TRADING IT TO SIT WITH JESUS

    

Psalm 16:11 says You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right are pleasures for evermore.

Anyone in search of fullness of joy should do everything possible to earn a place at the side of Jesus. One of the things we all wish for is an opportunity to meet or sit with the queen of England or the king of Spain or meet the president of our nation or the U.S president. Jesus is more than a king, according to Revelations 19:16, He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

He owns everything. John 3:35 says the Father loves the son and has given all things into His hands. He says in Matthew 28:18, “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. No one can do anything without Jesus; Proverbs 8:15 says by Me kings reign and rulers decree justice, why? Because Jesus is the wisdom from God, 1 Corinthians 1:30.According to John 13:3, God had given all things in His hands.

To really know what it is, to sit with Jesus, we have to study the lives of those who sat with Him in the bible.  To better under gist, we will look at the lives of the twelve disciples. One thing we will notice is there was no record of sickness among the twelve disciples. Why? According to John 15:5, He is the vine and any branch connected to Him will receive health from His body. If a vine withers automatically the branch will wither but because Jesus remained in perfect health everyone connected to him remained in perfect health. Do you know that because Jesus never failed, if you are connected to him you will never fail? Because Jesus conquered the world and death and was victorious, you will emerge a victor in life? You will in Jesus name. According to Exodus 15:26 He is the great healer, and Malachi 4:2 says healing is present in His wings. You cannot sit with Jesus and not receive a touch from Him.

There was no record of lack among those who sat with Jesus, they lived in abundance. Studying Matthew 14:13-21, you will agree with me that a man living in lack cannot feed 5000 men not counting women and children and still had 12 baskets left. Where did you think Judas was stealing from? From the money box –John 13:29, although the money box was used to buy gifts for the poor according to John 13:29.Even when He had no physical cash on Him, He was able to tell Peter to go to the sea and catch a fish, inside the fish was a gold coin-Matthew 17:24-27.This He did when He was asked to pay for temple tax.There is a gold coin in the mouth of every every fish you catch for Jesus, fishing for Jesus is evangelizing.

Also those that sat with Jesus enjoyed maximum protection. Most of the time we trust the police or legal system to protect us but we fail to remember that the police officer coming to protect you  has wives and kids at home, he is scared of dying just as you are scared. So also the armies, they do not go to war to die? They go to live that is why they undergo several training on how to stay alive at boot camp. Is there any man on earth who can save you from having  nightmares? Any that can rescue you when a dog is chasing  you or someone is beating you up in the dream? No one can save from sickness or failure except Jesus. Jesus told David in Psalm 110:1 “sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a foot stool”.

The disciples enjoyed round the clock protection from the host of heaven while they sat with Jesus. Jesus at the point of His arrest could have easily called for backup from heaven, the bible says in Matthew 26:53, that a back up means sending up to 12 legions of angels to defend Jesus. If a legion is over 10,000, 12 legions will be around 123,000 of angels. According to the bible an angel is able to take care of 185,000 armies not civilians –Isaiah 37:36. If one out of the 123,000 angels could handle 185,000 soldiers can you guess what 123,000 of those will be able to do? Thank God He didn’t because if He had done that there will not be salvation for men. Elisha saw a glimpse of the host of the angels standing on guard in 2 Kings 6:8-18.

Also amidst the twelve, there was no record of failure instead there was little effort producing massive results. In Luke 5:1-7, Peter cast his net once, and he caught a great number of fish to the extent two boats began to sink. Before the arrival of Jesus, he casted his nets all night and caught absolutely nothing. Also the same peter preached a message and 3000 souls were won In Acts 2:41.With Jesus, little effort brings maximum results. Hannah had been trying all her life and there was nothing to show for it. Immediately God got involved, every effort yielded result no wonder between 1 Samuel 1 and 1 Samuel 2, Hannah went from been barren woman to become a mother of six. Do you know that as you sit with Jesus a little effort will bring great results?

Also those who sat with Jesus received life. Everything dead thing in their life came back to life. Why? Because they sat with Jesus and heard His words. According to John 6:63, the words that come out of the mouth of Jesus are spirit and life. The word is also a hammer and fire according to Jeremiah 23:29. We know that fire consumes and hammer breaks rocks. Anything preventing the glory of God in your will be broken as you sit with Jesus hearing His words.

According to John 8:12, Jesus is the light of the world. When light shines, darkness disappears. Every darkness in the life of those who sat with Jesus disappeared because His light radiated into their life. The mad man of Gadara mentioned in Mark 5:1-14, was filled with darkness .Inside him was a legion demons but immediately he came near Jesus those demon ran away. Mary Magdalene was one of those who sat with Jesus. Before sitting with Jesus, she had 7 demons in her life- Luke 8:2. Light came in and the darkness in her life vanished. As you sit with Jesus, those dark forces will disappear.

One thing with those who sit with Jesus was they became like Jesus. Acts 4:13 says when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realize they had been with Jesus. Because they sat with Jesus, the glory of God was visible in their lives. Those who sat with Jesus were called Christians- Acts 11:26 .Christian means Christ like or like Christ.

What God did through Jesus, He did through them. Jesus told those that sat with Him in John 14:12 that they would do greater things than He had done. The evidence is found in Acts 19:11-12 where God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. We know that the shadow of Peter was healing the sick in Acts 5:15.

Those who sat with Jesus got new names, Saul became Paul, Samuel Fatoki became Samuel Oluwatoki .Fatoki means Ifa (Yoruba god) is worthy to be adored and Oluwatoki means The Most High God is worthy to be adored. Let somebody shout Hallelujah. Evil spirits were subject to those who sat with Jesus; those who sat with Jesus moved from people no one recognized to people the whole world knew-nobody becoming somebody.

Their names were written in heaven, Jesus says in Luke 10:20 nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Those that sit with Jesus will get a crown of life- Revelations 2:10.Those who sat with Jesus also had unusual wisdom; we know that Jesus is the wisdom from God.

To sit with Jesus one must be willing. Secondly one must be prepared. The bible is full of stories of people who were willing but not prepared to sit with Jesus. One of such is the rich man mentioned in Mark10:17-25, He was willing but was not prepared to part away with worldly goods-riches. Anyone who wants to sit with Jesus must be prepared to put Him first. Thirdly the one who wants to sit with Jesus must be committed. The bible is full of this group too, they would walk with Jesus today and tomorrow they were gone. Where were the 5000 men that were fed when Jesus was having the last supper with the twelve? They were not committed. They put pleasure and money before Jesus.

 Anyone who wants to sit with Jesus must be committed; you cannot sit with Jesus and still be making dirty jokes. You cannot sit Jesus and still have people you don’t greet, you cannot sit with Jesus and be fighting with your parents, you cannot sit with Jesus and attend service only on Sundays, you cannot sit with Jesus and not be witnessing. The way you dress must change, you cannot continue to give people visa to hell by the way you dress, wearing tight fitting trousers and skirts  to show your body shape or worse still wear short skirts or even show cleavage and you say you are a Christian ? Although every man looking will be punished but the one who has caused them to look will not be spared.

Those who sat with Jesus received forgiveness, Judas was forgiven so many times but he did not repent from his sins. Jesus kept on forgiving him but at last his sin caught up with him. To sit with Jesus, the first step is giving your life to Christ.

The bible said in Romans 3 v 23 that for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6 s 23 says for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gift was explained in John 3 v 16 , For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What shall we do to be saved? The bible says in Romans 10vs 9 that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10 v 10 – For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with our mouth that you confess and are saved.

Pray this prayer from your heart today!

Dear Jesus, I believe that You died for me and rose again on the third day. I confess I am a sinner. I need your love and forgiveness. Come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I receive Your eternal life. Confirm You love by giving me peace, joy and supernatural love for others, Amen.

Welcome to Christ brethren, Please join a bible believing church.

Samuel Oluwatoki

Please forward this newsletter to a friend, family or colleague. Remember Matthew 10 v 32 which say whoever confesses me before me, him I will confess before my father who is heaven.

God of prosperity

Joshua 1 vs 8 : “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth , but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written to it. For then you will make your way prosperous , and then you will have good success.

What is prosperity? Wikipedia says it Is the state of flourishing ,thriving,good fortune and /or successful social status. Prosperity often encompasses wealth but also includes other factors which are independent of wealth to varying degrees, such as happiness and health.

To say our God is prosperous is an understatement . What He possesses transcends the definition of prosperity.For example , when we talk of health , He is full of it.  Malachi 4 vs 6 says in His wings are healing . Healing virtue flows out of Him to cure any ailments or disease ,Exodus 15 vs 26 says  I am the Lord that healeth thee. He is so full of health He does not even need to sleep to remain alive , Psalm 121 vs 4 says the keeper of Israel will neither sleep nor slumber.

When we talk of Joy , He is the source of true and everlasting joy . Nehemiah 8 vs 10 says the joy of the Lord is your strength . In Psalms 30 vs 5 ,David after going through few life challenges was able to conclude that  weeping may endure for a night , but joy comes in the morning.

Talking of wealth ,His wealth is inestimable. David tried to estimate God's worth in  Psalm 24 vs 1,he said the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. But the Lord out of grace gave John an opportunity to see a glimpse of His real worth in Revelation 21 vs 21 , a city whose streets were made of pure gold ,like transparent glass. Whether you believe it or not,  Heaven is far bigger than the earth . How do I know ? The Lord Himself said in Isaiah 66 vs 1 that Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool . We are yet to see any man build a house of pure gold but our Lord laid the streets in  a whole a city bigger than the earth with pure gold , that is more than wealth. That is why i pray that everyone reading this mail will not miss heaven in Jesus name . There is nothing beautiful on this earth , we will only understand the real meaning of beauty in when we get to heaven.

Looking at our text Joshua 1 vs 8 , we see the Lord addressing Joshua and advising him on how to be prosperous and successful .Contrary to beliefs the Lord wants you to prosper. Psalm 35 vs 27 says He delights in the prosperity of His children. In other words , one thing that brings Him Joy is when His children prospers. He wants us to have good success , Deuteronomy 28 vs 13 says The Lord shall make thee the head not the tail. Lets change this mentality of prosperity takes you to hell , Do you think the Lord will promise to bless you to the extent you will lend to nations and not borrow- Deuteronomy 15 vs 6 , if He knows it will take you to hell ? I once heard a preacher say  “If the devil knows that money will take you to hell , He will triple your worth” .

There are two basic types of prosperity , there is the one from God called divine prosperity and there is the earthly one gotten from earthly wisdom. James 3 vs 14-16 says biter, envy and self seeking in hearts are forms of earthly wisdom , they are sensual and demonic and the result of it is confusion and every thing evil. Earthly prosperity brings confusion and everything evil with it but  divine prosperity comes with no trouble attached ,Proverbs 10 vs 22.

Prosperity comes from God not from our ability to calculate or the knowledge of economics or luck or liberating ideas . John 3 vs 27 says a man receives nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  Deuteronomy 32 vs 30 says How could one chase a thousand , and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had surrendered them ? If the Lord does not surrender a field of endeavor to you or a business , conquering it or succeeding in it might be impossible. Many times we think we are where we are because of our own doings or because of connections we have or because of this reason or the other . The bible says it is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich , Proverbs 10 vs 22.

Another thing to learn from Joshua 1 vs 8 is that prosperity is a result of obedience to God's commandment. The last statement in Joshua 1 vs 8 says for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. In others words after we have truly satisfied the conditions ( meditating on the book of the law day and night, observing to do all that is written in it) , only then can we expect prosperity. Isaiah 1 vs 19 says if you are willing and obedient , you will eat the good of the land.After the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 7vs1-22, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him if he walks before Him like his father David ,and do all He commands,keep His statutes and commandments , He will establish His throne forever.Obedience is the key to prosperity.

Someone might ask , what is reading the bible got to do with been prosperous . Sir ,it has a lot do for example to prosper in today's world takes the grace of God because anyone who  lacks the grace of God will automatically be disgraced.How do we get this grace and increase in this grace ? 2 Peter 1 vs 2 says grace and peace is multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.How can anyone really know God without devoting time to study the word of God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2 vs 15 says study to shew thyself approved unto God.We need to study the word of God. 

Knowing God intimately has its own advantages. The only way to know God is to be His friend.How does one become His friend , by obeying His words.John 15 vs 14 says you are My friend if you obey me. When you become His friend, you will fear Him . The reason why most of us do not fear God is because we do not really know God. To prosper we need the fear of God because the fear of God gives us an insight into His secrets. Psalm 24 vs 14 says the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,and He will show them His covenants.God has some secrets and we need to tap into them to prosper. Their are some business secrets He has, some inside information you need for to make rapid progress. Unfortunately we will not be able to access this secret unless we fear Him.Do you know Jesus was able to achieve so much in three and the half years because He knew the Father and had access to some secrets? He knew the secrets because of His fear of the Father in Heaven. Isaiah 11 vs 2 says He had the spirit of Knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

To prosper one needs good health . How does one get good health ? Exodus 15 vs 26 says if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight , give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you. Healing comes from fully obeying the commandments of God . How does one know God's commandments without the studying the bible ? The bible is not just a book it is the word of God. Psalm 119 vs 11 says Your word i have hidden in my heart , that i might not sin against You. David knew the only One who can ensure His prosperity is God and offending Him through sin is to his disadvantage, because of this He decided to study the word and hid them in his heart.

The road to prosperity is a dark one. Many have tread it and become depressed ,some have even died . How does one tread this part ? through the word of God. Psalm 119 vs 105 says Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.Psalm 119 vs 130 says the entrance of Your words brings light . The road is not only a dark one but filled with dark forces . Ephesians 6 vs 12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities ,against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. How do we fight them ? we need power . Ecclesiastes 8 vs 4 says where the word of a King is there is power. We need to load ourselves with the word but to do this we need to study the word too.

The word of God is a spiritual diet. Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God- Matthew 4vs4. We need this diet to build our spiritual lives. Romans 8 vs 6 says to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Galatians 6 vs 8 says  he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Another might be thinking , what has prosperity got to do with been spiritual ?  The prosperity of our soul decides our physical prosperity. 3 John 1 vs 2 says beloved , I pray that you may prosper In all things and be in health just as your soul prosper.God will only prosper you to the level of your spiritual prosperity . God is privy of the fact that if He prospers us beyond the level of our soul , we will mess up . That was the reason why the rich man messed up and missed the opportunity to become Jesus's disciple ,Matthew 19 vs 16-25. The man had prospered beyond His soul that was why He had problems giving all He had to follow Jesus . 

To prosper one needs wisdom.Proverbs 4 vs 7 says wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and in your getting , get understanding. One of the secrets to God's prosperity is wisdom. Proverbs 3 vs 19 says the Lord by wisdom founded the earth;By understanding He established the heavens. Anyone who wants divine prosperity must be wise.God only prospers the wise because committing riches into the hands of the unwise is dangerous.  Proverbs 11 vs 30 says he that winneth souls is considered wise. In other words , how does God rate wisdom ? By the number of souls we win.

Anyone who fears God will win souls because soul winning is not a plea but a commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 16 vs 15 says and He said to them, “ Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. When Jesus says Go into all the world ,He meant Go without excuse . Jesus stresses this point in Matthew 12 vs 30 ,He says he who is not with Me is against Me,and he does not gather with Me scatters abroad. The reason God will prosper anyone is to populate His kingdom not to oppress or show off.

When we study Luke 5 vs 1-7 , we will notice that Peter got his breakthrough because he allowed Jesus to use his boat for witnessing about the kingdom of heaven. Breakthrough comes from witnessing for Jesus. If we have not started witnessing for Jesus we need to start very soon because when we get to heaven Jesus will specifically ask you how many people did you tell about me?

God does not prosper everyone, only those that obey Him.Remember the devil also prospers people and gives them a sickness or condition to go along with prosperity. God will only prosper His friends not His enemies. John 15 vs 14 says you are my friends if you do what I command. Only the brothers and sisters of Jesus can expect God to prosper them. Matthew 12 vs 50 says for whoever does the will of My father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother. If you only you can join the family of Jesus today , you can be rest assured that the Most High God will prosper you.

If you have not giving your life to Christ why not do so now because tomorrow might too late. If you have once giving your life to Christ and backslidded why not come back to Him because He is waiting to receive you.

The bible said in Romans 3 vs 23 that for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6 s 23 says For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gift was explained in John 3 vs 16 , For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What shall we do to be save ? The bible says in Romans 10vs 9 that if you confess with your mouth , Jesus is Lord , and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10 vs 10 – For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with our mouth that you confess and are saved.

Pray this prayer from your heart today!

Dear Jesus , I believe that You died for me and rose again on the third day. I confess I am a sinner. I need your love and forgiveness. Come into my heart . Forgive my sins. I receive Your eternal life. Confirm You love by giving me peace, joy and supernatural love for others, Amen.

Welcome to Christ brethren, Please join a bible believing church.

Samuel Oluwatoki

Please forward this newsletter to a friend, family or colleague . Remember Matthew 10 vs 32 which says whoever confesses me before me , him I will confess before my father who is heaven.