HOTEL IBIS-A HAVEN OF COMFORT

The crowd at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, was bustling with life as everyone was trying to locate their loved ones. The noise from the background was producing a music of its own. A tall man could be seen among the crowd, pulling his trolley, taking a brief moment to catch his breath. He seems to be scanning the whole area of the airport taking in the view of the area like a peacock. This was definitely his first time in Lagos. 

"Excuse me sir, are you Mr. Bill David”? A male voice cut through his through his thought. He stared at the smartly dressed man in a uniform and nodded It turned out it was a shuttle service provided by the hotel his Nigerian friend booked for him on Hotels.ng at page one. The drive to the hotel was approximately ten minutes. The gigantic building that greeted his sight on entrance  was impressive.

“Welcome to Ibis hotel” the warmth in the voice of the receptionist at the hotel could not go unnoticed. He was checked in immediately and his luggage was carried to his room by one of the hotel staffs.

He could not hide the shock on his face at the sight of his room. It was almost dreamy. The room was well furnished with an air conditioner, soft and clean beddings, a coffee machine, an LCD screen TV and a free Wi-Fi. He had a lovely shower. The activity he hoped to achieve for the next day flashed through his mind. He had come for the conference on “Project Earth” – a conference targeted on birthing solutions to the emerging environmental problems especially global warming with a view to achieving sustainable development. He soon passed on to dream land.

The next day, the hotel’s conference center was filled with a lot of people from all walks of life. International and national dishes were on full display. Words began to fly from one end of the room to another with each person proposing the possible solutions.  Finally, a concensus was reached as regard the solution. 

Subsequently, phone contact, emails and business cards were being exchanged-it was a time for networking. 

Later in the evening, he went to the hotel’s restaurant. He ordered a popular Mexican dish-Chillaquiles. Immediately he tasted it, he was transported back in time to when he was a young boy. It tasted exactly like his late Mexican mother’s food. He was nostalgic in a good way. He dug into the food like it would bring back his mother.

He met with a beautiful lady as  he relaxed by the swimming pool. The way their eyes locked and the spark he felt when they talked was almost magical. They exchanged contact. It knew it represented something more. Time, would unveil it.

He knew he would be leaving tomorrow morning to England but he won’t forget quickly the warmth and magic he felt at this grand and majestic hotel- Hotel Ibis

Opportunity for Content Writers

Win N50,000 in the Hotels.ng Writing Challenge and get a job as a content writer

To Qualify

- Publish a 200 - 500 fictional story about any hotel listed on Hotels.ng. For more details visit https://bit.ly/2XZD5r9

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I am Deborah Dada. A final year  law student of the obafemi Awolowo University. I enjoy writing, sight-seeing and traveling.

Interview with Adesola AKA Noblequeen!

And today our celeb is Miss Adesola Oyebamiji Q1. Please share your salvation experience with us Salvation? It just happen on a Sunday in 2012. No one preached to me. But I felt I need to be more than a church goer. And I genuinely accept Christ. Q2. What's your story? My story I am Oyebamiji Adesola. I am the 3rd daughter of a family of 6. I am a fresh graduate of ROYAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY. though still going back for our Board exam but through with school finals. I am an Extrovert. And I don't really think I have a story to tell o. But please you can ask anything you will love to know Q3. What drives your passion for orphans? Many things drive my passion to Orphans. Not only orphans the needy. I have always want to be of help to people right from my primary school, I remembered giving a girl #5 almost every day out of my #20 pocket money in secondary school. I have witness many things in life that prompted me to have passion for the needy I give to people when I have and as well help other NGO ministry but Holy spirit says its not enough, He showed me things that trigger me to stand and that's how I started a ministry called; *Passion for the needy* Q4. What gave you the vision for ATM? My best friend *Holy spirit* coz I won't embark on a journey He Is not going with me. Q5. How old are you? I am 23 years + 8 month old😄 Small gel Q6. What is your temperament? I don't even know I think Sanguine Q7. What's your favorite color? Yellow/blue/pink Q8. Are you in a relationship? Capital NO🙈 Q9. Tell us about your family? Oyebamiji family consist of Father, Mother, 3 daughter's and one son who happens to be the last born. We've face many things together But by His grace. We are heading to where He is taking us to. Q10. How was secondary school for you? Secondary school was interesting, I was the Lagos girl *Omo eko* in my class. My Jss1 was at Iganmode grammar school and from Jss2 - Ss3 was at Akolu Grammar school Eruwa Oyo state. Where I was popularly knowns as Lagos girl. Q11. What is your favorite song? Recently Onise Iyanu The lyrics remind me of where God pick me from. 2 Set my life on fire 3 At the centre of it all 4 Your presence is Heaven to me Q12. What is your favorite food? Rice and beans/ dodo Q13. Have you discovered your purpose? Please share. I discovered my purpose through my best friend *Holy Spirit* I have been counseling friends and family right from my secondary school, I have passion for Raising generation of sexual purity right from then too. I love helping the needy. I took the first purpose as the second but recently *Holy Spirit* show me my primary assignment. How? Through what I have heard him speak to me and a revelation. I saw a Bill board of an ORPHANAGE in my dream twice. Then I have to rearranged. Q14. Tell us something that nobody in this group knows about you. Something I think they don't know about me is I was once like an orphan.🙈🙈🙈🙈 Things were really rough for my family then and I have to hawk in hold up to help the family eat😭😭😭😭 I just think its not time to share that @⁨Omiyoola Christiana⁩ once saw me in hold up then 🙈 and I don't know if @⁨Ayoyinka Modupe knows too cos she lives near us. Others don't know about it Q15. What's the scariest experience you've had? Scariest I was scared when I was hawking cos I am not sure of what the future holds but one thing is I don't give up. I give my colleagues in the hold up then courage too. Imagine 16. What are the principles you live by? Hanging my life on God. No matter the storm stand firm and don't shake. Focus is the key. Q17. Is the cup of milk full or half Full ma😄 Q18. What advice would you give to a lady whose father is a pedophile? Please flee for your life. Find someone you can tell. Someone you can be accountable to and again if possible find way not to leave under same roof with him. I have a girl who stay with us for a while cos her step father is a pedophile. Q19. At what age do you think it's appropriate for a lady to get married? I don't have a specific age. When she's matured Mentally, physically, spirituality, and when she is not a liability. Have a job of your own. Q20. What's the last thing you do before closing your eyes at night? Speaking in tongues Q21. Do you have a crush? Crush? Maybe. My mummy here is my crush @⁨Olaade Deborah. Q22. How many children would you love to have? In what gender? 3 2girls twins 1 boy Or 2boy twins 1 girl. Q23. If you could steal something from someone,what would it be and from who would it be? From someone, Human being like me. I will steal everybody's heart.😂😂😂😂 Q25. What do you dislike in this group? Nothing. *Love is when you were ask to say something negative about something and you're just speechless* my new quotes though. Q26. If after having enough children with your husband and he says he wants to adopt a child,what will be your reaction? I will love it o cos I wish my husband will agree. A friend told me not to try it. I want to adopt at least one child. I want to breath in life to someone who is not my blood under my roof. Q27. Would you give one of your children to a barren relative just to soothe their heartache? No, I can only adopt child for her thatvis if I am sure they can take good care of that. Q28. Are you a pajamas person or any cloth goes? I select but for now Money no dey so anything goes🙈 Q29. Have you ever loved before? Yes I have once be in a relationship and I love him genuinely Gist us,how was it? Who was it? Did you guys date or something? We dated for 9 days😂😂😂😂😂😂 This girl is sharp ehn.... He wants something else So I flee cos I was really scared I was in Ss3 then and he was an undergraduate of Poly Ibadan. He is now married. I just thank God for my life cos it will have been another story now. The last time I went to Eruwa, he was introducing me to his wife and little boy. He is now a graduate though. Q30. What led to you being single? Hmmmmm Nothing much but I remember I desperately want a relationship early last year but Best friend *Holy spirit* told me to chill. My chilling has really helped me. Cos I gat to know more about me and I grew more spiritually. I am not searching now but am believing God to send the best to her daughter. One needs to be careful before embarking on a life journey. I don't want a relationship that will crash. I want one that I can see my future in. Q31. Why do you have the name 'NobleQueen'? How did u come about it? My Dad to call me Queen cos my name is Queen Elizabeth. When I grew up I know I am Unique, beautiful, one of my kind and special😉 So I decided to add Noble to it. *Noble queen for a Nobel King* Q32. Where do you see yourself in 5yrs time? I see myself fulfilling purpose. Have my own company. I should be married by then by His grace This is my new company name This is the first place I am saying this *ENOQIS* It is related to the symbol of absolute knowledge, analysis, and originality. I am Community health Nurse. I am into wristbands making and Peanuts. I am a seasonal caterer, still learning Q33. What department are you in your church? I am a Sunday School teacher Q34. Can you please pronounce the ENOQIS in a voice note? It pronounced like this *Hairnokiss* Olaade Rebecca: So we have come to the end of the get to know challenge for this week Tonight was fun,I must admit Miss Adesola, thanks for your time and answers You are a truly a celebrity and a star I am honored to have you tell us about you On behalf of all the board of committee,DOZ loves you all

The Real Picture Of God (9)

So we are still on THE REAL PICTURE OF GOD And I will want to do some recap right now We started with the fact that 'God has been misread and misinterpreted by so many people because No one has ever seen Him' and then we also established last week that 'the revelation of Jesus is the real picture of God' He was God in the flesh(incarnation) and He manifested His love for us in several ways In His presence,those who are imperfect didn't feel fearful of Him OR sense judgment or condemnation from Him. And we also established the fact that we aren't the ones that gave our life to Christ at Salvation, He gave His for us. And then we were able to see together what Mathew 7:21 was actually talking about. That Jesus didn't say those words to promote FEAR in the heart of the people but rather LOVE by saying 'But whosoever does the will of the Father' And the will of the Father in John 6,Is that we all believe in His only Son,Jesus Christ John 6:40 KJV:And *this is the will of him that sent me*, *that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life*: and I will raise him up at the last day. So for tonight,I'm going to allow us to ask questions. I won't want to agree that none of us have any question since we started the series as regards the topic. So please,if you have any question,you can ask now, and then afterward will shortly share with us what God has in store for us tonight. So from now till the next 15minutes, questions can come in So in the absence of any question, I want to believe the series has been clear and precise so far. Before we call it a day tonight,let me remind us some few things *How well you are enjoying God in your personal life is how far you know Him* To the depth at which you know Him is the depth you can experience Him Who is He to you has an influence on how you relate to Him even at the place of prayer If you want to get any of the previous episodes,you can send me a DM Except there is any other question,we will continue next week! And we will be considering the story of THE PRODIGAL SON

The Real Picture Of God (8)

We started a series early July and we planned to end it by December, so without doubts we will continue tonight

But before we start tonight, I want to personally know those of us that have learnt one or two things in the course of the series. If the series has been able to renew your mind,please type

It has renewed my mind so I'm raising my hand too

Thank you!

The feedback we get from you goes a long way most especially in Motivating us to continue to do things like this

So its a good place to start from.tonight

We have the links to the previous sessions of the series. If you want them you can send me a DM

And over time,one of the key things we have been able to see so far is the fact that *fear is not from God*

And also *Fear and love cannot co exist*

And I remembered I lay a challenge to us that

*If you read any portion of the scripture and it promotes fear in your heart,please look at that portion closely,its probably because you are reading that portion with a religious sun glasses*

For tonight,we will talk about Job

I want to believe that Job's story for some of us is like a mystery

Some say what happened to him is from God and all sort

So let's see what really happened together from the Bible

Are we ready?

Job 1: 6

KJV:Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

This is a good place to start with

Few of us need to see something here

Job 1: 6

KJV:Now there was a day when the *sons of God* came to present themselves before the Lord, *and Satan* came also among them.

Sons of God came to present themselves to the Lord

And Satan also joined them

I pray I won't be tempted to dwell on this for the rest of today's session

To start with

*It is fallacy to say that a person is not supposed to come to the presence of God because of what he or she has done*

If Satan, the greatest enemy standing, can come to the PRESENCE OF GOD,then I can tell you the default state of God; *plenteous in mercy*

And verse 7 even says God spoke with him

7

KJV:And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

I expected God to just either rebuke him or command him to leave His presence

If you will ponder very well on this portion of the scripture,then you will begin to see what the real picture of God really is.

8 

KJV:And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9

KJV:Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10

KJV:Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

So the conversation continued between them and then they talked about Job

And here is the interesting part

Satan said to God in verse 11

Kjv:But Put Forth Thine Hand Now, And Touch All That He Hath, And He Will Curse Thee To Thy Face.

He told God to touch or take all what Job has...

This may not go too well with your theology but *GOD DOESN'T TAKE FROM US,HE RATHER GIVES TO US,AND IF HE TELLS YOU TO GIVE HIM,IT'S BECAUSE HE IS SETTING YOU UP FOR A BLESSING*

So satan tried to tempt God there by saying God should take what He has already given to Job

But see what God told him in verse 12

12

KJV:And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

So God had to tell him indirectly that *I am the source of evil,so I won't take from him his belongings*  @all that he has is in your power just save his life

God is not the author of afflictions,satan is

God is the deliverer

Halleluyah

So God permitted Satan to take from Job

Let me quickly make us understand something in the latter verse of that chapter

Job doesn't know that we will be reading about him today

He didn't know about the meeting God and the devil already had

He didn't know

So he said something that people can easily misquote

20

KJV:Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21

KJV:And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: THE LORD GAVE, AND THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD.

Verse 21

...the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away...

That isn't true

That was Job's word

He didn't know that SATAN was the one who took from him

We need to understand this truth else we may find it easy to portray God to be whom He isn't

So it was satan that took from Job and not God

Job wasn't aware of this

Alright let's continue

Let me now show you something that set me free sometimes ago

I was once like

IF GOD REALLY LOVES JOB,WHY WILL HE EVEN ALLOW SATAN TO TAKE FROM HIM AT THE FIRST PLACE

And then I stumbled across a scripture that answered my question

There is something I believe few of us are going to learn tonight that will change our paradigm forever

Job 3:25

KJV:For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

I mean if your money is too much and you just wish people come and rob you,I can teach you how to be robbed

Its very simple

If you want to learn how,send me a DM.

But the thing is,your thoughts over time will sure come to pass.

If you keep thinking that you will fail a particular course and you fail,you won't be surprised

Back to this before we start thinking I have another intention

Its very simple

Just make sure that we will see everyday for the period of at least 2 weeks,and then for each day I will keep on telling you news about those that have been robbed,and we will talk and gist about it for at least 2 hours each day. Trust me before the end of the two weeks...

So let me show you something here

In Job 1,what happened to Job happens to him

But in Job chapter 3,this was what he said

Job 3:25

KJV: *For the thing which I greatly feared* is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

That which he has GREATLY feared happened to him...

First of all,like we have established, God is not the author of FEAR

Secondly,I personally want to believe that the reason why God even gave Satan the permission to access Job's belongings is because *JOB ALREADY PROMOTED THAT FEAR IN HIS HEART*

For some of us,that are always worried when everything is going well with us,and we are always like

*hope it's not that something bad wants to happen,maybe that's why everything is just going well for now*

The only way satan can get to you is to do Fear

*Fear is to the devil as faith is to God*

If we don't read our bible very well, we will conclude Job's misfortune came from God,but in unveiling the real picture of God,we need to look closely.

I hope against what you thought was the source of Job's misfortune,you have been able to see that His greatest fear was what happened to him.

In short, even when things were going on well with Job,he was always afraid he might loose everything one day...

Finally lets see Job 42

10

KJV:And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also *the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before*

God gives only

He doesn't take

And I remembered I have told us before in this group that 'we are not the ones that gave our lifes to Chirst,He gave His for us'

So we are the Receiver or taker,he is always the Giver

Halleluyah

Understanding this,you will know that sickness is not from God.

He would never want to take your health for any reasons.

Its a good place to tie it up tonight, we will continue from here next week

Please for those of us that have questions,you can ask them now

And those of us that asked during the session,you can please ask again. I didn't get those questions cleared

Thank you!

The Real Picture Of God (7)

So tonight,we will see God from another point of view and I believe at the end of tonight's session,we will all come to a place where we all see God as who He really is The picture of God I want to relay to us tonight is that God that is always reaching out to man and not we reaching out to him as many people would say. For some of us,we say we are waiting on God,but I may in few minutes prove to us that God is actually the one waiting for us Luke 15 KJV:Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 KJV:And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 KJV:And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 KJV:What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 KJV:And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 KJV:And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. This is the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 We are going to verse 3,but I don't mind we starting from verse 1 Luke 15 KJV:Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. Publicans and SINNERS wants to hear Jesus speak Anytime I read something like this in my bible *Sinners* wanting to hear Jesus speak, it ministers alot to me. *There is a vacuum in the heart of every man that can only be filled with God's love* There is nothing that can be replaced with the presence of God in our lives. That is the only thing that can make you complete Isaiah 55 says 'Why do you spend money on what is not bread and wages on what does not satisfy... You can desire everything you want to desire in the would, but we all know and Economics even proved it to us that *The wants of man is insatiable* So we need to Understand that we are not complete without Jesus Then let's go to verse 2. Luke 15:2 KJV:And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. Against the opinions of the pharisees,Jesus received the sinners and He ate with them. This didn't go well with their theology. But the truth is Jesus came purposefully for the sinners. Let me just ask you a question right here and you can answer in your mind For SINNERS to seek to hear Jesus speak,For them to have the boldness to approach the Holy Jesus, *What did you think they heard about Him at the first place?* Whatsoever they heard I believe must either promote LOVE or the opposite FEAR in their hearts. Either ways,they heard something about Him before they decided to take a step and decided they wanted to hear Him speak So to the parable 3 KJV:And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 KJV:What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 KJV:And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 KJV:And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. So the bible said And He(Jesus) spoke to them(the sinners) in parables saying.... We need to understand who is reaching out to who,else we will be apt to conclude wrongly The parable Jesus told them was actually intentional The compendium of the parable is that *each of you matter to God* He was able to compare 99 believers to 1 unbeliever And permit me to show you something right now Verse 7 KJV:I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth... The bible says ...OVER THE SINNER THAT REPENTS... And from the parable,it wasn't showed that the sheep was the one looking for the shepherd So there are more to the parable than what meets the eye 4 KJV:What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 KJV:And when *He* hath found it, he layeth it on *His* shoulders, rejoicing. 6 KJV:And when *He* cometh home, *He* calleth together *His* friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for *I* have found my sheep which was lost. So see who is reaching out to who The emphasis was on the Shepherd (HE) here and not the sheep From verse 5 And when He(the shepherd) hath found... You can't find a thing until you have sought for that particular thing. So the shepherd went out of His way to Find the sheep Did you see that? And then when He found the sheep,He carried the sheep on his shoulders😊😊 How sweet! And then He was rejoicing And when He got home,he had to tell his neighbors to rejoice with him... God has always been the saviour from day1. And I'm glad he was able to make the sinners who came to hear him speak that even though they have come to Hear him speak, He came first by leaving his kingdom in heaven and IN HIS LOVING KINDNESS employed the faculties of man in other to reach out to them first Did you get that? So this is the repentance that was hidden behind the letters The sheep allowed the shepherd to carry Him on his shoulders. It wasn't by force,for God would never force a man,the sheep had to CONSENT to be carried. To understand this better, we will see together the parable of the prodigal son next week and then we can continue from there Please ask questions if you have any

The Real Picture Of God (6)

We are still on our series THE REAL PICTURE OF GOD

Today is the 6th session on the series

We have taken several scriptures and we have seen that every scripture tells us about who God really is

And also we have seen that FEAR and LOVE cannot coexist

And last week we were able to see together what MATHEW 7:21-23 was really talking about

For tonight,are we ready?

Yes

In making us to see the real picture of God,this is also one of the things we need to know,

What matters to you matters to God.

Luke 12:6-7

6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten

before God. 

7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore;

you are of more value than many sparrows.

Majority of us have the notion that we need to do somethings specially before God can reach out to us. For example when we pray,shouting when praying is not the problem,because at times you just want to express how you feel at that time,just like when you are rejoicing,you can shout and do all sort. But the notion that you need to shout when you pray before God can hear you is WRONG

Those that fall victim of this need to be taught that God is closer to them than they think

I got saved in the year 2012,and of course I had the workings Holy Spirit inside of me as a well. So I wanted to RECEIVE the baptism of the Holy Spirit

But then,after some months of 'tarrying',I was like God if I were to be you and you were to be me,I would have given you the Holy Spirit

After a year of 'waiting',I began to take God as a God that answers prayer only when He feels like.

And that notion affected the way I relate with God anytime I want to pray.

I used to pray then with Uncertainty

Some months after the 1 year,I told a friend of mine who knows more than I do about my challenge with God. How I have been begging Him for His Holy spirit and He has refused to answer me

When I was done,he said we should pray together and we did. After the prayer,He told me something that I WOULD NEVER FORGET

He said 'Samuel,God said you are not the one waiting for Him,He has been the one waiting for you since over a year ago'

That really struck me and to His glory I got baptised not too long after that time. 

The Holy Spirit is a gift,We are to RECEIVE it and not beg for it or what have you. I had no one to teach me this then,but after He (my friend) told me its not the question of HIM GIVING, ITS A QUESTION OF ME RECEIVING.

Today we talk about Empathy,God has empathy

There are times when we pray for somethings and we feel as is God refuses to answer your prayers or He doesn't care

God cares

Infact, God wants to take care of every area of your life, even the smallest detail.

He loves you so

much that He knows the number of hairs you have on your head

And if your loving

heavenly Father knows and is interested in the small details of your life, then He won't allow you to tackle any problem on your own.

You know, what we think about God goes a long way in determining whether/ how we pray or not when we face challenges

So it's important you desire to see the REAL PICTURE OF GOD

What do you do when you face challenges?

Who do you call when you are bothered?

I have an answer for over 70% of us here. 

We find it easy to call our uncle or aunty or brothers or sisters or parents when we face one trial or the other

And psychologically speaking, we do that because somewhere in our subconscious, we feel as if God is FAR from us

So He may come in late when you call Him,or His number goes on call busy

When we face challenges,the first thing the bible tells us to do is to PRAY

Have you come across this before in your bible?

James 5: 13

KJV:Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

The bible never said,

Let him call on an Uncle

Why, UNCLE COMES AND UNCLE GO

Uncle can't be there at 3am

Uncle can't help you,He never has, except God through Him reached out to you

But like I said,the reason why we still find it easy to call an Uncle is because we are also where I said I was when I wanted to be baptised with the Holy Ghost.

God is closer to you than you can ever imagine

And for those of us that doesn't call on Uncle but all we do is panic or worry when we are being afflicted,if only we know,we would choose not to be a WORRYOR

Still on 'what do you do when you are afflicted'?

Some of us says things like  'God is using it to teach me a lesson'

I will be talking about this next week. Does God uses afflictions and sickness to correct believers?

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM (SEEK MY FACE)

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM (TELL ME TO HELP)

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM (JUST COMMUNE WITH ME)

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM (FELLOWSHIP WITH ME)

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM (LOOK UPON ME)

Is any among you afflicted? LET HIM PRAY TO ME

My friend, when you worry, you are actually believing that the devil has the power to

make inroads into your life that God cannot protect you from.

But when you pray, you are putting your faith in God.

You have more confidence in His love and

power working for you than in the devil's ability to harm you!

This wasn't what I planned for tonight anyways,but I believe God just wanted to reach out to someone

God is always waiting for you to pray to Him

So please let him be your first option when you are being afflicted

So whether God is the source of affliction or the cause of tribulations, we will see together next week. Was God responsible for Job's misfortune? We will get to know next week.

The topic will reveal more to us THE REAL PICTURE OF GOD.

The Real Picture Of God (5)

We are revealing THE REAL PICTURE OF GOD 

And today will be the 5th session on this series

And like I said earlier today,tonight's session is going to be so powerful that some of us will keep thanking me,while some of us may abuse me,and some of us will leave the group

Just kidding

In revealing the real picture of God,there are some places in the scriptures that we need to clarify,else we will find it hard in acknowledging God as who He is

What I will be teaching on tonight,wasn't what I planned to teach on.

Its still in line with the topic,but its more or less enlightening us on a commonly misinterpreted scripture in the bible

Can someone paste Mathew 7:21-24 here please

21Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

22Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

23And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].(C)

24So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a [p]sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock.

 I want to guess that majority of us can quote it off hand

Nevertheless,I found out so many of us have a wrong interpretation about what Jesus was talking about here

So I believe God wants to open our eyes tonight,that is why He is leading us to enlighten ourselves from this portion of the scripture

21Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

People use this portion of the scripture to SCARE one another

Anytime someone quotes it,it promotes fear in the heart of the hearer

But I explained last week that fear and love cannot co exist

So if we are not careful,we will begin to take God as, 'God I know you love me o,and I love you too,but please don't say you don't know me on the last day'

Read the scripture in its context

Before I got the truth behind this portion,I have always been reading it based on what people have told me

I love using this illustration

When you put on a green goggle, everything you begin to see becomes green,irrespective of the colour. So the problem is not the object,it is your goggle

Not everyone who says to me Lord, lord,will enter into the kingdom of heaven

Why will the Loving Jesus say this?

Is it to scare us?

Follow me please

Let's look more closely

21Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven

First of all,in verse 21 he said, you can't enter the kingdom of heaven until you do the WILL OF THE FATHER

So what is the will of the Father

I'm coming back to answer this in a moment

22Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

Let's also see verse 22 closely

Many will say to me on that day...

What day is Jesus talking about?

If you don't know the day He was talking about you will be apt to misinterpret that verse

I want to be sure that I'm not alone here tonight,so permit me to ask this question

Do you know about the millennium reign of Christ?

The day Jesus was referring to is that day when He is coming back NOT AS A SAVIOUR again but as a JUDGE. And when He comes,He is coming in HIS MAJESTY AND LORDSHIP, righteousness will reign on earth, there will be no more sickness,no more pain,no more shame.

Halleluyah

And at that time everyone,whether saved or not will call Him Lord,all kings and rulers whether they like it or yes will call JESUS LORD

That is the time Jesus was referring to

That time when demons and the evil ones will be the 'scale goat',that time when the bloods of the innocents will be avenged,that time evil will be in evil,the just shall be justified when they see God avenging their for them!

Everyone will refer to JESUS AS LORD

Now follow me

22Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

So in that day(when righteousnees shall reign on earth),many will say unto me...

So that's 2

I'm coming back to this too in a moment

23And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].(C)

Then I,Jesus will say unto them publicly

Too bad

How will I receive the life of Christ and at the end of the day,Jesus will tell me openly that He doesn't know me

It is easy to conclude that that is what the bible is saying

PERMIT ME TO OPEN YOUR EYES TO WHAT JESUS WAS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE TO US THERE

IS IT LOVE OR FEAR?

Let's go back to those scriptures and see the things that are in between the lines

21Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

22Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

23And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].(C)

Starting from verse 23,Jesus said something very powerful

Permit me to bold it

23And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I NEVER knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].(C)

I believe we all understand English language

Dictionary meaning of Never at no time; on no occasion

Jesus didn't say 'I DO NOT KNOW YOU AGAIN',or 'YOU HAVE CHANGED SO MUCH(WITH YOUR MAKE UP),that I don't know you anymore'

JESUS SAID I NEVER KNOW YOU

I haven't even seen you before

There is someone in this group that is not in Nigeria,I haven't seen her before,but we chat very well,she can't say she NEVER KNOW ME,even though she does not know me.

The NEVER statement is used for a person you don't know at all at all

If you didn't see the never, you will be like me few years ago living with the fear of 'Jesus please don't fall my hands on that day o,I be your padi abeg'

I believe someone's mind is getting renewed right now

So he wasn't referring to people like us that are born again

So the word is NEVER, I no sabi you at all at all.

Interpret it in Yoruba,you will understand better

Now let's go to the next point

22 Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

*Many will say to me*,NOT, *I will say*

They said they did it in the name of Jesus,

Jesus didn't say they did it in his name 

THEY WILL SAY THEY DID IT IN JESUS NAME,

JESUS DIDN'T SAY THEY DID IT IN HIS NAME

I hope someone gets that

Now I explained earlier,that they will call Jesus,Lord is because the table has been turned around.

I already explained that. Jesus is in His majesty,so they will have no choice than to call Him Lord.

Then finally,verse 21

21Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven

What is the will or the father?

People scare so many people with this particular verse,but only few talk about what the will of the father is

So permit me to show you what the will of the father is from the bible

John 6:40

KJV:And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

This is the will of God,that we BELIEVE in Jesus Christ His Son(John 3:16) and then on that last day,He will raise us up

Let me tie it up tonight

I believe many of us are being ministered to tonight, I can even sense it from here

If you still see a portion of the bible and it promotes fear in your heart,please show that place to those that knows more than you do and let them explain what the bible is really talking about to you

Fear and Love cannot co exist

We are still on the boat together,and we will see more places in this journey.