FINISHING STRONG – 20th October, 2020 Anchor Scripture: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace! On Friday last week, the Holy Spirit reminded us that for our faith to be perfect, we must add PATIENCE to it. And patience was said to be our ability and or willingness to wait for God’s answer and or time. In 1 Samuel, 13: 8 – 14, lack of patience was Saul’s first undoing that caused him the kingdom of Israel. So, as children of God, we must learn to be patient. Our Focus Scripture today tells of contentment alongside godliness. The truth is that contentment is an offshoot of patience which we were schooled on last Friday for none who is not patience should claim to be content with what they have. A lack of contentment brings about impatience. The book of 2 Peter 1: 6 admonishes that for our faith to be perfect, we must add godliness to our patience. The implication of this, brethren, is that it is possible to for someone to say they have faith without being patient and or godly. Wow! Truth be told, that is what I see in the church today. The congregations in the different denominations are being taught through wrong messages and even prayer points, both to haste up and to be covetous. But from our Focus Scripture on Friday and today, we could see that such teaching are what they are, heresies, and are therefore not from God. The book of Philippians 2: 5 admonishes us thus: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” What mind was that? The humble mind that focuses on obeying God is it. It is the mind that desires nothing, but pleasing God and His Christ and nothing more. Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry made this clear severally that His only mission was to do that which He was sent to do. In fact, He called it His only food at a point (John 4: 34, 6: 38). Job, King David and Apostle Paul were three of the people who had such mind, too (Job 23: 12; Psalm 40: 8; Philippians 1: 21). As we close this morning brethren, the point the Holy Spirit is making here is that while it is possible to claim to have faith without being patient nor showing any mark of godliness, having a mind that is made up to do God’s will brings us to the point of godliness. That is, no one can claim to be godly without doing God’s will. And when we develop a heart that is prepared to wait for God (patience and contentment), we are being godly because as said on Friday last week, God doesn’t rush and cannot be rushed. So, patience is one of the attributes of God without which our faith may not be perfect before Him nor FINISH STRONG with Him. I pray that won’t be our testimonies in Jesus’ name. Amen. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him. Jesus loves you!

FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” – Isaiah 28: 16 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. According to 2 Peter 1: 6, we are enjoined to still add to our faith, PATIENCE. The Holy Spirit breathed a series on us in the past titled, WAITING UPON THE LORD. Therein, we were schooled on what it means to “wait upon the Lord”, and one of the meanings is being patient quietly, which may involve not even uttering a word either in prayer or whatever, but just waiting quietly for heaven’s Will to be done. On Tuesday, we were enjoined to, through grace, add the knowledge of the Lord to our faith. We refer to this lesson because as it was said at the end of that day’s devotional, we were told that how much you know about God determines how far you can go with God. I will like to add right here now that without the accurate knowledge of God and His Christ, no man can be patient in faith. This is so because God is not man; and He neither thinks nor works like man (Isaiah 55: 8 – 9). What I found in Christianity today is that there are “Christians” who express or say they have faith, but who do not know God beyond being a miracle Worker Who can do virtually anything. However, that is not all that there is to God. And the “sin” of not knowing God is the reason some people’s faith are not working. The book of Hosea 4: 1 explains that God is not pleased with anyone who lacks His knowledge. Brethren, being patient in faith requires that we leave everything in His hand, totally trusting and waiting for Him without batting an eyelid. Being patient in faith is waiting for God with total reckless abandon such that we are ready to wait for Him no matter how long it takes. It is having the understanding that He knows where we are; when it’s time, He will locate us with His answer. This neither means not praying nor making moves, but it involves having the understanding that even though we are making moves and praying (and probably fasting) His answer may not be immediate and preparing ourselves to wait for as long as it takes. As we close this morning beloved brethren, we need to understand that our faith needs patience to be able to stand the test of time. Our Focus Scripture this morning warns that those who believe shall not make haste. The implication of that is that anyone making haste either never had faith or their faith is shipwrecked already, and that means they won’t FINISH STRONG in the Lord. God is never in a hurry and can NEVER be hurried up! The Bible says a thousand years is like a day before Him (2 Peter 3: 8) and vice versa, yet, “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: . . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11). I pray the grace our faith needs to be patient in God to be able to FINISH STRONG will be released upon us today in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! Jesus loves you!

THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. . . .” – 1 Corinthians 9: 25a Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. We must agree that it is in the nature of man to either take things for granted or overdo them for many bizarre reasons. Whichever divide we fall between the two has a way of affecting our faith and making it, somehow, imperfect before Him and in Whom we say we have it. Permit me to say here that it is possible for one’s faith to be nose-diving without one noticing it. One mistake many of us have made over and over again in this race, and which has affected our faith badly, is that we often believe that our faith is all about us. That is why when the attentions of some people are called to certain things, you hear them respond by saying, “leave me and my God.” But the fact is that the issue of faith is a tripartite thing, involving you, God and your fellow brethren who may be close-by and are watching you; remember, the Bible says we are the Bible that the world is reading. It is in this wise that Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8: 13 that “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.” Please read 1 Corinthians 8: 8 – 13; Romans 14: 15 – 21). I think this is a very easy principle. It calls for both self-awareness and awareness of our immediate environments in terms of the people around us. It calls us not to overdo things, no matter how passionate we feel about them. As we close this morning, the book of 2 Peter 1: 6 says this, temperance, (being moderate) is a very essential part of our faith because if we did say we are in faith but used our own good standing to make others fall, then, we would have done Christ no good. But we have a duty to even help those that are falling to come up and stand in faith at all times. It is when we do this that we are building the others up in faith and we do this when we neither overdo things nor take them for granted. This is another hidden area we need to watch out for as we run to FINISH STRONG. May the Holy Spirit of God continue to guide us on the way in Jesus’ name. Amen. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! Jesus loves you!