Emeka Anslem's Blog... Bringing knowledge to the people

TIMELY NOTES! Ps 7:11 tells us that "God judges the righteous, and He's angry with the wicked everyday". God is not waiting till the judgement day before He judges our actions, He does that everyday. But how does God judge the righteous? Matt 12:37 tells us that "we shall be justified or condemned by our words". According to James 3:2, God's definition of a perfect man is "one who offend not in word". James further talks about how a small bit in the mouth of a horse can be used to control the horse, and how a small helm in a ship can be used to determine the movement of that ship. Your tongue is tiny in comparison to the size of your body, but the words spoken by your tongue will change the course of your life. Isn't it wonderful to know that you can control the storms of your life by learning to tame your tongue and speak God's word? James also mentions that the tongue is a fire; and that means if we're not careful with what we say

TIMELY NOTES! We've been taught that God's word is classified into Logos and Rhema. Logos is the sum total of all the sayings and expressions of God, while Rhema is the spoken word of God. Simply put, Logos is the bible in our possession or the words that God speaks directly to us, while Rhema is the word we speak from the bible or from God. Satan knew that Jesus was hungry - knowing that He had fasted for a long time. He tried deceiving Him to turn stone into bread, but Jesus responded with Rhema. He said "it is written... ", and Satan left that matter. Ezekiel did something similar at the valley of dry bones; he spoke God's direct words to the bones, and the bones became an army. Philemon 1:6 explains that "the communication of our faith would become effectual by speaking of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus". In other words, our faith becomes effective when we speak the word of God, either to our present or to our future. Eph 6:17 te

TIMELY NOTES! Many of us live in streets with terrible roads. Asides the fact that we do nothing about fixing them, we also blame the government for the bad roads. The bible specifically mentions that believers would build the old, waste, and desolate places, not government. If we keep waiting for the government to do things, when are we going to be believers? The world is earnestly waiting for the sons of God to manifest their purpose. And truly, a time is coming when the presence of a believer in a community will not be unnoticed; not because he prays aloud in the night, but because of the relief he creates in the community. Many believers have wrong orientations about manifesting their beliefs; they think what they need to impact their world is money. That's true, but finding purpose is a priority. There are many Christians who would never smell true riches until they find purpose. Remember that Jesus only began to enjoy true prosperity after He discovered His purpose. And H

TIMELY NOTES! God will not allow a man of faith to be destroyed. As a matter of scriptures, Jesus is looking for people with faith. Lk 18:8 tells us that God is ready to answer the prayers of His children, but the challenge is that He may not find faith among them. God is never far from faith, the moment faith appears God appears. When you find faith, you've found God. Many are called, but only men of faith are chosen. Men of faith are scarce to find; and that's why God doesn't joke with the few ones He finds. When God finds a man of faith, He visits him with pleasures forever more. And that's why a man of faith prospers anywhere he goes. The only way we can find faith is to consistently study and meditate on the word of God. Asides the fact that we need faith to live a christian life, God also needs our faith to accomplish certain tasks for Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. That's how far we'd go on today's Timely Note. But take thes

TIMELY NOTES! If going to church isn't drawing you closer to God, I think you should restructure your life. The reason why we go to church is to re-learn the things that the first man lost to sin. The first man walked in the full knowledge of God, he didn't need to go to church. The bible even records that God comes down to talk to him in the cool of the day. Church only came into existence when sin entered the consciousness of man. In order to destroy sin, we have to re-learn the truth. And the church was created primarily to teach people the truth. Knowing the truth naturally draws man closer to his Maker. I've witnessed unbelievers who believed that they were on the right track until they encountered the truth of God's word. Suddenly, they begin to cry out for salvation, they become uncomfortable with their unrighteous life, and all they'd desire is to get closer to God. That's what the truth does, it makes you want more of God. Some believers have uncons

TIMELY NOTES! There are things that miracles may not do for us; we'd have to do them ourselves. Jesus got the tomb where Lazarus was buried, and before He made any move, He told them to take away the stone which was used to cover the tomb. Imagine for a moment; He was there to perform a miracle which would raise a man who had been dead for 4 days back to life, why didn't He use a miracle to move the stone? Many believers have filled their minds with concerns. It's important to know that; the only way we can experience the power of God is to be at peace with ourselves. The reason why God is not acting on our needs is probably because our minds are acting on concerns. No matter how much you think about a need, it won't be met until you begin to think about a solution. Remove the concerns, and God will intervene. It's more like saying "remove the stone, and I'd raise Lazarus from the dead". Reduce your meditations on the worse that could happen, and i

TIMELY NOTES! Sometimes, our needs are too urgent to wait for God's time. At the wedding at Cana, a report came to Mary that there was no more wine to serve the guests. She immediately turned to Jesus to inform Him about the situation. Jesus, without hesitation, replied that it wasn't time to perform a miracle. Mary didn't accept His explanation, instead, she went further to instruct the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Though it wasn't time for Him to perform a miracle, but Mary's faith made it His time. God does not consider His timing when He finds faith in man. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as a "Now Force", which means it is made to deliver at the very moment it is engaged, the time notwithstanding. God may have reasons why He shouldn't give you your desires now, but if you bring forth your strong reason, you'd leave Him with no choice. Faith is a stronger reason why God should give you your expectations. That's how far

TIMELY NOTES! God is not going to change. He is already everything He is, should be, and will be. Many people say things like "God should have blessed me by now". They may be correct, but the truth is; God had already done everything He should have done. God finished the work of creation on the sixth day, and rested on the seventh day. The fact that He rested means that He really finished the work. If God finished the work, why do many believers struggle to access the finished work of God? When sin took over the world, Jesus came and carried the sin of the whole world upon Himself. And according to scriptures, His last words on the cross were "it is finished". Again, if Jesus finished the work, why are believers struggling to make ends meet? Knowledge is the problem! Many believers are struggling only because they're ignorant of the finished work of God. Why do we have to struggle to accomplish the same thing our heavenly Father has finished for us? God has

TIMELY NOTES! Don't worry yourself over the needs of tomorrow, because the God you serve knows how to settle the needs of tomorrow today. Focus on His kingdom, and He will take care of all your burdensome needs. Don't let your house rent and those heavy bills weigh you down; as long as you're serving God, He'd clear everything before the due date. Worry wearies God from working on our needs. God may be worried when we are worried, but it doesn't mean He's working on our needs. We need to develop absolute confidence in God. Sometimes, when our needs are not met, I feel it's our confidence that betrayed us. We allow our needs to cast away our confidence in God. The psalmist declared that he has been young and old, yet he had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. God is not going to forsake you as long as you don't lose confidence in Him. That's how far we'd go on today's Timely Note. But take these last words; A LIF

TIMELY NOTES! Let's guard our mind with all diligence, because most of the challenges we go through have a root in it. Though redemption has placed us far above Satan, but he uses the imaginations of our mind as a portal to come to our level. If you're able to successfully think through evil imaginations, then Satan has successfully passed through to your level. We need to watch it; the moment we begin to imagine evil, Satan is already initiating his passage. This is why the bible tells us to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God. Satan can exalt himself above the knowledge of God, but only through our imaginations. According to the knowledge of God, Satan has been placed beneath us, but our imagination can place him above us. It's not late; the weapons of our warfare has been designed to pull down every demonic strongholds that have sneaked their way above us. Let's pray, fast, and even study more of God's wo

TIMELY NOTES! As Christians, if we're not prayerful, we'd be vulnerable to sickness and diseases. I use to have an unstable health condition; I felt feverish even when other people complained about heat. Sometimes I felt very hot and sweaty, yet my lungs and nostrils would be blocked, i'd sneeze profusely, and also develop ache in my head. I was inspired to eat apple daily, and whenever I did, it subdued the catarrh and intense sneezing. There were times when the ailment would become too powerful for apples to handle, so I had to endure the pain. Suddenly I was admonished to engage in scheduled prayer with fasting, and those ailments would go far from me. Miraculously, it happened. I started serving God in my prayers; praying for the advancement of His kingdom. The more I prayed, the lesser I sneezed. The ailment was so bad that I couldn't dare to sleep with a cooling system. If I did, i'd struggle with my breath when I wake. But now, I need all the cooling syst

TIMELY NOTES! God told David to sit at His right hand until He makes his enemy his footstool. I've discovered from scriptures that, anytime God wants to change the cause of things, He demands that we wait in His presence. After Jesus was baptized, the bible records that the Spirit of the Lord drove Him into the wilderness, and He remained there for over 40 days and nights. When Jesus was preparing to ascend to Heaven, He told His disciples to wait in the upper room until they are endued with power. Jacob had to wrestle with an angel until he was empowered to face Esau. Prayer is not a gift, it's a power generator. The longer you stay on the altar of prayer the more power you access to oppress your oppressors. God gave Moses a rod, which was more like a gift, and a gift will certainly make room for you. But God proved to Moses that his gift was not enough to conquer Pharaoh, and that he needed to come back to Him at intervals to receive power. Every time Moses spent in God&#

TIMELY NOTES! A labourer is worthy of his reward. Man rewards with money, but God rewards with blessings. A man may pay you with a cheque, which will enable you to claim your money from the bank; but God pays with joy, which will enable you to draw blessings out of the wells of salvation. The bible tells us that both he that sows and he that reaps receive wages, so that they can rejoice together. Also, heaven rejoices over every soul that is saved; and since we're heavenly creatures, we naturally rejoice when the souls we witness to receives salvation. The joy is as visible as the physical cheque, but the challenge is in withdrawing the blessing. If a thief steals your cheque, though he won't be able to withdraw the money, but you'd have nothing to present to the bank, which also means you won't receive the reward for your labour. There are many Christians who have not been able to receive God's blessing because Satan is keeping their joy. Satan can't receiv

TIMELY NOTES! Using the enemy's weapon against the enemy is an abuse of faith, which will also lead to defeat. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That was Jesus speaking; and He was ironically saying we should use a gun against a knife. Hatred may destroy our enemies, but love will restore their souls. Curses may condemn our enemies, but blessings will allow God to do is will. The bible says we should fight the good fight of faith. And a fight of faith is the one that has absolute confidence in God and His word. The only reason why witchcraft will affect any believer is if the believer lives by the flesh, and this is because he that lives by the flesh is subject to the works of the flesh. Christians have the Holy Spirit inside of them, which is far greater than any works of the flesh. The witches around us are not the problem; Jesus never had problems w

TIMELY NOTES! When passion begins to drive you, nothing else will matter. Your life will suddenly become one-directional. People will think you've become incompetent in the things you used to do well. And as much as you try to make it up to them, you just keep getting it wrong. It's not your fault; the vision is more powerful than your will to please people. The bible tells us that "the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak". When vision begins to speak, everyone and everything that is not destined for it will become victims of it. A time is coming when man will no longer need to wait for the manifestation of visions, because as God is showing them these visions, He'd also be empowering them for immediate execution. Two men desired to be disciples of Jesus; one of them explained that he needed to go home to bury his dead father, the other said he wanted to bid his family farewell. Amazingly, Jesus told them that those things won't

TIMELY NOTES! What is following you? And these signs shall follow them that believe; in the name of Jesus, they'd cast out demons, they'd speak with new tongues, they'd lay their hands on the sick to recover, no poison, whether physical or spiritual, will be able to hurt them. If Pharaoh knew that signs and wonders were following Moses and the people of Israel, he wouldn't have pursued after them. Unfortunately for him, the signs and wonders which were following Moses and the people of Israel consumed him and his army. As believers, we need to understand that the power that is following us is far greater than the powers that are pursuing after us. What is blocking your path? Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the powers of the wicked, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. We really shouldn't be concerned with the things that are blocking our path,  because we have the power to work over them unhurt. If Moses and t

TIMELY NOTES! Faith is a display of confidence in God until your desired result is obtained. Don't tell me you had faith but your desires didn't come to pass. People who have faith for something keep their faith alive until they get what they want. The bible tells us not to cast away our confidence, because it will be greatly compensated with a reward. That also means that, sometimes, God may not give you what you desire, but if your faith is alive, He'd reward you with something that will quench your desire. The time has come when a believer should sit with God until his faith yields a testimony. The psalmist says that we should sit down at God's right hand until He makes our enemy our footstool. Truly, faith without works is dead; but faith-works without expectation is fake. This also means that a christian that lacks a testimony of faith is a fake christian. Faith is the only proof that we live by God's word. The bible says the world was framed by the word of

TIMELY NOTES! No matter how much your parents love you, you'd never be the first priority on their financial obligation list. They'd first pay their workers, people who are responsible for the income they get. There are children who request for money from their parents, and there are children who earn the money they get from their parents. Your parents may neglect you when it's just a request, but it's impossible to neglect a person you're owing. Even if they don't have the money to pay, they'd plead with you. According to Mal 3:16-18, we'd discover that God has a record book for all His children; and within the record, He indicated those children who are thinking about Him. In verse 17, He said He'd bless all His children, but in verse 18 He mentioned that there'd be a difference between the children that are serving Him and those who don't serve Him. And the difference will be, while some children are waiting for God to attend to their

TIMELY NOTES! When a man is drunk, it becomes obvious to everybody that sees him, and they'd say he's under the influence of alcohol. If he's constantly afraid, they'd say he's living in a state of fear. If he's anxious, they'd say he's in a state of anxiety. My point is, the subjects often used to describe the state of a man are usually abstract, yet their occurrences are undeniable. If this is the case, why can't believers live under the influence of God? I'd like to hear people say things like "he's under the influence of God's word". Instead of living in a state of fear and anxiety, what's wrong with living in a state of favour? Let's study God's word till we get drunk, and become influenced by it. The only time many Christians live under the influence of God's word is just after a Sunday service. Amazingly, people also notice when a person is living under a demonic influence. Peter went to preach in a pl

TIMELY NOTES! God will never allow the enemy to take everything you have from you. He'd always leave something that He can work with. When Satan proposed to torment Job, God gave him permission, but warned him not to touch his body. Satan made another proposal, and this time, God permitted him to touch Job's body but that he mustn't take his life. Job lost every material possession he had, and also lost his health. But despite all that he lost, he still had his mouth to worship and praise God. He still had capacity to pray for His friends. Abraham had lost his youthful age, and that made it impossible to do valuable things with his life. But he still had obedience. If God allows you to lose anything, then it probably means that He doesn't need those things to fulfil your destiny. He is not only "God" because of what you have, He's also the God of what you have left. God knows how to use what you have left to restore you to a position far beyond what yo

TIMELY NOTES! While we were growing up, we always go to our parents to table our needs. And because we know they'd start processing our request, we begin to expect their response - until we get it. Sometimes, when their response is delayed, we go back to them to remind them. In meeting our needs, our parents, oftentimes go extra miles just because they can't afford to let us down. Some parents are in heavy debts today because of their children. Now, if we know how to expect our earthly parents to give us what we ask for, then why do we lose confidence in our heavenly Father? The bible tells us that "if our earthly parents, who are naturally evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, then God is more committed to give even more to them that ask Him". God is ever ready to answer our prayers, but ninety percent of people who pray to Him never expect what they pray for. I was to teach a class about the Holy Spirit yesterday, but before I entered the class, I

THIS MONTH! Faith is a clear picture of God's word. People will not see the word in you until they see the faith on you. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. This also means that we can frame our lives through faith in the word of God, not minding what we have or what we don't have. The purpose of faith is like that of John the Baptist, it makes a way for the word to manifest itself. You've framed your life by the happenings in this world for too long, it is time to change the frame. This month, whatever is affecting others will not affect you! Your faith will take you up to high places! God will attend to your faith every step of the way this month. Get set, as you're praying, God will be answering! Whatever you could not achieve last month will be achieved with ease this month! The testimonies that no one has shared in your lineage will be shared by you t