SACRIFICIAL OFFERING

MEMORY VERSE: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall posses the gate of his enemies, Genesis 22:17

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 11, Acts 15, Jer 24, Mark 10

BIBLE STUDIES: Genesis 22:1-18

Everything we have is giving to us by God. According to John 3:27, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. It is important to know that God is not a beggar, Haggai 2:8 says silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. Gold represents wealth and silver represents health. By taking a little out of the much He has giving to you to give an offering, you are simply saying God I appreciate you. One of the things that happen when you give God an offering is that, He reverses curses into blessing in your life. After the fall of Adam, God cursed the ground for his sake. A cursed ground cannot produce any result that was why God told Adam that he will sweat before he can eat(Genesis 3:19). This curse was very active until Noah offered a burnt offering and God said I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake, as from today there will now be seedtime and harvest (Genesis 8:20-22). The next time you hear offering time, know it is a blessing time.

There are different types of offering. There is the regular one we give during services and there is a sacrificial offering. Sacrificial offerings are not ordinary offerings; actually you need a strong faith in God to give one because it will cost you something. Such offerings will hurt your pocket or finance. They are not for everyone; they are for those who are ready for a deep walk with God. They are for those who know deep within them that God is their source that even though they give God all, they will never be hungry or lack anything good. There are many who confess that God is their source, but when it comes to sacrificial offering they begin to ask for grace. I pray the Lord will give you the grace.

The first thing I want you to know is that sacrificial offering reveals humility. What is humility? Humility is submitting to the will of God when you don’t feel like it or when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient. An offering that will cost you something is not a comfortable offering at all. At times before you give such offering, you will be wondering if you are doing the right thing because if people hear they might wonder if all is well with you. I am yet to meet a fellow who has regretted giving God a sacrificial offering. From our bible studies, we deduce that sacrificial offering provokes a response from God. After Solomon gave a thousand offering, God responded by asking him to ask for anything he wanted. When push comes to shuffle in my life and I need God to act, while praying and fasting I give a sacrificial offering, sir it has never failed me! Sacrificial offering provokes a divine response to your circumstances. As far as God was concerned, Abraham offered Isaac. God said by myself have I sworn for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall posses the gate of his enemies (Genesis 22:16-17). The sacrificial offering of Abraham provoked such a response from the Almighty. When you give a sacrificial offering, you become a blessing and also receive a trans-generational blessing.

KEY WORD: Sacrificial offerings are for those who are ready for a deep walk with God. They are for those who know deep within them that God is their source

WONDERS OF OBEDIENCE

MEMORY VERSE: if ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land, Isaiah 1:19

BIBLE VERSE: Josh 18-19, Ps 149-150, Jer 89, Matt 23

BIBLE STUDIES: Luke 5:1-7.

A wonder is anything that makes you wonder. I believe the Lord wants to make someone a wonder, that’s why He has permitted these series. One of the quickest ways of becoming a wonder is by obeying God. In Luke 5:1-7 Peter obeyed a simple instruction, he let down his net and caught so much that two boats began to sink. The question is where did all the fish suddenly come from? This is really a wonder. Do you want to become a wonder? Simply obey God. When you begin to obey God, every little effort you make will yield a mighty result, not only that the Lord will begin to do wondrous things in your life.

The key to becoming a wonder is total obedience to the word of God. Malachi 3:10 says bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. The question is this, are you bringing all? What you bring to the house of God, is a tithe of your gross (total amount before any deductions such as tax) or net pay (total amount when all deductions are made)? Can you tell God you have brought all when you tithe on your net pay not gross? Your tithe is ten percent of your gross pay not your net pay. During a meeting a brother challenged the whole congregation that he would give an equivalent of what everyone gave as offering. When the brother heard the total amount collected that day, he announced that they should take the offering again because the first one was too small for Jesus. After everyone gave, he wrote a cheque equivalent to the total amount collected. Later some brothers met him and asked what the secret of his success was? He told them he decided that it was an insult to give God ten percent and keep ninety so he decided to give God ninety percent and keep only ten.

Proverbs 3:9 says honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. When you get an increase in salary, the difference between the old and new salary is an example of your first fruit of increase. First fruit is the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In modern day, the entire January salary will be your first fruits. The difference between the first fruit of increase and the first fruit sacrifice is in divine response. In the first fruit of increase, God promised that your barn will burst while in the first fruit sacrifice, you blessing will become global, they will be irreversible and they will extend to your generations to come, Genesis 22:15-18. By the grace of God I can tell you that first fruit sacrifice does not kill. It only forces doors open. James 1:19 says if you are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land.

PRAYER POINT: Father , make your blessing in my life trans-generational

LET THE FIRE FALL

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 2, Matt 2, Ezra 2, Acts 2

1 Kings 18:33 – then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

BIBLE STUDIES: 1 Kings 18:25-40

In 1 Kings 18:25-40 is a story we all know. Elijah and the prophets of Baal met at Mount Carmel to decide who the true God was. The prophet of Baal called on Baal but there was no response.Elijah called on God and He sent down fire. The fire consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Let us now carefully look at what the fire consumed. The first thing the fire consumed was the burnt offering. In the olden days, when God accepts an offering, He will send fire to consume the offering and also say thank you. During the dedication of the temple, Solomon offered uncountable number of sheep and oxen (2 Chronicles 5:6) and brought it before the Lord. The Lord accepted this offering by sending fire, 2 Chronicles 7:1. After the fire He also said thank you by ensuring that Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, 2 Chronicles 9:22. The only offering God accepts is an offering from a cheerful heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says God loves a cheerful giver. God will never accept any offering giving grudgingly. The second thing the fire consumed was the wood. Science will tell you that when fire touches a good wood energy is released. When the fire of the Lord falls, your potential is released. Peter had potential but no fire. In Luke 5:1-7, he fished all night and caught nothing. But immediately the carrier of the Holy Ghost came into his boat, his potential was released. He was then able to cast his net once and caught so much fish that two boats began to sink. I pray that the fire of God will fall and your potential is released in Jesus name, amen. The next thing the fire consumed was the stone. The stone represents unfruitfulness or unrepentant heart. Once the fire falls, unfruitfulness or bareness is consumed and you will begin to bring forth fruit. Also the unrepentant heart i.e. heart of stone is consumed. The next thing that was consumed was the dust. We are created from dust and dust represents the flesh. Once the fire fall, living a life of holiness will be easy because fleshly desires will be consumed. Also diseases in the flesh are consumed. The fifth thing that happened was that the fire licked the water. The water represents your tears. The fire will dry up all you tears. The only one who can tell you weep not is the One who is capable of taking care of what is causing you to weep.The fire from God is capable of dealing with what is causing you to weep. Before Elijah called down fire, he prepared the altar i.e. he put things in other. The fire will not fall until we put our walk with God in order. We need to begin to obey Him. The fire will not fall when are living in disobedience. We also need to prepare our bodies through fasting and prayers. If fire touches a bad wood nothing is released but if it touches a good wood, energy is generated.

ACTION POINT: Before you call down fire, put things right with God and prepare your body so that when the fire falls, your potential is released.

THE YOUNG GIVER

Wednesday 4 July                                                                                                                 Bible in one year: Acts 21-24

Memorize:There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth;and there is that witholdeth more than is meet ,but it tendeth to poverty. Proverbs 11vs 24

Read : John 6vs 5-13

Our God can go to extremes in areas such as giving. When He really wants to give, He gives massively. Imagine using 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes to feed 5,000 men, excluding children and women. Going by the fact that women were usually more among the followers of Jesus, that could have been 12,000 people or more. Yet , there were leftovers.As awesome as this miracle was , it must not be forgotten that a young boy created the platform for God to perform this miracle of super abundance by giving up his lunch.I once asked my children what happened to the 12 baskets of extras that came out of the miraculous provision and they replied that each of the apostles must have gone home with one basket. But they were wrong.All 12 baskets would have been giving to that little boy because where the water comes from , is where it will return. Just imagine that boy getting home with 12 baskets of bread and fishes. His parents must have asked how he got them and he would have told them the story. I believe that family would learnt a big lesson concerning giving.

Learn from this story. Do you think the boy was the only one with food in the midst of that crowd? No ! What happened to others who had some food?Their food was hoarded and so remained that way. If that boy had kept back his meal just like others, the crowd could have starved because God needs a man to give something for Him to multiply. If you bring empty hands He will multiply your emptiness and at the end of the day, you will be the greater looser. Some of those who hid their food would have been asked to help the boy carry his booty home. The would have been saying :” this provision could have been mine”! They would have regretted their action. Furthermore, there might have been some of them who would have wanted to offer theirs but either they were too slow or they were still thinking or praying about it when the boy beat them to it. Be quick to give to God. Always lead others in giving because there is a reward for it. Like that boy, children and teens should learn to give to God. They are not too young to give to God.Parents must give their children offering to give in church and teach them how to pay their tithes on the gifts they receive from others. The earlier , the better.

PRAYER POINT : Father , help me to lead others when it comes to giving.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye