What a glorious day it was! From the fully packed auditorium charged with electrifying force of the Holy Spirit to an equally awed overflow congregation, The SCOAN in Lagos, Nigeria was probably the most perfect venue any worshipper would have loved to be last Sunday. The mighty power of God manifested itself through wonders and miracles as the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua, walked among the congregants, ministering prayer.
Thousands of worshippers from all over the world, including a large entourage from Spain, who gathered at the church to worship, witnessed the power of Christ in action right from the Prayer Line where the man of God has recently been ministering. Demons were commanded to their knees and cast out in the name of Jesus Christ, while many people were declared free, in the name of the Lord. While at the Prayer Line, Prophet T.B. Joshua took a brief moment to speak on faith, saying it should not be circumstantial but an all time attitude irrespective of one’s situation.
“Jesus did not say, if you encounter a situation you should pray; He said you should have faith. Today, we pray but lack the necessary faith that can release the belief in our heart. Prayer is not right if it does not spring from faith. One is rewarded, healed, delivered or blessed only if one talks in faith,” he said, referring to Mark 11:22 and Matthew 4:1-11.
Earlier on, Wise Man Racine mounted the pulpit and delivered a powerful message titled: ‘By His Grace.’ The topic centred on the need for unity in Christ’s work rather than divisions, saying ministers who cause division and offences contrary to the doctrine of Christ, ‘seek not the things of God but of the world.’
“The Bible says mark them and avoid them,” he said citing Romans 16:15.
Wise Man Racine, who anchored the message on 1 Chronicles 16:22, said everyone, irrespective of one’s stature and status, ‘is a part of the same body, by the same Spirit’. He further stated that ‘there is no division in the body; its different parts have the same concern for one another’, hence the Bible instructs all believers (Ephesians 4:3) to ‘keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’.
“They went to Bible school through their desire but the Bible says in Romans 9:16 that ‘it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy’”.
According to him, whereas man looks at the outward appearance in choosing a pastor or a leader, God looks at the heart. “As a Christian or man of God, you are who you are, what you are by grace. When the Lord calls a man, He knows all his weaknesses. God knows our limitations. God knows our shortcomings; that is why He chooses grace rather than works. When you receive something by grace, you will be content; you will not compare yourself to others, you will not measure yourself by yourself. Abuse, condemnation, criticism, name calling are products of non-contentment. When the Lord calls a man, He knows all his weaknesses,” said the wise man, citing the calling of Moses and the commissioning of the apostles of Jesus Christ as some illustrations.
Further in the words of the preacher, Wise Man Racine: “When God called Moses in the burning bush for the assignment of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses expressed his own inadequacies and unfitness for the service, saying, ‘Lord, I am not eloquent….’ (Exodus 4:10). He tried hard to excuse himself because he lacked the power of oratory and boldness (charisma) which is an essential character of great leaders. But the Lord then replied to him: ‘Go, I will be with your tongue and teach you what to say’ (Exodus 4:12); in other words, ‘I will make you fit for the assignment’.
He observed painfully that ‘people always fail to understand that God oftentimes uses His servants as signs to confound the wise’ as was the case with Job where his friends gave a wrong judgement about him over his circumstances. ‘They looked at the situations around him and attributed his misfortunes to sin but Job did not,’ he added.
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