Category: Uncategorized

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Matthew 27:64 “So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”_ – NIV The Pharisees and teachers of the law had successfully killed Jesus and now wanted to secure their victory. Pilate allowed them to post security guards and they put a seal on the tomb of Jesus. They wanted to prevent Him from resurrecting as He had indicated earlier. With the best human guards available and a seal on the tombstone, they were convinced Jesus would not rise up. They were greatly mistaken!This was an attempt of man to resist God’s plan and to prevent what He had purposed to do. It was laughable. Later, when the angel in God’s glory came to role away the stone, along with the lightening and earthquake, the guards fell down as though dead (Matt 28:4). It was like a mosquito attempting to fight an elephant. When men conspire and try to fight their Creator, God looks down and laughs (Psalm 2:1-5). And yet this is what people do many times. They resist God, sneer and fight to have their way in futility.The best of human pride, strength and ammunition directed against God is nothing. When they seem to succeed, God in His mercy is simply giving them time to reconsider their ways. Those who take refuge in God can be assured of unfailing protection from God under Whose wings they are totally safe. The Lord protects His own. Those who trust in Him will not be put to shame. The schemes of the wicked against the Lord and His righteous ones will not succeed except for what God allows to fulfill His bigger purposes._Psalms 127:1 “If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city,  it is useless for the sentries to stand guard.”_- GNB Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

1 Samuel 14:6 "Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”_ - NIV 

Israel was in an awkward situation. The philistines in their thousands had come to attack. King Saul wasn’t prepared. They had no weapons except Saul and Jonathan. His army greatly panicked and went into hiding. It was a sure defeat in waiting for them. But Jonathan and his armor bearer decided to take a huge risk by showing themselves up to their enemies and trusting God to save Israel through them. Just the two of them with God against multitudes! And great victory came.

Sometimes we have to step out in faith and venture into what we believe is in God’s will against the odds. If Jonathan had not trusted God and taken that step without the knowledge of his father Saul, the whole nation would have suffered defeat. If we are to wait for all factors to be favorable before we launch out, we might wait indefinitely. Afew with God is unmatched. As Jonathan noted, God can safe with a few or with many. Nothing can hinder Him.

But for this to happen, one has to take a step and act. Peter could not have walked on water until he stepped out. The Red sea and Jordan river parted when Israel stepped on them. The lepers couldnt have seen a miraculous provision if they didnt risk their lives. We may never know what God can accomplish in and through us until we overcome fear, take the steps and then see God act. So many are frozen and paralyzed with fear. Dreams and projects have died as a result. If you know what needs to be done is in God’s will and time, take a step. You lose nothing by trying it out._

Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible."_

Shalom children of God

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Mark 3:5 "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored."_ -NIV

Anger is an emotion that every human has. It is provoked by things we are not happy with. God gets angry too. We read of this throughout the Bible. It was, and is always directed against evil in its different forms. Jesus exhibited anger a number of times against those who deliberately twisted and sought to overturn the truth to promote evil. Mark reports how distressed He was at the stubborn hearts of the religious people to belief, insisting that He should not heal on the sabbath.

What angers us is important to identify. Some anger is in defense of ones ego and pride, towards acts of injustice, or out of personal frustration of sorts. As God’s people, we identify with His emotions. What pleases or angers Him should likewise please or anger us. The more we choose to live for Him, the more our hearts are aligned to His. We hate evil and rejoice in righteousness, truth and justice.

Anger, if not controlled and properly channelled, can be destructive. The devil takes advantage of it to cause us to sin. This is why the Bible says we should be angry but not sin. There is need for self control. But if channelled to righteous causes, anger can be a driving force to make things right, fight injustice and promote good. Many transformational changes in society have been ignited by anger at the bad state of affairs which drove the agents of change to take action. _

Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."_ 

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Luke 23:44-45 "It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two."_ - NIV 

When Jesus died, these remarkable occurances happened; the sun stopped shining for 3hours and the curtain separating the holy place and holy of holies in the temple tore into two. The holy of holies housed the ark of the covenant (representing God’s presence) and only the high priest was allowed to visit there once every year. This meant access to God was limited under the old covenant. When Jesus died, that access was opened to all. The seperating curtain was torn. Now anyone can access God by the blood and the name of Jesus. We are His and accepted. Hallelujah!

Jesus’ blood reconciled man with God. Sin was the barrier, and created enemity between man and God, but Jesus’ blood and death took care of the sins of man. Now, even the vilest offender who truly believes, is cleansed and justified before a holy God. Reconciliation means renewed fellowship, no condemnation, and being at peace with God as He originally intended at creation. We can now boldly come before God by our faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, not fearing that He will reject or condemn us.

Dear friends, in Christ we are at peace with God. We have freedom of expression and can experience His love to the fullest. We are His beloved children and He delights in our communion with Him. Do not allow the deception of the devil make you think like an alien to God your Father. Praise be to God. _

Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Growth is a process (22/6/2021)*

Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…”

Growth is not an event but a process which is progressive. At every step, one is becoming better. To the Christian, this process starts the day they receive Christ as Lord and Savior and goes on throughout their lives. For the Colossian Christians, Paul’s prayer was continuous, that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. That would enable them live lives worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way.

As this was happening, they will be bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God. This is continuous and incremental over time. One time you think you really got it. The next time the Spirit teaches you more and you discover you hadn’t known much before. Part of the reason for this is that we may perpetually remain humbly dependent on God and other people. The other is that we can never fully know God.

Progressive growth requires a continuous thirst, hunger, humility and searching after God on our part. The moment you think you have arrived, you stop growing, because you block the Spirit who enables our growth. A tree bears fruit increasingly over the years until full maturity when it bears much fruit. That’s how we are as we grow in the Lord. Let’s cooperate in humilty with an attitude of continuous learning and growth. Continually yearn after Him!

Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

The place of trials in growth (23/6/2021)

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – NIV

Everyone wishes to live and go through life free of any troubles, pains, hustles and challenges. Many people’s prayers are in this direction. But the reality is that trials are the norm in life and part God’s plan to make us grow in Himself. James relates how trials of many kinds, faced by those in Christ, are a means to our growth to maturity and being complete in the Lord. He urges us to rejoice in them.

Trials of our faith are not to be taken negatively, but in good faith and joy because they produce perseverance. Patient endurance over time shape and mold in us the character of God which is key in maturity. Nobody matures in the soft pleasures of life. No general or athlete is trained in luxury. It takes pain, tears and sometimes what appears like failure. Job said, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”(Job 23:10).

How we view the challenges of life determines how they shape us, either to become bitter or better, to stagnate or grow. No challenge of life leaves us the same. Bitter people never grow through their trials. They stagnate or retrogress instead. Better people are shaped and grow from challenges. They thank God and rejoice in them as Paul did. Which one are you?

Romans 5:3-4 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

The ultimate purpose (24/6/2021)

Ephesians 4:13-14 “… until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” – NIV

The ultimate purpose of growth is to attain maturity. Maturity to the follower of Christ is manifested when the person becomes like Jesus, reflecting His character and so truly become Christian (Christlike). Paul mentions the goal of spiritual gifts in the church as; to bring unity in the faith despite our differences, and to attain the knowledge of the son of God and mature in Him attaining His full stature.

Jesus said it is enough for the student and servant (us) to be like the teacher and Master (Him) (Matt 10:25). When the growth process is fully done, we shall be like Him. The fruit of our lives will reflect Christ in every way. We shall bear much fruit, shine His light for all to see, until it will be said of us, that we are like Christ.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. The fruit is of the Holy Spirit. When this is done, we bring much glory to the Father as we become true witnesses of His transforming power. Then we can no longer be tossed back and forth by winds of doctrines, promising this and that, as promoted by cunning and crafty men coming with all sorts of things in the name of the Lord. We shall be stable and firmly grounded in truth that liberates.

John 15:8 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Maturity Vs imaturity (25/6/2021)

1 Corinthians 3:2-4 “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?”

At some point, maturity is expected to be attained. But when that doesn’t happen at the right time, it becomes awkward. Beautiful and lovely as a child is, he is expected to outgrow childhood stage. The Corinthians, by the time Paul wrote, were still babies immature in the faith and yet expected to have matured. This manifested in being worldly, disunited, jealousy, and quarreling among themselves. These are still the marks of immaturity.

On the other hand, there are signs of maturity expected to be exhibited. These include the fruit of the Spirit love, peace, patience, kindness, …(Gal 5:22-23), unity in the faith, becoming more like Christ. It is in the maturity of God’s people that He is most glorified as we reflect Him. The church’s mission in the world is to be ambassadors of God, representing Him and His kingdom. In imaturity, the church brings more shame than glory to God.

Let each one of us who is individually a member of the body of Christ seek to grow so as to meaningfully contribute to the body and bring glory to God. Paul said there is a view of things, approach to issues and perceptions of people in a dignified manner that shows maturity. It sees everything from God’s perspective. Let God help us attain that level.

Philippians 3:15-16 “All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

How we grow (26/6/2021)

Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” – NIV

There are no shortcuts to growth. Growth is both the effect of personal commitment of each one of us, as much as the result of the inputs into our lives. We often admire the early church and their great accomplishments for God. But few want to ask what they did to grow so strong in the Lord and to attain what they achieved. The scripture above gives us the secret: daily devotion. Nothing replaces a personal intimate walk with God towards quality spiritual growth.

Four major avenues of growth are mentioned: devotion to teachings of the apostles, fellowship among themselves, breaking of bread and prayer. The word was the centre of teaching. Their fellowship with one another was sincere. They broke bread in communion with one another and with the Lord. They prayed daily. Such was their lifestyle. And they grew so much to be like their Lord that they were nicknamed Christians (Acts 11:26). We cannot do less and expect to be like them or better.

Growth is first and foremost individual. And this means devotion to the teachings of the word through personal study, fellowship with others, communion with the Lord and prayer at individual level. What manifests publicly is developed and shaped in the secret chambers. The church is only as strong as its individual members. The extent of our growth is determined by the quality of our personal devotional lives with God.

Acts 2:46-47 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Shalom children of God.