JOY TO THE WORLD!

HOW PRAISE CAN INCREASE LEARNING PERFORMANCE

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

A recent study has shown that praising your child for efforts made in solving a problem even though he or she has failed to produced the desired results help promote efficient learning. Just telling the child you are intelligent or smart does not cut it! Learning comes through practice with successes and failures. Read more on this article by clicking here.

Training of a child requires a lot of effort. Think about potty training! The child would continue to wet the bed on and off until he or she finally gets it. Just telling the child, "Don't wet your bed," would not cut it. A child learns to walk by taking few steps at a time. One step, he or she fall down, rises up again and then take another step. Over time, the child begins to take multiple steps and then learns to navigate obstacles. This is what training is all about. Learning to identify ways to get up to speed on some action or developing a problem solving skill. It does not take a day to attain perfection. In fact, it is a long process but once the skill is acquired, it lasts forever. 

This is the type of training the Lord is asking parents, teachers, pastors, educators, leaders, etc., to do. A skill that last a lifetime. Ask skill that "when he is old he will not depart from it." Children must be taught the word on a daily basis so that it would be engrave in their minds, heart, and soul. Most of the children of this generation have not been trained in the things of the Lord. They are empty vessels with no Word of God in them. Yet, we expect them to live a noble and morally upright life. How do they know what is right or wrong when they have nothing in them to compare to or to convict them of sin? 

When children are imbibed with the Word of God or trained in godliness at an early age, the seed sown in them would germinate over time. They may fall and make some mistakes, but then, they will rise up again if they are encouraged to keep trying. 

May the Lord grant you the ability and wisdom to Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. AMEN!

DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD! BREAK OUT FOR YOUR DESTINY!

 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.                               Luke 8:43-48 (KJV)

One this particular day, I believe there were many people following Jesus  who needed some healing and a special touch from Jesus, but they couldn't reach Him. They were limited by the size of the crowd. I am sure some of them may have given up hope and returned home or they may just be following hoping that at least some miracle will come their way. The woman with the issue of blood was following like the other people until she made up her mind to change her destiny after having spent all he fortune on physicians without any cure. 

If you follow the crowd, you will stop wherever the crowd stops. You cannot go further than the crowd. But if you walk alone, you are likely to find yourself in places no one has ever been.

The woman with the issue of blood made a simple decision not just to follow the crowd but to breakout of the crowd to reach master Jesus.  To be successful in life, you cannot do just what the crowd is doing. If you keep doing the same thing that everyone else is doing and falling, how can you be successful. You need to be innovative to chart your own path. This woman  came to the realization that she had to do something different to get her healing. 

How many times have you been praying the same prayer, the same way, at the same place, and time without results. It's about time you make a change. If you have been praying for five minutes a day, it is about time to double or triple it to get results. If you pray in a rush because you are had pressed with time, it's about time to re-evaluate to find a more suitable time to have real communication with God. A time when you can talk to Him and also wait for Him to talk to you. 

Whilst the crowd was following Jesus, the woman did not just want to follow for following sake, she said, " If I can just touch the helm of His garment, I will be made whole." It was this simple decision that resulted in a life-changing experience. I challenge you to break out of the crowd and get closer to Jesus through effective prayers and bible study. Be determined to live a life of holiness and righteousness not not to do what everyone else is doing. When everyone around you is falling into all kinds of diverse temptations and sins, be the one to stay faithful to God. The woman acted singly without anyone's help. She went all out by herself. She did not care what the crowd would say. She did it in secrecy but she was discovered by Jesus. As you go all out in your closest in prayer, your prayer will be answered and you will come out to declare the goodness of the Lord.

"And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately."

What do you desire today that you want the Lord to do for you and His Church? If we make our minds that we are going to touch just the helm of His garment, we would receive restoration. And when the restoration come, we will declare Him publicly as Lord.

In Luke 19:1-10(ESV), we read about a man called Zacchaeus:

He entered Jericho and was passing through.  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.  And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”  And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Here again, we see, how the multitude of people can hinder our progress or breakthrough. Had Zacchaeus limited himself based on his height, he would not have been saved. His strong desire to see Jesus cause him to be innovative. He made his mind to break out of the crowd by climbing the sycamore tree. Though he was short, yet he had the clearest view of Jesus. For you to see Jesus clearly, love him more dearly, follow him more nearly, you must move to a higher altitude. You cannot experience Him in totality if you are with the crowd. The crowd would always do just the average. When you are in a school where everyone is getting a grade of C in a particular subject, you feel good when you also get C because this is the norm. There is no desire to excel or go beyond this average. Sometimes, you are even teased and given names when you get a grade above C. You cannot excel if you remain at this school. You have to move out to a better school to perform. Zacchaeus had to outdo the crowd to get to see Jesus. 

Trump won the American presidential election because he broke ranks with the establishment including his own Republican Party. He did not do what everyone would do or expect him to do. He decided to do it his own way, he went alone. Even though he did and said some nasty things, it worked for him. To get closer to God, you have to break ranks with the status quo to chart a new path of your own. You have to take some bold decisions in life sometimes to go alone. Your success and blessings will come only when you break away.

Abraham had to move out from his family into an unknown land to before he received the promise and blessings. He had to move away from the things that would have hindered his progress from getting to know God. He had to move away from the crowd and to chart a path for a change in his destiny. Everyone has a unique path to follow to fulfill your destiny. It will not conform to that of the crowd. Being with the crowd is a comfort zone. For you to break out of the crowd requires boldness. Abraham was bold to leave his household. He overcame his fears and ventured out. I pray that today you will venture out into an unknown territory for the Lord. I pray that you will put away or the fears and failures of the past and chart a new path for your life. I pray that you will set yourself apart for the Lord to use you in a new direction where no one has has been. 

There is a blessing awaiting those who hear and obey the voice of the Lord to set themselves apart. This can be found in Deuteronomy 28:1-2:

 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lordyour God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.  Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.  Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.  The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.  And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.  And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,  and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

MAY YOU LEAVE THE CROWD AND FOLLOW GOD'S DIRECTION IN ORDER TO HAVE A CHANGE IN YOUR DESTINY! BE BLESSED TODAY!

WHY WORRY WHEN GOD CARES ABOUT YOU?

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Psalm 37:25 (NIV)

Trust in the Lord at all times because He will never let you go hungry or be in want. He is a faithful God who always provides our daily bread. Ask Him daily for your daily bread or provision. He says in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." 

We do not receive sometimes  because we do not ask for the essentials of life. There are needs and there are wants. When we ask of God, we tend to ask amidst. We ask without given careful thought to what we have asked for. Will that thing you are asking for be beneficial to your survival and desire to get closer to God? Or, is that thing going to take you away from spent time with God? God is a faithful God and He will not give you what you do not need in life. 

That is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this, " Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread." Matthew 6:9-11 

The righteous one is assured of God's provision for himself and his children. May you this day serve God diligently and without worries, knowing that He is the all-sufficient God (El Shaddai). He will never ever disappoint you if you trust wholly in Him to take care of you. 

11 

YOU ARE VICTORIOUS IN JESUS' NAME

The hymn writer, Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), wrote in the fourth verse of his hymn "Who is on the Lord's side":

Fierce may be the conflict,

  Strong may be the foe,

But the King’s own army

  None can overthrow.

Round His standard ranging

  Victory is secure,

For His truth unchanging

  Makes the triumph sure.

When you are on the Lord's side, the battle may sometimes be fierce but because the Lord is your captain, you know that victory is secured. 

We know no defeat, we know no defeat;

 Jesus is our captain and we know no defeat!

YOUR PERSECUTION IS NOT FOREVER!

Dear brothers and sisters,

The video below show how barbaric, wicked, insensitive, and diabolic this society have become. A woman was FALSELY accused of burning the Quran and she was brutally killed by the mob. Where is love portrayed by these religious fanatics? ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!

JESUS is LOVE and He is THE ONLY WAY to get saved from your sins and avoid being thrown into the lake of fire, HELL.




 This video is no different from what happen to Jesus and his disciples. It is the testament that the followers of Jesus will be persecuted more and more in the last days. Christians will always be persecuted but we have the confidence that we will be in a better place than this world when we pass away. We shall then rule the world as we sit with our maker in heaven and those you persecuted us will be thrown into the lake of fire to suffer eternal damnation if they do not repent and give their lives to Christ.

In the book of Acts 7:54-60 (NIV), we read about a similar story like the one in the video below.

"When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,  dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep."

I want you to understand that the Lord will see you through all your trials and troubles if you stay strong to the end. Stephen was happy to be with the Lord, because he knew he was going to a better place. If his persecutors knew that, they wouldn't had stoned him to death. They rather hastened his arrival to heaven. What they intended for evil, God turn it into good!

Psalm 34:19 says that, "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all."

John 16:33 also says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

If you are being persecuted today, "Take heart!" The Lord is with you in all your trials and He has promised to help you go through it all the way to the end. He will provide a way of escape or the ability to endure according to His purpose for your life. 

STAY THE COURSE AND KEEP EVANGELIZING UNTIL ALL ARE WON FOR THE LORD!

THERE IS NOTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD

 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?      Jeremiah 32:27(NIV)

You may be searching for answers to a difficult situation in your life that has taken so long to the extent that you given up all hope in the Lord Almighty. You may have been declared hopeless by physicians because of an incurable disease or condition. You may be unemployed for a long time and there is no hope of been employed even though you have been searching vigorously. You may be looking for a child for a long time and all visits to the specialists have failed to yield any results. You may have attempted to pass a professional exam several times but you have not yet succeeded and the years are running away so fast. You may be running a business but you are not making any profit so you want to give it up. 

Today, I want you to have a change of heart by acknowledging that all you efforts have failed but the Lord never fails if you wholeheartedly believe in Him. He declares, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? " There is nothing that is impossible when God is at the helm of your affairs. Things may be hard for you but with Him all things are possible. He created the heavens and the earth out of nothing, so He alone can turn nothing into something. How you see God is what will influence the extent to which you can trust Him to perform. It is a personal experience with Him that will expedite the performance of His deeds in your life. I pray that you will see Him as an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God.

In Luke 8:43-48, we read about the woman who had the issue of blood for twelve good years.

43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

When all had failed, this woman never gave up hope. She knew that there was still the possibility to receive her healing if she stopped trusting in man and trust in the Lord. She needed just a little touch from Jesus, because she knew in her heart that Jesus was the Lord, the God of all mankind and nothing was too hard for him. It was that faith in Jesus ability to perform miracles that brought her everlasting healing. She left the presence of Jesus being assured that the condition would return no more. Jesus told her to "be of good comfort", that is, not to worry because she had come to the right person, the right place, and the right time. She was to go home in peace with no more pain or sorrow, but with great joy.

When you have an encounter with the Lord, you find great joy and solace because you know that the Lord cares about your needs and He provides them. Trust in the Lord and cast all your burdens on Him for He will bring you times of refreshment to your mind, body, and soul. 

Wait upon the Lord and your redemption and deliverance will accomplished in Jesus' name.