Good evening, my friend. Happy new year again and happy new month!!
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Jesus Therapy Seven! It’s my earnest prayer that as we seek to know God more, our lives will take the perfect form necessary to fulfill His purposes, Amen!
This year, I’ll try to make every read as short as possible, except when necessary — today is going to be one of those necessary long reads. May our eyes be single and our bodies, full of light for the year’s pursuit in Jesus’ name, Amen!
2023 is a defining year for many reasons and God is challenging every aspect of our lives.
The Secret Place
Intimacy with God is nonnegotiable in these times. More than what is popular now, God will have us maintain a strong profile in His presence — that which says to the angels, “have you seen my servant and his fervent devotion to me?” In the secret place, children of God draw strength and hear from their Father — through constant prayers and study of His Word.
Each year, many of God’s children review their spiritual health and add more zeal to what’s lacking for the new season. A large community of them already started the year with the Word of God. Some are going to be studying the Bible for the 3rd, 5th, and even the 10th time this year. This is an inspiring challenge for me!
Last week, I listened as a lady advised a student on how she could achieve more. She said, “If you don’t set goals, you won’t have any motivation to keep you going”. It goes to confirm that it is an innate human nature to abhor accountability. If we don’t hold ourselves accountable to study the Word of God, we’ll only gloss over it all year.
To learn His voice, we must go to His Word. How to start? Bible Study Tools has diverse reading plans. However, a chronological study yields great results.
The Home
The breakdown isn’t in the government only, the breakdown is in the home. It’s in the home where the seeds are sown.
- Leonard Ravenhill
Even the blind man can see the breakdown in homes; and now more than ever, God is stressing the need for godly unions through which godly seeds can spring up. The greatest pain is seeing our children deny the Lordship of Christ; some say it’s a myth sold to us by westerners. Some others say it’s a social construct cleverly fashioned for the vulnerable to escape reality.
With what the internet feeds them, you can tell that the god of this age is at work (2 Cor. 4:4). Since man naturally shuns accountability, the level of rebellion is only expected. One can easily notice the sudden societal acceptance of anything that tells them to “be in charge” of their lives, do “whatever makes them happy”, and “be whatever they want to be”. The New Age movement and the sudden allusion to “the universe” (this belief is called Pantheism) are all ploys to deceive the children of God.
Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
- Ephesians 5:11 NLT
But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
- Ephesians 13-14 NLT
If we have little or no conviction about the Gospel, we’ll struggle to communicate the need for salvation to our children. This is a call to strengthen our feeble knees. As a matter of urgency, God wants us to be as “woke” as possible to stand against the wiles of the enemy — wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matt 10:16). They’re selling it to us through the media — cartoons, books and video games. We’ve seen cartoons where parents are depicted as two men (subtly promoting homosexuality on our screens). The stronger our conviction, the stronger our witnessing.
The Nation
Wherever you’re reading this newsletter from, you can agree that Nigeria’s 2023 elections have become an international concern. It’s also a no-brainer that there’s a need for a total overhaul of the political structure. How can we help? Prayer is the greatest weapon we can wield in a time like this. The government is at its wits’ end, overwhelmed with the schemes of those vehemently against development in the nation.
We can add to that by staying informed:
One of the greatest needs of the hour is appropriate voter education. Nigeria has a new Electoral Law and its key provisions are highly informative. INEC has also provided various documents that can guide citizens (the “Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections” is one such example). When we start asking the right questions, we’ll be preparing ourselves for the new Nigeria. That said, please pick up your PVCs.
A Godly Circle
This year, we’re reminded of the need for a godly circle and the power of prayers of agreement. Every prayer said in unison yielded tremendous results in the Scripture. Look around you, has God opened your eyes to see wells you can draw from? There’s uncommon strength and faith when believers pray together as touching anything.
Zac Poonen recognizes fellowship with like-minded Christians as the third investment God has given us (the first and second being His Word and His Holy Spirit). He says, “when many pieces of coal burn together, they all shine brightly”. Biblically put, iron sharpeneth iron (Prov. 27:17).
The Great Commission
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
- Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!”
- Jeremiah 20:9 NLT
Does the Word of God burn in your heart? Does it hurt you to see the devil have his way in many lives? If we don’t preach the Gospel, more souls will be dancing to hell this year.
All these are challenging me this year, how about you? Our strength may be little, but our Lord has asked us to go in our might. Don’t you think we can push back the darkness with His authority? Have you made plans already? Let me in on some!
Goodbyes
May we not sheath our swords when the battle is raging the most. May God help us know the WHYs and HOWs through prayer and His Word in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Till next time,
Wednesday, God-willing.
Prayerfully seeking to do more with the Gospel this year in order to see more souls saved and lives changed. To also partner more with my local church with my talent and finances. To give myself more to prayer and the Word for my personal spiritual development, etc. The zeal of the Lord will bring it to pass. Amen!
Thanks for writing this Kosi.
God is committing a lot to us, this year.
He will help us play our roles even as we yield in Jesus' name.