SincereMilkDevotional and FaithWatch Reflection

Beware of the counter 'whys'  Dan.11.32 - Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits For every original there's a counterfeit, be warned!  They are the voices that question the purpose of God in our lives.  The voice of disobedience,  confusion,  unbelief,  fear, impossibility, lack, weakness, procrastination and the likes. Right from the beginning the devil has been contending with man, wanting to take over and control our imagination and decisions. He's been working among us through subtity. He subtily manipulated the commands of God to Adam until he sinned against God. He has never stopped deceiving humanity.  The Creator, made all things for His good pleasure. He works within us to fulfill His good will. So, the LORD has a purpose and plan for us all,  just as the wicked does too.  John.10.10 - The thief does not come except to ...

Unfolding Your 'Why ' That prudence may be given to the simple, and knowledge, discretion, and discernment to the youth. The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly] - Prov.1.4-5 Your 'why' is your essence, your life, your ministry, and your purpose for existence. You must understand it, harness it excellently and maximise it. To unfold, maximise and live in purpose, you must pay close attention to your burdens- things that give you concerns and worries, your passion and drive. They have a lot in connection with your 'why'. Do not take the opportunities that come your way for granted. They are specifically designed to help you fulfil your essence. Your background, parenthood, wealth, exposures, trainings, professions and every little or major privilege given to you in life are for a 'why '. They are well divine...

  Why? Heb.11.40 - God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 'Why' is a major question on the mouth and in the mind of every man especially when your story seems different from other person's around you. There is a 'why' to every occurrence under God. Understanding your 'Why' is key to every man's desire for a fulfilled life. No one is born by accident. There's a 'why' to every experience and stories of our lives.  Everyone has a 'why' and unique reason for existence.  The scripture says God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world.  We are not saved by accident.  You are born where you were, when you were, by whom you were for a 'why'.  Nothing in God's agenda was accidental. He pre-purposed, predetermined and predestined every one of us for his own WHY- His good pleasure.  This is an understanding we all should have and know we have no reason to compete wi...

  Only By His Mercy   Rom.9.16 - So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. The importance of God's mercy in aiding our ability to fulfilling divine purpose and receiving the expected reward cannot be overemphasised.  We  are what we are because of His mercy. We receive forgiveness of sin and hope of eternal life by His mercy and when He calls us to His kingdom business,  we need His mercy to succeed. He is the architect and the builder of our lives and faith.  He is the script writer and the enabler for us to perfectly cast and dramatise all He has purposed for us. Without Him we can do nothing.  The Case of His stand on the personalities of Jacob and Esau,  loving one and hating the other; and how He used Pharaoh as a scapegoat by hardening his heart in other to show His mercy on Israel. These are good reasons to fear the Almighty and serve Him with awe and absolute reference. As believers, we are never ...

  When It's Been Said and Done Matt.7.21 - "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. This life is a journey that has a beginning and definitely an end. Everyone has a purpose and obligation to fulfill. The question before us today is when everything is done and finished on earth, when the giver of life, grace and Talents blows the final whistle. When the master and owner of your life calls for reckoning. What's going to be your final report? What are you going to tell the King and Judge of all? Our lives here on earth is like a journey of pilgrims. We are all here on pilgrimage for a while. A time will come when the Lord who gave you all that you are and have comes asking how you trade with them. Will He respond to you like those great men, who did a lot of wonders in His name, healed the sick, raised the dead, even converted souls but whose own souls were not redeemed. What...

  Fullness of Joy   Ps.16.11 - You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore . In Christ alone is fullness of Joy.  Every joy or happiness obtain in this world without Christ is temporal.  If the world itself is temporal it can only offer you temporal benefits if your life and happiness is predicated on it. Wealth and riches will fade away, position and power are time bound, wisdom of this world wearies the heart and kills, fame destroys. Only the love of Christ through the redemptive work and sacrifice on the Cross brings joy everlasting. He has paid all the debts and consequences of sin and death, He rode triumphantly over them.  Are you searching for joy in this world of chaos?  Try Jesus.  He is the source of life, pleasure and Joy. Our Joy is in fellowship with the Father and the Son.  Our joy is in obedience to His command that we should love one another.  When you o...

  Power in the Kingdom  

  The Kingdom of Liberty  Col.2.13 - 15- And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Every citizen of the Kingdom of God is a freeborn.  We are no longer a slave to fear, not to sin, the flesh or any human organised traditions.  The power of the kingdom of Christ destroys every accusation of the devil over everyone in the Kingdom.  When you give your life to Christ,  you automatically become a citizen of the kingdom and so you possess all the rights and emoluments of the kingdom.  For as long as you are a legal citizen of the kingdom of God,  you are covered by the protection of...

 Peace Be Still   Mark.4.39 - Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. The world is a place of storms and many troubles.  There's no way anyone will pass through it and not experience its blows. There are so many times of our lives that we may have to face the torrent and stormy wind of life. But safety is assured if Christ is with us on the journey.  The disciples were on their way to crossing to the other side of the sea. The storm came and they did everything possible within there power to keep their ship afloat, all to no avail.  When they thought all hope was lost they remembered Jesus was with them. Their manner of approach to Jesus showed they never really believed that His presence with them was enough assurance that no arm will befall them. Like many of us today,  they were perplexed and despaired just like the children of Israel before the red sea, they complained a...

  No Fear in the Kingdom   Luke.12.32 - "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. A notable and uncompromising attribute of the Kingdom- the presence of God is absolute peace and serenity.  Wherever there's the reign of God, there's peace,  joy and harmony.  God is never an author of confusion, chaos or threats.  The kingdom of this world is full of fear, war and terror. Darkness brings fear, worry, doubts and disappointment .  When the scripture urges us not to be anxious,  it's because it's never an act of the kingdom.  Anxiety and fear belongs to the wicked, and the end  result is pain and death. Isa. 48:22. Ps. 68:6. In Psalm 1, the righteous is compared to a tree planted by the river side. No reason to fear whether in rain or drought.  No panicking whether it's cold or hot, there will always be supply.  Because it's located  and established beside the source of water....

 But One Thing is Needed   Luke.10.42 - But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Jesus was a visitor at Mary and Martha's home, while Mary sat with Jesus chatting and listening to Him,  Martha was busy trying to entertain the Lord. This story is a good example of how believers are busy with irrelevant activities, spending a lot of money on jamborees or mere ephemerals. The ability to discern and identify what is more important to God as children of the kingdom is really pertinent to a fulfilling walk with God. We need to set our priorities right in other to please the LORD. Martha was furious wanting Jesus to order Mary to Join or help her in what  Jesus saw as unimportant worries, just like we sometimes bully and hurt one another because of mere religious activities and money matters at the expense of a quality time with God.   The response of Jesus here may be surprising and unexpected just as it...

Not a Judge Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" Luke.12.13-14 One of the sources of distractions to kingdom message and growth is turning the Church to a courtyard and her ministers to arbitrators and judges. Many believers and leaders find relevance in settling disputes and so promoting or encouraging busybodies, rumour peddlers and conflict promoters. It may sound so good that as a minister or a believer you tend to see yourself in the light of a peace maker, always giving attention to issues of conflicts and disputes among brethren. If you think this is your area of calling,  you've got to be careful. This is a ministry that is very tricky and demands a  lot of wisdom and caution.  As believers we should understand the statement of the scripture in Matt 5:9; that says, "blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be call...

 

A Focus on the Kingdom   Matt.6.33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. In a world where everyone seems to wake up each day chasing shadows,  it is imperative to call the attention of the children to the most important matter which is the kingdom.  There's no doubt the devil has succeeded in distracting almost all of us.  Some believers are mostly concentrating on ephemerals, they seem to have lost focus of what the faith is all about. They are so worried because of what to eat,  drink,  what to put on, where to lay their heads that they forgot all the promises of God. Many believers are as anxious as the world about tomorrow and its loads of worries to the extend that they follow and run after it using the same strategy like the world.  We compete, we argue and fight within ourselves on food, position, fame, recognition,  superiority as so on. We run after riches and materials thin...

  Empowered by the Holy Spirit   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  Gal. 5:22-23. Love is a Divine attitude, the inherent nature of God. It is difficult for anyone to demonstrate God's kind of love if such person has not received His Holy Spirit. One of the ways to identify who is truly born of God is the kind of fruit you  bear. For you shall know them by their fruit.  It's a pity that we're in a generation where speaking in tongues,  prophesy,  power ministrations and miracles are the yardstick to measure the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of ministers. And so, many will go as far as dining with the devil for miracle power.  What is the essence of gifts without fruits.  When your gifts fail to bear fruits of the Spirit then something is fundamentally wrong with your source.  You will know them by their ...

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8669748632238163"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script>   A Gift to give 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. John.3.16 Today is the popular valentine's day,  being celebrated across the globe by lovers - married and unmarried. A day of sharing love by writting and giving gifts. While the day was dedicated to a selfless commitment of a matyred priest to love and marriage blessing at a time it was prohibited, I am not sure if anything being celebrated this day is the same with the course for which valentine died. He believed so much in love and marriage that he sacrificed himself in its defence,  Just like Christ gave Himself out of love for the world to be saved. Is the relationship you're celebrating today founded on true love, purity and godliness or...

 Who is My Neighbour?  " You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." Matt.5.43-44 When it comes to showing love we become selective as to who exactly deserves it. Love your neighbour as yourself. Who exactly is my neighbour? My family members?  House or flat mates? kinsmen or my tribe? People of my race, colour or language?  My friends who supported me when I was in need? Those who celebrate and share gifts with me regularly and such like that? Well, I  wouldn't say no, but it's beyond just this familiar set of people.  The story of Christ about the man who was attacked on a journey and left to die by his attackers is still the best answer to the question, A priest passed by but left without a care. Sometimes,  I  felt he couldn't help because of his pr...

Love is the Way  Jesus said to him, ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matt.22.37-40 Love is the summary of the Law and the entire scripture.  Where love abounds, laws and constitutions are useless.  Love is the fulfillment of the law.   - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! Gal.5.14-15 Love is a command. It is the Law and the commandment of God. It is not an option but a necessity.  No one can be part of God without love, because God Himself is Love.   - This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. These things I command you, that you love o...

  Tuesday,  11 February 2025 The Narrow or the Wide Way Matt.7.13 - "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. One major attribute of Man that God will not tamper with is our freewill to make our own decisions.  The power of choice is in our hands to  decide on where to go and who to follow.  He made the garden of Eden in the beginning,  put the man-Adam and his wife- Eve there to cultivate and feed on everything except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam through his wife chose to eat the forbidden fruit and the human history took a new turn as death came into the story. Moses, the great prophet in Israel said to his people at the tail end of his ministry,  " See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; theref...

Devotional Monday 10th  February,  2025 Though it seems right   Prov.14.12 - There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Human choice of the complex and exciting ways of life over the simple way through Christ might seem right and perfect in their hearts because to them,  it makes the world interesting and fun filled. Salvation was offered free of charge,  no, many want it with costly and unimaginable sacrifices. A typical African want something magical and dramatic.  And so, when solutions to problems don't come dramatic and magical they seem ineffectual.  It is a common stand that any charm that doesn't cost you a fortune might not be effective.  Life and death are options placed before all men.  Be careful of what you choose.  The fact that it's a consensus' choice doesn't make it a right choice.  Christ shed His blood to put an end to blood shed and sacrifices, whether of animal or human, yet some ...

Devotional,  Sunday  09, February 2025 Human Complexities  Eccl.7.29 - I discovered that God created people to be upright, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path." God created man pure,  innocent and simple. Adam was made in the image of God without sin, spotless and really perfect just like a newborn.  We were all born beautiful and good. When we study the  nature of God and what He originally made us to be, we will like the preacher discover that we were created to be upright,  honest,  and absolutely free from wrongs.  No reason for envy, insecurity,  inferiority or superiority complex and all other complexities, competitions and insatiabilities evident now in our characters.  This wasn't how it used to be or how God wanted it to be, but sin and disobedience turned humanity into dishonest,  self centered and insatiable enigmatic being.  The economists posit that human wants are insatiable.  The...

  Devotional,  Saturday 8th February,  2025 . Jesus Christ: The Core of Religion   Matt.5.17 - "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. The human race has been in search for reconnection and relationship with God from time immemorial. That is why everyone prays to an unseen  Being. Religion has been the major way to accomplish this purpose.   One of the major religions of the world is Judaism. It is the religion of the Jews,  a religion that encapsulates everything about the culture,  history and  life of the Hebrews.  The faith of Abraham,  the first patriarch of the Jewish  religion spread through covenant to the Israelites who by divine providence were enslaved many years in Egypt and were later delivered by Yahweh through the hand of Moses. Although, they got to the promised land after many years of challenging experience in the wilderness, Moses gave them ...

  Friday 07 January 2025 What Religion is   Jas.1.27 - Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.   Religion is a complex subject to define in a way that will be generally accepted. To some it's the humans way of relating to God and the universe. The best explanation of what religion is has proved to be difficult because of the complex nature of what it means to various people and their cultures.  In the context of this devotional, we will limit ourselves to the biblical veiw of religion. One innate nature of religion is to promote and teach morality and good conducts among the people. You are to serve as illuminator to the darkness of the world.  To shine as the light of the world,  a city set on a hill that cannot  be hidden.  Matt 5:14-16. Whatever we define religion to mean, there's something more paramount that's is expected by God ...

Thursday 06  February 2022. Religion without Faith! Matt.23.23 - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. A recent survey and assessment of the religious revivals in Nigeria states that, it's a revival of gathering of multitude,  plenty cars, big buildings, lots of cash but with little or no faith to show. Why are religious centres increasing by the day yet corruption,  wickedness and sinfulness are on the highest level. Churches are growing in numbers.  Programmes and  various religious activities are all over the places.  Pastoral work is  becoming one of the best sought-after professions especially in this side of the world where everyone seems to be religious but no form of godliness.  I Tim 3:5. Religiosity is not equivalent to a relationship w...

  Devotional  February 05, 2025 God of Time and Chances  Eccl.9.11 - I returned and saw under the sun that-- The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.ng As human beings,  we are made with so many limitations.  One of these limitations is our inability to discern our time and seasons. We do not know nor have any input on when, where and how to be born. We only got to see ourselves growing wherever we were born.  Just like the birth experience none of us has power on when our end will come. No wonder the preacher says the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong,  but time and chances happen to them all.  Time is never static, it waits for no man, so use your time and opportunities wisely.  Although,  as believers we may not have power over time and the opportunities they often present...