Voices of Lee // No Longer Slaves

Voices of Lee // What A Beautiful Name

The Missing Watch

Weakness or Strength

Things aren’t always what they seem

Blessings, To Abraham

Genesis 12:2-3

And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Genesis 17:1-8

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. "I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly." Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, read more.
"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. "No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. "I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. "I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

Genesis 18:18

since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Genesis 26:4

"I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

Genesis 35:11

God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.

Exodus 1:6-7

Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

Deuteronomy 1:10-11

'The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 'May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!

Deuteronomy 7:13

"He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.

1 Kings 3:8

"Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

Nehemiah 9:23

"You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

Isaiah 51:2

"Look to Abraham your father And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him."

Genesis 17:8

"I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

Genesis 12:7

The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land " So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. Genesis 26:3

"Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

Deuteronomy 1:8

'See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.'

Deuteronomy 4:40

"So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time."

Deuteronomy 11:8-12

"You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; so that you may prolong your days on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. "For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden.
"But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.

Galatians 3:16

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

Acts 3:25-26

"It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.' "For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways."

Galatians 3:29

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.

I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE

This is the testimony of a young man born blind who got his sight when Jesus ministered to him. The authorities of his day found fault and offense with Jesus and considered Jesus a sinner and as such could not have healed with God’s power. But the young man had a different impression about their view and do not accept to be intimidated to believe this label (that Jesus was as sinner).

²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”²⁴ So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”²⁵ He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”²⁶ Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”²⁷ He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”John 9:23-27

Of late in my church denomination, we have this prayer line that has become a common prayer in our prayer meetings. The prayer line goes like this and I quote: “Father, give all our new converts and new members a testimony of once I was blind and now I can see so they can be established both in faith and in the church”

The truth remains that when someone has a personal experience and discovery of God; it becomes difficult and almost impossible to make such one believe otherwise. This was exactly what happened in the case of this young man, he became so certain that Jesus is a Messiah and what could change his understanding of Jesus as such. His personal experience of the power of Jesus, do not only embolden but made him and instant disciple. He asked the people “do you people want to be His disciples? That’s boldness.

Personal testimonies or personal discovery of God is a very cheap tool in establishment of souls, it do not only establish but also gives a young believers reason to defend their new found faith and silence those that make mockery of them. Sharing becomes easy when you have something about yourself to say; you do not just tell stories but experience.

FAITH WILL ALWAYS GET GOD’S ATTENTION

Acts 3:1-8 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), ² and a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at that gate of the temple which is called ^[a]Beautiful, so that he could beg alms from those entering the temple. ³ So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking [them] for coins. ⁴ But Peter, along with John, stared at him intently and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ And the man began to pay attention to them, eagerly expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have; but what I do have I give to you: In the name (authority, power) of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—[begin now to] walk and go on walking!” ⁷ Then he seized the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankles became strong and steady, ⁸ and with a leap he stood up and began to walk; and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

Faith wherever and whenever it is expressed always win the attention of God, God never says no to faith of men on what He can do for them and with them. In verse 4, Peter said “Look at us” and the man in verse 6 paid attention with eagerness to receive something from them. The lame man expressed his faith, trusting he will receive some coins from them; this is an expression of faith and this faith won attention of Peter and John.

The man was asking for coins but eventually got healing and health which put him off the seat of beggarly. Faith does not only win the attention of God, faith also offers much more than one bargain for because at the center of faith is God and God specializes in doing far much than we can ask or imagine; He beats our imagination.

^Eph.3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

The power that works in us is the power of faith; this faith is to the extent of the knowledge of Him we possess. The more our knowledge, the greater our faith as faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God

^{Rom 10:17} So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The eager expectation of receiving some piece of coins earned this man a total wholeness because faith always gives one more than his/her bargain. You only know where you began but where faith takes you to can’t be easily estimated. So keep giving expression to your faith.

MATURITY

Maturity in psychology is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive. It is expected that it advances with age; that is to say an older person should show or exhibit a higher level of maturity than a younger one but is not always the case for there are a lot of exceptions. Maturity is an attitude built by experience.

In my country; Nigeria, it was a weekend with a holiday for us as Monday was a work free day in remembrance of the return to democratic rule. For me it was a very busy one with clustered activities. This Tuesday morning, I woke up about few minutes to 5 am and felt like going back to sleep but responsibility advised me to get up from bed anyway.

Later about some minutes to 6 am, I woke up my 3 years old daughter – Chimamanda to prepare her for school as I usually take her to school on my way to office. Guess what she told me, she said I want to sleep again. I was surprised I and my daughter had same feeling only that our responses were different. She felt like sleeping again like I do but she was ready to actual do if I had allowed her but for me, I felt so but knew I cannot sleep again because I must be at office early as usual to office. Maturity and responsibility made me respond differently. So maturity comes with a sense of responsibility and duty.

STEWARDSHIP

INTRODUCTION: A steward is involved in the act of stewardship and has a primary aim of making his/her master/lord happy and well pleased. The satisfaction of the lord is paramount and this is chased with every resource and vest. It is important that the steward possesses a mindset of LOVE for the lord and APPRECIATION of what the lord has done to him/her for the steward to be seen or said to have done well in stewardship.

WHO IS A STEWARD? Is someone who manages or is in charge of someone else property or household Matthew 24:45.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND PRECEPTS OF BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP Isaiah 28:10,13:

1.       The principle of OWNERSHIP

2.       The principle of RESPONSIBILITY

3.       The principle of ACCOUNTABILITY – Luke  16:2

4.       The Principle of REWARD – Col.3:23-24, Mathew 25:21

Yes precept must be upon precept for this principle to produce result. It must be ownership, responsibility, accountability, and then reward.

DEMANDS OF STEWARDSHIP:

1.       Faithfulness – 1 cor. 4:2

2.       Availability – Mathew 24:45-46

3.       An Understanding that it’s an appointment – Hebrew 3:2

4.       Do not seek own interest first but that of the master

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeship also enables practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulated profession.

Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.” Mathew 11:28

In apprenticeship, it is expected that the apprentice at the end of the training period should at least be like the master in skillfulness or not more than the master. Also the more time an apprentice spent with the master increases the likelihood of the apprentice been skilled in the trade.

From afore stated, two persons must be involved to make up an apprenticeship system; the master and an apprentice. The apprentice is expected to willfully enter into apprenticeship and be ready to go through the demands and training that will qualify him/her to practice.

Jesus is the Master of all ages and all His life He raised disciples (apprentices) and has even till date He continued to raise apprentices. In the city of Antioch, His apprentices were called Christians.

When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch; and both of them stayed there for a full year teaching the many new converts. (It was there at Antioch that the believers were first called “Christians.”) Acts 11:26

When we allow Him to teach us, He mirrors His characters in us; empowering us to live as Him. But He never force His characters on anyone just as it’s demanded of all apprentices to willingly submit to the master for training. So allow Me to teach you or train you is Jesus’ appeal to all today ad anyone that yields to this request never have reason to regret doing so.

Real Essence

*ANYTHING THAT ANNOYS YOU*
is teaching you patience and calmness.

*Anyone that abandons you* is teaching you how to stand up on your own feet.

*Anything that offends you* is teaching you forgiveness and compassion.

*Anything that has power over you* is teaching you to get greater power.

*Anything that you hate* is teaching you unconditional love.

*Anything that you fear* is teaching you courage to overcome your fears.

*Anything you can't control* is teaching you to let go.

*Any NO you get from humans* is teaching you to be independent.

*Any problem you have* is teaching you how to get solution to problems.

*Any attack you get* is teaching you the best form of defense.

*Anyone who looks down on you* is teaching you to look up to GOD.

Always look out for the lesson in every situation you face in every phase of life.

USE DEFINES VALUE

Every product has purpose(s) it serves; the purpose defines the use such product is put to and the use precedes the product. The value of each product is use defined; use determines the usefulness and then demand for the product. At any point in time the usefulness is lost, the value depreciates immediately and volume of demand closes up to nil.

Every product represents the producer; it’s a test of the integrity of the manufacturer. Once the value is lost or compromised the product loses worth likewise. To maintain/keep worth, almost always the producer recalls the product for the integrity he must protect/defend.

Every producer sells first the name he has made and then the product; the name made is his brand. All brand need usefulness to remain a brand otherwise a loss to the producer. To maintain a brand most producers recalls a product that fails to represent their brand.

Every recalled product is a loss to the producer but a better loss than a lost brand; it’s a necessary loss to keep brand. Once brand is kept, only a matter of time the producer makes a gain again; as all recalled product becomes a specimen for improved product.