REALIZING YOUR POTENTIAL IN CHRIST

MEMORY VERSE: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those which are behind, and reaching forth unto things which are before, Philippians 3:8.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 7, Ps 7-8, Prov 22,1 Thes 1

Inside every believer, are great potentials. Jesus Christ highlighted some of the potentials in Him in Mark 16:17 -18. He said in His name, we shall cast devils; speak with new tongues; take up serpents and if we drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt us; we shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. The least every believer should be able to do is speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues is very important because Christ said so. Not only that when you pray in tongues, you are praying out God’s plan for your life. I remember the testimony of a great man of God who had the gifts of interpretation of tongues. One early morning while he was praying in tongues, he found himself praying against the loss of a large sum of money but he did not understand. Two weeks later some men tried to dupe him out of his savings but one way or the other the whole thing collapsed. This man did not know he was about to be duped but the Holy Spirit knew about it and helped him pray against it while he was praying in tongues. If you are a believer and you are yet to speak in tongues, you do need to go to God in serious fasting and prayer.

Another potential in every believer is mentioned in John 14:12, Jesus said ‘ verily verily I said unto you , He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. As a believer, there is a room to exceed the great works Jesus did whilst He was on earth. One of the very few men who realized their potential in Christ was Paul. This man worked so hard for God, while he was still alive the Lord took him and showed him the crown that awaits him in heaven – crown of righteousness, 2 Timothy 4:8. One of the secrets of Paul’s achievement in Christ is found in Philippians 3:8- I count not myself to have apprehended: but his one thing I do, forgetting those which are behind, and reaching forth unto things which are before.

The fellow who will realize his potential in Christ must count himself not to have apprehended or achieved it yet. The reason why the growth of many are pegged in Christ today is because they think they have achieved it. They look back at the fasting or praying or souls or the messages God has preached through them and they begin to commend themselves. The best time to measure success is at the end of one’s life not while you are still young. Not only that, the fellow must forget his past achievements and work hard as if he or she has never achieved anything. If the longest time you have spent praying in tongues is forty –five minutes, aim for one hour. If the longest time you have spent praying to God is three hours, aim for four hours. Praise God that you pay your full tithe but you can increase it to fifteen percent. If the number of people you tell about Christ is five in a month, it is time to enter the ten a month level.

KEYWORD: To realize your potential in Christ , see yourself as someone who has not achieved much and work hard to exceed or break your past records in Christ.

HOT OR COLD

MEMORY VERSE: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth, Revelations 3:16

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 6, Ps 5-6, Prov 21, Col 4

 

The Most High God does not operate in half measures but full measures. He does not like, He loves. John 3:16 says For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Psalm 33:5 says He loves judgment. According to Psalm 11:7, the righteous Lord loves righteousness. All Solomon asked of Him was wisdom but because He loved this young man He decided to give him what he did not even ask for which was untold wealth and sound health, 2 Chronicles 1:1-12. The Lord does not dislike, He hates. According to Proverbs 6:16-17 , He detest pride and hates a proud look. Psalm 11:5 says His soul hates those that love violence. If you are in the habit of beating up your partner – husband or wife beware. Psalm 5:5 says He hates all workers of iniquity. Herod incurred the wrath of God because of pride. This foolish king was so proud that he enjoyed been compared to God. One day God made an example of him – right on the spot worms ate him up alive, Acts12:12-23

 

Because God operates in extremes, He appreciates people who operate in extremes too. When it comes to obedience, He prefers disobedience to half obedience. In 1 Samuel 15:1-28, God gave Saul an instruction to kill and destroy all the Amalekites. Saul went there and instead of carrying out the instruction ,  he killed everyone and brought back the king, cattle and livestock. Because of his half obedience, God dethroned Him and gave the throne to David. Malachi 3:10 says Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. The Lord prefers people who do not pay their tithe at all to those who pay half or one quarter tithe.

 

God prefers no service at all to half service. God does not take lukewarm Christian serious. To Him they do not know what they want. Revelations 3:16 says so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. If you want to be hot for God be very hot and if you want to be cold be very cold but lukewarmness He hates with a passion. If you want to be spiritual be spiritual, if you want to be carnal be carnal but missing carnality and spirituality is courting His wrath. There is nothing like Sunday Sunday Christian. If you want to be a Christian be a full Christian, Monday to Sunday, 24 hours of the day. If you want to be a Christian, be a full Christian at home, at church, at college, at work e.t.c. not that they know you as a holy sister or holy brother in church and outside church you are something different.

 

ACTION POINT: Take an inventory of areas in your life where you have been neither hot or cold and begin to make amendments.

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

MEMORY VERSE: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose, Romans 8:28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 5,Ps 3-4, Prov 20, Col 3

Whatever you are going through , God is aware. It does not matter how rough and touch it maybe, He is aware and He will bring you out unhurt. Psalm 34:20 says the Lord keepeth the bones of the righteous and not one of them is broken. The interpretation of this is that the enemy may throw challenges at you, he may fold, bend, shake, shuffle you, do all sorts but the Lord God himself will ensure that nothing happens to your bones which means you will come out of every challenges bouncing in the Lord. Whatever you going through, will not destroy you. How do I know these? Isaiah 3:10 says tell the righteous is shall be well with him. Whatever the enemies are planning against you, just ignore them because it will only work out for your own good. Romans 8:28 says all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.

When the bible says all things work together for good it means everything will work out for your good. Someone may then ask that how can losing my job or failing an exam or not finding a partner work together for my own good? I believe Joseph must have nurtured this thought too when his brothers sold him to slavery. He must have reasoned that how can been put in prison for an offence he did not commit work for his good ? Few months after I joined my currently employer on a temporary contract, a temporary supervisory role came and I applied for it. I prayed and fasted, I also informed some pastors and we all prayed and the Lord said that I would get the job. Brethren when the result came out I was not even shortlisted at all. To make matters worse they cut down my hours and I was really devastated. Around three years later, that temporary supervisory role was advertised as permanent and I applied for it again. I applied with the people who were currently in that role as temporary team leaders and the Lord gave me the job. Everything that happened worked together for my good. 

From studying our memory verse, you will come to the conclusion that two conditions have to be satisfied before all things can work together for good for us. Condition 1 is that we must love the Lord and condition 2 is that we must give our life to Christ. How can i proof to the whole world that i love Jesus ? By obeying His commandments. Jesus says in John 14:15 if ye love me keep my commandments. If you do everything the Lord expects of you, I can guarantee you that no matter what happens it will work for your good.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please let all things work together for my good.

WATCH YOUR CONFESSIONS

MEMORY VERSE: Say unto them, as truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Numbers 14:28

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 4,Ps 1-2, Prov 19, Col 2

If anyone tells you that once you give your life to Christ there will be no problems they are telling you a big lie. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that we should expect challenges. Psalm 34:19 buttresses this point by saying that the righteous will have many challenges. Do you know that as a Christian, if everything is going on sweet and nice at all times with no challenges once in a while you should be worried? Oh yes you should be worried because it could be that enemy does not see you as a threat to his kingdom. If you are a threat to the kingdom of darkness, the enemy would want to challenge you once in a while. Anyone who will amount to something in life will face challenges or opposition. If God has got big plans for you, expect the enemy to challenge you or shake you a little. The bigger the plan of God for your life, the bigger the challenges or opposition you might face but do not entertain fear because the Holy One of Israel has already said that no weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn, Isaiah 54:17.

During these challenges watch your confessions because whatever God hears you say is what He will do. Your confessions will decide if you will overcome the challenges or not. How you answer during adversity will determine the end result of the adversity. Moses and the children of Israel faced a big challenge or opposition in Exodus 14:9-31. Before them was the red sea, behind them was the host of the Egyptians, to the sides were mountains. When everyone began to scream and cry, Moses told them ‘fear not and hold your peace, the Egyptian you see today, you shall see them no more’. Moses confessed victory and at the end of the day all the host of Egyptians perished in the red sea. When David stood before Goliath, instead of saying I am doomed or I am finished, he told Goliath I will cut of your head, 1 Samuel 17:46. I bet Goliath must have been shocked by this statement because the tiny fellow who was promising to cut his head had no sword. Actually all he had on him was a little sling and stones but guess what before the evening of that day David cut of Goliath’s head!

Not too long ago I had a major challenge at work and it seemed that I was going to be sacked. I was suspended from work and while I was at home, people would call to check on me. I told them ‘  I will not be sacked’. I told them it is written in the bible Christ in me the hope of glory not shame, Colossians 1:27. I kept on confessing that I will return to work and by the special grace of God, God gave me my job back.

KEYWORD: How you respond in adversity will determine the outcome.

GOD ALWAYS HAS SUBSTITUTES

MEMORY VERSE: Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?, Isaiah 43:13

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 2-3, John 21, Prov 18, Col 1

 

When God decides to do something on earth whether in a life or a church or a place or country, there is no one or Jupiter who can stop Him. Actually Psalm 33:9 says once He says it, consider it done. When God wants to do something, please never sit on the fence. It is very dangerous to neither be for Him nor against Him. He hates lukewarm attitude with a passion. Revelations 3:16 says so then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. That is why if you want to serve God, serve Him wholeheartedly if you don’t want to serve Him no problem with that but please, do not be a lukewarm Christian. 

 

It is unwise to be against God. The Lord told the children of Israel to go and posses the land of Canaan but they refused. The whole nation cried and said they were not going because there were giants in the land, Number 14:1-45. The Lord said no problem, I have promised to take the children of Israel to Canaan land – a land flowing with milk and honey. If you elders don’t want to go, I will take your children. Everyone from age twenty and above died but the young ones got to Canaan. If the Lord is asking you to do something and you are refusing to do it, no problem He will get another person to do it. If He is asking you to go and start a ministry or do one thing or the other for Him and you are acting like a big man or big woman to Him, He will just leave you and ask someone else. If you decide not to partake in God’s project or refuse to contribute financially to it, He will finance His projects with or without you.

 

Every time God calls a man or woman to do one thing or the other for Him, He prepares a substitute in case they misbehave or suddenly get too big for Him. When He called Moses, He had Joshua. Moses worked with God for forty years but at a point he allowed his anger to get the better part of him and the Lord decided that Moses was no longer fit to carry on so He picked Joshua. It was God that picked Saul. Saul grew too big and began to pick and choose which of God’s instruction to follow. God replaced Him with a substitute- David. I remember while I was growing up we had a young boy in the choir who was very good at playing drums. When this young man mounted the drum sets, praise and worship changed. At a point, he began to come late to church and at times he would go and play football during the service and there will be no one to play the drums. After every little thing he will get angry and people will have to beg him to play the drums. Few months later, the Lord brought a family and their son was a drummer. This boy was not as good as our drummer but the Lord so much anointed this boy that in a short while this boy took our drummers place. Our drummer will be in the field playing football but this boy will be busy playing for Jesus. Today that boy plays at concerts but our ex-drummer only sits and watches!

 

PRAYER POINT: Father, help not to be too big for you to carry.

WAITING ON THE LORD

Memory Verse: and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me, Isaiah 49:23C.

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 40, John 19, Prov 16, Phil 3

 

It pays to wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 says but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Asides all these, those that wait on God will not be ashamed, Isaiah 49:23c. The problem with most believers today is that instead of waiting on the Lord, they take short cuts and the sad thing about short cut is that it cuts one’s life short. Many instead of waiting on the Lord take on social networks to look for life partners. They use dating sites, match makers and all these. There is only one match maker and that is God. He knows you more than you know yourself, He will pick a partner you need not a partner you want.  

 

Don’t because of pressure result to going to Egypt for help i.e. strange places. Don’t go and take strange baths or drink strange portions because you are looking for a child. Anything you get outside God is from the devil. If the devil gives you an apple, be rest assured it is filled with worms. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift comes from God. Proverbs 10:22 says the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Don’t because of success sell your soul to cheap to the devil. It may seem that everyone is ahead of you, just wait on the Lord because when your time comes you will be their mentors.

 

To wait on the Lord could also mean to serve in the vineyard of God. Waiters in restaurants are people who serve. When you serve God in truth and spirit, you will never be ashamed. This is guaranteed! This has been tested and tried! When you sincerely serve God with all you have, shame will be far from you. I remember the case of particular sister in church. When she started fellowshipping in our church, she joined virtually all the groups in church – choir, sanctuary cleaners, evangelism just name it. This lady just loved to serve in God’s vineyard. Do you know that she was the first sister to get married in the church? Because she made herself readily available for Christ; Jesus made Himself readily available for her. Because she didn’t let Jesus down; Christ did not let her down. We had better looking, more qualified sisters but the Lord settled her matter first. Others saved up to buy nice shoes and bags; she saved up to pay for her building funds. Today she is married with children. They said she spent too much time in church, those that said that are still single! The God who she served wholeheartedly brought her own husband.

 

ACTION POINTS: If you have not been serving God the way you should, please take Him more serious. If you have been serving God with all your strength, I can assure you joy is on your way.

GOD’S ATTITUDE TO BACKSLIDER’S OR BELIEVERS WHO MAKE MISTAKES

Memory Verse: So when they continued asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her, John 8:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 39, John 18, Prov 15, Phil 2

BIBLE STUDIES: John 8:3-11

We read a very interesting story in our bible studies. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. The interesting thing there was they left the man at home and brought the woman. At first Jesus ignored them but when they continued to probe him and ask him questions, he replied them saying “he that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her”. When they heard that, they all left one by one leaving the woman with Jesus.

When you study the story closely, you will notice that the woman was not a harlot or a prostitute. If she was a harlot the bible would have mentioned it. For example the bible specifically mentioned that Rahab was a prostitute, Judges 2:1.Anyway for one reason or the other the woman fell into the sin and the whole neighborhood gathered to kill her. The attitude of Jesus to this woman clearly shows us God’s attitude to backsliders or believers who fall into sin. Ezekiel 18:23 says have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? Saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? God is not interested in the death or naming and shaming of backsliders or people who fall into sin, He wants them to repent!

When Jesus heard what the woman had done, he did not say “and she calls herself a Christian”. He did not call his disciples and gist them about the sister who had falling into the sin. He did not add to the story like many usually do and make it a point of conversation anywhere He goes. Instead of judging the woman, He showed mercy. He helped the woman get back into line instead of spreading the news which will further break the woman. We need to learn from this and begin to follow the footsteps of Jesus. When we hear the stories of brothers and sisters in Christ or men and women of God who make mistakes, it is not for us to judge them or spread the news. It is not an opportunity to make fun of any church. It is a time to be sober and help them back to Christ. As we celebrate Easter, let us not forget the reason why Jesus came. Jesus said “I came not call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Easter let us remember backsliders all over the world and ask for mercy for them.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please show mercy to all backsliders and bring them back to Christ. Also pray for our brothers and sisters who are yet to give their lives to Christ that the Lord will save their souls.