WHEN THE LORD VISITS

Genesis 18:3 – and said “My Lord, if I have now found favour in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.

In Genesis 18:1-33 is a story we all know quite well. The Most High God with two angels visited family of Abraham. This visit marked the dawn of a new beginning in that family. On the day God visited the family of Abraham, five things happened. Firstly, He dealt with their enemy which was fruitlessness. Every time they tried at having children they met with frustration. Secondly, He dealt with their shame. Out of desperation, Sarah with Abraham arranged to have a child through Hagar (Sarah‘s maidservant). Immediately Hagar conceived, she began to despise Sarah because she was barren. By despising Sarah she was indirectly despising Abraham the husband. God took away the shame by giving Sarah a son. Thirdly, He fulfilled the promise of a son He had made to Abraham fourteen years earlier in Genesis 15:4. Fourthly, He gave Abraham an opportunity to make a request. Abraham’s request was that Sodom and Gomorrah be spared if ten good men were found in them and the Lord said done! Lastly, by the time God left, their joy was full.

When Jesus visited the world over 2000 years ago, He dealt with the enemy – sickness, fruitless efforts, death to mention a few. Secondly, He took away shame. All righteousness according to Isaiah 64:6 was as filthy rags before God, but when Jesus came He brought the garment of righteousness – Romans 13:14. Thirdly, He fulfilled the promise that was made in Isaiah 53:5 which says He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Fourthly, He gave an opportunity for everyone to make a request. Matthew 7:7 says ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Lastly, by the time He left the joy of all those who received Him were full because they could now be addressed as sons and daughter of God. John 1:12 says but as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Jesus is still willing to visit us individually. He wants to deal with our enemies, take away our shame and reproach, fulfill His promises for our lives, give us an opportunity to make a request and by the time He leaves ensure that our joy is full. A point to note is Jesus is a gentleman; He does not gatecrash into people’s life or homes except when invited. When He is invited He only honours invitation of His friends. His friends are those who obey Him – John 15:14. You will never see His friends participating in internet fraud. His friends are pure, they never swear or curse. His friends are like Job, they have made covenant with their eyes not to lustfully look at any woman or man (Job 31:1).

KEY POINT: Before inviting Him, settle everything that could stand between you and Him or else He will not honour the invitation.

ARISE AND SHINE

Isaiah 60:1 – Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

God is not a civilian but  military. Exodus 15:3 calls Him a man of war or a warrior. Psalm 24:8 describes Him as the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. When a military personnel speaks, it is either a command or an order. A command to mean a decree and an order to mean a request.

Arise, shine could be a command. The Lord issued a command in Genesis 1:3, He said “let there be light” and there was light. In Mark 2:1-12, Jesus told the man sick of palsy to Arise, take his bed and immediately the man took his bed and began to walk. In John 5:1-16, Jesus told the man at the pool of Bethesda to Arise, take his bed and walk. Immediately the man who had been sick for 38 years arose and began to walk. Arise; shine could also be an order or a request. In Acts 10:10 – 13, Peter received an order to rise, kill and eat. In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus gave an order to His disciples to come, join Him to walk on water. The One who is going to issue the order or the command to arise, shine must be higher than you. Psalm 91:1 calls Him the Most High. According to Ecclesiastes 5:8, He is higher than the highest. In military terms, He holds the rank of the Lord of Host – the One in charge over all the angels, demons and military personnel in the world. The One who said arise, shine is the Lord of Host. By Lord of Host, we mean the One in charge of all the angels, demons and military personnel in the world. The One issuing the order or command has power in case you want to rise, shine and you cannot do it by your strength. Psalms 62:11 says all power belong to Him. He must also have the power to deal with forces tying you down. Psalm 66:7 says He rules by His might. Luke 1:37 says for with God nothing shall be impossible. To arise and shine, we must be willing and obedient – Isaiah 1:19. We must also have faith in God. Hebrew 11:9 says by faith Abraham arose and dwelt in the land of promise. Mark 11:23 says whoever says to this mountain and will not doubt in his heart but believe those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. The one who will arise and shine must also make necessary efforts. Today, God is issuing you a command to us to arise and shine. He is also issuing orders to us  saying  arise from not having faith to having faith. To arise from not evangelising to evangelising. To arise from not producing fruits of the spirits to producing fruits of the spirits.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to arise and shine.

STAY CONNECTED

John 15:5 – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 15:1-7 highlights the relationship between the vine and its branches. From studying the tree – branches relationship, we learn that the branches depend solely on the tree. Without the tree there will be no branches. The branches get its nutrient from the tree i.e. life flows from the tree to the branches. We also learn that the bigger the tree the bigger the branches. The branches cannot be bigger than the tree. We learn that the taller the tree, the taller its branches. We will also like to add that it is the tree that keeps the branches in place and standing. The tree-branches relationship is similar to the vine-branches relationship. Jesus is the vine –John 15:1. From Him, we get life and nutrients that keeps us alive. Jesus is the Most High – Psalms 83:18, the higher Jesus is, the higher those connected to Him will be. As far as the vine is standing, the branches will remain standing. As far as Jesus is standing, those connected to Him, will remain standing. Jesus will remain standing till eternity and those truly connected to Him will remain standing until they sleep in the Lord. As we have also learnt the bigger the vine, the bigger the branches. Jesus is bigger than the biggest and his bigness has no limit. So also is the potential of those connected him. Just to add, there is a possibility of branches connected to the vine to grow smaller branches. The closest part of the branch to the vine is always the biggest and the hardest to break. The farthest part of the branch to the tree is the smallest and the easiest to break. The closer we are to the vine, the bigger we become and the harder it is for the enemy to destroy us. The secret of increase is getting closer to the vine.

Whilst the branch is connected to vine, it is expected to produce fruits. While we are connected to Jesus we are expected to bear fruits. We are expected to bear fruits of the Spirits which are genuine traits of godly character. Galatians 5;22-23 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith , meekness, temperance . Another fruit expected is supporting the work of God. This was what Paul was referring to in his epistle to the Philippians in Philippians 1:17 when he said “not because I desire a gift: but i desire fruit that may abound to your account.” A very important fruit expected is leading souls to Christ. The Father in heaven – The Vine-dresser expects all branches connected to the vine to produce fruits. The branches that produces fruits; he takes particular interest and enhances their ability to produce more fruits. He takes no pleasure in branches that are not producing fruit. I pray that Father in heaven will not cut us down but let’s starts bearing fruit.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, please help me to be more fruitful.

BE HUMBLE

Proverbs 13:10 – by pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well – advised is wisdom.

God by default is love – 1 John 4:8. His actions are motivated by Love. When He gives, He gives out of love. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. And we know from studying John 3:27 that a man receives nothing except God has Ok’d it from His throne. Out of love for the poor, He takes offence when people oppress them - Proverbs 14:31, no wonder He says in Proverbs 19:17 that He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which He hath given will He pay him again. Even when He disciplines, He does it out of love. Hebrews 12:6 says for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He recieveth. If He has ever disciplined you for any reason please thank Him for that because He really loves you.

For God to move from been loving and sweet to hating a thing with a passion then we should keep distance with such a thing. One of those things is pride. Proverbs 16:5 says everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. He so much hates pride, Psalms 5:5 say the proud will not be able to stand before Him. He expects His children not to pick and choose who they will be humble to. Titus 3:2 says to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable , gentle, showing all humility to all men .When the bible says to all men , it means to all men – men and women , even to those who are proud to us. From time to time the Lord takes people from the dunghill and sits them on the throne; He expects extra humility from such men. Asides from God hating the pride, pride has nothing to offer except strife – Proverbs 13:10. The reason for many of the fights and quarrels we see today is pride. Many of the strifes in families, churches and business are as a result of pride. This party offends the other party and instead of apologising, he or she begins to justify his or her actions. It is pride to offend people and refuse to apologise. Pride has cost many their jobs. They begin to choose words with their managers or argue over petty issues. The manager in turn will keep quiet and begin to look for faults. Any little thing they do he will take it up and before you know it they are out of the job. Many problems could have been avoided if only people humbled themselves and sought for counsel. Some could have been avoided if only people humbled themselves and change after been corrected. Please let’s be humble in our dealings. When we are at fault let’s be humble and apologise, if the other party is at fault and refuses to apologise for the sake of peace lets apologise. Hebrew 12:14 says pursue peace with all men. A man shared his testimony with me recently. He incurred a huge phone bill at work and was invited for disciplinary and dismissal. When he got to the panel, the board came prepared with the HR manager present expecting to him argue and justify his actions but then he shocked them by humbly saying he was guilty and apologizing. The senior manager was so moved by his humility that he gave him a verbal warning instead of dismissing him. What if he had taken the defensive stance and begin to justify his actions, what would have happened? He would have been sacked !

PRAYER POINT: Father, please replace every ounce of pride in me with humility.

THE RACE

Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Christianity is a race. Like every race, present at the stadium are the Sponsors, spectators, trainers, athletes and officials. The spectators are always large in number. They include all sorts of people, commentators, past athletes, press men and women, critics, friends and families of the athletes and so on. Once the athletes get to the track, they put themselves in running position and the official blows the whistle; the race begins. This is the exact thing that happens in Christianity. The Sponsor is the Most High God. The Official is Jesus. He decides the criteria to run the race. John 3:3 says except a man is born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God.Romans 10:9 say that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Jesus determines the rule of the race. Matthew 10:38 says anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. John 15:24 says you are My friend if you do what I command you. The trainer is the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 say but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. The athletes are born- again, spirit filled Christians. The spectators are people who are yet to give their lives to Christ. The price for running the race is a place in heaven and a crown of glory. 1 Peter 5:4 says when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Like every race, only athletes who participate in the race stand a chance of getting the price. The same thing applies to the Christian race. Good works and charitable deeds alone cannot earn you the price. Sleeping in the church or been the friend of the pastor or sponsoring church project can not earn you the price. We need to participate in the race to get the price. Just like it is unacceptable to run on behalf of people, you cannot run the Christian race for anyone – husband or wife, children or loved ones. If you really love them, witness to them so that they can enter in the race and stand a chance. Once the race begins, the spectators begin to give their opinions about the athletes, some good, and some bad. Once you give your life to Christ, people will comment. Some will make fun of you calling you the father of Jesus or mother of Jesus. As a professional athlete, you ignore the spectators and just run. The spectators can say whatever; you know they have decided to forfeit their price. The beginning of a race is the easiest, as one progress in the race, one begins to thirst, become tired or fatigue and at this point many drop out. The worries of life and challenges of life have caused many to drop out of the race. Others while running their race get carried away with the sign boards on the race track and end up falling. The pleasures of life have taken some from the Christian race. There are very few who endure to the last. They are those that receive the handshake from the Sponsors and get their medals. Matthew 24:13 says only those who endure to the end will be saved. It does not matter at what part of the race one quits. It does not matter the speed at which one was before quitting, it does not matter the number of supporter one has. Only those who endure to the last shall receive the crown glory.

PRAYER POINT: Father, this Christian race please help me to endure to the very end. 

INCOMPLETE OBEDIENCE

Isaiah 1:19 – if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the Land.

In Genesis 12:1-4, God gave Abram 7 blessings subject to 3 conditions. He told Abram to 1- get out of his country; 2 – get out from his family and 3 – get out from his father’s house to a land He will show him. In return He promised to 1 – make him a great nation ; 2- bless him ; 3 – make his name great ;4- make him a blessing ; 5 – bless those who bless him ;6 – curse those who curse him and 7- through him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Abram got out of his country, his family but not his father’s house - he took Lot along with him. When he arrived where God told him to go, he met famine there. He ran out of there and went to Egypt with Lot. In Egypt, Pharaoh took his wife but God intervened on his behalf. He left from there to the south of Bethel still with Lot. At this new location, fight broke out between the servants of Abram and Lot. Suddenly Abram came back to his senses and he put measures in place to fully obey God by getting out of his father's house. Immediately Lot departed from Abram, God spoke to him and that marked the beginning of a new life for Abram. From the day Abram parted with Lot, He never ran into famine again all his life. From the day he decided to obey God completely, no one ever came near his wife again. From that day, his name changed from Abram to Abraham and God paid him a visit. Today we call ourselves the children of Abraham all because this man decided one day to begin to obey God completely.

Until our obedience to God’s word becomes complete, we will not experience God as we should. God is interested in all our challenges. He has more information about us and about those challenges we are going through more than we can ever imagine. God is ready to fight for every of His children. He is ready to cause an earthquake if need be to secure the victory of any of His children. He is ready to make them the head permanently only if they are willing to completely obey Him. When it comes to obedience, He prefers people not to obey Him at all than obey Him partially. This was why God got angry with Saul. Because of Saul’s incomplete obedience, the God who anointed him to become the king of Israel rejected him .It is half obedience to pay half tithe. It is half obedience to pray and study the bible. Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night. It is half obedience to pay full tithes and not witness about Christ. Matthew 12:30 says He that is not with Me is against Me, He that does not gather with Me scatters. Doing all these and still fornicating or stealing, is still incomplete obedience because 1 Peter 1:16 says be holy, for I am holy. Today, we can make a decision to obey God completely so that we will begin to enjoy Him as we should. God wants to have fellowship with His children, He wants to visit them. He wants to have a supernatural encounter with them. He wants to reveal His plans to them. He wants to be called Daddy by all His children but this will not happen until we begin to obey Him completely.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me so that my obedience to You will be total.

GIVE, IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU

Ecclesiastes 1:7 – All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.

I am not a lover of dogs, but I am a firm believer of the saying that a dog is the only animal that doesn’t have to work for a living. A hen has to lay eggs, a cow has to give milk, and a canary has to sing but a dog makes his living by giving you nothing but love. Dogs greet people with their beautiful bright eyes, they wag their tails, and they run around breathlessly with leaps of joy and barks of sheer ecstasy. People see them in this mood and want to play with them, pat them on the head and so on. When people see a Hyena or wolf (from the same dog family) the first thing that comes to mind is run! The wolf or Hyena never smiles; their eyes are neither beautiful nor bright. If they are lucky to still have a tail they never wag it. The same thing happens in human life. Ecclesiastes 1:7 says to the place where rivers come, there they return again. Humans are in the habit of returning good deeds, kindness, smiles, respect, and love to where it came from. People we channel rivers of kindness, respect and smiles to return the same rivers back to us. At times, we receive these rivers back from unexpected sources. A friend was once stopped by the traffic police for over speeding. His explanation was he was late for work, the traffic police saw this excuse as flimsy and he proceeded to issue a fine and deduct points from his license. As the police was about to hand out the fine he asked what do you do? My friend said i am a traffic warden. The police then asked, do you give second chance? He said everyone deserves a second chance. The Police man said “there you go, your second chance”, he tore the fine and left. What if my friend was the type that never believed in giving second chance?

The rivers of good deeds that flow from us might not flow back to us directly but indirectly. By indirectly we mean to our families. A man I work with has this habit of bringing sweets, cakes and biscuits and all sorts to work for everyone to eat. People took his kind gesture for granted but he did not care. This man told me about his grand pa of blessed memories. He lived in the countryside of Montserrat. The old man had the habit of giving people gifts, buying them drinks, giving fish and all sorts. After his death, this man went back to Montserrat to put one or two things in order. He said when he entered a cafe to buy a cold drink, someone he had never seen before approached him and said you look like Pa X (X to be the name of the grandpa). He answered in the affirmative that Pa X was his grandfather and the man decided to pay for his drink. Everyone in the countryside began to give him fish and all sorts of gifts all because he was the grandson of Pa X. This old man wasn't really rich and could not afford to leave a million in the bank for his grand-children but he left something money cannot buy-kindness. One question we need to ask ourselves is this, can people because of us decide to show our children or family kindness or mercy? What if Pa- X was a wicked man? What would have been this man’s story? This man decided that day that he will always be kind and good to people so that his children and grand-children can reap from it. It is what flows from us that will return to us directly or indirectly .

ACTION POINT: Let the rivers of good works begin to flow from you.

THE JOY OF THE LORD

Nehemiah 8:10 says do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is an emotion directly related to the circumstances that are currently happening. Joy biblically is not an emotion. Joy is an attitude of the heart. Joy is something that lasts; happiness is something that is temporary. When we overcome a difficult challenge(through the power of God)  what we feel is not happiness but joy.  What the widow of Nain experienced after Jesus brought her son back to life in Luke 7:11-17 was joy not happiness. What the Psalmist was describing in Psalm 126:1 when he said when the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion we were like those who dream was joy not happiness. I remember when I was writing my final year project. The recommended time of the project was at least four months. For one reason or the other I registered very late partly because I sustained a deep laceration to my left palm and could not type. By the time my proposal was approved I had only two months to do a project that should take a full time students four months to complete. I started the project; I would go to work during the day and write my project at night. At times while walking, I will fall asleep. I remember one early morning I was walking by a busy road; because I did not sleep through the night I began to sleep while walking. While sleep walking I began to edge towards the busy road. There was a huge truck behind me approaching at a ridiculous high speed. Because I was so tired, I did not even hear the sound of the truck .As I was about to step into the front of this rushing truck I hit my leg on huge bollard and I woke up. If not for the bollard I would have walked into this truck and that would have been the end but we thank God.  Any way I tried my best to meet the extended deadline for the submission of the project but I missed it. When I called to explain my situation, I was told submissions for the project is now closed. I thought to myself, after going through sleepless nights and almost killed by a truck, I would have to wait till next semester? I said no. I prayed and went to the school, when I got to the school the lady that attended to me  just took the project from me and put it where other projects were kept. What I experienced that day was deep joy not  happiness .
 A lot of things makes God happy like singing praises, offerings, doing  good works to mention a few. But nothing brings God joy like people receiving salvation. Luke 15:10 says there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.  Salvation cost Jesus His life on the cross and it cost God too – His only son. Every time we bring Him joy by winning souls, He gives us strength to do more. It is in this strength that we go and possess the gate of our enemies; it is in this strength that we live in perfect health and not in sickness. It is in this strength that we get to the top and permanently remain there. Do you want this strength? Begin to win souls.
 ACTION POINT: Make up your mind today that you will be one of the very few people that will bring God joy from time to time.

IN THE SIGHT OF GOD

Ecclesiastes 2:26a: For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight:

People see things in different ways. A study was once carried out in a classroom. Some students were asked to look at a cup half filled with water and say what they saw. Some of the students saw the cup as half full while others saw it as half empty. This goes to prove that we see things differently. Most of the times we use our own standards to measure other people or use our own yardsticks to measure others. From studying Ecclesiastes 2:26a, we come to the conclusion that there is a way God sees things and at times it could be different from the way man sees things. It is possible for a man to be good in the sight of men but bad in the sight of God. Isaiah 64:6 talks about our righteousness before we became born again as filthy rags before the Holy One of Israel. Before we met Christ, all the righteous acts men have inputted unto us before God are as filthy rags! God sees things quite different from the way we see things. In Luke 21:1-4 is a classical example of this. While the rich were putting bags of gifts into the treasury, a certain widow put in two mites. To the whole world she gave the least but to God she gave the most because the rich gave out of their abundance but the poor widow gave out her poverty, she gave all her livelihood. Another instance is in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. God told Prophet Samuel to go to the house of Jesse and He would show him who to anoint. When Eliab came, the man of God exclaimed “surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” the Lord simply told him not to look at appearance or physical stature because He has refused him. The Lord further told him, that man busies themselves with looking at the physical appearance but He –the Almighty considers the heart.

Do you know before God, an offering is not an offering until we have first reconciled with our brethren or anyone who has offended us or who we have offended before we give  – Matthew 5:23-24? A sacrifice to God is not really a sacrifice until it cost us? In 2 Samuel 24:18-25, David wanted to offer Sacrifice to the Most High God so he approached Araunah about his piece of land to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Araunah wanted the king to take the land for free to offer sacrifices but David who knew the meaning of sacrifices refused. He told Araunah , “No , but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing”. Do you know we have not really praise God until we dance with all our might? In 2 Samuel 6:14, when David wanted to dance, the bible records that He danced with all his might. In the sight of God, a man is not wise until He begins to evangelize and win souls. Proverbs 11:30 says He who wins soul is wise. We are not really a Christian until the whole world can look at us and not see our achievements, our wealth, our qualification or beautiful attire but Jesus. In Acts 11:26, the citizens of Antioch looked at the disciples, when all they could see in the way these men dressed and carried themselves was Jesus. They began to call them Christ-like i.e. Christian.

PRAYER POINT: Father,  help me to live my life in a way that is pleasing before You.

DWELLING IN THE LORD

John 15:7 if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done.

What does it mean to dwell in Jesus? The best way to explain this is using the analogy of an unborn baby and the pregnant woman. The unborn baby dwells in the womb of the mother. People who dwell in Jesus are like an unborn baby in the womb of the mother. The unborn baby has little or no worry. The unborn baby does not worry about food, security or protection. To touch him one needs to touch the mother first. To harm him one needs to harm the mother first. The same thing applies to us when we dwell in Jesus. Our safety, protection, food or other necessities of life becomes the responsibility of Jesus because we are in the womb of Jesus. To starve the baby in the womb, one needs to starve the mother. To starve anyone who dwells in Jesus of anything good thing , one needs to first starve Jesus of good things and we know that  is impossible because everything have been given to Jesus - Matthew 11:27. To stop anyone dwelling in Jesus, one need to stop Jesus first and we know from studying Isaiah 25:8 that Jesus is able to swallow anything that wants to stop Him, e.g. death. For problems to overcome anyone dwelling in Jesus, that problem needs to first overcome Jesus and we know from studying John 16:33 that Jesus has overcome the world! Whatever cannot conquer Jesus cannot conquer anyone dwelling in Jesus because Romans 8:37 says nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

The unborn baby is invisible to the world. The same applies to those that dwell in Jesus. When you look at them instead of seeing men and women, you will see Jesus. In Acts 11:26, when the citizens of Antioch looked at the disciples of Jesus, instead of seeing men they saw Jesus. Instead of calling them by their names they began to call them Christians meaning Christ-like. When you see a Christian, you do not see a man or woman but Jesus Christ. No matter what anyone dwelling in Jesus has achieved in life, no matter the wealth, no matter how beautiful or handsome, no matter how spiritually gifted they maybe, once you look at them all their life achievements become invisible, the only visible thing you can see is Jesus. When they open their mouth all you hear is Jesus talking. When something happen their reactions is the same as that of Jesus. This brings us to the question, when people see us what do they see? Is it our achievement or Jesus? When we talk, do people hear Jesus or us? Can unbelievers who have never seen Jesus look at us and get an idea of what Jesus was like. I once heard a story of a young boy who ran to his mum claiming to have seen Jesus. The mum asked what did Jesus do to you when he saw you, He said Jesus came and tied my shoe lace that was loose. The mother was baffled so she asked the young boy to describe how Jesus looked. By the time the young boy finished describing Jesus, the mother knew it was the visiting pastor that tied the loosed shoe lace. The young boy had never seen Jesus but he has heard of the good works Jesus did. After the pastor tied this shoe lace, the young boy decided that it could only be Jesus who would take interest in his shoe lace while everyone else is too busy to notice such.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to fully dwell in you.

THE LORD’S ATTITUDE TO THE WEAK

Isaiah 35:3 says strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

After Elijah had executed 450 prophets of Baal, Jezebel arose and sent dead threats to him. Immediately Elijah received this in 1 Kings 19:1-8, he began to run for his life. The mighty man of God who had just called down fire from heaven was threatened by a woman and He began to shake –his faith in God grew weak. He ran to God and began to complain. He began to boast to God how he had been faithful and all that. He prayed that the Lord should kill him. Instead of killing Elijah, He sent him food. It was shocking that Elijah who had been praying for death saw food and ate – one will expect him to reject the food but he didn’t. After He ate and drank, He slept. The Lord sent an angel again to wake him up and eat and the prophet ate and drank again and strength returned. After strength returned ,by the time we get to 1 Kings 19:18 we see God pointing out to Elijah that there were at least 7,000 men who had not bowed their knees to any other God ; from that day Elijah never boasted to God about his faithfulness again. In this story, we learn of God’s attitude to the weak. When the faith of Elijah grew weak instead of rebuking him strongly or blaming him or discarding him and picking up someone else or making fun of him or get angry at him, He simply fed him. The Lord is not a user and He looks after His servants.

We need to all learn from this story. The moment of weakness is not the time to blame a person or rebuke them or make fun of them. It is not a time to point out to them why they failed. It is a time to help them back to their feet. Just as the Lord showed pity on Elijah, so also should we show pity on those who are weak or have failed not blame them for their failure. When people fail or backslide as a result of their own doing or disobedience instead telling them that serves them right, let’s first help them get back to their feet before later in a wise away advice them. When someone is low in self esteem, it is not the time to show off your own high self esteem. When a man of God makes a mistake, it is not a time to call our friends and gossip about them. It is not the time to make fun of them or begin to talk bad about them. It is a time to be sober and cry to God for mercy over their soul. Any one party to making fun of men or women of God when they fall is toying with God’s fire .James 5:19 says if anyone wanders from the truth bring him back. God was disappointed in Elijah but He did not show it to him at his weak moments. When your husband or wife makes a mistake or has a weakness or two, it is not the time to compare him to other husbands or her to other wives. It is not the time to remind him or her how she always makes the same mistake. It does not help! When our children comes back with results that are below our expectations instead of calling them names , let’s put measures into place to ensure that they will do better in the next term or semester. Another thing is He kept on feeding Elijah until He received the strength. Isaiah 35:3 says strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. It is wickedness to make a weak hands weaker and feeble knee feebler. When you see people on the path to destruction instead of wishing that God will destroy them, lets pray for them. Remember, only the merciful will obtain mercy from God- Matthew 5:7. If you have ever made fun of anyone who has fallen or made mistakes, go to God and ask Him forgiveness.

ACTION POINT: Look for someone weak today and offer them words of

KINGDOM EAGLES

Isaiah 40:31 but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The eagles are very bold birds. According to Proverbs 30:19,  Eagles fly in the sky. While chickens remain permanently on the ground the eagle flies high in the sky. While other birds fly not too far from the ground, the eagles soar in the heavens. 2 Timothy 1:7 says our God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. One of the reasons why you will never see a chicken fly is fear of failure. They do not want to fail at flying. Other birds summon a bit of courage and fly but not too high to avoid the wind currents presents at great heights. The eagle is neither afraid of flying nor worried about the wind currents at great heights. While other Christians practice their Christianity in the secrets, Kingdom eagles are bold about their Christian lives. They do not hide it. While others are scared of evangelizing, Kingdom eagles go out and witness. At the end, chickens remain on the ground, other birds remain at the same level all their lives but the eagles go from heights to heights because of their boldness. 


Eagles fly alone. Chickens are crowd followers. If a chicken sees a bunch of chicken running across the chicken yard, he will take off after them. It does not matter that he does not know where they are going or why they are going there. He follows along because he does not want to miss out on anything the majority is doing. While other birds are migrating together in large groups the eagle flies alone. These birds that fly in groups or always in the company of another forget they have a destiny to fulfil. They forget they are on this earth for a reason. They ignore their divine assignments and wake up in the morning and begin to sing. After singing they join other birds to fly all day but the eagles are conscious of their assignments and they set their hearts to it. They are so committed they do not permit other eagles to come and waste their time. While other birds are busy with pettiness, the eagle is found on top of a high mountain busy studying the wind current. While other christians are sleeping at night, Kingdom eagles are awake praying and watching with God. While the vultures gather to feast on carcass, the eagles stand alone not to touch unclean things. When everyone around them is getting civilized and compromising their faith, Kingdom eagles stand alone not to compromise their faith. Kingdom eagles stand alone for Jesus. At the end other birds die and fall to the ground, the Eagle goes to the top of the tallest mountain. He looks straight into the sun and dies on the high mountain.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please give me the spirit of boldness today so I can stand for you all the days of my life and end my christian race well.

GOD’S ATTITUDE TO DEBTS

Deuteronomy 23:21: When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in
thee.

In 2 Kings 4:1 – 7, is the story of a woman who was in big debt. The creditors told her they were going to take her two sons as slaves to cater for her debts. She ran to meet to the man of God- Elisha, who gave her an instruction to go and borrow some vessels and fill it with the oil left. After she did she came back to the prophet and he advised her to go and first pay her debts and live on the rest. This passage shows God’s attitude to debts. The woman was advised to first go and pay her debt which means God took the business of paying her debt as urgent and a priority. Today we should learn from this. When we owe people let us make every effort to pay the debts even if it means we will not eat! If the money is not available lets still be in contact with those we owe money to and re-assure them that we will pay, not ignore them or begin to run. When people out of mercy lend us things or money, when they ask for their money back let us not do the wicked thing of getting angry at them. Many do that , they get angry when the people who have lend them money ask for the money back and some take it to another level by deciding not to pay the money. According Psalm 37:21, it is an act of wickedness to borrow and not pay back! When you owe financial institutions please pay them back. Also when people lend us things let us endeavor to return them back on time and in good condition. It is not nice when people lend us things and they have to beg to get them back from us. Do you know it is a debt not to testify to the goodness of God in your life? Every time God does something for us, we owe Him a thank you and the thank you He expects from us is to share the testimony.

We have heard this saying from time to time, Promise is a debt. A promise is not only a debt but unfulfilled promise is a sin! Deuteronomy 23:21 says when thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. When you make promises to people, do everything in your power to fulfill them. The same thing applies to God. Many of us have made vows to God that if only He will let us pass an exam we will do this for Him, If only He will give us a child, If only He will get us a job, if only He will get us the promotion, if only He will get us the visa, If only He will deliver us, if only He will do this and that …. The shocking thing is many of us have not redeemed the pledge we made to Him years ago. So as not to hold it against us as sin, He reminds us from time to time and what do we do? We say it is true and never do anything about it.

ACTION POINT: Put measures into place to pay your debts, if you have been running from people you owe money to, contact them and let them know you are making efforts to pay the debts.

OFFERING STRANGE FIRES

Numbers 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and
Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

What is a strange fire? Strange fire simply represents practices that are either not biblical or God is not happy with. The Most High God abhors strange fires in His presence. Today in the body of Christ there are so many strange fires offered unintentionally. It is true that ignorance of law is no excuse but we thank God for His mercies. One of the most popular strange fires offered before God is in the area of eating Holy Communion. Holy Communion is not to be eaten in the morning or afternoon but midnight. Eating it in the late evening is permitted but not morning or afternoon. There is no record of Holy Communion been eating in the afternoon or morning in the bible starting from the first day it was eating by Moses and the children of Israel (it was called Passover then) to the night Jesus was betrayed.

Also been rude to a man of God or prophet is offering strange fire. If you do not believe me please ask Saul in 1 Samuel 15:1-35. Samuel rebuked Saul on an issue, as he turned to leave Saul grabbed the prophet’s garment and it tore ,right on the spot God tore his kingdom gave it to another man! In Acts 5:1-10, Ananias and Sapphira ganged up to fool the man of God and right on the spot the Lord struck them dead. Maybe we should add the story of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:1-23. There was no doubt that this man had spiritual gift. The gift of vision made him one of the greatest kings that ruled in Israel and at very young age but what happened? Because of his gifts, he began to over step his boundary by trying to offer incense on the altar – a task solely for the Levites. Been a king the priest tried to ask him politely not to do so but he would not listen and from heaven God struck him ;right on the spot he became a leper. I pray that none of this will happen to anyone of us in Jesus name. Do you also know that been rude to elders in the church or calling them nick names is offering strange fire? Oh yes it is! Some youths began to make fun of the baldhead of Elisha in 2 Kings 2:23-25, the man cursed them and the Lord said amen in heaven. From nowhere, two female bears came out and mauled forty-two of the youths. Also abusing one’s position as a pastor or prophet or worker or leader in the church is offering strange fire. The sons of Eli –Hophni and Phinehas, sons of the prophet used their position to satisfy their evil desires. Because they were leaders and prophets, they began to use the church to enrich themselves; they used the offerings to make themselves fat- 1 Samuel 2:12-17.They graduated into using their positions to sleep with beautiful women in the church – 1 Samuel 22-25. God warned Eli to warn his children but no one listened to God. One day God got tired and decided to take off his hands from their life. The next minute the enemies killed them – 1 Samuel 4:11. Sending blackberry messages to our friends during church services or sermon is offering strange fire. It is not good. Send messages, picking calls, talking to our friends during church services or sermons is not good. When we are in the present of God we must behave our self not to court His wrath.When we are in the presence of our earthly parents or bosses at work , we do not ping our friends or chat on the phone ,why do that before the One who created heaven and earth ?

PRAYER POINT: Father, please forgive my ignorance and help me not displease you again.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

1 Thessalonians 5:17: pray without ceasing

In 2 Kings 13:14- 19, a king was given an opportunity to permanently deal with his enemies –the Syrians. Elisha told him to strike the ground with an arrow; each time he struck the ground stood for a victory over the Syrians. The foolish king struck the ground three times and began to look. Even when he was rebuked, he did not even make any more attempts. The attitude of this king could be compared to our attitude in prayers. God inspires the pastor to lead a particular prayer point, after praying for five minutes, we stop. At times we pray for two or three days over a matter ,if we do not get a response we stop praying. 1 Thessalonian 5:17 says pray without ceasing. John 16:24 says we should ask until our joy is full. If your joy is not full over a matter please do not stop praying. At times when ask God for one or two things and we do not get an answer within days we get angry at God. The truth is if we petition the president of our country, he is not obliged to answer immediately and we have no choice than to exercise patience. How much more God? He is not our servant or our employer. He can decide not to answer and nothing will happen but thank God He is merciful and He has promised in Isaiah 65:24 that while you are praying, He will answer Hallelujah.

How do I make request known to God? Acts 4:24-30 shows us how to do this. The early Christians had challenges in the area of boldness and evangelism. They went to God in prayers. They started by praising the name of the Lord – Acts 4:24. After that they proceeded to thank Him for the things He had done in times past – Acts 4:25-27. After this they reported what was disturbing them to Him – Acts 4:28. They concluded by telling Him what they wanted Him to do for them – Acts 4:30. By the time they finished praying, the bible records in Acts 4:31 that there was an earth quake. If anyone will go before Him in prayer and start by spending time to exalt His holy name, calling Him the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Most High, other lovely names. Then spend time again to thank Him for the things He had done in past. Then proceed to report everything disturbing them to Him and conclude with what they want to Him to do there will be an earthquake. Also when we make requests to Him, it should be in the name of Jesus. John 14:13 says and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And also when we ask let’s do so through the spirit of God (i.e. speak in tongues) .Romans 8:26 says for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. When God sees our prayer request in heaven signed by Jesus (when ask in the name of Jesus, we are stamping our request with the signature of Jesus) and our requests packaged by the Holy Spirit (when we pray in the spirit), He will say yes! I pray that the Lord will say granted to all your petitions in Jesus name.

ACTION POINT: Start your request by praising God, then thank Him for the things He has done in times past , bring to His attention everything disturbing you and ask Him what you want Him to do with them.

WISDOM WITHOUT THE FEAR OF GOD

Proverbs 4:7: Wisdom is a principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.

You can call the devil any name that will be fine. You can call him a liar that will be fine. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies anyway. You can call him a thief, murderer and destroyer that will be perfectly fine because John 10:10 says he steals kills and destroys. You can call him any name in the world, you are have the perfected right to do so but do not ever call him a fool because he is not. Jesus says in Matthew 10:16, behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves which suggest that the serpent (referring to Satan) Is wise .2 Corinthians 2:11 says we should not be ignorant of his devices. One of the wisest men that ever lived was Adam. This man was full of wisdom. He had a mental ability that exceeded all the modern day geniuses

combine together. For a man to have given names to all the animals, organism, microbes, fishes and birds in the world it takes a considerable amount of wisdom and understanding. Asides this, Adam had a very close relationship with God. God usually visited him regularly, for Adam to have had this kind of relationship with God, he must have been really wise because if there is anything the Lord cannot stand, it is the foolish. Psalm 5:5 says the foolish cannot stand in the presence of God. Yet the devil outsmarted him, despite all his ability! Solomon operated at a level higher than that of Adam. According to 1 Kings 4:33 , he was so intelligent that he became an authority in the branch of science dealing with trees, animals, birds, fish and all other living things. He was so wise the bible records in 1 Kings 4:32 that he spoke 3000 thousands proverbs and wrote 1005 songs! Despite all this, the devil still managed to outsmart him and make him sin against God.

This brings us to the question of how the devil managed to cause them to sin against God despite their wisdom. How was he able to trick them? Were they careless? They were certainly not careless, they all lacked one small thing; the fear of God. It is impossible to fear God and still disobey Him. It is impossible to fear God and still court His wrath. By wisdom kings reign – Proverbs 8:15; Wisdom brings riches and honor – Proverbs 8:18; those who find wisdom can be compared to he who finds life – Proverbs 8:35. The moment the fear of the Lord is missing in all these, one becomes a toast in the hands of the enemy. The only fellow the enemy cannot bring down or outsmart or cause to offend God is that fellow who truly fears the Lord. One reason why the devil could not outsmart Jesus while He was on earth was because Jesus had the Spirit of the fear of the Lord – Isaiah 11:3

POINT; Father, Please give me the spirit of the fear of the Lord

HINDRANCE TO MANIFESTATION

Genesis 13:14: and the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him “lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward and westward.

Bible text: Genesis 13:14-17

In Genesis 12:1-3, God gave Abram three instructions; obedience to them will bring seven major blessings. He told Abram to get out of his country, from his fami

ly and from his father’s house and in return He will make him a great nation , bless him, make his name great , make him a blessings, bless those who bless him, curse those who curse him and through him all the families of the earth will be blessed. Abram got out of his country, his family but not from his father’s house because he took Lot with him. Because of this, the promises of God could not come to fruition in his life. Just like Abram , there are many of us who the Lord have made big promises to that are yet to come to fruition. Many of us think maybe the Lord has forgotten us. The Lord has not forgotten you. According to Isaiah 49:15 , it is possible for a woman to forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb but our Lord will never forget his children. One of the reasons why we are yet to see the manifestation of the promises God has made is because of the hindrances on our path. For Abram it was Lot. While Lot was still with Abram, God did not speak and Abram began to run into trouble everywhere he went to.

For Peter it was fear. The fear of losing Jesus made him to cut the ear of Malchus in John 18:10. It was also the fear of persecution that made him to deny Jesus in John 18:15-27 .He denied Jesus not only once but thrice. Proverbs 29:23 says the fear of man brings snare. For Thomas it was doubt, when they told him that Jesus was raised he said I will not believe unless I see His hands the print of the nails, not only that and put my hand into His side, I will not believe –John 20:25.James 1:6-7 says no doubter will receive anything from God. For others it is anger. They get angry easily. Once they are angry they speak to anyone anyhow, they can do and undo. Proverbs 30:33 says the forcing of wrath produces strife. Stubbornness could also be a hindrance. The parents of Samson pleaded with him to marry from his people he refused; he stubbornly married from the Philistines. He later died in the hands of the same philistines. Another hindrance to manifestation is refusal to evangelize. Jesus has said in Luke 11:23, He that is not with me, is against me: he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When we do not evangelize we are pitching our camp opposite the camp of Jesus and scattering what He is gathering. Immediately Abram recognized the hindrance, he removed it and God spoke again.

PRAYER POINT: Father, everything hindering You from blessing me please help me to recognize them and give me the grace to remove them.

THE NEED TO BE HOLY

Ezekiel 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trusts in his own righteousness, and commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

What Is Holiness? Holiness is simply obedience to God. When a man is holy, God puts a covering around him. This covering serves
as a shield from the enemy. In Job 1:7-10, Satan could not come near Job or his belongings because the Lord had placed an edge around him. Why did God put an edge around Job? Because of Job’s life of obedience to God. God testified in verse 8 that there was none like job in all the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. When a man is obedient to God, he becomes untouchable. According to Psalm 91:7, a thousand may fall at his side, ten thousand at his right hand but nothing will come near him.

When we disobey God, the reverse is the case. This is why we need to avoid sin. Prior to sin, Adam was fully protected by God. He was clothed in God’s glory but immediately he disobeyed God that glory left and he was exposed. Once the covering of God over one’s life disappears, such person is at the mercy of the devil. Sin exposes us to attack from the enemy. Some brothers were travelling for a revival in another part of town when they were stopped by armed robbers. One of the armed robbers singled out a particular brother and began to beat him up. He pushed this brother to the ground and took out a big cutlass to kill him. This brother said immediately he saw this huge cutlass, in split seconds he remembered all the sermons he has heard about living holy. He said at that point he asked God for one more chance. The Lord answered him and from nowhere the leader of the armed robbers shouted stop. That was how God spared his life that day. Although he was Christian brother, because he indulged in sin the covering of God over his life disappeared. He only discovered that he was exposed to attack when the armed robber took out the huge cutlass to kill him. Civilization is not an excuse to disobey God. Malachi 3:6 says God does not change. Many a times we believe because we live in a civilized environment we can now disobey him, we cannot! Ezekiel 33:13 says if the righteous commits iniquity all his righteousnesses will not remembered and because of the iniquity he has committed, he shall die for it. I pray that this will not be our portion in Jesus name , Amen.

PRAYER POINT: Father , help me to obey you to the letter.

THE SEEING EYE

Proverbs 29:18a says where there is no vision, the people perish.

There are different levels of seeing. There are those who cannot see at all, we call them blind. There are people who can see which constitutes the majority of us. There are people who can see through skill for example sculptors. A sculptor looks at a rock and sees an object; he gets his chisel and other tools and carves out the object. Without the skill one will see nothing but a rock. There are people who can see with their mind, they imagine things. There are people who can see through experience. Because of experience in certain areas they can see what ordinary people cannot see. Sometimes back I went to buy bananas in a shop. On coming out of the shop , an elderly woman met me and said ‘young man those bananas are not good , by this time tomorrow they will be all be rotten’. I looked at the banana they were very fresh. I said thanks ma but I was too tired to walk back and change them so I went home. I ate two out of five and by the time I got to the kitchen the next morning the three left were completely rotten. This woman from experience saw what I could not see. 

There are also people who can see with their spiritual eyes. In 2 Kings 6:15-17, Gehazi saw the whole town been surrounded by an army and He began to panic. He ran to call Elisha the anointed man of God and when that one got there, he just began to smile. Why? Because he saw the host of heaven in their millions protecting them. Two of them saw the same thing; while one was panicking the other began to rejoice. In 1 Samuel 17:1-58, while the whole army of Israel saw Goliath and his stature and began to panic, because of the anointing on David he saw the unprotected skull of Goliath and began to rejoice. Notice this, the whole army of Israel stood before Goliath and saw nothing but a young anointed boy saw an exposed skull. Whether we believe it or not, the spiritual runs the physical. Anyone who is blind spiritually is equivalent to a man blind physically. With all the gadgets in this world, we know a blind man is still limited in a lot of ways. How easy is it for a blind man to defend himself when he is been attacked. How fast can a blind man run? How much can he achieve and at rate will he achieved them? If a physically blind man is this limited how much more a spiritually blind man? Many have entered into wrong relationships, accepted wrong contracts, partnered with wrong people because they cannot see the spiritual. According to Proverbs 29:18a, the lack of vision i.e. spiritually blind can lead to physical harm or loss.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please open my spiritual eyes.

IT SHALL COME TO PASS

Number 23:19 says God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

The Lord holds His holy name in high esteem. In Isaiah 42:8, He said “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” The name of the Lord brings safety. Joel 2:32 says whoever calls on His name, He will save. Philippians 2: 10 say all we need to do is say the name –Jesus and every knee will begin to bow. Do you know that as high as God holds His name, He esteems His word above His name? According to Psalm 138:2, God has exalted His word above all His names. Because the name of the Lord cannot fail, the word of the Lord can never fail. Once He speaks over a matter, you can be rest assured that the matter is settled! He told Abraham that by this time next year, Sarah (Abraham's wife) will be a nursing mother. At the time when God spoke, Sarah was not only old but according to Romans 4:19 her womb was dead. Because the Lord had spoken, it came to pass

I remember many years ago when a chance for promotion came up in my place of work. Although it was advertized as temporary, there was a strong possibility of the successful candidate been made permanent. I went into prayers and the Lord spoke through a man of God that it was done! I applied like every other candidate but did not make it. While I was still recovering from the shock, challenges began. The challenges came from different angles to the extent that I almost lost the job but God was faithful. Two years passed and the post was re-advertised again as temporary for the second time. I tried to apply but I was told I was not qualified to apply. A year later, they decided to fill the post permanently and instead of selecting those that were acting they decided to throw it open for everyone. I applied and got the job permanently. Because the Most High had spoken, while the role was temporary nothing happen but immediately it came out as permanent the Lord fulfilled His words. Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He now make it good? What has the Lord promised you that is yet to come to pass? As He spoken through a man of God over a matter and you are yet to see manifestation? Do not lose hope because it shall come to pass! That which He has promised to do in your life, He will do. That challenges He has promised to deal with, He will deal with it.

ACTION POINT: God is never late, once He has said it, He bring it to pass

FORGIVE! FOR YOUR SAKE

Matthew 5:7 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Unforgiveness is a powerful tool in the hands of the enemy and he has used it rob many of their healings, breakthrough and blessings. What unforgiveness does is it shuts the heaven over an individual. One can pray but as far as there is unforgiveness, there is a possibility that such prayers will not b
e answered. Mark 11:25 says and whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Before God restored Job, He first dealt with the unforgiveness that could stand in the way. He told Eliphaz and
the other two friends in Job 42:7-9 to take an offering to job so that he can forgive them and pray for them.

You may not belief this but there have been cases of women who the Lord told to go and forgive their husbands or someone who mistreated them before they can conceive and have children. I think I should this testimony of a pastor friend. Several years ago when he was still a brother, he went into transport business with his very close friend. The business was doing well, they normally meet at the end of the year to share profits and plan for the next year. This particular year they met as usual and the friend declared no profits but loss. After investigation, the brother found out that his friend had misappropriated the funds and he was unhappy. He became angry and never forgave this friend. Several weeks later the Holy Spirit fished out the friend in the church and he confessed. He was asked to go and make restitution. The friend approached this brother to apologize but this brother did not want to even see him. No matter what the friend did, this brother did not forgive. Few months passed, the friend began to prosper and buy new cars while things began to go the other way for this brother. This brother petitioned God that why should the man who dupe him prosper while He suffers. The Lord told him listen “your friend is prospering because I have forgiving him but you are yet to forgive. I cannot forgive you and bless you until you forgive him.” Thank God the brother was wise, he quickly forgave his friend and things changed. I think I should share this too. A particular sister suffered break down because her fiancée made another lady pregnant. Her world literally collapsed because that man was the only man she ever trusted in her life. She was so disappointment and this caused a deep wound in her heart. A year later due to the recession; she lost her lucrative job and was employed for almost two years. She was a trained accountant; she applied for all sorts of jobs and got nothing. She prayed and fasted nothing happened. The pastor bounded and loosed nothing happened. While discussing this year, for some unknown reasons I began to talk to her on the subject of forgiveness. She said there is someone that offended her but she forgave but not from the heart. We advised her
to forgive and she did. A month later she got a job after two years and to cap it up God has brought another brother!

ACTION POINT: Forgive that brother, sister, friend, family out of mercy so that God can show you mercy.

GOLD IN THE MOUTH OF FISH PART 2

Proverbs 11:30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.

In Matthew 17:24-27 is a well known story. Jesus was asked to pay temple tax so He told Peter to go to the sea, cast in a hook, take the first fish that comes up and open its mouth. He told him to use the money found in the mouth of the fish to pay the bill. The question is why could Jesus not pay the bill from His pocket or take some from the money bag to pay the bill? We know from reading John 12:6 that Jesus and His disciples had a money bag from which they took money to take care of the poor. Why the need to go all the way to the sea to catch a fish that has money in its mouth?

Jesus did this to teach His disciples of the importance of evangelism. When we talk of fishing we know biblically fishing symbolizes evangelizing. Jesus was trying to tell His disciples that for every fish they catch for Him, there is gold in its mouth. For every soul we win for Jesus we get gold. When I began to go to church my attendance was terrible. I will go this Sunday and will not go for another couple of Sundays which was my routine back then. There was this particular sister who kept on encouraging me and my attendance improved. After a while I began to witness about Christ. It was in the course of witnessing I met an unemployed Muslim sister. I began to witness to her but I was not making progress at all. I spoke to a brother about this and he told me I needed to show her Jesus cares by first caring for her and assisting her. I did as I was advised, on my way to our weekly church service I called this sister (Muslim) to meet me after church that I have something to give to her. While the service was going on in the church, the Holy Spirit began to tell me to give the money to the sister that used to encourage me to come to church when I first joined. I put the money in an envelope and gave it to her. On my way home I met with the Muslim sister and assisted her with some money too. As I was opening the door to my house my phone rang and when I checked, it was this sister from church. When I picked it up, she began to cry and thank me. I was deeply touched , i knew God had touched her in a way she never expected. She prayed and prayed and prayed for me. I did not know what she was going through and she did not mention it but what if she had not encouraged me to come to church regularly, would the Lord have been able to use us (me) to meet her needs? I do not know how many people God has sent to her on that day that has refused but one thing I know was that day God gave her gold for witnessing to me. Proverbs 11:30 says he that wins soul is wise. Please witness about Jesus, you never know who you will win for Jesus. That person may be the key to solve a particular problem or breakthrough in your life.

PRAYER POINT: Father make me an incurable soul winner.

THE REWARDS OF PERSISTENCE

Romans 2:7 says to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:

In Matthew 15:22-28 is a story we all know. A woman came to Jesus about the condition of her daughter. The daughter was demon possessed and things were going out of hands. Despite all she was subjected to, she stayed and continued to ask for help, Jesus prayed and her daughter was healed. From this story there are one or two things to learn about persistence. Firstly, when you are persistent at something, those who ignore you will begin to notice to you. At first Jesus seem to ignore her to test her faith but because she was persistent Jesus had no option than to notice her. People around blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:42-56 knew him but they never gave him attention. Although Bartimaeus was at the road usually begging he was invisible, but immediately he began to persistently cry for help people began to notice him. Elisha and Gehazi in 2 kings 8:4-17 had been going to the house of the great Shunamite woman to eat but they noticed nothing, but as she persistently fed them and looked after them, one day the man of God noticed that she had everything money can buy but lacked one thing only God can give which was a child. Secondly, when you persistently knock on any door, the door will eventually open. The Great Shunamite woman kept on looking after the prophet and at a point she received her breakthrough. Everyone kept on telling Bartimaeus to shut up but he persisted and he received his sight. The woman in Matthew 15 did not take no for answer and at last her daughter was delivered.

Thirdly, when you are persistent those who have turned you to a laughing stock will later congratulate you on your breakthrough. Because of the woman's persistence, Jesus recognized her and congratulated her on her persistence. After Bartimaeus received his sight, when he shouted praise God those that were telling him to keep quiet were the first to shout Hallelujah. Romans 2:7 says to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. Persistence in doing good works brings rewards.
It does not matter the number of times you have failed at that endeavor, persist in making efforts and one day you will breakthrough. God may have assigned a task or two to you and whilst you are putting all your efforts into it, no one seems to notice but I can assure that your time has come today in Jesus name, amen!

ADVICE: Persist in that endeavor because a day is coming when the world will notice you, you will breakthrough and those who doubted you will congratulate you.

BE AN EAGLE

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I have always told people that out of all birds, the Lord loves the Eagle the most. Why? Well, the Eagle is the most favored bird. When you look at God’s favor, it is always directed at those He loves. For example the Lord loves the righteous – Psalms 33:5, and surrounds them with favor – Psalm 5:12. Because of His love for the Eagle, He ensured that out all the birds, only the Eagle is permitted to fly close to the sun. When we talk of flying close to the sun, we are talking real close. While flying around and hunting, debris gathers around the Eagle and this weighs it down. To get rid of th

is debris, the Eagle flies so close to the sun so that the heat from the sun melts the debris weighing it down. Also from time to time the Eagle goes so close to the sun so that the rays and heat from the sun can burn off the films that develops over its eyes and its vision is renewed .Any other bird that tries to go as close to the sun as the Eagle will either lose its eyes sight or something worse will happen. Asides flying close to the sun, the Eagle flies at an altitude that other bird can only dream of. Proverbs 23:5 says the Eagle soars to the heavens. While normal birds lay their nest on trees, according to Job 39:27-28 the Eagle lays its nest on very high mountains where no prey can reach.

Why does the Lord love this breed of bird specially? How come they are the only bird enjoying special favors? Firstly, the eagle does not touch dead animals or unclean things. The vulture eats anything but the Eagle will never go near dirty thing or unclean thing. Secondly, the Eagle depends on the wind to soar. Once the Eagle sees a storm coming from afar instead of running like other birds it simply uses the wind of the storm to lift itself high above the storm. Brethren anyone who wants to enjoy special favors from God must do away with unclean things i.e. sin. Anyone who wants to operate at altitude others can only dream off must depend on the Wind which is the Holy Spirit according to John 3:8. Without these two, enjoying favors will be impossible, and also achieving what people can only dream off will be impossible too. Daniel excelled so much in His endeavor because the Holy Spirit was operating at full blast in his life. The bible records in Daniel 6:3 that Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent Spirit was in him.

Prayer Point: Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit that i might be able to fulfill destiny.

ALL POWER BELONG TO GOD

Psalm 62:11 say God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

After the Philistines took the ark of God in 1 Samuel 5:1-5, they set it before Dagon their national god. Dagon was a very huge statue. By the time they came back the next morning, they saw this huge statue fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of God. They did not understand, they thought may be a wind blew overnight or the statue was not standing properly so they set in its place again. By the time they came the next morning , the saw Dagon not only fallen on its face to the earth but the head and palms of Dagon broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. It was then they knew that, Power exceeds power. There is no power that can be compared

to the power of God. It does not matter what name they call it, before God they are nothing. Who is Baal before God? Who is Dagon? When the Lord visited Egypt in Exodus 7:17-21, Hapi –god of Nile began to vomit blood. When Pharaoh continued to harden his heart because he thought he had Hapi, God ensured that Hapi began to vomit frogs! Exodus 8:5-6.

One early morning while I was walking and praying, I saw a man at a particular bus stop shouting and saying some strange words. The only thing I noticed was there were no one standing with him at the bus stop and everyone passing seem to prefer to use the other side of the road. As I approached him he stopped and when I got to him he began to shout again but because I was really busy praying I ignored him and walk past him. After taking five or six steps past him, something arose in me, I began to feel uncomfortable about this man shouting strange words behind me so I decided to go back and tell him to keep quiet in the name of Jesus. As I turned back to go to him we made eye contact and he kept quiet. I stood there waiting for him to speak but he kept quiet. I turned back and began to walk thinking he will continue shouting but he just kept quiet. I walked for another five minutes but he just kept quiet. The man did not keep quiet because of me, actually as a matter of fact if he were to have his way he will probably harm me. This force in this man kept quiet because of the Jesus I serve. The force in the man saw the spirit of God and it kept quiet. John 1:12 says but as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Every believer has the right to the power of God.

PRAYER POINT: Father , I have received Jesus as my personal Lord and savior , Please give me power.

Jehovah Jireh

Psalm 23:1 says The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

There is a very difference between needs and wants.’Need’ is a basic living essential i.e. if you do not have it, you could die while ‘Want ’ is something you feel you need ,or you really desire. God is not only able to meet your needs but your wants also. The Psalmist say in Psalm 23:1 that even his wants will be catered for. Why is the Lord able to meet needs and wants? Because according to 1 Corinthians 10:26, the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. Genesis 14:22 calls Him the possessor of heaven and the earth. Because everything belongs to Him, He is able meet our needs regardless. Have you ever wondered where the ravens that feed Elijah in 1 Kings 17:2-6 got the bread and meat from? When the Lord asked Elijah to go to the house of the widow of Zarapheth, it was because the brook dried up not the bread and meat. God’s supply can never dry up.

Jehovah Jireh means the Lord will provide .Sometimes back the Lord helped us to understand the meaning of Jehovah Jireh. While I was praying, the Holy Spirit told me to bless a particular sister with a token. I did not really feel comfortable with the idea because I did not want the sister to read funny meanings to it. Besides the funny meanings she might read to it, the amount was quite small and honestly I would have love to give her more but that was all I had in the world . I thought giving her such an amount will be an insult and she would get angry and I will be lucky if all I get is a slap. Anyway I summoned courage and made attempts to contact her but I did not get through. I tried for three weeks but for one reason I could not reach her. When I got hold of her over the phone, I gave her the message from the Lord and she was reduced to tears. She told me things had gone so bad that she was just managing until this morning (because I spoke to her in the evening) when things went from bad to worse. She could not feed herself and her junior brother. She thanked and prayed for me. A week later, the Holy Spirit asked me what I learnt from what happened. I said I learnt that you are a God who meets needs and you can bring help from anywhere. He said not only that, I make provisions ready long before the needs for it arises . He further explained to me that when He told me to give her a token, everything was alright with the sister; she did not really need the token then. That was why I could not get through to her. Immediately the need arose, that was when I got through to her. Long before her situation went from bad to worse, the Lord had made preparations to cater for her needs. Can I tell you that long before that problem started, Jehovah Jireh had created a solution? Long before that need arose, Jehovah Jireh had prepared the resources you need to cater for the need.

ACTION POINT : Go ahead and thank Him because long before you were born , he had provided the solutions to every challenges you will ever face.

HAVE YOU GIVEN YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST?

Luke 6:38 says Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

When we give something out, that thing no longer belongs to us. How that thing is used is little of our business. In Legal terms, when you give something out, you are transferring the right of ownership to another person. When we give our lives to Christ, we are transferring our right of ownership to Jesus. We are saying from this moment onward, I belong to You- Jesus. From that day onward we seize to own our life. The totality of our life – our strength, our hopes, our resources, our times, our future, our challenges, and our failures in life e.t.c now belongs to Jesus. Basically once we give our lives to Christ everything we own now belongs to Jesus. Our resources now become a

tool for Him to propagate the gospel around the world, to feed the poor and needy, orphans and widow. He now uses our strength in His vineyard. He now uses our time for His own business. Many of us say we have giving our life to Christ but how many have actually given all to Him without withholding anything back? If Jesus should speak now and say My son or My daughter , i want you to leave everything you have worked for all your life , i need to send you to a missionary field for only two years ,how many of us will say Ok Jesus with a smile on our face ?

What are advantages of giving once life to Jesus? From the moment you give your life to Jesus your life no longer belongs to you. The responsibility of protecting your life now becomes that of Jesus not yours. I am yet to see any demon in hell that will come near what belongs to Jesus. When give Him our mourning, He turns it into dancing, Psalm 30:11. When we give our failures to Him He turns it into success Luke 5:1-7 .Just give Him your resources and He will multiply it like He did for the boy who gave five bread and two fishes in Matthew 14:13-21.Once we give our body to Him , what we will eat ,wear and shelter becomes His responsibility. When we give Him our time, He will visit us and fill us with His presence and the bible records in Psalm 16:11 that in the presence of God is fullness of Joy. If we give all to Him – our Life, He will take it and in return give us eternal life. Jesus says in Matthew 16:25, those who lose their life for my sake will get it back. According to Luke 6:38, For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help me today to give my life to you the way i am meant to.