EXPRESS IMAGE GLORY MINISTRIES
THE MESSAGE NOW
Vol. 4, No. 7 – Monday, 25th February, 2019
(Eccl.3:16, Matt.2:1-18)
THE REASON FOR HEROD’S PURSUIT AFTER BETHLEHEM’S BABY IS THE SAME REASON FOR SATAN’S PURSUIT AFTER YOU
(Part 2)
Whether the church and its constituent members have met the mandate given by the Lord in John Chapter 21:15-17 is a question for the honest to answer. The unchallengeable logical truth is this: if love is synonymous with the spirit of the Living God, then chaos, envy and hatred represent clearly satan in that other given form.
If these opposites of love represent satan, and these opposites reign in the stead of love in the church, then there is no difference between the church and the wild world governed by satan.
Just take a look at the lamentation of the Preacher in Eccl.3:16: ‘And Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgement, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there’.
By what other nomenclature shall we describe a court room? Can it not be better referred to as ‘the place of judgement’? Surely, a reference to the court room as the temple of justice cannot be termed a misnomer. But how sad it is when a court room becomes the chamber of wickedness. Then the reverse side of justice becomes prevalent.
OH! how much aching to the heart is the fact that the church is not left out in this unsavoury quagmire. Is the church not a place of righteousness? And yet, iniquity thrives there?
What is a church? Whether we configure all sorts of political, philosophical and academic definitions about this connundron or not, the fact remains that certain definitions are unchallengeable.
One of such unchallengeable definitional stance is the fact that a church is a building, inistitution, organization, etc, dispensing the truth of the gospel of Christ with love, through love and in love.
A church can also be defined as the entire body of Christ. Equally, a church is an individual Christian washed by the blood of the Lamb and living through the purity of that blood by the exemplary life of the Master.
In all of these definitional stances, one word and figure is central. This is the centrality of Christ. And indeed, this is where the actual big trouble is. Big trouble because, were Christ to be out of the equation, there would certainly have been no need for this discourse.
The inclusion and centrality of Christ means that the individual church or the organizational church must be like Christ in all its entirety. Were this to be the position of things, the world and its ideological principles will not be prevalent. Were this to be the position of things, the strength of the pursuer of Bethlehem’s Baby would have been long dashed. Why?
The church is now separated from Christ. The pursuer of Bethlehem’s Baby thrives where division is the order of the day. And where this pursuer is allowed to thrive, attacks on the church is and will continue to remain severe.
Love is a shield. Love is a ‘sheltering tree’. There is no sure spiritual security as love (1 Cor.13:1-13). The security wall of love is an inpenetrable one. Where the cord of love is singularly intact, attacks become mere fables (Jn.13, 1 Pet.3:13).
The church is constantly assaulted because it has failed in love. The church prays and hardly gets prayers answered because the church has failed in love. The church exercises large amount of faith but cannot move the smallest mountain because it has failed in love.
Do not we understand what that Man of God said in his message titled, ‘the power of His word’ that ‘mountains that cannot be moved by faith can only be moved by love’? Isn’t the Man of God so correct? For the Lord said, ‘and when ye stand praying, forgive. This is so that your father in heaven may forgive your trespasses’ (see Mark.11:25).
Even with the greatest faith, can prayer be answered while unforgiveness is dominating the heart? Can unforgiveness be taken away by faith? No! only love in the heart can exterminate the bitterness of unforgiveness. So then, we understand that most problems remain intact because love of the other man and the love of God is missing. Love therefore is a major criterion for answers to prayers and for effecting change.
So sad, the church which should dictate the affairs of things on earth, is now a-no force to reckon with because the church has missed its mission and purpose.
I challenge any one who cares to listen to challenge me in the otherwise that one thing responsible for the great growth of the two largest Christian congregations on earth today (i.e., the Catholic Faith and the Redeemed Christian Church of God) is not the prevalence of love in the heart of the majority members for one another.
What about you O Express Image Glory Ministries? How much love do you have for God and the things of God? To what extent do you love your Christian brother? There is no greater fulfiler of destiny than passionate love for that destiny. Express Image Glory Ministries is a Commission and an aspect of Christ’s destiny. What is your commitment to it?
Love is the greatest transformer effecting positive change. How much of love do you have in you to effect change in another or in the church of God. When we fail to fulfil love to the work of Christ thereby fulfilling the Godly ideology of Christ, do you think your own personal destiny will be fulfilled?
Or have you been contributing to the work of Christ here on earth but without impact and result? Then watch the heart with which you are carrying out that assignment for Christ. Is it a rude, arrogant and reluctant heart? Change it today.
IN THE END, REMEMBER LUKE 13:6-10. GOD WILL NOT BE PATIENT WAITING FOR YOU TO CHANGE INDEFINITELY. REMEMBER ALSO ROMANS 15:1. WITHOUT LOVE FOR GOD AND FOR FELLOW MAN, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF FULFILLING YOUR DIVINE MANDATE IS INEVITABLE.
Question and Answer Section:
Question: Who was Tabitha (Dorcas) in the Bible?
Answer: She was one given to love and she impacted her generation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Counseling, Prayers and Appointments: Please contact contactus@expressimageglory.com or 08098198155.
Donations and Financial Supports – Please support the Kingdom of God through Christ Jesus by paying your hard-earned money to only this one account and no other: Express Image Glory Ministry, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Account number – 0020881228.
Further information: Be informed that this Ministry has only one Facebook page and no other. Any other Facebook page or bank account is counterfeit. Any Concerns or questions about this facebook page or bank account should be directed to the Administrator of this Ministry, the Assistive Technology Adviser or the Resident Pastor. The Superintendent Minister and Pastor of this Ministry therefore pleads and urges you to desist from all such fake and ungodly Facebook pages or accounts. Be informed also that there is only one medium for soliciting donations and that medium is via our weekly magazine – The Message Now through our Facebook page or website: www.expressimageglory.com
ALTAR CALL:
Backslidden – living in sin – needing fresh recommitment (say):
Christ Jesus, You are the Anointed One of the Most High. I come to you today as I am. In your mercy, help me out of my situation. Heal my soul, my spirit, my body, my life and my destiny. I acknowledge you as the only true lover of my soul. Please, deliver me on every side and save me through and through. I promise from the depth of my soul to be yours from henceforth, in Jesus name. Help me now O God. Be my Lord, my Saviour and my all in all from this day. Thank you Lord (read Ps.54 in closing and pray more).
HYMN: Just As I Am Without One Plea
PRAY NOW:
1. Christ Jesus, I ask for fresh renewal to my soul today, be the King over my life and let me truly be yours in deed and in truth.
2. O style and practice of the world filtered into my soul, be flushed out by the blood of Jesus.
3. O God, empty me of self and all inordinate passions of the world.
4. I shall not serve but control money and I shall serve God and humanity with it.
5. (Proverbs.23:5), O spirit called money, develop wings, fly to me and sojourn with me.
6. O God, rid the Body of Christ off all the fashions and patterns of the world and make us become like Christ.
7. O God, give succour to all Christians in every part of the globe where affliction is the order of the day because of the profession of their faith.
8. Take one person and pray for that one person through out this week including one day of fasting for that person.
If you don’t vote for a Christian, the unbeliever will win and rule over you. Therefore, please vote for TIMI EMMANUEL OLORUNSAYE OF THE ADC PARTY FOR FEDERAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – IFAKO-IJAYE CONSTITUENCY. He is the husband of one of our sisters.
