THE REAL LOVE

MEMORY VERSE: 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, John 3:16.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 7, Ps 42-43, Sng 5, Heb 5 

Love is not cheap, it costs something. Anyone who loves free stuff should forget about love because it comes at price. One of the prices sisters have to pay depending on culture is that they have to drop their maiden names and pick up the surname or last name of the brother they get married to. In other words they have to drop their identity and assume a new identity. Not only that, they have to move from a known territory (her father’s house) to an unknown territory (husband’s family) also depending on cultures. They have to move from a place where 24 hours unconditional love is guaranteed to a place where it might not be guaranteed especially if the bro is not God fearing. A bro who is not God fearing can just wake one morning and ask for divorce or worse still marry a new wife. This is why before you say 'i do’, get all clear from God first. One of the prices brothers have to pay is that what used to be ‘my salary’ now becomes ‘our salary’. Not only that, they are expected to love regardless even if the sister is the carbon copy of the devil! It even gets worse if the sister lacks the fear of God because anytime she can decide to have a boyfriend or sugar daddy, worse still ask for a divorce and take half of what you have worked for all your life. The cost is even greater when bro and sister begins to have kids because they have to channel all their resources – time, money, energy to the children in the name of love. 

The love relationship between God and man is an expensive one too. This relationship cost God His one and only begotten son – Jesus. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. God knowing what men is capable of and what they are going to do to His son, He gave Jesus. Jesus did the same thing to. He knew Peter would deny Him despite all He would do for him. He knew Judas would betray Him, despite all the trust He would give to him. He knew that many He died for would accept Him as their personal Lord and savior but refuse to witness. He knew some of whom He died would claim he did not die for them. Despite all these, out of love he still decided to die for the entire world. The love relationship between God and man will also cost man something. Abraham to prove His love for God had to pay a very expensive price. He had to sacrifice Isaac - the son of his old age. A son he waited for over twenty years to have. Paul too out of love had to sacrifice a very profitable career to be a witness for Christ. 

Friends, your love for Christ will cost you something. It cost Jesus His life on the cross of Calvary and it will definitely cost you something. You cannot really say you love Christ until that love has cost you something. I remember several years ago, while the pastor was preaching the Lord pointed my attention to the old wooden pulpit he was preaching from and I understood. I exhausted my savings and bought a brand new glass pulpit. It wasn’t a convenient thing to do but just like David said I will never give God an offering that cost me nothing, 1 Chronicles 21:24. To really love God, you must be ready for many inconveniences. Your love for Christ will cost you your sleep, strength, resources e.t.c. True love is expensive at times it might even cost you your job. During my final hearing case at work, one of the key evidences against me was a written testimony from a fellow I witnessed to and a note from one of my bible studies. They said I spent more time reading the bible and preaching than doing the job I was paid to do which was a big lie. Real love costs something but there is also a reward. Abraham gave Isaac to God and He got the land of Israel in return. Several years ago I gave all to buy a pulpit for God; today God gave all to rescue me from sure defeat at work. God Himself gave Jesus, but today He has over a million children all over the world including you and me.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to really love you as I should.

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE

MEMORY VERSE: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you, Matthew 7:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 6, Ps 40-41, Sng 4, Heb 4

The onus of asking rests on you. James 4:2 says ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. God rarely gives people what they don't ask for. When you study the bible closely, you will find that almost everyone who the Lord gave something they did not ask for disappointed God. Virtually all of them did not appreciate what God gave to them, they abused what was given to them and most of them used it as an opportunity to sin against God. Nine times out of ten, God actually regretted giving them what they did not ask for. Starting from Adam, out of noble intentions God decided to give him a wife. Although he did not ask God for it, God felt the need for this man to have a companion – someone he could hold hands with and talk to, someone he could share his love and affections with. What did Adam do after eating the forbidden fruit? He literally told God told to His face that He made him sin. He told God in Genesis 3:12, the woman you gave to me offered me the forbidden fruit and I ate.

Solomon did the same thing. All he asked for was wisdom but God decided to be generous towards this young man and He gave him wealth – something he did not ask for. When Solomon got hold of money, what did he do? He began to marry women. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines! He so wasted the money, he himself confessed in Ecclesiastes 2:10 that, anything he wanted, he took and did not deny himself of any pleasure. God decided that the best way is that men should ask and he will only give them what they ask for. That was how Matthew 7:7 which says: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you came about. 

There are several ways to ask for a thing. Actions they say speak louder than words. Even the elders have saying, actions breeds’ reactions. Luke 6:38 says give and it shall come back to you. When you give, you are simply asking for God to give back to you and it has been proven that those who give always have something to give. According to Exodus 20:12, when you obey your parents you are asking God for long life and prosperity. Matthew 5:7 says blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. When you are mercy to people, you are simply asking God to be merciful to you. Proverbs 8:17 says those who love Me, I love. When you love God, you are simply asking God to love you in return. How does a man love a God? John 14:21 says he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. John 14:15 says if you love me, keep my commands. When you keep God’s commands, you are showing Him love and asking Him to love you in return. One of the commandments of God is Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation, Mark 16:15. Ever since you have giving your life to Christ, you have never won a soul for Jesus and you say you love Him. This year alone, you have not witnessed to a soul and you are singing that you are a friend of God, are you really a friend of God?

QUESTION: Since all our actions are a requests before God, what are you asking from God?

OVERCOMING THE ENEMY

MEMORY VERSE: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death,Revelations 12:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 1, Ps 35, Eccl 11, Titus 3

Who is the enemy? The enemy is not that brother or sister at work who does not give you overtime or who is against you. And definitely your enemy is not that fellow you are not in talking terms with. Ephesians 6:12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That fellow that is against you is actually a well wisher. He is only mean to you because he is starved of two things: 1) – your attention and 2) your love. This is why the bible advises that we love them and pray for them, Matthew 5:44. The enemy is the devil. John 10:10 calls him a thief, murderer and a destroyer. Revelations 12:10 calls him the accuser of brethren. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies. He is the tempter and author of all the wars and hunger in the world. He is a very terrible devil. The devil is everything we call him except a fool. He is extremely smart and full of all sorts’ trickery. He is very cunning. He does not like you and he is the only one the Lord permits you to hate with a passion.

I want to also add that the enemy is not a respecter of achievements, political posts, contacts or possession.How can one overcome the enemy? James 4:7 says submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first thing you need to do is submit yourselves to God. When you submit yourself to God, you become God’s property. The devil knows his boundaries; he never comes near what belongs to God. This is why you must really give your life to Christ and stop pretending. If you refuse to give your life to Christ, you are at the mercy of the devil and he can do all he pleases with you. After you have giving your life to Christ, you can then tell the devil to get lost and he will run with his tail between his legs.

Another way to overcome the devil is through testimony. The devil rob many believers of their breakthrough because they fail to testify. Revelations 12:11 says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Immediately God does something in my life, I share with it at least five people because I don’t want him to rob me of what the Lord has done in my life. When you share your testimony, the Lord perfects your miracles and makes it permanent. Any breakthrough or miracle that has not been testified about can be lost at anytime. After the healing of the mad man of Gadara in Matthew 5:1-20, Jesus told him to go and testify to his family of what the Lord has done for him? Why? So that he would not lose his deliverance.

Action: The Lord has laid on my mind, to create a Facebook page called testimony board. This page is dedicated to testimonies alone. The page is up and running and the link to is below:
https://www.facebook.com/TestimonyBoard

You can share your testimonies freely on there. Please add your first name and the first letter of your second name to your testimony. We would also like to know where you are from. Remember your testimony can build the faith of others. If you are also feeling down, please visit the page and I can assure you that your faith would be fired up.

GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD

GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD

MEMORY VERSE: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world, 1 John 4:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 5, Ps 39, Sng 3, Heb 3

1 John 4:4 says ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. The question is who is the ‘He’ that is in you? The ‘He’ that is in you so big 2 Chronicles 2:6 says the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. According to Isaiah 66:1, He sits in heaven and uses the earth as His footstool. His palms are so big that all the waters in the world can fit into the hollow of His hands. He is so big, Deuteronomy 33:27 describes His arms as everlastingly long. His breathe alone can part an ocean. According to Exodus 15:8, the blast of His nostrils parted the red sea.

The ‘He’ that is in you is also very powerful. Psalms 24:8 calls Him the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Exodus 15:3 says the Lord is a man of war: the Lord is His name. Psalm 62:11 says power belongs to Him. Philippians 2:10 says at the mention of His name every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth bow. Not too long ago I was walking and praying over a matter. I noticed a man screaming at a particular bus stop and everyone was crossing over to the other side. In no time the bus stop was empty but because I wasn’t really paying much attention to what was happening, I walked towards the bus stop and walked past him and the man began to scream loudly behind me. At first I decided to ignore him but I remembered that greater is He that is in me than whatever is in this man making to scream and shout so I turned back to go and keep him quiet in the name of the Lord. As I turned back, this man kept quiet. I held eye contact with him for around a minute expecting him to shout but the spirit in him recognized the presence of God and it kept quiet. I turned back and left hoping to hear him scream but I heard nothing.

Not only is He powerful, He is a defender. Psalm 68:5 calls Him the father to the fatherless, and defender of the defenseless. Psalm 46:1 calls Him God of our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Few months back, the Lord explained the meaning of His name – Defender of the defenseless to me. There was this colleague of mine who took it upon himself to get me the sack for no reason. He did everything in his power – reported me to senior managers that I was reading the bible instead of working, preaching in the office and many more. He would laugh and joke with me, but behind my back he was making un-true allegations about me. At a point, some colleagues of mine had to come ask me if I had wronged him and I said no. Anyway the Defender of the defenseless moved into action and he was sacked. Do you know that the day he came back to pick his things; I was the one he met at the door. I had to escort him around to pick his things and all. God will defend you in Jesus name. The ‘He’ is also a provider according to Psalm 23:1. If I am to testify about all He has done in my life or the life of other believers, it will take me over a week to type them out. Some of the great things He is doing are recorded on a face book page called testimony board: https://www.facebook.com/TestimonyBoard

Inside every believer is the spirit of the God. The reason why many cannot get the best out of the presence of God in their life is because of total disobedience or half obedience. I read something which says complete obedience to God and His word makes all other created things to obey us, whether human beings, plants or animals. You want to get the best out of God’s presence in your life? Obey God to the letter.

PRAYER POINT: Father, as I begin to obey you to the letter, let everything you have created begin to obey me.

RECOGNIZING AND RESPECTING EXPERIENCE

MEMORY VERSE: Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set, Proverbs 22:28.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 4, Ps 38, Sng 2, Heb 2

BIBLE STUDIES: Esther 2:7-17

The story of Esther is a very popular one. Queen Vashti suddenly became too big to entertain her husband- King Ahasuerus. Because of her beauty, she forgot her role as a queen and began to take the advantage she had in the kingdom for granted. Since she was not serious and ungrateful, the king decided to replace her with a serious and grateful queen. During the search for a queen, everyone brought their daughters including Mordecai. He brought her young cousin who was like a child to him. The practice was that these young virgins would be trained for a year. They would be trained on how to behave like queens, how to attend to royal dignitaries and how to please the king. They will also be looked after physically.
All the virgins were put under Hegai- the king’s eunuch. After this training, each virgin is brought before the King to examine and choose. Before been presented to the king, each virgin had the opportunity to ask for anything she desired to take along with her – maybe shoes, clothes, e.t.c to the king’s palace. So each virgin requested for whatever she wanted. When it was Esther’s turn,she requested for nothing but what Hegai advised. At the end she found favor in sight of all who saw her.

No one knows the king like Hegai. This man had been responsible for training queens for quite a long time. Other virgins ignored the experience of Hegai and requested for what they thought the king would like but Esther sought for Hegai’s advise and did as she was told. At end she found favor in front of the king. This virgins saw themselves as too important to seek the opinion of an ordinary eunuch. In life wherever you may find yourself, humble yourself and learn from those you meet there. In your place of work, the most experience person there could be the cleaner who have been there for over twenty years. Forget about all your qualifications, humble yourselves and be her friend. To you she may be a cleaner but i can guarantee you that she is a custodian of great secrets – secrets of what led to the fall of those before you. Most of the people will look down on like drivers and cooks are not to be joked with at all. They know your boss and spend time with him more than other staffs. They know how you can present your request in a way that it is nice. You might be the most qualified in your department but don’t look down on the staffs you met there. If you don’t value their experience they would frustrate you. The problems many are facing in their places of work today are as result of not recognizing and respecting the old staffs. They may be old or junior to you in positions but they know a lot of things you don’t know. The virgins looked down on Hegai the experienced queen maker and they paid for it dearly.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help me to humble myself before that will help me

DREAMS AND THEIR PURPOSES

MEMORY VERSE: For God may speak in one way, or in another; yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleeps falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, Job 33:14-15

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 3, Ps 37, Sng 1, Heb 1

God speaks in various ways. He speaks through dreams, visions and at times in audible voices. There are several ways through which dream comes. It comes as a result of hunger. Isaiah 29:8 says it shall be even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look – he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty. When people eat in their dreams, the chances are they slept on hungry stomach or slept with the thought of food in their mind. Not all eating in the dreams are from the kingdom of darkness. Dreams also come when we think about something too much during the day. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says for a dream comes through much activity. Not all dreams are from God. If someone has a dream about you and they ask you to go and do something that is not biblical, that dream is not from God. God will not go against the bible.

There are two purposes of dreams. There is a basic purpose and secondary purpose – basic to refer to the dreams you had and secondary to refer to other people’s dream.  The basic purpose of a dream is to inform you of what is going to happen. An example of this is Joseph’s dream where he saw his senior brothers bowing down to him, Genesis 37:5-10. Another purpose of a dream could be to warn you of dangers. The angel of the Lord instructed Joseph in a dream to take the baby and its mother to Egypt as Herod wanted to kill them, Matthew 2:11-15. Also the purpose of a dream could be to warn you of what is going to happen if you don’t change your ways. In Daniel 4:4-27, we see God warning Nebuchadnezzar through a dream about what He intends to do if he does not change his ways. Lastly God uses dreams to communicate with people who cannot hear His audible voice. Because Aaron and Miriam could not hear the audible voice of God, He spoke to them through visions and dreams, Numbers 12:5-8

The secondary purpose of a dream is to encourage you, so that you can have strength to fight the battle of life. After God cut down Gideon’s army from three thousand to only three hundred, his faith shook because he was fighting an army as numerous as the sands of the sea shore. The Lord saw that Gideon was terrified so he told him to go near the camp of the enemy so he could hear the conversation taking place in the camp of the Midianites. When Gideon got there, he had a soldier telling his fellows soldiers about the dream he had where he saw a loaf of bread tumbled into the camp of the Midianites and the whole camp fell. The loaf represented Gideon, when Gideon heard the dream his faith grew, Judges 7:7-14. Another purpose of a dream could be to promote you. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream but he forgot, Daniel and his friends told him his dream and its interpretation and they were promoted, Daniel 2:1-45. Note it is a bad thing to forget one’s dream. God can also help you to reach your goals through someone’s dream. It was Pharaoh’s dream that revealed the need for a prime minister in Egypt that would oversee the economy. Since there was no other suitable candidate, Joseph was made the prime minister. Genesis 40:1-19 and Genesis 41:1-41. 

NOTE: A dream is necessary to keep you going in a time of hardship. Joseph almost lost hope in the king’s prison, but after the interpretation of the butler's dream things changed, Genesis 40:14-15. The hope that the butler would remember him when he gets out of the prison kept him going.

WHO IS A BELIEVER?

MEMORY VERSE: Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 2, Ps 36, Eccl 12, Phm 1

Sometimes back I was witnessing to a brother and I asked him if he had given his life to Christ. He answered and said “I am a believer”. Out of curiosity I asked him why he thought he was a believer. He said “I am believer because i believe there is a God.” I then told him that the devil must be a believer then. He said why? I said because the devil believes that there is a God. The fact that you believe in one God don't make you a believer. He then said " i believe in heaven and hell too" ; I told him that witches and wizards believe in heaven and hell too but we all know they are not believers. He said no. Many see themselves as believers because they believe in one God. If the definition of a believer is the fellow who believes in one God then most assassins, armed robbers, adulterers and fornicators are strong believers then because most of them believe in one God anyway.

Someone may define a believer as a fellow who believes in Jesus and has accepted Him as his personal Lord and savior. Wonderful, that would mean a fellow who has accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and savior; and still robs God in tithes and offering is a believer. Would you really call a fellow who is stealing from God a believer? I don’t think God sees such a fellow as a believer. OK, what if the fellow pays his tithes but don't witness, is he a believer? Well Jesus said in Luke 11:23, he that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Would you consider a fellow who is not witnessing as a fellow gathering with Christ? It is either you are bringing souls to Christ or you are driving them away, there is no middle point. An individual scattering what Jesus is gathering, is he fit to be called a believer?

Who then is a believer? I would use the doctor- patient analogy. You will never see a patient arguing with the doctor's diagnosis, prognosis or prescription. The patient believes in the doctor so much that he never argues with him; he carries out the doctor’s instruction to the letter. Even if the patient is exhibiting some symptoms and the doctors say don't worry, He never worries. The patient does this because he believes in the doctor. He trusts the doctor's knowledge and experience. A believer is a fellow who never argues with the instruction of God but carries it out to the letter. A patient trusts the timing of the doctor, if he is advised to take a particular pill at 2pm he does so without asking questions. So also a believer trusts in the timing of God, He believes God is never late. The patient trusts the doctor with his life because he believes that the doctor can never get it wrong. So also a believer trusts God with his destiny because he believes that God can never get it wrong.

QUESTION: Are you a believer?