FEAR NOT Cont’d
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya @ Sunday Service
In continuation of his message which he started the previous Thursday, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya at the October 3 Sunday service told the congregation to keep the flame burning by stirring up the gift of God that is in them. Using Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 2:1-7) as an illustration, the clergy stated that God has not given them the spirit of fear but power, love and sound mind.
“God has not given us fear, sickness, defeat, disgrace, which are all the agents in the hand of the devil. Those are the things the devil use against us. Fear is not real but because of our assumptions of it, it becomes real and destroys what is really happening,” he declared.
Pastor Taiwo further noted that if believers don’t discern and address the issue of fear in them, it would be a big hindrance to achieving their purpose on earth. This is why according to him Apostle Paul had to address it in his letter to Timothy so that it won’t be a big problem in the future.
He further noted from 1 John 4:18 that fear does not only paralyze from taking the appropriate action but affects the right to take the right decision. “Fear and faith do not share the same mind. There’s a place for confrontation and when not to,” he hinted.
He continued, “Sometimes, it is our temperament that brings a problem to us. Love always expect that you consider the other person first. Perfect love cast out fear because fear has torment. There is an aspect of you that should not stop the real you.”
He, therefore, challenged his listeners from John 15:19 to be confident of God’s gift of love, power and sound mind to them. “The time has come to know what God is saying about you. Remind yourself every day that you have power, love and a sound mind. Do not let anything defeat you. The same power God demonstrated when Jesus was raised from the dead is also available to you.
The full messages are available on CDs and DVDs at The Fountain of Life Church Digital Media Store.
FEAR NOT
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya @ Thursday showers
Speaking from Mark 4:35-5:1-13, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya at the September 30 Thursday showers said that faith is the nature of the Holy Spirit and the moment any believer embraces fear, faith leaves. He continued by saying that the devil’s aim is always to steal, kill and destroy but whenever God shows up, the devil’s activities become nothing.
The clergy further said that a lot of times, people don’t even know what they are fighting with but they just know that they need help. This is why, according to him, believers need to know their identity in Christ, that they have been sent to the world to be the source of hope to people, so as to be able to confront the activities of the devil. “God does everything by His word and anywhere He goes there is a change,” he said.
The man of God also noted that just as the storm came to hinder Jesus and His disciples in chapters 4:35-41 so that He wouldn’t be able to heal the mad man of Gadarene in Chapters 5:1-13, so also would the devil throw hindrances to believers in form of challenges. “But as nothing could stop Jesus from healing the man, so also will nothing be able to stop you from reaching your goals,” he said.
He, therefore, urged them never to allow fear in them no matter what is happening around them but to rise in faith and confront the situation just as Jesus stood and rebuked the hindrance on His way to fulfilling His purpose of healing a helpless man. In his words, “You have suffered so much from this trouble because you are about to take the next step. Everyone about to be promoted will struggle.”
