We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” Acts 14:22

God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when he chose his people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, he included chastisements amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ’s last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by him, so surely are our trials allotted to us: he has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the “Father of the faithful” Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the King’s vessels of honour are distinguished. But although tribulation is thus the path of God’s children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them; they have his presence and sympathy to cheer them, his grace to support them, and his example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach “the kingdom,” it will more than make amends for the “much tribulation” through which they passed to enter it.

© Spurgeon

It shall turn to you for a testimony – Luke 21:13

Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody “call back” and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to “call back.”

If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back—
’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track; 
And if, perchance, Faith’s light is dim, because the oil is low, 
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest’s roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.

Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face,
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s sin-darkened sky
If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back—
’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. 
—Selected

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” Proverbs 27:23 Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking, when he will cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and ascertain decisively whether his trade is prosperous or declining. Every man who is wise in the kingdom of heaven, will cry, “Search me, O God, and try me”; and he will frequently set apart special seasons for self-examination, to discover whether things are right between God and his soul. The God whom we worship is a great heart-searcher; and of old his servants knew him as “the Lord which searcheth the heart and trieth the reins of the children of men” Let me stir you up in his name to make diligent search and solemn trial of your state, lest you come short of the promised rest. That which every wise man does, that which God himself does with us all, I exhort you to do with yourself this evening. Let the oldest saint look well to the fundamentals of his piety, for grey heads may cover black hearts: and let not the young professor despise the word of warning, for the greenness of youth may be joined to the rottenness of hypocrisy. Every now and then a cedar falls into our midst. The enemy still continues to sow tares among the wheat. It is not my aim to introduce doubts and fears into your mind; nay, verily, but I shall hope the rather that the rough wind of self-examination may help to drive them away. It is not security, but carnal security, which we would kill; not confidence, but fleshly confidence, which we would overthrow; not peace, but false peace, which we would destroy. By the precious blood of Christ, which was not shed to make you a hypocrite, but that sincere souls might show forth his praise, I beseech you, search and look, lest at the last it be said of you, “Mene, Mene, Tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting”

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The trial of your faith”

1 Peter 1:7

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season.

Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities

Shaped Stones

I will lay thy stones with fair colors – Isa 54:11

The stones from the wall said, "We come from the mountains far away, from the sides of the craggy hills. Fire and water have worked on us for ages, but made us only crags. Human hands have made us into a dwelling where the children of your immortal race are born, and suffer, and rejoice, and find rest and shelter, and learn the lessons set them by our Maker and yours. But we have passed through much to fit us for this. Gunpowder has rent our very heart; pickaxes have cleaved and broken us, it seemed to us often with out design or meaning, as we lay misshapen stones in the quarry; but gradually we were cut into blocks, and some of us were chiseled with finer instruments to a sharper edge. But we are complete now, and are in our places, and are of service.

You are in the quarry still, and not complete, and therefore to you, as once to us, much is inexplicable. But you are destined for a higher building, and one day you will be placed in it by hands not human, a living stone in a heavenly temple.

“In the still air the music lies unheard;
In the rough marble beauty hides unseen;
To make the music and the beauty needs
The master’s touch, the sculptor’s chisel keen.

“Great Master, touch us with Thy skillful hands;
Let not the music that is in us die!
Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let,
Hidden and lost, thy form within us lie!”

© Streams in the Desert

Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed – John 20:29

How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying.

God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.—A. B. Simpson

I do not ask that He must prove 
His Word is true to me, 
And that before I can believe
He first must let me see.
It is enough for me to know
’Tis true because He says ’tis so;
On His unchanging Word I’ll stand
And trust till I can understand.
—E. M. Winter

© Streams in the Desert

This is a huge question indeed as there are many conflicting ideas and schools of thought.

I actually love solo spirituals but I'm a fan of some secular music too.... But as I grow in faith, I kept deleting, re-downloading, and deleting certain songs finding it hard to synchronize them with my spiritual life... The same goes for secular movies too, especially season films.... This is not a deliberate action but an involuntary reaction from within. I get really troubled in my spirit when worldly music is blaring from the stereo set... We should start by giving a working definition of the so-called worldly music.

The opposite of worldly is godly. Worldly here is anything inspired by the system of the world which is usually at loggerheads with the will of God. We can safely assume therefore that a song or movie that represents or celebrates ideas that are anti-God is worldly. Love songs becomes worldly when its celebrates fornication and adultery. Social songs or movies can be termed worldly if its propagates the spirit of fraudulence, gangsterism, disloyalty and rebellion. However, a song that speaks about the lot of the commoners may not necessary be hymns or spiritual in production but could serve as a reminder that the world has some people in the ghetto that needs our attention and love. Some songs recreate and imitate ... So the complexities of the genres of songs may become little problematic in terms of proper classification.
But Jesus Himself make some points clear about our individual lives..... This is what He says

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

John 14:26

It means that the spirit of God in us will serve as a prompter and counselor streamlining our lives into the will of God. He will create in us what I call compatibility mechanism, a configured mind that is fashioned to flow with the will of God. At this point, it won't matter the linguistic class of the song but the spiritual relevance, thematic relevance, the spirit behind its production and the power sponsoring the song....

Wait.... Have not said much really.... If you've got irritated at some songs or movies probably because of your faith..pause and check... The spirit of God may be saying that the song isn't good for the one in whom the spirit of the Most High dwells, delete it. You won't want to indulge in what Christ Himself won't encourage right?.... Have you some songs which celebrate revenge, wickedness, lusts, pride, prodigality, profanity, immorality etc. . . obviously... You've got to get off that track before your emotions and psychology become a slave of worldliness... But you see, just the way some literatures aside spiritual ones can add to your knowledge about the world of humanity, so will some songs do... The Spirit of God in you will lead and direct you. You won't have to ask which songs should I listen or not listen to. God himself will direct your path into His will. Draw closer to God and the rest is settled.

Hope that helps.

© Olatuja Oloyede

*A WALK WITH GOD*
Genesis 5:20-24

One of the shortest verses of the Bible is "Enoch walked with God and he was no more, because God took him away". The beauty of this verse is not only its simplicity and direct word but the rest of Enoch's life was spent with God. Methuselah was the only child of Enoch and giving birth to him at age 65 gave him the chance of walking with God. He possibly had not been having enough time working with God as early as possible in his early life but a point came that he discovered the secret of knowing God "Walking with God"

Many a time we forgot that the secret of God dwell with his people i.e those who are walking daily with him. Walking with God is movement from one stage to another. Adam would have been the best person to walk with the Lord but he stopped the communication immediately they were sent out of the garden.
When Enoch understood and enjoyed the fellowship with God, he was transformed by the light to be the best friend of God. God had to withheld him from living in a corrupt world, he took him away.

Today, the walk with the Lord is made much more easier than before, we have the Holy Spirit to constantly help us to connect to the Father, a constant work with God gives you a direct access to the Father.

Let there be a release of the Spirit and an outward break of the flesh to enable the spirit to penetrate through every other parts of the soul.

BE WISE: Learning daily from God is living on him daily

*THIS IS A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF HALL OF TRUTH*
Pls, help rebroadcast without editing.

www.hallofalltruth.blogspot.com
www.halloftru.blogspot.com

© Alimi Busayo

08104995681

Take time out to admire the beauty surrounding us. The flowery glades, the dazzling lilies of the meadow, the hanging mountains, the sweet melodies of the birds singing across the blue sky, and the amazing creatures of the sea, the hands of our Father had made them all. He is the hand that weaved the fabrics of life, the brain behind every existence, the strength that suspend the sky above the earth. No need looking on the distant horizon of the future with the eyes of fears and heart of anxiety. The one who has promised you peace can never lie. "Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)

🌍HOT nugget
©Olatuja Oloyede

This message was sent to me this morning by a dear friend!
"Prepare to come and bury me, prepare to come and weep at my funeral (literary). Sir if in this year or next I don't have or bring forth revival. I must have a revival or death and if need be i must have it and die. The line has been drawn but I can't stand the sight of souls languishing anymore. Sir You are a witness of this thing"

And I join my friend in his burden praying: " Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence, As when the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence. (Isaiah 64:1-2)

God send down another flood of revival.

Good morning
🌍 HOT nugget
© Olatuja Oloyede

Life may sometimes turn its ugly sides and its seems all friends are gone. Before you drop a tear, remember it could just be God at work. Hopes may be dashed as dear promises come in the packages of disappointment, remember it could just be God at work. A love one decides to leave and your heart is broken, before you drop a tear, remember it could just be God at work. The furnace of affliction is one place where  greatness is fashioned into God's children and the dessert is sometimes the path leading to the flood. There is a blessing which comes in disguise and we all must be able to say, O Lord, Thy will alone be done. "Take note of this, I have refined you; but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10)

Do have a wonderful week ahead

🌍 HOT Nugget
© Olatuja Oloyede

So many promises fade into oblivion after a long wait of disappointment. Too many friends is not the cure of loneliness. A man may be surrounded by multitude and still feel deserted. There are dangers in placing all the trusts in mortality. We learn the secret of a long happy life the moment we learn to trust God more and man less. Forgiveness we be much easier and acceptance of other's weaknesses  will come with less stress. Don't be surprise why there are too many tears in the eyes of a brokenhearted man, though it won't wash the pain or heal the wounds, "'this is what the Lord says: curse is the one who puts his trust in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns from the Lord." (Jeremiah 17 : 5)

Trust God more and have an inspired Sunday

🌍HOT Nugget
© Olatuja Oloyede

Our world has known so many promises from politicians and yet refuse to change for good. Many institutions are struggling to fix a world ever tearing apart. The armies with all their skills cannot heal a "peace-less" world. The wisdoms of great physicians bow in defeat when nature decides to have its course. Is there still hope in humanity? There is a man whose prayer can stop the sun, whose rod can part the sea, whose mouth can lock the rain behind the iron gates of heaven for years, whose hands can break the jaws of lion. Our world is only in need of that man who will rise as an arrow from the quiver of a mighty God. A man who will hold to schemes of hell and the government of darkness at bay. A man that can make the difference and that man can be you!! God said this about you: "You are my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I destroy kingdoms" (Jeremiah 51: 20)

🌍HOT Nugget
© Olatuja Oloyede