GENEROSITY OF GOD

According to Proverbs 2:6 , our God is a giver. James 1:5 says He gives generously.When it comes to giving He has no limits , Ephesians 3:20 says he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
I have always wondered why God sent an army of heavenly host to protect Elisha in 2 Kings 6:17 when He knows that a single angel is enough.According to 2 Chronicles 32:21 , an angel is sufficient to combat 185,000 military personnel in battle.Why send so many ?

So also when God wanted to anoint David, He told Samuel fill your horn with oil -2 Kings 6:17 . Why anoint a man with so much oil ? The oil used that day to anoint David was enough to anoint a congregation. no wonder David said in Psalm 23:5 You anointed my head with oil and my cup run over.

All Hannah asked for was a son in 1 Samuel 1:11, the Lord gave her 4 boys and two girls in 1 Samuel 2:21.All Peter wanted was just enough fish to sell but Jesus filled two boats with fishes for him in Luke 5:7. If all Jesus did was feed the 5000 men not counting women and children in Matthew 14:13-21 ,we will have called it a big miracle but to ensure there was still twelve baskets left ? I don’t understand.

The reason why God does these things is to inform His children of His generosity, so they can stop asking Him for petty things.

ACTION POINT:Ask Him for something big today in faith and i can assure you , He will provide it.

EXPECTATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS

For surely there is a future hope; and your expectation shall not be cut off- Proverbs 23:18

When you search through the scriptures,no one got a miracle by chance or luck , they all expected it.The lame man in In Acts 3:1-8 ,expected money from Peter and John.Before He could receive his healing , Peter and John had to change his expectation. They told him look at us and the bible records in Acts 3:5 that he gave them his attention expecting to receive something from them.

In John 4:5-26, is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan women. The woman expected Jesus to ignore her or to give her a cold shoulder especially Jesus been a Jew and she a Samaritan .Jesus changed her expectation so that she will not missed her opportunity to be saved. He told her that if He knew who she was talking to she would asked for Living water and the woman replied in verse 15, Sir please give me this water , that i may not thirst .

Someone might wondering , is it possible for an individual to want a positive results but expect a negative result?oh yes,There are many men who wants to start a project and expects it to be difficult although they would have preferred it to be easy.There are many who expect their husband to cheat ,not because they want that but because they believe men always cheat.There are many who expects life to be tough and difficult .

Our expectation says a lot about us . Proverbs 11:23 says The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
Are you expecting a particular business to fail so that your business can make profits?

Action point: Expect a good thing to happen you

sense in no sense

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1:27

Is there anyone who can intelligently explain the actions  of Elisha in 1 Kings 6:1-7? An ax head fell into River Jordan and Elisha was called. He asked for where the ax head fell, he cut a stick and threw it in there. Immediately the iron ax head began to float.How can an ordinary stick cause an iron head at the bottom of the river to float? It makes no sense!

In John 9:1-7 , Jesus spat on clay and made mud of it. He anointed a blind man’s eye and asked him to go and wash. The man did and came back seeing.Are there any healing properties in mud? who in his right senses will apply mud to a blind eye and expect a miracle?

How can giving bring about an increase ?Proverbs 11:24 talks about a man who scatters and yet increases . How is it that people are saved by confessing their sin and accepting Jesus ? How can confessing one’s sin and accepting Jesus into one’s life bring about inner peace ?

These things do not make sense at all! 1 Corinthian 1:21 says for since ,in the wisdom of God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

According to 1 Timothy 1: 17, the only wise person alive is God. In your walk with Christ , expect instructions,tasks that will not appeal to our sense of reasoning but as you do them you will see results. 2nd Chronicles 20:20 says believe in God and you shall be established.

PRAYER POINT:  Lord in this season ,help me to believe in you, let my obedience to your word be total.

Refusing to be inspired

Revelations 3:20- “Behold , I stand at the door and knock.if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,I will come in him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Many a times God inspires us to do things that will qualify us for a breakthrough or blessing.He might inspire you to give an offering or fast for a number of days asking for a particular spiritual gift.

It was God who inspired Solomon in 1 Kings 3:3-4 to give a thousand  burnt offerings so that He might give him a blank cheque, He told Solomon “Ask, what shall i give to you”? Because God was not done blessing Solomon , He inspired him again to up his offering to twenty-two thousands bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep in 1 Kings 8:62-64.After this offerings God promised to establish his kingdom over Israel forever.

The reason why God was inspiring this king was that , He really loved him . He  inspired him to do things that will qualify him for major breakthroughs. Do you know that after those two offerings , Solomon never gave any offering again ? he simple refused to be inspired ? He began to invest in women instead. The bible says he had seven hundred wives,princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart - 1Kings 11:3.

Many of us are like Solomon refusing to be inspired by God. When we study the bible, there are things God has put in there to inspire us to benefit from His generosity for example tithes, offerings and first fruits.There are many of us who the Lord has been inspiring to begin to evangelize but we give excuses. There are many of his children He has been inspiring to bless a particular brother or sister and they are hesitant.

Is God inspiring you to take your Christian walk more serious? Is He inspiring you to give your life to Christ and you are refusing because you think you are too young? Is He inspiring you to start a kingdom project and you are hesitant? Solomon refused to be inspired by God and God stopped inspiring him.

Why was Jesus knocking in Revelations 3:20? He was inspiring us to open the door of our of hearts unto Him. Open the door of your heart to Him today and He will come in.

Prayer Point: Father , help me to yield to You when you inspire me to do anything .

WWJD

Hebrew 12:2 -Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

WWJD means what will Jesus do .

This is a question every believer needs to ask his or herself before taking an action or saying something. According to Heb 12:2 , Jesus should be our role model . We should model our lives,speech or thoughts after him.Ephesians 5:1 says Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children.

How can we model our lives after Jesus ?by doing what He did, by seeing people the way He saw people, by acting the way He acted,by dealing with  challenges the way he dealt with challenges.What Jesus do ? According to Acts 10:38 , He went about doing good.

How did He see people?When they brought the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-12 , He didn't condemn her,He didn't look down her, he didn't say women cannot be trusted, with love He told her go and sin no more.

How did He act? According to John 13:1-17,He washed the feet of His disciples.He was a leader who served His followers.Are you serving those the Lord has committed to your hands or you are busy expecting them to call you boss or use sir when they address you? Despite all peter did to Him, He forgave him. Peter was one of the closest disciples to Jesus,Jesus promised that on him will He build His church -Matthew 16:18, Jesus helped Peter come out of failure when he fished all night and caught nothing -Luke 5:1-5,He even showed Peter His glory at the mount of transfiguration -Matthew 17:1-13 and what did Peter do after all this ? He denied Jesus three times! Despite all this ,Jesus still forgave him and used him .

In what way has that individual offended you and you have sworn never to forgive him or her? Please forgive them .
Prayer Point: Father help me to model my life after Jesus.

Love will be tested

Thursday 6 September                           Bible in one year :Daniel 7-9

Memorise: Hereby perceive we the love of God ,because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren .1 john 3:16

Read :Genesis 22:1-2

Not only is love expensive, it may also undergo a trial.if you don’t believe ask Abraham. At a time, Abraham was town between his promised child Isaac and God. It became inevitable for God to test whether he still loved Him (Genesis 22:1-2).Whether you like or not ,your love for God will be tested.Usually it will be based on someone or something you really love. Isaac was about 15 years before the test. Abraham had become so fond of him to the point of been inseparable from him. I went through my own test some years ago. It was during a Christ the Redeemer’s Congress which held on the 24th December. It was my custom to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with my mother because of my love for her.I therefore decided to visit her on the 23rd of December, just to see her and give her some few things before the Congress.I arrived at her house very late . As i knocked, somebody else opened the door and rejoiced that i had come. I was briefed on my mother’s illness and told she was almost at the point of death. At this time, there was no telephone to communicate with others to delegate my assignment. So i prayed for her and told her that i love her but i love God more, that after the Congress i would come back to see her , alive or dead. That  was tough then but after the Congress she was still alive when i returned and she lived for another 15 years. In other words, God extended her life like Hezekiah’s after helping me  through that test of love.

Your love may be tested in the fiery furnace or in the lion’s den.  Since Jesus laid down His life for you, He expects nothing less from you to your brethren (1 John 3:16). It is either you love God to the extreme or you don’t.I once shared with my children that to succeed could be quite expensive because of the requirement to study at night when others are sleeping, or study in the day while others are playing. One may even be called a bookworm and other names, yet that is a far cheaper price to pay than failure. If you fail,you will become a servant to your colleagues who succeeded. Every Christian may claim to be born again and on their way to Heaven ,yet it is only the few who really love Him that will make it on the last day.You can be part of the few!

Action Point: Every disciples of Jesus will be required to take the test of love,Ask for grace to scale through.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Glory and Sacrifice

Wednesday 5 September                      Bible in one year : Daniel 4-6

Memorise: Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.Hebrew 11:25

Read:Hebrew 11:24-27

The one who has not fully made up his mind about his relationship with God,might be tempted to compromise the Gospel message or the specific errand he or she is asked to deliver to the affluent in society when given the opportunity to stand before them.When compromise sets in , the glory departs.Compromise is a great deflector of God’s glory.When you stand before kings to tell them the truth,even when they do not like to hear the truth,God increases His glory upon your life.There are several children of God who stood before kings in bible days and never compromised:Young David, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel and Paul, all stood before kings without compromising.In fact ,Daniel was very outstanding. He remained in the corridors of power for a very long time.Successive kings found him so invaluable that they retained him so as to give credibility and add value to their kingdoms. There is a user of this devotional who will soon stand before kings.God is giving you the opportunity to stand before kings.But when the time comes to pass, do not be intimidated , and do not change your message . Speak the truth and God will uphold you.

Can God send you to a palace of pleasure or a dangerous zone without you compromising?if money or self gratification is uppermost in you heart , you will sure forget your main reason for going. It was dangerous for Moses to accept God’s call to go and meet Pharaoh. That errand could have cost him his life,yet he went.He made a choice that could hurt him.What were gains to him,he counted as loss just like Paul. It was a great honor to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter- a prince,yet he told the people to stop calling him that. In other words, he despised the title that would have opened doors to him everywhere he went in Egypt,but rather chose to suffer with endangered species (the Israelite). He preferred the reproaches of Christ greater treasures compared to the sinful pleasures of Egypt.No wonder he carried God’s glory to the extent that people could not look at his shining face. What sacrifice have you made to earn the glory of God you are asking for?Paul gave up his academic achievements just to be a carrier of higher levels of glory. Without sacrifice, you can never climb high on the glory ladder.

ACTION POINT: It is faithfulness that keeps you uncompromising in the midst of pressures. Ask for grace to remain faithful wherever you are.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.