Good Man

This is a tale of a good man in hell
Melting severely as a gel

Good Man says, 
“I was good
I never cheated on my wife in the hood
I always provided for my family as a cook
Nor did I mess around with a crook!
I respected all persons
I took care of all my evil passions
And Sunday forever found me in prayer sessions

Yet downcast I am!
Captive in the womb of darkness
Consumed by vampire worms and flames
Sulphur and brimstone combust my flesh
This unending gnashing of teeth,
This enduring torment of my soul
What did I do to deserve?

Was my crime the love of nature?
Or was it the hatred of crime?
All I had I gave to the poor
I breathed to feed others with the charity of my hands.
My memories all lead to those in hospital and prison
Where I poured myself in sacrifice for their need
So much was my service to humanity that I got a Nobel Peace Prize for it

Perhaps my sin was patriotism 
To abide by the law of my citizenship
Never was I apprehended for law-breaking
I paid all my taxes, fair and unfair alike
Not one day did I cheat a customer
I took a bullet for an innocent child during a riot
I bled to death for the kid and I end up here!
At least I know of some thief crucified with Jesus 
That made it to paradise
How did I end up in Hell?”

#TheWakePoetry

Then Jesus
Answers and says to Good Man,
“I know you more than you can ever know
I love you beyond what you can fathom
I created you with my bare hands
I was there at every moment of your life,
From when you were just a tiny living organism
To when you sacrificed your life for an innocent child
I never desired that you die the second death
That is why I was slain at the foundations of the world
I bore your sin and died in your stead
Something that jumping in front of a bullet 
Aimed at another 
Can never be fit to describe

My sacrifice for you was enough,
Yet you chose to please me by your works 
Instead of giving to me your heart
Daily, you chose yourself and your family over me
How bad that your wife never knew you didn’t even love her!
She should have at least known 
That never cheating on her was only to save your pride
That behind the sweet nothings said was a selfish soul
Only satisfying his ego and not his spouse

You did a lot of charitable works, yet without Love
Charity was just the mask you used to cover your malicious ambition:
My innocent people should have known that you used their vulnerability 
To draw praises of men and and get awarded in vain.
Did you think I had no idea about your hypocrisy!
That when you came to church it was to be praised and not to praise
That whenever you lifted your hands and sung Me songs,
I would examine your heart and find no fragment of worship.

You walk by your country’s constitution and not by my Word
You do not cheat customers yet you cheat your God
All your tithes and offerings are given out of bitterness and not joy
And did you think I didn’t know that when you took a bullet for that child 
It was out of ambition and not compassion
You even didn’t expect to die!

Now tell Me whether you belong to Me or to Lucifer!

Those who love me keep my commandments
And I have commanded you to love God above all
And to love your neighbor more than yourself
No one enters my Kingdom if they walk by the dictates of the flesh
Only those who are led of the Spirit are the children of God
Works of self-righteousness, the pride of life, the lusts of the flesh 
And all covetousness of the eyes belongs to the Lake of Fire!

I do not desire your works
I desire your heart
And only I can make you truly righteous
For I am the Way, the Truth and Life
No one comes to my Father except through Me
I am the Light of the world and the Salt of the earth
I am the Hope of the nations
I am the sufficient sacrifice that atones for the sins of the mankind
You should have believed and trusted in Me to be saved.”

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

THE SEED PRINCIPLE 🌱

 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 NIV
When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

THE WAKE DEVOTIONAL ⛅️⛅☀️

The resurrection of Christ was based on the seed principle. When you plant a seed, it dies first before it manifests a new body of life. Death and sacrifice for us Christians is merely a start of a new life. 

As we remember the death and resurrection of Christ this week, we should find a means for the application of the seed principle by which it was made possible. Some things in our lives must be put in the ground in the hope of a new life. 

#TheWakeDevotional

One thing I am really putting in the ground is Self. The manifestation of pride and ego is all an operation of self and as we all know, it is the hindrance to walking in Love. Self is one of the top expressions of the flesh ( Gal. 5:19-21 ). 

I remember asking the Lord about what His message to me for the Easter season was and without delay, I heard in my heart, LOVE. And, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ( John. 15:13). 

FURTHER STUDY 🙏🏾
Galatians 5:19-21, John 15:13

CONFESSION 📚
Lord, I want to thank you for this wonderful word. I thank you for the knowledge of the seed principle and how it can apply in my life. I therefore lay down everything in and about me that does not please you, that you may raise that which is entirely of you. In Jesus’ Name, amen. 

📲💻🌐 #TheWakeDevotional @emkisolo

Time To Speak In Tongues!

Mark 16:17 (NKJV)
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;”

THE WAKE DEVOTIONAL 🌥⛅☀️

What most people know about speaking in tongues is that on the day of pentecost while the 120 disciples were gathered together in the upper room, the Holy Ghost fell upon them and they spoke in unknown tongues.

What they don’t know is that this was not just a fulfillment of Jesus’s promise but also a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy given centuries ago. Isaiah 28:11 says, “Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people” (NIV).

#TheWakeDevotional

Tongues are not only a prayer language but a sign from God to His people, and a sign that follows those who believe (1 Cor. 14:22). Tongues are in a broader sense a peculiar language we share with God. They are a spiritual language we use for our spiritual transactions.

Perhaps the best story to ever reveal the power of a common language is the story of the tower of Babel. With one language (which the story interpreted as one mind), nothing would be impossible for the people to do. This goes to show that God’s wisdom in giving believers a unique heavenly language was for a higher purpose than we may presume.

According to 1 Corinthians 13:1 and 14:2, there are different kinds of tongues (languages); earthly tongues, angelic tongues and even tongues only God interprets. When one is baptized in the Holy Spirit, they receive a supernatural ability to speak these tongues and thus aligning with heavenly realities.

FURTHER STUDY 📚
Isaiah 28:11, Genesis 11:1-7, 1 Corinthains 13:1 & 14:1-22

CONFESSION 🙏🏾
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in tongues. As I speak in tongues today, I launch deeper in my fellowship with you and my prayer life grows, amen.

📲🌐💻 #TheWakeDevotional @emkisolo

Time To Speak In Tongues!

Time To Speak In Tongues!

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #6 Pray In The Spirit

Jude 1:20 (NKJV)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”

THE WAKE DEVOTIONAL 🌥⛅☀️

Many years ago during my early high school days at a boarding school, I was part of a prayer group of radical young believers. We often met in the night at around 10pm after evening preps (personal study time) to pray.

I remember everyone in this prayer group prayed in tongues and I hadn’t yet experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I begun to desire to speak in tongues and one of those prayer nights, I received it. That’s when my prayer life was dynamically transformed!

#TheWakeDevotional

Many people have interpreted the term ‘praying in the Holy Spirit’ as many things but let’s look at Paul’s version of it. In 1 Cor. 14:14-15, the apostle introduces the term ‘praying in the Spirit’ in connection to speaking in tongues.

There are three major things among many others that speaking in tongues brings to our lives. The first thing is that it deepens our fellowship with the Holy Spirit since the utterance comes from Him. Secondly, tongues edify us, which means they recharge our inner man every time we speak them.

Thirdly, tongues build us up in our most holy faith just as our theme scripture has revealed. And finally, speaking in tongues enhances our prayer lives since it’s done in the power of the Holy Spirt.

FURTHER STUDY 📚
Mark 16:17, 1 Cointhians 14:1-15

CONFESSION 🙏🏾
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in tongues. As I speak in tongues now, I deepen my fellowship with you and my prayer life grows, amen.

📲💻🌐 #TheWakeDevotional @emkisolo

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #5 Pray In The Spirit

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #5 Pray In The Spirit

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #5 Pray At Least An Hour

Matthew 26:40 (NKJV)
“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?”

THE WAKE DEVOTIONAL 🌥⛅☀️

When it comes to prayer, the idea of the time you spend in prayer may not matter to you until you realize you can spend  a whole day on Netflix yet can’t pray for even 20 minutes.

Again, praying for long is not a standard measure for spirituality on face value but if we come to maturity, we realize that the more time we spend in prayer, the more time we spend with God and the more efficiently we ‘do’ His work.

#TheWakeDevotional

In Acts 3:1, we see Peter and John going to the Temple at ‘the hour of prayer.’ Dear Christian, prayer has a labor aspect to it which requires frequency, intensity and discipline especially if we use prayer as a tool for communion with God and for intercession.

In Col. 4:12, Paul speaks of how Epaphras labored fervently for the Church at Colosse.  Prior to this, he had mentioned that he together with the rest of them continually made intercession of them in their prayers (Col. 1:3, 9).

If we are to pray without ceasing as 1 Thes. 5:17 admonishes, then we have to adopt love for spending large volumes of time in prayer. You may not go at it one solid hour of the day but can split your day into many prayer slots to have more time dedicated to intercession.

FURTHER STUDY 📚
Acts 3:1, Colossians 4:12, Colossians 1:3,9, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

CONFESSION 🙏🏾
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the wisdom you’ve taught me to spend my time wisely in praye. I receive grace to pray fervently and effectively from the depth of my heart as I see your will come to pass, amen.  

📲💻🌐 #TheWakeDevotional @emkisolo

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #5 Pray At Least An Hour

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #5 Pray At Least An Hour

Hacks To A Great Prayer Life: #4 Pray Fervently

James 5:16b (NKJV)
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

THE WAKE DEVOTIONAL ⛅️⛅☀️

Most Christians are used to praying vocabulary rather than praying their heart. The place of prayer is where we lay our hearts bare before the Almighty and this often involves passion and brokenness.

Our theme scripture tells us to pray ‘fervently’, and fervency involves passion, love, vigor, intensity and volume. Other versions replace the word ‘fervent’ with terms like ‘heartfelt’, ‘earnest’ or ‘passionate.’ Let us see some practical examples:

#TheWakeDevotional

In 1 Sam. 1:8-18, we see Hannah praying so passionately with her heart to the point of words ceasing to come out of her mouth yet with moving lips. She invested her heart in praying to God for a male son and the result was Prophet Samuel.

Hebrews 5:7 gives us a like account but of Jesus the Messiah, it says of Him that “…He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.”

This is what we mean by praying fervently, passionately, earnestly and needless to say, effectively. 

FURTHER STUDY 📖
1 Samuel 1:8-18, Hebrews 5:7

📲 💻 🌐 #TheWakeDevotional @emkisolo

CONFESSION 🙏🏾
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the wisdom you’ve taught me to watch and pray. I receive grace to pray fervently and effectively from the depth of my heart as I see your will come to pass, amen.