Becoming Effective Witness for Christ part 3 (The Power of witnessing) by Promise Monday

“But ye shall receive power, after that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8 KJV

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38

The POWER of our witness is the Holy Spirit.  What made Christ anointed was the Holy Ghost, it was the power behind the success of his ministry on earth. The Acts of the Apostles as written by Dr Luke of the events and activities of the early disciples was a catalogue of the activities of the Holy Ghost in witnessing through the life of the disciples in bringing many to Christ and bringing them up in Christ. It is the Holy Ghost that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure; He was working through the disciples confirming God’s word with signs and wonders. There will not be productive witnessing without the changing power of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit in the life of a witness will do so many things. For the sake of this series, we will highlight few;

-It is Spirit that transforms life into a witness, and a transformed life is evident to all: … “This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Titus 3:5.

As we witness, we should spend more time in prayer, appropriating the Spirit’s power so that we are enabled to let our light shine in such a way that others will recognize the power of God in us. Matthew 5:16 says… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Jesus went about doing good because He was anointed of the Holy Ghost.

-The Holy Spirit will grant us boldness in witnessing to the unsaved. It is what made the difference between the Apostles before and after the day of Pentecost.

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31 The power of the Holy Ghost at work in us is activated in the place of prayer and study of the word.

-The Holy Ghost produces signs and wonders. We have been equipped through the power of the Holy Ghost to do signs, deliver the oppress and heal the sick as part of our mandate of witnessing, this we cannot do if we neglect the activities of the Holy Ghost in our witnessing. Jesus healed those that were oppressed through the power of the Holy Ghost, Apostle healed the layman at the gate through the power of the Holy Ghost and the book of acts was not about the Apostles but the acts of the Holy Ghost through the lives of the Apostles in the early Church. God has been doing great things all over the world, bringing many to salvation through the convincing power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus told the official, “If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe.” John 4:48 GW.

Paul said I came to you in demonstration of power. You may need to raise the dead to prove that Christ was raised from the dead. “And my teaching and message were not delivered with skilful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God's Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 2:4 GNB

-It is the Holy that convicts the heart of men: “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” John 16:7-8 NLT

While it is in our place to witness through the help of the Holy Spirit, it is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the heart of men against sin. As Peter preached, the Holy Ghost pricked the heart of the people (“Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts of the Apostles 2:37 NLT). And the word that Peter spoke was spirit and life (John 6:63).

We will make no impact in witnessing without the active work of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We need to spend more time praying, studying, working in obedience to God’s word and living in the consciousness of the work of the Holy Spirit in our work of witnessing, then we will become effective witnesses for `Christ.

Meditation: “You will also know the unlimited greatness of his power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers.” Ephesians 1:19 GW

Prayer point: Let us pray that we will experience the greatness of His power in us and through us to be effective witnesses for Him in this lost world.

To be continued…

Becoming Effective Witness for Christ Part 2 (The Theme of Our witnessing) by Promise Monday

“16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16-17

A “witness” is someone who attests to a fact, so in order to be an effective witness for Christ, one must have first-hand knowledge of Him. John the Apostle speaks of this in 1 John 1:1-3, when he says, “That . . . which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life.” Today, we who have experienced new life in Christ give an account of His love and forgiveness, both verbally and in the way, we live our lives.

Becoming effective witness for Christ begins with understanding the theme of our witnessing which is Jesus Christ. Paul defined the gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we are explaining the sacrifice of Christ, then we’re not really sharing the gospel and witnessing cannot be effective. (“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2: 2; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 KJV) An important part of this theme is the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, not just one of many ways. “I am the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6).

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other names under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:12

“1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

"He that committed sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8 KJV

This is the gospel we are to preach is that Christ came, He died, was buried and rose again on the third day, in other to solve the sin problem of man. We must testify to the Gospel that Christ died for our sin (“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23), the beginning of the sin of man from the first Adam, the promise of the saviour as explained in the Laws and the prophets  (Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 9, 53 etc. ),  and  the purpose of his death (John 1:29, 10:10, 1 John 3). We are to testify of His burial and the importance of Christ resurrection. ("He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God." Romans 4:25 NLT). That resurrection is important in dealing with the sin problem and in eliminating sin from the world.

In becoming effective witnesses for Christ, we must understand that the unadulterated gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

“16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16-17

Meditation: Jesus chose 12 men and called them apostles. He wanted these 12 to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places to preach. Mark 3:14 ICB

Prayer point: Pray that you (we) experience more of Jesus Christ in your daily living so that you (we) can be an effective witness(es) for Him.

To be continued…

Becoming Effective Witness for Christ Part 1 by Promise Monday

“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:17 KJV

Jesus never got confused with the purpose of His coming, among many other ancillary benefits, His reason for coming was to seek and save those who were lost. In Romans 3:23...Apostle Paul revealed that all have sinned and have lost the glory of God. Jesus came to save all of mankind, you and me. None is excluded. It is important to remember that no one is too good for this salvation and none is too bad to be saved in on all ages and all races in all nations.

Jesus did not come so He could hang out with the spiritually stable or prominent religious leaders. It was so that He could get into the messy business of compassion and serving the downtrodden. He came to relate to the broken, sick and lost to lead them to eternity.

We were told expressly in 1 Corinthians 5:20 that we are Ambassadors of Christ. By Ambassador, it means the one to stand instead in representation in words, in character, in lifestyle and profession. An Ambassador has no other mission in a foreign other that he was sent to do.  In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus was single-minded about his mission for us as His Ambassadors, which is to seek and save those who are lost and disciple them for Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:8)

In Mark 2:17, we are being challenged as believers and Ambassadors of Christ to do the same, and we call it witnessing. It is the very core of our mission on Earth. Many often ask what their purpose is, and if that’s you, start with this verse. 

Go out there and be a witness for Christ. This means looking for opportunities to meet unbelievers, building relationships with them, and sharing what Jesus did in His own mission on Earth (Acts 10:38). "See your place of work, office or business as a place for ministry. When you see your boss, co-staff, or employee, ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to do in the life of that individual" said Pastor Gbenga Owa. This is what the Church is about. Like C.S Lewis said, the Church exists only but for one reason- to draw men to Christ, to make them little Christ (1 Timothy 2:4).

Witnessing is a mandate to serve with honour and not be seen as a sacrifice.

Mediation: "The thief (devil) enters only to steal, kill, and destroy (lives). I (Jesus Christ) came so that they could have life—indeed so that they could live life to the fullest." John 10:10 CEB

Prayer point: Pray that the Lord will align your heart with His Kingdom mandate as you go back the week business. And that as a local Church, we will position ourselves at the very heart of God's business which is making lost men little Christ.

To be continued...

Public Health Development

“No developing nation can improve its entrenched poor health indices without effective health policy, huge human capital and material investments and implementation strategies for Public health development”

Promise Monday on Public Health Development
12th October, 2017

Human Capital Development

“For human capital development, in addition to the education of the citizenry, emphasis is placed on promotion of healthy living, prevention of diseases, early diagnoses and prompt treatments, as well as rehabilitations of sufferers of complications of these diseases for optimum physical, psychological and social functioning. This is the hallmark of Public health development in every serious nation.”

Promise Monday on Public Health vis-à-vis Human capital Development  (10th September 2018)

Advocacy for optimum breastfeeding

"Breastfeeding is not a choice that mothers make; it is a basic responsibility of nurturing that mothers give to their children. We betray the ethics of the profession as health care providers when we make mothers believe there is greater good in not breastfeeding their children"

Promise Monday on advocacy for optimum breastfeeding
(25th August, 2018)

To my daughter on your wedding day

What A Father Told His Daughter A Day Before Her Wedding
My Daughter, tomorrow you will stop bearing my name. You will be happily married to the man you love. Don’t miss me because I have fulfilled my purpose, it is now time for you to start fulfilling yours.
From your childhood, I have raised you well by the grace of God but before you say I do, there are few things I need to tell you about living with a man and being married. Do you remember when you wrote your WAEC and JAMB exams? You came to me and I gave you 20,000 naira for the registration? Well, even though I gave it to you, the money was not mine. I know you always thought I paid the fees. The truth is, I was broke… but your mother gave me the money She could have given it to you but she decided to give it to me to give to you.
Support your husband. Some times things will get tough… he will be frustrated. Even though he acts tough, in his mind he has fears… he fear you may not value him anymore because he has fallen. That is the time to get behind him and support him!
The best way to show your husband you love him is to respect him! You may argue with him, you may disagree but at the end of the day, let him know he has your respect.
Do you remember the day I screamed at your mother? What did she do? She was quiet! Do you also remember the day she screamed at me? What did I do? I was quiet! My daughter learn to be quiet sometimes when your husband is angry. When one person is hot, the other should be cool. If two are always screaming at same time, that is how big problems start in marriage.
The first thing to know about your husband is his favourite food! If he has more than one then keep them at the back of your mind. Don’t let him ask for it, always prepare it for him.
There was a day your mother caught me touching a woman’s hand affectionately. I was lust after that woman but I was not yet cheating on your mum. When she saw us… she didn’t fight the lady, she quietly left. I was afraid of going home because all hell will break lose. But when I got home she said nothing. She served me my food. Guilt was taking control over me. I started begging. From that day, I never looked at a woman two time. Who knows? If she had fought and threatened me… maybe I could have run away from the fight into the arms of the lady. Sometimes Silent brings better solution than fight.
Forget those romantic novels you read while you were 21. Remember those Indian and American love movies? Also remember those too sweet Nollywood films on African magic? Forget them! Don’t expect your married life to be that way.
Life is different from fiction The last thing I want to tell you…. Do you remember how you were born? After our wedding, things were tough and your mum had to do two jobs to support us. I was working as well. I get home 6 PM while she gets home 8pm tired. But when we get to bed…she will not refuse me my night food. That is how you were born. Don’t form a habit of denying your husband of his night food.
Be a good wife. You will always be Daddy’s girl…