FREELY YE HAVE RECIEVED, FREELY GIVE

MEMORY VERSE: And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 16-18

READ: Acts 8:17-20

God is not a talkative. He does not speak for the sake of speaking. Someone once said, " some speak because they like the sound of their own voice " in other words they speak and speak without making much sense. The Lord does not speak every minute as some people claim, and when He speaks it is deliberate. It is to achieve something. There are several reasons why this is so, for example, His words carry power. Psalm 33:8- 9 says, “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” People in position of authority watch their words because with it, they can start a war and with it, they can also put an end to a war.

God does not waste His words. If He says a word, there is a reason for it. Unfortunately, many are beginning to think that some of the things written in the bible are not relevant today. They think they are old school or only relevant to the people that lived during the days of Jesus. Some have even argued that some of what Paul taught was for a particular denomination not the entire body of Christ. This is not so. Whatever you find in the bible has been deliberately included by the Holy Spirit for a reason and it is “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” ( 2 Timothy 3:16) . In Matthew 10, Jesus sent out His 12 disciples with a charge. Verse 7-8 says, “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Why did Jesus include this, “freely ye have received, freely give”, in the charge? It is because man has a tendency to make merchandise of the grace of God upon his life or the anointing of God upon his life. Today, we hear stories of people charging for prophesy. We receive phone alerts encouraging us to subscribe for daily prayers and prophecy. Some of us have even paid for prayers. They tell you, "bro, you need special prayers and fasting" and they charge you for it. All these are not scriptural. We hear of people selling anointed handkerchiefs, apples, bottles of water, etc. All these are not scriptural and if you have ever bought any of these, you have wasted your hard earned money. The anointing of God or healing is not for sale. Gehazi tried to sell healing and received a curse from God ( 2 Kings 5). The grace of God or the gifts of the Holy Spirit is not for sale. In our bible reading, we see Simon being severely reprimanded for offering to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Don’t go to people’s houses and pray a long prayer because you want them to give you a gift. Don’t give visions because you want people to give you money. You don’t have to tell people that you prayed for them over night all in the name getting something in return.

NOTE: The Lord will not tolerate anyone who is making merchandise of His grace. He will not tolerate anyone who is using the death of Christ on the cross for their own selfish and negative ambition.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world