SHOULD MIRACLES BE PUBLICIZED?

Should miracles be publicized?

Luke 5: 1-43

The life of Jesus Christ is an example for Pastors that pray for the sick and want it publicized in order to gain more followers. The question here is ‘Should miracles be publicized ?’ According to the Bible “And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean. And straightway the leprosy departed from him. And he charged him to tell no man: but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

”Luke 5:13-14 ASV

https://www.bible.com/12/luk.5.13-14.asv Jesus commanded the Leper to tell no man but only the priest and offer their cleansing rites. This command was initially stated by Moses for leper’s in Leviticus 14:4. In verse 15 however, the great multitude heard of the healing and came to be healed of their infirmities. 

Another miracle of healing happened in Luke 5:18-25 ASV

https://www.bible.com/12/luk.5.18-25.asv 

The man sick with Palsy(paralysis) was brought in to be healed and Jesus first told him ‘Man thy sins have been forgiven thee’ and then told him in vs 24 ‘Arise take up thy mat and go into thine house’. He became healed and this miracle was seen by multitudes of people and they glorified God. Another miracle in Luke 18:35-43 ASV https://www.bible.com/12/luk.18.35-43.asv a certain blind man was desperately asking for healing and Jesus said ‘Receive thy sight thy faith hath saved thee’ he became healed and followed Jesus glorifying God.

 The people who witnessed this miracle also gave praise to God. The three miracles stated above were handled differently by Jesus Christ. This shows that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent as seen in Ecclesiastics “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:”Ecclesiastes 3:1 ASV

https://www.bible.com/12/ecc.3.1.asv  “a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;”

Ecclesiastes 3:7 ASV

https://www.bible.com/12/ecc.3.7.asv The similarities is that God was glorified by the witnesses of the miracle. Is it then still necessary for further publicity about that miracle as seen today on social media and TV broadcasts? From what we have read it isn’t necessary at all. Please send your comments 

LORD FILL ME AFRESH

LORD FILL ME AFRESH

In Acts 4:1-31, After the brethren prayed, the place they were was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit. In Acts 2:1, Jesus promised them the holy spirit and then in Acts 3, as peter preached the word of God, a man at the beautiful gate was healed and rose up and walked.

 In Luke 9, Jesus healed a boy born blind and later the Pharisees started investigating whether the miracle was real and whether the boy was born blind. The enemy looked for ways to dispute the miracle. The man at the beautiful gate was also healed but in his case he ran to the temple and there was serious uproar and while he was speaking with the people in Acts 4, they came and seized Peter and John.

 That is to show that while God is performing miracles on one side the enemy is increasing his oppression on the other side. The enemies came to stop the influence of what the believers were doing in the name of Jesus Christ. The brethren performed miracles according to the standard of Jesus Christ and a true test of sign and wonder from God almighty can be seen in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, when the false prophets word comes to pass, further test is carried out to check whether he is diverting men to follow other gods. Not all signs and wonders are from God almighty as seen in Deutronomy 13:1-5. God saw the level of opposition upon the brethren and decided to refill them with more power of the holy spirit. What the enemy is after are those that do good in the sight of God. It is being on the right path that attracts opposition from the enemies. The power Peter and other brethren used to heal and perform miracles was of God but they still required more power in order to resist the level of opposition on them so God had to fill them afresh with the holy spirit as seen in Acts 4:31. Peter boldly proclaimed to the Sanhedrin that we have no other way of salvation than in Jesus Christ as seen in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”.

When the Sanhedrin saw the boldness of Peter and that he was uneducated they marveled at his boldness, this boldness came from the power of the holy spirit. With this they also saw the evidence that God is with them. Our prayer is that “Lord let that thing that will show evidence that we are serving you, let it manifest “. After Peter and John were further threatened they were released and they returned to pray and fresh power fell on them as seen in Acts 4:31.

 One thing this tells us is, many times when there are threats, our prayer is channeled towards the threat and enemy, but part of the prayer should be on what God should do to us. There is leakage of power as we do our day to day battle with the enemy. therefore we require fresh grace and filling from God in order to do his work. The brethren prayed in Acts 4:30 “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” this shows that as Christians we must constantly pray for new level constantly, every time. One thing God can do is to anoint us with higher power than the opposition facing us and take us to a place where somethings no longer matter.

How does one work to be filled afresh

·         Humility: Ephesians 4:2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” Come humbly before God everyday to be filled afresh.

·         Isaiah 9:7 “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it.” There has to be an Increase of God’s Government in our life

·         Ephesians 4:13 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” Grieve not the holy spirit of God and the prompting of the holy spirit. because it is by him we are saved.

·         Godly exercise: Exercise yourself in the place of fasting, worship, prayer and study of the word.1 Tim 4:8, “For bodily exercise profited little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. “

 When there are more oppositions, it is for us to ask God to empower us afresh, so that all men will know that he is God.

Prayer: Father Lord forgive us all our sins and Lord deliver us from everything the enemy wants us to do that will draw us away from his presence.

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA

ALL OR NOTHING

ALL OR NOTHING

In 1 kings 3:16, This is a very popular story about two women, one slept over her baby and it died and she switched it with the other woman’s living child. In the morning the other woman realised that she was with a dead child that was not her child, then the argument began on who was the real owner of the living baby .

 During King Solomon’s judgement, One of the women wanted all of the baby or nothing, but the other women didn’t mind dividing the baby. we need to understand that in the things of God if it is tampered with at all, the expected benefits will not be there. God said we should serve him with all strength and might but devil can make do with a small attention from us, getting us to work small for God and small for the devil. wisdom is very very principal in everything that we do. It was by God’s wisdom that Solomon judged the people. There is another wisdom that is not of God for example when the Phaorah that new not Joseph came he said “let us deal with this people wisely” and in his wisdom he dealt harshly with the Isrealites . Solomon specifically asked God for wisdom from God to handle matters. When matters could not be solved at the lower level it was brought to king Solomon. The innkeepers are constantly exposed to men and the two women here were innkeepers described as harlots or prostitutes. Their babies are however considered a gift from God because bible says “children are a heritage from the Lord”. These gifts came to the women out of God’s benevolence. There are gifts we have received from God that are not deserved but are still given by God out of his kindness. The two women were friends due to their shared interest, they had a union of evil, but were torn against each other due to the situation at hand. 

Our prayer is that any set of people that are friends for evil purpose against us whatever binds them together must break just like the case of these women. The only guarantee for abiding in peace is when God sanctions peace but anything short of that is war. The two women were deep and careless sleepers, considering that one slept on her baby and the other did not even wake when her baby was exchanged with the dead one. Sleep is a blessing, bible says “he giveth his beloved sleep” but sleep can also be a time of spiritual dullness or lack of watchfulness. Jonah 1:6 says “What meaneth thou o sleeper, awake and call on your God..”, meaning that when people were calling on God one was sleeping. 

Jesus took his disciples to pray and when he came back he saw them sleeping and he said”cant you watch and pray for an hour”. Mathew 13:25 talks about the parable of the weeds and while men slept the enemy sowed weeds among the wheat. Psalm 121 says God never sleeps or slumbers. Even at the night when we should sleep there should be a time of prayer because slothfulness casted into a deep sleep and idleness results in hunger. Proverbs 6:4-11 says a little sleep a little slumber so shall poverty come. 

Some sleep in form of prayerless living can result in problems. As the set time of our testimony draws nearer we need to be more watchful. We need to examine our lives for any form of slumber because our adversary the devil goes about in the night seeking for whom to devour. In the case of the women one of them slept and killed her blessing, things neglected can die.The other woman examined the dead baby and realised that it was not her original child. We need to constantly examine ourselves to know if what we have is the original blessings from God. The blessings of God make rich and add no sorrow. Eccl 7:19 says Wisdom strengthened the wise more than ten mighty men. Wisdom is better than the weapons of war. No matter the challenge in life the solution is hidden in the wisdom of God. The wisdom of solomon by asking for the baby to be divided revealed the intent of the heart of the women.

 One woman said give me all the baby or nothing but the other woman said divide the baby. All eyes were on the baby but Solomon’s eyes in his wisdom were on the women’s reaction. The woman was finally given her living baby and also returned the dead child.

PRAYER POINT: Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me all my sins. Empower me with all your wisdom and that all our blessings in the hands of the enemy shall be returned to us in Jesus name

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA

GO IN THIS THY MIGHT

GO IN THIS THY MIGHT

In Judges 6:1-40, The midianites had invaded Isreal and camped up like swarms of locusts. This happened because they sinned, the Isrealites did whatever they liked and the things of the world enticed them. They will fall out and disobey God and when things get tough, they come back to seek the face of God. The Isrealites were greatly impoverished because the Midianites would invade the land whenever they planted their crops.

 Midianites are descendants of Abraham from the second wife he took after Sarah died, but were cut off and Isreal separated from them. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites and an angel was there and later appeared to Gideon. 

In verse 11, shows that there are times angels come around but do not appear to us, this does not mean that God is not with us.

God was going to use Gideon to deliver Isreal. In verse 12, the angel told Gideon “the Lord is with you, mighty warrior”. What makes a man mighty is because the Lord is with him. We should always crave the presence of God in our life. In verse 13, Gideon complained because Gideon’s understanding is that God forsook them and handed them over to the children of Midianites but it was infact the other way round, the Isrealites had forsaken God. Gideon asked so many questions but got no direct answer, this is just like when christians ask God questions. God does not deem it necessary to answer the questions before taking us to the next level in life. When Nebuchadnezzar asked questions, God drove him into the wilderness for seven years and his experience in the wilderness taught him the answer to the questions he asked. Many times christians ask questions and expect immediate answers, but it is not so with God. In verse 14, God told Gideon to “Go in this thy might” and he will go with him. God will not go with us to places he has not sent us. The things we pursue are based on whose directions, when God sends us he backs us up. When God sends us, he will back it up with his grace and resources, so every christian must wait to hear God’s direction before acting. Gideon was from the smallest tribe in Manasseh, a least tribe in Isreal but his source of strength was from God’s presence with him. The enemy always tries to make us do evil deeds just to drive away the presence of God from our lives. Gideon had to take ten of his servants to perform God’s instructions of first pulling down the altar of Baal and because he was afraid he did this by night. It is better to fearfully carry out God’s instruction than not carrying it out at all.

In chapter 7:2, the Midianites vs Isrealites where a ratio of about 4:1 that is 135000: 32000, God considered the men too many and seperated only 300 men who were vigilant even while drinking water in chapter 7:5-6 as men that are ready for battle against midianites.

 There is utmost importance as christians to be vigilant in service unto God and in battle against the enemy. The Midianites vs Isrealites now became a ratio of 450:1. There is never a situation of too few men to work for the lord. Gideon and his 300 men had victory over the Midianites by first blowing trumpets and shouting praises unto the lord, “A sword for the lord and for Gideon”.

 The sword of the Lord fought for them and the Midianites turned on each other with their swords and flied. When the 300 men pioneered and had victory , the other men joined the battle. God needs men that can pioneer the defeat of the powers of oppression of the enemy over his children. As we obey at every level, God’s presence brings mighty strength to us. It became clear to Gideon and the Isrealites that the same God that worked with their fathers was working with them.

As christians we must be willing to do the work of God. May God give us strength to do all he has ordained us to do.

We need to accept Jesus Christ as our lord and savior for us to get strength from God. Join the prayer below to do this

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ forgive me all my sins. I accept you as my personal lord and savior. Please give me strength to carry out my service to you. 

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA

WHAT SHALL I RENDER: PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

WHAT SHALL I RENDER: PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Psalm 116:11-19. "...... verse 17, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LorD....". We must render praise and thanksgiving unto God. The human mind many times is constrained to focus on the things that are not there. Many times, we do not forget the things that are very important that God has made available even before we ask. God does not bless us or show mercy or good to us because he wants us to thank him, but he expects us to consider his goodness to us and come back to give praise and thanksgiving to him. Leviticus 22:29 says “When you offer a thanksgiving offering unto the lord, offer it at your own will”.

 Do not offer thanksgiving to God grudgingly, let it be from your heart and not that you are compelled. Luke 17:12-19 is the story of 10 lepers that Jesus cleansed, but only 9 came back to thank Jesus. Though Jesus did not tell them to come and thank him later, he expected them to. Only one leper came back to thank Jesus. Luke 6:35 says “He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil man”. This shows that an unthankful man is placed in the same category with the evil man. Rom 1:21 says “They knew God but did not glorify him as God but became vain in their imagination”. Habakkuk 3:17 says ”...The labor of the olive shall fail....Yet will i rejoice in the lord, i will rejoice in the Lord, i will be joyful in the God of my salvation” , Giving thanks is supposed to be a part of us even when things don’t go well with us. Isaiah 43:21 says “this people have i formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise...” There are times we do not feel like praising God, but we must know that we have been designed for praise and thanksgiving unto God.In Acts 16:25-28, Paul and Silas, they prayed and praised God even in prison and the solders heard them and the Holy ghost came down and the gates were opened and everyone became loosed 

 In 2 Kings 19:17, Hezekiah was troubled because the kings of Asyria has destroyed the nations and the land. Hezekiah later became a source of encouragement to others concerning the defeat of Asyria because of his believe that God will deliver him, and God delivered them. Then in 2 Chron 32:24-25, Hezekiah was ill and prayed,

God answered him, but he did not render thanksgiving to God therefore the Lord wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. The one song Isrealites will always sing is “the lord is good and his mercies endureth forever”.

That is the starting point of everything the psalmist is saying we should thank God for he healeth all thy diseases and redeems our lives from destruction. There are many benefits from God that are intangible and for the mercies we have from God we must continue to thank God.

Thanksgiving

In Matt 11:25- Jesus thanked God for revelation

In John 6:11-There was thanksgiving for provision. Jesus thanked God for the small bread and it multiplied.

In John 11:41- Jesus thanked God before calling forth Lazarus. Even dead things receive resurrection power in the place of thanksgiving.

In Jeremiah 30:19- The songs of thanksgiving shall come and God will add to their numbers

In Genesis 39:48- Judah means praise and God said he is the one his brethren will praise.

Part of the signs of the end time is that people will be unthankful. We need to constantly live a life of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving spices our prayer. Philippians 4:6” ...let your request be made known with thanksgiving”. A life of thanksgiving will be peaceful.

 There is a way we are not to thank God as seen in Luke 18:11,"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." In this passage the Pharisee’s thanksgiving was done with the intention to bring glory to himself.

Let us pray this prayer “Lord you have been good, we thank you for everything. For God has not given us as a prey to the dogs and our soul is escaped from the snare of the fowler. We have every reason to thank you God.”

For our praise to be effective we need to repent of our sins by joining the prayer below.

Prayer point: O lord God Almighty, Forgive me all my sins. I accept you as my personal Lord and savior. Thank you for your mercy that endures forever over me. Thank you for being good to me

MINISTER: SAMUEL OGUTA