WHAT A MAN DOES NOT VALUE, HE CAN’T HAVE

MEMORY VERSE: And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 2 Kings 2:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 5-6

It is one thing for a thing to be available for grabs; it is another thing for that thing to be grabbed. It is one thing for a pastor or bishop to have the gift of working of miracles and the gift of healing; it is another thing for the people who come in contact with him or her to receive miracles or divine healing. It is one thing to have a good mentor around; it is another thing to benefit from mentoring. It is one thing for a brother to obtain favor from the Lord i.e. find a wife – help meet for him; it is another thing for that brother to enjoy all the help God has ordained for him to enjoy in his wife. Unfortunately, many of our brothers still think their mothers are the help meet for them. No! The help-meet for a man is not his parents, neither are his siblings. The help-meet for a man is not his best friend, neither are his work colleagues. The help-meet for a man in ministry is not the prayer warriors or his prayer partners. The only ordained help-meet for a man is his wife. Others are secondary helpers. Many of our brothers prefer to share the challenges they are facing at work and in ministry with fellow brothers or their parents not their wives - the help meet for them. That is not how God ordained marriage. Asides this, there is no one who wants you to succeed in ministry and in life like your wife. Whether you believe it or not, she is your number one fan. She is your number one supporter. The person who will feel it the most if you fail (God forbid) is your wife. That’s why she is the only one who can really intercede for you. You need to value and love her, so as to be able to tap into the resources God has deposited in her life for you.

Also, it is one thing for a sister to have a god-fearing, caring, loving, spirit-filled, focused, bible believing, wise husband; it is another thing for that sister to enjoy all the resources that God has put in the brother for her spiritual growth and nurturing. If you (as a sister) do not value your husband and instead of submitting to him as your head, you disrespect him and don’t honour him, you will not benefit from the grace of God upon his life. So also if you don’t value a genuine man or woman of God, you may mistreat them and inherit a curse or miss out on a blessing you would have received if you had respected them. People do everything to keep what they value. If you value your wife, you won’t wait for her hair to look unkempt before you give her money to make a new one. If you value her, you will take care of her soul and body. You will feed her with the Word to grow her spirit. So also a wife who values her husband will celebrate him in front of her friends not put him down or belittle him. A man will always commit his resources into what he values. Resources include time, energy, strength, money,etc. A brother who valued his prophet was Elisha. This brother served his master very well. The bible records that he poured water on the hands of Elijah (2 Kings 3:11). When Elijah was about to be taken away, he gave this young man a blank cheque. 2 Kings 2:9 says, “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” Because Elisha valued his master , he received the double portion of anointing on Elijah.

QUESTION: Do you value the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life? When was the last time you thanked Him for the ability to pray in tongues?

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

WHAT YOU DON’T VALUE,YOU CAN’T HAVE

MEMORY VERSE: There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? Genesis 39:9

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 7-12

Statistics show that the rate of divorce amongst believers is growing. One of the reasons for this is that husbands and wives are not cleaving. The moment a small pressure is applied to the marriage, it falls apart. For a man and woman to cleave properly, something must first happen. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Unfortunately, what is happening in our cultures, even in our churches, is that only the women are leaving their her fathers and mothers; the men are doing nothing. What happens when a man does not leave his father and mother is that his family (father, mother and siblings) will start to exercise control over his marriage. They will dictate to him how he should run his family and treat his wife. In some cases, the woman will become an errand girl of the man's family. That is not how God ordained marriage to be. We have even seen instances where the husband's siblings will be beating up the wife and the man will say nothing. If a brother is not matured enough to make decisions without his parents then he should remain single. For a man to cleave to his wife, he must also leave his friends, work, ministry, etc. A lot can not cleave because they are married to the ministry and some to their work. Please be aware that your ministry must not come before your family especially your wife.

The reason why some men cannot cleave is because they see it as a weakness to cleave to their wife. The same with some cultures, they see it as a weakness for a man to sit with his wife and make decisions together. Barking instructions at one's wife is not a sign of strength. Some women also consider it a weakness for a woman to submit to her husband. It is not a sign of weakness to submit to one's husband.

It is one thing for God to have good plans for a brother; it is another thing for those good plans to materialize. A brother who God had good plans for was Joseph. The Lord did not make this secret. At a young age, He showed him His plans; his brothers were going to be his subjects (Genesis 37). This boy cherished this plan so much that he ran away from anything that could make God change His mind. Even when the wife of his master tried to have sex with him, he refused. Genesis 39:9 says, “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” We know the end of the story. He ended up in prison and from there the Lord elevated him to become the prime minister. Jesus also had good plans for Judas Iscariot; He did not hide His plans from Him. He told him he had written his name in heaven (Luke 10:20). He told him He planned that he would reign with Him in heaven (John 14:3). He even told him that he (Judas) and other disciples would sit on the twelve thrones with him and judge the twelve tribes of Israel ( Matthew 19:28). One would have expected this brother to respond like Joseph did. Because this brother did not cherish God’s plan for his life, he began to do everything that will offend his savior. He stole from Jesus several times. At the end, he sold the Master and missed out on God’s plan for his life.

QUESTION: God has a good plan for us and He has not hidden it from us. According to Jeremiah 29:11, He plans to give us an expected end. Are you going to run from everything that could make Him change His mind?

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

VALUE GIVER

Wednesday 25 July Bible study in one year : 1Kings 1-4

Memorize: And he is the head of the body,the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

Read: Colossians 1:15-18

If we study the lives of those who in bible times carried the glory of God, we will understand their secrets.We can partake of the same glory by using these secrets. However , it must be stated here that the glory of the Lord made available to New Testament saints by His blood far surpasses the entire glory of the Old Testament as the Old was only a shadow of and a fore runner of the New,Yet many of us are yet to manifest the glory of the Old testament, how much more the New Testament, May you partake of this latter House glory in Jesus name.

An outstanding carrier of His glory under Covenant was Moses.But how did it all begin? Exodus 3:1-6 says it started with a personal encounter with the Lord. For every true carrier of God’s glory, there must be a day in his or her life that the personally encountered with the Lord .This is more than your parents dedicating you to the Lord while you were still a babe. It is beyond a family community decision. Personal conversation to Christ is sacrosanct and foundational to partaking in God’s glory. Some years ago, a particular “man of God” rose with predictions for each year. He became a quite popular. One day, he was interviewed by the press on how he started up till his point of fame. While perusing his comments, it was observed that there was no mention of a day in his life in which he gave his life to Christ. He claimed to have certain gifts from the womb which brought him to his current level. Going by God’s word, he has not started. There are yet many people who are presiding over churches today and preach salvation messages because it is in vogue,but have never received Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. They have not started. In God’s kingdom, you can not skip a very foundational experience like salvation and think you can be relevant. All you will do will be without record and without reward. Do all the good in this world and all you get for each is zero. Jesus is the only One that can add value to any life. Receive Him to today

KEEP POINT: John 1 vs 9 says Jesus gives light o all who comes into the world. Anyone who has not received Him will spend his or her years in darkness,