THE WEEPING AND PULLING OPERATIONS

 "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him" - Psalms 126:5-6

"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; ..." - Jude 1:23 

“When I was in Boston I used to attend a Sunday school class, and one day I recollect my teacher came around behind the counter of the shop I was at work in, and put his hand upon my shoulder, and talked to me about Christ and my soul. I had not felt that I had a soul till then. I said to myself, ‘This is a very strange thing. Here is a man who never saw me till lately, and he is weeping over my sins, and I never shed a tear about them.’ I don’t remember what he said, but I can still feel the power of that man’s hand on my shoulder tonight.” -(History of American Revivals, F. G. Beardsley)

While reflecting on the above salvation experience of the renowned Evangelist L.D.Moody, the scriptures above flashed through my mind. These scriptures reechoes two salient kingdom operations required for reaching and winning lost souls -"The Weeping and Pulling Operations". These operations affirms that only the weeping hands can pull hell bound souls into the path of life. The depth of our passion and prayers for lost souls determine the magnitude of our harvest. A Christian cannot win souls without intense prayer (weeping) and an unburdened worker/Sunday School Teacher/Minister will be useless in the hands of God.

Friends, God is still in the business of pulling hell bound souls out of the blazing fire. He is still putting His hands on the shoulders of lost souls in every generation. There are many L.D. Moody out there that are waiting to be rescued from hell. Will you allow God to use your hands to rescue them? Unfortunately, many hands that God wants to use today are defiled. Some hands are folded like a statue since they refused to join the active labourers in the vineyard. Majority of the working hands are monetized believers who are serving with the Gehazi's mentality. The plights of lost souls does not make any sense to them since their own salvation experience is questionable. This is very disturbing! 

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell. I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell" - C.T. Studd

Dear friends, please be sincere with yourself. Are you among the available and useful hands in the kingdom today? Can God rely on you to achieve the "8 in 80 for 80 challenge (8 Million souls in 80 days for the 80th birthday of our beloved Daddy G.O - Pastor E. A. Adeboye) before March 2, 2022? 

One very powerful song that summarises these kingdom operations is titled "Bringing in the Sheaves". 

BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES by Knowles Shaw, 1874

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,

Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;

Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Refrain:

       Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

       We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves;

       Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

       We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,

Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;

By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,

Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;

When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

As we weep for lost souls and reachout to pull them in during the "8 in 80 for 80" challenge, the Holy Spirit will convict sinners of their sins and bring them in like sheaves into the kingdom. And when the weeping and pulling operations on earth is over, our Commander shall bid us "Well done, thou good and faithful servant"

Good day and God bless you.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

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THE GAZE OF TIMANTHES

 "Friends, I don’t reckon I’m all that good yet, but I keep on looking ahead. I’m like a man running in a race. I forget what I did in the past, and I think about what God wants me to do later. I keep trying to be like Jesus, so that God will take me up to properly join up with Jesus. That will be my prize" - Philippians 3:13‭-‬14 (PEV)

There is a story of a young Greek artist named Timanthes who studied under a respected tutor. After several years, the teacher’s efforts seemed to have paid off when Timanthes painted an exquisite work of art. Unfortunately, he became so enraptured with the painting that he spent days gazing at it. One morning when he arrived to admire his work, he was shocked to find it blotted out with paint. Angry, Timanthes ran to his teacher, who admitted he had destroyed the painting. ‘I did it for your own good. That painting was retarding your progress. Start again and see if you can do better.’ Timanthes took his teacher’s advice and produced Sacrifice of Iphigenia, which is regarded as one of the finest paintings of antiquity.

There are certain things we must pay attention to in the beginning of every new year if we truly want the year to be more prosperous than the former year. One of such thing was mentioned in the Epistle of Paul to the believers in Philippi (Phil 3:13-14). In that scripture, believers were advised not to rest on their oars but rather believe that their best is yet to come. They must not allow their past achievements to retard their progress in life. 

Friends, although it is good to cherish your past successes, you must not allow them to retard your progress this year. When you set your gaze on your past laurels for too long, there is tendency that you may become too complacent to strive for better achievements in life. When you bask in the euphoria of your past successes like Timanthes, you may deny the world of the greater works of grace that God promised to unveil to the world through you in the new year (John 14:12). Past successes not properly viewed and managed can become stumbling blocks on the way to higher pedestals in life.  

Beloved, are you gazing at your past laurels like Timanthes? Are you basking in the euphoria of your past achievements instead of striving to surpass them in the new year? Have you built a monument around your past successes like that young Greek artist? If you answer is "Yes", then, it is obvious you are treading a dangerous path. The chances that you may end this year without any tangible accomplishment is very high and that will be very disastrous. 

One special hymn that re-echoes the teachings of Apostle Paul in the above scripture is titled "Higher Ground". How I wish the wordings of this hymn can become every believers watchword as we  run the race of 2022. 

HIGHER GROUND By Johnson Oatman, Jr.

I’m pressing on the upward way,

New heights I’m gaining ev'ry day;

Still praying as I’m onward bound,

“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

   Refrain:

           Lord, lift me up, and let me stand

           By faith, on heaven’s tableland;

           A higher plane than I have found,

           Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay

Where doubts arise and fears dismay;

Though some may dwell where these abound,

My prayer, my aim, is higher ground. 

I want to live above the world,

Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;

For faith has caught a joyful sound,

The song of saints on higher ground. 

I want to scale the utmost height,

And catch a gleam of glory bright;

But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,

“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.” 

Receive grace to gain new height every day of this year. May God send someone to blot out those past achievements that are capable of retarding your progress this year. Through you, God will produce greater works of grace that will draw the attention of the whole world to Christ this year in Jesus name,  Amen. 

Good day and God bless you. 

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

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WHEN ANIMALS ARE SMARTER THAN MAN

"The ox knoweth his owner, and  the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider ” - Isaiah 1:3

One year when New Year Day fell on a Sunday, a farmer decided to go to church. The sermon that day was preached from the above verse (Isaiah 1:3). At the end of the service the farmer returned home and stood among his cows. One of them began to lick his hand as a practical demonstration of the sermon he had just heard. Strong man though he was, the farmer began to weep as he thought, “God did much for me, and yet I never thanked Him. My cow is far more grateful than I am”

In the above scripture, God describes few notable traits of animals that man needs to emulate. For instance, animals are known to be very loyal and devoted to their owners. They often express their depth of devotion and loyality by using various creative ways to show gratitude to their owners. While some animals dance wagging their tails, others lick their owner's hands passionately to show respect and adoration. So, animals recognises their owners and shows gratitude to them. This is quite amazing!

God expects man to display a higher level of love, devotion and loyalty to Him than what animals shows to their owners. Unfortunately, it is sad to know that many people all over the world today do not recognise their owner. Hence, they cannot display to God those good traits that animals display to their owners. It is obvious that animals are smarter than these people. They are a bunch of ingrates who do not know God and were not willing to adore or reference Him as they should. Instead of licking the everlasting hands of God, they are busy licking or celebrating the fading beauty and glory of this world (1 John 2:15-17). This is so pathetic! 

"The world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever" 1 John 2:17

Friends, is your ox, cow or dog smarter than you? Are you licking the hands of God or you are licking the pleasures of this world? Are you grateful to God for His ceaseless flow of blessings or you are an ingrate? Don't you think God deserves your love, loyalty and adoration at all times? Are you willing to emulate those good traits of animals that God recommend, then you need to have a father-son relationship with your owner (God) today. It is impossible to lick the hands of a supreme being that you don't know. Therefore, I urge you to surrender your life to Jesus Christ now. Today is your day of salvation, tomorrow may never come. ( 2 Corinthians 6:2)   

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ" -Philippians 3:8 (NLT)

KNOWING YOU By Graham Kendrick

All I once held dear, built my life upon

All this world reveres and wars to own;

All I once thought gain I have counted loss,

Spent and worthless now compared to this.

Chorus:

        Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You

        There is no greater thing

        You’re my all, You’re the best

        You’re my joy, my righteousness,

        And I love You Lord.

Now my heart’s desire is to know You more,

To be found in You and known as Yours,

To possess by faith what I could not earn

All surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh to know the power of Your risen life,

And to know You in Your sufferings;

To become like You in Your death, my Lord,

So with You to live and never die.

May we receive grace to know God deeper in year 2022 and also celebrate Him lavishly for all His ceaseless flow of blessings till Christ returns to take us home in Jesus name, Amen. 

Good day and God bless you. 

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

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