Evangelist Paul Acquah

God’s plans for us are good and not evil, but most people never even come close to living in God’s plans. So, what are God’s plans? God’s plans are to prosper us and not to harm us. God’s plans are to give us hope and a future. He wants to give us abundant life (John 10:10). God’s plans are for you to walk in the good works He prepared for you (Eph. 2:10). The Bible says that God has planned a great future for each one of us. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11 NIV). Sadly, most people are living self-centred lives. They don’t follow God’s plans for their lives, their business, their careers, or the abundant life that God has for them. “I know the plans I have for you, plans of a future and a hope“. Those who haven’t accepted Christ as their Lord and personal saviour have already denied God’s plans for their lives.  And for those of us have received Christ as our Lord, if we don’t follow the plans God has for us, it won’t be well with us. If you don’t know what God has planned for you, seek Him and He will reveal it to you. God speaks to us constantly but only those who listen will hear Him. When you are prepared to listen, He will reveal His plans to you. Your future depends on your obedience to the word of God. “12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:12-13 NIV). So, your future depends on the plan God has for you and how obedient you are to seek Him. The Bible says in Isaiah 1:19 that, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land”.  This is a warning that our future depends on our obedience to the word of God. The Bible says we shouldn’t lean on our own understanding. You cannot direct your path. You cannot live independent of God. You cannot direct your own life, trying to do so will destroy your future. “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps” (Jer. 10:23 NIV). It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian, preacher, the pope, a celebrity, whoever you are, you cannot direct your future. We are all in the hands of God. He has assigned a plan for all of us. So, talk to God, seek Him and you will find Him. Pray to Him and He will answer you. You need to be in constant communication with Him. Give Him the best of your time – seek Him in the morning, plan to pray and study the word, and meet with Him. If someone is in charge of your destiny, is it not wise to talk to that person? Is it not wise to listen to what he has to say? Is it not wise to have a personal intimate relationship with that person? Your future is in God’s hands. So, from today plan your day, schedule a time to spend with God every day.  Don’t live independent of God. The Bible has enough examples of how disobedience causes problems to humanity. We walk into problems without following God’s guidance. When we were unbelievers, we had no idea or perhaps we didn’t bother about the damage we were doing to our future through disobedience – but when I became born again Christian, I started to see from the Bible that if we didn’t stop disobeying God’s word, we would face a very dangerous future indeed. “O Lord, I know that the path of [life of] a man is not in himself; It is not within [the limited ability of] man [even one at his best] to choose and direct his steps [in life]” (Jer. 10:23 AMPC).  If you read Jer. 10: 23 in context, it’s talking about destruction of Jerusalem because they had rejected God. And therefore, the nations will conquer them and send them to captivity. It’s talking about terrible judgment and right in the middle of the prophesy Jeremiah asked a question, how could this happen? How could the people once favoured by God, and so blessed by God, ever come to a position where God put them into slavery in Babylon. And he answered his own question in Jer. 10:23 and said, “O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps”. This is how tragedy comes. It’s because God did not create us to be self-directed.  Lord, I know that none of us are in charge of our own destiny; none of us have control over our own life. I wish I had more space to share on this. In my next series of messages this month on our Digging Deep radio programme, I will give many biblical and practical examples and explain in detail what it means to live in God’s plans. It’s God’s desire for all of us to experience the good plans He has for us, so I hope you’ll listen to my messages on this topic. To listen or to download these messages, click here. Thank you, partners. You are helping us share the truth about God’s love, and eternal life. Together, we are bringing the Gospel to hurting people. If you’re not already a partner and would like to join us in sharing the Gospel and changing lives,  visit here and become a Partner today through your giving!

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21 NIV) It is God’s plan that will prevail on your life so you should cooperate with Him. Before we were born God planned for everyone’s life. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5 NIV). God’s plans are plans of prosperity, hope and a good future. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). As I meditated on these verses, I thought about my childhood aspiration. I knew who I was going to be, no one could convince me for the rest of my life that I wouldn’t be the person that I aspired to be. My heart was set on being that person for the rest of my life. Then out of nowhere at some point in my life, God shifted my plans and called me to a life of ministry, which I have been blessed to do for more than twenty years. But it proved one thing to me. It didn’t matter what I thought was the best fit for my life. What really mattered was what God planned for my life, for my future, and how He saw the purpose that He created me for, from the beginning of time. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do “(Eph. 2:10 NIV). We all have different plans with different motives or reasons. Somebody saw a weatherman on TV and decided to also become a weather forecaster. No one could convince him that he wouldn’t be standing in front of TV pointing to the screen and forecasting the weather. But out of the blue, the Lord changed his plan. Even when you follow your false plan, God will try to get your attention. It’s up to you to cooperate with Him. Sometimes we hear the voice of God clearly, but our motives, egos and pride can make us take a direction that God is not leading us to. We must be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, so we don’t take a path that’s out of God’s will for our lives. For example, you may be entering into a wrong relationship and the Holy spirit will speak to your heart and warn you: Don’t try that, don’t go there, don’t enter that relationship. Today my prayer for you is simple. And that is, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, of dreaming and of aspiration, of all the plans that you purpose in your heart, my prayer is that you’ll always weigh them against heaven’s desire, against heaven’s plans, and against what it is that God sees for your future. That you will never find yourself focused on who you are becoming that misses what God saw you to be from the beginning of time. In Jesus’ name Amen, More has been shed on this topic in the November series on our Digging Deep radio programme. To listen or to download the messages, click here.

The last two years delivered many unpleasant surprises to us in the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has been packed with plenty of nasty health, social and economic surprises. In the new year, a lot of us are focusing on what’s next, what’s this year going to mean to me. Am I going to start this new thing, or this other thing? And for others, the adventure of facing a new year offers a fresh start. Millions are committing to programs to change their lifestyle. All that is great, but I want you to infuse this in whatever you have planned, so why not have a “new you”? The very first step to a successful life is to prioritise seeking God. Pursue Jesus above all things. All the things that we want in life will never compare to who God is and what He brings. Think of it as a New Year’s resolution, that’s my top recommendation. I just want to challenge you, having entered the new year, pursue God above anything and you will find life. The best way to pursue God is to commit to His word.  There’s a link between our love for God and our love for His word. There’s a link between our growth in Christianity and our love for the word of God. There’s a link between successful lifestyle and our love for the word of God. It’s important to let the word dwell in you richly. To have a lifestyle of prosperity and good success, you must be committed to God’s word. We need to start making decisions that honour and obey God. And to do that, we must renew our mind with the word of God. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2). The very first step to honour and obey God is your way of thinking, your system of thinking, your thought process. Your way of thinking has to be the word of God. That is very important. Do you read your Bible consistently? Do you hear what God has to say to you personally through scripture? Can you name any area of your life that God hasn’t spoken about? That He hasn’t given direction about? That He doesn’t have some laws to protect you from destroying your life? If every area of my life is included in the word, then every decision I make should be examined through the word and principles of God. That keeps us on track. That leads us to a successful lifestyle.  In fact, following Christ starts with the ‘B’ word. What’s the ‘B’ word? It’s ‘believe’. It’s believing that God’s word is true. The word of God is unchanging and it’s a road map for successful living. He can let your life shine in this dark world. We serve a faithful God, and I want you to believe in this most high God and His word. Live boldly and courageously for Christ. If you don’t believe the accuracy of the word of God without exception, then you are a fertile ground for doubt and unbelief. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Doubt comes by hearing and believing anything contrary to the word of God. Why is it hard for you to believe? It’s because you have accepted the words of people. The words of a lawyer, the words of a doctor, or the words of a banker. These words might be more real to you than what God says. We need to believe God’s word and the promises that He has given us. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor. 1:20). We need to stand on the word of God. How many people will believe the word of God and the promises of God? God’s word says ‘by his stripes we were healed,’ will you believe that or what the doctor says? When news come out that we are in a recession, everybody is going to lose everything, how many people believe the word which says ‘my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus?’ This is the reason why a lot of people don’t see the word of God work for them, because they may believe the word of God to a degree, but they also believe what the doctor said, what the lawyer said, what the banker said, what their friend said, and they just don’t put God’s word as final authority in their lives. You need to believe the word of God. You are not master of your life. You are not ruler of yourself. You are not controller of yourself. Let me remind you of a common scripture I have referred to many times in my teachings. “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps” (Jer. 10:23).  If you read this verse of scripture in context, it will make a greater impression on you. Jeremiah was talking about the judgement of God coming upon the nation of Israel because they totally rejected God’s covenant. They had become idol worshipers, and he prophesied that they were going to be led into bondage, and when that had happened, the enemy would come in and rape the women, cut up the pregnant women and abort the babies, kill the people and there will be total devastation. But then, Jeremiah said how can the people who were one time the apple of God’s eye, the people who were favoured more than any people on the face of the earth, how can they fall from being so favoured to being so despised and judged by the very God of that nation? He then answered his own question by saying: “Lord, I

A time to make bold resolutions and predictions for what might unfold in the next months and years to come.  Happy new year to you! Let this year be a great year for you by receiving the greatest gift from the greatest of all. Your greatest victory of this year is to say yes to Jesus Christ. Conversely, your greatest defeat of this year is to neglect such a great salvation. Christ wants to make you new in this new year. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17).  He is willing to make you a brand new person if you will allow Him to do so.  If you desire to have a new life today you can surely have it through Christ our Lord and saviour. In fact, He will give you a new heart to enable you to walk in His ways.  He will take your hardened, rocky heart and give you a new one. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them (Eze. 36:26-27). URGENT!!Reader: Do not neglect so great a salvation The good news of the gospel is greater now than any time in history, so embrace it. Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (Heb. 2:1-3).  Know the truth about your soul. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mat 16:26)  It’s more than 2000 years ago since Christ died on the cross and rose again to cleanse us from our sins. Yet many haven’t received Him as their Lord and personal saviour. But Christ did not come to save a selected few. He came to give Himself as a ransom for many and yet many still don’t know the truth about Jesus, the only way to heaven. Know this truth and be free. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) The truth is the person of Jesus Christ. He Himself said  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)  Grace and truth came through Christ. Without Christ you cannot know the truth. He is the only one who takes away sins.  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  (John 1:29) This is not a decision for the next few years but a decision that would change your life forever, it is the greatest decision you can ever make. Saying yes to Jesus means your sins are forgiven and you inherit the kingdom of God. He can take any sinner, a prostitute, a drunkard, a thieve, a murderer or whoever you may be, and make you lead a holy life and lead you to heaven. Christ died and rose again so He is alive right now and He is ready to forgive you. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, He died on the cross for every sin you have ever committed and will ever commit. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  He died for every sinner including you and me. You are secured in Him if you say yes to such a great salvation. Some reject this great offer but many receive and become the children of God. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name (John 1:11-12). You are adopted into His family where you can cry out Abba Father. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15).  The decision to receive or reject Jesus is so important because it matters to all of us. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23). He doesn’t want sinners to die in their sin so He is at the door of your heart knocking for you to let Him in (Rev. 3:20). Invite Him into your heart today. Christ Jesus has borne the sins of the whole Human race on the cross and carried all our sorrows so put your trust in Him. Reader, start this year with a life in Christ by saying “yes I put my faith in you Jesus Christ” and have the joy of salvation. You who are genuine believers in Christ, from this year, let the message go out from Jesus to everyone, seize every opportunity to share the gospel, He said: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life   for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name

After salvation, God sets us on a race of life. So, when we get saved He say’s, “this is the direction I want you to live your life”. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10). This should be your goal, to walk in the good works that God has set for you. Be in the race set for you. “1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:1-2). In this race of life, we have encouragers. Being in the race set for us is fulfilling the purpose for which God created us. The Bible is saying there are encouragers in this race, some pioneers have come and with their good works following them. There is a purpose for which God created every one of us and until a person accomplishes that, or is in the process of doing so, he or she will never be living an abundant life. He or she will never be living a life worth living. He or she will never be living a fulfilled life. You may have all the money you want, or all the relationships you want, but you wouldn’t be living the purposeful life that God gave you as a believer if you are not in the race of life set before you. That is, if you are not living in the will of God, or seeking to obey Him, you will never find fulfilment. If you don’t walk in the good works that God prepared before the foundation of this earth, you will never be satisfied in life. You will never be able to fill that void with anything in life than walking in the will of God. We need to walk in the good works that God prepared for us and not to walk away from them. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Now the race of life becomes more personal when we read Hebrews 12:2. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. It’s not a matter of speed but a matter of being able to last. It’s about being able to run the whole length. In our Christian lives, we also have those things that impede and hinder our walk. Anything that hinders our keeping the pace of God is a distraction. It must be laid aside and you need to turn away from it. We are to lay aside those things that hinder and distract us in our Christian walk. As we are living in the will of God, anything that hinders, or gets our attention, and leads us away from the will of God must be dealt with. That can be a habit in our lives. Some sport or even watching TV. Anything which is being over emphasised in our lives could be a distraction. That means, something we give special importance or value to. It may even be doubt or fear, action, attitude, or relationship. Anything that hinders, impede, slows us down, or gets us out of the will of God may have to be removed. We have to look in our own lives and say, ‘what is it in my lifestyle that hinders me or keeps me away from focusing on my God given goal, following His will or allowing Him to work His way in my life’. We all have to examine ourselves and lay aside the sin that ensnares us. Sometimes, it’s not easy to identify. We may have some habits in our lives that have been there for years and we may think, that’s just the way I am, but it may be retarding your spiritual walk. Sometimes it could be just a little doubt that lingers on in our lives. We may think, does God even care or have a plan for my life? We sometimes make decisions and then ask God to bless us. But do we ask the mind of God before we make those decisions? There are many areas of life that can hinder our race and walk with the Lord. So, we must first examine ourselves to see what’s hindering us. Secondly, we must decide to deal with it and thank the Lord for showing this to us. It may not even be deliberate or a known willful sin. But we must acknowledge that it’s hindering our walk and make a conscious effort to lay it aside. You may be holding on something that’s keeping you from the good works that you are supposed to walk in. Whatever it may be, put it aside, walk away from it, turn away from it and make it right between you and God. That’s easily said than done, but you must depend on the Holy Spirit to help you deal with it. Lay aside those things that impede and hinder your progress in walking in the will, timing, and pace of God. Anything that gets your attention and divert your course is a hindrance. ‘The sin that so easily entangles us’. What does the Bible mean by that? It may be a weakness such as doubt, finances, lust or whatever it might be. Something you keep struggling with, something we know to be deliberate willful choices of disobedience to God. We fall into this sin most frequently or most easily. We must deal with those things if we want

Resolutions For A Life Worth Living: Attainable Aspirations Inspired By Great Humans Of The Past Life-tested wisdom on how to live from faithful servants of God whose faith were tested and proven. Living wisely is the art of learning to live at the centre of God’s will. This is where the wisdom of lives that have already been lived can be of immense aid – a source of forward-facing resolutions, borrowed from people who have long died, having lived, by God’s standard, honourable and generous lives. Lives full of hope and substance, irradiated by their faith and ideas that have endured across the ages to make other lives more livable. Here are few such ideas that make for life-expanding resolutions. The Bible records the events of the lives of some Old Testament Saints. To understand and learn from them, we, as believers must appreciate the truths as beauty in the stories themselves. Some of you may say these were Old Testament figures. I just want to show you the importance of learning at the expense of other people, so you are not to figure everything out on your own. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 10:6-11: 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. So twice in verse 6 and verse 11, it says: 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. All the things recorded in the Old Testament are recorded for our benefit so that we can learn through them. This is one reason so many people find themselves in a mess today. Their life is out of control because they don’t know what the word of God teaches, so God uses the examples of the Old Testament people so that through them, we can learn things. These lessons are not about people who lived four thousand years ago and they have no applications to us today. These scriptures were written for us today so that through them we can learn not to commit adultery, not to do the wrong things that they did and to do the positive things that they did so as to gain lessons that we can apply to ourselves (see 1 Cor. 10:6-11). We can learn through the people in the Bible Hebrews 11 records those Old Testament Saints as cloud of witnesses to follow. They have been tremendous and awesome examples to us. The chapter refers to the lives that they lived, the challenges, difficulties, troubles, and hardships they faced. We are to look at the trials they went through and how they responded as well as what God did in their lives. It’s been fascinating, reading about the lives of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, David and Daniel. Men whose lives I can relate to something like my failures and successes. Seeing how God worked in their lives, and thinking God, my situation is slightly similar, I look at how God worked in the lives, and the principles have not changed. He will work the same way He worked in those Old Testament Saints lives. I’m inspired by reading and researching on how God worked in the past and the more I do this, the more encouragement I get. I say “God, the way you worked in their lives the same you will do for me”. You may look at your situation and say, “God this is unfair to me”. But look at Joseph who was falsely accused and imprisoned. He could have said, God where are you? But He was faithful to God. He came from no hope as a prisoner and became the prime minister of Egypt. And so, when I look at how things have been unfair to me and my loved ones, I recall and think about Joseph. I think about how the race of life can be rough and full of troubles, then I think about David. How many times he ran from one cave to the other escaping from Saul who was determined to kill him. Then I think about the short cut Moses took by killing an Egyptian and what he went through – living in the desert as a result. He took a short cut for the plan for his life for the nation of Israel. Once we discover God’s will, that’s not the end of the story; now we have to walk it out. One of the hardest parts about following God’s will is moving in His timing. Moses tried to bring God’s will to pass when he moved in his own strength and killed an Egyptian (Ex. 2:11-12 and Acts 7:24-28). Attempting to rush God’s timing actually set Moses back thirty years (Gen. 15:13 and Ex. 12:41)! David is one of the greatest examples in the Old Testament of the good things to do and at the same time the bad things to avoid or not to do. David was one of the best in many ways and one of the worst in many ways. Every person learning about David will find something in his life that you can apply to yourself. If you don’t study the word of God and learn these things at somebody else’s expense, then you are destined to fall into the same mistakes yourself. We can learn, for example, how David’s sexual sin with Bathsheba affected his family and

In life, every one of us is going to experience sadness, regret, disappointment, and anxiety, no matter who you are and where you live. These are the realities of this broken world, but we know they never come from God. Where do they come from? Sometimes we experience sadness and disappointment through regret. Regret is sorrow or guilt over something that has happened or something that we have done. Regret can also be a sense of disappointment over what has not happened, such as regretting wasted years, because of what you should have done or shouldn’t have done. There are other reasons why we experience sadness, regret, disappointment, and anxiety. It could be the loss of someone, a personal failure, an unfairness or injustice, or a tragedy of life. We’ve all been there. Everyone is on some level of sadness, regret, disappointment, and anxiety. It seems that we all made mistakes in our past. There are things that we did that we shouldn’t have done, and there are other things that we didn’t do that we should have done. And so, sadness, regrets and disappointments affect us all. And this is where many times we face regrets. When you are changing seasons in your life, or when you are going through a transition, it’s natural to look back. If you are completing school or college, or you are graduating from university or are about to marry, or you are transitioning from being married to being single, or going through a big transitional change in your life, it’s natural to look back and think you could have done things differently. Probably, you could have studied better or done things better, but learn to live without sadness, regret, disappointments, and anxiety. What I’m doing with this message is applying the redemption that Jesus has provided for us to the soul, which is where sadness, regret, disappointments, and anxiety will be. You get saved and forgiven of your sins. You get spiritual rebirth for your spirit. We believe that by His stripes we were healed, and we apply that to our bodies, but also the soul is part of man – and that’s where regret, sadness and sorrow, disappointments, anxiety and grieve reside. But know this, we can apply what Jesus did to our soul so we can be totally free from these emotional experiences just like we are free from guilt. When you apply the word to your past sins, then you are free from sin and guilt. We can apply what Jesus did to our past mistakes, experiences and whatever has happened in our past and be free from any kind of emotional distress. There may be areas in your past that when you look back on them, you may say oh, I’m supposed to feel that way because I think it’s going to be a scar on my life and it’s never going to be completely go away. God is not going to let your past affect your future. We are not going to be sorry for anything for the rest of our lives. The reason God can do that is because Jesus has already paid the price. We can apply these truths now and be happy. You can be happy again no matter what has happened in your past. You can take the word of God and apply it and be happy and be filled with joy. You have to get over the past if you want to go into the future that God has for you. Are you mourning? “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mat. 5:4 NIV). In this text of scripture, Jesus gives a beautiful promise. ‘They will be comforted’. He doesn’t want us to be sad. He doesn’t want us to mourn and have sorrow and regret as part of our thinking for a long time. In the Bible, God repeatedly promises us that when we experience sorrow, He is going to give us comfort. God sees you in your sorrow, He knows your tears. God is with us and He wraps His love around us. In our darkest night God gives us hope. Psalm 30 says ‘weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning’.  You can be comforted today when you experience sorrow. When you mourn, God will comfort you. God sees those who mourn, and He promises to comfort them. He will bring healing to your heart when you grieve or experience disappointment or regret. He gives hope to those feeling hopeless, and strength to anyone feeling overwhelmed. He is so close to you in the midst of your sorrow, regret and disappointment. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). If you allow the Holy Spirit, He can provide strength when you are lacking it. God will give you unexpected strength. You are the only person who can control your joy – don’t give that power to anyone else. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; nor be discouraged” (Deut. 31:8). Trust that the Lord will guide you out of any difficult situation. Are you depressed or anxious? How do you stop anxiety from remaining with you? How do you minister to someone who has anxiety? I will always refer them to Phil. 4:6-7.  6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. So, that peace will replace anxiety. Notice, He gave us some actions. He says pray about things causing you anxiety. Therefore, we get proactive. If we are neutral on regret, anxiety, sadness, depression, they wouldn’t change unless we get proactive. Things will begin to change when you

Let me refer you to a scripture that reminds us of the importance of God’s word. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mat. 24:35 NIV). No matter what happened last year or even last night, God is faithful to His word. Therefore, have faith in His word and hold onto it. God’s word is not going anywhere. God’s word was with us last year, it was with us yesterday, and it’s with us today and forever. There can be many things that can go on in the world around us, we can face many trials, many things can happen in our lives, but all of these things will come and go, but God’s word will be with us forever. Therefore, hold onto it. That means have faith in His word. A lot of times we try to depend on things of this world, things of this culture, but they are not the most reliable things to stand on. They sometimes fall through as you may say, but do you know something that will never fail you? Something that’s always reliable, and will always come true for you when you need it most? It’s the word of God. That’s why I encourage you today to have faith in God’s word and hold onto it.  Has God given you a word? Yes, He has. So, hold unto it. Have faith in His word. Has God told you that He will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus? If He did, then stand on that word and don’t consider anything else. Don’t let anybody tell you that you will struggle to afford food. Don’t let anybody tell you that you will struggle to afford your essential needs, (Mat. 6:33; Phi. 4: 19). Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it (Phil. 4:13). Your faith should be in the promises of God. Your faith should be in the word of God. Have hope in God’s word and hold onto it. So many people are hopeless today because they are not dominated by the word of God. God gave us His word so that we can have all that we need to live out this life that He has called us to live. That’s why it’s important to get into the word of God every single day. That’s where our strength will come from. That’s what we can rely on to go into anything that we might face, whether throughout the day, throughout the week, or throughout our lifetime. So, I encourage you to trust that everything else will pass away, but God’s word will remain. It will not pass away. His word is here to lead, guide and direct your life. Hold onto His word. Put your faith in the faithful word of God. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so, through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20 NIV). Renew your mind with God’s word. This means put your trust and faith in Jesus and God’s word above everything else – above your feelings, what you think, what your circumstance may look like, and what others say or think. This is so important because everything we receive from God comes to us by faith. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). One of the ways to walk in faith is to renew your mind through the word of God.  “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2 NIV). God has already given us His word and His promises. All you have to do is to renew your mind and appropriate what has already been provided. This doesn’t mean God has already provided so you’ve got nothing to do. I assure you one of the difficult things to do is to renew your mind. It takes effort to renew your mind, and if you are sitting in front of the television, watching ungodly things, and things that will take up your whole time, then you are not renewing your mind. You have to learn to spend some time in the word. How much time have you spent studying the word of God since you became a born-again Christian? We need to keep learning. One of the hardest things to do is to unplug from this world and the ideas and philosophies that this world is giving us, and to start acting and thinking according to the word of the Lord. It’s not going to happen if you are a passive Christian. You have to be an active Christian; you have to be a determined Christian. Most of us spend so much more time in the world system, thinking the wrong things than we do the word of God. You need to get the word of God and hold onto it. You need to renew your mind. The word of God is so available today. Statistics show that the average person spends 4 to 5 hours a day watching television, and on their phones, making phone calls and looking at social media. You can cut out all the bad stuff you use your phone for. If you are to add to that, how many hours do you spend on your phone texting and reading things? You could come up with 6 or 7 hours a day. You can renew your mind if you want to. But we just put more importance on what we hear on the news or what someone is saying on social media. If you want to renew your mind, you will have to put priority on the word of God. Some Christians have allowed the fake news of this world to flow through their mind. No wonder

Do It TodayTake possession of what grace has already made available. It’s very easy when the call of God comes upon our lives to think of a lot of reasons why we won’t respond to it at that moment. There will always be excuses about things we think we will need to do first. But it’s a wonderful thing to be sensitive to Almighty God when it comes to receiving His gift of salvation or serving Him. This is so that when He speaks to us, we will hear His voice and respond, and not delay, but take immediate action. Be conscious about the need to obey God’s command ‘now,’ and immediately. The word that is dear to the heart of God is the word “today”, but Satan’s favourite word of all words is the word “tomorrow.” Today is one of the greatest gifts God has given to mankind.  There is a moment in our lives when God speaks. 2 Cor. 6:1-2 says it this way, “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:1-2). Do you understand the message of this text of scripture? There’s a time when God speaks, a time when his voice is being heard. It’s at that moment that you need to respond. When God, by the Holy Spirit, speaks to our hearts, that’s the moment we respond, not tomorrow, not tonight, but now.  Today, don’t harden your heart while you hear his voice. Today is the day of salvation, tomorrow is not the day, yesterday wasn’t the day, but today. Tomorrow can be a dangerous word, for tomorrow has robbed many people of their dreams. It has robbed students of educational achievement and career opportunities. It has kept more people from coming to Christ than any other word in the dictionary. Let me remind you that tomorrow will rob you of opportunities to serve Almighty God. What’s the first thing that a man needs to fulfill his God given purpose? What’s the first thing that a man needs to live the abundant life that God created us for? It’s a day, it’s today. As simple as that sounds, every day is a gift, and it’s so precious. God gave us structure, He gave us a day, He gave us weeks, months, and years. He also gave us seasons and they all begin with a day, and that could be today. This is God’s provision for our purpose and so the first thing that a man needs to fulfill his purpose is a day. Sometimes, it’s something so simple as forgiving someone, or something so simple as giving a gift to someone. It can be giving an offering to God, or something so simple as praising God when you don’t feel like it. It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine. Something so simple as just the small things that the Spirit of God is leading you to do and the things you know you must do. We may think or say I’ll do it tomorrow or I’ll do it next week or I’ll do it next month and before you know it, we’ve wasted a month, we wasted a year. You see, the day God put something on your heart is the day you should start working towards that thing. So, don’t worry if the progress is slow. Forget about what you haven’t been able to do up until now and just be willing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he leads and guides your life. Do It NowA day is extremely important because you become what you do every day. Your life takes on the shape of what you do every day and so your future is never going to be what you want it to be unless you start with today. Your future is never going to be what God has put into your heart unless you start moving in that direction today and continue moving in the same direction every day until you eventually get to that place. “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24). Each day is the day that the Lord has made, therefore, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Every day is perfect, and every day comes with opportunities. It cannot be improved; it’s perfect the way it is. I can’t change it because it’s perfect. So, the Psalmist says this is the day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. We will have to rely on every day to accomplish our goals. I need to structure my day according to what God has put on my heart so that I govern my day, take control of my day and live my day the way God wants me to live it. I’m not going to live my day in fear, I’m not going to live my day being anxious, I’m not going to live my day worrying about tomorrow.  This is the day which the LORD has made. A new opportunity has appeared. It’s a new day that the Lord has made for mankind. It’s a perfect day, it’s a blessed day to rejoice and be glad in it. A day made and ordained by God for us to achieve our purposes in life. Every day you wake up, remember that it’s a perfect day the Lord has made for you to do great things to glorify His Holy name. We will rejoice and be glad in it. What else can we do?  I’m not going to live my day intimidated, I’m not going to live my day cowardly, I’m going to live my day boldly and I’m going to live it with courage and purpose. In Luke 9:59-62,

Immediate ActionThere is a story in John 5:2-15, where Jesus met a disabled man who had no one to help him. Christ is the helper of the helpless. His one desire was to help, and so He healed the man who had an infirmity thirty-eight years and had waited for so long by the pool of Bethesda hoping to get help. Christ delights to have mercy on the helpless, so He singled this man out from the rest of the great multitude and healed him.  5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years (John 5:5). That was a long time – for thirty-eight years he waited at the pool for his healing. He was focused only on trying to get into the pool for his healing until Jesus came along and showed him another way. “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” (John 5:7) In this story, we see very clearly the conditions under which the power of God operated. Jesus ordered the man, and, as he tried to obey, God’s healing power came to heal him. “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” If there’s one thing that’s going to be responsible for change in our lives, it’s when we take immediate action to do the thing that God has revealed to us to do, or to do the thing that we know we need to do. We believe in God, but many have misconceptions about how He works. We think when we believe, then God does everything. When we believe, very often God shows us what we need to do. I’m not saying God doesn’t move supernaturally. The excuses paralysed the man and nothing was going to change until he took immediate action to respond to Christ. Do something you haven’t been able to do. That’s when something supernatural will begin to happen. You do what you can do in the natural, and then what happens is God will add his super to your natural, and you will experience supernatural results. The things we cannot do, He will do them for us. If we are going to do nothing and expect God to do everything, then that’s not going to happen. And He is not putting any burden on us. All He wants is for us to receive what He has for us. I’m talking about when the Holy Spirit has put something in your heart, He’s trying to lead, and guide, and direct your life, and we do nothing. He said, “Get up, take up your bed, walk”. Be ready to step into what God has already provided by grace. “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). What a strange command to be given to a person who has been crippled for thirty-eight years. But all the man needed to do was to obey the command, take immediate action, and receive his healing. There are things that God makes known to you, and weeks go by and you don’t do it, and I can’t help but to wonder what if you would have applied immediate action to the thing that you knew you had to do. So is what I hear Jesus saying here, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk”. I hear Him saying “Do it now”, I hear Him saying “Get up, take a step”. That’s what He was trying to let the man know. Essentially, Jesus was commanding the man to attempt the impossible. Jesus said, ‘Get up’! He told him to pick his bed up and carry it away. The man could have said that for thirty-eight years he had been lying on the bed and he didn’t have that physical ability to rise as he was being commanded to do. But he made the effort and the power of God healed him.  9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked” (John 5:9). God had come! In His marvellous sovereign way, He had chosen the man out of the multitude to demonstrate His wonderful love and power. The crippled man didn’t even have the faith to ask. But God performed the impossible. All the man had to do was to obey the command, take immediate action, and receive his healing. He was miraculously and instantly healed from his affliction. Later, the Jews couldn’t understand how a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years could be healed on the Sabbath day. If he had not attempted to obey the command, he wouldn’t have experienced the healing power of God, and be made whole. When Jesus went to the pool, He went to change the crippled man’s life. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6). He already knew his yesterdays. He knew the man at the pool and He knows you and me. Jesus had a supernatural knowledge of the man’s condition. There are so many things in this world which try to defeat us. So, what’s stopping you? You may be asking; can I really change? I know people ask this a lot of times. “Can I really do this”? You may not believe things could ever change in your life, but God does. The Holy Spirit believes you can and that’s why He’s leading