Israelites Journey . . . [ February 2018 Newsletter ]

February 2018 Edition

Dear Beloved,

It gives us great pleasure to welcome you to our February newsletter.

We hope the year has gotten off to a great start. With the Lenten season on us, some are in the middle of a full fast, while others are giving up certain things. It's important that our fast is not mechanical, where we are too busy to pray, or have heart engagement with Father God. What ever we do, the important thing is to spend more time in the secret place, enjoy the Presence of the Lord and let Him transform our hearts as we engage with His.

We are excited to report that the adverts for our annual conference titled The Kingdom Empowerment Conference are out. The conference is free, but registration is required. (Please see below).

Please send to all your contacts and encourage them to register.

Our newsletter has all the usual features. Do enjoy.

We would like you to diarize the dates for our 2018 Kingdom Conference on the flyer. We will be celebrating the 5th (fifth) anniversary of Lapis Lazuli Ministries and the work the Lord set us up to do.

We urge you to be like the friends of the paralytic man who did everything in their power to see him get before the Lord and get healed (Mark 2 v 2-10).

Please invite and pray in all your contacts from far and wide. The Lord promises to do abundantly more than we have ever seen.

The conference is free, but bringing guest speakers, ministry teams, venues etc, costs a lot of money. Please get in touch with our office or send us an email if you would like to know how you can help us.

If you have been blessed in any way by these Kingdom Conferences, and would like to support us as we seek to bless so many more, please click here to donate. Thank you.

Registration portal is now open, please register now.

Israelites Journey

In 1446 BC, about 2.4 million Israelites men, women and children left Egypt (Ex. 12:37) where they were in bondage and headed for The Promised Land. Rather than leading them by the direct route along the Mediterranean coastline, God led them southward through the wilderness. This journey could have taken days, but it took 40 years.

Although the journey was real, it is also a powerful symbol of God delivering us from sin (symbolized by "Egypt"), taking us through the wilderness (symbolizing our life), and leading us into the Promised Land (becoming one with God and Jesus putting His character in us). So while I continue to be baffled by the Israelites' lack of faith on their journey with God, most of us today are guilty of the same problem in our personal journey with the Lord.

I will use four 'P's to illustrate some of the points we can learn from the Israelites journey and how this symbolic journey relates to our present-day lives.

1. Preparation: Egypt was a picture of bondage. The children of Abraham were slaves in Egypt, toiling every day in mud pits to make bricks and create monuments. Moses, believed his fighting skill was required to deliver the Israelites from their slave-masters. He killed the Egyptian who was mistreating an Israelite. But God had a different plan, that meant He needed to lead Moses into the wilderness where Moses could learn shepherding skills.

The question I want us to ask ourselves today is, 'What is God preparing you for?'. It could be a gradual revelation or it could be a complete mystery, in which you have no choice but to walk by faith. But as we take time to abide in Him, and His words abide in us, we will receive greater revelation of His purposes.

2. Protection: The Israelites left Egypt with gold, silver and yard goods, but NO weapons. It was God who protected His people. The Red Sea opened because of the faith of Moses to let God's people through. The Egyptian army had no faith, the sea closed, and they were drowned. Even after protecting the Israelites at the Red Sea, God manifested Himself as a huge cloud in the day and a pillar of fire by night, which stood between the Israelites and their enemies (Ex 14:19-22).

Henry Blackaby, the author of 'Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God' says we all have mile markers in our lives. Times we look back and can remember a specific turning point where God had a victory in our life. I am sure that all our lives are littered with mile markers of God's protection. Take time to thank God for them.

3. Provision: After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they came to Marah, a place where the water was bitter and they murmured against Moses saying, "What shall we drink?". Moses cried unto the Lord who showed him a tree that sweetened the waters (Ex. 15:23-24). Soon after, the people again complained, this time they lacked bread, and the Lord provided manna. The miracle of the daily manna did not occur on just this one occasion, but continued for 40 years (Joshua 5:12), until the Israelites entered the Promised Land!

It was God's plan to take the Israelites through the wilderness Himself, and similarly on our life journey we have to learn to trust God for EVERYTHING. As with the Israelites, God continues to lead us with kindness and patience. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

4. Promise Land: One of the most important keys to possessing your Promised Land is the habit of putting all faith in God's promises. God's Word is filled with awesome promises for every imaginable need. These promises are our "connection" to His resources. Every day, as you face situations, make it a habit to recall and confess God's promises. Mark them in your Bible. Doing this will strengthen you and release God's power to work on your behalf.

In the wilderness, the Israelites learned to resist the urge to rush ahead. The Children of Israel wanted to be in the Promised Land yesterday! But God only let them gather up enough manna and quail for one day. He did not want them to rush ahead, but to walk with Him.

God uses the experiences we go through to mould us into the people He wants us to be. Just as He did then, through the good and bad times, the hardships, and celebrations, God wants us to learn things about both Him and us.

The truth is, we spend much more time wandering in the wilderness than living in the Promised Land. In fact, while the Promised Land is wonderful, we learn our greatest lessons on the journey along the way.

Thank you Heavenly Father for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. We accept His sacrifice and commit our lives to Him. Lord help us to possess all that He has for us. Help us "enter" our Promised Land and walk in the assignments that You have for us - Amen.

Femi

Announcement

Invitation to the next Bethel Sozo DVD viewing sessions. (February/March, 2018).

Bethel Sozo Network Nigeria invites you to join other participants at the next Bethel Sozo DVD viewing sessions scheduled to hold on the following dates:

Thursday 15th of February,

Thursday 22nd of February,

Thursday 1st of March,

Thursday 8th of March,

Thursday 15th of March,

Thursday 22nd of March and

Thursday 29th of March, 2018.

Venue: Bethel Sozo Network Nigeria Office, 3rd Floor, Maku House, 109 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Time: 11:00am to 1:00pm each day.

These Bethel Sozo DVDs will teach you about the tools used in Bethel Sozo and how by following the Holy Spirit's leading, wounds and lies that we have believed over the years, can be replaced with Truth from the Lord. This brings freedom as written in the word. (John 8v 32).

These Sozo DVDs will be shown for free over a seven week period at the centre. The idea is for you to commit to watching a video once a week for 7 weeks. At these sessions, Participants come together to have a deeper understanding about inner healing and how to improve their connections with the God Head. They will be given the opportunity to watch the Bethel Sozo training DVDs and read the Bethel Sozo Training Manual at our resource centre stated above.

Kindly confirm your attendance by sending a mail to [email protected] as soon as possible as we have limited spaces.

God Bless,

Dr. (Mrs.) Mina Bajomo,

Sub-Director, Bethel Sozo Network Nigeria.

May the Lord continue to uphold and preserve us all.

God's blessings,

Femi and Mina Bajomo

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Thanksgiving & Prayer Requests

Pray for the release of all our girls that have been kidnapped in Chibok and Dapchi, and that God protects them from harm.

Prayer for the Kingdom Empowerment Conference holding in both Abuja and Lagos in May 7-8 and 11-12 respectively. Pray that mighty healing's take place and lives are transformed.