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

FAITH SUBSIDY... Faith is like a spiritual subsidy that God has added to a believer so that things can be cheaply accessible to him. Before faith was discovered, Believers were not known to have valuable possessions; they called them "church rats". As at then, who would dare to buy a house, to buy a car, or to even get married? All that believers did was to preach; going to school was even a problem for most of them. When faith came, it became cheaper to do all those things. With a lesser effort, everything will be possible to a believer. Our bills may be heavy, but the subsidy of faith gives an assurance that we can and will clear those bills. It would interest you to know that it was in the new testament that believers were empowered to buy things. In Matt 25:9, the bible says "go to them that sell and buy for yourself". That also means that without the subsidy of faith, we really cannot afford anything worthwhile in life. But what a joy, God does not

TIMELY NOTES! God does not do small things. The psalmist says "this is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes". In Isaiah 29:14, God said He will proceed to do a marvellous work among the people, even a marvellous work and a wonder. Many people have lost great opportunities because they thought they worth more. I've seen people reject job offers because the pay is small. They prefer to sit at home than to earn a small salary. The truth is; if the fat salary job you desire were available, you may not scale beyond an interview. Sometime ago my pastor taught me that "thanksgiving is appreciating God for a small thing in a big way". That simply means that we should never allow our minds to think small of God's blessings or opportunities. I believe that, sometimes, God wears a small cloth for big blessings so that we'd have little contentions on the way. We need to start practicing the word of God; let every blessing be marvellous in our eyes.

TIMELY NOTES! As believers, our lifestyle should show to the world that God is our Helper. But how will that happen if pride is taking the place of appreciation to God? I've had privileges to work with many Christian leaders; and to be honest, most of them show me "the pride that they have worked hard" instead of "the God that has helped them". We may be diligent people, but let's not forget that a man can receive nothing except it is giving to him from above. We need to watch and pray; because the devil is seriously looking for who to destroy. And one of his proven tools is pride. If he succeeds in putting pride in you, he'd take the glory of God away from you. And if the glory of God is taken away from you, life will become a living hell for you. The reason why God glorifies the works of our hands is so that He can bless them; but if we don't return the glory back to Him, there will be no way for Him to bless us. Glory is not a blessing; rather

MY SALARY HAS NOT COME - PART 2! Waiting for salary is underrating God's ability to provide for you. Your salary may make you live, but it is God's blessing that can make you rich. Believers are not only expected to live, but also to experience riches. Experiencing riches is not just about "having abundance daily", it's more about "giving out to others daily"; and you can't give daily if you're waiting for a monthly salary. God may have blessed you with a monthly salary, but He still has daily blessings for you. Salary comes at the end of the month, blessing comes on a daily basis. Thank God for my salary; but I cannot wait till the end of the month before I can meet a need, that is too far for me. Matt 6:11 says "Give us this day our daily bread". In Ex 16:4, the Lord was giving to them on a daily basis. The psalmist confirms this when he said "Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits...". I believe the

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 alone was not sufficient to conquer Pharaoh, and that he needed to come back to Him at intervals to receive power. And every time Moses s

TIMELY NOTES! Satan knows how to fight, but he doesn't know how to win. It takes faith to win, and only those who are born of God are qualified to operate in faith. The bible tells us that "He that is born of God overcomes the world, and faith is the victory that he'd use to overcome the world". Satan may become so fierce and deadly in a fight; he may even brake your bones, and probably take out your jaws; he may take all your money and suddenly turn you into a wretch; but in all these things, you're more than conquerors. He may beat you, but he doesn't have what it takes to win you. The righteous man may fall seven times, but faith will bring him up again. That's why all things work together for good to them that love God. Jesus was dead, but faith brought Him back. Lazarus had been buried for days, but faith cleared the horrible stench and restored his life. There's no closed nor dead case with faith; as long as your faith is still on, God is sti

MY SALARY HAS NOT COME... A true Christian can't survive on monthly salaries. Scripturally speaking, God does not only give us monthly benefits, He specifically loads us with daily blessings. Ps 68:19 says "blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation". In other words, salvation launches believers into a realm of daily blessings, not just monthly salaries. Remember how God saved Israel from the land of Egypt; the bible records that God was supplying them with manna daily, for many years. As a matter of scriptures, they were particularly instructed to gather only what was sufficient for each day. In other words, God loads us with blessings that is sufficient for each day. Any need that arises in any day has a sufficient supply from God on that day, no matter how great the need may appear. I get upset when I hear believers say things like "I'm waiting for my salary". Phil 4:19 says that "God shall supply all

TIMELY NOTES! Be consistent in well-doing. As a matter of scriptures, God doesn't like it when we're not consistent. The bible says we should not be weary in well-doing, for we'd reap it in due season if we don't faint. It also says we shouldn't cast away our confidence, because it would be compensated with a great reward. The bank may be far away, but you'd still have to get there to claim your cheque. We need to begin to see our positive engagements and investments as if we are going to the bank. We may encounter traffic jam on the way, we may have to refill our tank in a fuel station, sometimes we may even need to turn back or stop to attend to a more urgent matter. But delay is not denial. You may have done so much for your spouse, your boss, your relatives, or even your children, just to make them see reasons to change; but yet, they still have that very character that you so much despise. Sometimes, you may be discouraged, and you'd even feel like

KEEP ASKING... Sometimes, God answers our prayers, not because we're His children, but because we just won't stop asking. When God does not answer our prayers, He may have good reasons why He doesn't want to answer us, or it may just be that it's not convenient for Him to answer us as at the time we asked. In Luke 11:5-8, Jesus explained how God answers some prayers. He explained that a certain man went to his friends house at a very odd hour of the night to request for bread - to feed his visitor. But his friend denied him audience, saying that it was too late, he and his children were already in bed, and he had locked the door. Jesus concluded the story by saying "even if his friend will not get up to help him because he's also a friend, he'd get up and give him everything he needs because he's not ashamed to continue knocking. Therefore, I say unto you; keep asking, until it has been given unto you. Keep seeking, until you find; keep knocking

FAITH IS ENOUGH REASON WHY GOD SHOULD BLESS YOU... 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

TIMELY NOTES! There are things that miracles may not do for us; we'd have to do them ourselves. Jesus got to 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 true 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

GOD STILL TAKES SOMETHING FROM MISTAKES... Don't worry about how you came into this world, or about the terrible experiences you've had, you're still going to fulfill destiny. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah; but Jacob and Leah were the parents of Judah. The marriage between Jacob and Leah was a mistake, but right inside the mistake is the Saviour of the world today. Though marrying Leah was a mistake, but inside her was a tribe that raised king David, and King Jesus. It was even Judah that took the leadership role in selling Joseph into slavery. Though his intentions were good, but it didn't change the fact that he sold his brother into slavery. God didn't transfer Jesus' birth to the lineage of Joseph for that reason, instead He maintained His purpose. Jesus was born in a manger, not the beautiful bed that babies enjoy these days. Imagine a new born baby sleeping in a container used to feed horses and cattle; that's where Jesus laid when He

TIMELY NOTES! God has never had a "Plan B"; rather, He has a plan. God is a Master Planner; He planned the destruction of the Wall of Jericho. When He sent Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt, He had a well designed plan that was sure to work according to how He had planned it. It might even interest you to know that God knew how Pharaoh would respond to Moses' demands; because the bible tells us that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so that he won't release the people of Israel. If what God sent you to do has not happened as He said it, it doesn't mean it won't work. Moses was frustrated because after all the weapons that God gave him, Pharaoh still held on to Israel. But God unveiled the final move when He said "I will yet release one more plague upon Pharaoh, and after that, he will let you go". The word "yet" in His words means that He had it in His plan all along. If God has given you an assignment, then He has a plan to prosper

WEALTH IN CRISIS... October 28, 2015 was the beginning of a seven month ordeal for me. I lost my job, which also was my main source of income. I thought that "with my ICT skills, I would definitely get a click in no time". But unfortunately, the more I kept that thought, the longer my ordeal lasted. In February 2016, God directed me to a bible school to offer my highly esteemed ICT skills as a volunteer service. You can imagine, one would have thought that after 4 months, God would finally give me a fat-salary job. But instead, He led me to do a volunteer service. Things were really hard in our economy that time; but then, the situation of things can not be the reason why the Almighty God did not give me a job. Then I began to wonder, what am I not doing right? I saw that God "wishes" above all things that I should prosper. But if the Almighty God is wishing, then there is a problem. He could easily bless me; but instead, He wishes. Deut 8:18 talks about the

TIMELY NOTES! In 1 John 4:4, the bible explains our earthly status; it says "we are of God and have overcome all the wickedness of the devil, because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world". That means, a single believer has so much potentials within him - that even the whole world cannot comprehend. That also means that the whole world is too small to contain the treasures that are hidden within a believer. Excuses have kept many believers in chains. They'd tell you that the reason why they can't make progress is because the devil is against them. The devil will not stop fighting against you; and that's why Jesus gave us power to tread upon all the wickedness of this world, such that nothing shall by any means hurt us. The devil is free to come against you, but he is not free to hurt you. Anytime you use the devil as an excuse for not progressing, you inform God that you're not capable of handling your earthly status. And such an excuse

TIMELY NOTES! How do you perceive things? Your perception of a thing will often determine the level of your relationship with that thing. If you want people to act differently, then see them differently. The reason why you act unfriendly towards some people is probably because your perception of them is unreceptive. I've been a victim of wrong perception. I used to see people based on what the world expects from them, instead of seeing them how they see the world. You don't put what the world needs into a man; rather, you should bring out the potentials in a man and use them to meet the needs of the world. The reason why some people break your heart is probably because you expect them to do what they don't have in them. That's how far we'd go on today's Timely Note. But take this last words; SEE AND RELATE WITH PEOPLE THROUGH WHAT THEY HAVE WITHIN THEM. REMEMBER THAT THE POTENTIALS IN A MAN WERE CREATED BY GOD, AND THAT MEANS THEY'RE GOOD. Have a most

TIMELY NOTES! Every believer is ordained to be at the top. And according to scriptures, they're expected to pull those who are not on top to the top. But you'd need a ground weight to make a great pull. Knowledge is the ground weight of every believer; the more knowledge you have, the more people you pull. Knowledge has capacity to both give you weight to pull and a push - in case you're falling. There are many people who never have downtimes, because they sustain their uptimes with knowledge. Knowledge is never restricted; its access is unlimited. The reason why many people are so limited in life is probably because they're limited in knowledge. Knowledge is a major life-support factor; without it, the issues of life will drown you. That's how far we'd go on today's Timely Note. But take this last words; THE PRESENCE OF KNOWLEDGE WILL MAKE AN ENVIABLE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE. MAKE IT AN HABIT TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY. Have a most fruitful week

JUST ONE IDEA... You're just one idea away from excellence! If people are not thinking about you, then it means you don't have ideas. Ideas naturally attract people with resources. You can't have a true idea and not have resources to match. As a matter of thoughts, God will often give you ideas that centres around the resources you have. When an idea drops into your mind, just look around you, you'd find the resources to match. During the times of consistent blackout, a certain poor man looked for a job and couldn't find one. It suddenly occurred to him that he could supply candles to the retailers who also travel long distance to buy them. He didn't have money to implement this idea; however, he negotiated with all the retailers around the community to pay the cost of buying the quantity of candles they need, but to pay a subsidized amount for transportation. Amazingly, because he was buying in large quantities, he paid an wholesale price for the candles,

TIMELY NOTES! The devil cannot distort God's plan. The bible says God is beautiful for situations; which means no matter how terrible the devil may have painted your situation, God can still repaint it to appear beautiful. God is a situation painter, and every painter naturally paints according to his thoughts. And we know from scriptures that God does not think evil thoughts concerning us, but good thoughts. Ps 115:12 specifically tells us that the only thing God is thinking about is how to bless us. Satan may paint evil pictures of you just to resist you, but God also specializes in converting his resistance to assistance. Satan thought that he was resisting Jesus; he didn't know he was assisting God to fulfill His plan. Joseph was seriously resisted by his brothers, but their resistance turned out to be an assistance that took him to the land of Egypt - where his throne was waiting for him. That's how far we'd go on today's Timely Notes! But take these last

TIMELY NOTES! How are you today? Wouldn't you be surprised if Jesus asked you that question? What would even be your response? Would you say "fine", just as you often respond to people? Or, would you give a more detailed response? Maybe you'd be silent for a moment, then burst into laughter until you forget your pains and worries. Or perhaps, your needs will suddenly be met at the instance of His voice, and your heart will be filled with joy unspeakable. The bible says the voice of the Lord is powerful, and full of majesty. You can't be hearing a powerful and majestic voice on a daily basis and not have a good day. Many believers are struggling to make ends meet, not because they don't demonstrate their faith, but because they lack the voice of the Lord. When God speaks to you, everything begins to speak for you. If the president declares me as his brother, everybody that hears it must respond to the declaration - their proofs notwithstanding. The problem

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SEND A SIGNAL TO HEAVEN... Preparation is not about getting set for what is ahead, no! It is about converting what is ahead to what you've addressed, by fighting the battles ahead now. No matter where an ordained pastor is going, he should never leave his home in the morning without an inspirational sermon on him. Many pastors are only useful to God on Sundays; because that is the day they take their time to prepare a message for God's people. God is looking for pastors that will feed His sheep; and no matter how much fasting you can do, you can't live on one meal in a week. Students should know that academic success doesn't require struggles, they just need to be adequately prepared. One of my course mates once asked me if I had checked my result, and I responded saying "there is no need, my result should be as usual". Before that day ended, someone came to tell me that I had a "Distinction" again. To be honest, I knew I'd have a Distincti

TIMELY NOTES! Signs and wonders will only follow those who believe. If you're not seeing enough wonders in your life, then it probably means you don't have enough believe. Signs and wonders are the natural heritage of a believer, but there are many believers who have had nothing to show since they began their Christian journey. This is because, most believers only believe for their salvation; and afterwards, they begin to live in doubt. They think the way the world thinks, and ultimately believe the way the world believe. Believing in the world's system may give you hope, but it is believing in the Word's system that will give you signs and wonders. That's why the Bible says we should not be conformed to this world, but that we should be transformed by renewing our mind by the word of God. A good news in the world may bring instant hope, but the good news of the Word would bring instant signs. The hope from the world's system would most often take many years

TIMELY NOTES! God does not entice people with words. Whatever He tells you is what He has capacity to do; and even if what He says doesn't exist, He has capacity to create it. God related His word to the rainfall in Isaiah 55:11; the rain falls to the ground and doesn't go back to the cloud; rather, it nourishes the earth and causes it to produce fruits. That's how God's word works; it must accomplish the purpose to which it was spoken. No matter the condition of the earth, it doesn't have capacity to reject rainfall. No matter what is going-on on the earth, rainfall would always have its priority. The same way, no matter what is happening in your life, the word of God must prevail, because it has priority over any circumstance. No matter the intensity of a burning fire, it won't overpower rainfall. And that's because the water from the rain is able to enter the source of the fire and quench it; just as the word of God is able to enter into your bones an

HMM, SO JESUS IS ALSO IN A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP... She's been there all along. It just didn't occur to me that she has the solution to all of life's challenges. Let me quickly mention that she's a miracle; an encounter with her will give you a definite transformation. Jesus has a relationship with her; I remember how He told me that He had entrusted everything He has to her, and that if I want anything, I should go through her. I honestly thought Jesus loves me more than anything in this world; but apparently, I was wrong. He loves her; even to a point that we don't even get to see Him these days until we engage her. Well I'm not so upset with Jesus, because I can still reach Him, even though it's through her. But to be honest, I like her. She gives me so much assurance, and everything she says takes me further. With her, you can't be stranded. Because she has the answer to every storm. She's always willing and ready to help, but only tho

TIMELY NOTES! I'd prefer to give you a key than to give you a gift. Some people would think that you're a greedy person when you give them good counsel instead of the request they made. They forget that every purpose is established by counsel. Knowledge is key to everything. Jesus received riches, power, glory, honour, and many other good things at His resurrection; but instead of handing them over to us directly, He took them to heaven - which is a more secure location. The psalmist confirmed it when he said "in God's right hand, there are pleasures forevermore". In Matt 16:19, Jesus told Peter that He'd give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, so that whatever he needs on earth will be supplied from heaven. 1 Pet 1:3 further tells us that "God has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us". Everything we would ever need is available, but only through knowledge. In Luke 11:52, Jesu

TIMELY NOTES! If you're not ready to go forward, then don't expect the sea to give way. Until the sea saw the children of Israel coming, it did not give way. Until Joshua and his people began to dance round the wall of Jericho, the wall didn't fall down flat. Until the woman with the issue of blood moved to touch the helm of His garment, her healing was not in view. Many believers like to wait till their problems go away, and that's why they never come out of problems. Until you move in faith, problems will not go away. They cried to God when they saw the red sea ahead, and God responded to Moses saying "Why are you people crying to Me? Tell My people to go forward". In graphics designing, there's a tool called "Distortion tool", and what it does is to transform any object to any shape you want. That's how faith is; it transforms any challenge to anything you want. But there is no way you can distort an object without the "object&quo

TIMELY NOTES! Ps 46:10 explains a formula to know God. It said "Be still, and know that I am God". But how will a man be silent when over 60,000 thoughts runs through his mind daily? How can we practice silence when everything about and around us makes noise? Many people know about God, and that's because they've witnessed His manifold acts both in their lives and the lives of others, but how many people really know God? Nature grows in silence. Grass, trees and food crops don't make a sound, yet they grow and flourish. The moon and the sun are constantly moving, yet nobody hears a single sound from them. The brightness of the day and the hotness of the weather explains the presence of the sun, yet not a single sound has come from it. Nature relates with God's provision and instructions, and that's why they grow easily. Man should also meditate on God's word or instructions, and he'd grow easily. Meditating on the word of God is the only way to

TIMELY NOTES! The bible says "let God be true, and all men liars". That also means that no man has capacity to tell the truth, except he is speaking through the word of God. This has been proven many times; a doctor would diagnose a terminal disease on a Believer, and by the time the Believer comes back for a rescan, the terminal disease would have been terminated by the power of God. Doctors and forecasters should learn this; they may have facts, but God's word is the only truth. And in the face of truth, facts are false. They should learn how to integrate the truth into their facts. For instance, if a cancer patient is told that "though he has cancer, but the truth is that God has a cure to all kinds of diseases", he'd have hope. If forecasters see heavy rain ahead, they can say things like "though we see a heavy downpour ahead, but we are believers, and we are not moved by what we see". Fact does not create hope, it is truth that does! A tim

TIMELY NOTES! Face your fears; it's the only way you can master them. The things we fear are the things we've not faced with confidence. Most of our fears are scenes of the past; but because we've refused to face them, we make them ever present. No wonder the bible tells us that "fear is a snare to destiny". The word "snare" means "a mental trap"; which means the challenge itself may not even be a problem, but our mindset has exalted the challenge above what it really is. You can silence your fears! Remember that God has not given us the spirit of fear but the spirit of soundness. If you're not making sounds then you're making fear. Fear is a mitigator of soundness. If you want to experience all-round soundness, then stop the fear that is going around with you. Somebody once asked which church I attended, and when I responded, she said "no wonder, the people that go to that church talk with soundness". I'm not saying I

CONDITIONED TO LOSE... There was a story about an eagle whose egg hatched in the midst of chickens. Though it grew up to understand that eagles are very special birds, but because it possessed a chicken mentality - it never flew beyond the capacity of a chicken. The eagle was born to win, but it was conditioned to lose. As Christians, we've been born into a winning family; but Satan has conditioned us to lose. And as long as our thoughts are framed around satan's living conditions, we'd never soar as an eagle. An eagle does not look up to the sky, rather, it looks down to the ground to see what is happening. Whatever is happening on the ground does not affect an eagle, because it soars far above the ground. Anything is free to happen on the ground, but the things that happen on the ground are not free to affect an eagle unless it permits it. The bible says we're seated far above principalities and powers. That also means that Satan is on the ground, while we are

TIMELY NOTES! Using the enemy's weapon against the enemy is an abuse of faith, which will also lead to our 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 neve