Pastor James Okon

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Make the world a better place for everyone, that's true religion.

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Luke 18:8.
N/B: When you witness increasing attacks on the church and the faith of Christians like never before, and many people abandoning their faith each day because of the crisis in the world, keep in mind that the return of Jesus Christ in glory is near, take heed.

Nothing should surprise you in this life, man that you see is full of wonders!

God does not desire that anyone should perish (2Pet. 3:9). Even if I am your enemy, please make peace with God.

VALUE OF YOUR SOUL
Why is your soul salvation very important?
Jesus said that your soul is worth more than the rest of the world put together. He asked, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). It is impossible for us to grasp what is meant by “the whole world.” For this is not only the physical world or the geographical world. It includes the business world, the scientific world, the intellectual world. Jesus said that the soul is worth more than the entire world. That means there is more value in your soul than all the worlds put together, can you imagine that?
To begin with, your soul is the seat of your creative imagination and power, he that comes to grasps with his soul power and abilities can create even a greater world than the one we now live in. The devil has no power to create, he only fakes, and uses the power given to man through clever manipulations. The devil actually manipulates the man that has sold out to him to do for the devil those things that the devil has no power to do by himself. Example, men can gang up and kill a righteous man, but the devil has no power to dare such a stunt, he will be destroyed immediately. Everything that the devil cannot do by himself, he can still achieve the same if he can have access to the soul of a man whom he can manipulate to do same for him, not just harm to others, but harm to the man involved also.
The truth is that you are far more powerful by creation than the devil or any of the other spirits created by God, but the devil cleverly uses man to achieve whatever he wants by means of control over the soul of man. One thousands of Lucifer couldn’t have killed Abel, it would have been a bloody war, but the devil used Cain his brother to achieve that by manipulating his emotions and thoughts. If only the soul of Cain was protected from the devil, Abel would have been alive to marry and have his descendants.
Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Why is your soul so valuable? First, the value of your soul is measured by its eternal quality. It will never die. You are going to live forever. Your body will die, but your soul, the part of you that is made in the image of God, will never die. Your soul—your spirit—will live forever(in eternal bliss or eternal torment). It is that part of you that has understanding and wisdom.
Fiq. Body/soul relationship with Good and evil.

Many people have knowledge, but they don’t have wisdom. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). A great British historian said some years ago, “Man, by his knowledge, has brought himself to total annihilation.” Did you remember that place in Genesis chapter 3 where devil deceived Eve that she will get wisdom from eating the fruit of the three, that was the first lie in the scripture by the devil, they never got wise from eating it, rather they lost divine wisdom and understanding from that same day and started searching for knowledge.
Knowledge without God and without wisdom is very dangerous. That’s one of the problems in the world today. We have a lot of knowledge; we have a lot of learning, but the Bible says you can be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). We lack the wisdom to use our knowledge. This is because the spirit man with its soul has not come into perfection; the world is still eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God in us. The difference between the people of the flesh and the people of the spirit is that the flesh uses knowledge, while the spirit man solves problems by divine wisdom and understanding. The former takes a process; the latter is instant and accurate.
Your soul is that part of you that has judgment. It makes decisions—moral decisions—what is good and what is bad. Your soul also involves your will. Your will chooses or rejects things that are brought before it. Your soul is that part of you that has emotion, like love and fear. It has memory—the mental capacity for storing up knowledge of ideas and events. Your soul connects you to your body and your spirit, and through your soul, your body and your spirit man can be accessed and utilized for good or evil.
We tend to put all of our emphasis on the body with its pleasures and its physical appetites. But the soul also has appetites. The soul longs for God. Down deep inside every person’s heart is a cry for something, but he doesn’t quite know what it is. Man is a worshiping creature, and the soul is the seat of worship and spiritual union. He instinctively knows that there is something out there somewhere, and he longs to know that something or someone. Your soul longs for vital contact with God, and that is because your soul came from God just as every woman desires a man in her life, because the woman came out of the man. Your soul is valuable because it is eternal—it is forever. You carry in your soul a part of God through His divine life giving breath, the power that turns a lump of sand into a living entity.
Second, the value of your soul is measured by the devil’s interest in it. You are busy asking the devil for the whole world, and the devil only desires to have your soul, because he knows your soul is worth more than what you seek after. Jesus said the devil is the prince of this world. He is the god of this age. The devil is greatly at work in our world, and he is after your soul. The question that is often not asked is, why is the devil after the soul of man? What does he do with it? It is because you are well crafted multi-purpose weapon without knowing, and so the devil desires by all means to take over control of that masterpiece through the ownership of your soul and to begin to use same for purposes it was never meant. He that takes control of the soul controls the body and its desires as well as the spirit and all its powers. With your soul under the devil’s control, he can create or destroy anything using you as a tool.
God created a perfect world. He and man were friends. God never meant that there would be suffering and war and death. But Satan came. He was a mighty angel, possibly the greatest of all of God’s created beings, and he rebelled against God. The truth is that even if it is just one man in the community that has sold his soul to the devil, that family or community will begin to experience strange problems.
When God built the earth, He put humans in charge of the earth. God wanted someone in the universe whom He could love and who would return love to Him. So He gave man freedom of choice. God said to man, “I put one tree in this garden—you are not to eat its fruit. If you eat it, you will suffer and die” (Cf. Genesis 3:3). God was testing man. He gave man the freedom of will. Don’t forget that your soul is the seat of your will, whatever spiritual powers you have; you can only access it through your soul.
But the devil told man, “God doesn’t mean what he says. You’re not going to die. If you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will be as great as God” (Cf. Genesis 3:4-6). So Eve ate the fruit first and then Adam, her husband, ate it too. And that was the first rebellion by people against God. God had to keep His word or He would not be a just God. He had said, “If you eat the fruit of that tree you will suffer and die.” Man ate of the tree, and since then he has been suffering and dying.
But God had a plan. God said, “In spite of their rebellion, I am going to save the human race. I am going to send my Son to this earth.” And every step of the way the devil tried to kill God’s Son, even when He was a baby. Finally, when God’s Son was on the cross, it looked as if the devil had won a great victory, but instead the devil lost his greatest battle. When Jesus died, the devil suffered a mighty defeat, because on the third day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The Bible says Jesus has “the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:18). Christ is alive, and He is coming back to this earth again!
God is building His Kingdom, but the devil is also building his. Even though Satan is a defeated foe, he is still working. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus said, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:19). Jesus pictured Satan as an enemy battling and bidding for the souls of people.
Third, the value of your soul is measured by God’s concern for saving your soul. God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). God sees your soul as the most valuable thing in the world, so valuable that He sent His only Son to the cross to suffer and die so that your soul may be saved. And if you were the only person in the whole universe, Christ would have died for you. Imagine the crown prince of the most important kingdom in the world taking a journey through a dangerous route just to rescue you from eternal death and damnation, and you still cannot see how valuable you are to God and His kingdom?
Fourth, the value of your soul is measured by the severity of its loss. It is terrible when a person loses his health, or his money, or his friends, or, worse still, his character. But what about the loss of a soul? Imagine that the president of America loses his son in the woods, the secret service will be everywhere, and the military will send helicopters and soldiers. They will bring in specially trained dogs. Everything possible is done to find the child. The newspapers print the story, and the television stations report the story. But if a man’s soul is lost, that isn’t reported by the media. Yet the soul is worth more than all the world.
Suppose you had all the gold in the world and all the clothes you could ever dream of owning, and you lived in a magnificent home, and owned all the oil in the Middle East. Suppose it was all yours, but you lost your soul. Jesus said it would be a poor bargain. Even if you could get everything you wanted, it wouldn’t give you peace. You would still be searching. Great riches cannot make you happy. Much pleasure cannot make you happy. Only the peace of God coming into your heart through Jesus Christ can bring peace and joy and happiness. If only every man could see the disaster lurking in the hereafter, all men would be in a hurry to accept God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Are you prepared for eternity? Are you sure that you have been born from above? The Bible says that you can be sure. The Bible says that there is a Heaven, that there is a hell. You choose where you spend eternity, and many of you are making that choice right now. For those that are making all preparations against when they will die, I am sorry to disappoint you, death is only a split second transition, you will still be as aware and alive in the spirit after life leaves your flesh, the journey continues throughout eternity.
Fifth, the value of your soul is measured by the price paid for its redemption. The Bible says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). What are you doing with your soul? Are you gambling with your soul, taking a chance with it?
I am asking you to make sure of your relationship with Christ. Christ demands more than just churchgoing, more than just baptism, more than just being good. He demands your total surrender—the surrender of your mind, your heart, your body, every part of you—to the Lordship of Christ. If you have a doubt in your heart that you have totally surrendered to Christ, do it now. Make sure of your salvation. Make certain that you know Christ. Truth is that you were created by God for good works, and Jesus Christ came to redeem you so you can accomplish these good works and bring glory to God and receive eternal reward. But the devil wants you to remain under his control so he can use you for every evil works, but you must resist him, because the devil will only bring you death and eternal damnation.
How do you know that your soul is still under the control of Lucifer, Satan? “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are this: Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21. From the above you can tell if such things are still the order in your life, even if you are a preacher and you are still in the above category, you are moving from pulpit to damnation.
Repent of your sins. Confess your sins, acknowledge them and turn from them. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart by faith, making a total commitment to Him, and to Him alone. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7.
Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation.
I pray, May the God of peace reign supreme in your heart through His Word, Amen.
Shalom!

You are made in God's image to soar like the eagle and roar like the lion, but without God you continue to live like a chicken.

You are made in the image and likeness of God; don't cheat yourself, the devil is not your mate!

God does not desire the chiefest of sinners to perish, whoever repents and forsakes his sins, him God will accept.

Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Note: Whatever you do here on earth, make sure you find and fulfill the purpose God sent you into this world; you cannot expect a trophy from God at the end of your sojourn on earth, when all your life on earth has been a disappointment to the kingdom of God.

John 3:1-3 (KJV) There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Note: you may have seen the kingdoms of the world and maybe living the best of life by the standard of the world, but to experience the kingdom of God, you must be born again of the spirit. The life on earth is a tiny fraction of eternity, don't be deceived into forfeiting your eternal destiny for just a tip of the iceberg.

Nobody becomes anything in this life without paying the requisite price!
Those who follow short cuts are cut short!