Nothing is Wrong with Jesus

Hebrews 12: 2-3

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

‘There is nothing wrong with Jesus.’

If you are left disappointed by the actions of so called followers or even messengers of Jesus, please note that every human being exists as an individual with a freewill to make choices of their own conduct. Jesus is not resposible for the actions of his so called followers and so cannot be defined by their actions.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Word, the incarnated son of God and the resurrected Lord, the firstborn from the dead, he has a name above every other name and He is the soon coming king.

Yes His mission was to safe mankind from sin and reconcile us back to God, making a permanent bridge between man and God. He left this message for men and women to propagate for Him and be his representatives on earth. These representatives are not perfect and sometimes they really misrepresent Him. However there’s nothing wrong with Jesus. He was tempted in every way just as we are today but He never sinned. We can trust Him. Let us keep looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith.

Laolu Oyeyemi

Fear Not

Fear is one great enemy of our faith.

‘The real enemy is fear’. Fear opens the door to other emotions, doubt, unbelief and worry. They are all tag-team players in the art of pursuing the believer. I believe understanding this is so relevant in the days that we live in.

Fear is arguably the most potent of the enemy’s weapons against the believer.

The mind is the battlefield where we war against the wiles of the evil one.

The devil shoots deadly arrows full of lies or false evidences at the believer’s mind trying to get you to be afraid, to be afraid of the unknown or be afraid of negative outcomes. Attempting to paint scary pictures on the canvas of our minds.

No wonder the bible says “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” NLT Proverbs 4:23

It is said that there are 365 ‘Fear nots’ in the scriptures. Some say you need one for each day.

Fear is the opposite of faith and let us be clear God did not give us the spirit of fear.

1 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:7,18.

God sees us through the eyes of love, grace and mercy as we are in Jesus Christ. He loves us and we are not afraid of His punishment.

While faith activates the power of God in our lives, Fear potentially opens us up to the attack of the enemy.

FEAR is correctly described as False Evidence Appearing Real. The enemy exaggerates things in our minds and gets us to take our focus away from God, His Word, promises and faithfulness. Whatsoever we see in the physical around us and whatever ‘reality’ wants us to believe, we have to remember that we walk by faith and not by sight.2Cor.5:7.

Paul gave a profound counsel or directive in Philipians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.

God’s Word promises peace, protection and victory in His presence the time of trouble.

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10.

Ephesians 2: 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Romans 8:37-39 KJV.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 4:4 KJV.

4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

We have a lot of God’s promises to lean on when fear attacks our minds. We focus on God’s Word and walk by faith. We have the whole armour of God to protect us.

Ephesians 6:11-18 KJV

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

We have God’s word as truth and we have Jesus’ righteousness to protect our hearts. We have our shield of Faith to help us fend off all the lies of the enemy. God’s word is in our mouth to also fight back the enemy of our God and through which we see great results. We are wrapped all around by God and hid in Christ in God, so we are destined for victory.

Be blessed.

Olaolu Oyeyemi

The Identity Question

One of the greatest questions that would ever present itself to all human beings is the question, ‘Who am I’ ? and adjoining questions; ‘Where am I from’ ? and ‘What am I here to do’ ?

It is basically the question around Identity.

There are global businesses now tailored specifically around helping people to find their origin, their DNA? Who were my ancestors? Etc.

The question of identity has always been exploited by the devil, in Gen 3:1-4 he distorted the image of Adam and Eve’s identity in his question to Eve, ……’if you eat and disobey God, you will be like God’. That was a lie. They were created in the image, form and likeness of God. They were already like God and needed no help from the devil. Unfortunately Eve fell for this lie and as a results Adam also fell.

Likewise, in Matthew 4:3, 6, 8, the devil said to Jesus as part of His temptation, ‘if you are the son of God….’, Notice that God had just announced Jesus as His son in the preceding chapter (Matthew 3:17). We thank God, Jesus the second Adam was secured in Himself and did not fall for the trap.

There are many opportunities to muddle up the understanding of our identity due to other people’s opinion about us.

Remember Jesus asked His disciples, ‘who do people say that I am?’ Matthew 16:13-20. And they had all kinds of responses.

The only person that can give you an accurate description of who you are is your heavenly father, that’s the one we are all from.

Why is this important?

Gal 3:26-29

If you know who you are;

When you pray in the name of Jesus, you are speaking just like Jesus will speak with authority and it is as if Jesus himself is personally present making the declaration.

You will see yourself differently and accurately.

You will think differently – ‘As he thinks in his heart so is he’ Proverbs 23:7

You will pray differently. You will not be going around with your heads down in low self -esteem.

You will speak with authority and address your situations with Power.

You will approach God in the name of Jesus and know you are welcome in God’s presence.

Anytime you pray or speak going forward, pray with understanding and know that your prayers are heard and answered.

I will like to reiterate two important points of truth about your identity.

  1. You are from God and you will never be without God, whether on earth or in heaven.

As a child of God and irrespective of your country, tongue or the color of your skin. Your identity should never be in doubt. You are a child of God. You have God’s DNA. You are from God and you will never be without God, whether on earth or in heaven.

Ephesians 1:4-5, 1 John 4:4

All Jesus’s ministry on earth was to reconcile man back unto God and restore our true identity back unto us. You are made in the same image as God, we are Jesus’ brothers and Sisters and in the spirit, we all look like Jesus (1 John 4:17).

2. You are uniquely created.

Even though we are all from God. We are all created individually, differently and each with a role.

We are all different and we have our own distinctive endowments – gifting, fingerprints- , you have your footprint and your own journey in life.

We have our unique journeys and destinies.

You were wonderfully and fearfully made. Psalm 139:13-14.

That means God had some deep thinking – as it were – before creating you – fit for purpose.

We are all Individuals made uniquely with unique designs.

What you need right now is deep understanding of yourself, your composition and your role in life and in the body of Jesus.

We live in a society steeped in competition. People are always rating others in comparison with other people. Who is first and who is second?

I am amazed at how believers feel so insecure comparing themselves with other believers. You are blessed until someone else with a more shining testimony or more visible gifts appears, then you become uncomfortable.

You are never good at appreciating what you have but you are quick at appreciating what others have. Comparing yourself with someone else, measuring your progress with someone else’s is not the way to go. 2 Cor. 10:12, 18.

Until you know your role and begin to love and appreciate who you are, you will never be able to settle, fulfill your purpose and do great things for God.

Until you know your role, you will never be able to play it effectively.

God is the writer of the script and He gave everyone their roles.

Stick to the script and play your own role.

Stop comparing yourself with others.

Break free from the hold of competition, which leads to bitterness, envy, jealousy and all other negative emotions.

John the Baptist clearly stated – I know who I am, I am not the Messiah– John 1:19-32

When you know who you are,

You will see yourself differently and accurately.

‘For you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free..’ John 8:32.

That is my prayer for you today:

That you will come into the fullness of being a son or daughter of God (John 8:35), and like Paul prayed you will know the breadth, the depth and the height of God’s love for you (Ephesians 3:17-17).

Ephesians 1:17-19(TLB)

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that he has done for you. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future he has called you to share. I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ’s have been given to him! 19 I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. 

 Shalom!

Olaolu Oyeyemi.