Olabode Ososami's Blog, page 16

Persecutors

Nehemiah 9:11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

The children of God have always had persecutors. Nehemiah reminded the people that God deals with their persecutors decisively. God also makes a way where there is no way even if He has to divide the Red sea. A stone thrown into mighty waters symbolizes a problem that will disappear in the depths of the waters forever. God does not deal with the past only for it to pop up later in the future. His deliverance is complete and total. Many are haunted by past errors and dark nightmares that they cannot shake-off …this is the work of the enemy not of God. We can go to the God who divides the sea and throws our persecutors, as a stone, into the mighty waters …they are found dead at the bottom of ocean depths … never to be raised to attack us again.

Nehemiah will soon face fresh persecutions … so will anyone God plans to use for change. Remember the one that throws into the deeps is God and not your tongue or writings. Leave your persecutors alone …practice watching God’s dealings with your persecutors … you will be full of pity when God begins to divide the sea and persecutors enter only to be drowned in what was for you a tool of great deliverance. Is God not awesome. Be still … again I say “Be still”.

Verses for further meditation

Lam 4:19 ; Psalm 142:6

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Be calm when persecution arises.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, grant me grace to leave issues and my defense in your able hands. Lord restrain me. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste. Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

The Name of God

Nehemiah 9:10 And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day

The reputation and character of God was revealed over time. He demonstrated His delivering might in many episodes in history. God’s nature has been indisputably shown, and it has remained indisputable till this day. We can come to God for salvation knowing that we will be saved because of His track record. God also knows how to deal with oppressors and the unrepentant wicked. He knows how to bring them to nothing and shame them. If He has not done so, then perhaps their cup of iniquity is not yet full.

We can leave matters safely in the hands of God, assured that His name will be magnified … the proud will be made low, the crooked will be straightened and the humble exalted. Remember you are not God and were not meant to be … your track record may be good but is far from undisputable. Leaders get carried away by the praises and flattery of men and may begin to see themselves as God, when they are not. Be humble and leave many issues in the hands of God that you may learn and see why He is called The Great Deliverer, the Mighty God in Battle, the Lord Strong and Mighty. Be still and know that there is no God like Jehovah. Even in your business, community or family, God wants to make His name known …in His actions.

Exo_3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Verses for further meditation

Col 2:10 ; Exo 3:19

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Successful companies have built a brand, a track record and name slowly over the years. They are known and can be predicted to deliver what they promise. God also has His brand.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, help me to rest in your completed work. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste. Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

God Sees and Hears

Nehemiah 9:9 And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

God’s leaders are answers, packaged to respond to the afflictions and cries seen and heard by God. God is not unaware of the gaps in direction and failures in leadership resulting in anguish and many issues. Nehemiah reminds the people that God is at work to fulfil His promises to hear the cries of His own and remove their afflictions. Which father will permit his own to wander and die in a wilderness, or to be burdened by endless tasks of wicked supervisors. God is good. Still, He can be almost overwhelmed by the rebellion and hardheartedness of a people who still murmured and refused to trust Him in spite of the miracles and awesome signs and wonders they witnessed.

None can come to and believe God except the Spirit draws and convicts them. Signs and wonders, miracles and testimonies will not cause people to believe … that is why Christ told His disciples to wait until He sends the Holy Spirit to be the Helper of the elect.

Today, God has seen and heard many things and needs to bring His changes to pass, for the good of His own. He sends His Spirit to change hearts and inspire new directions and finds His leaders who must by example exemplify new values and ideals. All so that His own will be delivered from the oppression suffered resulting in cries and tears that He sees and hears. God is a good God. God in His mercy will send His leaders so that there will be beauty instead of the ashes … great gladness to replace mourning and heaviness. There is a purpose to your calling. Embrace it.

Verses for further meditation

Psalm 34:19 ; 2 Cor 6:4

Thoughts for Business and the work place

You are God’s answer to someone’s cries and prayers.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, help me to embrace my divine destiny to lead the type of change that brings smiles again to the hurting. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste. Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

The Faithful Heart

Nehemiah 9:8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

How did Abram have a heart that was faithful, if God did not make it faithful? God looks for the sincerity that is divinely implanted in His chosen seed. He found what He sought in Abraham and promised lands to his seed, … God delivers what He promised. God did not look at the physical appearance of David’s brothers but saw their hearts. Ask God to reveal your heart to you … there is a desperate wickedness that God wants to change … and when He changes your heart, the words from your lips will change, your reactions and temper will change, your aspirations will change, your goals will also change … Everything changes when our heart has been changed by God. Most of all, it is found to be faithful to Him and His word.

There is no need to fake what you do not have. A man who has not been convicted by the Holy Spirit to surrender to Christ, has a dark heart capable of many evils. Even when he means good, his evil heart betrays him. Only the saved heart can receive God’s best and do His will. This is a good day to allow the Spirit of God to convict you of your lost state and come to Christ for the salvation He alone offers. You cannot give what you do not have … get a faithful heart from God, and this will overflow in your relationships with others.

Eze_36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Verses for further meditation

Proverbs 14: 30 ; Jeremiah 17:5

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Success with God requires a sincere and faithful heart.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

The Choice of God

Nehemiah 9:7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

God did not make a mistake when He chose Abram, although there was nothing to foretell his future faithfulness. God knew you and chose you to be His child. You did not choose yourself. He does not abandon His choice … He backs you up, brings you out of where you need to leave and takes you to His chosen place of destiny. His Spirit works to change your nature and identity and you are given a new name “the chosen of God”, born again in Him. We are God’s masterpiece and He chooses our parents, our nationality, race and many other things … He did not choose wrong when He made you male or female. He did not choose wrong when He gave you a height, weight and chose your body features. Every chapter of your life was carefully chosen … for a purpose. There are no disappointments, only divine detours again chosen by the most High God.

Abraham ended as a blessed and prosperous man. God did not chose you for perdition. You will also end well … but do not take your choice lightly. Work out your salvation and divine destiny with fear and trembling. Do not disdain His choices when you must remain in tents on hard lands while, like Lot ,others seem to have the well watered plains of Jordan. God’s choice is like a journey which always ends in the best.

Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Verses for further meditation

Matthew 20: 16 ; 1 Peter 2:9

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Leaders know that you and all that are around you can make serious mistakes of judgment. God cannot

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, Help me not to ever resist your choices over my life. Amen

 

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

God Alone

Nehemiah 9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

There is great assurance in knowing God does not need the help of mortals but only chooses to work through them. In the beginning, God put everything into existence, indeed all things were known to Him even before time began. God also preserves all things as He wishes, again alone and none can stop Him. God chose you not because He cannot do without you or He needs some performance from you, but only because it gives Him pleasure to do so. Our first assignment is to worship and please Him with our obedience … He knows what we are capable of and does not demand what we cannot do. He is not a sadist, nor is He a slave driver. God has enough to bless everyone a billion times financially more than Bill Gates and not even flinch … His resources, like the oceans, cannot be drained by the bucket of our answered prayers so we can keep going to Him.

The approval of men is immaterial. Consensus only a luxury where God is concerned. He is complete and has already completed what He starts even before He begins. God can keep His word because He is God and that is a good enough reason. His promises are sure because He is God. Ours is to trust in Him and lean on His direction and leadings. He accomplishes in seconds that which could have taken centuries and when He says “no” … nothing will turn the situation to “Yes”.

God’s leaders may need men and woman to support them but they know there is The Most High they cannot afford to offend. It is painful to behold the sight of the one God is Himself resisting …the proud.



Psa_86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

Verses for further meditation

Deut. 32: 10-12 ; Psalm 136:4

Thoughts for Business and the work place

God is in a unique class … and cannot be compared or likened to any. His word is not a management theory soon to be updated.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, Do not ever let me offend you …O God. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

Forever Exalted above All

Nehemiah 9:4 Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

What does it mean when we say God is eternally exalted above all things, powers, issues, thrones and kingdoms? They stand up to show reverence and respect and then honor their God with a loud voice, the God who reigns in all matters, with whom none can dispute anything, who is answerable to none and for whom absolutely nothing is impossible or even difficult. What words can we use to bless or praise the Almighty whose existence and capabilities exceed our understanding.

Humility, respect and obedience is expressed before the glorious God who reverses the irreversible. Heartfelt praise, thanksgiving, adoration, honor is demonstrated in loud cries to the Almighty God. Contrast this to some modern and casual approaches of coming before God. The children of Israel praised and worshipped their God with everything they had …their voice, their cries, their shout, their dance, they laid prostrate before their God … they repeated words to honor Jehovah as Almighty. Everything bows before Him, we must never be allowed to forget that. God is not just God in the church service, but He is God in your office, the senate, in any government and in every plan … we will be doing well to seek to please and honor Him in every domain of life.

Verses for further meditation

2 Chron 20: 19-22 ; Psalm 21:13

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Humility, respect and obedience is expressed before the glorious God who reverses the irreversible.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, May your name be lifted above every other name for ever. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

Sola Scriptura

Nehemiah 9:3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

The people return again to the Scriptures. Scripture reading and meditation preceded their confession and their worship. Martin Luther wrote once “Whatever does not have its origin in the Scriptures is surely from the devil himself.”

A knowledge, love and hunger for scriptures will protect our reasoning and guard us from errors even when we have noble intentions to confess or to worship. Our confessions can be very incomplete without the help of the hammer called scriptures – to break us to see our pride … our worship can be vain songs and be just entertainment if we are not informed by the example of worship of angels covering face and feet and bowed in adoration before God, again as revealed in scriptures. If as a leader, you are not finding daily inspiration from the word of God for your thoughts, words and actions, then one can assume you are not being led by the Spirit of God.

Nehemiah resumes another day with hours of reading the word … a fourth of the day, followed by hours of confession and worship. Worship must be in Spirit and in Truth …again inspired by the Word of God.

As a leader, you will do well not allow the book of the law of the Lord to be far from your consciousness. Like a daily bath, you cannot afford not to have its daily cleansing and washing to bathe your conscience.

Verses for further meditation

Matthew 4:4 ; Revelation 3:8

Thoughts for Business and the work place

God’s leaders are people of the Word. They live based on its daily guidance

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, may your Word ever be sufficient, supreme and all powerful for all our endeavors. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

The Problem of Sin

Nehemiah 9:2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

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We have to address the problem of sin because it will hinder all that was intended to be achieved. Sin will insulate against divine help and will open the door to obstructions … like rocks hidden in the sea, sin will wait for approaching boats to advance only to be shipwrecked. Sin must be identified for what it is and that it has its negative consequences. Injustice, envy, anger and greed are sins; pride, gluttony are sins, disobedience to God’s laws is sin … there are respectable sins and there are despicable ones, there are sexual sins and they range from dressing to seduce to unmentionable acts, there are sins of commission and sins of omission, there are known sins and there are unknown sins, there are hidden sins and there are open sins, sins of thought, sins of word and sins of deed … the wages of all sin is death. Spiritual death is a separation from God giving a free access for demons to have a freeway in whatever we do …ending in physical death … leading to eternal death. Christ paid the price for sin on the cross and the Holy Spirit dwells in us to change us to be Christ-like … When we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Thus we cannot afford to misrepresent sin as something else and not seek forgiveness after confession and repentance.

A lot can be done by the man who lives in unrepentant sin, but all that is done is vulnerable without the protective umbrella of God which cannot come where sin thrives. I heard of a business man who, every time he was to go and start a new contract will find himself in adultery and things will begin to go wrong until the project crashes in failure. This repeated itself so many times until he addressed the issue of the adultery … and closed all the doors through which the arrows of sin would strike … things gradually began to change for the better. Be very clear, unconfessed sin has its serious impacts …and satan deceives many into hidden sin knowing they are blinded to later unhidden consequences.

Nehemiah knew unconfessed sin, even of their fathers … could not be allowed to hinder the rebuilding and thus they stood and confessed their sins and those of their ancestors. The good news of the gospel is that the mercy of God endures forever and none has ever fathomed its depth or stretched it to its fullest reach.

Verses for further meditation

Romans 3:23 ; Jeremiah 33:8

Thoughts for Business and the work place

In business as in families and communities, there are unseen hindrances. Sin is the chief of all obstructions

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, forgive us our many sins as we confess them to you and turn away from them …and those of our fathers. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.

 

Sack clothes

Nehemiah 9:1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

Sack clothes symbolizes a mood that bears burdens of great wrong and reproach before a God who will look upon His pained weeping people and be merciful. Many have invented a new smiley gospel of happiness, greed and grabbing, thinking gain is Godliness. The gospel is being perverted every day and this is affecting the people and has also sustained a corrupt society that can no more be convicted of ills. The shepherds have caused many to go astray as much evil is done and called moves of God. Bring out your sack clothes and cover yourself with earth and weep for the body of Christ.

When today, Pastors strengthen the hands of evil doers … who will bear these burdens before God …who will stand in the gap for God’s mercy. Go up to the mountain, lift up your hands …raise a howl and weep like a woman who has lost her only son.

Isa 62:10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

Verses for further meditation

Isa 51:9 ; 1 Cor 15:34

Thoughts for Business and the work place

Bold people must be found to propel any revolution whether spiritual, industrial or political.

Suggestions for Prayer

Lord, help us to wake up and get right for we have sinned greatly …fallen into a deep slumber. Amen

As Nehemiah’s wall was built,  so will we see a reconstruction in all that may appear in distress and in waste.  Nehemiah trusted and feared God, putting his faith in the Almighty whose strength is limitless to exceed all our expectations. Look out daily for Nehemiah’s Wall in 2015 and do invite friends to subscribe to the free email or social media posts.

I am praying someone with a burden to be used by God in building will receive a fresh vision and get the job done.

To subscribe to the devotional, please  enter your email address (the left column) above the “subscribe” button (and enter on the green button). God bless you.

Recessionproofchristianlife.com is a privately owned blog/media site started in 2009 as the internet ministry of the author. It promotes the absolute authority and divine inspiration of the Holy Bible as the Word of God – Infallible and Sufficient.