NUGGETS.

• Your future is determined by the choices you make today.

• There's no better choice for you to make today than to improve your attitude.

• Better attitudes produce a better life.

• Your attitudes are produced by your thinking.

• When you align your attitudes with God, it gives you the wings and lift you need to soar higher in life.

• Agape kind of love is very rare in our world today and even becoming rare.

FACTS ABOUT LOVE.

1. Love is a REAL spiritual SUBSTANCE.

• Love has a real force and effect to it.

• Love is not an abstract feeling.

• When love is given and received, things happen.

• When love is given, positive things transpire, and when love is withheld, negative things happen.

• Love changes the atmosphere.

• Love changes a person's actions.

• Love has the power to change the world around you.

2. Everyone DESIRES to be loved.

• No matter how tough-looking you are on the outside, you are looking for someone to show you love.

• No other thing can satisfy the hunger for love in your soul.

• God created the desire for love inside of you so you could find him.

• Love is the nature of God, so he cannot not love.

• Every thought and action of God towards you is motivated by love.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF GOD BEING LOVE.

- God knows how to love in PERFECT ways.

- God is APPROACHABLE.

- God knows about all your NEEDS and CIRCUMSTANCES.

- God is COMMITTED to you.

NUGGETS

• God has a purpose and wonderful future for you.

• You have to pray your way into your future.

• Praying for your future involves understanding that there are things in your life now that are in the way of your future.

1. Let God and others know the area of TRANSFORMATION you desire.

• To have a better future, you must pray for transformation in your life.

• Learn to turn your problems into prayer.

• Don't just worry and agonize about your problems. Pray
about them.

• Learn to invite someone into your problem.

• We need the support of each other in the place of prayer.

• The church is not a physical structure you attend but the family you belong to.

• We are all broken in one area or the other, so the church is the gathering of broken people.

• The church is a place where people are in the process of being healed, restored, and being put back together.

• There's power when you open up your life to others in the place of prayer.

2. EXPECT wonderful thing to happen in your life.

• You are pregnant with the possibility of what God is going to do in your life in the future.

Jan 25, 2025 (at the prayer retreat)

• One area in life we all need to perfect our prayer is that of shaping our future from our present position.

• God has a wonderful plan for your future, but you have to pray it through.

• There's are issues, habits, and attitudes that are present in your life now that can undermine your future.

• Purse God in prayer today to find a better future.

1. Decide to get rid of things that are destroying and undermining your life.

• Change in your life for a better future always starts with a decision.

• When you make the decision to change things that are limiting you, God will give you the power to effect the change.

• Make a decision today that your future will be better than your today.

2. Honestly agree with issues God wants to address in your life.

• Being a Christian does not mean you don't have issues.

• You can not conquer issues in your life you are not willing to own up to.

• Resolving a problem in life starts with acknowledgment of the problem.

Prayer: The Pathway to intimacy and Power

Intimacy with God is essential, and Moses exemplified this by using his closeness to God to intercede for others. He received favor from God on behalf of his people. 

Desiring intimacy with God through prayer is important. Maintaining the right attitude in prayer will draw you closer to Him. He is not just an abstract figure in the sky; He is our Father. 

A deep relationship with God provides valuable insight. As you grow closer to Him, the things that do not please Him will gradually be removed from your life. 

Your connection with God will give you the leverage to make requests of Him. Spending time with God can be a joyous experience because He has so much to share with you. 

Prayer becomes anything but boring when you are intimate with God. You express the right thoughts, and He is always ready to listen.

NUGGETS.

• If you are going to benefit from the opportunities God will bring your way this year, you have to make some changes.

• Real change is never external but internal.

• Real change is not automatic but requires intentional actions.

• The only thing that can keep you from going higher this year is you.

1. Going higher in life requires the use of the RUNWAY.

• Aligning yourself up properly with God as well as embracing the right attitudes is what will help to get you off the ground to go higher in life.

• As things change when you get airborne, so is your perspective of life when you go higher.

• Align your thinking in line with the way God thinks.

• When you align your attitudes with God, it gives you the wings and lift you need to soar higher in life.

2. Commit to the change you desire.

• The change you desire to see requires your effort.

Things you need to change NOW to move higher in 2025.

- Subscribe to the right PRIORITIES.

• You have the power to choose in life what you consider important.

- Make the right COMMITMENT.

• Your priorities are priority only if you ACT on them.

• Commitment involves what you include and exclude in your life.

- Choose to build the right HABITS.

• Commitments are only fueled by the habits that you form.

• Habits are formed over some time and are never instantaneous.

- Develop your SELF AWARENESS.

• Self-awareness turns the focus away from other people or circumstances back to yourself.

- Choose to always turn your FAILURES into FUEL.

• Never let your failures go to waste.

- Choose to live for GLORY OF GOD.

NUGGETS.

• The ultimate gift of Christmas is not a thing or item, but Jesus Christ.

Practical implications of Jesus as the Mighty God.

1. Jesus is your Savior that HEALS.

• As you unwrap the gift of Jesus, you will discover that he is your healing, Savior.

2. Jesus is your Savior that LIBERATES.

• Jesus came to free you from things that are restrictive and destructive in your life.

3. Jesus is your SUPERNATURAL Savior.

• God can step into your situation and do things beyond your understanding.

Ways God works supernaturally.

- Through his provision.

- Through his intervention.

- Through his resurrection power.

Your life can be controlled by the disruptive behavior you have within you. You can be a Christian, tongue speaking but still be in captivity as a result of those behaviors that imprisoned your mind. Jesus came to grant you freedom from all forms of captivity, including the prison of your mindset, as well as freedom from death in sin. This will allow you to live a joyous life following God's original plan for humanity. Jesus came so can you have life in abundance to set you free from the prison of sin we were born into as a child. We are transformed when we invite Jesus into our lives from a prisoner of sin to a prisoner of hope. So today ask Jesus to come into your life so you too can enjoy the purpose of the gift of Jesus Christ in this season that will change your life from eternal condemnation from sin to eternal life in Christ Jesus.

**The Gift of Help*

The gift of Jesus is given to help humanity. The concept of Christmas represents God stepping into the world of humans by providing His only begotten Son as a symbol of His love for us. God sent Jesus to set the oppressed free and to bring healing to those who are emotionally bruised and broken.

Jesus understands your pain—those deep pains that no one else seems to comprehend. Because He has experienced suffering Himself, He can fully empathize with you. As our high priest, Jesus intercedes on our behalf before God, deeply aware of the pain we endure.

1. **Provision of Grace**: Jesus offers grace for all your failures, for it is by grace that we are saved. The gift of Jesus encompasses the grace we need for our weaknesses, allowing Him to forgive our past mistakes and erase our wrongs.

2. **Perfect Love**: Jesus loves you perfectly, a love that does not exist on earth but only in heaven. Human promises may fail, but Jesus' love never does. Perfect love, which drives out fear, can only be found in Him, which is why He went to the cross to die for us.

3. **Redemption of Brokenness**: Jesus came to redeem your brokenness, to restore what sin has destroyed in our lives. Sin made us feel useless to God, but Jesus came to restore us back to God. from our difficult situations. No matter the pain you are experiencing, Jesus can bring you out of it. He has come to redeem your life from despair.

4. **Restoration of Losses**: Jesus also came to restore what you have lost in life, bringing everything back to its original state. Whether it's losses in relationships, opportunities, or resources, Jesus is here to restore those losses.

Through His grace and love, Jesus offers healing, redemption, and restoration to all who seek Him. 

The Gift of Jesus is a profound expression of God's Presence, prophesied by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's presence is both real and powerful, serving as a significant force in our lives. As believers, if we feel His presence is removed, we will certainly notice the difference. The presence of God stands as the greatest gift you can ever receive; even if you do not always feel it, He is present at all times.

Several benefits come with experiencing the presence of God:

1. **Fellowship and Companionship**: The presence of God fosters fellowship and companionship, as He offers a friendly association with those who share a common interest in Him. God is your ultimate companion—reliable and steadfast—which underscores the importance of building a strong relationship with Him.

2. **Guidance**: Life often presents a crossroads where we must make difficult choices. The presence of God helps guide you in making the right decisions, acting as the ultimate GPS that directs you toward your divine purpose.

3. **Comfort**: Embracing God's presence provides comfort during challenging times. This assurance is reflected in Psalm 23:4, which reminds you of God's presence in every season of life.

4. **Blessings and Favor**: God is the Source of favor. Certain doors in life can only be opened by Him. When you embrace God’s presence, you invite prosperity into your life, as stated in 2 Samuel 6:11.

5. **Victory in Battles**: Regardless of the challenges you face, inviting God's presence into your difficult situations will lead to victory. He has never lost a battle, as affirmed in Deuteronomy 20:4.

6. **Joy**: True joy is found not in external circumstances but in God's presence. Unlike the fleeting joy the world offers, the joy of the Lord is everlasting. The Bible encourages us to be joyful, as highlighted in Psalm 16:11.

The presence of God has been promised to us. While God's presence is everywhere, experiencing His personal presence is something to cherish in a meaningful way. This personal experience of God's presence has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ.

Pastor Olumide analyzes the significance of gifts and gift-giving in every day human relationships and expands on how it relates to the most important gift of all - The Gift of Salvation through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.