THE BEST MEAL

MEMORY VERSE: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.1 Corinthians 11:28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Mark 9-10

The best food in the world is not the Massaman curry of Thailand, neither is it the Neapolitian pizza of Italy. It is not the Japanese Sushi, neither is it the Peking duck of China. It is not the Shepherd’s pie or Fish ‘n’ chips of England, neither is it the Chicken biryani of India. It is not the Jollof rice common with Nigerians, neither is it rice and peas with stew chicken and fried dumplings of the Afro-Caribbeans. The best food is not the Singapore fried rice, the Gabonese Chicken muamba, the American Donuts or the Iranian Kebabs. It is none of these foods. The best meal in the world is the Holy Communion. It is a meal of bread which symbolizes the broken body of Christ and wine which symbolizes His shed blood. Luke 22:19-20 says, “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”

The best that would happen if anyone tries any of the dish listed above, no matter how palatable, sweet, delicious and yummy it may be, is feel good. None of these dishes can cure any disease - curable and incurable. If one is under a yoke and he eats of any of these delicious meals, nothing will happen. If one has been stagnant for years and he eats any of those delicious meals, his stagnancy will still continue. The Holy Communion, on the other hand, is a symbolic meal. It is not only symbolic but powerful. If eaten worthily, one’s spiritual eyes will open. Luke 24:31 says, “And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.” Not only that, one will receive divine health and sickness will disappear. After the children of Israel ate Passover (which is what we now call Holy Communion (Exodus 12)), all their sickness vamoosed. They left Egypt with a clean bill of health. Psalm 105:37 says, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there wasnot one feeble person among their tribes.” And if eaten unworthily, one may fall sick. 1 Corinthians 11:29 -30 says, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” Before eating such a powerful meal, one must carry out a thorough examination on one's life. Are you still on the 'narrow' path that leads to heaven or the 'broad' path that leads to destruction? 1 Corinthians 11:28 says, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” Before approaching the Lord's Table to partake in Holy Communion, one must ask himself or herself , ‘am i still a child of God?’ Are there any un-confessed sins in my life? Are there any brothers, sisters or family members i am not in talking terms with ? Are there any restitution am yet to carry out? Is my heart pure? Are my hands clean? The reason is that one cannot approach the Lord’s Table with an unclean hand or an impure heart or whilst bearing grudges. One cannot come to the Lord’s Table whilst living a life of immorality. One cannot come to the Lord’s Table whilst living a double life, no. One must first examine himself and make amendments where necessary before coming to the Lord’s Table.

NOTE: The Holy Communion is not a church ritual. It is an invitation to dine with the Lord.

WARNING: Don’t come to the Lord's Table with an unforgiving heart.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

DON’T PERSONALIZE IT

MEMORY VERSE: Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Numbers 14:28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Titus 3-Hebrews 3

In our daily devotional titled: ‘Don’t feed the pigeons,’ we said, “Whatsoever a man feeds, grows, and whatsoever he starves of food, dies.” If you want something to grow or die, firstly identify its food i.e. what makes it grow and then feed it, if you want it to grow or starve it, if you want it to die. Take for instance, our human spirit. Its food is praying in tongues, studying the word of God, meditating in the word of God, obeying the word of God, and obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit. To grow your human spirit to hear from God, you must pray in tongues regularly, study the word of God daily, do the word of God, and obey promptly the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you starve your human spirit of its food, it will literally die. Faith and fear are two entities. If you feed one, the other will automatically die. If you feed your faith through hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17), your fear will automatically die. In addition, if you feed your fears by listening to the doctor’s report, your faith will automatically die. Friend, listen to God’s report.

Whatsoever a man strengthens becomes strong and whatsoever he does not strengthen becomes weak. Take for instance your immune system - your body’s system for fighting off disease and illness. If you strengthen it by regularly washing your hands, quit smoking and avoid the company of smokers, avoid alcohol, exercise regularly, eat vegetables, avoid processed food, cut down your sugar consumption and all, it will become strong. If you do not strengthen it, by doing the above, it will become weak. This principle, applies to our relationships with people and God. You can strengthen your relationship with God by regularly talking to Him. The more you pray to Him, the closer He will be to you. In human relationships, communication is a key. If you want to be close to your children, find time to sit and chat with them.

The best way to end a fight is to say sorry. Many marriages would have remained i.e. not end in divorce, if only the parties involved learnt to say sorry. As a husband, learn to say sorry. As an employer, learn to say sorry. Recently, i read in a business journal that apologies aid in the resolution of a variety of legal cases, including wrongful firings, injury cases, and malpractice lawsuits. As a leader, learn to say sorry. Lastly, do not personalize a medical condition or challenges. I hear people say, “Oh my back pain… my head ache has started again… I can’t walk properly because of my dodgey knee…” Friend, that back pain is not yours but the devil’s. That headache is not from God neither is the dodgey knee. Stop claiming what is not yours. Whatsoever you say is what you will get. Numbers 14:28 says: “Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:” It is not your fever but the devil’s fever. Good health is your inheritance. Whatsoever is short of good health is not of God. Confess good health not your back pains. Stop saying “my problems,” it is the devil’s problems; he brought it to afflict you and frustrate you, command him to take his problems and leave your life.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Watch your confessions because what you say is what you will have.

PRAYER: Father, please uproot every tree you have not planted in my life.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

OUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH

1 Timothy 4:7 but refuse profane and old wives fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 32, John 11, Prov 8, Eph 1

To fulfill God’s plan for our life, we need good health. Deuteronomy 28:13 says the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail. To be the head, good health is required. Leviticus 26:8 says five of you shall chase a hundred, and an hundred shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.  According to Deuteronomy 32:30, it is possible for a man to chase a thousand and two to put ten thousand to flight. Only a healthy man can challenge the enemy talk less of chasing a thousand of them. To pass that exams and graduate with good grades, you need good health. To start that project you have been talking about, you need good health. To complete it, you need good health. To be a Christian husband i.e. a man that provides for his family (1 Timothy 5:8), you need good health because only a healthy man can work very hard to cater for the needs of his family. To be a virtuous woman i.e. a woman that rises at least an hour before her household to prepare breakfast (Proverbs 31:15), you need good health. To achieve anything in life, good health is required. This is why the elders will always say ‘health is wealth’. Only the healthy can eat the fruit of their labour. This is why we all need to take the issue of our health very serious. Let’s cut down on sugar, drink more water. Do you know that 85 percent of headaches we suffer is as a result of lack of water in the body? No wonder they say ‘water is life’. Eat more vegetables, cut down on greasy foods and fizzy drinks / soft drinks. I read an article which said it is a fact that soft drink causes 180,000 deaths per year – 133,000 diabetes deaths and 44,000 deaths due to cardiovascular disease and 6,000 cancer deaths. We will not lose you to untimely death but please take good care of yourself and exercise.

Our physical health is important but our spiritual health is more important. John 6:63 says it is the spirit that quickeneth i.e. it is the spirit that gives life to our physical body. Just as we grow lean when we do not eat due to fasting, we grow lean spiritually when we do not eat our spiritual food. Just as our physical strength diminishes when do not eat for a long period of time, our spiritual strength diminishes too when do not feed spiritually for a long period of time. Just as our physical brain will shut down if we do not eat for a very long period of time, our spiritual brain shuts down when we do not feed spiritually for a very long period of time. There are many brethren who look physically ok but are spiritually gaunt i.e. they are thin and bony spiritually. What is this spiritual food? The word of God. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 4:4 ,’but It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ The word of God is not only a spiritual food but medicine to your physical flesh. According to Proverbs 4:20 &22, the word of God is health to the flesh. Not only that, it is a medicine for the soul. Psalm 107:20 says He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

ACTION POINT: Begin to feed on the word of God.Read your bible more so that you will not be spiritually guant

KEYS TO UNLIMITED GREATNESS

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 11-12, Matt 11, Neh 1, Acts 11

Jeremiah 29:11 for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

One of the questions we ask from time to time is what is God’s plan for our life? When the bible talks of an expected end, what is the meaning of an expected end? According to Joshua 1:8, the end God has promised for us is good success; to be successful in all endeavors. Good success to mean sustained success. To be the head always and never be the tail. The expected end according to 3 John 1:2 is for us to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. I am not talking of prospering at the expense of our soul. I am talking of prosperity that comes as a result of living a life of holiness, a life sold out to God completely. Also the expected end is unlimited greatness.

Three of the most essential things that you must have so that you can have unlimited greatness are vision, health and power. Let’s look at them briefly. Firstly vision, Proverbs 29:18 says where there is no vision the people perish. Which means where there is no vision, nobody becomes great. The bible makes it abundantly clear that when we talk about vision, it is whatever you see that you can have. In Genesis 13:14-17, God said to Abraham ‘lift up your eyes and look from where you are –northward, southward, westward, and eastward’. He said ‘whatsoever you see I will give it to you’. He then said ‘let me help you further, I want you to get up and walk in the breadth of the land because the more you walk the more you see’. Vision is very crucial to unlimited greatness. Secondly health, even if you have great vision, without health you cannot achieve much. You can have vision of greatness but if you are sick, it will be just a dream. 3 John 1:2 talks about prospering and been in health. Because without health, prospering becomes difficult. Moses was able to successfully lead the children of Israel out of Egypt all because of good health. According to Deuteronomy 34:7, Moses at the age of one twenty was still strong and healthy. The bible records that even his eyes were not dim. Only the healthy can dream of becoming a mighty evangelist that will win a million souls for Christ. Only the healthy can dream of becoming the president of a nation or inventing things. Thirdly power, I am referring to the power that only God can supply. Unlimited greatness comes with a lot of responsibilities and challenges. Isaiah 40:30-31 says even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. No matter how strong you are, you will get tired one day but the bible further goes on to say that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Unlimited greatness will challenge your human ability; you need divine strength to cope. We need power to be witness for Jesus in the world. Acts 1:8 says you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Jesus in all areas of the world. Brethren to win a single soul for Jesus requires power talk less of winning a hundred or thousand or if you are greedy like me a million. According to Deuteronomy 8:18, we need power to get wealth.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I want to be great for you , please give me new vision, divine health and power.