Category: Daily Devotionals

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

James 3:14-16 "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." - NIV

We live in a world of competition, rights, privileges and ambitions, and some are more privileged than others. None of these attributes are bad when rightly channelled with respect to others. But when they are pursued with evil intentions to suppress, dominate, crush and be ahead of others, they graduate into envy, confusion, bitterness, fights and every evil practice one can imagine as people struggle to protect and defend their interests.

Apostle James was comparing godly and demonic kinds of wisdom. Demonic earthly wisdom(which is actually folly), takes pride in promoting selfish ambitions, unhealthy competition, intrigue fights and every form of evil that makes them feel better and get above others. Many are such people, who arrogantly boast of their successes and privileges over the disadvantaged, calling this ‘wisdom’. They are spurred on by jealousy and selfish motives, which are good breeding grounds for all other forms of evil. They should instead be ashamed.

James defines godly wisdom, being the opposite of demonic wisdom thus; “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17). Its wisdom to remain humble and respectful even when well positioned and privileged over others. And this is what God has called us all to practice. Be wise Godward.

Proverbs 8:12-13 "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

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.” - NIV

This was Jesus’ answer to a teacher of the law who asked Him which was the greatest commandment. The Israelites had been given over six hundred various laws in addition to the ten commandments. Probably in the mind of this man was a dilemma as to how to remember and keep them all. So he wanted the most important one to keep. Jesus summarised all these laws into the two; loving God and others.

Laws can be a challenge to keep when the heart is not committed to it. This is why the law could not save. One would outwardly avoid breaking it, but inwardly burning to do exactly the same. Jesus summarised the commandments on the basis of love. We can only truly obey them when we love God and people. When you do anything out of love, you do it genuinely. If you are not driven by love, at the slightest opportunity you avoid it, or do it grudgingly. And that’s hypocrisy.

The central factor to obedience to God’s commands is love. Seek to first have God’s love in your heart as you do anything. Anything short of true love for God and people leads to a double life and pretense. It will make obedience difficult. And yet His commands are not burdensome. Every time you struggle with obedience, know that you are struggling with genuine love within. The Holy Spirit enables us have God’s love in our hearts and to live in obedience to God.

Romans 13:10 "Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
1 John 5:3 "In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome"

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Psalm 34:15-16 "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,  to blot out their name from the earth." NIV

The righteous are those who have chosen to put their trust in God for salvation, and to sustain them through life. Our righteousness comes by our faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross for the redemption of humanity. This takes humility, brokenness of heart and acknowledgement of our helplessness to save ourselves. No one can be counted righteous before God through their own works of righteousness.

The righteous are promised many blessings. David said the eyes of the Lord are on them, to watch over them as one would do over a treasure. His ears are attentive to their prayers. This implies answers to prayer. He also promises deliverance from their troubles. Yes, the righteous may have troubles, but God delivers them from them all (V.17 19). God is close to them, for communion and protection. He ensures none of their bones are broken(v.18,19). He rescues them, they are not condemned (v.22). They are ever fruitful and flourish always. These are priceless blessings.

There is every blessing for the righteous in all aspects of life although it doesn’t come out as most would expect. But baseline is that the righteous are blessed, despite the many afflictions. No one who has set themselves to trust and hope in God will be ashamed. It will be well with them. And God does not lie nor fail to fulfil His commitments.

Isaiah 3:10 "Tell the righteous it will be well with them,  for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds."

Psalm 1:6 "For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,  but the way of the wicked leads to destruction."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." NIV

Paul stated how he was so hard pressed from every side, faced so much trials and stared at death all the time in his service for Christ. His physical body was wasting away as a result. But inwardly, the opposite was happening. He was renewed day by day with inner spiritual strength. What was outwardly seen was miserable, tough suffering because of the momentary troubles affecting the body. But it was glorious inside him.

Have you wondered why some willingly and gladly suffer torture even to death without giving up their cause and beliefs? It’s because of what’s within them. They see beyond the physical into what everyone else isn’t seeing. The eternal value of what’s inside them makes the outward suffering nothing. The apostles rejoiced that they were beaten for the Lord. Jesus endured unprecedented pain, for the glory unseen then. The heroes of faith rejoiced at the bitter sufferings, gladly giving their lives and property away.

Let’s take Paul’s advice, to fix our eyes not on what is seen and temporary, but on an eternal treasure unseen and unknown to the physical eye. The glory that lies yonder is beyond measure and far outweighs what catches our eyes now. The devil uses the lures of the present moment, the seen and tangibly felt needs, to decieve people to fall for the temporary and they lose the eternal. Many have mortgaged the eternal treasures for temporary pleasure and gain this world offers. They will regret eternally!

Hebrews 12:1-3 "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Philippians 3:7-8 "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ…"

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

2 Corinthians 8:1-2,5 "And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity… And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us." - NIV

Paul describes a very moving giving story from the Macedonian churches. They heard about the urgent needs and suffering of the churches in Judea and wanted to be part of the support. They themselves were in very severe trial and extreme poverty but full of joy, which led to rich generosity. No one coerced them to give, but chose to do so by themselves out of their ability (v.3,4). The response was beyond expectation. It was by grace.

Paul gives the secret behind such rich generosity against extreme poverty; they first gave themselves to the Lord. There was every reason (and humanly genuine), for these extremely poor Christians not to participate in supporting the needy. But they defied it and gave beyond expectation. Our greatest giving is not things, but first, our lives. Even if we give everything else and still withhold our lives, it means little to God.

There is a level of God’s knowledge and touch in our lives that makes all treasures of life mean nothing. Paul got there and called all his previous great achievements rubbish in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus (Phil 3:8). His whole life was given over to God and the cause of the gospel. Death was not a hindrance any more. From such a fully surrendered life, nothing can be withheld from God and the gospel causes. I pray we all get there!

Acts 20:24 "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Psalm 51:16-17 "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;  you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart  you, God, will not despise." NIV

David was repentantly praying before God following the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. Not only did he sleep with her, he also killed the husband. When God rebuked David for his sin, he was repentant. He notes that it is not sacrifices or gifts that would appease God. He had plenty of things to bring to God. But He noted that what God is after is a broken, humble and repentant heart. He will not reject that.

King Saul was instructed to destroy everything about the Amelekites. But he spared the best bulls and sheep to sacrifice to God in disobedience (1 Samuel 15). He thought he would appease God, a form of bribery, by sacrifice and gifts and cover up his sin of disobedience. God was angry and rejected him as king. God cannot be hoodwinked into overlooking sin by our matetial or other gifts. When we have fallen short and sinned, all He asks us to do is have a humble repentant heart. That’s what pleases Him.

The very gifts and sacrifices we bring came from Him. The state our hearts is more important to Him than anything else. He will not despise a humble heart, which genuinely acknowledges sin and is willing to be helped overcome it. It is by His grace. But the proud hearts which front good works and gifts to justify themselves won’t go far. Come to Him in humility and brokenness.

Galatians 6:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
1 Samuel 15:22 "But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Galatians 6:7-8 "Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow. If they sow in the field of their natural desires, from it they will gather the harvest of death; if they sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit they will gather the harvest of eternal life." - GNB

Life is governed by principles. It is not random or by trial and error. Nothing happens in life by chance. It is a result of what one sows, the decisions made rightly or wrongly, where they put their energy or as a result of laziness. Paul reminded the Galatians that God cannot be fooled, side stepped or manipulated. He is a God of principles. He responds to us according to how we conduct our lives. Even the eternal life He gives freely, should be received if we are to partake of it.

Yes, God performs miracles to meet certain needs at particular times. But we cannot sit back, do nothing and expect miracles to come. He expects us to abide by the principles He instituted to govern His creation. He works by His rules of the game. This is why anyone, regardless of their belief system,(including those who hate God) can do certain things according to those principles and they work for them.

We invest time, energy, finances and relationships in different ways. Some sow to please the sinful nature in pleasure and sin. Others sow to please God by the Spirit. Each of these has consequences both in this life and into eternity. Sowing to please the sinful nature leads to death, while investing in pleasing God leads to eternal life. We choose where to invest, and we should be ready to reap accordingly. God is just. Where and in what are you investing your life?

Romans 2:6-11 "God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger… For God does not show favoritism."

Shalom children of God.