Category: Daily Devotionals

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction,  a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace,  but with humility comes wisdom." - NIV

Throughout the Bible, it is clear God hates pride. Pride originated from the devil. Solomon severally compared the downside of pride with the upside of humility. He observes that the sure way to a fall in any endeavour, destruction and disgrace in life, is through pride.

Do you see people pretending to be above everyone, arrogant because of their position and possessions? Are they despising and under looking others, full of themselves thinking they know it all as they praise and exalt themselves? They are surely on their way to disgrace and destruction.

Pride is a very deceptive weapon of the devil. It promises or assumes greatness. It places you up without a firm foundation beneath. It makes one feel independent of God or others. That is a lie. That’s why God hates pride, because it competes for His position. It is a question of time, and pride will surely disappoint and bring you down. Choose the way of humility as you honour God, love and respect others. Therein is glory.

DJames 4:6-7 "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Matthew 15:7-9 "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain;  their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”" - NIV

They travelled from Jerusalem to ask Jesus why His disciples were breaking the law and tradition of the forefathers by eating with unwashed hands. They didn’t even honour their parents and diverted whatever help they should have given them to God. Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy manifested by appearing very committed to the traditions of men more than God’s word and right worship of God.

Quoting from Isaiah, Jesus tells them why their worship was in vain. They were more committed to their traditions than the word of God. They focused more on external practices and lip service, but their hearts were far from true commitment to God. Their religious zeal was about laws and regulations, not out of love for God. Their religious practices involved more of routine rituals passed on as worship traditions, but disconnected from the God they claimed to worship.

Such was vain worship. To God, it meant nothing. He didnt recognise it despite their activities. Doesn’t this sound familiar in our times as well? Jesus taught that acceptable worship to God should be in truth and Spirit. It should come from a love and passion for God with all our hearts, souls, strength. The state of our hearts matters most in worship! When man made rules and traditions outside God’s word dictates how we worship God, it becomes vain worship. May your whole being love and live for God. May your worship be acceptable and pleasing to Him.

Mark 12:29-30 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’"

John 4:23-24 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”"

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Mark 8:35-37 "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" - NIV

In all we do, gains are expected materially, socially, financially, spiritually or otherwise. No one does anything for nothing. Investments are made with returns in mind. This encourages sacrifice, risks and patience. It was the same principle Jesus taught as He challenged His disciples to put their lives on the line for His sake. He said, ‘whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’

Some risks are not certain to yield good results. Gaining all the glory of this world, and paying no attention the eternal state of your soul is a big gamble. It’s an eternal lose! Giving ones life to Christ and committing to serve Him, is a sure deal in the kingdom of God and for eternity. There will be a reward. As we count the cost of where our faith and hope is for now and more so into eternity, Jesus is the solid rock we can rely on.

The disciples asked Jesus what they could expect since they had left everything to follow Him. Jesus took this as a valid concern and told them they would recieve a hundred fold what they forsook, eternal life together with persecutions. Friends, investing your life and resources in God and His kingdom is no gamble. In Him, you can put all your eggs in the same basket, and be sure they are safe. It is worthwhile.

Matthew 19:27-29 "Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Luke 12:15, 19-20 "Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” … And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’" - NIV

A rich parable it was that Jesus gave. This followed a warning against all kinds of greed for material possessions. The rich man’s yield was good. To store his goods, he would break the small stores and build bigger ones. Then he would tell his soul to relax, make merry and enjoy. He trusted his wealth to solve all his problems. But God called him a fool for trusting his wealth. Jesus concluded that our lives are not defined by material wealth, but by a rich relationship with God.

Wealth is good, but can be deceptive. It creates false security, promises a good comfortable life and anything else one could ever need. With this, a person will think they don’t even need God. Those who are under its control find it hard to enter God’s kingdom. There are things wealth cannot do except God Who remains the only One who can fulfill man’s greatest need for a Savior.

We need wealth for several good reasons. But we are cautioned not to put our trust in it. It has potential to influence people away from trusting their Creator. But rightly acquired and used, wealth is a great blessing in every way. Be alert against all forms of greed, deception of riches and ungodly means of wealth acquisition. Commit to make wealth and enjoy it in ways that honor God.

Matthew 13:22 "The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful."

Psalm 62:10 "Do not trust in extortion  or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Isaiah 29:13 "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:"- KJV

Worship is adoration, an expression of love, loyalty, submission, allegiance… The battle in heaven that saw Lucifer(now Satan, the devil) and a third of the angels(now demons) rebel and thrown out, centred on the worship. He wanted to take God’s place in worship. He made man fall from glory with God as he sought to shift man’s allegiance from God to himself. Upto now that is what Satan fights for.

God expects us to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). As we worship, He expects us to do it with all that we are; body, soul and spirit. Short of this, it will be divided loyalty, which is hypocrisy. That’s what Israel had failed in. They had redefined how to worship God, and did it halfheartedly. God detested it. Their mouth spoke and sung what sounded like expressions of worship to God. But their hearts (which God considers most) were not loyal to Him any more. He rebuked them for hypocrisy. If it’s not from the heart, it falls short!

Worship with our whole being will involve the use of our strength, emotions, minds, resources, words and postures like kneeling, bowing, prostration, standing in awe, silence, shouts, laughter, tears – all to express our loyalty, admiration and love. Man made rules of worship may take some these as strange. You can tell how deeply people love and adore someone or something by their expressions. And so it is with our worship of God.

Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'"

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Colossians 2:9-10 "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority." - NIV

Paul was addressing a false teaching in Colosae which depended on human philosophy and wisdom. It made the believers in Christ think there was more to do beyond just having faith in Christ to attain salvation. But Paul assured them that in Christ, in matters of salvation, nothing more was needed.

We often hear these teachings. Some think they need to ‘do’ more than just have faith to be acceptable to God. Yes, we need to grow and be established in Christ after we recieve Him. But we can’t add anything to what Christ did to save us. In Him we are completely acceptable to God, forgiven, redeemed and are His own.

The quarrel Paul had with the Galatians was the teaching that they needed physical circumcision in addition to faith in Christ. The good works we do should be a result of Christ’s work in us, but not our attempt to please God. All God calls us to is simple genuine faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross. That is the foundation to build on and makes us complete in Him.

John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

1 Corinthians 8:1-2 "Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know." - NIV

Knowledge is information, understanding or a skill one acquires through education or experience. As we learn ,we acquire knowledge. This knowledge has an effect in the lives and behaviours of its possessor. Paul compares the behavior of those possessed with knowledge and those driven by love. He notes that knowledge puffs up, while love builds up.

Knowledge is certainly good and very important in guiding life decisions. We need to invest in knowledge acquisition. But it becomes deceptive when those who have it use it to manipulate, trick, despise or abuse others less knowledgeable than themselves. It is destructive when it makes people see themselves as more important than others, become full of themselves, hold others hostage and think everything should revolve around them. That’s pride and arrogance.

We can never know everything in the world. We only know in part, even if you are a genius. This should keep us humble and to always be willing to purposefully learn from others. There is no end to learning. If driven by genuine love for others, we will be humble enough to listen respectfully to them, even if they make little sense. Love and right use of knowledge builds others up.

Proverbs 12:15 "The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice."

Shalom children of God