THE BLESSING IN REVELATION

MEMORY VERSE: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:18

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 21-24

What is a revelation? When something hidden is revealed, we call it a revelation. There are few things you need to know about revelation. Firstly, revelation can bring about (spiritual) blessings. Jesus asked His disciples, in Matthew 16:13-20, ‘Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?’ Verse 16 -19 says: ‘And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, BLESSED ART THOU, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’

Revelation can bring about financial blessings. In Genesis 31:10 -12, Jacob had a particular dream, a revelation, on how to breed livestock. Jacob did what he was shown in the revelation and became a very prosperous man. A story that comes to mind is that of a man called George Washington Carver. The Lord revealed one hundred (100) uses of peanut to him. That revelation changed his life. Revelation can bring about elevation. In Revelations 2, Nebuchadnezzar forgot a dream he had. As no one could interpret the dream, he decided to kill all the wise men in the land. The Lord gave Daniel a revelation of the dream and its interpretation. On interpreting the dream, King Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel. Daniel 2:48 says: ‘Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.’ One of the keys to receiving revelations from God is praying.

PRAYER POINTS: (Ephesians 1:18 says: ‘The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.’) Father, please let the eyes of my understanding be enlightened.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

THE BLESSINGS OF WALKING WITH GOD

MEMORY VERSE: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. Exodus 11:3

BIBLE READING: Number 17-20

Contrary to what some believe, the Christain life is not a miserable life. I used to think that my life will become miserable, boring, and dry when I give my life to Christ. Today, I can confidently tell you that my life is the opposite of these.

Let us take a brief look at the life of Moses – before and after he began to walk with God. Pharaoh was his god before he met the Lord. Pharaoh decided what he could do and what he couldn’t do. Pharaoh decided how high he could rise in life. Pharaoh decided what he could have and what he couldn’t have. Pharaoh restricted where he could go and where he couldn’t go. His life was in the hands of Pharaoh. No wonder, he ran away when he fell out of favour with Pharaoh because he knew that death was imminent ( Exodus 2:10-15). However, everything changed after Moses met the Lord. For instance, he became a god to Pharoah. Exodus 7:1 says: “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” Moses now decided whether Pharaoh will have peace or not. God will make you a god to your enemies when you begin to walk with Him. Several years ago, I was invited to a gross misconduct interview. One of my team members made a false allegation against me.He was confident that I was going to get sacked so he began to blank me. God fought for me and I returned to work. He began to avoid me at work. To make matters worse for him, he was applying to become permanent and my recommendation will go a long way in determining his fate. I don’t need to tell you the state this person was in. I assisted him with his application, gave a good recommendation and he was made permanent. You become a god to your enemy when you walk with God.

Moses had one goal in life and the goal was to deliver his people from oppression. Before he met the Lord, he tried to deliver his people from oppression and everything went pear-shaped. Actually, he had to run away because Pharaoh wanted to kill him. After he met the Lord, without leading a rebellion, he delivered his people from oppression. Moses succeeded where he had failed forty years prior. When you walk with Lord, you succeed where you have failed in the past. Many years ago, a brother (before he met the Lord) did everything possible to become a professor but somehow it didn’t happen. Today, he owns a university after many years of walking with the Lord. When you walk with the Lord, He turns all the evil prophecies over your life to good prophecies. Someone, before I travelled abroad, said, “if Dayo (my African name) travels abroad, he will smoke weed, draw tattoos, joined a bad gang and pierce his ears.” By the special grace of God I did not do any of that. Not only that, today when I pray this person says a big amen. Why? I met the Lord and He changed everything.

NOTE: If you are yet to give your life to Christ please do so. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

BLESSING TIME

MEMORY VERSE: But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 16-20

Most people regard offering time as a necessary evil, at best. As usual, our ideas are much different than what the Word of God teaches. Isaiah 55:8 says: “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”Friend, offering time is a blessing time. Firstly, it is a time to bless the Lord. It is an opportunity for us to worship God and express our love to Him in a tangible way. Our gifts reflect how much we value those we are giving to. If I want to give to my parents, I make sure it is the best because of their efforts over my life. How much more if I want to give to my Creator?  David, a man after the heart of God, once said, “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing (2 Samuel 24:24).” In other words, I will not give the LORD my God a cheap offering. Secondly, it is a time to receive blessings from the Lord. God being so good, has designed it so that when we do give to Him it also functions like planting a seed, which will produce a harvest of blessing in our life. God designed His creation to work in such a way that money and blessing will come back to us in even greater measure than we give out. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says: “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”

One way the devil tries to suppress the spread of the gospel is by my making people believe that messages like this are just to get money as if preachers wrote the Bible for their own benefit. No, God planned all this, and He knows that without adequate funding, those whom He has called to teach and equip His people will be held back, unable to be as effective as they should be. Money is needed to do the great commission. We cannot take the gospel to Australia on foot neither can we take the gospel to Papua guinea on a horse or a donkey. Organizing revivals cost a lot – fasting and praying especially. Also a lot of money is needed. Money is needed to rent chairs, music instruments, plan logistics and all. Even in our local churches, we need prayers and money especially to pay the bills. So when we give to those proclaiming the Word of God on earth, God considers it giving to Him, and a seed sown. When we give towards the gospel, God considers us His partners on earth and He rewards accordingly. Mark 9:41 says: “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, shall not lose his reward.” Offering and planting of seeds are very similar. No wise farmer hates planting his crops. Farmers do not murmur or complain about having to put their seed in the ground. No, they look forward with Joy to the time of harvest. They know it is coming because they understand how seeds work. This should be our attitude when give offering.  We should do it cheerfully knowing that our reward is coming.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: Offering and giving to God helps combat selfishness.

PRAYER POINT: Father, bless me so that I can be a financier of your work.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

DO NOT GET TIRED

MEMORY VERSE: and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. GALATIANS 6:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 13-17

In Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, he wrote, “and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). Friend, i do not know what you are facing in your marriage or relationship but i want to encourage you, do not get tired. Do not get tired of that stubborn child. His teachers are always reporting him for bad behaviour. Other parents have warned their children not play with him because of his unruly behaviour. You have prayed and fasted, but nothing seems to be happening. As Paul encouraged the Galatians, i want to encourage you in the Lord, do not get tired. Over that child that is always sick, do not get tired. I join my faith with your faith, that child is healed permanently in Jesus name, amen.
Over that marriage, do not get tired. No matter what you do, your husband never appreciates it. He complains at every little opportunity, even when you cook and intentionally do not add salts, he complains that the food salty. I want to encourage you in the Lord, do not get tired. You are trying to lose weight, you have tried different weight loss plans, and nothing seems to be happening. You go to the gym twice a week, but it is taking forever to notice any changes in your outlook, i want to encourage you, do not get tired of trying. You have applied for several jobs, but no one has invited you for an interview, i want to encourage you, do not get tired of making applications. This is the fourth time you have failed your driving test, do not get tired of trying. Register and book for it again. This is the sixth time you have sat for F6 Taxation, ACCA Qualifications, do not get tired of trying, read, and book the exam again. In the name that is above every other name, your next effort will be the last time you will sit for that subject, Amen.

Do not be weary in showing love to that nasty family member. Do not get tired of interceding for that friend, family member, or colleague at work, who is yet to give his or her life to Christ. Do not get tired of praying for that husband of yours that is always returning home drunk at night. Do not get tired of witnessing to your colleagues at work about Jesus. Do not get tired of interceding for your nation. It may seem as if you are wasting your time praying for your country and the leaders. Friend, your prayer is keeping your nation. The prayer of the righteous is keeping this world. Let us not become weary in interceding for the leaders, kings, princes, head of states, presidents, founders and general overseers, pastors, leaders, etc. Do not become tired of life. Suicide is not the way out. Do not become tired of committing that relationship to God. It is true that you committed it to Him at the beginning, keep on committing it to Him. A man of God once said this, “if you remember to say it, God will remember to do it”

PRAYER POINT: Father, Help of the helpless, please help every one of us in the might name of Jesus.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

PARENTS OR SPONSORS

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ex 6, Luke 9, Job 23, 1 Cor 10

Proverbs 22:6 train up a child in the way he should go: when he is old, he will not depart from it.

There are two types of parents; real parents and sponsors. The sponsors are the parents who cater for only the financial needs of their wards. They pay the tuition fees, buy books, give out pocket money, get personal tutors for their wards, arrange after class lessons e.t.c. They ensure the children have all they need, just name it but when it comes to mentoring they are unavailable. The real parents go a step further than the sponsors. They not only cater for the financial needs of the children, they cater for the spiritual needs and emotional needs. They have a personal relationship with the child. Their children can approach either Dad or Mum to discuss any subject. They monitor the type of friends the children keep. Bad company spoils good morals. They are interested in the child’s daily activities. They ask questions not just swallow everything the child says. They ensure the child does his or her homework. They attend Parents Teacher meetings. They even take it a step further by visiting the school to check the child’s performance with the teacher- they check test results, home work results, conduct at school and all. The sponsors on the other hand does not even know the number of hours their children spend watching TVs, they have no clue of what sites the children visit on the internet at home. Some cannot even remember the last time they saw their child reading or spent time with their child talking about life.

Many a time when a child begins to misbehave or we begin to hear bad reports about them we blame the devil, nine out of ten times it is not the devil. Most of the time, this is as a result of us not having time for them. This is rampant with ministers of the gospels; they are busy organizing this seminar, doing this and that and have no time for their children. Do you know that if your child knows you come to school from time to time to check on him or her, he will sit up? Many have passed the full responsibility of training their children to the teachers at school. Many even leave it to the TV or the Holy Spirit. It is your responsibility as parents to teach your wards about sex education and chastise them when they misbehave. The Holy Spirit will only bring to remembrance what you have taught them not teach them about sex education or discipline them for you. If you do not talk to them about sex education, they will get it from outside sources which could be their friends or magazines and that is very dangerous. A wise parent will never curse his or her child. How can you build a house and out of anger set it on fire? Instead of cursing them, call them early in the morning ask them to kneel down and begin to prophesy good things in their life. Tell them it shall be well with you. Before they go out spend time saying good things into their life. A wise parent never compares his or her child with other children. Doing this never improves a child; all it does is make that child feel unappreciated. There are many parents who have never appreciated their child over one good thing they did in their life. Many children are even scared of talking to daddy or mummy. If your child is scared of talking to you, you are not a parent but a tyrant. One way to mend the relationship between you and your children is to call them and pray for them. Everyone loves prayer. The moment you tell a child my son or daughter it shall be well with you, the attitude of that child we will change for good towards you. If you abhor bitterness against anyone of them and you want to rid yourself of it, call the child and begin to prophesy good things into their life. Before you know it that bitterness will vanish. Also children, call your parents from time to time and tell them to say good things into your life, it helps!