My friend, God wants you to live each day knowing that you are His beloved child, in whom He is well pleased. That is your daily nourishment from Him—to know, believe, and confess that you are His beloved and that you are well-pleasing to Him all the time.
Some years ago, I was taking a cab in New York and I took the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the driver. Her response was quite typical. She said flippantly, “God loves everybody, man!”
It is absolutely true that God loves everybody, but to experience His love firsthand in your life, you have to personalize His love for you. Jesus died for you and do you know that even if you were the only person on earth, God would still have sent His Son to die on the cross for you? That is how precious YOU are to Him!
You need to personalize John 3:16 by declaring, “For God so loved ___ (insert your name), He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for ___ (insert your name).” Be like the disciple John, who personalized the Lord’s love for him by calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
The sun shines on every blade of grass in a field. But if you put a magnifying glass over one particular blade of grass, it will center the heat from the sun over that blade, and that blade of grass will burn.
That is what you must do with God’s love. Put a magnifying glass over your life and imagine God’s love being focused and concentrated on YOU! When you personalize God’s love for YOU, when you live each day knowing that God loves YOU, you will be blazing with a supernatural ability to overcome every challenge in life!
The solution to all your problems can be found in the person of Jesus.
My friend, if you are worried about your daily provisions, see Jesus as your provider—the One who multiplied five loaves and two small fish to feed more than 5,000 people with 12 baskets full of leftovers. If you need wisdom for a particular situation, see Jesus as your wisdom—the One who always has the right answer and response to every challenge. And know that He is in you and with you to guide you in your decision-making.
Beloved, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a personal revelation of Jesus in the area of your need. He Himself is the solution for your every need!
Three (3) doses of the pentavalent vaccine are recommended for children in their 6th, 10th and 14th week of life according to the @NphcdaNG childhood immunisation schedule.
Parents and caregivers should ensure that their children and grandchildren are fully vaccinated against #diphtheria. Diptheria is an acute and highly contagious bacterial disease that causes inflammation of the mucus membranes. It forms in the throat a false membrane and makes swallowing and breathing difficult. It is potentially risky to the heart and can cause nerve damages by a toxin in the blood.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Friday said it has arrested a syndicate who specialises in importing banned crusader soaps containing mercury into the country.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General, NAFDAC, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos said that the syndicate used forged customs documents to import the product into the country.
According to Adeyeye, the importation of the soap into the country was banned by NAFDAC years ago because it contains mercury.
She said: “In the course of its regulatory activities, the investigation and enforcement (I&E) Directorate of NAFDAC has discovered a syndicate that specialises in importing banned crusader soaps containing mercury.
“The syndicate used forged customs documents to import the product into the country and further investigation through the ports show that the banned crusader soap was imported seven times in 2021 alone.
“Each consignment is not less than three containers with 4,500 cartons of the soap.
“These products have found their way into various supermarkets and cosmetic shops with unsuspecting members of the public patronising them.
“Acting on intelligence, our investigation and enforcement team in August 2023 busted a warehouse in Trade Fair Market, which was filled with the banned imported soaps.
” Three trailer-load of imported crusader medicated soap and mekako soap totaling 4,000 cartons by 12 packs by 12 tablet soap were evacuated from the warehouse, while some suspects were arrested in connection with the case.
“The street value of the evacuated products is approximately one billion Naira.”
She explained that the successful busting of the warehouse came after three failed attempts, as the cartel used their informants continuously to relocate the consignment of soaps to different locations in Lagos to prevent the discovery.
According to her, one Chief Peter Obih, the prime suspect, during interrogation claimed to have bought the franchise of the product from a company and presented an expired NAFDAC certificate that was issued for local manufacture of the product after the ban in Nigeria.
Adeyeye noted that not one bar of the soap had been manufactured in Nigeria since the purported registration in 2013.
“The suspect claims to have just secured a contract manufacturing agreement with a local manufacturer but they are yet to commence production.
” The sample of the product was taken to our laboratory for analysis and were found to contain heavy metals identified as mercury.
“The crusader soap is falsely labelled made in England to deceive Nigerians while actual source is India.
“This is an outright violation of NAFDAC Acts and a contravention of the agency’s regulations, including the cosmetic products (prohibition of bleaching agents) regulations 2019.
Adeyeye said that the presence of mercury in cosmetics was of global concern, because of the established and documented health hazards it poses to human health and to the environment.
She said the arrested suspects would be charged to court while a manhunt is currently being intensified to arrest other fleeing members of this syndicate.
The director-general, however, advised Nigerians not to patronise imported soaps and detergents, including mercury containing cosmetics, and to report all infractions to the nearest NAFDAC office.
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24–26, NIV
THE BLESSING Today, I declare that you are blessed with wisdom and that you make good choices in life. I declare you are blessed with courage, with strength, with great vision, with an obedient heart, and with a positive outlook. I declare you are blessed with good health, with vitality, and that you will live a long, satisfied life. I declare you are blessed with a good family, good friends, healthy relationships, and that your children will be mighty in the land. I declare you are blessed with protection. I declare you are blessed with promotion, with good success, with ideas, with creativity. I declare that whatever you put your hands to will prosper. You will be blessed in thecity and blessed in the country. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. I declare you will lend and not borrow; you will be above and never beneath. I declare a new sense of freedom from whatever holds you back, a new happiness, and a new fulfillment. If you receive the blessing, say amen.
SECTION TWO
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for setting me apart with Your distinctive blessing and for shining Your face upon me. Thank You for guiding me, protecting me, favoring me, and giving me an advantage. I believe that I am blessed to be one of Your own special people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
The Hebrew word qarah is often used in the Bible to explain God-ordained happenings. The first time qarah is mentioned is in Genesis 24:12, when Abraham sent his servant to get a bride for his son, Isaac. The servant did not know which girl would be the right one, so he prayed, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham” (boldface mine).
The phrase “please give me success” is the word qarah. The servant asked God to give him qarah—right happening. Doesn’t that remind you of pega qarah or “prayed happenings”? If you follow the story, you will see how Abraham’s servant was successful in his task.
What I want you to focus on here is the posture of the servant. He prayed for God’s help, intervention, and leading. He had a posture of humility.
We all need the Lord in our daily lives. No matter how intelligent we are, we can’t put ourselves at the right place at the right time a hundred percent of the time. Only the Lord can do this for us.
If we stay “low” and lean on the Lord for wisdom, guidance, and understanding, He will guide us and protect us. To pray is to adopt a posture of humility. It is saying to God, “Father, I can’t, but You can.”
A lady who attends our church regularly shared that on one of her overseas trips, she got so engrossed in her quiet time with the Lord that she missed breakfast in the hotel at which she was staying. But while she was in her room, a horrific terror attack took place in the hotel’s restaurant. She was dwelling in the secret place of the Most High and was supernaturally led to linger in His presence that morning. She humbly prioritized her time with the Lord over the scheduled time for her breakfast. If she had gone down to eat, she would have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
That is why I like to call Psalm 91 the prayer of protection. When we pray this prayer, we are saying, “Lord Jesus, we can’t protect ourselves, but You can. We humble ourselves before You. Be our refuge, our fortress, and our God. Surely You shall protect us and deliver us from harm in these dangerous times. Lead us to be at the right place at the right time and to be with the right people.”
Diptheria disease has claimed many lives in recent times and to address the situation, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate has set up a Task force to address outbreak .
In a statement signed by Special Assistant to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Media and External Relations Tashikalmah Hallah stated that the Task Force will operate in an emergency mode in order to forestall further spread to other States and bring succour to the populace.
The Taskforce is to be co-chaired by the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib and the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control,NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa
Other members of the Taskforce include Director of Public Health in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Anyaike Chukwuma, representatives from World Health Organisation,United Nations Children’s Fund,UNICEF, Federal Ministry of Information and the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Healthcare Delivery.
The 14 infected states are, Lagos, Osun, Federal Captial Territory, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Kano and Plateau.
The Coordinating Minister also stated that the taskforce team should liaise with the Governors of the 14 infected States for counterpart funding, ownership and mass mobilisation .
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!” 1 Kings 17:14, NLT
From Running Out to Running Over Peace, with a severe drought in the land, no income, no savings, and no food, a widow was preparing a last meal for herself and her son before their anticipated death when the prophet Elijah arrived and asked her for some bread. Based on God’s promise in today’s Scripture, she took a step of faith and made him bread from what little flour she had left. From that day forward, for three and a half years, the oil never ran out and the flour container was never empty. She had supernatural provision. She went from running out to running over.
Every time God asks you to do a hard thing, that means there’s a big blessing coming. The obedience requires your trust, courage, and faith. Thoughts will tell you, “What good will that do?” You have to fight off the doubt and negative thoughts. But when you choose to obey, when you do the right thing when it’s hard, you’re setting yourself up for God to show out in your life, to see supernatural favor, supernatural healing, supernatural provision.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY “Father, thank You for being the God of infinite grace and favor who always exceeds my greatest expectations. Thank You that as I give freely of myself, You will bless me to the point of overflowing in every area of my life. I believe that it will be beyond what I have faith for. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
The Lord does not want you to simply claim His promises of protection found in Psalm 91. He wants you to come close to Him. Running to Him and coming under His feathers speak of closeness. It’s not about how many times you have recited Psalm 91; it’s about having an intimate relationship with Him.
As a child, if it was thundering at night and I was afraid, I would run into my parents’ room, jump into their bed, and hide in my mother’s arms. After a while, I would fall into a deep sleep even if the storm was still raging outside.
You see, you don’t have to learn the seven steps of overcoming fear. Having the presence of a loving parent right with you is enough to drive out fear. Our Lord Jesus who loves you wants you to come close to Him and to take shelter in His love. Will you do that today?
I heard the story of a farmer whose farmhouse got burned down. As he walked around the smoldering wreckage, he saw the burned carcasses of his chickens. He happened to move the blackened body of one of the hens with his foot, and to his astonishment, little chicks came running out from under the body. What happened? They had taken refuge under the wings of their mother, who had given her life to save her little ones.
That’s a picture of what our Lord Jesus did when He took upon His own body the full punishment for our sins. The fire of God’s judgment fell, not upon the scribes and Pharisees who had rejected the Messiah, and not upon the Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, but upon His own beloved Son—for the nation of Israel, for the Gentile nations, for you, for me, so that whosoever believes in Him would be saved.
But here’s something I want you to see: when Jesus was offered on the cross, He absorbed the judgment of God in His own body, and, as the sacrifice, He was greater than the fires of judgment. The Offering was greater than the judgment because the Offering was not consumed.
On that cross, our Lord declared, “It is finished!” before He gave up His Spirit (John 19:30). The Offering remained after all of God’s judgment was exhausted. Hallelujah! That is why we can come boldly to His throne of grace today!
Hurray. It’s just a day for our Herbal Medicine Online Training. Yes, tomorrow, Friday the 15th September 2023, the One-month Intensive Weekend Lectures on The Fundamentals of Herbal Medicine Practice will start.
Some things that will be discussed include, but not limited to:
✅ Introduction to Herbal medicine
✅ History of Herbal Medicine – the Nigeria perspective
✅ Herbal dosage forms, and the stability questions
✅ The signature of Nature and the 3 Ps of Herbal Medicine
✅ The philosophy of Herbalism
✅ Understanding the application of Herbal Medicine
✅ Herbaceutics!
✅ Socio-economic and health benefits of Herbal Medicine…
🟩 Training fee: Twenty thousand (N20,000:00) Naira only.
🟩 Venue: WhatsApp & Telegram
Interested participants are to forward evidence of payment to: 08033922445
Certificates of participation will be presented at the end of the training.
SWEARING-IN AND RECEPTION CEREMONY IN HONOUR OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR HEALTH, PROF. AKIN ABAYOMI AND the Special Adviser, Health, Dr Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya
LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
PRESS RELEASE
ABAYOMI, FINNIH-AWOKOYA ASSUMES DUTY AS COMMISSIONER AND SPECIAL ADVISER FOR HEALTH
…Seeks Support and Collaboration of Health Sector Stakeholders
…As Sanwo-Olu Swears-in 37 Lagos Commissioners, Special Advisers
The newly sworn-in Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya have assumed duties yesterday, pledging to work with all stakeholders to revamp, remodel, reposition, and repurpose the State health sector to be the medical tourism destination of choice in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The duo were received at the Conference Room of the State Ministry of Health by top government officials in the health sector, including the Chairman, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Dr. Atinuke Onayiga; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye and nine other Permanent Secretaries in the Health Sector; Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH); Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo; Former Chairman, Traditional Medicine Board, Prof. Adebukonla Ositelu-Adefule; Medical Directors of State-owned Hospitals; and Directors and staff of the Ministry of Health, amidst wild jubilation and cheers soon after their swearing-in by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday 13th September, swore in Abayomi and Finnih-Awokoya alongside 35 other Commissioners and Special Advisers, charging them to engage collaboratively and work together to build on the successes recorded by his administration in first four years in office.
The new State Executive Council, which is a mixture of politicians and technocrats with 29 male and eight female, is made up of 18 returning members of the immediate past cabinet and 19 new members.
The 37 cabinet members comprised 23 Commissioners and 14 Special Advisers, amongst which are Prof. Akin Abayomi who was re-appointed and given the health portfolio as the Honourable Commissioner for Health and Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya, the former Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Health, who has now been assigned the Special Adviser for Health portfolio.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the State Executive Council held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Governor Sanwo-Olu charged the Commissioners and Special Advisers to do their best to surpass the expectations of Lagos residents.
He said the new Commissioners and Special Advisers have been carefully and painstakingly chosen, adding that “They are, by any measure, some of our best brains, not just in Lagos State, but right around the country. These are men and women who can and will hold their own anywhere in the world. They are emblems of what Lagos State is all about – a Centre of Excellence. Lagosians should therefore rejoice in their selection and be expectant of quality service and performance in the months and years ahead.”
Speaking at the reception ceremony held in their honour by management and staff of the Ministry of Health, Abayomi and Finnih-Awokoya solicited the support, cooperation, and collaboration of all stakeholders in the health sector in order to drive the health mandate of the present administration towards improving access to qualitative and efficient health services and attaining universal health coverage.
Abayomi who expressed his gratitude to the Governor and people of Lagos for giving him the opportunity to serve a second term as the Commissioner for Health, assured that he is fully committed to striving for the improvement of the health care system in Lagos State.
“I firmly believe that we can build upon the great works of my predecessors in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jide Idris and Dr. Leke Pitan, and make significant advancements”, He said.
The Commissioner noted that one of the key initiatives his team will focus on, will be transforming healthcare infrastructure and addressing the issue of brain drain in the medical field.
He said: “We are working tirelessly to not only slow down this brain drain but eventually reverse it. Our plan includes transforming infrastructure in line with environmentally friendly designs and digitizing our health services. These efforts are already well underway.
“In addition, we aspire to establish a sustainable financing mechanism through state health insurance, ensuring that quality healthcare is accessible to all. Collaboration with the private sector is crucial in raising the standard of health delivery, and we are actively engaging with them on multiple fronts”.
Abayomi disclosed that the Ministry of Health recognizes the valuable contributions of alternative health practitioners and will work towards providing them with neccesary training and accreditation, and integrate them into the State healthcare system.
“Our primary healthcare (PHC) platform holds a position of high priority for us. We are dedicated to shifting from a focus on cure to prevention through our Universal Health Coverage (UHC) strategy. By prioritizing preventive measures, we aim to improve the overall health and well-being of our citizens”, He added.
Abayomi thanked the Permanent Secretaries in the State Health Sector particularly the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye; Permanent Secretary Health Service Commission, Dr. Ademuyiwa Eniayewun and Permanent Secretary Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Ibrahim Mustafa for holding forth after the last cabinet, was dissolved.
He noted that it is important for all health sector administrators, stakeholders and partners to come together, form a strategy, agree upon it, and put all hands on deck to implement the strategy, stressing that this is the right thing to do in order to move the State health sector forward.
Abayomi stated that despite the disruption occasioned by the global pandemic, COVID-19 in his first tenure, the Lagos State Health sector recorded giant strides and laudable achievement, including winning the war against COVID-19; medical infrastructure transformation; health insurance coverage, health financing and primary health revitalization.
He noted that the unbundling of the health sector with the creation of new health districts and appointment of Permanent Secretaries for the health districts and Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) is a welcome development that will improve access to health at the grassroots and hasten the attainment of universal healthcare coverage.
While stressing that the task ahead is numerous, the Commissioner assured that there is no room for laxity and territoriality in the health sector but just room for work.
Speaking in thesame vein, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya stated that her mandate in the health sector is geared towards progress of the health sector anchored on partnership, collaboration and friendship.
Finnih-Awokoya noted that she will bring her years of experience in the health sector, particularly in primary health level, to bear in the discharge of her duty, promising to right all wrongs and work with everyone to deliver quality, efficient and equitable health care services to the citizenry.
She thanked the Governor of Lagos State for giving her the rare opportunity to serve the people of the Lagos, pledging to serve diligently with compassion, empathy and without fear or favour.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye said the appointment of Prof Akin Abayomi and Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih-Awokoya as Commissioner and Special Adviser respectively signals good omen for State health sector, noting that it is the beginning of great things in the health sector.
While stating that the health sector is a complex sector, which is constantly under the scrutiny of citizens, Ogboye averred that the task before the duo is not going to be an easy one.
He however noted that the unbundling of the health sector into health districts for ease of administration will be of great help in driving the health mandate.
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