SERVICE AND PROSPERITY

MEMORY VERSE: If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.Job 36:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 96-98

It pays to serve in the vineyard of God. During one of our Sunday services in church, a young beautiful girl, 'D', ministered; she did choreography to a popular gospel song. ( Name of girl withheld) After her ministration, the man of God ( who was invited from abroad ) climbed the altar to preach. As he preached, he prophesied by the Spirit of the Lord: “The (Lord says that) the young girl that had just ministered is going to be a lawyer and she is going to receive scholarship to study law in ‘X’ university”. (Name of university withheld). He gave a powerful sermon, packed his bag and left. After the service, whilst chatting with ‘D’s’ dad, a brother approached the dad to confirm the prophecy. “Do you know ‘D’ told my wife, when she was at your house a week ago that she is going to be a lawyer when she grows up” he said. Wow! What a confirmation to the prophecy of the man of God. 2 Corinthians 13:1 says, “This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” I believe the brother must have thought within himself that the parents of ‘D’ were lucky.

Neither ‘D’ nor her parents were lucky. Were they favoured? Oh Yes! But God is not arbitrary. You can’t get something for nothing. You want to be able to resist the devil? First of all submit to God (James 4:7). ‘D’s’ parent served God, especially her dad, selflessly. He is part of at least 3 groups in the church; he is a sanctuary cleaner, outreach team member, usher, etc. When we go on evangelism, he brings ‘D’ and her sister with us and they participate. Actually, 'D' shares more tracts than the adults because she is not shy. D loved the Lord and Lord reciprocated the love. It is high time you considered your service to God. Job 36:11 says, “If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.“ Do you just go to church, listen to sermon, pay your tithes and offering, and go home? You are missing some serious blessings by not serving in God’s vineyard. Are you serving in God’s vineyard but not putting your best into it? You only serve when it is convenient or when you feel like? I want you to change because God is watching and He will reward each individual accordingly. Revelations 22:12 says, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Have you been serving with all your heart and it seems as if you are getting nothing for it? ‘D’ parents have been serving selflessly for close to 14 years. God sees your efforts and He will reward you in due time. I Corinthians 2:8 says, “ But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Your testimony will be different and bigger.

NOTE: It is not only about activities in the church. As you serve selflessly, run away from sin. Sin causes God to distance Himself from a family or an individual (Isaiah 59:1-2). You can’t be working in God’s vineyard and be fornicating at the same time, and expect God to prosper you. The fornication has to stop before He will prosper you.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world .

“SALUTE URBANE, OUR HELPER IN CHRIST”

MEMORY VERSE: Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. Romans 16:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Philippians 3 – Colossians 4

In Paul’s epistle to the church in Rome, he spoke about Justification, Salvation, Baptism and other biblical doctrines. Towards the end of his letter, he sent personal greetings to some brothers and sisters in the church. In his greetings, he mentioned their names and said something brief about them. Today we will look at Bro Urbane. Romans 16:9 says, “Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.” Paul did not say much about this brother like he did in the case of Priscilla and Aquila and other brethren. His age, surname, past, background, origin, financial status, employment status, immigration status, etc was not mentioned. When it comes to serving in the vineyard of God, friend, your age, surname, past, background, etc, does not matter. You do not have to be rich or young to serve in the vineyard of God. Even as a granny, you can still serve in one department or the other in the church. You can be the children Sunday school teacher or a greeter. Friend, your children are not too young to serve in the vineyard of God. How lovely will it be to see a six year old boy or girl singing with the choir?

Paul could only find four words, ‘Our Helper in Christ’, to describe this brother and those words speak volume. Who is a helper? The-Free-Dictionary describes a helper as a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose. From this definition, we conclude that Bro Urbane contributed to the fulfillment of a/the need in the church of God. Any time the church in Rome was in need, Bro Urbane would come to the church's rescue. When they need someone to clean the church, Bro Urbane would volunteer himself. When they need someone to go and pick up a visiting pastor from the airport or garage, Bro Urbane would volunteer himself. This brother was not a bench warmer. He was an asset to his pastor, denomination and Christ. Many a times when most of the members miss mid week service, Bro Urbane will be at church. This brother also contributed to the furtherance of several efforts to establish the church. When the church was trying to buy a building, Bro Urbane was part of those who contributed. When the church was trying to organize their anniversary, Bro Urbane did everything he could to make the anniversary a success. His wife must have decorated the church free of charge. His children must have joined the children Choir to sing at the anniversary. All these they did so that the Lord will not be put to shame in the life of their pastor and ministry. So every time his pastor wrote to Apostle Paul, he would say, “Please thank God for the life of brother Urbane, pray for him and his family because they are an asset to the church.” When Paul was writing to the church in Rome, he remembered all Bro Urbane had contributed towards the growth of the church in Rome and wrote: “Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ” (Romans 16:9).

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: If your pastor or leader were to describe you in four words, what would it be?

PRAYER: Father, help me to be an asset in your vineyard.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

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PRIVATE PREPARATION DETERMINES PUBLIC PERFORMANCE PT3

MEMORY VERSE: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.1 Peter 4:13

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 15, Ps 18, Prov 29,2 Thes 3

BIBLE STUDIES: Matthew 14:22-33

In our bible studies is a very popular story. It was late at night and there were no ships around to take Jesus to His disciples so He decided to walk on water to them. Peter saw Jesus walking on water and asked if he could join Him? Jesus said ‘come’, Peter jumped out of the boat and began to walk on water towards Jesus. After taking few steps, the wind began to blow and he began to panic. Before you know it Peter began to sink, thank God he quickly called on the name of Jesus and was saved. It is important to know that the presence of Jesus could not prevent Peter from sinking . Why? Because of fear. Anywhere fear is present,failure is inevitable. It does not matter whose errand you are running. You could even been acting on the word of God like Peter, once fear comes into the equation failure is not far away. No wonder Hebrew 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. Even in the ministry, if you give room to fear instead of faith , you may fail.I pray you will not fail in Jesus name.

1 Peter 4:13 says but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

To be glad with exceeding joy , you must be ready to suffer for Christ. In Part two of these series ,i shared the testimony of a brother who the Lord paid his tuition and expenses throughout the duration of the course in the university. I also talked of this brother's labor of love in the private .I do not know why but i believe there is someone the Lord wants to publicly reward and He wants me share a little bit more about this brother to encourage that fellow. I mentioned in part two of these series that this brother is part of virtually all the groups in the church. Do you also know that this brother holds the key to the church i.e. he is the first to get to the church and last to leave? Not only that around eighteen months ago ,this brother challenged the faith of everyone by turning down a job that pays around £1,800 a month for a job of £200 a month all because he didn't want anything to come in between his commitment with his maker ; this brother is married with 3 kids. You are wondering why God provided a scholarship worth over £50 ,000 for this brother? You are wondering why God would go out of His way to pay for the tuition and expenses of this brother before he even started university? This brother suffered greatly for Christ in the private and today he is glad with exceeding joy because he is going to study for free while others have to pay.

PRAYER POINT: Father please open my eyes that i might do what will make me qualify for your exceeding joy.

WAITING ON THE LORD

Memory Verse: and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me, Isaiah 49:23C.

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 40, John 19, Prov 16, Phil 3

 

It pays to wait on the Lord. 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. Asides all these, those that wait on God will not be ashamed, Isaiah 49:23c. The problem with most believers today is that instead of waiting on the Lord, they take short cuts and the sad thing about short cut is that it cuts one’s life short. Many instead of waiting on the Lord take on social networks to look for life partners. They use dating sites, match makers and all these. There is only one match maker and that is God. He knows you more than you know yourself, He will pick a partner you need not a partner you want.  

 

Don’t because of pressure result to going to Egypt for help i.e. strange places. Don’t go and take strange baths or drink strange portions because you are looking for a child. Anything you get outside God is from the devil. If the devil gives you an apple, be rest assured it is filled with worms. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift comes from God. Proverbs 10:22 says the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Don’t because of success sell your soul to cheap to the devil. It may seem that everyone is ahead of you, just wait on the Lord because when your time comes you will be their mentors.

 

To wait on the Lord could also mean to serve in the vineyard of God. Waiters in restaurants are people who serve. When you serve God in truth and spirit, you will never be ashamed. This is guaranteed! This has been tested and tried! When you sincerely serve God with all you have, shame will be far from you. I remember the case of particular sister in church. When she started fellowshipping in our church, she joined virtually all the groups in church – choir, sanctuary cleaners, evangelism just name it. This lady just loved to serve in God’s vineyard. Do you know that she was the first sister to get married in the church? Because she made herself readily available for Christ; Jesus made Himself readily available for her. Because she didn’t let Jesus down; Christ did not let her down. We had better looking, more qualified sisters but the Lord settled her matter first. Others saved up to buy nice shoes and bags; she saved up to pay for her building funds. Today she is married with children. They said she spent too much time in church, those that said that are still single! The God who she served wholeheartedly brought her own husband.

 

ACTION POINTS: If you have not been serving God the way you should, please take Him more serious. If you have been serving God with all your strength, I can assure you joy is on your way.