Short Powerful Sermons

  “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand …” Exodus 3: 19-20 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him,” God said to Moses. I rephrase this statement as follows: “I know that the devil will not leave you alone unless a mighty hand compels him.” That sounds totally true. Satan has to be compelled to leave you alone, to let you go. He will never willingly let you go. This goes to show the determination that Satan has when it comes to constraining the children of God; he wants to keep them in bondage forever. Christians, therefore, need to be more determined than the devil to free themselves from his shackles. Unfortunately, a number of Christians are too lukewarm or absent-minded to even think of getting their freedom; such Christians, therefore, remain under Satan’s bondage in various areas of their lives. The devil is determined to bind you forever. If the devil i...

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 God depends on you to carry out His mission in this world. Never let Him down. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt. They were toiling each day, forced to undertake strenuous manual assignments. The King of Egypt was treating the Israelites with extreme brutality. The Bible says because of this,  “God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”  Exodus 2:24-25 God did not end with just being concerned about the plight of the Israelites; He resolved to take them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. God decided to take action consistent with His concern. This is where the matter gets interesting. God wants to carry out a very important mission, but He can only achieve this through man. He has identified a man for that purpose. But on approaching the man, here is the response that God got:  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelite...

“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” Genesis 39:20-21 This is quite encouraging – while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him. While you are there in trouble, the Lord is with you. While you are there in need, the Lord is with you. While you are there in pain, the Lord is with you. While you are there in anxiety, the Lord is with you. While you are there in isolation, the Lord is with you. That’s the point. And remember, you may be punished for wrongs that you never committed. Some Christians think the Lord is with them only when they are happy, healthy, well-fed, rich, etc. It’s quite unfortunate. If you’ve surrendered your life to God and worship only Him, then He is with you always, until the end of the world, and no matter how feel. Joseph was in prison, but ev...

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:26 I think every Christian has gone through the following experience at some point in their Christian journey. One moment they are on fire; they feel like their prayers are blazing right into the Throne Room. They are energetic and appear to fly as they go through their paces in the prayer room. The next moment they are down. They are totally demoralized; they appear like all energy has been sapped from them. They can hardly lift their tongue to pray and wonder whether they are making any real progress in their prayer life. “Does God even hear my prayers,” they wonder to themselves. But what’s the recommended attitude for the believer to adopt? Here it is: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” That’s the attitude. It’s called ‘perseverance’. It’s called ‘never giving up’. It’s called ‘trusting in the Lord’. It’s called ‘sticking with God, no matter what’...

“Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?” Genesis 31:30 Due to sour relations, Jacob was fleeing from Laban, his father-in-law whom he had lived with and worked for, for many years. Jacob was fleeing back to the land of his fathers. He was taking with him his entire family, which comprised his two wives Leah and Rachel, both Laban’s daughters, and his children. Without the knowledge of Jacob, Rachel had stolen her father’s household gods and was taking them with her. When Laban got wind that Jacob had fled, he pursued Jacob and in seven days Laban caught up with Jacob. That’s when he asked this important question:  “Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”  Genesis 31:30 Laban thought it was Jacob who had stolen the gods. I want to put Laban’s question into today’s context. I, therefore, rephrase it as follows:  “Now that you have ret...

  The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.”  Genesis 26:2 I want you to picture the context. According to Genesis 26:1,  “… there was a famine in the land…”  Genesis 26:1 Whenever there is famine in a given place, some residents emigrate. Some stick it out, and for some, it is because they have no choice – they just have nowhere to go. Emigration happens regularly in developing countries. Sometimes the economies of developing countries, for one reason or another, collapse, compounding the economic hardships, leading many to seek greener pastures elsewhere. We usually see on the news crowds of people from developing countries emigrating to developed countries, sometimes under very punishing and treacherous circumstances. Some of them would be quite vulnerable as they travel, in various respects. It looks like Isaac had considered emigrating to Egypt, but before he could even make the necessary arrangemen...

  “But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:33-34 I always encourage Christians by telling them that they live in an excellent place. I tell them so because that’s a fact. Christians are in Christ, glory to God! That’s the excellent place in which we live. Being in Christ is a treasure beyond measure! So, it is important for every Christian to value the grace placed on them . We were bought not with perishable things but with the blood of Him who saved us. It was by great sacrifice that we now can relate to God in a father-child kind of relationship. Yet I see many Christians who appear absent-minded, who live like their salvation is an ordinary thing. It breaks my heart! When I read the opening Bible verses I see one thing – a compromise of unimaginable proportions. I think that’s the...

Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:6-7 As we learned earlier, when Sarah heard the angels promise Abraham a son, she laughed. The reason Sarah laughed is clear; she was Abraham’s  wife,  and she was old. In fact, at 90 years of age, Sarah was very old. It was extremely difficult for her to visualize the possibility of bearing a child at such an advanced age. Even the community would most probably have found the prophecy quite unbelievable! So, when Sarah laughed at the promise, it was like saying, “Wait! You are joking, right?” or “No way; that just cannot be, given my condition!” You probably are in a situation that you now consider barren, beyond redemption, or plainly just impossible. You may have resigned and taken such a situation as your fate. Like Sarah, you’ve probably laugh...

  “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” Genesis 19:29 The thought that God remembers me in challenging times is quite comforting. God remembered Abraham. There is no reason He will fail to remember you too. But it looks like there are preconditions to it. Let us consider the kind of person Abraham was before God’s eyes. We are told that Abraham had faith in God; he is actually referred to as our father in matters of faith. We are further told that Abraham believed God, and God credited this to him as righteousness. So, by believing God, Abraham stood righteous Him. Then there is this other quality. Abraham walked in total obedience to God. God asked for Abraham’s son, and Abraham was ready to give his son to Him. Abraham can be considered to have given his son to God because he was just about to do it and did not even know that it was only a test! Abraham behav...

  As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” Genesis 19:17 Picture this. God is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the massive scale of sin associated with these cities. Angels are already on the ground to carry out the assignment. However, because of Abraham the Faithful, and a man after God’s own heart, the angels seek to spare the lives of Lot and his family. The angels had to grab Lot and his family by hand, seeing they were delaying and led them out of Sodom, to a safe place. As soon as they had brought them out, one of [the angels] said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”  Genesis 19:17 Clear instructions, these are. The instructions are as relevant to the Christians of today as they were when the angel uttered them. It would...

  Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?   What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?”   Genesis 18:23-24 ‘Standing in the gap’ p robably is one of the most important activities that God requires of every Christian. We normally refer to it as ‘interceding’. Standing in the gap is one of the most profitable undertakings for a Christian and by that, I mean one of the most fulfilling undertakings of our lives. The opening Bible verses clearly show that Abraham was so concerned about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that he decided to stand between God and Sodom and Gomorrah, in a bid to avert the destruction. Unfortunately, Abraham thought there was a significant number of righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, which sadly wasn’t the case. In the opening Bible verses, Abraham asked God if He wou...

  “Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:13-14 We all  pass thro ugh challenges at some point in our lives as Christians. When we face challenges we also tend to ask lots of questions in our hearts. Some of the questions originate from doubt and unbelief. We have measured things in the natural for far too long. We have also observed events for far too long. From all this, we have, in our wisdom, determined what is possible or impossible, what can be done and what cannot be done. We have relied on science so much, to the extent that we have concluded that whatever is not scientifically possible can never be possible by any other means. You say, “Jesus rose from the dead.” Science says it’s impossible; He had not really died. You say, “Jesus ascended to Heaven.” Science says i...

  “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully…”   Genesis 17:1 O that we may walk before God as God requires of us! Many ask, “How should the believer walk with or before God?” We may say many things in answer to this question, but the above-cited Bible verse gives a very simple answer –  a believer should walk before God faithfully . If you really want to walk with God better, and were wondering how you could do it, then right here is the solution to your wondering;  all you need to do is to walk with Him faithfully . After examining how you have walked with God till now, you will surely identify some areas, a handful or numerous of them, in which you have deviated from the faithfulness that’s required of you. Correct each one of them today, right now, because the next minute is not guaranteed to you. But what’s the definition of faithful? English is a second language for me, so I need to ch...