HE MUST INCREASE Part 1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 31, Mark 2, Est 7, Romans 2

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease

2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. To become a new creature, Christ must increase in our life and we must decrease. The spirit needs to increase and the flesh must decrease. John 6:63 says it is the Spirit that quikeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The first place Christ needs to increase is in our thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 says for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. We are what we think off. If an individual thinks of committing adultery with a woman, he is an adulterer. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. This also applies to women too. If an individual thinks of lying in his heart, he is already a liar because as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. This is why the psalmist says if I regard iniquity in my heart; the Lord will not hear me, Psalm 66:18. Transformation only comes when we renew our thoughts .Romans 12:2 says and be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. You are not a new creature if there is still a brother or sister you are wishing that something terrible to happens to. To become a new creature Christ needs to increase in our thoughts. Philippians 4:8 says finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Another area Christ needs to increase is in our conversation. Ephesians 4:29 says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. There are some words or slangs that should never proceed out of the mouth of a believer. There are some jokes a believer should not even entertain. Ephesians 5:3-4 says but fornication , and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once named among you, as becometh faith saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Colossians 3:8 says but now you also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy talk out of your mouth. As wise children of God, our word needs to be full of grace. Ecclesiastes 10:12 says the words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious. When someone cuts you in traffic and you swear at them or curse them, such words are not full of grace. The reason why Christ needs to increase in our thoughts is because our thoughts control our speech. Luke 6:45 says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Our speech can either bring justification or condemnation on us. Matthew 12:37 says for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. In other words our thoughts can bring condemnation on us or justification. I pray that our words will bring us justification on the day of judgment in Jesus name, amen.

PRAYER POINT: Father, rid of every evil thoughts and increase in my thoughts.

EFFECTIVE PRAYER

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 30, Mark 1, Est 6, Romans 1

Nehemiah 4:9 nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

BIBLE STUDIES: Nehemiah 4:7-18

There are different kinds of prayers. There are some God does not even entertain at all for example the prayer of a fellow who is living in sin and refuses to repent. John 9:31 says now we know that God heareth not sinners. If you are still living in sin please repent today so that your prayers will be answered. There also some cries He does not even hear at all. Psalm 66:18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Before you go to God make sure there are no bitterness or unforgiveness or hatred in you. Then there are some prayers while it is still been offered, God hears and answers immediately; these are the prayers of the righteous. Psalm 34:15 says the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. James 5:16 says the effectual fervent prayer of a prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Bible scholars have told us that the word effectual in this passage means energoumene in Greek which translates to energetic. An example of this type of prayer is found in Luke 22:44, where Jesus prayed and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. A prayer that produces sweat as of great drops of blood is not a gentleman’s prayers (not the one we pray sitting down or casually), it is a very aggressive, energetic prayer and the bible says such availeth much.

An effective fervent prayer needs to be backed by an action. Just as faith without work is dead, prayer without an action is dead. What parted the red sea was not the cry of Moses to God; it was the action he took after praying. Exodus 14:15 says and the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Many of us have prayed and fasted, it is now time for action. Many of us have prayed for financial breakthrough, it is now time to learn a trade or add value to our lives by getting education or start a business. In our bible studies, we see Nehemiah backing up his prayers with an action. After praying for protection, he began to watch day and night. In 2 Kings 2:14 when Elisha got to River Jordan, after calling on the God of Elijah, the next thing he did was struck the water. Many are at their river Jordan calling on the God of Elijah but not taking any action. Before embarking on that journey, after you must have prayed and committed the journey into the hands of God, take action by driving carefully and abiding by speed regulations. After praying for success in that exam, take action by studying hard. Praying alone is not sufficient to pass an exam. Paying tithe alone is not enough to prosper you; it needs to be backed up with diligence and hard work. After payment of your tithes, make sure you get to work early and do your job properly. Not only that, our services in the vine yard of God needs to be backed up with righteousness. After winning souls or working in the vine yard of God, as children ensure you obey your parents; as wives ensure you submit to your husbands and as husbands ensure you love your wife. It will be counterproductive to evangelize and not obey one’s parents or submit to one’s husband or love one’s wife just as Christ loved the church. After praying for a marriage partner, take necessary actions to take care of yourself. Be well groomed. Wear neatly pressed clothes. They do not have to expensive but they must be ironed not rough .

KEY WORD: Fervent prayers need to be backed up with actions!

IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 29, Matt 28, Est 5, Acts 28

Genesis 5:1 this is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God

Genesis 1:26 says then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. Man in the image of God means man has both moral and spiritual nature of God. Animals do not have morals. There are no good lions or bad lions, lions are lions; all lions kill. There are no humble crocodiles or compassionate hyenas . Humans can decide to show mercy but a tiger cannot. John 4:24 says God is a Spirit. Man is a spirit being. He has body, soul and spirit. Animals are not spirit being. Man in the image of God also means man has the characteristic of God. To have the likeness of God simply means to be able to function like God. According to Genesis 5:1 , God made man in the likeness of God which means God made man to be able to function like God. God did not create us to be a failure or victim of circumstances. He created us to have dominion.

God functions by faith. Almost everyone who received a miracle from Jesus got it by faith. He told the blind man in Mark 10:46-52, ‘go your way; your faith has made you whole ‘and the bible records that immediately the man was healed. In Matthew 9:27- 30, Jesus was in a house when some blind men approached him. The men told him we know You can heal us, He touched their eyes and said ‘according to your faith be in unto you’ and immediately they saw. As anointed as Jesus was, when He got to His country the bible records that He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief, Matthew 13:54-58. Faith operates by two things – love and speaking. Galatians 5:6 says for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcised; but faith which works by love. If we are not walking in love, our faith won’t work. The reason why mountains do not move when we tell them to move despite our faith is because we are not working in love. 1 John 4:8 says God is love. It will be impossible to function like God when we are not walking in love. Ephesians 4:31 says let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you , with all malice. These are all opposites of love and once they are present in an individual such an individual will never function like God. Faith also operates by speaking. To function like God one needs to always speak in faith. God speaks in faith. Romans 4:17 says He calls those who are not as though they are. 2 Corinthians 4:13 says we having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. In John 11:11 Jesus said ‘our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up’. He believed Lazarus was not dead but asleep so He told His disciples that He was going to wake Lazarus up. What God hears you say, is what He will do. Numbers 14:28 says as you have spoken in My hearing, so shall I do.Joel 3:10 says let the weak say 'i am strong' . What God expects to hear from the weak is they are strong. He is expecting you to confess the result you want so that He can say amen!

KEY WORD: To function like God, we need to walk in love and speak faith at all times.

I AM MY BELOVED’S

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 28, Matt 27, Esth 4, Acts 27

Songs of Solomon 6:3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: He feedeth among the lilies.

What the Shulamite woman meant by I am my beloved’s is I no longer own myself again, I belong to my beloved. She was saying i am no longer in charge of my body, my time and resources. What she was saying was that I have giving up my identity and taken the identity of my beloved in other words i have become invisible so that my beloved will become visible. What she saying was that I having giving my aspirations, my past, present and future, even my decision making to my beloved. In other words I have giving all to my beloved. After giving up everything, the next thing she said was ‘and my beloved is mine’ which means I own all my beloved has. This woman had to first give herself to get her beloved in return.

There are one or two lessons to learn from this verse. Firstly, to get anything you must be ready to give yourself to it. There is a price for everything. There is a price for success, good husband or wife, good home, even to get to heaven. The price to get to heaven is by been born again. John 3:3 says except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. To get anything in life you must ready to give all. Secondly, whatever you will own will be determined by what you are willing to give. God is not a respecter of persons but a respecter of principles, Acts 10:34.There are two important principles for receiving anything in life- giving and asking. Luke 6:38 says give and it shall be given unto you. It is only when you give that you can expect something in return. There are many who go to God with long list of prayer requests daily but they are not ready to give up their time to serve in the vine yard of God or evangelize. That is not how things work in the kingdom of God. Even God had to give something to save our soul. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave. The second principle is asking. Matthew 7:8 says ask, and it shall be given you. You only stand a chance of receiving when you ask. Brethren, after giving you are required to ask. God knows all your needs before you come to Him, but He expects you to ask. God knew what Solomon was going to ask Him, but He still said to him ‘ask, what I shall give thee, 2 Chronicles 1:7’. The bible says ask not complain. It says ask not grumble or get angry at God. We are limited by request! The reason why many get into problem is because they do not seek counsel or ask questions. It is not a sin not to know actually there is a saying which goes it is better to ask a stupid question than to make a stupid mistake. Proverbs 15:22 says without counsel purposes are disappointed. Proverbs 11:14 says in the multitude of counselors there is safety. How did the Shulamite get her beloved? She gave herself, Songs of Solomon 6:3.After that she asked for her beloved. The whole book of Song of Solomon is filled with the Shulamite asking for her beloved. How can I get Christ on my side? Firstly give yourself to Him and secondly ask Him to come to you. It is impossible to have Christ by your side if you are not willing to give yourself to Him. It will be a waste of time to give yourself to Him and not ask Him to come into your life or challenges . Matthew 7:8 says for everyone that asketh recieveth. Before you go and ask, ensure that are truly His.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I want you in every facet of my life.

WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 27, Matt 26, Esth 3, Acts 26

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

There is always a waiting period between a promise and the fulfillment of the promise; planting and reaping; service and rewards; conception and delivery. There is a waiting period for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven. This waiting period varies. The gestation period (conception to delivery) varies between living things. The gestation period of a woman is nine months / forty weeks while for an elephant is twenty months /eighty-eight weeks. The gestation period of a rat is between twenty-one and twenty and three days. The period between planting and reaping also varies with crops. To harvest a corn one needs to wait between two and three months; for rice it takes between three and six months and for yam it is between three and four months. This principle also applies in sowing and reaping.The waiting period between a promise and its fulfillment varies. Abraham waited for twenty-five years for the promise of a son to be fulfilled. Joseph waited for over thirteen years before his dream finally came to reality.

While waiting patience is required. Proverbs 16:32 says he that is slow to anger (i.e. patient) is better than the mighty. The lack of patience during the waiting period leads to disaster. Any attempt by a pregnant woman to give birth before her due time will result in either death or loss of the pregnancy. Abraham’s impatience led to the birth of Ishmael; at last he lost Ishmael because Sarah forced him to send him away. What an individual does during his waiting period goes a long way in deciding whether the promise will be fulfilled or not; whether there will be reaping or not ; whether there will be rewards or not. What an individual does during his waiting period plays a big role and it decides the end.During gestation period , the doctor advises that the women should eat well and exercise. While waiting we are in our gestation period ; we are pregnant with breakthroughs , bundles of joy e.t.c .During this period we are expected to feed on the word of God more and engage in spiritual exercises like fasting and praying.Not only that , she is advised to run away from certain things like cigarette and alcohol. Whilst waiting we are required to run from sin because it aborts our pregnancy.The woman is also advised to try and be active not just sit down all day and watch TV.During this time , instead of doing nothing lets get to work. In Genesis 26:1-16 God told Isaac to dwell in the land that He will bless him. Instead of Isaac to sit and wait for God’s blessing, he went to work and the bible records that he sowed in the land in the same year and reaped a hundred fold. Proverbs 14:23 says in all labor there is profit. During gestation period, the pregnant woman attends ante-natal to prepare her. Whilst waiting we also need to prepare ourselves.This preparation can be in the form of adding value to our lives through education or attending seminars.

ACTION WORD: Whilst waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise, start working; start adding value to yourself through education.

LIMITATIONS OF MAN

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 26, Matt 25, Esth 2, Acts 25

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Man is limited in a lot of ways. There are a lot of things money cannot buy. It cannot buy good friends,a good husband or wife. It can buy good education but not wisdom. Definitely It cannot buy peace of mind.

From studying Micah 6:14 we see that the abundance of food does not guarantee satisfaction. Isaiah 9:20 says on the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. It is God that satisfies hunger not the food we eat. The fact that a man sows does not mean he will reap. He can sow on the best soil and still have nothing to reap.1 Corinthians 3:7 says neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Wisdom is very important. Proverbs 4:7 says wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. According to Proverbs 16:6 wisdom is better than gold. It is far better than strength, Ecclesiastes 9:16. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says wisdom is profitable to direct or lead. Despite all the advantages of wisdom, it does not guarantee promotion. Promotion only comes from God, Psalm 75:6. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, not yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, Ecclesiastes 9:11. It is a good thing to be hardworking , but hard work alone cannot make a man rich. Deuteronomy 8:18 says it is God that gives power to get wealth. There is a God who is not limited.Because He is no limitation, He is able to take care of your limitations. Solomon loved the people of Israel.Although he had a good heart, he was limited because he lacked intelligence.One day He received a visit from the unlimited God and his limitation disappear. The man became so intelligent, the bible records that he became an authority in the study of animals, fishes, plants, trees e.t.c. Not only that his brain so much developed that he wrote a thousand and five songs and spoke three thousand proverbs, 1 Kings 4:32-33. Naaman was a top general, full of medals. He had the brain, the love of the king, the contact but he was very limited because he had leprosy. Despite all his potentials he could not function because of this limitation. One day he met with the servant of the Unlimited God and his leprosy was taken care off.

PRAYER POINT: Father, every limitation before me please take care of them.

SMALL HINGES SWING BIG DOORS

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 25, Matt 24, Esth 1, Acts 24

Genesis 40:7 and he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his Lord’s house, saying, wherefore look ye so sadly today?

The little things make big difference.Little act of kindness opens mighty doors. Many miss big opportunities because it comes disguised in ordinary moments. In Genesis 40:1-15 a big opportunity came to Joseph disguised in ordinary moments. He saw two fellow prisoners – the king’s butler and baker, looking sad and he decided to check if all was well. That simple act of care ushered him to the presence of Pharaoh. In Genesis 18:1-16, Abraham saw three men passing by and instead of doing what everyone does which is to act as if they are busy or pretend as if they did not see them, he decided to offer them water to wash their feet .This men agreed to stay at his place, later he found out that he was hosting the King of kings. That little gesture opened the door to his long awaited miracle. The little gifts we give can open doors during famine. A brother in church had a message like these and decided to give his manager a gift during Easter Celebration. He gave him a box of shaving set . Few months later he left the contract for another contract with better job prospects. The contract ended on the 24th of December so he was home during Christmas without a job. On the 26th of December, he called his former manager just to wish him a merry Christmas and that one asked about the contract and how he was getting on. He told him the contract had ended and will be applying for jobs in the New Year. Right on the spot, the manager offered him a job and by 2nd of January he was already employed. The little box of shaving stick he gave during Easter got him his job back. Just this last Christmas, I went into a shop to take shelter from rain and I noticed this stack of Christmas cards. I am not a card person but for some reason the Holy Spirit ministered to me to buy it and share it. Since the weekend was our Christmas Carol service I bought it and shared it to all the families present. After the Christmas service at church, one of the women I gave the Christmas card called me and gave me a very heavy bag. She said that was my Christmas gift, I thanked her and left. On my way home, I noticed I was the only one carrying a Christmas gift home out of the whole congregation. People told me it was favor but I said little hinges open big doors. My Christmas card brought a big bag of rice.

What am I trying to say? The small favors we do, the little helping hand we give, those small gifts, the little things we do for Jesus can open mighty doors for us. A young driver witnessed to his madam and she gave her life to Jesus. Because this woman was so rich, she gave the church one of her houses to be used as parish. That parish gave birth to over a thousand parishes .Redeemed Christian Churches of God (RCCG) has over a thousand parishes in Port Harcourt all because this young driver witnessed to this madam. A single soul witnessed to brought about the birth of over a thousand churches in a big city in Nigeria. That person you think is so bad that even Christ cannot save could be the next mighty evangelist. You might have been doing things for people –both small and big and they do not appreciate it or nothing seems to happen. Continue doing what you are doing because the reward is coming very soon.

KEY WORD: A single soul witnessed to brought about the birth of over a thousand churches in a city; you could be the next person to witness to a soul that will bring nations to Christ.