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Tag: In His Presence

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: It starts in the mind

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: It starts in the mind

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Numbers 13:1-31

    Meditation verse:

    “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

    If you are on a surface and need to be pulled up by someone to a higher ground, the person pulling you up must be on that higher level. You cannot be pulled up by someone on the same level as you; you can only be dragged sideways. In much the same way, for us to get to a higher level in life, our mindsets must first get to that level. It is difficult to attain a level that the mind has not captured. Your mind or mindset must change and rise to a higher level and then it wills your body towards attaining that level. What your mind captures, your body eventually aligns to. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying to be successful, you must think big, act big and talk big. It always begins with the mind.

    Your mind is powerful. “Your thoughts influence your emotions, your emotions influence your beliefs, your beliefs influence your decisions, your decisions influence your actions. Your actions influence your outcomes in life and your outcomes again influence your thoughts”. It’s a vicious circle. For things to change, you must change, and the change must begin from inside. This principle applies not only to achieving success but also to changing an unhelpful behaviour or habit. You must see yourself in the light of the new habit you are desirous of adopting.

    When asked to spy the land which God was giving them, the children of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers. Their thoughts had a huge influence on their beliefs which evoked fear in them, leading them to say: “we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:31). Only Joshua and Caleb believed differently. They ended up being the only ones amongst the spying lot to enter the promised land.

    The greatest disability of a man is the mind and not the body. Your mind can be your greatest tool for success or your biggest weapon for failure. Guess what? “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right” (Henry Ford).

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: His ways are higher

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: His ways are higher

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: John 2:1-10

    Meditation verse:

    “His mother said to the servants, “whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).

    The ways of God are not the ways of men. Isaiah 55:8-9 says “for My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts”. When God give you an instruction, be sure to do exactly what He says and promptly, rather than what you think is best.

    At the marriage at Cana, the wine got finished, so the organizers had a problem at hand. The problem was presented to Jesus and His mother told the servants to do exactly what Jesus commanded. The miracle is always in the obedience, and this is where we miss it as Christians. God sometimes instructs us to do things that seem foolish to the human eye. But you must remember that his ways are sovereign.

    Imagine asking for wine and being told to fill jars with water. Imagine needing money for tax and being told to go to the sea and cast a hook to collect a piece of money from the mouth of the first fish that comes up (Matt 17:27). Imagine fishing in tested waters all night as an expert fisherman and catching nothing, then being told to cast your net into the least likely side of the river (Luke 5:5). Imagine been told to roll away the stone from the grave of a man who had been dead several days and stinking, so that he could be brought back to life (John 11:39).

    What is God stirring your heart towards? Are you struggling to obey because it looks foolish? The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. Do yourself a world of good by responding quickly. Remember, the miracle is always in the obedience and obedience begins only when you take the first step.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: What to do in God’s waiting room

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: What to do in God’s waiting room

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Acts 1:12-26

    Meditation verse:

    “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers” (Acts 1:14).

    Every now and then, we find ourselves waiting on God to fulfil an earnest desire of our heart which seems to be tarrying. It’s called ‘being in God’s waiting room’. Some of us are waiting on Him for a financial breakthrough, some to get a promotion, some to relocate abroad, some for the fruit of the womb, some for their life partners and others to commence the ministry which they believe they have been called unto.

    Waiting on God does not mean sitting around doing nothing. In our reading for today, the apostles were in the upper room waiting for the promise of the Holy spirit. Jesus had told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Though they had no idea how long this would take, they did not just sit down doing nothing. They chose to get organized and prepare for the ministry that Jesus had handed over to them: they continued in prayer and supplication, chose a replacement for Judas, and kept the fellowship with one accord. And when the day of Pentecost eventually came, they were prepared.

    Are you currently in God’s waiting room? What do you think you should be doing as you wait? How should you be preparing for your day of visitation? Are there programs you should attend? Are there character traits that need working on? Do what you should, while you can and for as long as you can. Then leave the rest to God. That way, when your day of visitation finally arrives, you will not be taken unawares.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The food for infancy

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The food for infancy

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Numbers 11:1-35

    Meditation verse:

    “And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy” (Ps 78:18).

    As you present your requests to The Almighty, make certain that you are not asking Him for what is called the ‘food of fancy’. The ‘food of fancy’ is anything you desire for purely selfish reasons: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the pride of life. James 4: 3 states “you ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures”. Seeking to fulfil God’s purpose for your life will lead to peace and fulfilment, whilst the ‘food of fancy’ will eventually lead to physical or spiritual death.

    In today’s reading, the children of Israel complained against God’s daily supply of manna. They had no idea why God chose to feed them with manna in the wilderness. Perhaps it was what was best for their digestive systems in that environment, but they rebelled and murmured against God. Then He gave them the food of their fancy: quail. “But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague” (Number 11:33).

    God promises to hear you if you ask according to His will, and you are not left to figure this out on your own. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, for we know not what to pray for. “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Rom 8:27 NIV).

    So, are you asking for the ‘food of fancy’ or are you asking in accordance with God’s will? Could it be that reason why that request has not been granted is because it falls into the category of “the food of fancy”? Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart this day.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Expect the best from your father

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Expect the best from your father

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Mathew 7:7-12

    Meditation verse:

    “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Mathew 7:11).

    You have a loving Father who delights in blessing you with good things. How do I know? Because it is written everywhere you look in the bible: –

    Psalms 84:11 says “for the Lord God is a sun and a shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

    Psalms 23:1 says, “the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”

    Psalms 35:27 says, “let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant”.

    3 John 2 says, “beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”.

    John 16:24 says, “until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full”.

    Mathew 7:7 says, “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”

    What other evidence do you need? “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said it, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). So today, ask your Father for the best and expect the best from Him.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: When men say ‘no’ to you

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: When men say ‘no’ to you

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Exodus 10:1-29

    Meditation verse:

    “Now the Lord said to Moses, ‘go into Pharoah, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him” (Ex 10:1).

    God may choose to harden the heart of men against you so that He may display his miraculous signs in your life. He wanted to display His awesome power before Pharoah as well as build up the faith of the children of Israel ahead of their journey to the promised land, so He said to Moses: “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” (Ex 10:1-2).

    Not everyone you ask for a favour, will oblige you and not everyone who refuses to oblige you is doing so from a point of wickedness. Proverbs 21:1 says: “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. God can cause a man to favour you in any situation, He can also cause a man to withhold that favour from you. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). Certain rejections and disappointments are a set up for God to do the miraculous in your life. If you fully understand this, you will fret less in the face of disappointments. You will hold your peace when those you expect to come through for you fail to do so.

    If you are currently nursing a grudge because the one you expected to be of help to you in your time of need, deserted you, do yourself a favour and let go of that grudge. The help of man is useless anyway and cannot be compared to the might of The Almighty. (Ps 60:11). If you have exhausted all your options at this moment, why not boldly declare: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Calling the things that are not as though they were

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Calling the things that are not as though they were

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Genesis 1:1-31

    Meditation verse:

    “…in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17).

    Hebrews 1:1-3 says “now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible”. This is a spiritual mystery which the physical mind may find difficult to comprehend. In the physical world, we make stuff with materials that we can see and touch. Not necessarily so in the spiritual world. You can call things into existence from that which is invincible to the human eye.

    In the book of Genesis, the bible records that in the beginning, the earth was without form and void; darkness was upon the face of the earth. Nothing was visible to the physical eye. But God saw what the earth could become. He saw light, dry land, grass, trees, fruits, birds, animals, and man. And then He began to call them forth into existence. You have the DNA of your Father, and you too can create according to the working of the Holy Spirit in you.

    A popular quote is “if you can think it, you can do it”. In order words, if you can see it with your spiritual eyes, you can create it in the physical world. This is the powerful concept known as “envisioning”. The power behind it is: “we become what or receive what we see because the brain wills the body to move towards what it has seen. The brain captures a picture of what you have seen and creates a hunger for it within you.

    Stop waiting the see the evidence with your physical eyes before you believe. Call forth by faith with your mouth, the things you want to see in your life. Then believe that you have them and you will. It’s only a matter of time.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Your destiny will find you

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Your destiny will find you

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Jeremiah 1:4-8

    Meditation verse:

    “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

    In the movie “why did I get married”, four couples and best friends fly to the mountainside town of Pemberton on an annual vacation to work on their marriages. One of the wives, Sheila was overweight and couldn’t fit into the aircraft seat. Instead of offering to drive with her to the vacation getaway, her husband made her drive there alone, whilst he flew with her best friend, whom he had been dating secretly. It was a very lonely drive up the snowy mountain for Sheila. At some point she had to abort her journey due to the snow and seek refuge in a police station, where she spent the night. The Sheriff of the town was pleasant and receptive to her. He took her to join the others in the morning.

    Sheila learnt of her husband’s affair during the vacation and was even more devastated when he asked for a divorce instead of begging for forgiveness. Sheila, being a Christian had prayed for her marriage to get better but now, she felt abandoned by God. Whilst the others returned home, Sheila stayed back at Pemberton. The Sheriff whom she had met only a few days ago, was by her side offering comfort and encouragement. He helped her get on a weight loss journey and eventually, they got married.

    As Sheila rode up that snowy road, she must have felt dejected and alone. How could she have known that she was walking the path of destiny? Jeremiah 10:23, (NLT) says “I know Lord that our lives are not our own, we are not able to plan our own course”. Proverbs 20:24 (NLT) says “the Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”. God knows the paths He has carved out for you. Before you were formed in the womb, He knew you. Before you were born, He sanctified and ordained you for a purpose. That pathway you are currently on may be a lonely and painful one, but it just might be the pathway to your destiny. At the end of the day, our destinies will find us.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: A new season

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: A new season

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Isaiah 55:10-11

    Meditation verse:

    “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater” (Isaiah 55:10).

    Part of my early morning prayer ritual is to open the little window in my bathroom whilst it is still dark outside and declare into the emerging dawn, how I want my day to turn out. On this morning, it began to rain as I opened the window. And then I heard the following words in my spirit, “as it is in the physical, so it is in the spiritual, as it is in the spiritual, so it is in the physical”.

    The rains are usually an announcement that a new season has begun. The rains signal the beginning of the rainy season as well as the end of the dry season. I sensed God saying to me that just as the heavens have been opened and there was an outpouring of rain upon the earth, so shall the heavens be opened so that there would be an outpouring of every form of abundance over our lives.

    Just as the Lord spoke to my heart that morning, I declare over your life this day, that as it is in the physical, so shall it be in the spiritual. There shall be an outpouring of the rain of favor, healing, salvation, deliverance, mercy, grace, anointing and great wealth over your life this day and beyond. Where you had hitherto experienced dryness, the siege is over. For thus says the Lord, “do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19). Welcome to a new season.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: It’s all in the Word

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: It’s all in the Word

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: 2 Timothy 3:10-16

    Meditation verse:

    “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

    Second Timothy 3:16 says that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. What this implies is that in the word of God, you can find solutions, insights, ideas, and answers for anything you are looking for.

    In the UCB devotional, the author in explaining how the world has been blessed by God given ideas, gave the example of how a Scottish doctor, James Young Simpson introduced what he called “artificial sleep” because of reading Genesis 2:21 which says that “and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. His experiment led to the use of anesthesia for surgical operations. Similarly, it has been suggested by bible scholars that the Wright brothers got the inspiration to make humans fly in airplanes after they read Isaiah 40:31 which. says that “…they shall mount up with wings like eagles”.

    Psalm 119:105 says “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. Do you need a great idea that will impact humanity? Search the scriptures. And as you do, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your understanding and reveal the mysteries in God’s word.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.