Daily Devotionals

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”Genesis 2:18 “And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”_NIVAfter God made all the good things in creation, he made Adam. Still the man was incomplete. And God Himself said so. God created man, male and female, in His own image. He gave them dominion to rule over His creation (Gen 1:26-28). Man and woman are co-heirs in God’s kingdom. Without woman, man cannot fulfill his creation mandate from God. Both were made in God’s image, in the likeness of God. These are profound truths God set from the beginning. After the fall of man, the devil manipulated and twisted God’s original intention in the minds of men, making woman seem inferior and subordinate to man. He has done this through cultures and traditions of men down the millennia. To date, millions of women around the world are treated as inferior beings, sex objects and slaves, dependant on men, less than men, less deserving, and subjected to many dehumanising practices. Many girls grow up thinking that is what they are made for!The desire to break lose from these oppressive demonic vices and enable women realise and live out their God given potential, gave rise to women emancipation movements, special day to recognise women, women representation in governments, and a host of other women groups and organisations fighting for women rights. Until you experience your freedom in God, these fall short good as they are.The rise of women into various positions of influence in governments, church and society has proved the worth and abilities they have to co-manage with man. Whereas Jesus did not appoint women to be among the twelve disciples, it’s no doubt He valued them contrary the Jewish traditions then, and women were very much behind His successful ministry, upto the cross, at the resurrection and at the upper room when the church was being ushered into the world. Woman, you are special to God and in His creation work and the world. Jesus came to restore the dignity of women. In Him you find your true position and liberty. Rise up, walk with your head high and take your place in humility and respect in society and the church. _Galatians 3:26-28 “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”_Shalom children of God. Happy women’s day.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” – NIV

The last book of the Bible was coming to a close as John heard in the ending part of the revelation at the island of Patmos. Alot had been shown to John of the events that would mark and characterise the end of the age. And then the emphatic words with absolute clarity, from the highest authority in the universe came forth, “Behold, I am coming soon!”

The ‘soon’ Jesus talked about has been misinterpreted, from human perspective, to mean delay 2000 years later. But God’s timing is not our timing, as we understand time. The bible also gives the reason for the seeming delay as God giving everyone opportunity to come to Him and be saved(2 Peter 3:9). The Scriptures also give us signs that point to the end of the age and the imminent return of Jesus. We would do well to study these signs by looking at what is happening in our world today and comparing with Bible prophecy.

As we watch these signs today, it’s no doubt that we are closer than we can imagine to the coming of Jesus. We may not know the day or hour, but the signs will show us how close it is. And the warning to all is to be ready! Jesus said He is coming with rewards to give to each one according to their works. He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End. We can therefore rely on His words and take them seriously and live with this awareness every moment.

It won’t be long before we hear the trumpet sound. Jesus is coming back! Are you ready if He came now?

Matthew 25:13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Revelation 22:7,20 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book…”He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Matthew 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” – NIV

Have you ever thought about eternity? This is a period of time beyond measure, or simply time without end. One can’t even talk in terms of known units of measurement like billions, trillions, quadrillions  of years, because that’s already measurable, however unfathomable it is to our little limited human minds.

To enable some slight understanding of eternity, someone once illustrated it this way: Consider the smallest ant, on a mission to move the whole earth to the farthest star in the universe. The farthest star so far known is 9 billion light years away from earth. A light year is the distance light travels in one year. In one second, light travels at 299,792KMs. One year has over 31.5 million seconds. So in one year, light moves over 9.4trillion KMs. To the farthest star, it’s that distance multiplied 9billion times. That’s already beyond the range of our computations and numbering.

Even with modern supersonic jets, traveling at thousands of KMs per hour, such a  journey is endless. How much more a little ant? And knowing how much the ant carries, when will it complete shifting the entire 6×10^24Kg mass of planet earth? Mission impossible! And yet one day it will complete it. But eternity would have just began!

God’s word teaches that all of us will spend eternity somewhere. Everyone created will live somewhere and never disappear. There are only two destinies, determined by our decisions here on earth: heaven or hell. Heaven is a place of great joy and peace for those to whom Jesus is Savior and Lord. Their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Hell is a place of extreme torment for those who have rejected the Savior and Lord Jesus in their lives. I invite you to give serious thought to the question of where you will spend eternity. Choose to spend it in heaven by choosing Jesus the way. That’s God’s will for all of us.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

Shalom children of God. 

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Judges 8:4-5 “Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.””

Gideon and his men were pursuing the Midianites. They had largely defeated them. But they needed to complete the victory by capturing the two Midianite kings who had escaped. It had been an intensive battle and they were physically exhausted. They needed food to replenish their strength. Despite the exhaustion, they kept pursuing to the end.

Such is a common occurrence in life. Some of the battles, plans and dreams we encounter and pursue in life leave us tired. The temptation to give up is so real. After spending all the abilities and energies we have, we will feel like giving it up. The body gives way, the mind stagnates and the will to go on fades. This is the point that separates those who reach their full potential and the partial achievers.

That God is behind what we do does not mean it will be a smooth ride all the way. Obstacles and resistances will be there. The enemy will attempt to use discouragement that comes with burn out and exhaustion to knock us us off the journey. Sometimes this happens when complete victory is just at the door. We are urged not to give up. God is committed to renew our strength and to keep us going till the end. Wait on Him. Keep going. Hold on to Him and His unfailing promises.

Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Isaiah 30:18 “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” NIV

This statement comes amidst a sharp rebuke by God on His people seeking human help rather than divine help in their troubles. Israel planned to flee on horses and hide in Egypt from their enemies. He told them their confidence in Egypt was worthless. He was angry at them for only thinking of human solutions before consulting Him, being their God. Even in their stubbornness, God’s heart longed to show them grace, compassion and justice.

The fallen human nature tends towards independence from God and will first think about what they can do to remedy their challenges and find solutions. Most people will think about God as the last resort when all else has failed. When everything is fine, little attention is given to Him. When challenges come, they first think of their possessions, abilities and connections to bail them out. This is not bad per se, but becomes a problem when they alienate people from God.

God’s heart longs to be gracious to us. His compassion and justice is experienced by those who wait on Him, having placed their faith in Him. Blessed are those who trust in Him. Even though it doesn’t apparently appear that all is running well with them, the sure foundation of faith in God will truly sustain them through life and its challenges. In the end, they will be happy. God never fails those who look to Him.

Psalm 145:8 “The LORD [is] gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”

Shalom children of God

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Psalm 139:4,15-16 “Before a word is on my tongue   you, Lord, know it completely… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book  before one of them came to be.” NIV

Psalm 139 is a wonderful meditation on the greatness of God and His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. He fills the entire vast universe He created. There is no part of creation that He is not present. He knows us to the most minute detail, including our thoughts before we even think about them. He knows the words we are going to say before we say them! There is no where one can hide from Him.

He also knows every step when we were made and designed the way He designed us individually. We are all different because He Himself was involved in every detail of our making. Isn’t it a wonder that every human being that has ever existed since creation or will exist is never the same as another? Besides that, God already ordained specific days for each person to live even before we were conceived or born. The psalmist said such knowledge was too wonderful for him, and to us too.

God’s foreknowledge of us is an encouragement that our lives are not, and should not be a gamble. It’s only man’s rebellion that takes him away from a path already well planned by his Creator into all the messes we end up in. If only we seek after him, to know and walk in the ways He already set for us, our lives would be truly peaceful and enjoyable despite any upheavals. Whatever He does in and through us is in line with His good plans to bring us to an expected end for our joy and His glory. Submit to Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Shalom children of God

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” – NIV

Through prophet Isaiah, God declared that His ways are not our ways, neither His thoughts our thoughts. The difference is as far as heaven is from earth. This is the reason we may not know God with our limited human understanding. It’s like explaining some complicated happenings to a little child just begining to understand things. It doesn’t mean God is illogical.

When we try to put human logic and conceptualization to the things of God, we get lost. This is because God’s knowledge and wisdom is so incomparably vast, that even the most intelligent human mind can’t catch up with the foolishness of God. Because of this, the human mind will take God’s incomprehensible ways as foolishness. And because they reject it, they perish. They can’t picture how Jesus’ shed blood and death on a cross saves someone thousands of years later.

But what is foolishness to those using human intellect to understand, is life to those who recieve this truth in simple child like faith and submit to the Lordship of Jesus. God reveals to them, by the Holy Spirit, the riches of His grace and mercy. It becomes so precious that it can’t be exchanged with any treasures of this life! Paul tasted both sides, and he had this to say after this truth was revealed to him;

Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

John 10:3-5 “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” – NIV

Jesus the good Shepherd demonstrates the love, care and intimacy with us by speaking and calling us His own by name. Then He leads the sheep out to the pastures and in safety by going ahead. Such is the assurance to the sheep that all is well. In keenly recognizing and faithfully following the guiding voice of their Shepherd can the sheep be certain of peace and safety. The frantic voice of the stranger seeks to divert, mislead into danger, however sweet it sounds. Run away from it.

Calling us by name means He knows and cares for us individually. You are not just part of the crowd or part of the statistics in the world. To God, you are very important and valuable that you deserve His full attention. Jesus’ parable of the one lost sheep out of a hundred demonstrates this – one is too precious to be lost! (Luke 15:3-7). He looked for one! Jesus heard the voice of a blind beggar, Bartimeus, and stopped to attend to him among the multitudes (Mark 10:46-52). He hears you!

Some people feel God doesn’t know or even care about them amidst multitudes. Just because your church or group is too large and doesn’t give you attention, doesn’t mean God treats you similarly. Such people feel so lonely, rejected and worthless. They become susceptible to manipulators. Men may fail, but not God. He knows you by name, including every detail of your life and what you are going through, and attends to you personally. He truly cares!

Isaiah 49:15-16 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – NIV

Does God get angry? Yes. Paul in the portion stated and following gives the reasons why. Some know God only as so good and loving even to hurt anyone or send people to hell in eternal torment. Others only know the angry part of God waiting to whip whoever doesn’t do right. They live in constant fear. These two extremes need to be balanced by a holistic biblical teaching on God’s character. God placed all the anger and punishment we deserved for sin on Jesus. Accepting Jesus releases us from God’s wrath.

God’s anger is directed against the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. This is not in ignorance, but deliberately since whatever may be known about God has been revealed, through the preaching of the gospel and through nature which teaches about God. The magnificence of creation itself teaches even the dullest person about the nature of a great God who made these things. But men reject God despite knowing all these!

And Paul says men are without excuse for continuing in their rejection of God, practicing godlessness and all sorts of evil he mentions later. They even promote evil and legislate it! Whoever incurs God’s wrath has done it deliberately, by choosing wickedness even with the full knowledge of God and His character. Suck knowledge of God is meant to draw us to put our faith in Christ, and be saved from our sins and God’s wrath. And there is still opportunity to mend our ways with God.

John 3:17-18 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Shalom children of God.

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – NIV

A little child attempting to hide his mischievous act before an adult, is so convinced in himself that he concealed it. But to the adult, it’s plainly open. This is what human nature tries to do before God. They hide sin in the cover of darkness, secret chambers, lies, artificial smiles, excuses, acted innocence, acted holiness and righteousness, etc. This may temporary succeed sometimes before men whom one may easily deceive.

But to God, what is whispered and hatched in secrecy, between two people, is as open as what’s done in broad day light in public. God knows our thoughts even before we think them, and our words before they are spoken. He knows unspoken secrets in mens hearts. No place can hide us from His all seeing eye and omnipresence. Many unfortunately live their lives in hiding from God. They say and convince themselves as they plan and execute evil against others, ‘Does God know or see?’(Psalm 73:11).

It’s to this God, Who created and knows all things, before Whom NOTHING in all His creation is hidden, and to Wom we shall give account. As He searches our motives and intentions, whatever He tells us to do, let’s do it. It was not that He didn’t know where Adam was hiding when He called out, but He was giving him chance to repentantly acknowledge his mistake in response. But Adam, in futility, hid from God! Lets heed the wise man’s counsel,“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”(Proverbs 28:13).

Psalms 139:11-12 “If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Shalom children of God.