she did not believe me because she had surgery to prevent a baby from entering this world through the mother vehicle. I gave her a look of total confidence and said, “Although you are in your late 30’s, and believe it is impossible, I know you will have a baby girl.” She looked at me doubtfully, but tried to clothe herself with an air of confidence for benefit of the listening audience in what I was telling her. When I was leaving the studio, a Bible passage hit me hard, “…life and death are in the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:2).

Last year I received a phone call from that same radio DJ who told me she was pregnant and having a baby girl and that she was in complete shock because it was “impossible” for her to get pregnant. Her child was waiting to be born and I “saw her” and spoke her into this reality with faith in the Higher Power who made everything there is.

Jesus Cursed a Fig Tree

Matthew 21:18-19; 20-22 and Mark 11:12-14; 20-25 says, in essence: “And on the morrow, when they had come out of Bethany, he [Jesus] hungered. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. And he answered and said unto it, ‘No man [will] eat fruit from you from now on – for ever.’ And his disciples heard it . . .And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance said unto him, ‘Rabbi, behold, the fig tree that you cursed is withered away’” (Mk. 11:12-14; 20-21).

The followers, or disciples of Christ understood the power of words and for their benefit, Jesus was always giving them a lesson. In the above-referenced passage, Christ did not “curse” the tree as an act of intolerance. As an Ascended Master and Son of God, he was hungry and told the tree so. He indicated that since the leaves came first without fruit, no one would ever eat from the tree again. His disciples listened carefully, hanging onto every word. Jesus demonstrated the power of words. Some people will judge this decision and think that the supernatural power of Christ was wasted on a vulgar demonstration before the disciples. However, Christ knew that he had (and we have) authority and dominion over all creation.

There are plenty of other stories about the life of Jesus that are undocumented that would fill large volumes if they were to be printed. Other manuscripts such as The Book of Thomas have been found that show even more mysteries of the secret doctrines of Christ. What we now call the scriptures contained in the Bible are only a part of what has been written about Jesus Christ. Many people do not realize that some accounts of his life were omitted from ancient texts by the Nicene Council for the purpose of regulating the Church and the government under one belief system during the reign of Constantine. In reading any text or hearing any message, be sure to listen to the voice of God within to be sure that what is being presented resonates with your spirit.

Binding and Loosing

I mention binding and loosing here because it has to do with blessing and cursing. I want to remind you that words spoken on earth, have an effect in other realms of the universe. In Matthew 16:19-20 Jesus said, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Binding (restraining and holding back) and loosing (allowing or setting free) may be applied to anything or anyone.

Having God and Goddess as our Divine parents, we are born with the power to invoke their assistance to bind all forces of darkness on earth, and in ourselves and others, as well as to set free or loosen captives. These are laws or commands that we may execute via our free will. We have the power to bless people and send the light of love to them physically and remotely as well as to curse them. In Wicca there is a statement of the same nature, “as above, so below.” Whatever we bind or loose on earth is also bound or loosed in heaven. I believe binding and loosing also has to do with granting karmic grace as Jesus did when He forgave the sins of others. When we forgive, we set people free; many times ourselves as well as the offender.

I am always amazed that the multiple meanings attached to English words. In the case of binding and loosing these words can mean the same thing since they share similar meanings. Let me explain. Most people think of binding as the act of restraining or controlling something, and some may pray that the powers of evil be bound. Loosing is generally referred to as unwrapping, exposing or setting something free; such as releasing a bird from its cage. However, binding can also be used positively, to secure, wrap or embrace something good. With this principle, you could envision yourself being securely bound to love and kindness if you wish to attract those virtues to yourself. By the same token, the principle of loosing can mean to “divide or separate from.” You could use the principle of loosing in this manner for removing or separating yourself from limiting or negative patterns of thinking. Binding and loosing is a simple matter of perspective.

 Words combined with love, wisdom and Divine inspiration are like apples of gold on trays of silver. Offered to a weary hearer, they become beautiful, living, hope-bearing morsels that nourish the soul. By the same token, when words are combined with hatred, jealously or selfish motives they are like the fig tree that was cursed and withered; they have the ability to bring death, discouragement and despair to the hearer. Which would you rather have spoken to you?

“And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes….Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” – Ezekiel 47:9, 12

It is very interesting but have you ever stand next to a river and take a look at the surrounding environment around the river bank? I never really did until one day when I drove across a bridge over a deep river on my way to my mother-in-law’s house. The children were swimming freely in the river. Further down, I saw some women washing their clothes in the river. Some men were enjoying an afternoon of fishing activity, undisturbed by the noises coming from the playful children. I noticed lots of trees, bushes, flowers and plantations along the river bank. These were green, healthy plants blooming with life. Along the river bank, there is life.

It was then, I heard this distinct voice said, “where the river flows, it brings life.” Yes, indeed, I began to understand what it means when I looked at the people and activities along the river bank. We have a river within us, too. Whether this river is alive and flowing or mashes of swamps in our lives. Ezekiel 47:1-12 describes this river within us that flows from the sanctuary of God. God was showing Ezekiel the meaning and the purpose of the river.

The Source of the River

Ezekiel 47:1 tells us that the source of the river comes from the sanctuary of God. In the Old Testament, the sanctuary is a physical temple of God. But God moves Himself from a physical temple into our heart. The Bible says that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. He is here to stay in us when we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. The Holy Spirit is a seal of our identity as the child of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ. Now, in us, flows this river and the source of the river is the Holy Spirit. But this river must flow out of us and whether it is gushing out of us, will depend on our spiritual walk with our Father. In order for the river to gush out of us, we must make room for the Holy Spirit to fill us and lead us in our walk everyday. We can stop the Holy Spirit or we can allow the Holy Spirit to take control of us.

The Course of the River

Ezekiel was shown the river. He was also led by the angel out from the temple into the river. First, the water was up to his ankles. Then as he walked deeper into the river, the water came up to his knees. He walked further into the river, the water came up to his waist and eventually it was too deep for him to walk in the river. He has to swim. As the river flows, it does not get widen and widen. Instead, as it flows, it cuts deeper and deeper into the land. As we choose to walk with God, you will find that your life becomes stronger and deeply rooted in God and His words. It also means that you begin to trust God more and more because in the deep river, you cannot walk and touch the ground, you can only swim. When there are no more steps to stand on, we need to let go of ourselves and learn to rely on God to guide you across the river. Depth and substance are what God wants to build in us, not width and more material wealth. These are just the by-products of seeking God first. If we are not anchored in God, we will find ourselves struggling to keep alive by swimming but eventually our strength will wear out and we will drown from fatigue.

The Mashes and Swamps that Stop the River Flows

As the river flows, there will be obstacles and hindrances that prevent the river from flowing on. When the river stops to flow, it forms into lake, swamps and mashes. These dead sea is no good to anyone as the water is too salty for any use. It cannot be used for drinking. It cannot be used for providing nutrients to the growth of plants and food. It is basically useless. In our lives, we must beware of swamps and mashes that hinder our personal relationship with God. These swamps and mashes prevent the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us to others. When these swamps and mashes are built up over time, nothing living can grow in it. When we walk away from God and refuse the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are like the swamps and mashes. No life will flow from us and everything we touch does not bring life and draw others to God.

There is power in the flow of the river. The force of the river brings life. The amount of flow will depend on how much we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

There must also be life in us. If the force of a flowing river is powerful, all kinds of plants will grow alongside it and bear fruits. These fruits become food for us. The leaves become medicine for healing. When we walk with God, our lives will become fruitful as we do good works. Through our good works, it becomes food for our spiritual growth and for others to be helped and encouraged. We become “medicine” for others who needed a helping hand, a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on. As we help the poor and needy, we bring healing to their souls through our kindness, love, compassion. They will see God and the goodness of God through you. But if you are a dead sea, there is no output from dead sea except lots of salt. And we know the more salt you take, the thirstier you become, and you will die from lack of water.

God has positioned us where we can become the channel for the river of life to flow through and out of us to bring life to others around us. Ask yourself whether your life is full of swamps, mashes or a dead sea. Or, is your life a flowing river or a still river? If you have not allowed the Holy Spirit to take control of your life today, will you go before God and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit to make you a living river? It is never too late to do so.

Heb 11:1 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

‘Substance’ here refers to the foundation that supports you in your life. Your faith is going to carry you through 2008. ‘Evidence’ means ‘confidence’. Faith is being confident of what you are going to achieve based on what you see right now. It is an attitude and a posture of confidence that God is leading you all the way.

Faith is having the confidence of holding yourself or your own when you are with powerful people, bosses, colleagues, subordinates and even family or strangers. God wants us to walk in confidence. Hebrew 10 tells us to hold on to our confidence and not to throw it away.

Without confidence, means without faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. This confidence is not about arrogance but trusting God and knowing that He will see you through. God’s power travels through an atmosphere of faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When God’s words are preached, deliverance, healing and all signs of miracles is performed and confirmed through faith. The anointing power travels through our confidence in God. Have confidence that God is with you. With an attitude change, your ministry is changed by having confidence and walking in confidence.

Your confidence is the cable where God’s power travels like a live wire from heaven to you. When Jesus was attacked by the devil in the desert, he was tempted in the realm of His confidence. Satan was interested in Jesus’ life and His confidence. In Matthew 4:1-3, 5-6, 8-9 – especially verses 3, 6, 9 – notice the words ‘if you are the Son of God’ that Satan used. Satan was testing Jesus’ confidence as the Son of God. He was daring Jesus to prove that He was the Son of God by doing what Satan wanted Him to do. It was necessary for Jesus to show who He was. Satan uses the same techniques on us, too. The devil will tempt us that ‘if we are the children of God, then do this and that’. The devil will always test and shake our confidence again and again in our faith as the child of God.

The devil is a scholar of Bible School. He knows the scriptures very well but he twisted it. To defeat the devil, we have to know the bible too. Years ago, there was a newspaper article featuring two young men of a local church who was killed by a drunken driver on their way home from church. The pastor of the church started this church not too long before the accident. After the accident, a Christian friend of the pastor from his previous church came to mock at the pastor. This friend was telling the pastor that ‘if the divine blessing of God was upon you and your church, why was there no divine protection upon your congregation?” We know that this is not true. We live in a broken world. Satan attacks not only an individual, he will try to attack the whole church’s confidence as well. When we do God’s works, the devil will do everything he can to shake your confidence. The devil was trying to shake the pastor’s confidence in believing that the church he pastor was not under God’s will. But this church, today, stands strong and is still growing.

The devil is very cunning and will make you doubt who you are in God. But the beautiful thing is when Jesus was tempted, Jesus did not have to prove to the devil, his enemies or even his disciples that He is the Son of God. It is the ultimate confidence He has in who He is. He did not have to prove Himself. The same goes for us.

When we are impacting the realms of arts, media, entertainments, business, education, and so forth, the devil will try to break your confidence and ask you to prove yourself and to men. Even Christians will ask you to prove that God is with you especially in the midst of negative events. But when you worry, the more you will worry. When you focus on the negative, the negative will expand. When you give reason and react to fear, you loose your confidence.

In Matthew 11, Jesus wants us to be the light of the world. He mingled and make friends with the tax collector, the sinners, the prostitutes, and the fisherman. He shocked the conservatives of His times. Jesus sent His disciples into the world, to reach out to the world which is directly opposite from what the holy men of His times taught. They taught the people to get out of the world/darkness into the light. They told the “holy men” not to mix around with the sinners of the world because they were defiled. Jesus did just the opposite. His disciples went into the world, to go as sheep among the wolves.

Even John the Baptist doubted Jesus. John the holy prophet sent his disciple to ask Jesus whether He was truly the Son of God (Matt 11:5). But Jesus did not prove Himself to John or his disciple by performing miracles before them. Instead, He responded by telling John to look at the fruits of His life where the sick were healed, the blind saw, the lame walked. He said to John, “Blessed are those who were not stumbled because of Me”. Jesus was not bothered with what people thought of Him. He simply did what the Father wanted Him to do. This is the confidence He had of who He is.