DO IT WELL

MEMORY VERSE: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 101-105, Proverbs 21

God demands that His children be like Him. They must love whatsoever He loves and hate whatsoever He hates. They must be holy for He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). They must be merciful for He is merciful (Luke 6:36). They must forgive just as Christ forgave (Colossians 3:13). They must be perfect just as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Many say it is impossible to be perfect especially in this generation. The disciples of Jesus said the same thing too. After hearing Him preach powerfully about salvation one day, they asked Jesus, “who then can be saved (Matthew 19:25)” To which Jesus responded, “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).” In other words, humanly speaking it is impossible but God is ready to help anyone who is willing, obedient and determined to make heaven. He is ready to help anyone who will present his or her body to Him as a living sacrifice, who will not conform to the world but renew his or her mind (Romans 12:1-2). One way to renew your mind is by daily meditating on the word of God. The word of God is a cleanser (John 15:3). When I counsel people who are addicted to masturbation, I always tell them to meditate on the scripture daily. As they meditated on the scripture daily, the urge to do this terrible thing reduced drastically and God freed them from that bondage.

Whatever God does is good, that is His signature. When you read Genesis 1, you will observe that whenever God creates anything, He will first check to see if it is good before moving on to another thing. This is why “And God saw that… it was good” is repeated several times in Genesis 1. James 1:17 says: “ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” The Lord expects His children to have this ‘signature’ too. Do not do things anyhow. Do not do things haphazardly. Whatever you do, do it properly. It can be demanding at times but it is profitable. Jesus created the world; He created the womb and every part of it. When He wanted to come into the world, He came through one of the womb He created. Thank God, He created it perfectly. Had it been He created the human womb anyhow or imperfectly, He would have had problems inside Mary’s womb or worse still, He would not have been able to come through a human womb. This is why whatever your hand finds to do, do it well. As a custom officer, do not allow people to import fake drugs into the country. Asides the fact that it is a sin, what if your children falls sick and the doctor unknowingly treats them with one of the fake drugs you allowed into the country? A rich man once gave his servant, who had served him for 20 years, one last job - a contract to build a beautiful mansion. He showed him the design and gave him enough money to complete the project. Since it was the servant’s last job, he decided to use that opportunity to steal from his master and enrich himself. He used cheap second-hand materials to build the house and kept the rest of the money. After completing the project, he gave the keys of the house to his master and the master thanked him. On the day of his send-off party, his master gave him the keys of the house he had built with cheap second hand materials as his send-off gift. He thought he was stealing from his master but unknown to him; he was robbing himself. He had the opportunity to build himself a nice house but he squandered it.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Do to people, as you would want them to do to you.

PRAYER POINT: Pray that you will not use your hands to destroy what God has built for you.

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FASTING VERSUS HUNGER STRIKE

Matthew 17:21 – Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Fasting is not an option for Christians but a must. When Jesus was addressing the subject of fasting with His disciples in Matthew 6:16, He said “moreover, when you fast...” not ‘if you fast’ which means He expected them to fast. Fasting has so many advantages. It is used to increase spiritual strength (Matthew 17:14-21). Fasting disciplines the body and makes it a useful instrument to God. 2 Timothy 2:21 says if anyone himself cleanses from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for good work. Fasting gives us victory over fleshly desires. Paul said “i keep under my body, and bring into subjection: lest that by any means, when i have preached to others, I myself show be a castaway”, 1 Corinthians 9:27. Fasting has been found to be helpful when dealing with addiction e.g. smoking, drinking, masturbation e.t.c. It has also been used to treat anger problems. By saying ‘no’ to natural appetite (food), you are building up the willpower to say ‘no’ to fleshly appetite. Fasting builds our inner strength and diminishes the power of the flesh over us, Romans 6:12-16. This was why before Jesus began His ministry, He set aside time to pray and fast. Matthew 4:2 says and when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. There are victories or breakthrough that does not come except through fasting. We can work hard and read all the books on success. Without fasting one will be hitting his head against a brick wall. That was why when the disciples could not heal the man’s child; Jesus told them that this kind does not go except through fasting and prayer.

Fasting must be done in consonance with obedience to the word of God. When fasting is done in sin it becomes a hunger strike. In Zechariah 7:3-7, the people fasted on the 15th and 17th of every month for seventy years and saw no results. When they inquired of God, He told them they were on hunger strike not fasting because of they were living in disobedience. Fasting period is not a time to seek pleasure but to be sober. It is also not the time to fight or partake in unnecessary debates. It is a time to pray and study the bible not to spend four hours watching your favourite drama or sitcoms. It is a time to excel in good works – feed the hungry, give clothes to the naked. When you fast wear nice clean clothes, be radiant and smile not look angry and haggard and people begin to ask if you are alright. Fasting can turn to hunger strike when one keeps a sad countenance or disfigure his or her face so that people can inquire what is wrong and he can boast to them that he has been fasting and will be break by 6pm. What are the results of fasting? Isaiah 58:8-9 says your light shall break forth like the morning, healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall your rear guard and when you call to him He will answer.

KEY POINT: In the middle of the December celebrations, set time out to pray and fast for God’s protection. Also feed the hungry and homeless.