Higher Life Christian Centre

Fellow believer, I pray you experience God’s love and grace throughout 2012.

Peter the apostle made a very weighty statement in his letter to the saints. He said they should grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

When you take stock of the last year, did you make any progress in your walk with the Lord? Did you develop spiritually? Are you making plans to grow this year?

As much as we have various distractions around us, there has never been a time in history where so much information has been readily available. The technological revolution has made the impossible possible. There is absolutely no excuse for not spending time in God’s word. The old, “I am time poor” excuse just can’t cut it any more.

There are myriad of ways we can consume scripture. I am sure a lot of people are already aware of them. If you are not aware, I will just like to ask, where have you been? Nowadays, you don’t have to carry a bible around like we use to do in times past. Neither do you have to carry a small Gideon’s bible in your back pocket. If you own a smart phone, tablet pc, iPod or mp3 player you can access both digital and audio formats of God’s word on the go.

The amazing thing is some of the software is completely free. They even throw in reading plans to help you read through the bible in a year.

So as you make plans to make more money, tighten your grip on your career in a failed economy or bond with your loved ones, don’t neglect the most important relationship of all, your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Make concrete plans today on how you are going to grow in your walk with the Lord, if you have not already done so. There are numerous believers in other parts of the world who do not have the opportunity to engage in the scriptures as we do. These people treasure the little amount of materials they have at their disposure. Please remember to lift them up on prayers throughout the year. 

In closing, do not neglect meeting together for fellowship. Regular attendance of meetings where the word of God is being taught will enhance your growth as a Christian (Hebrews 10:25).

Have a great year and remain strong in Lord!

God has given specific instructions to us regarding the importance of keeping and teaching His laws i.e. practicing them ourselves and then passing them on to the next generation (Deut 6:4-9). You may be saying to yourself that these instructions are not relevant to us today. They were given to the nation of Israel a long time ago. I can assure you that “the Word of God abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23), and is therefore relevant to us today. The bible clearly states in 1Corinthians 10:11, that these examples are there to instruct us and that we should learn from them in order to avoid making the same mistakes.

We are going to look at the consequences of failing to adhere to these instructions in scripture, and how this affected the Old Testament saints nationally and individually. We will start this series with a study of the book of Judges (Judges 2:7-15).

As we read through these verses we can see that the precepts and laws of God were not passed onto the next generation as instructed by God in Deut chapter 6. Consequently, they had no reference point, no direction and so, they did whatever they thought was right in their own eyes.

Dear parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, guardian, teacher, youth worker, etc, or whatever your role may be in which you have influence in the life of a child, or youth.
I implore you not to fail them by neglecting the charge given to you by God, because the consequence (as we can see with Israel) could be disastrous.

God has placed certain responsibilities within the Home, Church, and State. In our society however, our state i.e. schools, institutions etc, has failed to pass on true Christian values to our children and as a result (like Israel) they have no reference point and no direction.

It is therefore left to us in the homes, whatever your role may be to teach them these values, and instruct them in the ways of the Lord before it’s too late for them to change (Proverbs 22:6). If we fail to teach them, they will simply copy and adopt the values around them and its source will not be from God. Rather, it will be influences they pick up from their schools, the media and their peer group.

You may have been brought up with very strict Christian values i.e. respect for parents, elders etc (Ephesians 6:1-3), but as the next generation comes along these values are mostly abandoned and dubbed as old fashion or out of tune with the times.

I want to assure you dear brothers and sisters that God is depending on each of us to be faithful to that which He has entrusted to us. Like the parable of the Talents, we will have to give an account of what we have done with the children He has committed to our trust.

I hope that these series of articles will encourage our young people as we continue to look at the life of another young person who God used mightily to accomplish His purpose. It is hoped also that this story will inspire and challenge our young people to know that God can use them also to accomplish great things for His kingdom.

Our featured subject for this piece is King Josiah, whose story is found in (2 Chronicles 34). Josiah was only eight years old when he became king of Judah.
He ascended the throne following the death of his father (king Amon) who was killed by his servants (2 Chronicles 33:24-25). In spite of such traumatic circumstances young Josiah chose to trust in God. The bible tells us “in the eighth year of his reign while he was still young (sixteen years old), he began to seek the God of his father David” (2 Chronicles 34:3). In other words he wanted to know what his purpose was, and to carry it out.

All young people are called by God for a purpose, no one is here by chance, God has a plan for your life, and like Josiah He wants you to fulfil it. I would therefore challenge you to seek the Lord diligently and He will reveal it to you. Sometimes it is easy to blame family background or role models etc as reasons for not fulfilling our purpose, but as we can see that did not deter this young man.

Josiah came from a background where his Grandfather and Father (Manasseh &Amon) “did evil in the sight of God” by leading the people of God into idolatry (2 Chronicles 33:1-9, 21-23). In spite of all that he chose not to go down that path, instead he decided to return the nation to the true worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As a result he removed all symbols of idol worship in the land, purged the land, restored true worship throughout the entire nation thus turning the hearts of the people back to serving the God of Israel.

The bible says that “all his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers” (2 Chronicles 34:33b). I would like therefore to challenge, and encourage you the reader of this article not to be put off by your age, but like young Josiah choose to make a difference.

May God continue to bless and prosper you in your walk with Him.

Developing true Christian character! Let’s us focus our study on the life of Timothy.

In the book of Acts (Acts 16:1-3), we can see in that Timothy was a second generation Christian convert who’s Father was Greek (Gentile), but his Mother (Eunice) and Grandmother (Lois) were Jewish converts. As believers (who are aware of their responsibilities) they decided to train up their young Son and Grandson in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6), and as we can see he did not depart from that way, (He later rose to become the first Bishop of Ephesus >Esebius AD 325).

Tradition during Timothy’s time would indicate a very Patriarchal society in which the Father would be the one expected to teach the son Godly values, but in this case however, since the father was not a believer it was left to his mother (Eunice) & grandmother (Lois) who having the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within them imparted the Word of God to this young man (2 Tim 1:4-5; 3:14-15).

As children of God we are charged with the responsibility to teach those entrusted to us and to impart the Word of God to them without fear or favour.

You may be an Uncle, Auntie, Cousin, Grandparent etc, but if you are the one who God has called and given the task to train up our children, especially our youth, then I sincerely pray that you will take up this challenge as Eunice and Lois did.

We can clearly see that as a result of the foundation these great women of God laid in Timothy’s life, Paul the Apostle was able to build on it, when he took the young man under his wings.

Describing him in 1 Corinthians 4:17 as his beloved son, Timothy became one of Paul’s constant companions on his various missionary journeys, and listed as co senders of his letters to the churches in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:1), Philippi (Philippians 1:1), Colosse (Colossians 1:1) etc. Paul was later able to entrust the Church at Ephesus to his care.

God has placed great responsibilities on our shoulders let us not fail to grasp the opportunity to direct our young children and youth in the ways of the Lord before the enemy gets to them. Children are a heritage from the Lord (Psalms127:3), and so we should place great value on our heritage.
We thank God for these two great women of God who knowing their responsibilities planted the seed and the fruit of that seed became one of the giants of the early church.

In conclusion as we do not know what the fruit of our labour will be, let us diligently and faithfully sow into the life of our young children and our youth, and God will give the increase.

Young people have great potential and as a result God has used them effectively throughout bible history.

As we check through the scriptures we can see examples of young people who God used for His purpose. Perhaps you are someone who God has called or is calling to take a step of faith in the same way that He called and used this young man whose life we are going to look at briefly.

The story of Joseph is told in the book of Genesis from chapter 37 to 46. In that story we see that this young man went through many challenges and disappointments, but in spite of these things he continued to hold on to his dream.

God called Joseph a 17-year-old, a teenager, and gave him a dream. He was the eleventh of twelve sons of his father, and grew up in a household where he was hated by all of his older brothers, because they were jealous of the calling God had placed on his life.

As a result they plotted and sold him into slavery in an effort to punish him. Joseph however, continued to trust God even though his suffering worsened at the hand of his slave master’s wife whose severe temptations he refused with these words “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9b NIV), which resulted in him being thrown into prison.

God however, changed this young man’s situation by delivering him from slavery and prison. He promoted him to become the Governor of Egypt, which subsequently led to him being used to preserve the nation of Israel.

As you are reading this, you may be faced with many challenges. Your situation and family environment may not be the same as Joseph’s, but there may be certain areas of concern. Perhaps at school, in your community, youth group or just normal peer pressure from friends.

Whatever the situation may be, God has a plan for your life. And if like Joseph you are ready to put your trust in Him and have a personal relationship with Him, you will know that He will never fail you. He is faithful to fulfil whatever promise He has made for your life. He has commanded all of us to go out and make disciples of all nations, and this can be achieved wherever we are and regardless of our age, because He promised to be with us always.

I will therefore challenge you to be a Joseph in you community, school, club groups etc, and make a difference in spite of the obstacles.

May God continue to richly bless your life.

I remember going for a time of fasting and prayer with a minister of the Gospel a few years back. It was quite an intense session for me as a young man. We went without food for three days. I was having headaches, I could barely pray on my feet.

In one of the sessions, we had a discussion about deliverance. It was then we realised, sometimes, deliverance could be taught in such a way that it nullifies the New Birth while we magnify the work of the enemy and put him on par with Our Heavenly Father.

If we are not careful, we will get into the Hollywood mode, where God is on one side and the devil on the other, with both of them pulling you in opposite directions. Sometimes spiritual warfare is presented as if the Father and the enemy are both in a tug of war, and whoever manages to pull you across the line wins.

This is not an accurate picture, because the devil is no match for your Heavenly Father. They are not equals and will never be. When you go through the New Testament, you never see Jesus Christ messing around with the devil. You never see Him struggling with him. Because the Master was way above him. He knew He had authority over him.

As a Christian, you have authority over the devil. He has no right to dominate your life or control it. If Christ set you free, then you are free. The Scripture clearly states, that you are completely delivered from his authority. From a legal standpoint, he has no authority over you. I want to encourage you today, but even if things seem out of control in your life, the devil has zero authority over you. Whatever he is bringing into your life is illegal.

You might say, Pastor what are you talking about? What about witchcraft? What about people who cast spells? What about reoccurring negative circumstances that I can’t get my head round? I will say to you, yes those things are real. But I would like to reiterate, their actions are illegal. That is why you should not accept it. You should stand firm with your faith in God’s word and resist the works of darkness. Your Father is by far more superior to the enemy, and don’t forget the devil is a created being.

It is easier to confront the works of darkness from a position of strength, than from a position of weakness. If we confront situations from a mindset that we are already delivered, it makes it easier to stand against the works of darkness. This is a New Creation truth we should hold on to. We are no longer in the devil’s slammer, our Master opened the prison doors two thousand years ago. It is time to walk free!

Colossians 1:13 (NKJV)
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

As you can see the Scripture says, “He has delivered us…” which means past tense. It did not say, “He’s trying to deliver us or He will deliver.” We are already delivered from the control and dominion of darkness and therefore no longer subject to the authority of darkness. It is time to rise up, and stand up for your legal rights. You are delivered!

Does this mean you no longer need people to pray for you if necessary? Not at all!

What I’m saying is, even if, someone was going to stand with you in prayer, the basis of their authority will be the legal fact that Christ has already delivered you and therefore the enemy has no right to exert any authority over you.

Therefore, I encourage you to stand firm in your freedom in Christ today!