31/12/2016 - TAKING STOCK OF 2016 AND PREPARING FOR 2017

Dear people of God, we thank God Almighty for His mercies and blessings over our lives in the last 365 days of 2016 and on this last day of the year.

I know some people would want to take stock of their lives during this year and then decide on how they would operate in 2017. Such stock taking would involve different areas of lives, most especially financial and relationships with people.

The most important stock for any sensible person to take is of his or her spiritual life. The reason is simple: a person's spiritual life determines the direction of his or her physical life. A person's spiritual life eventually determines where the person will stay during eternity in the afterlife.

It is a fact of life that most people, if not all, want a better life. They are therefore eager to do all within their power to achieve that better life.

I want to make it clear to all reading this piece that you can become whatever you want to become in life as long as you are ambitious and determined. This is so, dear friend because God created humans without any limitation.

However, limitations do come as a result of the things we indulge in. Things must first happen in the spiritual realm before they happen in the physical realm of this natural world.

It is how you operate in the spiritual realm that would determine how far you will go in the natural or physical realm.

This is why spiritual stock taking is necessary. Our Lord Jesus Christ says we should first pursue the Kingdom of God, pursue His righteousness and all other things (basic and other needs of life) He would give to us - Matthew 6:33.

A child of God is one who has repented genuinely of sin, confessed and forsaken sin and evil, declared and accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ and is living in complete obedience to God's Commandments in the Holy Bible - John 1:12-13. He or she has a working and fruitful personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

For this child of God, demonic influences (activities of satan, demons and their human agents) will always strive to prevent him or her from accomplishments in life. These demonic influences are naturally more powerful than the child of God.

Jesus Christ our Lord has given us full, total and complete authority over every single one of these demonic influences - Luke 10:19. Until and unless the child of God exercises that authority in the spiritual realm by faith, prayer, verbal declaration and obedience to God's commands, the demonic influences will have a field day in the person's life causing hindrances to manifestation of God's already promised and released blessings.

So you must take stock of your spiritual life to know your areas of ignorance, failure, hindrances and how to overcome them.

The effective way to do this is to review your life against the Word of God in the Holy Bible. If your life is at variance with God's Word, it is in your best interest to repent NOW and align your life with God's Word.

If a child of God is not doing well in life, it is either one or both of two things: (1) The person is not obeying God's commandments in the Holy Bible (2) The person does not meditate, believe and apply God's Word.

Let me make it very clear that as far as this life is concerned, you cannot prosper GENUINELY if you do not pay first fruits and tithes of your income. Read Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:9-10.

Also, read Genesis 8:22 to see that the law of seed sowing and harvest is God's universal law of prosperity for every human being on this earth.

Furthermore, it is even more pertinent to note that spiritual stock taking must include your personal relationship with God and your relationship with humans against what God has commanded in the Holy Bible.

This is essential because Jesus Christ's second coming is imminent.

If you sow seed and reap bountifully as God has made it, it does not make any sense to enjoy on earth, live in sin and miss Rapture when Jesus comes to take His children or go to hell when one dies before the Rapture.

Are there people you need to forgive? Are there restitutions you need to make from what you wrongfully took that does not belong to you? Are you living together with someone to whom you have not officially married? Are you living as a divorcee against what God says in Malachi 2:16?

Are you still dressing immorally to seduce men? Are you still keeping malice with your spouse, neighbour, parents, friends, relatives, etc?

Are you still blaming your parents, uncles, aunts, siblings, friends, relatives, the senator, governor, local government chairman or president of your country for your inability to do well in life?

Are you still using your position of authority to oppress those you oversee as a church leader, politician, supervisor, etc? Are you using your authority to sexually assault subordinates whether male or female?

Are you using your authority or opportunity as a worker to embezzle church funds, government funds or company or community association funds?

Are you still using company time to run your personal business without official authorization?

Are there people, banks or community associations you owe money to and you are still deliberately refusing to pay because you believe nothing can happen to you even when you have the funds to repay?

Are you as a parent still using your children, especially the female ones, as prostitutes to seduce and extort money from men so you can live well?

Are you as a lecturer still using your position to extort money from students or force females to sleep with you to pass them in tests and examinations?

Are you still harbouring lustful thoughts towards that girl, boy, man or woman in your church, school, neighbourhood or office? Are you still viewing pornography on your DVD player, computer, smart phone, tablet or hand held device?

Are you still listening to immoral music in the name of entertainment? Do you still dance to immoral music?

Are you still consulting prophets, mediums, witch doctors, necromancers to consult with demons (whilst wrongly believing they are your dead relatives) or to foretell your future?

Are you still blaming God for your inability to do well in life even when His Word in the Holy Bible you refuse to read has told you what to do to prosper? - Matthew 4:4; Joshua 1:8; Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

Are you still harbouring that evil thought of committing suicide because you believe God has failed you, relatives and friends failed you, the world has failed you and so there is no need to live any longer?

Are you still a Christian who is refusing to share the Gospel of Christ with others as commanded in Mark 16:15-16 and 2 Timothy 4:2? Are you a Christian who does not fast and pray? Are you a Christian who does not read the Bible, meditate on it and apply it and yet wants God to bless you?

Are you still mocking those who preach the Gospel because they are not doing well financially or because of some outstanding need of theirs and so you believe God has abandoned or failed them?

Dear friend, you urgently need to repent today and now, confess your sins to God, ask God for forgiveness and decide sincerely and wholeheartedly to turn a new leaf and live right.

God is no respecter of persons - Romans 2:11.

You can only prosper genuinely in Christ Jesus and no one else. You can only get to heaven when you depart this world in Christ Jesus and no one else.

Make your 2017 great by simply meditating on what has been posted here, acting on it and sharing with others.

Ensure to go to Church this night to end 2016 and start the year 2017 with Jesus Christ.

May God bless you as you do so in Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.

Happy New Year 2017!