Category: Daily Devotionals

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." - NIV

Paul, an old man and prisoner for the gospel, is soon dying. These words are among his last to his son Timothy. He charged him to preach the WORD in all seasons, using it to correct, rebuke and encourage. He prophetically sees a time in which men will not endure sound doctrine of the word, but will gather for themselves teachers who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear and not what they need to hear. Such is the way out of the truth into error. All such actions are driven by their own desires, no longer seeking the will of God even though they use His name.

How true this is in our day! To many professing God’s name, the issue is no longer about what the truth of God’s word is, but what they can get out of it to suit their desires. The gathering of teachers follows what they want to hear. And the teachers also know what their listeners want to hear, and will give it, to their gain. This has led to gross misappropriation of God’s word to portray what it was never meant to mean. Unfortunately, Scripture is used to justify anything ill intentioned false gospel ministers want to give their eager listeners!

The purpose of sound doctrine is to keep us on track in God, transforming us into Christ’s image. It will rebuke and correct, directing us to the narrow, sometimes long path of God’s will. This will antagonize our pleasure seeking and easy life of the flesh. And Satan can’t fail to give those shortcuts to easy life, but at a cost to ones soul! It is incumbent upon each one who truly wants to live God’s way, to sieve what they hear, rightly preach and live by the word, sharp as it can be. Therein is our safety in these perilous times.

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo.

Exodus 20:3-5 “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…."- NIV

Idolatry is love, adoration and worship of anything else apart from God. Because worship is exclusively for God Almighty, He utterly detests idolatry. He gave specific commandments against idol worship. In nothing and nowhere else is God’s jealous anger expressed than in idol worship. He shares His glory with no other. We are to worship God the Creator and not the things He made.

An idol is anything which takes the due glory, praise, attention and the place of God in ones life, such as material things, self love, a sport, position, etc. It’s more than a physical image of an idol people worship. It is an attitude of the heart. Consciously or not, people have so many idols in their lives. This manifests when, rather than honor God, people divert the honour due only to God, to those things.

God calls us to love Him with all that we are and have. Out of love, we submit in loyalty and sacrifice to the object of our worship. Watch where, and on what you spend your most treasured time, money and company. That’s an indication of where your heart is and what or whom you worship. If it is anything apart from God, then it is an idol. Let everything we do arise from a foundation of our love and worship of God.

Mark 12:30-31 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Shalom children of God

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

2 Timothy 2:19 "Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."" - NIV

Apostle Paul was discouraging engagement in godless chatter which, he said, only leads to more ungodliness. Some had engaged in it and had drifted from the truth, and misled others. Be that as it may, as some fall from the faith, he reaffirms that God’s solid, unshakeable foundation stands firm, that God knows His own; their rising up and lying down, their joys and tears, their thoughts and plans. Just as a good shepherd knows all his sheep, so does God know His own, called by His name and bought by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus.

Some who profess His name may appear to have stumbled, fallen or derailed. If we judged them as to whether they belong to God or not, on the basis of what we know about them, we may misfire. This is because our understanding of God and His ways and dealings with people is limited. Our minds too, are in many ways prejudiced by our cultural or denominational orientation. As to who truly belongs to God can best be left to the Searcher of the hearts of men, Who looks into the motives and intentions. Only He accepts or writes off people as He knows them.

Nevertheless, those who are called by His name, and confess His Lordship over their lives must turn away from wickedness. It implies then, that His own must live in holiness just as He is holy. Jesus said, not everyone who calls Him Lord, Lord would enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father in heaven. It’s more than confessing, but doing His will. Calling Him Lord and not doing His will, is hypocrisy which will disqualify many at the end. Let’s heed His warning.

Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Acts 17:25- 28 "And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live… 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" - NIV

Paul was in Athens. He noticed evidence of worship everywhere and sought to teach them true worship of God. He raised pertinent issues that all of us need to know about God and our existence: God gives all men life, breath and all else. To be alive is because of God. God determines and sets time and exact places each of us lives. In God we live, move and have our being. This leaves us with NOTHING we can claim to be our own without God.

Paul adds the purpose God did all these, that men would seek, reach out and find Him. The reason we have life, move and have our being, is to worship God. We don’t exist for ourselves. God made us for His purposes. To live for ones pleasures, desires, or will apart from God, is to completely miss the point of living, whatever you do or gain.

We can then consider ourselves successful in life, if we seek God, reach out for and find Him. A rich relationship and intimate knowledge and worship of God is key to our fulfillment in life. That gives purpose to life. Anything else is a gamble. I pray you live life on purpose in God in all your endeavours. Seek, reach out, and find God.

John 5:30 "By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - KJV

Everyone is a product of parenting, from a stable or broken family, single or double parenting. From birth, through the forzmative stages of child development upto one’s adulthood, alot is invested into a person. Whatever each one of us is; the way we behave, the values we hold, the attitudes we possess, are a reflection of parenting and family background.

Train a child to be whatever he ahould be. And that’s what they will be. If you don’t, some how someone somewhere will. And thats what they will be. This places immense undelegetable responsibility to parents for which they will account to God.

Training is teaching and modeling. A child’s mind is open from birth. It only takes in what the environment around feeds them with, the most important of which is family. That’s what informs their world view and eventually shapes their character, the way they see and do things. Children need more than material things. For holistic development, social, emotional, physical, cognitive, spiritual needs which eventually shape children’s character, have to be met too.

The importance attached to parenting is reducing, with the family institution under immense demonic attack. Many take it lightly, absent themselves, leave children to the media and whosoever, but blame them when they act weird. If you really care to secure the future of your children, you must, of necessity, spend quality time instilling and demonstrating right/godly values to them. You will one day be happy you did when the fruit of responsible godly citizens manifests.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo.

Luke 4:7-8 "If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ ”
Romans 1:25 "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

Man is a spiritual being. Our natural tendency as part and fulfillment of our nature, is to worship. God made us to worship Him alone. Satan knows that, and seeks to divert man’s worship of God to himself. He gives man quick alternatives of worship other than God. This is how people worship idols and unique parts of creation like the sun, moon, rivers,trees, animals, etc. This is all to fulfill the natural longing in all men to worship.

Everyone is a worshipper, either of God, Satan, something or someone else, consciously or not. Even atheists are worshippers of something, but not God. Paul says the effects of worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, is perversion and God giving them up to all sorts of filth. Does that describe the blatant evil people are promoting today?

Eventually we come under the influence of what/whom we worship. The worshippers of God become more like Him. Those who yield and bow to Satan get filled with demonic spirits and manifest it in their lives. Worship is never innocent. It opens up a person to the spirit world of God or the demonic. Like it or not, whatever people do in their lives and leadership comes from their worship lives.

Worship only God Almighty!

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - NIV

These were Jesus’ last words to His disciples before physical departure. They contain the commission for the assignment of the church to go and make disciples of all nations, baptize and to teach obedience to all He taught and commanded. All the church is mandated to do is contained in this statement, although it may take different forms, approaches and gifting.

As we engage in this service to God, the promise is that He will be with us all the way to the end. There will be different challenges, battles, trials and temptations. We will need guidance, protection and provision. In this journey, there are valleys and mountains to cross, tears of joy and pain, nice and nasty things, and temptations to quit as the God we serve appears too far or not caring.

But the assurance we have is that He will be with us all the way till the end of the age. We are never alone in this journey. Don’t be tempted to seek for help outside God. Satan’s deception is to make us think God has abandoned us sometimes when we are in the middle of trying challenges. Even then, Jesus is with us to accomplish what He has purposed in and through us. We shall emerge victorious. Blessed be His name!

Hebrews 13:5-6 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you;  never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Shalom children of God

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

2 Chronicles 33:9-10 "But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention."

Manasseh was king. Using his influence, he led the people astray into much evil against God. They even superseded the heathen nations around them who didn’t know God. So rebellious were they under Manasseh’s kingship that warnings from God were despised. It took God’s severe punishment for Manasseh to later repent and turn to God.

2 Chronicles 34:33 "Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors."

Josiah was king Manasseh’s son. He became king at a tender age of eight. Using his position, he led the nation to God. He had all present in the nation of Israel under his jurisdiction influenced to serve God.

This comparison shows the power of leadership. It influences people under the leader’s control to do good or evil, towards God or away from Him for generations. This influence affects everything done under the person’s leadership. At your leadership level and period, in what direction are you influencing others? I pray you lead them to what is good, just, righteous and progressive.

Shalom children of God.