HIDDEN FOR A PERIOD

MEMORY VERSE: And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.( Matthew 2:13).

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Second Corinthians 4-8

The Lord protects His children in different ways. He can destroy their enemies. In Second Kings 18, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, plotted to take the children of Judah captive. To protect the children of Judah, His children, the Lord sent an angel to kill 185,000 Assyrian army (Second Kings 19:35). When Sennacherib woke up the next morning and saw the dead bodies of his men, he abandoned his plans and returned home with the remaining soldiers. Asides sending an angel, He can cause the enemies of His children to fight each other and destroy themselves. In Second Chronicles 20, the enemies of Judah, the Ammonites, the Moabites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, fought each other and killed themselves. To protect His children, He can put their dread/fear in the heart of their (potential) enemies. He told Moses: “This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. (Deuteronomy 2:25)”. To protect His children, He can cause their enemies to live at peace with them. Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Better still, He can hide His children from their enemies. For instance, after Elijah, the Tishbite, prophesied against the land of Israel because of their idol worship, the Lord hid him, from the wicked King Ahab, by brook Cherith (First Kings 17:3). When Esau wanted to kill Jacob, his brother, the Lord hid Jacob at Laban's place (Genesis 27). When Herod sought to kill baby Jesus, God hid Him in Egypt. Matthew 2:13 says, “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” Friend, is God trying to hide you? If the One who will protect you asks you to hide, you had better hide as commanded. Do not play James Bond with your life. Except God hides you, you will be putting your life at risk trying to hide yourself. Urijah, a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, tried to hide himself (Jeremiah 26:20-24). His enemy, Jehoiakim the king, sent men to Egypt to fetch him out and kill him. The reason why you keep running from place to place, to hide from household enemy, and yet, they keep getting you is because you are using your wisdom to hide yourself. Friend, why not run to Jesus today. As you sit for those exams, ask the Lord to hide your exam papers from wicked examiners. As you apply for that visa or permit, ask the Lord to hide your application form from racist immigration officers. As you put in your application, maybe for a job or mortgage, ask the Lord to hide your application forms from wicked HR officers and assessment officers. Daily, ask the Lord to hide you from wicked men, bag snatchers, thieves, kidnappers, reckless drivers, people looking for whom to stab or shoot, etc.

NOTE: Except He hides you, no one can hide you.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

HIDDEN MINISTRY

MEMORY VERSE: that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly, Matthew 6:18

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 23, Ps 112-113, Isa 50, Rev 20

BIBLE STUDIES: Luke 2:22-39

In our bible studies, we read about two important figures in the life and ministry of Jesus. They are Simeon and Anna. Although their names were only mentioned once in the bible, their ministry was the engine behind the success of the ministry of Jesus. They were involved in what is called ‘hidden ministry’. They spent the most part of their lives in closed doors interceding for Jesus and everyone connected to His ministry. Immediately the Holy Ghost revealed the plans of God concerning Jesus to them, they began to pray about it. Through the power of praying and fasting, they destroyed the plans and agenda of the enemy over Jesus. The plan to terminate the life of Jesus at birth failed because these two prayed. No one knew about their existence, but the Lord mightily used them in the secret and there were physical manifestation like the raising up of Lazarus from death.

Today there are a lot of people involved in the hidden ministry and I congratulate them. The people in this ministry are the engine behind the mighty works the Lord is doing in the world today. Some of them fast once in a week and intercede for the missionaries all over the world. Some of them pray for an hour twice a week for the barren in the body of Christ. Some of them pray daily for the unsaved souls that the Lord will touch their heart and save them. Some of them intercede for ministries all over the world. Whatever it is you are doing I want to let you know that the Lord sees it and your reward awaits you.

The question is why should I join the hidden ministry? The hidden ministry is the engine behind all the Lord is doing today. Just as car owners pay special to their car engines, the Most High pays special attention to the people involved in these ministry. Passengers and even the driver of the car might not bother about the condition of the engine but the owner of the car does. The Most High also cares about His children who are involved in this ministry. The only part of the car that gets serviced from time to time is the engine. People in this ministry receive regular servicing from the Most High. At the age of over a hundred, Anna the prophetess was still very strong because of the regular MOT she received from God. While most people sleep in the Lord unfulfilled, Simeon slept a happy man because he saw His savior before He died.

ACTION POINT: Dedicate time and begin to intercede for the body of Christ today.