Pastor Muve

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 18) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Hebrews 12:15 encourages the believer to work at living in peace with everyone. That verse also associated peace alongside holiness which is a prerequisite for seeing God. If holiness grants access to God, then living peacefully grants access to men. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:13: 'If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.' (New International Version) This shows that as the disciples went about wihhhe good news as sent by Jesus, the carried peace with them. Whosoever then that accepted that peace enjoyed fellowship. A lot of folks have lost and missed out on golden opportunities due to the inability to maintain and l...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 17) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace It is said that 'good shoes take you good places'. Our feet are our physical instrument for locomotion. Therefore, the feet must be comfortable enough to take us through the journey that will ensure we arrive at a pleasant destination. Hence, shoes are important. The shoe that will take you far must both be comfortable and appropriate for the occasion. A slipper might be comfortable but it might not be appropriate for a formal occasion. Wearing such a footwear to such an occasion will register a negative effect in the mind of others concerning you. For the Roman soldiers who were Paul's reference, shoes were very important for them as well. They needed to walk for long distances t...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 16) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Body armour (breastplate) of God's Righteousness. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". Let's still look at the condition of the heart a bit before addressing that which the mouth speaks. If the heart is full of righteousness, then the mouth will only speak righteousness. Now righteousness to many is like the opposite of sin. However, looking back at the definition I gave us we discover it's much more than that. We realized that righteousness simply means 'right standing. Right standing that is compliant with God's standard. Therefore, any thing whatsoever that does not conform to God's standard for you is unrighteousness. Let me give an example. If God's standar...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 15) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Body armour (breastplate) of God's Righteousness. Further backing that reveals to us why our hearts must be full of righteousness is given by our Lord Jesus Himself. He said in Luke 6:45: "The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks." (Amplified Bible) First, we understand from this that the heart is a storehouse. The content of what is stored in it is dependent on what kind of storehouse it is. If it is a righteous heart,...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 14) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Body armour (breastplate) of God's Righteousness. Now that we know what righteousness is, how does it serve as a body armour (breastplate). And how is it relevant to us as we try to guard our progress? The body armour served to protect the vital organs of the soldiers. This included the heart. We all know the importance of these organs especially the heart. The heart is responsible for life within the body. Solomon the wise king understood this so well that he knew the heart also determined what our outward lives will be like. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23 New Living Translation) What this means is that the product of your life is a function of the state...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 13) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Body armour (breastplate) of God's Righteousness. Let's begin with what righteousness is. Without going into long theological discussion, righteousness simply means 'right standing'. Righteousness is based on a standard. This standard is from and of God who is Righteous. Righteousness is being right according to God's standard.  Hence, man's attempt at righteousness ends up in futility. So the prophet Isaiah said '...we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;...' (Isaiah 64:6) Therefore no matter how good a man might be, he is not righteous. For this reason he must seek to obtain righteousness from a standard that God deems righteous. Jesus is the pe...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 12) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Belt of Truth The last function which we'll look at is it's relationship with the body armour (breastplate). Truth cannot be independent from righteousness. The belt of truth holds the body armour (breastplate) in place from falling off. You cannot have righteousness without truth. Truth is the guard that protects a righteous man from losing his righteousness. If there's a righteous cause that is done in falsehood, deceit and self-ambition, no matter how righteous that cause might be, it isn't righteousness. A typical example is The Crusades that occurred in 1095 - 1492. The crusades first began when the Pope Urban II in a sermon called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapt...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 11) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Belt of Truth Like I said in the last post that the Roman belt held the soldier's sword in place. Another function of the belt of truth as an important weapon that comprises the whole armour of God is that it allows us to hold and wield the sword of the spirit properly. Paul spoke to Timothy and said: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." We need to understand that the word of truth is also the same as the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. Now if the Apostle charged his son in Christ to rightly divide the word of God, therefore there is a wrong way of dividing the word of God. Dividing the word of God here means ...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 10) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. The Belt of Truth The belt of a Roman soldier (the balteus) was a crucial part of the soldiers armour. Only soldiers were allowed to wear the balteus and they could wear it at all times as they so desired. This made soldiers easily distinguishable from civilian citizens. Furthermore, the balteus with the aid of the scabbard was used to hold the soldier's sword. This means the standard way to carry the sword about was with the aid of the belt (the balteus). Lastly, the belt was what held the body armour (breastplate) and the tunic worn underneath in place and firm. This is why the Apostle Paul mentioned the body armour immediately after the belt. How does this translate into the function of the belt of truth as a weapon...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 9) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. When discussing Ephesians 6:13-18, many folks skip a part of Ephesians 6:14 and jump right into the first battle peice of a believer's armour. However that first part of that verse is very essential. We must understand that the purpose of this series once again is to ensure that once you begin to progess, you are well equipped to guard that progress. This is why every single detail must be looked upon. In guarding your progress, you have must have a firm stand. In other words, you must stand your ground. A good number of believers lose the battle even before they begin. The reason is that they go into battle with the wrong stance (stand). The right stance in a battle ensures you don't get knocked over easily. Any one ...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 8) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Subtext: Ephesians 6:13-18 Continued from the last post on this series... Now before we begin analysing the weapons of a believer one after the other, it is important I bring something very congent to our notice. It is so 'known' that it is easy to ignore. This truth is found in Ephesians 6:13 and it is one many have a head knowledge of but not the understanding of that is a product of its transference into our spirits. Let's look at it closely: "Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil." I've seen and heard of many believers who are still daily assaulted by the enemy in their bid to achieve progress and greatness. They complain about their predicament and even mention how they've prayed, studied and what not. Yet resisting the enemy is yet to be achieved. The reason behind not being to resist the enemy effect...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 7) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Continued from the last post on this series... Nehemiah 4:13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. How do we arm ourselves as believers against the attacks of the enemy that seems to disrupt our progress? The Apostle Paul by Divine Inspiration was able to pen down how we can do that in his letter to the Ephesians. Hence by Divine Insights we'll also explore this individual weapons that make up the believers armour. Before we delve into that let's read through the passage (Ephesians 6:13-18) 6:13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 6:15 For sh...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 6) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Continued from the last post on this series... Nehemiah 4:13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. So far we've discussed two congent steps you must know and deal with if you intend guarding your progress. The first is you must know who your enemy truly is. The second is knowing where he will attack you from. Therefore that leads you to the third step: Arming yourself. Nehemiah after knowing of the threat that faced them and understanding that the attacks will come from every side, he then proceeded to arm the people. Ephesians 6:13 tells us as believers to 'put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.' (New Living Translation). We must understand that as m...

Theme: After the king could not sleep what next? Anchor Text: Esther 6:1-3 6:1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 6:2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 6:3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. The Lord impressed this verse 1 of Esther 6 in my spirit and I feel it imperative to share a truth which many have overlooked for so long due to incomplete interpretation. (We'll continue the series we began 'Guarding your progress' after this) A good number of believers especially in this country Nigeria know this verse so well. We've prayed with it severally "O Lord cause my helpers not...

Theme: Guarding your progress (part 5) Anchor Text: Nehemiah 4:11-23 Continued from last post... Nehemiah 4:12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” After recognizing who your enemy is, you must find out where his attacks will come from. The devices of the enemy are many. However knowing which of them he will employ will give you the advantage. In the case of Nehemiah, the enemy was going to attack from all directions. So they had to ensure that all directions were guarded. When the enemy wants to bring down a man, he exploits his weaknesses. The reason we are tempted by the enemy is to find out the weak spot in our lives through which he can gain access. When he discovers it, he constantly works on that till it becomes a stronghold of weakness. This is why many people have found it hard to overcome many weakness and shortcomings which in turn has either slowed down or completely halted thei...