IS YOUR LOVE FOR HIM UNDER ATTACK?

MEMORY VERSE: All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. Esther 4:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 1-3

Esther 4:11 says, “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.” The state of Esther’s relationship with King Ahasuerus (her husband) in Esther 4:11 can be compared to the state of our relationship with our ‘Husband’- our Maker. Isaiah 54:5 says, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” For Esther, she did not hear from her husband for thirty days. For some of us, we have not heard from our Husband (our Maker) in weeks and some, months. Some of us have not heard His voice in weeks. Some cannot even remember the last time we experienced His overwhelming presence. Many of us cannot remember the last time we saw a vision. Back in those days, He used to reveal things to us, either in a dream or vision, before it happens. Back in those days, He used to tell us what the pastor will preach on and the bible text he or she will use before we get to church. Some of us were so close to Him that He used to open our eyes and we will see His angels all around us but today it is not so.

The question is this, what happened? Could it be that you have now put on weight and your Husband (your Maker) is no longer interested in you? A type of weight some of us have put on is 'pride'. Could it be that you have stopped putting effort into looking good for Him? Is you garment of righteousness not stained with sin? It could be that your garment is now torn. When you appear before Him, you come in rags. Have you not allowed bitterness and unforgiveness in your heart? These things do tear one's garment apart. Could it be that your priority has now changed? Is your number one priority still to please Him? Is your number one priority still to obey Him not caring about the cost ? It may not be any of these. You may even be living a life of holiness and you observe that things are not what it used to be between you and your Maker. It could be that your love for your Husband (your Maker) is now under attack. You don’t know why but you just don’t feel as excited as you used to feel when you study the bible. You no longer have time for bible study or bible study has now become boring to you. You now arrive at church late or sometimes you don't go at all. Praying and fasting have now become very tedious that you can't even remember the last time you fasted. Winning souls and follow up are no longer your hobby. The farther we are from God, the closer we are to a life of pain and hardship. The farther we are from our Husband, the closer we are to unusual challenges and disappointments.

NOTE: The biggest risk a man can take is to stray away from the presence of God

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PRAYER POINT: Every attack on my love for my creator, back to sender in Jesus name.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

CHOSEN TO BE WITH HIM

MEMORY VERSE: And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.Mark 3:14

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Galatians 4-6

It is a good thing to serve in the vineyard of God. Firstly, anyone who wants to be great in the kingdom of God must serve. Matthew 20:26 says, “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” The word ‘minister’ literally means ‘servant’. Those who ‘only’ want to come to church to listen to sermon and go back home are indirectly saying to God, “I don’t want to be great in Your kingdom”. Asides this, there are a lot of benefits in serving in the vineyard of God. For example, God renews the strength of those who serve so they can mount up with wings as eagles in their careers, family, and things that pertain to them. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” To ‘wait’ means to serve as waiter i.e. wait tables. In addition, God honors those who serve in His vineyard. John 12:26 says, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” When you serve in the vineyard of God you are honoring Jesus, and the Lord will honour you in return. Also, God has a special love for those who serve in His vineyard. There are two basic types of love. There is the general love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave.....” Then, there is the special love. Proverbs 8:17 says, “i love those who love Me...” Those He loves specially are referred to as conquerors. Romans 8:37 says, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” One way to express our love to God is by serving in His vineyard. Whilst others are too busy to clean the church, too big to be an usher or too important to work in the media department, you create time out of no time to serve Him and watch Him make you a conqueror.

Without a shadow of doubt, God loves those who serve Him and serve in His vineyard. If you are serving in the vineyard of God, i can assure you of one thing and that is God loves you specially. However, the number one reason why God saved our souls, washed us in the blood of Jesus, sanctified us, etc is not to serve. The number one reason why He chose us is to be with Him. Mark 3:14 says, “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.” You are I were chosen to be with Him first , not to preach, evangelize, sing in the choir, do crusades, write Christian articles, sow a big seed, work in the media department, counsel people, work as a charity worker, etc. All these are good and God appreciates them, but that is not the number one reason why He chose us. Our Lord is more interested in what we are becoming in Him than what we are doing for Him. He is more interested in winning our whole hearts than in our wining the world for Him. Many of us are busy with His work that we no longer have time to be with Him. God is not impressed by this. You can be an usher, prayer warrior, choir, and sanctuary keeper at the same time, if you are not spending time communing with Him ( praying and fasting, reading His word), it means you have a misplaced priority.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to forgive you for not spending as much time as you ought to with Him. Create time out of your busy daily schedule to spend time with Him especially to pray and read the bible.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

CHOSEN TO BE WITH HIM

MEMORY VERSE: And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach. Mark 3:14

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Galatians 4-6

It is a good thing to serve in the vineyard of God. Firstly, anyone that wants to be great in the kingdom of God must serve. Matthew 20:26 says, “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” The word ‘minister’ literally means ‘servant’. Those who ‘only’ want to come to church to listen to sermon and go back home are indirectly saying to God, “I don’t want to be great in Your kingdom”. Asides this, there are a lot of benefits in serving in the vineyard of God. For example, God renews the strength of those who serve so they can mount up with wings as eagles in their careers, family, and things that pertain to them. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” To ‘wait’ means to serve as waiter i.e. wait tables. In addition, God honors those who serve in His vineyard. John 12:26 says, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” When you serve in the vineyard of God you are honouring Jesus, and the Lord will honour you in return. Also, God has a special love for those who serve in His vineyard. There are two basic types of love. There is the general love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave.....” Then, there is the special love. Proverbs 8:17 says, “i love those who love Me...” Those He loves specially are referred to as conquerors. Romans 8:37 says, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” One way to express our love to God is by serving in His vineyard. Whilst others are too busy to clean the church, too big to be an usher or too important to work in the media department, you create time out of no time to serve Him and watch Him make you a conqueror.

Without a shadow of doubt, God loves those who serve Him and serve in His vineyard. If you are serving in the vineyard of God, i can assure you of one thing and that is God loves you specially. However, the number one reason why God saved our souls, washed us in the blood of Jesus, sanctified us, etc is not to serve. The number one reason why He chose us is to be with Him. Mark 3:14 says, “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.” You are I were chosen to be with Him first , not to preach, evangelize, sing in the choir, do crusades, write Christian articles, sow a big seed, work in the media department, counsel people, work as a charity worker, etc. All these are good and God appreciates them, but that is not the number one reason why He chose us. Our Lord is more interested in what we are becoming in Him than what we are doing for Him. He is more interested in winning our whole hearts than in our wining the world for Him. Many of us are busy with His work that we no longer have time to be with Him. God is not impressed by this. You can be an usher, prayer warrior, choir, and sanctuary keeper at the same time, if you are not spending time communing with Him ( praying and fasting, reading His word), it means you have a misplaced priority.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to forgive you for not spending as much time as you ought to with Him. Create time out of your busy daily schedule to always spend time with Him especially to pray and read the bible.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.