Expand

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Great beginnings are usually small and quiet, after which they expand (Mark Chapter 4 verses 31 to 32, 1^st Kings Chapter 18 verses 41 to 46, note 42 to 45).

The will of God for every child of His is expansion, to expand to the West, the East, to the North and to the South; to the right and to the left. Start from where you are and with what you have and God will expand you. God is the one who orchestrates the expansion. What He does is to open your eyes of understanding to what He is doing so that you can cooperate with Him to bring about the needed expansion. He therefore knows all the resources that are required for the expansion and how to make them available to you.

Abraham became a father of several sons after he obeyed God and went to settle in Canaan. From Abraham, he became a father of nations, Abraham (Isaac who became Israel, Ishmael, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah). Abraham increased because God blessed him. Please see Genesis Chapters 12 verses 1 to 3, 14 verses 18 to 20, 17 verses 1 to 20, 22 verses 15 to 18, 24 verses 35 to 36, and Isaiah Chapter 51 verse 2.

When Jacob went to Laban’s house, he was Jacob alone, single and had no material possessions. By the time he left Laban’s house, he was a nation Israel with twelve sons, a daughter, two wives, two concubines and several material possessions, including many numerous livestock and servants.  He was fruitful, had multiplied and expanded. Please see Genesis Chapters 28 verses 13 to 22, 35 verses 9 to 15, 48 verses 3 to 4.

Joseph went to Egypt alone, a slave with absolutely no potential for expansion. But Joseph worked with God and God gave him favor and made him fruitful and multiplied him from being s slave to being a Prime Minister, a husband and a father of two tribes in Israel – Ephraim and Mannaseh.

Renew Your Mind

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in the body – inside the soul is the mind, will and emotions (the will for decisions, the mind for processing and analysis (Deuteronomy Chapter 30 verses 19 to 20), the emotions for expressing feeling. The mind is the seat of reflecting consciousness, faculty of decision, making judgments, and gaining understanding. The mind is also the place of conviction – Matthew Chapter 11 verse 28.

That is why any form of satanic captivity starts in the mind. The devil took Eve captive by muddling up her mental processes to the point where she became uncertain of the exact command by God and consequently disobeyed God. The devil was able to convince her that God was economical with the truth – a lie from the pit of hell (John Chapter 8 verse 44). The devil made Eve believe that God did not want them to be like Him which was why He asked them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil attempted this evil game with Jesus Christ at the temptation but Jesus Christ overcame him with the truth of God’s word and consequently gave us victory over every lie and deception of the enemy. Please see 1^st John Chapter 3 verse 8, John Chapter 10 verse 10, Matthew Chapter 4 verses 1 to 11, and Luke Chapter 4 verses 1 to 14.

The devil launches mental sieges to blind the minds of people to the truth of the Word of God. (2^nd Corinthians Chapters 3 verses 14 to 18; 4 verses 1 to 6; 11 verse 3, 1^st Timothy Chapter 4 verses 1 to 3, 2^nd Timothy Chapters 3 verses 1 to 9, 13; 4 verses 3 to 4, Titus Chapter 1 verses 9 to 16, 1^st Timothy Chapter 1 verses 3 to 4, Proverbs Chapter 26 verse 28). The satanic tools of mental sieges include lies (John Chapter 8 verse 44), deceptions, distorting the truth (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 1 to 13), unbelief, fear, worry, anxiety, disillusionment, depression, craftiness, deceit (2^nd Corinthians Chapters 4 verse 2; 11 verse 3), flattery and lack of understanding. Because the mind is a battlefield, a place of strategic spiritual warfare, satan uses it to make man displease God. The mind has the tendency to be blinded by satan in order to block the blessings of God from your life.

The Power of Words

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Words are powerful. They frame thought patterns. What a person hears and believes is very important as words always have the capacity to impact people and their lives either positively or negatively. That is why you should cross check the source of the words you hear, internalize and believe. Therefore, whoever you pay attention to; internalize the words and speak the words is very important. Who you listen to is very important.

Words that originate from God always have the capacity to enrich and enlarge you and make you a better person. These words are like the rain that comes in due season; that is at the right time to bless the earth. The word of God is powerful. The word of God gives believers advantage over the world by giving believers advance information of what God has done concerning our lives and whatever situation confronts us.

It is a battle of words and words that originate from the kingdom of darkness are like the polluted waters of Jericho that was causing barrenness and death in the land. Please see 2^nd Kings Chapter 2 verses 18 to 22, Exodus Chapter 15 verses 22 to 26. That is why Elisha went to the source of the water where the water was polluted to bring about healing of the water, decontamination from source and healing in the land.

This is why the devil manipulates through negative reports. Refuse to entertain and believe negative reports. The devil consistently uses his agents to create and foster contrary and negative situations through their speeches and actions – daily confessions of negativity, impossibilities and what have you to make you think, focus on and reflect on impossibilities, and how to cope; sometimes resulting in worries, anxieties, and fear and of course, unbelief and consequently recourse to sinful actions, usually suggestions from the pit of hell.

The Maze

 Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Father, I lift my voice to you

To seek direction

True direction and guidance

Order my steps in Your word

Order my speech in Your Word

And give me relationships that glorify Your name

And enhance Your plans and purposes for my life

So that I will prosper in your ways.

Where do I turn from here?

Left, right, backwards, forwards?

So many voices beckoning, yet none certain

I reflect on experiences, expertise, intelligence, lessons learnt

Yet none appears certain

Then I prayed

And He answered

My word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.

Your Hope is Not Lost

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Hope is lost when you give up. But when you do not give up, you will always have hope. As long as you are born again, your hope cannot be lost. Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 verse 4. As long as you are a child of God, you can never get to the point of hopelessness. Please see Romans Chapter 4 verses 19 to 22. Therefore, keep hope alive because hope is what strengthens faith. Your hope is raw material for change.

Abraham disregarded the contrary opinions and reports though facts and chose to believe the word of God. The facts should therefore never overwrite the truth. Rather, the truth of the Word of God should always overwrite the facts no matter how strong the facts appear. Please see Zechariah Chapter 8 verse 12, Ezekiel Chapter 36 verses 29 to 30.

God will always come through. His word always comes through. His word always comes to pass no matter how long it appears. Therefore, anchor your faith and trust in the word of God. Anytime God wants to do the impossible, He sends His word. God knows your location, your specifications, your desires, and your needs. There is never an error message with Him. Mary yielded to the word of God – Luke Chapter 1 verse 38, Romans Chapter 4 verses 19 to 20. Wait and trust on the promises of God rather than run helter, skelter and end up with spiritualists. Believe the simplicity of the word of God rather than the carefully orchestrated manipulations of people. 2^nd Kings Chapter 4 verses 1 to 7.Walk in the truth of God’s word and live in the consciousness of the truth. It is the truth of the word of God that will give you the victory you need in every area of life.

Do Not Walk in the Shadow of Anyone

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Isaiah’s ministry flourished after the death of King Uzziah – the implication is that Isaiah probably played second fiddle to Uzziah and Uzziah overshadowed Isaiah’s ministry, downplayed his commitment to God and the ministry. But after the death of Uzziah, Isaiah came back to his senses and realized how filthy he had become, repented and returned to God. Significantly, Isaiah voluntarily offered to be used of God. Please see Isaiah Chapter 6 verses 1 to 9 for details.

Beloved, do not walk in the shadow of anyone. Walk in the steps of Jesus Christ. Walking in the shadow of anyone can bring about limitations to divine purpose. This is because there is a limit to walking in anyone’s shadow as the shadow will limit your speed, the distance to be covered and whatever has to be done as all your activities and actions will hover around the parameters of the shadow and not necessarily the ground you have been divinely assigned to cover.

Abraham did not exactly walk in the shadow of Lot his nephew. However, Lot was fast becoming a distraction to Abraham and divine purposes – the constant friction between the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot was snowballing into contention and strife – a crucial ingredient for stagnation and retrogression, distraction from forward movement into divine purpose. If Abraham consistently frittered time away resolving conflicts, how much time would he have to invest in pursuing activities and relationships pertinent to divine purpose? Little or no time; which explains why the decision taken by Abraham to separate from Lot, was a quality destiny defining decision. How?

Move Beyond Transit Points

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Philippians Chapter 3 verses 10 to 15

Transit points are connecting points to your final destination. No matter how beautiful, how comfortable, how appealing a transit point is, it should never be celebrated and accepted as the final destination. This is because a transit point does not contain all the blessings God packaged for you in your final destination no matter how seemingly pleasant and comfortable it may be. It is only a transit point designed to cushion the limitations and challenges as well as some of the deprivations that come your way as you journey to your final destination.

Some transit points are usually not comfortable. Thank God for such transit points as they remind you of the need to proceed to your final destination. However, the very pleasant transit points can make a person forget the final destination and remain at the transit point, complacent and unwilling to move forward. This was what happened to Issachar.  Please see Genesis Chapter 49 verses 14 to 15. He settled at a transit point and became a band of slaves. This calls for great caution to keep moving forward at every point in time.

Every transit point has bundles of challenges that could mar or make the journey to the final destination. Jesus’ earthly ministry was a transit point; to accomplish the redemption of humanity and freedom from the captivity of the devil.

Define Your Environment

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Joseph was born a five talent person - a dreamer of dreams, an interpreter of dreams and situations, blessed with the divine gift of solving problems and creating order out of chaos. Significantly, God was with him and he had divine favor.

Unfortunately for Joseph, he was born and raised in a one talent environment devoid of the nurturing processes and care to express and utilize his five talents for the actualization of divine purposes. Additionally, Joseph talked endlessly about his talents and future goals by sharing his dreams of global leadership with one talent people accustomed to one talent environments, consciousness and mentality. This attracted the envy of his brothers who did not understand then that the potentials for global leadership and greatness were not dependent on the biological position of seniority which the birthright of the first son automatically conferred on the first son as the leader of the pack of the sons. They were therefore very angry with Joseph, became very envious of him to the point of hating him and refusing to speak with him. In their one talent environment, mentality and consciousness, Joseph was cheeky and a threat to their leadership security. As time wore on and events unfolded, their hatred grew to the point where they wanted Joseph dead. But for the intervention of Reuben, Joseph would have been killed by his blood brothers simply because of their one talent mentality, consciousness and environment.  

Eventually Joseph was sold into slavery, still by his brothers. Yet Joseph never for once allowed his environment to define him. He refused to be subjected to a one talent person even in a one talent environment ruled by a one talent consciousness and mentality. Joseph treasured his five talents and allowed them to shine. In no time, Potiphar noticed and immediately acted. Joseph was promoted Chief of Staff above everyone he met in Potiphar’s house. But even then, Potiphar’s house was not the five talent environment God had for Joseph. Therefore challenges that would orchestrate his movement to the five talent environment showed up and Joseph was moved to prison. Was this promotion or demotion? Joseph again defined the environment. He did not allow prison and the unfortunate circumstances he found himself in to define him. Rather, he defined the environment, his five talents shone through and he enjoyed privileges in prison.