WORD OF LIVING WATER DAILY INSPIRATION.

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Monday, 12th January, 2026.
Theme: RESPOND TO GOD’S CALL WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY

(1 Sam 1:1-8, Ps 116, Mk 1:14 -20)

People of God, the call of God demands an immediate response and that is the main theme for today’s readings especially the gospel. The fact that we do not have to delay to His calling. We have all been called in a unique way. This unique calling demands an immediate response without any delay. Time is not on our side to delay hence the need to remove all obstacles which prevent us from responding to this call with urgency.

After preaching the message of repentance to the people of Israel which is the beginning of His Galilean Ministry, He called His first disciples in the persons of Simon and Andrew, James and John. They responded immediately and followed Him to spread His message in Galilee and beyond. They did not give excuses like the way some asked Jesus to allow them to go and bury their father or say goodbye to their family (Luke 9: 57-62). They could have also given excuses, because they were doing their own work which was fetching them a lot of money I guess. But they ignored all these benefits and followed Jesus without any delay. Following Christ demands a lot of sacrifice which only God’s grace can do that for us.

My dear people of God, a number of us keep on postponing the response to God’s call. Some of us are enjoying the worldly life, hence the difficulty in living out an authentic Christian living. In the first place, He calls us to change our way of life and come and follow Him. It is by abandoning our old ways before we can follow the Lord with our whole being. It is because we are refusing to let go our old self that is why the issue of double standard and hypocrisy has become the order of the day. A number of us wants to be disciples of Jesus but still we want to be part of things of the world. The two cannot be together. It is either you are for Christ or not. We cannot serve two masters, either you love one and hate the other or you hate both according to scriptures. And mostly we become more faithful to the things of the world than things of God.

We are all called in different ways to serve God and humanity. Some are called to be priests, brothers, sisters, teachers, nurses, farmers, doctors, carpenters, government officials, to mention a few. But we are all called to bring Christ to people in all these different ways of life. We are to help spread His Kingdom on earth. Our light must shine in the corner we find ourselves so that people will know that we are truly children of God.

The people of Galilee and its environs and the disciples responded to God’s call with a sense of urgency without any delay, and they saw a total transformation in their lives. What about you and l? How do we respond to His call? Are we also part of those who keep on postponing the call of God by not living out authentic Christian life? The ball is in our court to examine our lives very well so that this year we can become true signpost to people to come to Christ.

May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to respond to God’s call as it is expected of us. Amen
Have a Blessed Week.
Shalom. 🙏🙏
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Tuesday, 13th January, 2026.
Theme: Never give up in Prayer
(1Sam 1:9-20,Ps (1Sam 2), Mk 1:21-28)

In the first reading of today, the Lord is using the story of Hannah to encourage us his disciples to continue to persevere in prayer. You can pray but if you don’t persevere, you may not see results.Whoever perseveres in prayer receives a positive result.

Hannah could have easily given up after not seeing the results of her continuous prayers . But she never gave up. She remained focused and determined until she achieved a positive result. We are told she went to Shiloh, which was the center of worship for the Israelites, the temple of the Lord. The priest Eli even thought she was a drunkard, because of her demeanor in the moments of her prayer. She travelled far to come there and pour her hearts to the Lord. She cried unto the Lord and the Lord finally answered her. Sometimes we need to also wake up and challenge the Lord through certain spiritual exercises. We are sleeping too much, that’s why we are not seeing any results. You would have to undertake serious steps to intensify your prayers. Some of us are just joking with our situations, hence we are not seeing any results.

Continue to wait on the Lord in prayer. Your right moment will come. It is a matter of time and your story will change. Never give up, surely God will answer you at the appointed time.

Someone has given up in his situation. You think that God has abandoned you and the fact that God can’t do it for you again. Please nothing is too late for him to do and nothing is too hard for him to do. In fact, God is never late in any situation. He is always on time.Nothing is impossible for God to do and as I always say what God can’t do doesn’t exist

It doesn’t matter how long you have been waiting on the Lord. You only need to wait on him for his own time. This is the challenge of us Christians, the fact of waiting. The spirit of waiting eludes us most of the time. We fail to wait and as a result, we end up going to other sources for help. Please have the courage to wait on the Lord, whiles you continue to seek his face in prayer. God’s time is always the best. As humans as we are it is not easy to wait, especially when it seems to be delaying. If you should find yourself in such situations you would understand. Please try to sympathize with such people and encourage them. Maybe if you were in their shoes, you wouldn’t have survived.

God would come to your aid and deliver you. Your moment will come. God will shame those who think all is over for you. Just trust him and hope in him. We have a God who never fails, so never give up. Stop crying and be strong because your moment of deliverance is just at the corner. Your God has a track record of doing mighty deeds in our lives. He has never fail and he will never fail you.

I know you are going through a lot, and your pillow is soaked with tears. In fact, you are going through hell.It seems God has distance himself from you. God will intervene at the right time. Keep on with your spirit of patience and waiting. Your time will surely come okay.

May God strengthen us never to give up even in difficult moments. Amen. Have a blessed Day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Wednesday, 14th January, 2026.
Theme: You need Spiritual Guidance to discover the Voice of God
(1Sam 3:1-10,19-20,Ps 40, Mk 1:29-39)

In the first reading, the child Samuel was aided by the priest Eli to discover the calling of God in his life. In his inexperience, Samuel mistook the calling of God to that of Eli. But Eli as a mature person in faith quickly realized God was calling the young boy Samuel. Maybe without Eli it would have been difficult for Samuel to discover that it was God calling him.

We all need this spiritual guidance in our lives to discover God. Sometimes we also find it difficult to discover the voice of God in certain situations. Experienced people of faith need to guide us in such situations to discover the voice of God. Sometimes the situations blur our vision and understanding to the point that it becomes difficult to know which is the voice of God and which is not.

All of us need spiritual guidance at some point in our lives. That’s why in the Catholic Church, it is recommended for everybody to have a spiritual director,who serves as a spiritual guide in our lives. Even the Pope has his spiritual director and his confessor. He as the spiritual leader of Christianity doesn’t have it all. Sometimes he needs someone to guide him. Hence, it is not a sign of weakness or vulnerability to seek for help from people who are mature in the faith for spiritual guidance at some point in your life. There are certain situations we find ourselves, and in fact we are lost about what is happening around us. By your own strength you can’t find the way forward. God uses people in such moments to direct us to discover his will in our lives.You need someone to guide you on your your Christian journey to get more close to God.

We are all called by God in different ways. Sometimes it becomes very difficult for us to know what God wants from us. We can all testify that people of faith had guided us to discover the purpose of God in our lives. And mostly it is our men and women of God. That’s one of the major role of our spiritual leaders in our lives. They are to guide us to discover God and his will in our lives. Therefore, we are supposed to be in touch with our priests and pastors. Unfortunately, some of us fail to do so. Based on our own reasons, we don’t consult them for this spiritual guidance.

Again, some of these spiritual leaders have also failed woefully to be authentic spiritual leaders to us. Instead of bringing us closer to God, they are rather driving us far from him. Some of them are taking undue advantage of the people they lead, because of their vulnerability. And mostly it is our ladies who become victims in this regard. Priests and pastors should know that they will answer to God one day when they face him for judgement. Hence, they must be very careful with how they handle their spiritual sons and daughters.

Some of them don’t also avail themselves at all for their services to the people. They don’t have time at all to attend to the people they have been called to minister to. They are rather focused on things which is a total deviation from their major calling. They are always busy for nothing so to speak. Some people find it difficult and they have to struggle for sometime before getting the attention of their spiritual leaders. This way of life is a total failure as ministers of God. We are called to serve the people of God at all times, whether raining or shining. And this must be our focus everyday.

Don’t hesitate at all to frequent or contact your priest and pastor in matters of spiritual concern or even anything that bothers us in life. Of course, some of us are also doing it too much. Sometimes we can also assist ourselves in certain matters as people of faith.That’s why God has endowed in us the strength and the power to act as people of faith. We need to also exercise this power in us. Not to be frequenting our priests and pastors as babies in the faith as if to say we can’t do anything for ourselves.

May God strengthen us to always not hesitate to seek for spiritual guidance. Amen. Have a blessed Day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Akakpo Matthew

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Thursday, 15th January, 2026.
Theme: Remain under the favour of God
(1Sam 4:1-11,Ps 44,Mk 1:40-45)

The Israelites lost the favour of God in their lives, hence they lost their battles with the Philistines. Not even the Ark of the Covenant could save them. They brought the Ark of the Covenant to their camp, thinking that with that they can defeat the Philistines. They even lost woefully than the initial battles. Why did they lose favour in God’s sight? Because of their sinful acts. Imagine what the sons of Eli were doing as priests. They committed a lot of atrocities in the house of God. God even brought curse upon Eli’s family because of them. How can such people lead the Israelites as priests and win the war? Of course, it wasn’t possible. Sin destroys and blocks God’s blessings upon our lives.

Beloved, the Jesus- effect or the God effect is very important in our lives. It is his favour and his presence that brings success in our lives. The favour of God can lift us to any level in life. If you want to reach that level you have been dreaming of, then you need that favour. When the favour of God is upon you, success follows you wherever you go. In fact, even people who come into contact with you are blessed. Your very life is a testimony of God’s favours upon you. Where people go and fail, you will go and succeed. Your very life is a marvel to people. People can try all they could to destroy you, but the more they try, the more they fail. Because you are under a certain protection which makes you untouchable.

But when the favour eludes you, then you become like the Israelites.Nothing seems to work in your life. Everything seems to fall apart. Of course, sometimes the Lord also allows certain evils to befall us for his own glorification. You may be going through certain challenges in life which is not necessarily because you have lost his favor in your life. When king Saul lost God’s favour,he became an unhappy person. His life was shattered into pieces.

Sin is the cause of all these things. I invite you to check yourself this moment and assess your life very well. Maybe you are not doing something right before God. And that might be the cause of your problems in life. Sometimes it may not be you but from family line. This is what we call the ancestral curses. In this case, you need a total deliverance from God. You have to make all efforts to stay under the favour of God. We must swim in his favours in order to have our breakthroughs in life. The favour of God can break all curses, all barriers, all impossible situations.

May God help us to always find favour in his sight. Amen. Have a blessed Day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Friday, 16th January, 2026.
Theme: Be determined in Faith
( 1Sam 8: 4-7,10-22,Ps 89, Mk 2:1-12)

In the gospel of today, Jesus is encouraging us to develop strong faith in him. He wants us to be determined in everything we do, never giving up.The men who brought the paralytic to Jesus demonstrated a persevering faith in him. Jesus was marvelled at the level of their faith and determination. They made a way to bring him to Jesus, even though it seemed impossible at the initial stage. They could have given up when it was not possible to bring their sick person to Jesus for healing. They climbed the roof and made a way through it to lower the sick person to the front of Jesus in the room. What a strong determination? Their determination paid off, because the man got healed.

Beloved, determination is very key to our success in our Christian journey. You can’t make it if you are a type who easily gives up in life. And some of us are exactly that. The men knew that Jesus was capable of healing the sick person, hence they didn’t give up in bringing him to Jesus. Even though there were a lot of obstacles, but they never gave up. You have been waiting on the Lord for a long time concerning a particular petition. But you have to continue to persevere. It is just a matter of time. Your moment will come. Maybe for now it seems impossible, but to God all things are possible. He is a God of possibilities.

Do you know the kind of difficulties these men had to endure before having a breakthrough? Success comes with suffering. I know that some of us if we were the men, we would have sent the sick person back. With a little obstacle on a way, then we give up. Great men and women in life are those who are able to endure in the face of difficult challenges. They are always determined to achieve their goals in life. You can’t distract them, you can’t frustrate them, you can’t make them back off. Not at all. For such people, I have given up is not in their dictionary. No matter what you do to them, they will still forge ahead to reach their destination.

Beloved, some people will intentionally create obstacles for you to prevent you from achieving your purpose in life. They will never give up in obstructing you,hence you don’t have to also give up. Let them know that they can’t stop you from moving on in life with the help of God.

Some of us have given up because of a comment by somebody. Please I want you to revive that dream of yours once again. That work is possible, that school is possible, that building is possible, that marriage is possible, that course is possible. Who said you can’t do it? Please you can do it and do it more okay. You have everything it takes to achieve that dream. Stop listening to those discouraging voices. In fact, they are not God. I want you to be more determined in life and you will never regret it. Keep on in prayer, God will answer you at the right time. Jesus is not done with you yet, hence don’t give up on yourself.

May the Holy Spirit help us to always grow and mature in our faith and in the spirit of determination. Amen.
Have a Blessed Day.
Shalom🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

WORDS OF LIVING WATERS DAILY INSPIRATION
Saturday, 17th January, 2026.
Memorial of St. Anthony of Egypt, Abbot
Theme: Avoid Spiritual Pride
( 1Sam 9: 1-4,17-19,Ps 21, Mk 2:13-17)

In the gospel of today, Jesus teaches about the fact of guarding against spiritual pride. He was at table with tax collectors and sinners. And that was the problem of the Pharisees and the Scribes. They wondered why a holy man like Jesus will mingle with sinners.These were people the Pharisees and the Scribes have classified as public sinners.They looked down upon them as the worst sinners on earth. In fact, they didn’t consider themselves to be sinners. They were full of themselves. The holier than thou attitude is their identity. Jesus told them that he came to save sinners and not the righteous. A healthy person of course needs no doctor except a sick person.

We need to accept the fact that we are all sinners before God, and no one is righteous. Beloved in Christ, some of us have become God, condemning and judging others. This was exactly what the Pharisees and the Scribes were doing. Some of us are not different from these people. We keep quiet about our own sinful lives and make other’s chewing stick everyday. We even go ahead and condemn some people to hell. As if to say that those people have no chance of repenting from their sins. We are all sinners who need to plead for mercy and the grace to do better always. The posture of the Pharisees is a bad character and attitude which we must all avoid.

It is also true that some of us may be better or stronger in faith than others. But it doesn’t give us the chance to look down upon them as sinful and faithless fellows. We are rather to help them to also grow and get closer to God, as we are. It is also true that some of us parade ourselves to be more spiritual than others , but in fact we are worst sinners than those we are classifying as most sinful people. This is what Jesus was pointing out to the Pharisees and their parties.

Some of those people have their bad deeds made public, whiles ours is still secret so we think we are better than them. You and I are not better than those in prison,the difference is that they have been caught whiles we have not been caught.

May God help us to avoid spiritual pride so that we can see ourselves as sinful people who need the mercy of God. Amen. Have a blessed weekend
Shalom🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew