# **DWELLING IN THE SECRET PLACE** There is a difference between **visiting God and living close to God**. Psalm 91:1 says, *“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”* I think of the secret place as that quiet space where you can put everything down for a moment—the things you cannot explain to anyone, the worries you carry into the night, the questions you are afraid to ask out loud. It is where you come before God without pretending that everything is fine. In His presence, you can breathe again. The secret place is not necessarily a particular room, building, or mountain. It is a life of intimacy with God. It may be those early minutes before everyone else wakes up, a quiet corner after a long day, or simply a moment in your car when you turn everything off and talk honestly to God. **To dwell means to remain.** It is more than running to God when life falls apart and then forgetting Him when things become comfortable. It is learning to walk with Him in ordinary days as well as difficult ones. When you make God's presence a regular part of your life, prayer becomes more than an emergency call; it becomes a relationship. Something changes when you spend time with God consistently. Your problems may not disappear overnight, but your perspective begins to change. You become less controlled by fear and less dependent on people's approval. You begin to recognize God's voice, understand His Word more clearly, and make decisions from a place of faith rather than panic. The secret place does not promise a life without trouble; it gives you somewhere to stand when trouble comes. **Psalm 91:2** says, *“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.’”* Perhaps you have been trying to carry too much on your own. You have been strong for everyone else, answering messages, solving problems, meeting expectations, and quietly wondering who will strengthen you. **Come back to the secret place.** You don't have to arrive with perfect words. Come tired. Come confused. Come grateful. Come disappointed. Just come. God is not asking you to perform; He is inviting you into His presence. Don't make the secret place somewhere you visit only when you are desperate. **Make it your dwelling.** Let prayer become part of your rhythm. Let Scripture shape your thinking. Let worship quiet your heart. And when the storms come—and they will—you will have something deeper than circumstances to hold onto. **You will know where your strength comes from, where your peace is found, and where you can return when everything around you feels uncertain.**

Lifeline Today Tuesday September 1 Keep Focus! "Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions." Proverbs 4:25 (MSG) Keep focus! Don’t be distracted! Faith without focus is frustration. Prayer without focus is paralysis. Fasting without focus is failure. At the root of every advancement is focus. It is focus that will direct your talent and your gifts. It is your level of focus that will determine your level of placement as no great destiny emerges without focus. Focus means to be totally committed or absorbed in a specific assignment. It is the ability to gaze unwaveringly into every issue at hand without distractions. Focus does not come naturally, yet it is essential for anyone who wants to fulfill his or her life assignment. Talent with focus directs you and this has the potential to take you far. Focus creates the platform for manifestation and manifestation makes you a centre of attraction which compels attention in your favour. Happy new month. This is your day. Wisdom Fountain: “Scattered energy does nothing. Focused energy creates results.” Prayer: Everlasting Father, thank You for the gift of work and the skills You have given me. I declare total quietness from any noise that may come around me or inside my head. I receive a calm spirit and a clear mind to handle every task in front of me. Help me Lord to let go of worries and stop my attention from wandering. Give me the self-control and strength to finish whatever I start in Jesus' name.

I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds me today. I’m releasing my worries, trusting God’s timing, and resting beneath His mighty hand. He cares for me—and that is enough.

MY JOY… YOUR JOY Jesus said, “That My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” — John 15:11 The joy Jesus gives is not the same as temporary happiness. Jesus’ joy came from complete surrender to the Father and the privilege of doing God’s will. His joy was not dependent on circumstances, good health, money, or seeing everything go perfectly. His joy came from knowing God and being in fellowship with Him. This challenges us because we often look for joy in what is happening around us. We become irritated when things don't go our way, and our worries gradually choke the Word of God. But Jesus wants us to discover a deeper joy—a joy that remains even when circumstances change. True Christian joy is found in being rightly related to God. When we stop making everything about ourselves—our success, recognition, comfort, or usefulness—and simply live for Christ, His life begins to flow through us. Like Jesus said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” The people who bless others the most are often those who are not even conscious that they are doing it. They are simply living in fellowship with Christ. So ask yourself: Where is my joy coming from? Is it from what God gives me, what people say about me, or what I accomplish? Or is my joy rooted in God Himself? When Christ becomes your joy, circumstances no longer have the final authority over your peace.

Stop Overthinking Right Now 🗣️🔥🪽 1 Peter 5:7, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Overthinking is an ocean where someone is mentally sinking. So control your thoughts before they drown you in the ocean of stress, worries, and anxiety. Overthinking is simply belief in things that do not yet exist. Always use your mind to believe in God's thoughts rather than your own thoughts. You know, that is the main reason to live a life of unhappiness—when people never believe in God's word. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." So the next time when your thoughts try to disturb you, just go into your room, bow down on your knees, and cast all your worries upon Him. May God bless you. 🗣️🔥🪽

Praying to the Lord, to help me in my unbelief and to take away all my worries and fears. The decree maybe real but it is not final, only God knows according to His plan. I may not know all but He is in the details and I believe He is gracious. I am praying the same for everyone! 🙏

*TODAY'S PROPHETIC DECLARATION - SUNDAY, 30TH AUGUST, 2026.* 🌟*LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY*🌟 13th Sunday after Trinity | 5th Sunday & Last Sunday in August 📖 Scripture: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” — Colossians 3:16 (KJV) 🔥*Reflection – Let God's Word Fill Your Life* As we come to the last Sunday of August, Colossians 3:16 gives us a beautiful instruction: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” God's Word should not merely visit our hearts during Sunday worship or morning devotion. It should dwell in us—becoming deeply rooted in our thoughts, decisions, character, conversations, relationships, and daily living. Paul also connects God's Word with wisdom, teaching, encouragement, worship, and thanksgiving. When the Word of Christ fills our hearts, it should overflow into the way we treat others and the way we worship God. As August comes to an end, this is an opportunity to reflect: What has filled my heart this month? Have I allowed God's Word to occupy my heart, or have fear, anxiety, disappointment, anger, and worldly distractions taken too much space? Today, let us make room for Christ's Word again. Let His Word correct you. Let His Word encourage you. Let His Word teach you. Let His Word strengthen you. Let His Word give you wisdom. Let His Word produce worship in you. And as you enter September, don't merely carry memories from August—carry God's Word with you. 🔊*Prophetic Declaration:* Today, I declare that the Word of Christ shall dwell richly in me. God's Word shall become deeply rooted in my heart, mind, character, decisions, and daily life. I declare that the Word of God shall give me wisdom beyond my natural understanding. I shall receive divine guidance for every decision and discernment for every circumstance. I proclaim that my mind shall be filled with truth rather than fear, faith rather than doubt, hope rather than discouragement, and gratitude rather than complaining. Today, I declare that every negative influence competing for control of my heart shall lose its power. I choose to make room for God's Word and allow Christ to shape my thoughts and attitudes. I declare that God's Word shall guide my family, ministry, work, business, studies, relationships, and destiny. Every area of my life shall increasingly come under the influence of His truth. I proclaim that my mouth shall become a source of wisdom, encouragement, correction, comfort, and grace. The words I speak shall build people up rather than tear them down. I declare that God will use me to teach, encourage, counsel, and strengthen others. May the wisdom He gives me become a blessing to my family, church, community, and generation. Today, I receive grace to worship God not only with my lips but with my life. May psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, thanksgiving, and genuine praise continually flow from my heart. I declare that the grace of God shall replace heaviness in my heart with songs of praise. Where there has been sorrow, may God give me renewed strength to worship Him. As this month comes to an end, I declare that I will not carry unnecessary burdens, bitterness, disappointment, or fear into the new month. I release them to God and receive His peace. I proclaim that everything good God has started in my life during August shall continue to grow and produce fruit according to His will. I declare that September shall meet me prepared, spiritually strengthened, wiser, more focused, and more deeply rooted in God's Word. The Word of Christ dwells richly in me. Wisdom fills my heart. Praise fills my mouth. Grace fills my relationships. Faith fills my spirit. And Christ is glorified through my life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! 🙏🔥 ✅*Action Steps for today:* 1️⃣ Begin with thanksgiving: Thank God for bringing you safely to the last Sunday of August. 2️⃣ Read Colossians 3:12–17: Meditate especially on verse 16 and ask God to make His Word deeply rooted in you. 3️⃣ Declare: “The Word of Christ dwells richly in me; I am filled with wisdom, grace, faith, and praise.” 4️⃣ Review August: Think about what God has taught you, where He helped you, and what areas of your life still need surrender. 5️⃣ Release the past month: Forgive, let go, and surrender disappointments, failures, worries, and unanswered questions to God. 6️⃣ Fill your heart with Scripture: Choose one Bible verse to carry with you into September and meditate on it regularly. 7️⃣ Encourage someone: Use God's Word to encourage, teach, comfort, or strengthen someone today. 8️⃣ Worship intentionally: Sing a hymn, psalm, or spiritual song and thank God for His faithfulness throughout August. 9️⃣ Pray into September: Commit the new month, your family, ministry, work, business, studies, and plans into God's hands. 🔥*Sunday & Month-End Prayer:* Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your faithfulness throughout the month of August. Thank You for every day You preserved me, every prayer You answered, every battle You brought me through, every lesson You taught me, and every blessing You gave me. As this month comes to an end, I pray that the Word of Christ will dwell richly in me. Let Your Word take deep root in my heart. Let it shape my thoughts, decisions, attitudes, conversations, relationships, and actions. Give me wisdom to live according to Your will. Let Your Word be my guide when I am confused, my encouragement when I am discouraged, my strength when I am weak, and my hope when circumstances are difficult. Lord, make me a blessing to others. Give me words that teach, encourage, comfort, correct, and strengthen. Let my life point people toward Jesus. Fill my heart with worship and thanksgiving. May praise rise from me even when circumstances are not perfect. Give me a heart that recognizes Your goodness every day. As I close the chapter of August, I surrender everything that happened this month into Your hands. I release every disappointment, failure, mistake, worry, unanswered prayer, and painful experience. Thank You for the victories. Thank You for the lessons. Thank You for the preservation. Thank You for the grace. Thank You for bringing me this far. Lord, prepare me for September. Let me enter the new month with renewed strength, greater wisdom, deeper faith, clearer vision, and a stronger commitment to Your Word. Establish the work of my hands. Bless my family. Strengthen my ministry. Prosper my honest endeavors. Guide my studies and decisions. Order my steps and let Your perfect will be accomplished in my life. Let Your Word dwell richly in me, and let my life become a living testimony of Your grace. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. 🙏🕊️✨ 🌿*Blessing for the Last Sunday of August:* May the Word of Christ dwell richly in your heart and fill you with divine wisdom. May God's Word guide your steps, strengthen your faith, guard your heart, and shape your decisions. As August comes to an end, may the Lord bring completion to everything He has ordained for this month. May every good seed planted during August continue to grow and produce fruit. May God give you grace to leave behind every burden that does not belong in your next season. As you enter September, may you enter with fresh strength, renewed vision, deeper faith, greater wisdom, divine favor, and a heart full of praise. May your family be blessed. May your ministry be fruitful. May your work be established. May your business prosper according to God's will. May your studies yield excellent results. May your relationships be strengthened. May your destiny continue to unfold according to God's purpose. 🌟 The Word will guide you. 📖 Wisdom will lead you. 🕊️ Grace will sustain you. 🔥 Faith will strengthen you. 🙌 Praise will fill your heart. 🌟 13TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 🌟 5TH SUNDAY & LAST SUNDAY IN AUGUST 📖 “LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY IN ALL WISDOM.” — COLOSSIANS 3:16. As August closes, may God's Word remain alive in you, and as September begins, may you step into a new month filled with His wisdom, grace, peace, favor, and divine direction. Good morning beloved, happy Sunday and do have a blessed, joyful, fruitful, and spiritually refreshing last Sunday of August! 🙏📖🔥🕊️ Shalom! *Remember: Your confession is your possession.* *©️ Postulant C. O. Oyadosu.* _Please share with others, thank you and God bless you 🙏_ For counseling, prayers and partnership or you want to share your testimonies with us; please call or Whatsapp: +2348063128703 Or Email: clementoyadosu[gmail].com

August 29 🌿 “WHEN I CANNOT SEE HIS HAND” WHEN MY SOUL IS DISCOURAGED 📖 Psalm 42:5 (LLV) — “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you troubled within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” Sometimes the voice we listen to most carefully is our own. We rehearse our worries. We repeat our disappointments. We imagine what might go wrong. And before long, our thoughts begin speaking louder than our faith. The writer of Psalm 42 understood. His soul was cast down. Troubled. Restless. He longed for God, yet God seemed far away. His tears had become his food “day and night.” People around him were asking, “Where is your God?” And then something changes. The psalmist stops listening to his troubled soul and begins speaking to it. “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” He does not deny his sadness. He does not say, “You shouldn't feel this way.” He acknowledges exactly where he is. But he refuses to let his feelings have the final word. “Hope in God.” Sometimes we need to do the same. Our fear says, “This will never get better.” And we answer, “Hope in God.” Our disappointment says, “God has forgotten me.” And we answer, “Hope in God.” Our circumstances say, “There is no reason to praise.” And faith answers, “I will yet praise Him.” That little word “yet” contains a remarkable amount of faith. The psalmist is not praising because everything has already changed. His circumstances are still difficult. His soul is still troubled. But he looks beyond what is true at this moment toward what he knows about God. “I will yet praise Him.” Not because I can see the answer. Not because the sadness has disappeared. But because this moment is not the entire story. There will be another chapter. There will be another morning. There will be another song. And God will still be God. Faith does not require us to silence every painful feeling. But it does teach us that our feelings are not the only voice allowed to speak. Sometimes we must remind our own soul of what it has temporarily forgotten. God is still faithful. God is still present. God is still worthy of my trust. And even here, I can say: “I will yet praise Him.” A new beginning sometimes starts with changing which voice I listen to: when my discouraged soul speaks fear, I can answer it with hope in God. Reflection: What has my discouraged heart been telling me lately, and what truth about God do I need to speak back to it? Prayer: Heavenly Father, You know the moments when my soul becomes discouraged and my thoughts become filled with worry. Thank You that I do not have to pretend those feelings are not real. But help me not to let them become the final voice in my heart. Teach me to speak Your truth to myself, to place my hope in You, and to remember that today's difficulty is not the end of my story. Even when I cannot yet see the answer, let my heart say with faith, “I will yet praise You.” In Jesus' name, Amen.

Daily Devotion: 1 John:5-22 · 1m “The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” GNB Being born again in Spirit means that your entire life will change. Perhaps you once lived a life of greed, or you were filled with bitterness and hatred. Perhaps your troubles were so bad that it weighed you down, perhaps you lived a life of sin and frivolity, indulging your desires and urges. Perhaps you just felt lost and alone. While all those troubles and temptations will not go away in a flash, you will find that you are less inclined to feel anxious or depressed. Those worldly temptations would not seem so attractive anymore, in fact,, compared to the peace and joy the Holy Spirit gives, those heady parties would seem decidedly dull. Faith in Christ Jesus lifts the burden Whether you carry a burden of sin, shame, guilt or are just troubled by cares and worries, accepting Jesus as your Saviour will lighten the load. Psalms 55:22: “Leave your troubles with the LORD, and he will defend you; he never lets honest people be defeated.” GNB Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest.” GNB Spiritual rebirth makes you a new creature You are no longer a slave of your sinful life, for Christ has set you free. You are renewed in spirit, washed in the blood of the Saviour, you are forgiven. Your old life must be left behind; its sins and shame forgotten, and you must live a new life in Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives in you now and you will be guarded and guided by Him. This is the beauty of salvation, you can start fresh, have a clean slate and build a new way of living, seeing the world with Spirit-filled eyes and bearing fruit to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.” GNB 1 Peter 1:23: “For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal.” GNB You’ve received eternal salvation Your salvation cannot be taken from you. Your redemption is permanent, even if you should falter as a child of God. God understands that we are human beings, and that we are weak. That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to reside in us, so that we can stand firm and not wander off  the path of righteousness. Psalms 37:23-24: “The LORD guides people in the way they should go and protects those who please him. If they fall, they will not stay down, because the LORD will help them up.” GNB Romans 9:38-39: “For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above or the world below –  there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” GNB You’ll have a need to become a disciple Once the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your heart, you will feel the need to share the Good News with those who still live according to the rules of the world. If you are afraid to talk in public for fear that others may mock you, do not worry, for God will give you the words to speak. Ezekiel 2:7: “You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are.” GNB Luke 12:11-12: “When they bring you to be tried in the synagogues or before governors or rulers, do not be worried about how you will defend yourself or what you will say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” GNB You can be sure of eternal life Forgiveness and a clean slate are not the only prizes we receive through faith in Jesus Christ. The ultimate prize is eternal life. As Jesus promised before He ascended to the Father, He will prepare a place for us and then, when the time is right, He will return in the same way He went. He will come on the clouds to collect His children so that they can join Him in victory, forever praising God in the New Jerusalem. Romans 6:23: “For sin pays its wage – death; but God’s free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.” GNB 1 Peter 1:3-5: “Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God

💭 👇How are you renewing your mind today? Let’s shift our focus from earthly worries to heavenly peace. 🌐 Listen to the radio broadcast: www.godsmightyword.org #GodsMightyWord #MindsetShift #RenewYourMind #SpiritualGrowth #PeaceOfMind #Colossians32