PROFITTING FROM WISDOM PT2 – WISDOM SETTLES MATTERS QUICKLY

Ephesians 4:26 be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 17, Luke 20, Job 35, 2 Cor 5

Proverbs 24:3 says through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established. The house referred to in this passage is not only a physical house but relationships. One thing you cannot avoid in relationships is disagreements and misunderstandings. When these come up, it is better to settle them quickly and move on. A wise person would settle matters before they get out of hand but an unwise person would allow it to get out of hand before settling. Not settling matters or issues or disagreements quickly can destroy a marriage that has been built over the years. What most people do not know is that when they settle misunderstanding or disagreements quickly they move on and are able to benefit from the relationship. One thing I will advise is never grow to an extent where you will say I will never need a particular brother or sister. There is no one the Lord cannot use to open doors for you even those people you look down on or believe you will never need their help. Ephesians 4:26 says be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  The problem with not settling matters quickly is that you might need the help of the other party and you will not able to approach them for help.

I once heard the testimony of a pastor. Two years into the ministry he invited a great man of God to come and minister at their second year church anniversary. The man of God gave him his word so he added his name to the list of guest ministers. He put this man’s picture and name on flyers, radio jingles even in advertisements in Christian magazine. Few weeks to the anniversary, this great man of God called the pastor and told him to take his name of the guest list that he was not attending. After spending several thousands of pounds in advertisement and printing flyers, this pastor had no choice than to withdraw all the flyers and reprint them. He also cancelled the radio jingles and made a new one. The anniversary came and went. Instead of deciding never to contact this great man of God again or begin to nurture thoughts that the man of God did that to humiliate him or make him fail, he went to greet him at home. They talked as usual and things moved on from there. Five years later, when this pastor was looking to buy a church property, it was this great man of God that gave him the needed contact. Today, this pastor has a church building of his own courtesy of the contact this great man of God gave to him. The next time you have a disagreement or a misunderstanding, before doing anything ask yourself this question, is this matter enough to destroy a life-long relationship or is this matter enough to destroy all the opportunities I could get from this relationship. By not settling matters quickly in that relationship you complicate things. What most people do not realize is that a bad person today can become a good person tomorrow. There are many who have put themselves in unnecessary problems as a result of not solving matters easily. The next time you are stopped by the police instead of arguing with them, apologize if need be. At work settle matters quickly with your managers and colleagues.

PRAYER POINT: Father as from now on help to profit from wisdom.

THE TURNING POINT Pt3 – UNFORGIVENESS AND TORMENTORS

Matthew 18:34-35 and his master was very angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him .so My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 16, Luke 19, Job 34, 2 Cor 4
BIBLE STUDIES:  Matthew 18:23 -35
In our bible studies is a parable we all know. A servant owed his master ten thousand talents (around six hundred thousand dollars in modern day currency).When the master called him to pay up; he could not so the master commanded that everything belonging to him should be sold including his wife and children. This man begged for mercy and his master forgave all his debt. Another servant owed this servant (the fellow whose debt was forgiven) a hundred denarii (around 0.05 cents). Since that one could not pay up he threw him into jail despite all the pleas and begs for mercy. The master of this servant heard the wicked thing he had done and cast him into jail for the tormentors to deal with him. Because this wicked servant refused to forgive, tormentors began to torture him.  
To experience a positive turning point, forgiveness is highly essential. Unforgiveness is a prevalent plague that causes unnecessary pain to people, even God’s people. The reason why many find it difficult to forgive is the presence of the spirit of unforgiveness. The enemy has been using this spirit to rob many of their joy, peace, progress, breakthrough to mention a few. When an individual refuses to forgive he begins to suffer from resentment, contention, strife and rejection. Not only that, he begins to experience intimidation and condemnation. According to Luke 11:24 -26, when an evil spirit is in a life, he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. When the spirit of unforgiveness is present in a life , he brings no less than thirty three other demons some which are hate, anger/rage , vendetta, lying spirit, blindness, deafness, loneliness, addictions, illness ,rejection, abandonment, un-correctability, un-mercifulness, discontentment, contempt, coveting, hoarding, animosity, accusation to mention a few. These demons are known as tormentors. Sometimes they will bring unnecessary fear or anger or hatred without cause. When you chose not to forgive you give room to hate, anger, loneliness, abandonment e.t.c. By refusing to forgive, you turn your life to a habitation for tormentors. The question is how can a man experience a positive turning point when under mercy of the spirit of tormentors? Today I want to appeal you, regardless of what people have done to wrong you; they may not deserve your forgiveness but for your own mental health and for you to rid yourself of the spirit of tormentors please forgive. You may have been raped or abused as a child or let down or disappointed or taken advantage of. The only way to get rid of the anger or hatred or the spirit of tormentors is forgiveness.
 PRAYER POINT: Father, please rid me of the spirit of unforgiveness.

THE TURNING POINT Pt2

James 1:22 but be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 15, Luke 18, Job 33, 2 Cor 3

In part 1 of these series, we defined a turning point as the point at which everything changes either for good or bad. There are three major things that mark the beginning of every turning point in a man’s life. Firstly, what he hears. What a man hears can either make him happy or sad. It can either motivate him or de-motivate him. It can either propel him forward or drive him backwards. Secondly, how he responds to what he has heard. Today we will be looking at the different types of responses and their results.

 James 1:22 says be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 
There are three types of responses. The first type of response is no response. An example of this is found in Matthew 14:22-33. A major turning point was about to take place in the life of the disciples of Jesus. Prior to that day, no man had ever walked on water. The twelve of them heard Jesus say ‘come’ but eleven of them decided to remain in the boat. Heaven had already initiated their turning point but they decided not to respond at all. Since there was no response, there was no turning point. They remained at the level they were, sadly they never had the opportunity again. The second type of response is opposite or negative response. An example of this is found in the life of Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21. Uzziah prospered in everything he laid his hands on. One day he decided to go and burn incense on the altar of incense which was improper for kings. On his way, Azariah and eighty other priests of God met him and appealed to the king not to burn incense on the altar of incense. The king did the exact opposite of what he was told and right in the temple he became a leper. A turning point was also initiated in the life of Uzziah; he heard and did the complete opposite. Uzziah became the first king in Israel to become a leper. The third type of response is positive response. An example of this is found in the life of Isaac, Genesis 26:1-13. There was famine in the land and Isaac decided to go to Egypt. The Lord told him not to go and he responded positively by staying in Gerar. Whilst in Gerar, the Lord made him so prosperous to the extent that a whole nation envied him. Isaac heard and he responded positively to what he heard. Mark 4:24 says And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. Thirdly, the outcome of his response. If a man responds positively to what he has heard, he will experience a positive outcome which leads to a positive turning point. The question is what are your responses to what you have heard? You have heard that smoking is bad for your health, what is your response? You have heard that when you pay your tithes the Lord opens the window of heaven and rebuke the devourers on your behalf, what is your response?

PRAYER POINT: Father, give me the grace to respond positively to everything I have heard and will hear from you.

BE AS WISE AS SERPENT

Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 13, Luke 16, Job 31, 2 Cor 1

The serpent is the devil. There are two types of wisdom – Heavenly and worldly. James 3:17 says but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. The worldly wisdom on the other hand is the wisdom of the devil. According to James 3:15-16 worldly wisdom is earthly, sensual, devilish and where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Matthew 10:16 says be ye therefore wise as serpents. The devil is the serpent. Why will Jesus ask us to be as wise as the serpent, if the serpent is the devil? Jesus does not want us to employ the wisdom of the serpent. He expects us to be wiser than the devil. He actually wants us to be a step ahead of the devil when it comes to the application of wisdom. The least he expects is that we understand his motives and know what he is up to. When you are as wise as an individual, fooling you or robbing you becomes impossible. Jesus was successful in ministry because He was always a step ahead of the devil especially in the area of wisdom. The devil failed woefully when he tried to speak through Peter, Matthew 16:21-28. He immediately rebuked him saying ‘get behind me Satan!’To be as wise as the devil you need to understand worldly wisdom or wisdom of the devil. When it comes to the wisdom of this world, you come first. It teaches one that it does not matter who is losing, as far as you are making profit. The devil uses the application of worldly wisdom to steal, to kill and to destroy,John 10:10. The end result of this wisdom is loss as a result of theft and death. On the other hand, with heavenly wisdom you come last. When we talk of the wisdom from above, God comes first. Luke 10:27 says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. This is why the bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning is wisdom, Psalm 111:10. After God, others come second. Luke 22:26 says ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. No wonder Luke 10:27 says love your neighbor as yourself. After others you come last. The sky is the limit for anyone in possession of heavenly wisdom. Proverbs 3:35 says the wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools (those in possession of worldly wisdom). According to Daniel 12:3 and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. When you are in possession of this heavenly wisdom, serving God in truth and spirit becomes easy. People with worldly wisdom have no problem fornicating or committing adultery becomes they come first. They think of satisfying themselves alone but an individual with Godly wisdom will think of how God will feel about what he is about to do. Next he will think of breaking the heart of the lady and lastly the dangers of going to hell. By the times he considers all these, he will resist the devil and the spirit of adultery will flee from him .

KEY WORD: With worldly wisdom you come first ; with heavenly wisdom God comes first

PROFITTING FROM WISDOM

Proverbs 11:17 the merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 12, Luke 15, Job 30, 1 Cor 16 

What is wisdom? Wisdom is simply the application of knowledge. It is founded on the fear of the Lord. Psalms 111: 10 says the fear of the Lord is beginning of Lord. One thing with the wise people is that they are always reflecting. They reflect on the consequences of their actions and words. Before they reply an email or text messages in anger they sit and think. It is very unwise to reply or send e-mails or text messages in anger or engage in a heated conversation with your spouse in the kitchen.  The bible admonishes us to pray and watch, Matthew 26:41. Many pray day and night but do not watch. Applying wisdom is a form of keeping watch. God has answered many prayer requests but the lack of wisdom has delayed the manifestation. There are many today who have lost their advantage in Christ by not applying wisdom. 

 The question is how does one profit from wisdom? I will share a story which will shed light on the importance of wisdom. Some police men went to arrest a young man. Whilst trying to arrest this man, there was a bit of misunderstanding. The senior brother of this man heard people shouting and ran out. When he came out, he saw around four police men with his brother and instead of asking what the problem was, he ran and grabbed an iron rod and broke the windscreen on the police car. The police men shot him right on the spot and he died. The case was taking to court and the police defended their action by saying they shot him in self defence. Looking at the damage done to the police vehicle, they were freed. The disappointing thing was the brother of the diseased was later found innocent. Although they paid him compensation, the senior brother lost his life because of few moments of anger .If only he had asked what the problem was; he could still be alive now. Proverbs 11:17 says the merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubelth his own flesh. Some years ago myself and a member of staff engaged in a heated argument. She stormed out and joined her colleague. Ten minutes later, I called her colleague to check something with him and i overheard her in the background threatening to slap me .I was angry and the fact that it was coming from a junior member of staff in public did not help matters. I had the option of conducting a 1-2-1 and that would have led to her dismissal because she was threatening a management staff but I reflected on the consequences and decided to address the issue later. I tried to discuss the matter with her but she gave me a terrible attitude. God so good I knew a brother who attended the same church with her so I contacted her pastor. After a brief a chat with the pastor, the sister apologised and we moved on. Two years later, I heard a major challenge at work and I was suspended. During this period the only person who called me to give me inside information of what the management were planning against me was this lady. It was not because others did not care, they cared but this lady was the only one who could get me this information. God mightily used her during this period. The question is if I had reacted in anger and orchestrated her sack, who would helped me get during the challenge?

PRAYER POINT: Father as from now on help to profit from wisdom.

REWARDS OF HOSPITALITY PART 2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ex 10, Luke 13, Job 28, 1 Cor 18
Hebrews 13:2 says be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
BIBLE VERSES: 2 Kings 8:1-6
In part 1 of these series, we discussed about one of the rewards of hospitality. In 2 Kings 4:8-17 is the story of the great Shunamite woman and Elisha. This woman took it upon herself to host the man of God every time he passed by. After a while she took her hospitality to another level by making a small upper room on the wall for Elisha so that he can also spend the night. Unknown to this woman, the God of Elisha was taking note of all these. Few weeks before a major famine broke out in Israel, the Lord sent Elisha to inform this woman that there was going to be famine in the land for seven years and she needed to leave, 2 Kings 8:1-6. She obeyed the man of God and moved to Philistine. This was how God fed her during famine. When she came back after the famine, the Lord ensured that everything that belonged to her was giving back to her. All the produce from her land for the last seven years was giving back to her all because the God of Elisha decided to repay her back for her hospitalities.
Sometimes back I had challenges at work and was out of work for almost three months. During this period, I could not keep up with some bill payments. One morning I received a letter giving me ten working days to pay a particular bill or face court action. I turned to God and began to cry to Him. The tenth working day fell on a Friday and failure to pay the bill by 3pm the next Monday would automatically result in court action. The Sunday before the Monday, a particular brother who had been promising to visit visited me. When he arrived, I went to make him a cup of tea as it was very cold. I could have offered him some hot snacks too but I had none at home and had no money to buy any. To make matters worse, I had an almost empty can of milk to make tea with. As I was about to add part of the little milk left to the tea, the Holy Spirit nudged me to add all the milk in the can. The question is if I use all the milk (little milk) in the can to make tea for him, where will I get milk for my tea? I obeyed and decided not to drink tea. The brother enjoyed the tea and we chatted. When he was about to leave, he handed me some notes. I thanked him, we prayed and he left. Later when I checked, the money he gave to me not only covered the bill but was enough to get myself some snacks and at least two cans of milk. As we discussed yesterday, at times opportunities to practice hospitality precedes a breakthrough. The opportunity to host this brother preceded the answer to my prayer request. Not only that, God used that little cup of tea to provide for me during famine.
KEY WORD: Hospitality feeds during famine.

Like Jesus

Saturday 1 September                        Bible in one year: Esther 1-3

Memorise: Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth unrighteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 1 John 3:7

Read: 1 John 3:7

The call to salvation is a call to holiness. After you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour, it does not end there; the journey to heaven as only just began. Before you were saved, you manifested the works of flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). But now that you have encountered Jesus Christ at salvation, the fruit of the Spirit is expected from you (Galatians 5:22-23). Every attempt at righteousness before your salvation was equal to self righteousness which is as filthy rags to God ( Isaiah 64:6);hence Paul says his self –righteousness no longer counts but the righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9). God has not only saved us and given us the spirit of righteousness, He also expects us to live a life in agreement with His standard. Today, some people think that it is enough to be born again and that nothing else is required. No! It is not enough! The truth is your new birth gives you the platform on which to build on, having secured God’s righteousness through your faith in Christ Jesus.

We are called to be like our Saviour Jesus Christ. In 1 John 2:1, Jesus is called the righteous, and verse 29 says

If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him
This means that the fruit of righteousness that you bear will be used to determine whether you are born of God or not. 1 John 3:7 says
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
God is not saying you should be holier than Jesus. Even Jesus says it is enough for a servant to be like his master (Luke 6:40). If God expected works or righteousness from Jesus, He expects the same from you. If you look at the letters the Lord wrote to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, you will notice that He kept repeating that those who will qualify for those wonderful rewards are only the believers who overcome as he also over came. In every point Jesus overcame, you too should. You must live a life that manifests that victory Christ has given you over the flesh, Satan and the world. You must allow Him to live His righteous life through you. Are you daily living a life of righteousness?
KEY POINT: Jesus is God’s unchangeable standard for man. Be like Him in everything including living righteous living.
Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A  Adeboye.