Posts in category: The Shepherd’s Blog

Being good is to be loving, to be kind, to be a patient person, a faithful person and someone who exercises self-restraint.

It is interesting to note that patience is one of the attributes or characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  Growing up, I had always heard it said that patience is a virtue.  So, I am not surprised to learn that God holds patience very high among the attitudes He wants us, as His children, to exhibit.  So, it has been said that patience is linked to better health; that patience makes people better friends and neighbors, and that patience helps us to achieve our goals.  In addition to this, I am certain that when we live our lives with more patience, we will have more peace.  As Christians we are fond of saying “it is well” or “it shall be well”.  The whole idea of saying “it shall be well” pre-supposes that we trust that God is in charge and that He will always come through.  In fact, the real essence of patience is that our mind is at rest because we believe that things will eventually happen the way they have been destined to.  When our minds are at rest then we are at peace.

The idea of being at peace with God, with others, and with ourselves means that we have completely surrendered to God.  We have surrendered to God so that He will take care of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.  This realization should help us to exercise patience for God to do whatever He needs to do in His own time. So, when we are at peace, we can be more patient.  On the other hand, it is by being patient that we can maintain the peace that we need.  So patience leads to peace and vice versa.

This is probably a hard time to talk about patience to anyone, an even harder time to talk about peace.  Right now, the peace of the whole world is disturbed.  From the East to the West and the North to the South, everyone’s peace is disturbed.  This Coronavirus has caused havoc in many families.  Many deaths are being reported all over the world.  Citizens are no longer patient with their governments.  Everyone is scared because we do not know what is going to happen next.  Our health is threatened, our jobs are threatened, our future is threatened, the stock market is crashing, and people’s life-long savings or investments are going down with it.  This is all because of a virus that we cannot even see with our naked eyes.  People are losing sleep because they do not know where this pestilence will strike next.  Shelves at Grocery Stores are getting empty and stores are running low on food, toilet rolls and many other things.  It is enough to disturb our peace. To many of us our governments are not moving fast enough.  We are losing our patience with them, and I dare say many are also losing their patience with God.  Currently, patience is not even a word many want to hear.

The truth is that we cannot afford to be anxious even in this period.  We need the peace of God to survive this time and being patient can fetch us that peace.  Our Lord Jesus Christ said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” – John 14:27.   Even if everyone around you this time is troubled and afraid, the word of God says we should not be troubled, and we should not be afraid.  There is no doubt that we all wonder how to be patient because patience is hard when everyone around you is afflicted.  How can one be patient when you cannot hug your children again for fear that they will pass the virus to you?  How can one be patient when suddenly we do not see people anymore, all we see is the virus?  How?  But the word of God says we must “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” – Romans 12;12.  I know the present affliction shall pass because I believe the inspired words of the Bible.  “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” – 2 Corinthians 4:17. I don’t know how, but I am sure this affliction will yet achieve for us an eternal weight of glory. 

My brothers and sisters, let us be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.  In patiently waiting for Him, His peace will overwhelm us.  Let us continue to look unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith.  We need to turn our worries over to Him and I know He is able to carry our burdens.  Let us turn these present circumstances patiently over to Him and live in His peace.  – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

With the Coronavirus pandemic that has not shown any sign of slowing down, there is a palpable fear in almost every country around the world now.  Italy, a country of about 60 million people is on lock down today.  Airlines are cancelling thousands of flights, workers are being asked to work from home, and students are being asked to go on an unscheduled vacation.  The stock market is responding wildly to the uncertainty that pervades every facet of life.  Am I going to be sick?  Will I survive if I get sick?  Will I still have a job when this is all said and done?  Will my retirement fund make it back on time for my retirement?  All kinds of questions are going through people’s minds.  Yet, the word of God says “Rejoice always” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16.  How can one rejoice within the uncertainty that is going on now?  The word of God in Philippians 4:4 makes it a little clearer.  We are not supposed to rejoice by our own strength.  Circumstances and vagaries of life often overpower strength and they have the tendency to take away joy.  But the word of God says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).  The idea is to rejoice in the Lord, because the joy of the Lord often gives strength that we cannot summon on our own accord.

When the word of God was read by Ezra in Nehemiah 8, the exiles who returned listened to it, became convicted by the word and broke down weeping.  They wept profusely because they realized where they had gone wrong.  They were obviously in despair, but Nehemiah encouraged them and said to them, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10. It takes the grace of God for one in despair to go and enjoy food, not to talk of enjoying the food and then having the heart to be kind towards others.  That grace comes from the joy of the Lord.  And he told them “for the joy of the Lord is your strength”.  The joy of the Lord produces inner strength.  The joy of the Lord gives an inward disposition that says I know this is not the end of the story, I know my God is in control, and I know tomorrow will be better.  Realizing that the Joy of the Lord is their strength, they moved on from being people in despair to folks who built shelters for all of them that returned from captivity.  Nehemiah 8:17 tells us that “their joy was very great”.

How can we experience the Joy of the Lord in our lives like these exile returnees did?  Our faith and relationship with God is key.  There is a kind of joy that emanates from making God a friend.  Everything about Him becomes personal.  His word becomes personal.  Serving Him becomes personal.  Worshipping Him becomes personal.  In fact, loving Him also become personal.  That personal relationship with Him is what oils our joy in Him.  “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” – Jeremiah 15:16.  Just imagine the kind of joy you feel in your hearts when you fall in love.  Seeing that person gives you joy.  Talking to that person gives you joy.  Hearing from that person gives you joy.  The relationship becomes so personal that everything about that person gives you joy.  The joy you feel sometimes reaches a level where you think you are ready to take on the world with that person by your side.  That is how it is with the Joy of the Lord, only even more so at a higher level.

This personal relationship with God leads to a lot of other things.  It leads us to serve God with all of our hearts, which now results in even more Joy in the Lord (1 Chronicles 29:9 – the people rejoiced because of the service and the gifts they had given God willingly from their hearts).  Taking time to be in His presence in Spirit and in truth also leads to further Joy in the Lord (in His presence there is fullness of Joy – Psalm 16:11).  Above all of these, never cease to pray that His joy should always encompass you. “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” – John 16:24. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, so only the Spirit of God can cause it to develop in us.  When we have His joy it transforms our weakness into strength.  That is the amazing God we serve.  May His name always be praised!!! – By Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

The first of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 is love.  So it seems that love forms the core of the fruit.  We can say that love is the characteristic that fruit develops on.  It can be said that without love, we essentially do not have a fruit.  It is not surprising that this is the case.  When Jesus Christ was asked which is the greatest commandment in the law, He replied, ““Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””  In essence the most important commandment in the law book is love.  If it is the most important then, it should be the prime characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit.  In fact, it can be argued that this supreme law was already reduced to one by Christ as He said in John 13:34 that “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Essentially, we can only be recognized as disciples of Christ if we love one another.  Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” – John 15:8.  And the core of that fruit is love.

If indeed the most important commandment in the law is about love, then every Christian must learn to love.  It takes on even greater significance when the whole law is reduced to love.  How do we love?  We must of course love with God’s love.  God’s love is pure, God’s love is clean, God’s love is not conditional.  There is no “Quid Pro Quo” in God’s love.  God’s love is not proud, God’s love is not possessive, and God’s love is not self-seeking, etc. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).  As Saint Augustine puts it, “Love, and then do what you want, for from that root nothing but good can spring.”  Anything that is done in love is good, because God is love and when we exhibit the love of God, there cannot be a single evil bone in us. 

In our world today, there are different ideas about love.  In fact, one can say the word ‘love’ is overused these days.  These days, people ‘love’ their cars, they ‘love’ their food, and ‘love’ their shoes, etc.  I want to let you know that love cannot be objectified.  In fact, I believe strongly that the idea of love should only be directed at living things.  There is a principle that a human being becomes what he loves. According to St. Augustine, “Let him love the earth, he will become earth; let him love the eternal God, he will share in God’s eternity”.  When we desire an object, we should love the God that created the object.  Our ultimate goal in life is to love God, but our love for God can only be evaluated through our love for our neighbor.  Anyone can claim to love God.  In fact, it is easy to proclaim love for God.  It is more difficult to show it.  “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20).  It is only in our efforts to love our brothers and sisters that we can become well aware of our shortcomings in loving God.

We must know that the best love idea comes from God. A Christian who intends to obey God’s word to Love must remain with God.  We must abide with Him and in His love.  “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Abiding or remaining in Christ requires us to fellowship with Him and His people, but this is not enough.  It is possible to fellowship with God’s people and still continue to live old ways.  Jesus Christ says, “you are my friend, if you do what I command” – John 15:14.  So, even as we fellowship with God’s people, even as we commune with God in prayer, even as we work in the House of God, we must live our lives in obedience to His command.  “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love – John 15:10.  If love is anything at all it is a matter of doing good things.  Love is exhibited through action.  It starts from the heart and ends in action.  So as we do all these things we must make sure that we practice loving God’s people.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

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