Tonight, we want to examine OVERCOMING ADDICTION. Our focus will be mainly on sexual-related addictions, but lessons can be related to other areas of life addictions, including laziness.

Let me start by telling you a Bible History. It’s about the Holy Communion or what people call the sacrament. Today in churches, what they serve as Holy Communion is just a crumb of bread and a drop of wine or zobo. Do you know that in the Bible times, what they served was a whole MEAL? In fact, they called it Love Feast. People were allowed to bring wine and food. But instead of everybody eating in love and equally, some people started forming caucuses. They called it Agape Feast. You know Agape means Love. Paul even scolded them, but they also didn’t stop. While some would go home hungry, some would OVERFEED. Paul wrote a letter in the book of 1 Corinthians to warn them about the dangers of such practice. He said sickness and immature death, but they still didn’t stop. They stopped having a FEAST! They stopped bringing big loaves of bread and drums of wine. Do you know what made them stop? Did it work? You see, the reason you haven’t left that sin is not because you don’t know the consequences, it is because you have a system that allows it to happen whether you like it or not.

They started serving a little. Do you notice how jam-packed those junctions used to be? Do you notice any difference when they introduced a traffic light? How many of you have passed through a juncture where there was no traffic light? People will start adjusting. Our brain acts like software. That’s because a system has been put in place. Our body, your hand, your leg, your mouth are the hardware. And I won’t talk about Spiritual solution today. The hardware will always respond to the software. The solution to addictions is both spiritual and natural. You need to reconfigure your software.

The first solution I’m presenting is—In fact, sorting the natural will allow your spiritual arsenal to be effective. Do you have a girlfriend that makes you go back into that sin? Just cut her off or cut him off.

1. Create a system that discourages that addiction.

End the relationship.
Do you masturbate in your room because everywhere is dark? Remove the curtain.
Do you get involved in kissing and smooching? Stop meeting behind closed doors.
Stop the unnecessary nice chats.
Uninstall your browser if it leads you into sexual sites. Remove it for one month and see if you will die.
Just remove the system that fosters sin as much as possible.
For your researches, start using WhatsApp AI.
Leave Facebook and Twitter if it’s doing more harm than good. It is what it is; you have to take a drastic step. Listen to me. Block that number and never look back. System is everything.
She thought it just happened. One day she was telling me that she now handles her relationship with the opposite sex more maturely. When you set your rules, keep to them. I told a daughter of mine, don’t talk to the opposite sex once it’s 10 PM. She didn’t know that the systems she has built were what helped her. That’s it how to bring down the system of sin in your life.

2.Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Try and make it easy for yourself. Don’t wait for the day you fall into sin before you feel guilty. Start feeling guilty from the time you break your rules. Once you set the rules, keep them. Meanwhile, that used to be her weakness. Put your environment in place. You don’t need applying self-control, just apply environment control.

Do you know why your system keeps going back to masturbation? It gets pleasure!

2. Set Punishment.

Replace the reward with punishment today. It wants that reward, so it wants that pleasure. Every time you are forced to see a porn or feel the urge strongly, use a little pepper on your eyelid. Just run it on your hand and use water to rinse it. No serious washing. Then watch your brain reset. If you feel the urge to masturbate and after holding it for a long time, you can’t hold yourself, get up and put pepper in your hand! Try it. Keep the rule. Next time the urge comes, do you know the thought that will follow? The punishment! Do it all the time.

No.3. Use the calendar rule.

Today is 23rd, right? How is it done? Write 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th. Date it like that till 30th or just 7 days. Each day you keep to your rule. Or each day you didn’t commit the sin, you mark it. Each day you fail, you mark it. You can mark as many times as you want but KEEP TO IT. Write:

23rd ✅
24th ❌
25th
26th
27th
28th
Go to it every day. You can do it for morning and evening. Each time you win, your brain wants to win again. And you can track yourself. This is the advantage, and even if you miss any day, by the time you compare it to the whole week, you will realize that you’re not that bad after all. Psychologically it helps your mind. See, even if you mark RED every day! One day, you will tell yourself, at least, don’t let me get red today.

NB is not fighting to clear his name or to avenge or revenge. We already know those rogues are high on social media impressions. He is fighting for you and me. He is fighting for all believers and even unbelievers. This nonsense has been on for a while. They don’t care about the names people have built, they don’t care about their mental health and that of their families especially the little children involved. All they care about is the money that comes to them through the engagement.

While the Christian community was mourning a female song minister that died at a time, a self-acclaimed award-winning journalist accused her of having an affair with another song minister. The case wasn’t blown up at that time but I saw the exchange on Twitter (now X). You can imagine that.

And we have not seen anything. Let Facebook begin to pay. You could be the next victim.

Then to the question, what would Jesus have done? First, asking this question publicly, especially at this time is foolishness. I am not angry, I’m stating the fact. Ignorance is not an excuse for foolishness. It is not everything you’re thinking that you should let others hear. That’s why we have discipleship. That’s why we have Sunday school teachers. That’s why we have fellowship coordinators.

These are the types of questions you ask privately for wisdom and not the ones you stir a public debate over. There are questions you ask in the office of your pastor and there are questions you ask in the open Bible study class.

That said, what would Jesus do? Since it’s an open debate now.

When Jesus walked the Earth, He reacted to human errant behaviours in different ways based on His wisdom and judgment. To some, He let it slide.

1. To some, He used strong words.
Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on cast­ing out demons. Luke 13:32
Bro. Nath is not even using strong words or calling any of them an animal. But you also think they acted like animals, right?

2. To some, He got a whip and destroyed their merchandise physically. (not spiritually)
John 2:15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple.

It is safe to say Pastor Nath is stopping their evil businesses as well, right?

3. To some He made them fall and hit their body on the ground.
John 18:6 As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!”
I don’t know how much that hurt but I know it wasn’t an impartation, it was a punishment.

4. To some, He watched as his ear was cut off with a sword. Then, stepped in to heal Him and passed a message.

Lastly, in the last days, Jesus, the Judge will send unrepentant rogues to hell.

While Jesus was on earth, He was both a spiritual judge and a physical judge. Nathaniel Bassey is not a physical judge on this earth, if he had the power he could have judged but the scriptures admonished him to obey the authorities of the land which is what he is doing at the moment.

Apostle Paul also had his red lines. He used strong words against the High Priest.
“Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!” Acts 23:3

Just as Paul stood his ground against being slapped by a random person, cursed another person with blindness, demanded a public apology from those who manhandled him and at a point appealed to Caesar, Pastor Nath appealed to the law of the land. The Scriptures permit him.

Jesus may or may not have dealt with the issue with an immediate physical judgement based on His wisdom. Pastor Nath is dealing with it physically and with wisdom as well.

We pray for grace, courage and wisdom for him.

It is God’s will that men raise men. When Jesus was leaving earth, He told His disciples to go and make more disciples. This sacred duty isn’t meant for just 12 Jesus disciples, it’s for all believers who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ. And who is a disciple?
A disciple is a follower of someone. Jesus disciples were His disciples because they followed Him. They patterned their life after Jesus. But this is a responsibility that has been delegated to each and every believer who is committed to walking within the boundries of God’s word.

Here are practical things to do to disciple men.

1. Evangelism:

if you’ve been trying to disciple people without evangelism, then you’re skipping a step. There’s really nothing wrong with discipling people even if the gospel doesn’t come to them through you, but it’s much easier to follow up with someone that got saved through you. So if you’ve been having issues with getting disciples, then you need to engage in more practical evangelism.

2. ⁠Live the Life:

A scripture that once came as a surprise to me is John 17:19- “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
Jesus sanctified Himself, so that His disciples could also be sanctified. Long and short, lion no dey born goat. When you disciple people, even though the original pattern is Jesus, you’re literally replicating yourself in your disciples. You want to be sure you’re doing it right so you don’t lead others astray.

3. Intercession:

you cannot be a successful discipler if you’re not given to constant prayer. Continually praying for the people God has given you is the spiritual dimension to actively teaching your disciples. After your teaching, you still need to go into your closet and pray hard for them that they mature and stand perfect and complete in the will of God.
Constant Followup: so you have disciples. That’s awesome, how often do you check up on them? How effective and practical are the things you’re teaching them? Are they really growing? These are all questions you will need to answer if you want to be an effective disciple.

4. Not every of your disciple has to be titled disciples:

we see through the pages of scripture that some people were Jesus secret disciples. He taught them, He prayed for them, yet they may not have necessarily been called His disciples. Sometimes, you can just take random opportunities to teach those around you, maybe even informally. Friends, Neigbours e.t.c. You can start off gisting but be intentional. Sometimes, some of those people are already patterning their lives after yours anyways, they just need more knowledge in specific areas and you can provide guidance.

Discipling men or raising men is not as hard as it sounds. If Jesus commanded it, then it’s very much a possibility. We just need to constantly remember that it is a partnership, and trusting God to guide us will make the journey less stressful for us.

Leaving all the figuring out to God.

Many believers don’t understand that- as much as it is impossible to please God without faith, having faith does not mean you are the one to figure out how God must do it. That is boxing God in and it will almost always get you into trouble.

God is a God of order. Oftentimes, He tells is what He wants to do first, then encourages us to hold on in faith and patience, so we can inherit the promise.

Unfortunately, for many Christians, we take the prophecy as a signal to plan how God should go about it. Unfortunately, this is most times very limiting.

And by thinking up a certain method in your mind, you have engaged the principle of “As far as your eyes can see”. Sadly, this may not even work, because “what your eyes can see” may never have been in God’s plan at all. So you leave the scene feeling like God is a liar and not true to His word and to God, you wouldn’t have properly engaged the principles of faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV“He’s a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”

“He’s a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”

is very clear. It doesn’t say how God is going to reward you, just that if you hold on in faith by actively seeking God, you will be rewarded. So what must our response be when God promises to do something for us?

Simply follow Him…

Yes I know this sounds slightly vague, and can be very difficult when you want to make your plans; but we must never be people who fail to receive God’s promise simply because we have a concept in our head of how it should happen.

So we can make our plans, especially when we need to take urgent action, but we must be ready to have those plans disrupted by God at any given time. God is not the author of confusion though. So, many times, God will reroute you before you take major steps to make progress in your plans.

We must also have an anticipatory waiting posture in our hearts continually. A willingness to rely on His guidance, to absolutely trust in His plan. I believe this heart posture is one of the major components that draws down the answers to our prayers.

And when we do let God do the things He wants to do the way He wants to do them, we will see Him move in mighty dimensions beyond what we could ever have imagined or anticipated.

I attended a programme recently where several guest ministers were invited. I’ll focus on two of them.

The first was the main minister. He had about four sessions. Somehow, he was struggling with the theme all through. He did preach well and I was ministered to but you know that feeling of, “this is not his best”. He was scanning for the network all through. You know when a fish is in shallow water and when it’s in a river.

The other minister only had a session. Throughout I was there, I didn’t even hear him mention the theme for once yet the whole place was blown up. I had to tell a brother jumping behind me to calm down.

The theme chosen by your host could at times be a big obstacle against letting loose the fire in you. I won’t support not mentioning the theme at all but look at this scenario:

If a crocodile gets into a fight with a big animal on the land, whom do you think will win? Imagine if the crocodile was able to drag the big animal into the river. Even if it is a Lion, it is gone!

That’s how to kill it man of God. Learn how to drag the theme out of the land into the sea. Learn to draw the people from KNOWN (the theme) to the UNKNOWN (where you flow effortlessly).

One of the health cases I usually attend to is fibroid-related. In the last four weeks, I had at least one case per week. As a healing minister, here is my advice.

Herbs don’t cure fibroid. You will always see someone who tells you that they know someone who was cured by some herbs. Some will even say, “their wife or sister”. Ask them for pre and post-medical test results, no proof but they will tell you “Trust me bro” and then, introduce a herb to you. Those concoctions are always expensive. They are usually almost HALF OF THE SURGERY COST at the least.

I said herbal concoction cannot cure fibroid because it is not an infection that you apply medication to. It is a growth that has to be REMOVED.

It can only be removed either through surgery or through a miracle.

Many people will say they prefer miracles, why? Because they cannot afford the expenses (300k or whereabouts). Or they are scared of anything surgery. They are afraid of other complications.

I will support anyone to use faith to get any miracle from God but in most cases, these are emergency faith users. They have never exercised faith to get a thing before from God. But they want to start now out of fear. They are not disqualified from applying their faith, the question is, are they even ready to give it what it takes to faith for such a miracle? Do they know HOW TO?

Here is my counsel to many I have spoken to:
1. Do a proper assessment. Not all fibroid cases require immediate surgery especially if it’s not painful, has other complications, causes extreme discomfort or blocks you from conceiving. Only a qualified doctor can tell you this. At times, you need multiple opinions.

2. If the doctor evaluates that you need surgery and it won’t have any side effect, especially on your ability to conceive, having prayed and applied your faith up till this time, go for the surgery option. It is easier to believe in the money and quick recovery than to be taking herbal concoctions and faith for a miracle.

3. If it may affect the womb, settle and believe for a faith miracle especially if it is not life-threatening because it may take some time.

4. If for any reason, you don’t agree with all I said and you want to apply faith. Faith will work. But please, learn how to make it work. There’s a miracle by the anointing of another and there’s a miracle by faith. Miracles by faith are the most consistent and they can be developed with conscious effort.

“The just shall live by his faith.”

Asking if it’s right to end a relationship with a lady because of dramatic mood swings.

“Mood swings no matter how dramatic is not enough reason to end a serious relationship. However, it’s enough reason to stay unmarried for the rest of your life”.

What do I mean?

Even if you leave a lady because her mood swings take a toll on you, it is still another lady you will get engaged with except you have decided not to marry at all. That you have a female friend who didn’t take her mood out on you doesn’t mean she does have that baby inside of her that wishes to cry. There are no commitments that bind you to her, that’s why she isn’t taking it out on you. Even a lady will ask herself: “Where are all these swings when I was not engaged”.

That’s not to deny the fact that some people have better control over the expressions of their moods than others.

If a lady possesses qualities and gives the required support, mood swings are your least reason for wanting to let her go. There is a reason courtship is for adults and not for boys.

Dramatic or depressive mood swings can be managed when: the lady sees a need to, when the man shows understanding and when she is distracted with work or other activities. The more idle, the more the drama.

Also, I have met wonderful single ladies with depressive mood swings boldly written on them. Just a little friendship with them and you can read the letters already. I guess theirs is combined with other psychological factors. If you are the type, I will encourage you to work on it. It can keep a good man away.

One thing you need to know is that your man will have to start to learn how to deal with these things. It is not absolutely natural for him to cope with your different swings since he has learnt how to manage his, he assumed you should have learnt how to manage yours. So, if your swings are excessive and can be sniffed from afar, it can discourage good men.

Don’t make excuses for some biological or psychological make-up. Get to work on yourself. As far as others are concerned, your mood swings is an integral to your character. So, the question is: do you have a bright character or a depressive character? Imagine you need to adjust for you to get a One Billion Naira grant, won’t you? That shows it’s in your power and a happy home is much more than a Trillion naira grant.

Last week, Twitter was divided over how to treat the female gender when they are undergoing diverse mood swings prompted by hormonal changes or otherwise.

Here’s my view:

Fact #1.

Humans are very powerful beings and there’s no mood or instinct or feeling or emotion that a human has no control over, he hasn’t just found enough reason to control it.

Fact #2

Men have mood swings and emotions too, the only difference is that society has made the boy child feel absolutely responsible for how he behaves regardless of how he feels. That’s why you hear: men don’t cry even when he’s emotionally down. That’s him working against his emotions because he found a reason to do so.

Fact #3

There’s no denying the fact that females feel differently at different periods. That it is there means they have a responsibility over it, both to express it, receive care, put it in moderation and control it. For instance, you can’t say you don’t feel lively and allow sadness and depression to take you over. Let’s forget about your partner but talk about what is even good for you as a person.

Fact #4

You can’t hand over the keys of your life to emotions or mood swings. Otherwise, you will be sad, cranky and down for most of your life. Imagine waking up feeling sad and deciding to stay in bed instead of jumping up to work. The question is, will a female employer take that excuse from a female employee? You need to consider your happiness and the comfort of those around you especially those who care.

Fact #5

The emotions or feelings you give voice or excuses to grow, the ones you apply reasoning to are kept in moderation. Take for instance a young lady that got pregnant as a result of premarital sex with no one to care for her except her parents. She will have zero cravings and no mood swings. Even if they come, she will control it. That tells you these things are in the man’s power to control. Put the same young girl in the hands of a caring husband then all the emotions, cravings and mood swings will grow wings and limbs.

Fact #6

Humans always wanted more. The more expressions of our feelings we receive, the more we want to demand. You see people with same-sex orientation claim it is their biological make-up and they don’t have control over it. Some said they have cravings towards animals and recently some said they are biologically paedophiles and there is nothing they can do about it. Those feelings are pampered not because they are right but because they feel it is in their right to express it.

Fact #7

I am an advocate of showing care and being sensitive to how your partner feels. I also lavish my wife with the same. I believe if a woman cannot act as a woman then she’s an unhappy woman. I also believe that THE BIGGEST EMOTIONAL PRISON YOU CAN PUT YOURSELF in IS TO SAY, I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER MY EMOTIONS OR MOODS, YOU HAVE JUST NOT FOUND A REASON TO KEEP IT IN MODERATION

A tweet generated attention. The young man said he was divorcing his wife because he couldn’t be negotiating for X(sex). He said he helps with the house chores but they only had X twice in 2years. He believed the wife starved him of intercourse in marriage which she freely gave to him in courtship. Many people in the comment session believed wives starved husbands to get one thing or the other from them, especially in MONOGAMY.Some wives may starve their husbands intentionally but in most cases, it is not an act of starvation or direct wickedness. There is more to X in marriage than what you have in courtship or dating which is actually fornication.First, when a lady opens her legs for a man she’s dating, she’s trying to secure the relationship. The motive changes when marriage has happened. Before you judge her, keep reading.When a man chases after a lady while trying to woo her and gives her attention in courtship, he’s trying to secure her. Once marriage set him, the lady would be wondering “What happened to all the attention”. It disappears. Even with the finest man, the attention will disappear before reappearing.So, when a lady is married to you, she’s no longer giving X to secure the home, she gives it because she’s happy. That’s where the issue comes in. On the other hand, a man doesn’t want X because he’s happy, he wants it because he feels like it just like an appetite.I tell you, it takes intentional efforts to get a woman happy every day of her marriage life. Due to the female complex nature, anything can piss her off, anything can off her mood, anything can hurt her. And she requires the man to pick her up each time. The man may readily pick her up if he’s served a tasty meal (X) but she’s not mentally ready to give that. And it could be strenuous for a man to keep picking her up as well. The more emotional and sensitive the lady, the more stress it poses on the man who is not ready to tender his plants.This is not making an excuse for the female gender but it is what it is. The attention you give her in courtship, she wants 2x of that!When there’s a continuous conflict over x and she doesn’t want to be guilty of the marriage, the woman will resort to what is called “dry x”. This is when the woman is not in the mood but feels obligated to open her legs to her husband. It is said that “dry legs kill the excitement in the long run”. It kills the excitement both in the man and in the lady.When issues are not resolved and x can’t happen, it builds up anger in the woman and lusts in the man. Lust itself is a sin and can lead to sexual attraction with a foreigner.What can be done?
I don’t think any man can happily live with a woman if the woman does not adjust her hurt level and increase the rate at which she forgets and lets go. An intentional effort is needed here that’s why the Bible tells the wife to SUBMIT. That’s an order.No wife can happily live with a man who doesn’t care about the silly things the woman cares about and complains about. Your wife can complain about the dust on the tip of your shoelaces. And would nag for greeting a female friend too much. At times, it could be silly things and at times, it could be serious things. That’s why the Bible talks about loving her regardless- again, it’s an order). The Bible also says she’s DELICATE/FRAGILE, treat her like an egg.Last Note-
Do you know why the elders advise couples not to sleep with an unresolved offence, they believe that X must happen every night and resolving all issues is the only way to do it.Summary- many good wives do not intentionally withdraw from s3x but it is against their nature to give it where all the t are not crossed. In fact, she can give food when angry or unhappy, not x. Both must work intentionally to get it right. Many do not get it right until old age after all their children have graduated from school.

Pastor Adeboye’s prayer is simply “Yoruba cultural prayer style”. It’s not that deep! You will also find that line of prayer in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Needless to say, Baba meant no wrong and had no wrong intention.

If an elderly man sees you and wants to pray for you, he would say: may God lift you above all your colleagues. If your colleague go to the same elderly man, he would pray the same prayer for him.

When God lifts you enough, you will be above some and some will be above you.

Wherever you see people using their heads the pack curse, I beg you in the name of God, don’t give it a second thought, just leave the place.