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The Way Is Hard, But He is Strong

The Way Is Hard, But He is Strong

“The way is hard,” Jesus said (Matthew 7:14).

In our early days we thought we knew what “hard” meant. Hard would be rigorous, demanding, exhausting. Jesus said the way would be hard and with James and John we replied (if not in words, then in unspoken presumption), “We are able” (Matthew 20:22).

But like James and John, we didn’t really understand what we were getting into. Like green recruits we thought we understood what war was like. War is hard. War is hell. Especially when you war with hell.

But we didn’t really understand hell’s warfare until we really began to engage it. Then hell began to break loose and we discovered that the chaos of war is far different experienced than studied.

Devils know no chivalry. They are cruel, and conceal their cruelty in the Trojan horses of pleasure and comfort, “wisdom” and “security,” flattery and shame. Theirs is guerilla warfare and espionage. Theirs is psychological warfare and seduction. Theirs is biological warfare and blackmail.

Hell’s Primary Objective

Hell’s one primary objective is to destroy faith in God. All of its elaborate strategies and all of its diabolical energies are focused on one thing: breaking the power of the word of the Lord by undermining our trust in it. The universe was created and is upheld by the Word of God (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:3), so hell must break the power of the Word of the God, if it wants to win.

Therefore, we find ourselves fighting an enemy that constantly seeks to alter our perception of reality. This is why this fight is such a surreal and sometimes horrific experience.

Hell wages a war of distortion. It seeks to make the most destructive things look tantalizingly desirable. It seeks to make the most wonderful things look unbearably boring. It seeks to make the most trustworthy things look unreliable. It seeks to make the one, true fountain of joy look like a dry well, and a broken cistern look like a spring of refreshment. Hell makes even hell look entertaining.

Hell wages a war of disorientation. Through temptation, condemnation, intimidation discouragement, disappointment, doubt, illness, weakness, weariness, and appeals to our pride and shame, the spiritual powers of evil seek to keep us off-balance, confused, and turned around. For if we lose our focus on the truth we lose our confidence and may lose our faith.

Hell wages a war of suspicion. One of the most painful things in this spiritual war is hell’s infiltration into our relationships. It seeks to corrupt the currency of trust in which they trade. Marriages break, families fracture, friendships rupture, churches split, movements derail as sin infects and seeds of suspicion are sowed and fertilized. And in the fray we easily lose track of who the enemy is and end up fighting against flesh and blood.

That Word Above All Earthly Powers

Jesus was right: the way is hard — far harder than we expected.

But Jesus was right about something else: “the gates of hell will not prevail” (Matthew 16:18). The way is hard, but the way is sure. For the Way (John 14:6) is the Word (John 1:1).

And the Word is impenetrably strong.

All the brutal forces of hell, with all the distortion it can conjure, disorientation it can cause, and suspicion it can sow, simply cannot break the Word of God. Martin Luther was right about the devil: “one little word shall fell him.” Oh, but that Word turns out not to be so little. For that Word is God himself (John 1:1).

And the Word came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

Oh, the paradox! The Word of God destroyed the works of the devil by being broken. Yes, all hell broke loose upon the Word of God from Gethsemane to Calvary and the Word was broken. But it was not broken in the way that hell tried to break it. Hell tried to compromise the Word, but the Word held fast by being broken. For in being broken, the Word of God kept unbroken the word of God, the great covenant, and cosmic justice was upheld as Christ became both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

That Word stands above all earthly powers and smashes against the gates of hell.

The way may be hard for us. But the Way will be hell for hell.

The key to our clarity in the face of hell’s distortion, focus in the face of hell’s disorientation, and our persevering, longsuffering love in the face of hell’s suspicion is to listen to the Word of God by soaking in the words of God in the Bible. The Word is our refuge (Psalm 18:30), the Word is our peace (Acts 10:36, Philippians 4:7), and the Word is our weapon (Ephesians 6:17).

We must remember that hell is after one thing: our faith. And we must remember that we will overcome hell by one thing: our faith (1 John 5:4). Jesus summarized our one and supreme defense against hell is this statement: “believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1).

Therefore, today:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:8-10)

Grace inspirationals…August 18th, 2015 by Joseph Prince

From ‘Deliverance’ To ‘No Evil Shall Touch You’

Aug 18, 2015

God will deliver you from all your troubles. (Psalm 34:19, 2 Timothy 4:18) But deliverance is actually not the best that God has for you because it implies that you are in trouble. God’s best for you is the place where no trouble or evil can touch you. And with His help, you will come to that place because the Bible says, “He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.”

This does not mean that God will only deliver you six times. It just means that as you keep believing God’s promises of protection, after some time, you will come to a place where no evil will touch you!

So when trouble comes, God does not want you to be discouraged. He wants you to know that it is only the devil trying to steal His Word from your heart. The devil is afraid of leaving God’s Word in your heart for even one second because he knows that it will lead you to a place where no evil will touch you. That is why he comes immediately to steal God’s Word from your heart.

He will do so by telling you, “Look, your child is sick. Where is God now?” You must not respond by saying, “Well, I guess it does not work. Maybe God’s promises of deliverance are not for my family.”

No, you must continue to stand on God’s promises. Say, “The previous flu my child had did not stay. God promises me deliverance and He did deliver my child then. So I will live life believing His promises of deliverance because His Word is true. And I will come to a place where no evil can touch me and my family!”

Beloved, even if in the next moment you happen to stub your toe against something hard, don’t be discouraged and wonder why God did not protect your toe. The devil had meant to cause greater harm to you, but thank God that he could not because God is watching over you. And keep standing on His promises until you come to the place where no evil will touch you!

Thought For The Day

Keep believing God’s promises of protection and come to a place where no evil will touch you!

Our Daily Manna …August 18th, 2015 By Pastor W.F Kumuyi

TOPIC: No Pretentious Love

Tuesday, August 18, 2015
TEXT: ROMANS 12:9-21
KEY VERSE: “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9).
There are so much insincerity and deception in the world today. Many professions of love are not true because they have hidden motives. Many people have feigned love only to have deceived, defrauded, swindled and jilted those they claimed to love? Many love for what they stand to gain and not what they are in to give. This is the kind of love most practiced in the world.
God’s word calls Christians to unpretentious love. This is one area in which the believer is not to be conformed to the world. The Christian life and love is real and not plastic or fake. Love is a deliberate act of the will. As such, this love is not as a result of what we hope to get but what we desire to give. One of the characteristics of this love is that it is not blind to evil. It does not encourage evil; neither does it close its eyes to evil in the life of the one it loves. Love is practical and expressive. It manifests itself in true and sincere feeling of affection for others. It is not hard, callous and indifferent to the plight and feelings of others. It is practical, fervent, joyful, kind, patient, enduring, forgiving, winsome and not vengeful.
It is clear that the carnal mind does not have the capacity to have and express this kind of love. You can’t give what you don’t have. The Bible reveals man’s heart to be intrinsically evil and selfish (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9). So, to be able to have this love and express it, there must be a transforming and renewing of the mind. In other words, there must be a change of heart made only possible when one becomes born again by faith in the saving power of the Lord Jesus.
As Christians, we must daily strive to express this love everywhere we go. It is the mark that identifies us with Christ and makes us His worthy ambassadors. The world is hurting and hurtful; let us soothe it with love.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 35 – 38
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Love is a deliberate act of the will.

Open Heavens Today…August 18th, 2015. By Pastor E.A Adeboye

LIFE MORE ABUNDANT – Tuesday August 18th 2015

 LIFE MORE ABUNDANT 
Memorise: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10
Read: John 10:9-11, 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Bible in one year: Genesis 24:62-26:35:
John 15:18-16:15, 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
16 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
MESSAGE
God’s plan for His children is that they do not become sick at all (3rd John 2). All through His years on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ was never sick. If you believe in Him and fully obey Him, it is possible for you to never be sick again. Sickness is alien to God’s temple – your body. It is a stranger, an invader and a tool of the enemy. John 10:10 says the mission of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to steal your health, kill your body and destroy you. But thank God, 1st John 3:8 Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Every work of darkness operating in your life shall be destroyed in Jesus’ Name.
 
Moreover, Jesus came to give life. The life He came to give is not in limited measure, but at a level described as being more than abundant. In other words, in superlative measure! Life is the opposite of death. Any resemblance of death in you shall be uprooted now! The life of Jesus gives includes physical life; hence, He can reverse the process of death in a human body (Acts 9:39-41). It also includes spiritual life: He imparts life to a spiritually dead fellow and is able to sustain this life until He returns (1st Peter 2:24). This is how those who were once sinners became saints and remain holy until they sleep in death or are caught up in the rapture. Jesus also gives intellectual life. He can resurrect the mental faculty of a dullard and turn the fellow into a genius (Acts 4:13). His abundant life includes financial life: He makes the deeply impoverished to become financially empowered (2ndCorinthians 8:9). The abundant life restores health to the sick, makes the barren fruitful, changes the story of the one covered with shame, gives beauty for ashes, joy to the sorrow-laden, compassion to the neglected and so much more. It is capable of multiplying provision of overflowing measure. Are you a beneficiary of the abundant life? Any blessing to you have in limited measure can be made available to you abundantly. This season, the abundant life that Jesus gives shall be your portion! Reject anything that is less than the abundant life! Do everything possible to live a life that is filled with God’s abundance!
Key Point:

Although Jesus has made all good things abundantly available, your faith will determine the level of what you draw from it.

OBA OGO BY LARA GEORGE

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Nigerian Gospel Artist Lara George, with “Oba Ogo” for the world and to listen.

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