MEMORY VERSE: and he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the fives loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitudes, Matthew 14:19
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 20, Ps 107, Isa 47, Rev 17
BIBLE STUDIES: Matthew 14:19-21
In our bible studies is a very familiar story. Jesus was in the desert with his disciples, some people heard about it and they told their friends. Before you know it the desert was jam-packed with people who were seeking solution to the thorny issues of their lives. When Jesus saw them he was filled with great compassion and began to heal them. By the time it was evening everyone was very hungry and there was nothing to feed them with. The disciples suggested that they send the people away to go and get food themselves, but Jesus was against the idea. With five loaves of bread and two fishes, He fed five thousand men not counting women and children.
If your ministry is facing challenges, I want to inform you that the ministry of Jesus faced challenges too. Your ministry is not the first to face challenges and it will not be the last. The challenges Jesus had was He had to feed around 30,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fishes. The bible only mentioned 5000 men but we know that the number of woman always triples the number of men in the church and the number of children always quadruples the number of men. Jesus needed food to feed this crowd. To make matters worse it was in the evening which meant that virtually all the shops in the villages nearby were already closed for the day. Since there was nothing He could humanly do, He looked to heaven.
When the going got tough for Jesus, He looked up to His Father in heaven. The mistake most of us do when the going gets tough is that we look down and bow our head in shame. We feel sorry for ourselves and some even begin to cry. Brethren, Jesus looked up to Heaven so I admonish you to look up to heaven for that ministry need. The first words that came out His mouth when He looked to heaven were father I thank you. The bible records in Matthew 14:19 that He blessed in other words he said a prayer of thanksgiving. The first thing you must always do when you go to God is thank Him. Thank Him for His faithfulness and other things He has done in the ministry. Thank Him because it could have been worse but He did not permit it. Thank Him for the salvation of your soul and the gift of life. After all only the living has challenges, the dead don’t have challenges. After Jesus blessed the Lord, He took a step of faith. Brethren after you must have blessed the Lord and tabled your request before Him, take a step of faith.
ACTION: Thank God first before you table your request before Him.
Showing posts with label thanks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thanks. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
OVERCOMING THE ENEMY
MEMORY VERSE: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death,Revelations 12:11
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 1, Ps 35, Eccl 11, Titus 3
Who is the enemy? The enemy is not that brother or sister at work who does not give you overtime or who is against you. And definitely your enemy is not that fellow you are not in talking terms with. Ephesians 6:12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That fellow that is against you is actually a well wisher. He is only mean to you because he is starved of two things: 1) – your attention and 2) your love. This is why the bible advises that we love them and pray for them, Matthew 5:44. The enemy is the devil. John 10:10 calls him a thief, murderer and a destroyer. Revelations 12:10 calls him the accuser of brethren. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies. He is the tempter and author of all the wars and hunger in the world. He is a very terrible devil. The devil is everything we call him except a fool. He is extremely smart and full of all sorts’ trickery. He is very cunning. He does not like you and he is the only one the Lord permits you to hate with a passion.
I want to also add that the enemy is not a respecter of achievements, political posts, contacts or possession.How can one overcome the enemy? James 4:7 says submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first thing you need to do is submit yourselves to God. When you submit yourself to God, you become God’s property. The devil knows his boundaries; he never comes near what belongs to God. This is why you must really give your life to Christ and stop pretending. If you refuse to give your life to Christ, you are at the mercy of the devil and he can do all he pleases with you. After you have giving your life to Christ, you can then tell the devil to get lost and he will run with his tail between his legs.
Another way to overcome the devil is through testimony. The devil rob many believers of their breakthrough because they fail to testify. Revelations 12:11 says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Immediately God does something in my life, I share with it at least five people because I don’t want him to rob me of what the Lord has done in my life. When you share your testimony, the Lord perfects your miracles and makes it permanent. Any breakthrough or miracle that has not been testified about can be lost at anytime. After the healing of the mad man of Gadara in Matthew 5:1-20, Jesus told him to go and testify to his family of what the Lord has done for him? Why? So that he would not lose his deliverance.
Action: The Lord has laid on my mind, to create a Facebook page called testimony board. This page is dedicated to testimonies alone. The page is up and running and the link to is below:
https://www.facebook.com/
You can share your testimonies freely on there. Please add your first name and the first letter of your second name to your testimony. We would also like to know where you are from. Remember your testimony can build the faith of others. If you are also feeling down, please visit the page and I can assure you that your faith would be fired up.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 1, Ps 35, Eccl 11, Titus 3
Who is the enemy? The enemy is not that brother or sister at work who does not give you overtime or who is against you. And definitely your enemy is not that fellow you are not in talking terms with. Ephesians 6:12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That fellow that is against you is actually a well wisher. He is only mean to you because he is starved of two things: 1) – your attention and 2) your love. This is why the bible advises that we love them and pray for them, Matthew 5:44. The enemy is the devil. John 10:10 calls him a thief, murderer and a destroyer. Revelations 12:10 calls him the accuser of brethren. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies. He is the tempter and author of all the wars and hunger in the world. He is a very terrible devil. The devil is everything we call him except a fool. He is extremely smart and full of all sorts’ trickery. He is very cunning. He does not like you and he is the only one the Lord permits you to hate with a passion.
I want to also add that the enemy is not a respecter of achievements, political posts, contacts or possession.How can one overcome the enemy? James 4:7 says submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first thing you need to do is submit yourselves to God. When you submit yourself to God, you become God’s property. The devil knows his boundaries; he never comes near what belongs to God. This is why you must really give your life to Christ and stop pretending. If you refuse to give your life to Christ, you are at the mercy of the devil and he can do all he pleases with you. After you have giving your life to Christ, you can then tell the devil to get lost and he will run with his tail between his legs.
Another way to overcome the devil is through testimony. The devil rob many believers of their breakthrough because they fail to testify. Revelations 12:11 says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Immediately God does something in my life, I share with it at least five people because I don’t want him to rob me of what the Lord has done in my life. When you share your testimony, the Lord perfects your miracles and makes it permanent. Any breakthrough or miracle that has not been testified about can be lost at anytime. After the healing of the mad man of Gadara in Matthew 5:1-20, Jesus told him to go and testify to his family of what the Lord has done for him? Why? So that he would not lose his deliverance.
Action: The Lord has laid on my mind, to create a Facebook page called testimony board. This page is dedicated to testimonies alone. The page is up and running and the link to is below:
https://www.facebook.com/
You can share your testimonies freely on there. Please add your first name and the first letter of your second name to your testimony. We would also like to know where you are from. Remember your testimony can build the faith of others. If you are also feeling down, please visit the page and I can assure you that your faith would be fired up.
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