Brighter Life Ministry

Mark  4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. After a long day of ministerial work, Jesus beckoned on the disciple to go over the other side of the town, and the only means of transportation is to go by the sea.  Not long while on the journey there arose a great storm of wind, it troubled the water and its waves beat into the ship (Mark 4:37) Everyone should have thought that the wind should have respected Jesus who has power over every elements of heart (air, water, fire), at least for the main time Jesus would travel on the sea.  Trouble came, the disciples were afraid, nobody wants to die, at instance they knew they have Jesus, but yet the presence of Jesus is not enough for them not to be afraid.  Jesus latter came to their rescue, challenged them of their lack of faith, rebook the storm and declare peace unto the sea.  Dear reader, now here is the lesson.  First, ...

Acts  1:26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Nightfall is the part of a day when the sun goes down and evening begins. It is a time when the dark begins to set in. It is a time in a man's life that work is done and everyone does home.  Nightfall also signifies the old age in man which proceed death, the book of Ecclesiastes admonished the youth  in the book of Ecclesiastes  12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; night fall now becomes a time strength of man will be diminishing.  It is of God's plan to work and walk with us till the end of our days, He purposed His will for us till we grow old.  Its been the culture to make replacement where there is displacement, most especially in times like this where every where seems stuck, There is a perfect replacement for a...

Deuteronomy  10:1 At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. Someone has said, "you don't value what you have until you lose it."  may that not be our lots. Amen.  Moses had such a bitter experience as he led God's people in the direction of the promised land. He went to the mountain of God by invitation, waited before Him for several days, and coke back with the tablets of the law.  It personally hewn out by him and written upon by the 'hand' of God. On his return to the camp, he discovered that the people had relapsed to idolatry, he was furious that he forgot everything about how he got the tablets in his hands, and smashed them on the ground.  By the time he was made to chisel put two tablets like the first ones and return to the awesome presence of God, he would have understood by the involvement that it cost God some things before he was given the...

Hebrews 12:15 [15]Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God’s best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives. (Living Bible)  The "root of bitterness" mentioned here is synonymous to a metaphor used in Deuteronomy 29:18–19. There, the people of Israel were warned about those who assumed they'd be blessed and protected by God, despite their willful sin.  God showed me a vision recently, I saw myself visiting a friend, and on getting there, I noticed he has acquired a new pet, and guess what, it's a cub, I was very surprised. My friend told me it's playful and friendly, I can testify to it too as for a few minutes I was there it's all full of playing around.  But something happened when I held unto it to have a little intimacy, it gripped my hand as if it wanted to bite, I tried releasing my hand but I didn't find it easy to do so, ...

2 Corinthians  12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Reading from verse one of the chapter twelve of the book, we will get a clearer picture of the message God is passing across Apostle Paul in verse seven did not specify the actual type of the physical infirmity he had, but it was affirmed that it persisted in his flesh by the will of God in other that he did not exalt himself in reference to his choice to undergo great hardships in preaching the Gospel As human he prayed, not once but three consecutive times for God to take away this infirmity but received no answer Sometimes our prayers are not answered, not because God is not capable of saving us from one sickness or the other, but to bring our his glory from it. Apostle Paul concluded that God would not remove the thorn, he was then content with his physi...

Luke  23:18 And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: Today is the story of a time when Jesus was imprison before crucification, standing trial before Pilat. It was a time for a presidential pardon for a criminal to be released, Jesus Christ had been imprison together with Barabbas and the choice has to be made by the people. A little bit about Barabbas. John 18:40 calls him an “insurrectionist.” That means he had revolted against the government. He had caused civil unrest. He hated the current politics. And Mark 15:11 says he had “Committed murder.” That’s probably the actual charge that had gotten him thrown into prison. Murder. Probably during the insurrection. Murder done in the name of politics. In essence, this is the choice before the people. Pilat asked, Do you want me to release  the Terrorist OR Jesus the Saviour of the world?  the choice was obvious, Pilate stood with his arms crossed. …then the crowd made th...

John  2:5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Instructions are detailed information about how something should be done or operated. In a contemporary life of man, examination is given to any student who wants to progress to another level, no matter how cheap or easy the examination may be, the student still have to follow the detailed instructions given, refusal to follow the instructions will definitely result into failure. Every works of God in the life of any man always come with a detailed instructions to follow, this always confirms the obedience of man to God's words. God performed miracle at the wedding at Canna of Galili, He specifically gave instructions to the disciples on what to do... Thank God for the mother of Jesus who had first told them to do whatever He command them to do. God told Joshua on what to do after they met a dead end at the wall of jericho... A detailed instructions was given (Joshua 6:1-20) God’s work stops wh...

1 Samuel  20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.  it is  foolish and presumptuous for us to face danger headlong when we can do something either to avert or escape it. David acted wisely according to the text, it had been very clear to him that his life was no longer safe with King Saul. He had seen clear signs to confirm his fear. David opted to start away with the support of Jonathan, his friend  and close confident. It might have been too foolish to think that since God had chosen him to be king, He would have prevented Saul from killing him, even if he was careless with his own life. He did what was right, ran away and hid We need to learn from David, God's promises of protection, guidance, and deliverance are not to make us complacent, negligence, foolish or presumptuous. There are certain things God would not do for us, when are supposed to avoid danger, we must do as much as God is giving us ...

John  8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus John  8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. a person convicted of a criminal offence for the first time. Many systems impose a lesser punishment and try to avoid imprisonment lest the offender become worse in such a crime.  A sin committed for the first time is sometimes considered as a mistake and  ignorant, such person in the act acutely does not have a criminal record before hand.  Such is the case of a newly convert believed, where there is no law, there is definitely no sin, the moment you accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savour, you have a set sown rules and guidelines to follow, laws to obey (though in grace), these are to guide us through the principles of Christ we have just received.  In the process of salvation, we are washed and cleansed by the precious  blood of ...

Lamentations  3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. If we are going to be honest with ourselves, we all hate to wait, in fact more often than not, we say something like, "I can't believe this is taking so long; it's costing me time I don't have" That's because most of us consider waiting time to be wasting time. But it's not so with our God. Anytime you wait on God, He works, even when you can't see what He is doing. God is always coordinating the events of the heavens and the earth to accomplish His purposes for the life of His children. Moat of us loathe waiting. We'd rather be in the control, in the driver's seat, making moves, making things happen and getting results.  Yet,  God values waiting so much that it's one of the main tools He uses in our lives to get to our hearts and change us from the inside out. For answers: for a mate, for a job, for a raise, for baby, for breakthrough,...

Matthew  26:8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? The stories of the Bible will never be complete, especially the story of the life of Jesus Christ without mentioning the woman that anointed Jesus with a precious oil...   For it was  written that where the gospel is preached this should also be preached (Mathew 26:13) This woman brought a precious oil filled in an alabaster box. Considered to be the costliest oil in those time, and used it to anoint Jesus' feet.  The disciples were furious, filled with indignation and confused why this woman would waste such a precious thing like that, which should instead be sold and given to poor, even if she's not in need of it again.  No one knows to what reason why this woman could do such, even the disciples were of the opinion that if Jesus was to be a spiritual man (prophet) He should be able to know that such gift is not acceptable, not even from a sinner like...

Daniel  5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; It is no gain saying like achievement, status, position, wealth and endowment (gifts and talent) have made some people to stumble. It is better no to be wealthy, influential or gifted, than to be and develop "who is God" attitude. Nebuchadnezzar suffered the consequences of his pride, and his foolish son never learnt from the ordeal of the proud father. No wonder Daniel told him to his face,  Daniel  5:22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; Daniel tried to make him realise hiss foolishness, premised on thee fact that he refused to learn from his father's past mistakes.  Pride is a major pitfall of the leader. To avoid this, the leader must acknowledge God as sovereign (what is your heart saying about God?) ;  Never replace God with any other person/thing, acknowledge that everything comes from God. Posit...

Jeremiah  1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. The eye is very essential, if the physical eye can be so valuable, what of the more important spiritual one?. A literarily blind person lives as life of better imagined physical darkness. No wonder the eyes are called "the light off the body" As the physically blind person stumbles both night and day, so does the spiritually blind person. The  physically blind man has no opportunity to differentiate between day and night. Spiritual blindness is more problematic, because the victim is unable to see what God sees, one can be physically challenged as to seeing, but with an active spiritual eyes. Jeremiah was able to see what God expected him to see. In your life, marriage, and career, the Lord wants you to open your eyes wide and see correctly, what He sees and reveals to you. If you are unmarried, shine your eyes(both physical and spiritual) v...

1 Timothy  4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; The Holy spirit had specifically moved inspired men to foretell what will happen in the end of days. Apostle Paul was not left behind among those God uses to speak of latter days.  Even though the prophesy was peculiar to the children of israelite, yet it is evidently relevant in this present generation.  It has been prophesied that in latter time many will depart from the faith, meaning they are tire and bored of the truth about God, they want something that gives approval to their lustful desires.  The very first thing people of latter days will embrace is lies, wrong teachings that negates the principle of Christ, theses will be wolves in sheep's clothing... There would come from withing the church, teachers, pastors, prophets who would propose to speak the truth, but their conduct would be contrary ...

John  5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?  5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Have you ever been to a job interview where the only way to secure the job that will change your entire life for good  is to answer one simple  question  correctly?...  Imagine how your interviewer will feel like when you give wrong answer to a very simple question...  Such was the  story of the man at the pool of Bethesda being  a clear picture of the lives of many Christians today... Many remain in problem not because they have no one to help, but when the helper comes they gave wrong answers to questions. A simple question Jesus asked was "do you want to be healed?",  "Yes or No" answer would have been the appropriate answer to give in this ...

1 Samuel  31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. Saul was divinely favoured and chosen from a humble background, to trail blaze Israel's kingship, when he least expected. God also gave him his godly desires, He carried God's anointing and backing. One expects a man like this, with such mouth-watering opportunities to succeed to the end, but not all who start well make it to the end. What finished Saul includes impatience and going beyond his borders(wrongly assuming priestly role. 1Samuel 13:5) disobedience (1 Samuel 15:1-9), jitter jealousy/envy and murderous campaigns against David, killing of God's servants and idolatry. These brought disasters on him, God rejected him such that his kingdom was taken away and given to a better one, David, by far younge...

1 Corinthians  10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. There was once a Christian brother who taught he had reached the pinnacle of his spiritual excellence. Everyone close to him approved of his christian life, but he forgot Satan's devices. Over-assumption and overconfidence landed him in sin. He couldn't forgive himself, he fell sick, and almost died. He went into prayer, and God told him that his holier-than-thou attitude caused his fall. Christians need not to brag, it is God's favour we're all enjoying. Falling into sin is not a patten of Christian life, yet, in case it happens, one shouldn't remain down, crying like a baby. Get up, keep on running the race while being conscious of and avoiding the pitfalls. As big as Simon Peter was among the disciples, he fell...

Genesis  4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Cain and Abel had gone to worship the Lord, and their sacrifices were respectively rejected and excepted based on their relationship with thier creator. Cain became angry because his offering was rejected. The merciful God cautioned him regarding his dangerous drift. God made him realise that he should blame no one except himself for the rejection of his sacrifice Sin was actually crushing at Cain's door as it does with every man, the difference is that Cain was already courting it by then, little wonder his sacrifice was rejected God warned him against Satan's/sin's nefarious aim and admonished him to master it, I.e rule over it, sadly however, Cain allowed sin to overtake, rule over and destroy him, because he wouldn't heed God's loving warnings. Sin is poisonous, it is deadly and it normal...

1 Corinthians  9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Commitment is the willingness to pursue a course to logical conclusion. Your commitment is something that takes up your time or energy. Being committed to God means that you are readily and voluntarily devoted to Him. Do you do. You best for God, even when others aren't watching?, diligently giving your energy and time. God demands from us the best of our time, energy and other resources. Paul was uncompromisingly and incurably committed to the course of Christ, He was driven by the desire to do what God wanted. The goals of his life were to glorify God and bring people to Christ. Winning a race purpose and discipline. The Christian life takes serious preparation   hard work and self-denial. We would have to give up some things to please God. With the goal of pleasing Him, our denial seems like nothing compared to the eternal ...

Psalms  30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Night symbolises disaster, chaos and curses. From the biblical perceptive, it connotes the period of problems.  This had begun from the fall of man. However, the story of God never terminates in the night season. There are always two sides of the coin, there is the morning season.  It is a period of healing, fruitfulness and refreshing. The bible never ignores the emotions of the moment.  In the bible text above, the psalmist acknowledges the tough times that come with living as Goss child,, difficulties (that are to the Christians challenges) don't last; but God's care does. This psalmist pictures weeping as a guest who comes to stay for just a night.  Are you having some night experiences in life?, are you mourning, confused or depressed? Take heart, the time of refreshing would soon visit your situation from the Lord.  Y...

Proverbs  26:27 Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. This world is governed by principles, there are natural laws that guide every human endeavour. For instance, what goes around comes around, what you sow, you shall reap. What you sow, you shall reap, and today's events become history tomorrow. There are laws of gravity, laws of motion and law of cause and effect, so also we have the laws of God that guide our being as a believer in Christ Jesus God's law is a perfect and sure foundation, upon which our lives can be built without Regret. Abandoning God and his word has never paid anybody, be careful, for you will have good reward when you have high regard for the word of God. God told Abraham that He is his exceeding great reward, why? Abraham had high regard for God's word, and was obedient to the will and commandment of God. Some people's lives are full of regrets today because they embark on Enterprises not su...

Psalms  55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. It is pure wisdom to hand over that is beyond your capacity to a greater power that can help do it. To get the work done well, and in time, with some help, is wiser than to quench under the load of the work while trying to do it alone. That is not the best thing to do. Have you ever said to someone, "I don't mean to impose upon you, hut could you give me some help?" it's a polite way if humbling yourself in a time of need.‌ When it comes to Jesus, He wants to continuously help us to carry our burdens; not just a one time affair but a life time. We are simply urged to throw our cares upon the lord so as to get them as far away from ourselves as possible. This is the secret of humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. If you think you're sufficient to handle it all by yourself, then you are viewed by God as being proud and full of yourself....

Hebrews  4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Ananias and Sapphira connived to deceive the church leaders in Jerusalem, pretending to be what they were not, the Lord to whole everything is open, exposed them and judged them accordingly (Act 5:1) God knows our works both the good and the bad, there is nothing we do in life that is hidden from him.  In His letters to the seven churches in Asia (Rev 2:1-3:22), our Lord jesus says repeatedly, I KNOW YOUR WORKS, and He went on to analyse what each church did right and what it did wrong.  Our pastors and fellow church members may nit know our works, but God to whom everything is open, knows our works and He will reward us accordingly.  Apostle Paul reminds us that ' for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whethe...

Proverbs  12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. Little children are vey teachable and Trainable. They are trained to eat, go to toilet, etc. A child even learn more than three different languages at the same time.  Children learn very fast and can keep things to memory. It is amazing how many things we learnt as little children.  The kingdom of God belongs to those who have teachable hearts, those who are ever willing to learn and be corrected. Those who are too full of themselves hardly go far in, and with God. How do you feel whenever you are corrected? What about that coldness that has developed between you and your teacher, leader, spouse, pastor, just because you were corrected?  Rebellion is common today because we are no more teachable, we are not willing to learn. A heart they is not teachable cannot be subjected to authority.  Do you still have the drive to learn and take instructions from God and men? So...

2 Kings  5:4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. Naaman once tool a young Israelite girl captive, he himself was the then Syrian warlord, but he had a terrible problem which is leprosy. Thank God the young Israelite girl was bold enough to tell him about the unbeatable power of God in all respects, including healing. Imagine that you were in the shoes of either Naaman's wife that she actually approached with the good news, or Naaman himself. What would you have done to that slave girl when she came to you like that? Is it not honesty? Or you would have barked at her Conversely, the woman put the significance of the message over and above the age and status of the young girl. She promptly passed the message to her husband. Naaman also did not look down on the source of the message as too small or valueless. That act eventually provide solution, healing him from a life long leprosy. What is your attitude towards those...

Psalms  118:5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. When the days are dark, and the moonlights weep; when trees swim and oceans rock, when birds mourn and wild animals beg their prey, cry if you will that the order are reversed but never decline your trust in God. This is poetic, but real. To Job and his disgruntled friends, all was lost, but God had jot begun unravelling the mystery of His almightiness. Stay with God when your days seem dark, and you will never be swallowed by the horrors of the unknown. Like the friends of Job, the best anybody can do for you in moments of trials and pains are to offer miserable or empty consolations. But don't detour or deflate your balloon of hope. When it seems your strength is exhausted on the days of trouble, cry if you want to, but hang on still on God till He causes you to mount with wings as eagles and exchange your feeble Ness for His unfailing strength. What are your aches today? See a tu...

Deuteronomy  6:24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.   6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. Sometimes when God gives specific instructions, we thought God is wicked and inhuman, but little did we know that all of His instructions are all for our own good.  Tithes and offering is not actually for God in the real sense of understanding, its actually for fellow men... As many as devoted their whole lives for your spiritual growth, so also its your duty to take care of them in your own little way and by so doing you are pleasing God. Loving your neighbours as your self is establishing the love for humanity, creating a chain of association, friendship, co- existing and tolerance among each other. With this, men can live in peace and harmony... Fornication and a...

Isaiah  43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Can you count how many times someone has accused you of not being in an occasion or an event when you were actually present? How did you feel? Well that's what happen between Gideon and God. God had always been in the event of his life, but Gideon had never for once seen Him, or known it ; a situation he confirmed in Judges 6:13, But God was ready to counter all of his opinions, mind-set and conclusion about His absence, because God knee that it was of great importance that Video knew and believed that He, the mighty God of Israel, was with him, if he would be used of Him or fulfil his destiny. When a Christian is not confident of God's presence, he may be unable to do exploits, those who know their God will do exploits (Dan 11:32). The consciousness o...