Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
In continuation of his message, which he started the previous Thursday, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya told the congregation at the May 22 Sunday services that God is all they need, stating that He is all sufficiency in every situation.
Speaking from 2 Corinthians 12:9, he defined dunamis as the miracle-working power of God, which is at best in the areas of our weaknesses. From the encounter of the Apostle Paul in verse 7 of the same chapter, God gave him a thorn in the flesh, and Paul cried to God to remove it, but He didn’t. According to the Senior Pastor, “The same is also true for the three Hebrew children. He could have prevented them from being thrown into the fire, but He didn’t. Rather, God appeared in the fire. To Paul, He told him that His grace is sufficient for him.”
In reading from Genesis 16:1, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya further noted that Sarah’s womb was dead when God made a promise of a son to Abraham. Abraham was a pagan, but God chose him of all the men on earth because of grace. Even Moses was born and chosen by God because of grace. The grace of God sustained him while he was hidden in the river. In chapter 18, God appeared to Abraham again as Elshaddai, the All-Sufficient God.
The clergy went on to say that in dealing with the All-Sufficient God, you should know that whatever He asks you to do is all sufficiency in Him. In Judges 6:11, when the children of Israelites were going through a terrible situation, God revealed Himself to Gideon as Jehovah Shalom, God of Peace. In John 1: 14-16, He revealed Himself as the One who made all things, in whom there’s life and light, and the light continues to shine in the darkness. He is full of overflowing grace and truth.
Pastor Taiwo explained that when we say grace, it is Jesus we are referring to. In his words: “Jesus is overflowing with grace, and it is from His fullness that we receive. He performed so many miracles and power because of grace. Anywhere He went, the anointing upon Him destroyed yokes. Jesus is an expert in overturning totally impossible situations. He dwells in us by His Spirit. It is in Him that we live, move and have our being. He is the head of all principalities and powers. As Christians, the grace of God is working in our lives. His grace is made perfect in our infirmities.”
HAVE FAITH IN GOD
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
Thursday showers
The Thursday showers of May 19 took a wonderful turn of events as the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church was back after a long break to seek the face of the Lord and to have a time of rest. The testimony segment was a moment of joy as a father testified to the mighty acts of God in seeing his daughter through her master’s program as the overall best student despite all odds.
Pastor Ibukun Awosika admonished the congregation never to live in doubt of what God can do and not forsake the fellowship of the brethren.
The senior pastor of the Fountain of Life church enjoined believers to see themselves free in Christ to offer worthy worship to a God worthy of all adulation. He said the Thursday Showers service is for believers to be able to express their thanksgiving to God, for as we worship God, our pleasure begins to kindle for more worship of God.
He noted that confessing one’s love to God is great inasmuch as that love is confessed to others and serves as a form of encouragement to them. In his words, “We should endeavour to confess our love to God at all times. Those who love God are never ashamed of confessing their love to God. “Confess your love to God, and watch what happens.”
He took his Bible reference from Mark 11:23-24, emphasising the importance of faith. He said faith is to speak to a hindrance, blockage, mountain, etc. without doubt, in the name of Jesus and get the mountain moving. He admonished believers never to allow doubt in their hearts. We should give the word of God more attention, for by it they become established in the word, thereby increasing the level of their faith to get their desires met.
He referenced Mark 11:12 to explain the reason for the curse on the fig tree. Jesus was hungry and there was no fig on the tree. He was disappointed, so he cursed it to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. As believers, once the devil hits us hard in a situation, we should stand tall and block the devil’s area of operation to prevent the occurrence from happening again to us or to another person.
Speaking of the mountain in Mark 11:23-24, the cleric said God was using the mountain (hindrance, blockage, problem, etc.) to express a situation for which there is always present help. Not applying the word of God to every mountain makes a believer miss the help already orchestrated for that mountain, he added.
He implored believers never to allow the spirit of doubt when exercising their privilege in Christ, which is “Faith”. He expounded on the word “Faith” using Mark 5:25-29. The woman with the issue of blood had faith and never allowed doubt, and she got her miracle. As believers, we cannot get what we want from God if we allow doubt to enter our hearts.
