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!

THURSDAY 8TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” – Galatians 5: 26 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. The book of 1 Corinthians 3 frowned very seriously against denominational Christianity in which different sections of our faith believe and practice different things and we never heard about it again all through the Bible. Churches founded by the Apostles were known and called as the church of God, differentiated only by the names of the cities where they were found. For example, the church in Sardis, the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyma, the church in Pergamum, etc. Unfortunately, the scourge found its way back into the body of Christ and today, Christ has been divided into many parts with each believing and practicing different things, most times, as it pleases the founder who as usual, will claim to have heard from God. The most annoying thing is that each of these countless denominations tries to outdo the other. And in this unnecessary competition of theirs, they tear at one another, denigrating the body of Christ in their attempts to sound and look more authentic to the world, seeking vainglory. The flagrant disobedience to the Word of God as contained in our Focus Scripture this morning is a major reason, among many, that the church today does no longer wield the enormous Power of God as of old. It is the reason supposed people of God expend much energy in prayer today with little results to show for their efforts. The reason is that most things are done in the church today are first to seek vainglory. Or why does a pastor or prophet have to shout inside the microphone with a baritone voice while “ministering”? What’s the need for jumping up and down and employing other razzmatazz in the course of ministration? Much as we have this vain glory-seeking syndrome in the church at large so also we have it manifesting in our individual lives as members. We want people to know that we know the Bible more than the others. We want people to know that we could sing better than that other person and so many other things like that. Or even when we know we don’t measure up to the other person in some areas of spiritual functionality, we go behind them, badmouthing them to others so that we may feel good and others may begin to notice the error in whatever that person is doing for God. Brethren, are we dogs? As we close this morning, we must understand that as born-again Christians, we are not supposed to live for ourselves any longer. We ought to live for God and His Christ. The book of 1 Corinthians 10: 31 says “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” This is what should be our attitude as true children of God so that we would be able to bear the necessary fruits that actually portray us as His disciples. We all are aware that when Jesus Christ was on earth, He never take any glory for Himself and He repeatedly made it clear that His only goal was to do His father’s Will. The book of Philippians 2: 5 admonished that we should “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” If we must BEAR MUCH FRUIT, WE MUST DEVELOP THE THAT MIND THAT WAS IN CHRIST. That was the reason Jesus Christ says that it is only in Him that we would be able to bear fruit and without Him, we can do nothing (John 15: 7). Finally this morning, why do people seek vainglory? The simple reason is that we want the approval and honour of the people around us. We want the approval and honour of our pastor and or founder. We want the approval and from elders in the church. We want the approval and honour of people in our sub-groups. But Jesus Christ, our Example never wanted any of these. In John 5: 41 He put it across to us plainly, saying, “I receive not honour from men.” Brethren, anyone that does anything to please man can never please God. Let’s stop seeking vain glory but start seeking God’s honour, henceforth. May God help us, all, 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! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedback, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

WEDNESDAY 7TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” – Colossians 3: 5 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I think the best thing for us all would have been to have been born spiritual. I mean, to have come right from our mothers’ wombs already born-again and walking in the Spirit as we were taught yesterday. But Alas! That has never been and never will. Either we like it or not, we are all seeds of Adam and Eve and we unwittingly inherited their transgression (Romans 5: 12, 19). Hence, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3: 23). The only thing standing between man and spirituality is the load of our inherited sin which exemplifies itself in our body or flesh which after the Eden incident has fallen away from God and never will return. Yeah! You heard me well. THE FLESH WILL NEVER RETURN TO GOD! And the fact that the flesh will never return to God is the crux of today’s lesson. In the book of 1 Corinthians 15: 35 - 49, the Bible explains what we would look like when we enter into the Kingdom of God. It says that this corrupt body we inherited will be changed into body incorrupt before we could enter. If this be so and we are truly serious about making heaven, then, we need to do away with this body of flesh because it is ruinous and will jeopardize our desire to be with God at the end of times. Quickly this morning, we will mention two things we could do to help us crucify the flesh. One, yesterday, we were directed to Colossians 3: 2 which encourages us to set our minds on the things in heaven. This is what the book of Romans 12: 1 - 2 was talking about. Brethren, we will be deceiving ourselves if we said because we are born-again, evil thoughts wont come. Of course, they will come. But the only way out is to keep renewing our minds with the thoughts of things in heaven. Secondly, the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9: 27 says "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: . . ." This is the second thing we must keep doing. The understanding we need to develop is that since and if and when we say we are born-again, it is no longer us that is living, but Christ that is living in us. But we mustn't take that too far and start living careless lives and be claiming and quoting Philippians 4: 13. No! The consciousness that Christ Jesus lives in us should rather drive us away from abominable and sinful acts that feeds the flesh and keeps us away from home in the Spirit. As we already learnt yesterday, the flesh and the Spirit live miles apart. As we close this morning brethren, get it clear that whatever you dont feed will eventually die. If we must bear much fruit as the Master desires, we need not continue to feed our flesh by doing things that belong to the old man whom we claim to have left behind when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Rather, we must start to feed the Spirit by, for example, singing hymns and spiritual songs that draw our hearts nearer Home, not those ones that addresses our imaginary enemies. We must study the Bible more and fast and pray more. May the good Lord help us all in Jesus Christ's 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!

TUESDAY 6TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” – Galatians 5: 16 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, the Holy Spirit set us off very well on this study by making us understand that the fruits we are to bear and manifest, according to Jesus Christ, are of Him and He is of Christ and Christ is of God, the Father. Today, we are called to walk in the Spirit. We will bring up some Scripture to drive this home to us for a clearer understanding. In Genesis 22, Abraham was led to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, and being a man of the Spirit, he didn’t argue or struggle at all with that divine decision. Rather, he took off immediately to do as divinely directed. In Genesis 39, Joseph was tempted to exchange the palace for five-to-ten minutes on the laps of Potiphar, but being a man of the Spirit, he declined and flee the scene. In Daniel 1, Daniel and his three friends also declined the King's delicacies. Hebrews 11: 24 says that Moses despised the throne of Pharaoh and forbade that he be called a prince of Egypt; rather, he elected to suffer with God’s people. In Acts 4: 1 – 20, Peter boldly refused the human command that contradicted what God had ordained them to do. In Matthew 26, buoyed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ saw the enormous cruelty and wickedness that was to befell Him, yet, He didn’t opt-out. In all the above examples, one thing stood out: the war between the flesh and the Spirit of God. The book of Galatians 5: 17 says, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The nature of the flesh, otherwise known as “the old man” is to crave things that are directly opposed to by the Spirit of God. For example, it makes no provisions for spiritual exercises like Bible study, fasting, prayer, and the likes. However, it is always at the forefront activities such as chatting, sleeping, partying and the likes are to be attended to. The book of Mark 7: 22, 2 Corinthians 12: 21, Galatians 5: 19 – 21, Ephesians 4: 19, 1 Peter 4: 3 and Jude 1: 4 mention some of these things often craved by the flesh which are contrary to the desires of God and His Spirit for us. Most often, we are aware of these things, but we are always unwilling to deny the flesh because we either believe “God understands” or we are, unlike Peter and John (Acts 4), more disposed to displeasing in order to man because of some of our pecuniary sentiments. This happens even to those of us who say we are workers in His Vineyard. How often we disregard the laws of God in order to please and court the favours of our G.Os, founders and elders of our denominations and congregations! As we close this morning, walking in the Spirit simply means ensuring that our spiritual antennae are always, and I mean, ALWAYS, tuned to the heavenly frequency. This becomes very easy and simple when we heed the call of Colossians 3: 2 which admonishes thus: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” By so setting our affections, we would be able to do away with the desires of the flesh, thus making walking in the Spirit very easy. Walking in the Spirit also implies allowing Him to drive and direct our lives. Yes, there are people who make people around them believe, via their religious activities, that the driver of their lives is the Spirit of God, (and because they are making successes are getting deluded), but they themselves are the directors because they always dictate where they want Him to drive them to. To such people, there is nothing like “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26: 39 – 42). Brethren, the truth is that people with this kind of disposition may never bear the required fruits of the Spirit required for FINISHING STRONG because “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14: 12, 16: 25). Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedback, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

MONDAY 5TH OCTOBER, 2020 Focus Scripture: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” – John 15: 5 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Our understanding of the fruits of the Spirit as written in Galatians 5: 22 – 23 should be that they are all not of anyone, but God and His Christ. And these fruits that show us as true disciples of Christ are made manifest in our lives by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It, therefore, follows that we could neither possess these fruits nor manifest them without having the Holy Spirit in our lives. However, the Holy Spirit does not exist in a vacuum; He is sent by Jesus Christ into the life of whoever has given their lives to Christ Jesus. So, although, the Holy Spirit which bears these gifts is a free gift from God, it is only free to those who have given their lives to Christ Jesus. Giving our lives to Jesus Christ by accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour, however, is the first step in being qualified for the gift of the Holy Spirit; it is not the final qualification requirement. In our Focus Scripture this morning, Jesus Christ gives the final requirement: “. . . He that abideth in me, and I in him. . . .” Abiding in Christ is the final qualification for both the free gift of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit. Somebody may ask whether it is possible not to abide in Christ even after giving one’s life to Him. To that, the Holy Spirit answers an emphatic YES! Examples abound in the Bible of people like that who after accepting Jesus Christ, through wrong teachings, fell off the vine. In 2 Timothy 2: 16 – 18, the Apostle Paul mentioned two people who according to Him, “erred concerning the truth”. Let us know that we would err concerning the truth if we refuse to abide in Christ and in His sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1: 10; 2 Timothy 4: 3; Titus 1: 9, 2: 1). As we close this morning, brethren, Abiding in Christ implies allowing His true Word to be the guide to all our decisions and actions by which we would do nothing outside His Word and Will. By these, people whom we engage anywhere would be able to see and say that we are truly His disciples, and so glorify the Father. It is when we abide in christ that we could bear fruits and the Father is being glorified that we could be sure of FINISHING STRONG. May we be this blessed in Him in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedbacks, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

Monday 5th October – Friday 9th2020 Weekly Anchor Scripture: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” – John 15: 8 GENERAL WEEKLY INTRODUCTION In John 15: 5, Jesus Christ calls Himself the vine and we, His followers, the branches. And in verse 8, He clarified His expectation from the branch; to bear much fruit to the glory of the Father. Closing it up, He mentioned the essence of bearing much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. The implication of not bearing fruits therefore is that such a person (not a Christian) is not a disciple of Christ Jesus. The book of Galatians 5: 22- 23 mentioned to us the various fruits of the Spirit which if we possess will evidently show us as the true children of God and worthy disciples of Christ. The uphill task before many of us, however, is that we don’t really know how to bear these fruits, even after becoming born-again. Many of us were taught and therefore expected that bearing these fruits would be automatic after accepting Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but experiences have shown that this is not usually the case. The Holy Spirit has therefore elected to use this week to bring us to the knowledge of the part of the bargain that we have to fill up to ensure that these fruits are evident in our lives for us to truly become His disciples. Our prayer is that God will use these teachings to increase our knowledge of Him and draw us closer Home in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen. Here is TODAY'S LESSON

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Wednesday 30th September 2020 Focus Scripture: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: . . . .” – Matthew 26: 41 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. The last of the armours of God as mentioned in Ephesians 6: 10 – 18 is prayer. And prayer is another powerful tool in the Christendom that is grossly misunderstood and misused as well as abused, especially in the developing and underdeveloped world because of the many man-made crosses we are made to bear. But the truth remains that prayer is a powerful tool. As a way of brief introduction, prayer is a spiritual communion, a tool of conversation, between God and man. Prayer is a way or perhaps the only way by which man communicates his wishes, hopes, aspirations, thoughts, and most often, frustrations to his Maker, God. God Himself called for this conversation in the books of 2 Chronicles 7: 14 and Isaiah 1: 18. So, it is not surprising that man is a “praying mantis”. However, our understanding of this spiritual tool will determine how we use it and how effective it turns out to be in our hands, our lives, and in this race. One thing that I will like to hammer on here however is that we should not see prayer only in the light of our meal ticket from God (Deuteronomy 8: 3; Matthew 4:4) or as a gun or bullet in our hands to put an end to enemies’ existence on earth. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that we cannot ask for food and victory over enemies, of course, we could. However, my point is that such prayers don’t strengthen to the end at all because those requests are not spiritual. They are part of what Jesus Christ warned against in John 6: 27 that “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” Prayers that strengthen in the Lord are heavenly-focused prayers. They are prayers that make non-carnal but spiritual requests. A cursory look into the popular “The Lord’s Prayer” opened with a very spiritual request, after honouring God’s name says “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. Those are very heavy words that look forward to God’s purpose being fulfilled as He had planned it. The prayer also closes with a line the same line of thought, saying, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: . . . .” Unlike what obtains today, in the Christendom, the Bible reports in Acts 4: 23 – 31 the kind of prayer that strengthens. The Bible reports in verse 31 of that chapter thus: “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” When you look at that prayer, you will see that their request had God’s purpose in focus (Matthew 28: 19 -20). But Christians today have become so materialistic that what dominates our prayers are always carnal with little or no spiritual purpose in focus. As we close this morning brethren, we are enjoined to pray always with supplication. A prayer of supplication, brethren, is a desperate prayer. It, therefore, follows that we are called to pray desperately to BECOME STRONG IN THE LORD without which none would FINISH STRONG. This desperate prayer brethren will bring every other armour of God we have learned about together. The prayer must be filled with truth from our righteous hearts (Ephesians 6: 14), meaning that we must not abhor any iniquity in our hearts while praying these prayers for heaven’s strength (Psalm 66: 18). It must have elements of our desire for the fulfillment of God’s purpose (Acts 4: 23 30; Ephesians 6: 15). We must pray this kind of prayer with faith in our hearts (Hebrews 11: 6; Ephesians 6: 16), and doing all these must be after we are very sure of our salvation in Christ Jesus and the prayer MUST be well garnished with the Word of God (Ephesians 6: 17). If you desire a PDF copy of the book, Praying the Right Prayers, breathed on me, the most unworthy of all men, by the Holy Spirit, please, comment your e-mail in the comment section below. It is a mind-blowing exposition on prayer that would set you free from the bondage into which pastors have put many people because of their ignorance in the Word of God. Yes, I am giving this, and all the other ones God had written using my hands, out for free. Jesus Christ says, “. . . freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10; 8) Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedback, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Wednesday 30th September 2020 Focus Scripture: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” – Hebrews 4: 12 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Some old myths had it that some great hunters killed mighty animals without shooting a bullet from a gun. I wonder if such still happen today and even whether those stories were ever true or just fairies. Whichever, the general knowledge and understanding, devoid of evil metaphysical engagements is that for hunting expeditions to be successful, bullets must be released from a gun. One of the Bible passages that I was led to read early in my Christian journey was Matthew 4. From this very important chapter of the Bible, the Holy Spirit was quick to reveal the secret behind God’s enormous Power to me; His Word. I should think it was after that that I read Jeremiah saying His Word is like fire in his bones (Jeremiah 20: 9). After all, I saw in the Bible, I have also successfully applied the Word in my own life severally. The scourge around today and which have seemingly rendered the church powerless amongst the intimidating darkness in the world today is the practice of supplanting God’s Word with men’s. The noise around today in Christendom is “my pastor says . . . .” or “this is what the founder says or how the founder started it and handed it over.” The supposed people of God today have very little regard for the infallible Word of God but will do anything to defend their denomination’s doctrines. The supposed people of God today cherish and honour the words of charismatic motivational speakers marauding as men of God than the Word of Life from God. Yet, they want to become strong in the Lord and endure to the end. Please, read Matthew 10: 37. The book of 1 Samuel 2: 30 says in part: “. . . but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” I have, by the help of the Holy Spirit, in so many times made Christians understand that there is no other way to honour God than to take His Word very seriously. That is all it means to fear and to love Him (John 14: 15, 21 – 24, 15: 10 -14). Now, the Word of God as an armour is another wonder because no power or principality can stand the Word of God. However, there is a caveat to this: the right Word must be used for the right occasion. I have always maintained as I have been enlightened in the Word that there is a Word from God for every situation. And that no Word from God just came for no reason; every Word of God has their context, that is, the condition under which they occur. And anytime any of the Word of God is taking out of context, we end up with a pretext, and this renders the Word in our mouth powerless. In my book, Praying the Right Payers, a whole chapter is dedicated to this. As we close this morning, the Bible calls the Word of God in your mouth the sword of the Spirit with which you could use to (1) burn the wiles of the devil up (Jeremiah 23: 29) (2) break the stony, and rocky wiles of the devil and crush them into useless powder and trample them under your feet (Jeremiah 23: 29; Luke 10: 18; Psalm 91: 13) and (3) pull down strongholds of the enemy that wants to assault and insult God in your life (2 Corinthians 10: 4 – 5; 1 Samuel 17: 45 – 50). There is still more to the Word and its usage, but for time and purpose. What the Spirit is saying this morning is that we need to get closer and conversant with the Word of God. Jesus Christ says “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” So, if you must survive the devil’s onslaught, become strong in the Lord and FINISH STRONG, get down with the Word. Our victory over the devil is in the Word, nothing else. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedback, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Monday 28th September 2020 Focus Scripture: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” – John 5: 24 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Sincerely speaking, one of the simplest topics but which many Christians still find hard to actually understand is the topic of salvation; that is being saved. On a number of occasions, I have asked the question of what salvation means to some Christians, and the answers I got were just weird, and they showed that people don’t really know what it means to be saved. Well, for time and space, to be saved simply means to be made alive or to bring back to life from death. This is what the Bible calls “quickening” (John 6: 63; Ephesians 2: 1, 5; Colossians 2: 13). As natural seeds of Adam, we were separated from God and were dead in sin (Ephesians 2: 1, 5). But coming unto God through His Christ, we were quickened (made alive) by the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 2). Take it or leave it, salvation is the only compulsory ticket into the Kingdom of God. That is why the Holy Spirit compares it to a soldier’s helmet that protects their head. That is because the head is about the most pivotal part of the body without which the body could seize to live again. The heart, which we are to cover with breastplate, though very important, but during transplants, could be briefly taken out of the body and returned later and the body will still live thereafter. That is why God also calls for a spiritual heart transplant from us to be saved (Joel 2: 13). But the moment the head is taken off the neck, the body is dead and never will live again. So, of all the necessary armours of God mentioned in Ephesians 6: 10 – 18), salvation is the most important because it is the only thing that gives us any rights whatsoever to use the other armours. Without salvation (being saved), we are bastards before God, and according to Deuteronomy 23: 2, no bastards shall be counted or named among the congregation (people) of God. So, the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6: 17) is a MUST for everybody who wants to ENDURE TO THE END and FINISH STRONG in the Lord with the sole aim of making it back Home on the Last Day. As we close this morning beloved brethren, I beg you in the Holy Name of God, if you know you are not yet saved, kindly make necessary amends where necessary. Turn that area of your life which the devil is using to assault your faith and delay your salvation over to God. I say this because there are many people in the church today who are not saved, even after answering the perfunctory traditional altar calls, but they are in the church, with some of them being deluded by their religious piety, some being deceived by their pastors and very many, totally lost because they are confused, not knowing what is right or wrong. Galatians 6: 7 says no one can deceive God. Let me tell you, salvation is more beneficial to you than God. The truth is that even if the whole world went into hell at the end of the times, it doesn’t mean God would seize to be God because He had been God even before He created the heaven and the earth. Finally this morning, without salvation, no one can be strong in the Lord because it is salvation that gives us the right to call ourselves, "children of God." (John 1: 12). And without becoming the children of God, we are not heirs with Christ and we cannot lay claims to the spiritual riches of the Kingdom of God, part of which the armours of God are. So, salvation is our headcover. If your head is still open, get it covered, NOW! We are in a serious battle and the battle will rage till Jesus Christ appears in the sky to take us Home. So, it is dangerous to leave your head open. Else, such may NEVER FINISH STRONG. I pray that will not be our testimonies in Jesus Christ’s mighty name. Amen. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! N. B. We will like to welcome your feedback, either by way of comments under each daily devotional or as a private message. You could reach us through bwgospelministries@yahoo.comor via 07064694037. Please, feel free to ask any questions or add to what the Holy Spirit daily dish out to us, remember, “iron sharpeneth iron.” Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Friday 25th September 2020 Focus Scripture: “. . . for I know whom I have believed . . . .” – 2 Timothy 1: 12 Admonition. I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. As I have said severally in the past, there are different kinds of gospels today in the world. And just as that is, so also, there are different kinds of faith, being preached from the pulpit today in the Christendom. Therefore, from the onset, let us make a distinction between the bread and butter faith and the faith that brings salvation to its possessor. It is of this kind of faith that the Bible says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith . . . .” (Mark 16: 16; Luke 7: 50; Ephesians 2: 8). A shield is used to ward-off arrows shot or any other things thrown at a soldier by the enemies and it does not matter whether the enemy thrower is close or far; whether such an enemy is seen or unseen. What matters is the vigilance of the soldier holding the shield to be able to see the arrows approaching so as to know how and where to direct his shield. The word therefore for us is spiritual vigilance It was said on Monday that the only weapon of the devil is lie. He constantly throws the arrow of lies at believers to assault our faith and disabuse our minds of the unending and limitless Power of God, knowing that if only the believer could believe one of his numerous lies, he could overcome them. However, we must know that our faith, which is the truth is the direct opposite of the devil’s lies. Our faith is the shield with which we tell the devil to “shut up”! That is how to use our faith as a shield to ward off the wiles of the devil. Let me quickly add here what faith is: faith is, believing the unheard and the unseen. Faith is, believing the impossible. Faith sees in the dark. Faith lives, even after being buried. Faith sings and dances in sorrows. Faith smiles to scorns. You can see all these elements of faith in the life of Brother Job who once declared “I know my redeemer liveth . . . .” (Job 19: 25). In the same vein, Apostle Paul is declaring in our Focus Scripture this morning that he knew Whom he believed. These two men displayed the inalienable characteristics of the faith that has become strong in the Lord and with which they both warded-off all the wiles the devil threw at them. We are all familiar with Job’s story and reading through 2 Corinthians 4: 6 – 10, we got a glimpse of what Apostle Paul went through and how he used his faith as a shield to fence them off without his faith getting wounded. As we close this morning, John 6: 27 says, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” This Word of Jesus Christ tells us not to dwell only on the faith that puts more money in your bank accounts, food on your table, cars in your garage, and new designers in your wardrobe. If your faith as a child of God must endure to the end and FINISH STRONG as we were taught last week, it must be STRONG IN THE LORD, but no faith will be strong in the Lord except it be used as a shield against the wiles of the devil. The truth really is that we grow in faith when the faith is tested by the wiles of the devil and we do not give in. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Thursday 24th September 2020 Topic: COVER YOUR FEET, TOO Focus Scripture: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” – Isaiah 52: 7 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. In the book of 1 Corinthians 12: 4 – 23, the Bible ministered the importance of all the parts of the body and how and why they must all function together as members of one body. Yesterday, the Holy Spirit ministered to us on the need to get our chests covered in order to avoid the arrows of unbelief from Satan from getting to us and destroy our faith in God. Today, as written in Ephesians 6: 15, our feet should not be left open too, just like our chests, but they must be covered, instead, by spiritual covers, not a physical one as recommended for the chest, which needs a breastplate. According to our weekly Anchor Scripture, Matthew 11: 12 and the book of Acts 14: 22, making heaven on the Last Day will neither be bread and butter nor a piece of cake, take it or leave it! That is the reason all parts of our body must be adequately covered with the armour of God. One of the major problems with Christianity today, aside disunity, is the unwillingness to propagate the Gospel of Christ. It may be recalled that the propagation of the Gospel is the only assignment given to us by the Master before He finally departed after His resurrection (Matthew 28: 19 – 20). Unfortunately, the command has been abandoned by many of us today. The spirit of the end-time has caught up with most of us and we have developed the long-predicted “itching ears” and we are heaping teachers unto ourselves, having no pleasures in listening to the truth, but revel in fables and heretic doctrines. But our Focus Scripture today says that the feet of they that propagate the Gospel are beautiful. Why are they beautiful is the question. They are beautiful simply because they carry with them the message of peace (John 14: 27) that brings salvation and prevents souls from being lost to hellfire on the Last Day. Now, how can just preaching the Gospel become an armour? Brethren, God asks a very important question in Jeremiah 23: 29, saying, “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Now, what arrow from the devil can stand the fire of the Word of God? Or what stone can he throw that can stand against this great hammer? The Bible calls the Word of God many things that space and time will fail us to reel out here. For example, if the arrow of unbelief that the devil has fired against your faith that is making you doubt God’s faithfulness is sickness, go and read Psalm 107: 20. I pray the Holy Spirit of God will opportune us to do justice to this aspect someday. As we close this morning, let me say, by the Holy Spirit, that our breastplate of righteousness will be dysfunctional if our feet are not beautiful because we are not wearing the proper footwear, the Word of God, because our faith and righteousness have a direct link to the Word and actually rests on this crest, the Word of God. Brethren, when we go about sincerely preaching the Word, the truth is that even the devil will fear us because the only thing He cannot stand is the Word. That is why when he went astray tempting Jesus Christ in Matthew 4, all the Master was saying was “it is written . . . .” And the Bible tells us how to overcome him in Revelation 12: 11, saying, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Finally, note that our FINISHING STRONG and making it Home is in preaching the Word. Both those who don’t propagate the gospel and those who refuse to listen to the Word of truth but are dancing to their shames, listening to pulpit lies that make them feel good don’t know what they are missing. Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Topic: COVER YOUR CHEST Focus Scripture: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: . . . .” – Proverbs 14: 24 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. One of the beauties of the Apostle Paul’s Epistles is that the Holy Spirit aided him to write within the context of his immediate environment then. Writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit, his use of allegories, representation of abstract principles by characters and or symbols, was second-to-none. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the portion of the Bible under scrutiny this week (Ephesians 6: 10 – 19) using a completely kitted Roman army of that time, using each piece of their armour to represent something valuable in the Kingdom of God. Verse 14 of Ephesians 6 admonishes us to have on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate covers the entire chest and the abdominal part of the central part of a soldier. And we, as soldiers of Christ, also need to protect that area of our body that houses vital organs such as heart and lungs to ensure that the arrows of unbelief from the devil don’t enter and hinder our faith which the Bible says is precious to God. For this reason, in Proverbs 4: 23, the Bible admonishes us to guide our hearts with all diligence because from it comes the issues of life. That verse of the Bible drums home why we need to take the breastplate of righteousness very seriously. Our Focus Scripture this morning reminds us that the only thing that exalts is righteousness and that its opposite is sin which brings about reproach. So, what’s the connection between our hearts which the breastplate is to protect and our righteousness? Well, the Bible says thus in Romans 10: 10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness: . . . .” So, the part of our body that engenders our faith in God (believe) is the heart and we know that without faith, no one can please God (Hebrews 11: 6). And according to that Scripture and many others, our faith in God through Jesus Christ is what confers righteousness on us. See Isaiah 53: 10 – 12; Daniel 9: 24; Romans 5: 15 – 19; 2 Corinthians 5: 21. In Matthew 15: 16 – 20, Jesus Christ lectured us on what defiles a man. Now, I believe you know that a man defiled has become unrighteous. So, according to the Master, the things that make us unrighteous are products of our hearts that reside in our chests. In Matthew 6: 33, Jesus Christ told us what we should seek after is the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. That is why it becomes imperative that we protect our chests with the breastplate of righteousness so that unrighteous things don’t enter and come out of our hearts. As we close this morning, the Psalmist helped us out on how to employ the breastplate of righteousness as an armour of God against the wiles of the devil. In Psalm 19: 14, he says, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” For every one that desires to wear the breastplate of righteousness at all times, this is a compulsory prayer point because until what we think, albeit always, becomes pleasing unto God, we are not wearing the breastplate of righteousness and as such, our hearts are open to the arrows of unbelief and doubt from the devil. This will invariably shipwreck our faith before God and end our pursuit of FINISHING STRONG in Him. I pray this will not be our stories in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. 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!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” – Matthew 11: 12 Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Focus Scripture: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth . . . .” – Ephesians 6: 14 Admonition I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. For the umpteenth time, Christian means Christ-like. That is, one which is just like Christ Himself in all attributes. On a number of occasions on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG, the Holy Spirit had unmistakably spoken about the importance of THE TRUTH in our quest to FINISH STRONG and return Home safely. Truth again has been identified as an irreplaceable armour of God which we are to put on to be able to withstand the wiles (deceits and assaults) of the devil. The book of Isaiah 11: 5 noted thus of the Christ: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” This being so while He was on earth, we, His followers, therefore must make it a point of duty to do the same. We would notice that TRUTH was first mentioned amongst all the pieces armour of God. Yes, but why? Truth again is mentioned as to be placed on our loins. Why? Well, it happens that like our conventional belt which holds other pieces of clothing together, the truth holds the other pieces of the armour together to ensure that none fell off in the midst of the battle. That is the reason it was to be placed at the loins; the loins being the middle of the body. The popular Psalm 51 says, in part, of God, in verse 6 that “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: . . . .” This is to say that the kind of truth God desires is one that is devoid of any kind of hypocrisy. It is not an outward thing alone; but one that flows right from inward to the outward and shows in everything we think, say and do. It is not a Sunday-Sunday truth as many of us are known to have perfected in doing. The inward truth desired by God to gird our loins is neither a church truth which we normally drop at the church gate as soon as the services are over nor a “worship” truth often displayed when worship songs are sung in the church during which everybody suddenly becomes holy and untainted. This truth that holds the other pieces of the armour means the undying faithfulness of our souls and the unflinching commitments of our hearts toward our God and His Christ, our Lord and Saviour. As we close this morning, John 8: 32 posits that the truth shall set us free. The truth is able to do this because as said earlier, it holds every other vital piece of armour in place. Without the truth in place, therefore, a Christian is fully exposed to the wiles of the devil. This calls for our total commitment to our profession as Christians and the calling to which we are called as children of the living God. We cannot afford to dilly-dally any longer, brethren, because the time is short. There is the need to make up our minds, whether to FINISH STRONG in and with Him or not. That is why we must understand that the loin we are to gird with truth is the loin of our minds (1 Peter 1: 13). And as Joshua said to the Israelites in those days, I say unto you brethren this morning: “choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . .” (Joshua 24: 15) Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him! Jesus loves you!

Weekly Anchor Scripture: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” – Matthew 24: 13 Wednesday 8th September 2020 Focus Scripture: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” – Revelation 2: 10 Admonition Acts 14: 22 I bring you greetings from the Throne of Grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Some people’s orientation of what Christianity is all about is that of a merry-go-round kind of religion where all there is is nothing but pleasures and enjoyments; a kind of a déjà vu experience where anything goes. The pictures such people have in their minds, of Christ Jesus, is that of a free labourer that demands no wages for his labours. To them, Jesus Christ has paid all the prices there is to pay; theirs is just to stroll in with their usual lifestyle, not dropping anything behind, and just continue to enjoy the glory Jesus Christ has won for them and on the Last day, just stroll into heaven to continue their enjoyments. These people could be likened to those who received the Word, but the Word has no root in them and at any slight trouble, they vamoose, backslide, no longer Christians (Matthew 13: 20 – 21). Brethren, the idea of ENDURING TO THE END which is our theme for the week entails our readiness to pay prices for our confession of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and profession that we are Christians, Christ-followers. The truth is that the devil has never been and will never be happy that we have chosen to hold on to the testimony of Christ Jesus (Revelation 12: 17). For this reason, being the ruler of this world (John 14: 30, 16: 11), we are like bastards to him and he is always ready to inflict as many injuries on us as possible. If we retrospect back to the case of Job, we would see that Job’s only offence was that he was doing God’s Will (Job 1: 7 – 11). Let us have this in mind that the devil will attempt to attack us and his attack could be at any time and it could take or come in any form (Romans 8: 35 -39). Our's brethren is to make up our minds like Job did to ensure that we don’t become weary in the face of his many assaults, knowing that his target is our souls which belong to God. We have many examples, especially of the Apostles who faced the devil’s assaults but never gave in as many of us do today. Rather, they stood firm in their faith and they won the prize at the end (2 Timothy 4: 8). Our Focus Scripture this morning exhorts us to expect to face tribulations and that we could be thrown into prison but that we must be faithful to the end. Let me quickly explain that the prison spoken about here does not necessarily mean the regular police custody. No! Some of us will be thrown into the prison of poverty. Some will be thrown into the prison of impossibilities in all ramifications and all sorts. In summary, that prison means all sorts of troubles that the devil may bring our ways. Our triumph, however, is in holding forth and not giving up (Psalm 34: 17 & 19). As we close this morning, let’s round off with Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the Christians at Lystra shortly after he was stoned by enemies of our faith who thought Paul had died. Paul later told “them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14: 22). That is the truth, beloved brethren. Nobody has ever won the crown through pleasures and we will not be the first. To think or believe that Jesus Christ has suffered, therefore we don’t need to suffer is to believe the lies of the devil. The truth really is that wealth and the trimmings of life are part of his weapons to deceive and trick many to join him in hell. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it is not good to be rich or that God didn’t plan to prosper us. What I am saying is that our souls must proper first (3 john 1: 2) and be ready to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6; 11) even if we didn’t become rich. Be conscious of the fact that our citizenship is not of this world. Let us, therefore, be more conscious of our Home than running after the riches of this world which plunges many into temptations (1 Timothy 6: 8 – 10). With this in mind, we will FINISH STRONG 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!