All posts by : Simbo Odunaiya

There is this event at the summer Olympics known as synchronized swimming. I have watched it a few times and I am always amazed at how people can swim to a beat, because there is music going on, and then also stay in sync with the two or three or whatever number of people they are doing this with. I find it amazing because I do not know how to swim, let alone swim in sync with another person according to the beat of the playing music. For whatever reason each time I read Galatians 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,” synchronized swimming is what comes to my mind. I often wonder how difficult it might be to keep in step with the Spirit. You see, I often liken keeping in step with the Spirit to synchronized swimming or dancing with the Spirit. If one wants to keep in step with the Spirit, then one must first learn to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). My thoughts are, it is hard enough to walk by the Spirit, how much more keeping in step with the Spirit.

There is, however, no choice for us but to walk by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. Proverbs 4:26-27, says “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” If we do not walk by the Spirit nor keep in step with the Spirit, then keeping our feet from evil becomes difficult. We must allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit, because only then can we walk in perfect sync with the Spirit. However, being led by the Spirit is also not a walk in the park. I say it is not a walk in the park because Apostle Paul makes it very clear to us that the Spirit-led life is a life that is full of conflict. It is a life that is in frequent battle with our carnal self. The flesh never gets tired of making a claim on our heart and mind. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Galatians 5:17). Thus, a spirit-led Christian must constantly wage war against the flesh.

How do we make sure we are led by the Spirit? We cannot be led by the Spirit unless we understand the workings of the Spirit. Only those who know the Word of God can understand the working of His Spirit. We must study His Word and meditate on it day and night. If we know His Word, we will recognize His voice. If we know His Word we will know His Will. We cannot be led by the Spirit if we are still slaves to sin. We have been set free and are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18). We must live as those who have forsaken Satan and his work. We must put to death the misdeeds of the body by the Spirit (Romans 8:13). Even as we forsake the devil and his workings, to be led by the Spirit we must set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). Only those who walk in the realm of the Spirit can please God (Romans 8:4).

To be led by the Spirit, we must be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). To be led by the Spirit, we must also live His Word. It is counterproductive to study the Word of God, pray in the Spirit, and yet not put the Word of God into practice. The Bible also enjoins us not to forsake the gathering of the faithful (Hebrews 10:25). We can all use the encouragement of other brothers and sisters to ensure that we remain on the Spirit-led path. The Bible says two are better than one. If either falls one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and does not have anyone to lift them up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). In any case, there is a level of anointing we can reach corporately that is elusive for an individual (Acts 2, Acts 4).

The devil does not joke. The devil’s idea of a good day’s work is to find someone to mess with. If we are not fully immersed in things of the Spirit, the devil has a leg up on us. The Bible says “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” We cannot afford even a little slip, because the devil is continually on the prowl. God wants us to be led by the Spirit. We must live our lives in total surrender to the Holy Spirit who indwells with us. It is only when we allow the Spirit to lead us that we can keep in step with the Spirit, with a resulting Spiritual fruitfulness. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Brethren, that time of year has come upon us again. It is Lenten Season. It is the season of introspection, self-evaluation, fasting, abstinence, repentance and penitence. It is the time of humility, the time to acknowledge the power and supremacy of God almighty. It is the time to remember the damage that sin had done to the humankind and the damage that sin is still doing. It is the time to see where we are situated in our journey of faith and make a good effort to change our ways and look up to God’s grace for empowerment to stay on the right track. Beginning Wednesday (Ash Wednesday – 02/26/2020), Christians all over the world will begin fasting daily except on Sundays until the Saturday before Easter known as the Holy Saturday, which this year is Saturday, April 11.
In concrete terms, the Lent Season is a period of forty days just before the Resurrection Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 4:1-2, we read that “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” Obviously the 40 days of Lent must have taken its root from this event. Consequently, many Christians all over the world will be fasting or abstaining from food and other things at which time it is expected that they will focus primarily on their relationship with God. It is a time we should pray, read the Bible, serve the poor, observe moments of silence in meditation, and engage in habits that enrich the soul. Fasting is a gift that God has given to the Church in order to help us persevere in prayer.
Fasting gets us closer to God by strengthening our spirit. Fasting also helps to situate our prayers on solid footing. We should however be careful about turning fasting into an instrument of negotiation with God. Very often people have replaced Godliness in their lives with fasting. Fasting is supposed to be a way of taking control away from the ungodly things that have taken hold of our lives while leaving absolute control in the hands of God. If we fast and still do not yield control of our lives to God, then we waste our time. If we fast and still engage in ungodly things, then our fasts are but futile. Abstaining from food without penitence is nothing short of a hunger strike. Isaiah 58:5 makes this very clear, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” Humility without godliness achieves nothing. Fasting is not an end by itself. For our fasts to have meanings they must go along with godliness.
Aside from the need to follow in the footsteps of Christ, the Bible spells out other reasons we fast. Isaiah 58:6-7 says an acceptable fast should include loosing the chains of injustice, untying the cords of yoke, setting the oppressed free, breaking yokes, sharing food with the hungry, offering shelter to the wanderer, clothing the naked, and taking care of our brothers and sisters. Jonah 3:8 says fasting is about penitence. We, of course use fasting to try and influence God – exploits can only happen by fasting and prayer – Mark 9:29, but as we read in 2 Samuel 12:16-22, we can only try. Only God’s grace fulfills desires.
As I often say during this season, when you fast in the Lenten Season, evaluate and re-evaluate your walk with God. Be penitent – do not just abstain from food but be remorseful and make a firm resolve to change for good. Pray fervently as prayer helps convey our remorse to God while strengthening our relationship with Him. Finally, be a witness for God. Use the opportunity offered by the season to share the knowledge of God’s grace. Colossians 1:26-27 tells us that God has chosen His people to make known the mystery that has been disclosed to you among the Gentiles: which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. We must share that hope. Witness about His God’s goodness, His mercy and His grace. Do it in words and in kind. Take on a cause for Christ. Wherever you are, join an evangelism team, take part in feeding the poor, volunteer in and outside of church, and donate money for the needy. Look for noble causes and do something that draws attention to God. Make that resolve this season, not only to change yourself for God, but make that resolve to also impact your world for Him. When we do that, our fast will be meaningful – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Many times, when we talk about Christian perfection, there is this general agreement that none of us is perfect. In fact, there many passages of the Bible, which if read correctly, for example Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3 etc., basically allude to the fact of no one being perfect. However, the Lord Jesus Christ demands perfection from us, and not as one views perfection, but as the Lord is perfect. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” – Matthew 5:48. So the tendency then is to reach the conclusion that perfection is an ongoing thing. We must continue to strive, but we would never be able to achieve perfection. What then is the essence of a law we are not able to achieve? We are asked to be perfect as the Lord is perfect, but there is no human that can achieve the perfection of the Lord. As a matter of fact, this command of our Lord Jesus Christ should motivate us to examine ourselves. We should examine ourselves to find out the sources of our imperfection.

Why can we not be perfect as the Lord is perfect? Of course, the leading reason is because we are not God, we are human. And, because we are human, we are of a sinful nature. Psalm 51:5 says “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” We are able to overcome our sinful nature only by God’s grace. The command to be perfect was given by our Lord Jesus Christ during the sermon on the mount. A cursory look at the context of the sermon leading to this statement in verse 48
reveals to us some of the things that we do which prevent us from being perfect.
In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus Christ talked about many things that lead us in the way of imperfection. He talked about our anger and he compared it to murder. In our angry moments we also speak angry words, and the Lord said it is as bad as going to hell fire for calling a brother a fool. Holding people captive in our hearts is also one of the ways we exhibit anger, and Christ says it is no use coming to the presence of the Lord with a gift when we are in this state. We must clear our hearts and clear our consciences when
we come into the presence of the Lord. Then in verses 27-28, Jesus Christ said lust is the same as adultery. The thought is as bad as the action. He proceeded to talk about how divorce is not far from adultery. He talked about needless oath-taking or swearing, being vengeful and not loving the same way God loved us.

In all of these it is very clear that the things that lead to imperfection are not just in our actions, but are also evident in our words and in our thoughts. Anyone who wants to be perfect as God is perfect must be ready to have the same kind of thoughts that God has. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” – Jeremiah 29:11. Our thoughts must be devoid of evil, not only the absence of evil but also the presence of good and peace. Our words must also be devoid of evil. Things we say must be things that edify. “A good man brings
good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” – Luke 6:45. If we have evil in our thoughts, our mouths will voice them out. We must mind our tongues. God does not lie, God does not backbite, God does not swear needlessly, God does not boast. If we must be perfect as God is perfect, we cannot afford to exhibit any of these traits. And finally, we must watch our actions. While our actions are motivated by our thoughts, one of the greatest drivers of our actions is love. Jesus wants us to love
indiscriminately the same way our God loves everyone indiscriminately, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” – Matthew 5:45. Our actions must always show that we love and that we love everyone. If we want to be perfect as the Lord is perfect, then we must love as the Lord loves.

All of these are not things we can do easily. So this command by our Lord greatly exposes our shortcomings. It shows how inadequate we are. He shows that we have a long way to go. It shows how helpless we are because there are no two ways about it, we are imperfect. But the command is that we must be perfect. This is where grace comes in. We need His grace to be what He wants us to be, but we cannot continue to dwell in sin and expect grace to abound. May His grace be enough for each and every
one of us. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Very often, especially in this day and age, when we want something, we want it now.  It is just the same way our toddlers behave.  “I want it now”!  In spite of age and our so-called maturity, we still, essentially, behave the same way.  When prayers go up, blessings must come down; but we want the blessings right away.  The time between the promise of God and its fulfilling is very important.  That waiting period is also the watching period, because when we are waiting, we must also keep watch.  Moses knew he will lead the Israelites out of slavery and bondage when he was 40 years old, but this did not materialize till he turned 80.  It took 25 years after David was anointed King by Samuel before he actually sat on the throne.  In each case it was a long time of waiting by our standards.

The idea of waiting presupposes that there is already a promise made. The Lord’s promise for you may be that you will have a God-fearing spouse, it may be that your own child is on the way.  Whatever the Lord has promised to you, there must be a waiting period.  The promises and the fulfillment are usually the highlights, but the main story is in the waiting.  You see, God has a destination for each and every one of us in our journey of life, but it matters to God how you did on the journey.  Waiting on the Lord is waiting for God’s plan for you to unfold.  In Psalm 106, the Psalmist talked about those that do not wait on the Lord.  “But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold (vs 13). “So he gave them what they asked for (vs 15a).  It is always good to allow God’s plan to unfold, otherwise we will receive what we asked for but that is not in the plan of God.

In Matthew 26:41, Jesus told the disciples to “watch and pray”.  Here watching also goes with praying.  Reading the previous passages, we see here that the idea of watching suggests staying awake, being vigilant, and being on guard.  Spiritually it means being alert and being focused.  So, when we talk about waiting and watching, we are essentially saying that during this period between a promise and its fulfillment, we must stay focused, we must remain alert, we must be vigilant, and we must be on guard.  Jesus was even more explicit with Peter in that verse, He said “Watch and Pray so that you will not fall into temptation”.  During the period of waiting, we must be careful not to fall into any expectation.  Vigilance and focus helps us to walk in obedience and to worship God wholeheartedly.  The period of waiting and watching is a time that we must remain intensely focused on God, trusting that whatever He says, He will surely do.  Hebrews 10:35-37 says “do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For, ‘In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.’”  The key is to do His will, persevere, and stay trusting and the Lord will fulfill what He promised.  

We also grow spiritually while we are waiting if we are watching.  In waiting and watching Moses learnt to be humble and to be completely dependent on God.  A man who was the nephew of a powerful King became a shepherd rearing sheep in a foreign land. Of course, he had to learn patience and he had to learn to be content with His new life, a sharp contrast to what drove him there in the first place.  David, on the other hand, went from being a successful warrior who just killed a giant to a man being pursued by his own King.  But, God showed him mercy as he was protected and housed by the same Philistines whose giant he killed.  So David himself learnt what it means to show mercy.   He had the opportunity to kill King Saul twice but did not do it, he showed mercy because he has received mercy.

Brothers and sisters, in our own eyes, we feel that any delay is too long, but our Lord who is pruning us and growing us seeks to take us through a time of waiting and watching so that we will become better Christians.  His promises are sure for us.  But let us wait on Him and as we wait let us keep watch.  He who promised will bring it to fruition. “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land.” – Psalms 37:34. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

I listened to the story of a lady on Facebook on Thursday.  I am not mentioning her name because I did not ask her permission to do so.  She told a touching story of her life-long struggle with sickle cell. I have been her friend on Facebook for years, so, I know some of her story.  It had been a back and forth story of hospital visits. I had always thought she handles her case very well because each time she is hospitalized, she expresses this type of faith that I thought was amazing.  She is fond of saying “Sickle cell will not have a leg up on me because God’s hand is in my matter.” So, in her struggles, she still believed God’s hand is in her matter. She told a moving story of how after she was discharged from the hospital the last time in the United Kingdom, she boarded a plane and went to a Church in Florence, Italy.  She talked about how she prayed and told God all she wanted is to be healed of this sickle cell disease. She told God she is tired of the back and forth to the hospital. She told God she is tired of the blood transfusion and asked God to intervene in the matter. I had actually started wondering why I had not heard from her lately, then she came with this wonderful testimony of how she has not visited a hospital in the last eight months, the longest since 2001.  In fact. She called her live video on Facebook a testimony. She said she must thank God because only God could have done this.

I have shared this story above to say, God is still in the business of answering prayers.  God is still in the business of fulfilling expectations. Our faith not only helps us to deal with things that come our way; our faith allows us to recognize the goodness or the hands of God in our lives.  Even while this lady was visiting the hospital on a six-weekly basis, she will always come and thank God for His grace in her life. Despite the pains she still recognized the power of God. Here she is and she has been eight months free from all those things.  Psalms 34:5 says “those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” One thing about Faith is that it helps us to always have a positive expectation. And there is that word of God in Proverbs 23:28 which says, “there is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”  The King James version says, “for surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.”

People of the Kingdom, challenges will come, but I need you to know that challenges will also go. The word of God says there is a hope for you, I need you to believe that.  Maintain your faith and maintain your positive expectation. It is faith and positive expectations that bring miracles, and it can come anytime. Just believe that God can take care of your situation, always go to Him in prayers, cast all your burdens on Him and be sure not to exercise any doubt and the faithful God will come through for you in His own time.

It might look like you are falling and there is no hope, but expectation demands that you hold on to the word of God, declare it and meditate on it! Expectation demands that you cast all your burdens upon the Lord for He cares for you. Refuse to count the months which leads to doubting God! Just look to Him, the author and finisher of your faith.  So, in this blessed year, I prophesy to you that your expectations shall not be cut off. I need you to receive it and believe it. Know that the gestation of God’s manifest miracles is in the womb of expectations. Expect positive things this year because He who expects nothing shall receive nothing.  I know you have been on this mountain for a while, but it is not time to give up yet.  Great testimonies surround you and the God who had birthed these testimonies is still on the throne.  Stay faithful, stay hopeful, be expectant and the God who has promised not to forget the needy will not forget you and your hope shall not perish (Psalm 9:18). – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

This week I want to lay down an enduring thought for our Perfection Series.  And that is, perfection begins with what we proclaim with our mouths and is perfected with what we think in our hearts.  The moment we accept Christ into our lives and acknowledge Him as our Lord and savior, our journey of perfection begins.  Although, it may sound like tautology, this acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of the perfection of our journey of perfection.  Accepting Christ into our lives is the beginning, not an end in itself.  I say it is the beginning because anyone who accepts Christ must also walk like one who has accepted Christ.  Anyone who is in the light must live as a child of light.  Living as a child of light begins from the heart.  When our hearts are in the right place, it does not mean we are sinless, but it means we are striving as hard as we can.

Apostle Paul talked about the weapons of our warfare in 2 Corinthians 10:4. He said these weapons are not carnal but they are mighty through God in pulling down of strongholds.  These strongholds include those that have been built in our hearts by our upbringing.  Strongholds that have been erected in our hearts from our life experiences; strongholds as a result of wrong doctrines that we may have been exposed to during our time of seeking the truth; strongholds that we have picked up because of our environment.  All these strongholds need to be torn down so that we can live our lives as true Christians.  We need to renew our minds completely.  We need to unlearn things that are not of God but that have become part of our lives.  It is only in doing these things that we can begin to perfect our walk with God and as a result perfect our journey of perfection.

There is a new fad amongst the young people in Nigeria.  There are kids, and some adults too, who identify themselves as “Marlians”.  Yes, just as we call ourselves “Christians”, these people also call themselves “Marlians”.  They are followers of a viral musician known as Naira Marley – real name Azeez Fashola.  However, Nigerian parents are up in arms and do not want their children identifying as Marlians.  This is because Naira Marley may not be that kind of a good example.  While his songs are danceable and his phrases catchy, people are not that sure of his character traits as a role model.  In the last six months he has been involved with the police for one thing or the other.  In one instance he was accused of stealing a car, and in another he was accused of internet fraud and cybercrime.  Some of his songs include “Marry Juana”, “Am I a Yahoo Boy”, “Soapy”, and “Tesumole” meaning “walk on Satan”. Without going into details or the merits/demerits of his lyrics, many Nigerians see these songs as teaching bad morals.  Put his police issues and his songs together and you see exactly why many parents do not want their children to be Marlians.  They are afraid a Marlian will behave like the person he/she follows.  As Christians, our contention is opposite.  We must behave exactly like the one we profess to follow.  Every effort to succeed as a Christ follower is an effort at breaking down strongholds.

When our Lord Jesus Christ was explaining a parable to Apostle Peter, He said, “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” Matthew 10:18-19. This means that a man is defiled only by what comes out of his heart.  So, if our hearts are not perfected, only defiled things will continually come out of them.  The things that make us imperfect usually emanate from the heart.   The common ones are false testimony, also known as lying; theft – taking things that do not belong to us; and slander – that thing we do behind people.  They all start from the heart. 

My brothers and sisters, the Lord has made this year a perfect year, we need to get on board with God’s plan.  Being in tune with God’s plans this year requires that we begin to work out our perfection too.  Seek God’s face for renewal of the mind.  Ask God to change your mindset.  Ask God to help you unlearn the many imperfect things you have grown up with.  As we do this we will be on our way on that journey of Christian perfection and take every imperfect thought pattern into captivity. Try it and see what God can and will do with you. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

There is this kind of Christianity that seems to be taking over all around the world, especially in Africa.  It looks like people have defined a new “Christianity”. The way I understood Christianity is that there are some folks who are followers of Christ and because they are followers of Christ, they are called Christians.  Now it looks like all that is changing. What we have now are miracle-seekers, and it does not matter what they have to do to get these miracles. This kind of “Christians” only go to Church because of the material things they believe they can get from God.  Some of us go to Church because we are looking for someone who can deal with our enemies for us. Some even go as far as asking God to kill whoever they think is their enemy. The bad part is we do not even know who this enemy is. The fact is God does not conform to our notions of how He should behave, who He should bless or kill and how.

I hate to tar everyone with the same brush here, but for these people, fasting is no longer about the heart, nor is it any more about the spirit. Fasting is about forcing the hands of God to make that breakthrough quick.  So, you will see them fast for 21 days to finish the year, and fast for 70 days to begin the year. The expectation is that the more the fasting the more blessings God will bring. Every action, either going to Church, praying, or fasting, etc., is all about material blessings and no longer about spiritual blessings.  Even when we give in Church, it is so that God can multiply whatever we had given one thousand-fold and not so much about giving willingly and joyfully.

Please do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with fasting, in fact fasting is good.  There is nothing wrong with praying; the word of God instructs us to do so continually, and there is nothing wrong with having great expectations of blessings from God; even the Bible asks us to test God and see.  These are good and dandy, but we cannot make all of these the sole reason we are Christians. Being a Christian is more about our souls than it is about our material blessings. Being a Christian is not about coming to Church to negotiate blessings from God.  In fact, what the word of God says is to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” So, there is no doubt that God will bless, anyway – materially, physically, spiritually – but the word of God says this should not be our preoccupation.  

We must know who we serve, why we serve Him, and how to serve Him.  We cannot afford to focus on the things God has already told us is secondary.  When we make the minor things the major things in our relationship with God, then we have missed our way and we have lost focus.  Whenever we lose focus we can fall easily in the hands of Satan and his acolytes. Tell me, what kind of blindness makes a man keep going to a Church where the Pastor has already been exposed as staging miracles?  What kind of blindness makes a man to continue worshipping a Pastor who has already been convicted of murder? What kind of Christianity makes a man, in cahoots with his Pastor, offer his own girlfriend as sacrifice to become rich?  

We are all looking for the perfection of all that concerns us in this divine year of perfection, and I know God is set to do great and wonderful things.  We must however remember God’s word for us. When he appeared to Abraham, He told him “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” – Genesis 17: 1b.  God ultimately perfected His promises for Abraham. It is again one of those “seek ye first” moments. Walk before God perfect and God will add every other thing unto you.

Brethren, we must not make our Christianity about what we can get from God.  Do not be a transactional Christian. There is no doubt that He will bless, but we must make our Christianity about obedience and about living according to His divine purpose for us.  It is in doing this that we show that we are seeking His Kingdom, and God is set to add all other things unto to us according to His riches in glory. May we always enjoy His grace and mercy – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Welcome to the year 2020.  It is our year of divine perfection.  God, true to His nature, will perfect everything that concerns His children in this divine year.  Every year we get inspiration from the Holy Spirit about what we should focus on in the new year. It has been a wonderful journey as I looked back at what the Holy Spirit has done and is still doing amongst us here at CICC.  I could not but marvel at the direction the Lord has led us through His divine spirit. In January 2016, the Holy Spirit led us to seek revival and renewal. It was a time of intense prayer amongst us at CICC. Our prayer life had not remained the same ever since.  Little did we know that the Lord was Himself preparing us for the future. Prayer and the grace of God had upheld us here at CICC in the last few years and we give God the glory. When I listened to the testimonies on Crossover Night and each testimonial giving glory to God for answered prayer, I marveled again at how faithful our God has been.  We surely serve a living God.

Faith has carried us thus far and I just want to encourage brethren this morning to keep our faith alive and strong.  This year, 2020, is a different year. Only very few people will experience this kind of year, and those who do will most likely experience it once in their lifetime.  It is a year full of divine grace. Based on our life experience, it is a year of perfect vision. Well, one can argue that only God has perfect vision, ours is never perfect.  However, from our point of view when our vision is normal, it is perfect. As stated in Habakkuk 2:2, seeing clearly makes action swifter. “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it”.  When God’s purpose for us is made crystal clear to us, we can more perfectly carry out His will for us.  

As we proceed in this new year, there is a scripture I want us to commit to memory: – “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians 5:15-17.  As we look forward to God perfecting all that concerns us in this year, let us be careful to understand what God’s will for us is, because God will only perfect His will for us, not our whimsical requests.  As we seek God’s perfection, let us have in mind that God is not in the business of perfecting foolish requests or prayers; and God also cares about how you live your life even when the year is a year of divine perfection.

Apostle Paul here says we should be careful how we live our life.  We must not live the life of foolish people. Only a foolish man will start making requests of a father that they have always disrespected.  Only a foolish man will make a request of a father they have always disobeyed. Only a foolish man will make a request of a father that they have always held in contempt.  So, as we look up to a God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, we must also be ready to live as He wants us to live.  Yes, we must understand His will for us and live according to His divine purpose for us.

So, what do you think God’s will is for you in this new year? Do you think He wants you to be distracted by a load of care that you hardly have time for spiritual things? What do you think God’s will is for you this year?  Know this, that God can make every impossible become possible. He can perfect everything that concerns you if you walk according to His divine purpose. Whatever He has promised will come to pass, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” – Habakkuk 2:3.  For those who have walked in His purpose and those who have been earnestly seeking His face to walk in His purpose, your year of perfection is here. Just believe and it shall come to pass, but be careful not to be foolish. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

We have all come to learn that Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.  The way it is celebrated here in the United States is with families coming together and mostly around different types of meals that often include Turkey.  Since we joined in the celebrations my family and I are always looking forward to this day where we get to eat so much food.  Come to think about it, the celebration should probably be called “Thanks Eating” since that seems to be all we do during this time.  We seem to emphasize the eating part.  I am thinking, if there is something that really must be emphasized during this period shouldn’t it be the “thanks” and the “giving”?  I know in my house we do some round robins about what each person is thankful for, but everyone kind of zips through it very quickly so that we can get to the eating part.

I just want to use this opportunity to encourage us to use this festive period as a time to emphasize thanking and giving.  I have observed that many of us of the Christian stock don’t like playing the Christianity game with our money unless, of course, the Lord is providing it.  I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty with this, I just want to encourage that we put things in the right perspective, because often the reason we do not do some important things is because we lose our perspective.  I want to ask us to have the right perspective during this thanksgiving period and the coming Christmas celebrations.

Since thanksgiving is a period of thanking God for the harvest of the preceding year, I believe we should be applying the principles of harvest. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops” – Proverbs 3:9.  So, our harvest thanksgiving must also include some giving.  We can also use the principle of harvest to illustrate what happens when we give and when we don’t.  This is a principle that Apostle Paul made very clear in his letters to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”  And also, the letter to the Galatians in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”  Four principles are evident from these two passages – 1) You cannot reap if you do not sow; 2) You cannot reap something different from what you sow; 3) You cannot reap earlier than you sow; and 4) You reap in proportion to what you sow.

Many of us do not understand this principle.  As it pertains to giving in the Church of God it is not possible to reap what you did not sow.  There is not much that we are able to give God to show our appreciation for all he does for us.  The only thing that costs us is to give out of our sweat, and that is from our harvest.  Our motivation for giving should be because we are thankful for what God has done in our lives. This thanksgiving season if you are wondering whether you have things to be thankful for, consider the following statistics: If you have food in your refrigerator and clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of those who live in the world; If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.  If you have money in the bank and in your wallet and spare change in a dish somewhere in your house, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest. If you can read and write, you are more blessed than 2 billion people on earth who cannot. 

A Season Of Thanking And Giving

We have all come to learn that Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.  The way it is celebrated here in the United States is with families coming together and mostly around different types of meals that often include Turkey.  Since we joined in the celebrations my family and I are always looking forward to this day where we get to eat so much food.  Come to think about it, the celebration should probably be called “Thanks Eating” since that seems to be all we do during this time.  We seem to emphasize the eating part.  I am thinking, if there is something that really must be emphasized during this period shouldn’t it be the “thanks” and the “giving”?  I know in my house we do some round robins about what each person is thankful for, but everyone kind of zips through it very quickly so that we can get to the eating part.

I just want to use this opportunity to encourage us to use this festive period as a time to emphasize thanking and giving.  I have observed that many of us of the Christian stock don’t like playing the Christianity game with our money unless, of course, the Lord is providing it.  I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty with this, I just want to encourage that we put things in the right perspective, because often the reason we do not do some important things is because we lose our perspective.  I want to ask us to have the right perspective during this thanksgiving period and the coming Christmas celebrations.

Since thanksgiving is a period of thanking God for the harvest of the preceding year, I believe we should be applying the principles of harvest. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops” – Proverbs 3:9.  So, our harvest thanksgiving must also include some giving.  We can also use the principle of harvest to illustrate what happens when we give and when we don’t.  This is a principle that Apostle Paul made very clear in his letters to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”  And also, the letter to the Galatians in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”  Four principles are evident from these two passages – 1) You cannot reap if you do not sow; 2) You cannot reap something different from what you sow; 3) You cannot reap earlier than you sow; and 4) You reap in proportion to what you sow.

Many of us do not understand this principle.  As it pertains to giving in the Church of God it is not possible to reap what you did not sow.  There is not much that we are able to give God to show our appreciation for all he does for us.  The only thing that costs us is to give out of our sweat, and that is from our harvest.  Our motivation for giving should be because we are thankful for what God has done in our lives. This thanksgiving season if you are wondering whether you have things to be thankful for, consider the following statistics: If you have food in your refrigerator and clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of those who live in the world; If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.  If you have money in the bank and in your wallet and spare change in a dish somewhere in your house, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest. If you can read and write, you are more blessed than 2 billion people on earth who cannot. 

Brothers and sisters, when we give, our generosity results in thanksgiving to the Lord (2 Corinthians 9:11).  So, I want to encourage you in the spirit of biblical thanksgiving that you make it a point to give to the work of God wherever you are sacrificially, willingly, cheerfully, faithfully, and submissively.  May the Lord accept our thanksgiving in Jesus name. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Brothers and sisters, when we give, our generosity results in thanksgiving to the Lord (2 Corinthians 9:11).  So, I want to encourage you in the spirit of biblical thanksgiving that you make it a point to give to the work of God wherever you are sacrificially, willingly, cheerfully, faithfully, and submissively.  May the Lord accept our thanksgiving in Jesus name. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Being Gracious To Each Other Is The Hallmark Of An Attitude Of Gratitude

It is Thanksgiving time and it is a good time to talk about our attitude towards thanking God and being appreciative of His Love and grace towards us.  Our general attitude towards showing gratitude to God can also be deciphered from the way we treat each other. People can have what could be called a general attitude of gratitude.  People who do not know how to thank God for one another or show gratitude to each other will also not know how to thank God. Gratitude is an attitude. While we were growing up, some of the first words we were thought as little kids were “thank you”.  And more than saying thank you to each other, is also recognizing the God that is in each of us. So, you find that those who excel in expressing gratitude to God do it in several ways that recognize the God in each of us – several ways that are borne out of their general attitude towards gratitude.

Our attitude of Gratitude can be expressed in our praise of God and thankfulness to Him directly.  In Ephesians 5:15, the Apostle Paul exhorted us to be careful how we live. He then went on in the same chapter, verses 19-20, to outline how to live carefully, and these include “Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

An attitude of Gratitude can also be expressed to God in the way we express thankfulness for one another.  Apostle Paul again in his letter to the Philippians 1:3-6 says: “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  We must always remember that we are created in the image of God and this God also lives in us.  When we thank God for one another we are essentially thanking God for His creation. This same point was reiterated in Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:3-4, when he says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.  When you thank God for each other you are essentially displaying an attitude of gratitude.

Our attitude of Gratitude is also expressed in our thankfulness to one another.  Showing gratitude to each other means we understand the good that comes from each other towards us through the God that works in us.  As Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 3:9, we cannot thank God enough for each other for all the joy we have because of each other. So, let us express gratitude to each other because as we do so, we are invariably also expressing gratitude to God and it shows that indeed we have developed an attitude of gratitude.  

So as we get down to it in this Thanksgiving season, let us all begin to receive grace to show gratitude.  Let us begin to think of the many people we must thank for hearing the word of God and bringing His grace into our lives.  My brothers and sisters, it is so easy to take people for granted, or even to complain and become angry because they do not meet our every wish.  But we need to give thanks for those around us, despite of the little inconveniences we may have experienced. The Christians in Corinth were far from perfect, but Paul began his first letter to them by saying, “I always thank God for you” (1 Corinthians 1:4, NIV). 

Let us give thanks for our spouses, our children, our relatives, our friends and others who have helped and continue to help us in every little way.  Thank God for those who touch your life. In fact, just thank God for those who are in your life. They are there for a reason. When you cultivate a habit of thanking people who you see, it makes it easier for you to thank God that you do not see.  You are a blessing to me. I am a blessing to you. Let us thank God for each other. Let us also show gratitude to each other. When we do this, we not only show our thankfulness to God we also exhibit a Spirit of thankfulness that is needed to thank God always!