HOW TO REMAIN HEAVEN CONSCIOUS

MEMORY VERSE: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, Matthew 6:21

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 27, Ps 70-71, Isa 17-18, 1 Pet 5

The single and the most important goal of every believer must be to make heaven. Whether you believe it or not heaven and hell are real. All other goals are secondary. Matthew 16:26 says for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The only way to achieve this goal is by living holy. You are also expected to focus on this goal or else one might get carried away and lose his salvation. To focus on this goal, you need to be heaven conscious at all times. Not only that you need to live your life as someone who is expecting the second coming of Christ. The chances of achieving a goal you do not think of every day is very slim.

A fellow who is heaven conscious will live in peace with everyone. Hebrews 12:14 says follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. A brother who is heaven conscious will not rob God in tithes because no thief will be allowed in heaven. The main reason why many are not heaven conscious today is because they have no treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:21 says where your treasure is, there will you heart also be. What are treasures? They are those things which we value most like our resources – time, money, energy e.t.c. Where you channel these resources to, there will your heart be also. The reason why you hardly hear anyone talk about heaven is because their heart is not there. As our memory verse suggests, their heart is not there because they have stored their treasures somewhere else.

There are mansions, palaces, sky scrapers in heaven. John 14:2 says in my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Every resource you channel to the things of the kingdom of God is converted to materials that are used in building your heavenly homes. Every time you evangelize, work in the vine yard of God, do follow up or feed the poor and needy, the angels covert these efforts into materials used in building your homes. This is why every believer must be found doing something for Christ. The key to becoming heaven conscious is start channeling your resources to things of the kingdom e.g. evangelism, feeding the poor, taking care of the widow e.t.c. It will be a shame for a brother to have a house on earth and not have home in heaven. 

ACTION POINT: Commit to building your heavenly homes now because the coming of the Lord is at hand.

PRICE OF LATENESS

MEMORY VERSE: redeeming the time, because the days are evil, Ephesians 5:16

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 26, Ps 69, Isa 16, 1 Pet 4

BIBLE STUDIES: John 5:1-9

It pays to do things early. It pays to always get to appointments early. I know a fellow who once got a job for coming early to an interview. Although he could not provide the correct answers for virtually all the interview questions, he still got the job because of his commitment and dedication. The interviewer was impressed by his time keeping ; this fellow arrived an hour early despite the fact that he came from a far distance. He found favor as a result of arriving this. Because of his good time keeping and attitude to work, within six months he was made a supervisor. 

There are people who are habitually late to everything. They are never on time and this is not too good. What this people don’t know is that, no one takes a late comer serious. It does not matter how hard working a fellow is if he has problem with time keeping, getting a promotion at work would be difficult. Just as arriving early for appointments brings you in favor with the people you are meeting, arriving late at times brings disfavor. Such was the case of the man at the pool of Bethesda. Every time the angel of the Lord came to trouble/stir the water, he would get to the pool late. This man did not record any progress (i.e. remained at the same position) for thirty eight years because he kept arriving at the pool late. Thank God for mercy. Jesus attended the pool and healed him.

Ephesians 5:16 says redeeming the time, because the days are evil. The only way to redeem time is by working against time; it is by doing things early. There are a lot of people who dare not go to work late; but when it comes to church services they go at any time they want. This is not too good. If you do not leave work at any time you want, why leave the church during the service?  Not too long ago, I told you of how the Holy Spirit led me to go and bless a church with food stuffs on a Palm Sunday. The time of service at this church coincides with the time of service at my church, so I had to get to this church early to deliver the item and make my way to my church. When I got to the church, the pastor was already there. If the pastor had come late to church that Sunday, the whole church would have missed the blessings God sent to them and the children would have gone home without their Easter eggs.

KEY WORD: Arriving at appointments early brings favor. Arriving at appointments late reveals lack of commitment.

WHEN YOU RENDER HELP Pt 2

MEMORY VERSE: and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not, Galatians 6:9.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 25, Ps 68, Isa 15, 1 Pet 3

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-22

In part 1, we discussed that rendering help is a must for all believers. We also discussed that you stand to gain a lot if you allow yourself to be used by God to render help. Not only that, the fellow who the Lord uses to render help benefits the most, even more than the fellow who was helped. The story in our bible studies is a very familiar one. Moses was sitting by a well when some ladies approached to fetch water from the well. The overzealous shepherds around chased them away, Moses been a gentleman stood up and helped them. He also watered their flock. There are a lot of lessons to learn from our bible studies one of which is when we render help, it brings us closer to our destiny.

When we render help, it brings us closer to God’s plan for our life. According to 3 John 1:2, the plan of God is that we prosper and be in good health. Jeremiah 29:11 says His thoughts are to give us a future and a hope. The plan of God for Moses was to give him a job, a home and a wife and I believe that is His plans for you too. Just by rendering help to those ladies, the plan of God for Moses came to fruition. The reason why some brothers are still single is because the Lord knows that they will not help their wives. The Lord knows that they will use their wives as a slave so He decided that it is better they remain single until they change. Immediately the Lord noticed that Moses would make a good husband not a wife beater or slave master, He provided a wife for him immediately.

Another reason why we need to render help is because we only qualify for God’s help when we render help to people. The world runs by a law called the Law of Reciprocity. This means to give and take mutually; to return in kind or even in another kind of degree. What you make happen for people is what God will make happen for you. Psalms 18:25 says God is merciful to those who show mercy, and with an upright man He shows Himself upright. To those who render help, God shows Himself as a helper. Last year the Holy Spirit laid it on my mind to bless a church near my house with some items. Since it was a Palm Sunday, I bought some items and some Easter eggs (chocolate in egg form) for the children at the church. When I got to the church, it was obvious that they the Lord had truly sent me because they had nothing .Anyway I gave the pastor the food items and he prayed for me and I left. During the Christmas period I had a bit of challenge at work and this really touched my pocket. I could not afford to buy food stuffs at all. After the service on December 25, a woman I had never spoken to except just say hi and hello to called me to her car and gave me a big bag. I thanked her and I left. When I got home and checked the bag, I found a 10 kg bag of rice and 5 liter of olive oil. Within minutes I was already with a plate of rice celebrating. What I am trying to say? You only qualify for help from God when you have cultivated the habit of helping others.

PRAYER POINT: Father, as I render help to people in need please send helpers to me too.

DON’T STOP BECAUSE THERE IS A REWARD

Exodus 2:17 and the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 31, John 10, Prov 7, Gal 6

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-21

There is nothing as discouraging as an individual who does not appreciate a helping hand especially when you go out of your way to render the help. If the individual now repays your good deed with bad deed, you will be disgusted. This was the case of Moses. He was walking around minding his own business when he noticed an Egyptian mercilessly beating up a Hebrew boy. Out of pity he rushed to help this Hebrew boy. One thing led to another before you know it, the Egyptian fell and died. He buried the Egyptian and went on his way. The next day while passing by, he saw two Hebrew boys fighting. He approached the fellow at fault and appealed to him to stop hitting his brother and that one started to insult him. He even reminded him of the Egyptian he killed the day before and began to sarcastically beg him not to kill him like he killed the Egyptian. When Moses heard this he was very sad. He thought it was going to end there but it did not; these men informed Pharaoh and that one began to look for Moses to kill him. Moses had no choice than to run away. Moses got himself into trouble because he helped a Hebrew boy (his brother) who was about to be beaten to death by an Egyptian. This boy instead of thanking Moses for saving his life started spreading a rumor that Moses was a killer. The men of Israel instead of commending Moses for saving a Hebrew boy from death, went straight to report him to Pharaoh. Moses lost all he had as a result of this. He was a prince in Egypt, actually the theologians said he was next in line to the throne of Pharaoh but he lost all of this because he  rendered  help to a fellow Hebrew. He lost contact to his beloved mother and family, not only that he became a vagabond and a wanderer in the deserts. While he was wandering in the deserts, he saw some shepherds acting wickedly to some ladies. He defended these ladies and helped them get water from the well. Before the end of that day, God provided a house and a wife for Moses. 

Today I want to admonish you that whatever good thing you are doing, please do not stop because there is a reward for it. People might not appreciate you. They may even repay evil for the good you have done to them like Moses but don’t stop doing good. Moses like anyone of us could have sworn never to render any help again in his life but he did not. Despite all he suffered, when another opportunity to render help came, instead of refusing to help he rendered help and the Lord rewarded him right on the spot. Don’t let the enemy convince you stop doing good. Thank God Moses did not get tired of doing good and quit been a good person. In your last relationship, people might have taken advantage of your kind heart, please do not grow a tough skin and become mean to people. Continue with your kind heart, the Lord that rewards people with a kind heart will reward you in Jesus name.

PRAYER POINT: Father, give me the grace to continue to do good even people repay it with evil.

WHEN YOU RENDER HELP Pt 1

MEMORY VERSE: and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not, Galatians 6:9.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 24, Ps 66-67, Isa 14, 1 Pet 2

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-22

Rendering of help is not negotiable for heaven minded believers. We have to help people. We have to help the needy, the poor, orphans, e.t.c around us. One of the commandments of Christ is that we render help. Matthew 5:42 says give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Galatians 6:2 says bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ. Asides from the fact that it is a commandment from God, Matthew 5:16 says when you render help to people, the name of the Lord is glorified in other words by refusing to render help you are blocking the opportunity for the name of the Lord to be glorified. I will not block an opportunity for my Maker to be glorified. I know you will not do the same because you love God and you are very wise.

Every commandment of God is for our own good. For example Exodus 20:13 says thou shalt not kill. Who benefits from that commandment, God or humans? Obviously we humans because no one can kill God, besides there are many of us who before we met Christ would have been poisoned because of the terrible things we did but thank God for Exodus 20:13. Thank God for salvation! When the Lord commands us to render help, it is for our own good and benefit. One thing I have come to understand is that when it comes to rendering help, the fellow who the Lord uses to render help benefits the most, even more than the fellow who was helped. The devil knows this that is why he tries to frustrate us when we render help. When you help people and they do not show appreciation, don’t be angry because the enemy is trying to frustrate you and cause you to lose your reward. You will not lose your rewards in Jesus name. In our message titled ‘DON’T STOP BECAUSE THERE IS A REWARD’ we discussed the benefits of not relenting in doing good. If for some reason or the other, you did not get the message you can send me an email and I will forward it to you. By the special grace of God the Lord will encourage you through that message.

In these series we will be treating the benefits of rendering help. The story in our bible studies is very familiar one. Moses rendered help to a young Israelite and got in trouble for it. The fellow he helped reported him to a fellow, this fellow told another fellow and before you know it Pharaoh heard and began to seek to kill Moses. Moses heard what Pharaoh was up to so he ran away. While running he got tired and decided to rest by a well. Some ladies came to fetch water by the well and the overzealous shepherds chased them away. Moses been a gentleman stepped in and assisted these ladies. He helped them and watered their flock. The father of these girls thanked him and gave him an accommodation, a job and a wife. There are one or two things to learn from this story. Firstly, when you render help it brings you close to your destiny. The destiny of Moses was to lead the children of Israel out of bondage to Canaan. The help Moses rendered to the young Israelite boy triggered a series of events that led to him running away from Egypt and coming back to deliver his people.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to do something that will trigger a series of events that will lead me to my destiny.

GOOD SUCCESS

MEMORY VERSE: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein ; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success, Joshua 1:8.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 22, Ps 62-63, Isa 11, Jas 5

James 1:17 says every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The theory of opposites says that everything has an opposite – this is decided by looking at its function and deciding what the opposite of that function is. The word ‘perfect gift’ signifies the possibility of imperfect gifts. If perfect gifts come from God, then imperfect gifts comes from the devil. So also the word ‘good success’ informs us of the existence of bad success. Not all successes are from God just as not all miracles are from God. This is why 1 John 4:1 admonishes us not to believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Any form of success that takes you away from God or hinders you from serving God in spirit and truth is bad success. Any form of success that forces you to compromise your faith, please be careful of such.

What is good success? Good success is defined as sustained success. To get to the top and remain at the top forever is good success but to get to the top and fall back or to be either an ex or defeated champion is bad success. If you use to read your bible daily and now you no longer do that, you are gradually becoming an ex champion and that is bad success. If you use to pray for four hours or do night vigils and now you struggle to pray for an hour, you need to do something urgently or else you might become a defeated champion. If you used to dream or see visions or exhibit one spiritual gift or the other and  those gifts are no longer evident in your there is a possibility that you are already an ex champion. Thank God we have a Savior who is the champion maker, go back to Him today and He will restore you.

What is required for good success? Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein ; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. The first thing you need to do is own a bible. A believer who is heaven conscious will have a bible not the one with torn out pages. Hard copy bibles are better than bible application on ipads, phones and so on. Research has shown that people easily get distracted when reading on screen and this affects assimilation. There is nothing wrong in installing a bible app but this should not replace your hard copy bible. The second thing you need to do is meditate on the word of God day and night. There is a difference between reading and meditating on the Bible. Reading is primarily assimilation of facts without application. When we meditate on the word of God, we seek to make personal application of the scriptures to our lives and circumstances. The third thing you need to do is obey the scriptures. 

 ACTION POINT: Make it a point of duty to meditate on the scripture more often.

REASONS TO GIVE

MEMORY VERSE: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again, Luke 6:38.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 23, Ps 64-65, Isa 13, 1 Pet 1

Today’s memory verse is one of the most popular verses in the bible. It is popular because it is used during offering collections and other special fund raising in the church. People by default don’t like to give because every time you give you lose something. There are many believers who doubts that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The questions is how is it a blessing to live in minus? If you own five units of any currency and you give a unit out, you are left with four units which mean you are short by one unit. How is it a blessing to be short by one?

Luke 6:38 says give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. When you give you, it will be given back to you. John 12:24 says verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Whenever you give a gift, you are sowing a seed.A farmer who eats his seeds instead of sowing will inevitably go hungry. It is not a good thing to be tight fisted when it comes to giving. Proverbs 11:24 says that there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Micers end up becoming poorer instead of richer. Ecclesiastes 1:7 says all the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. It is those who give to God that God will give back to too.

The second thing you need to know is that when you give, you get more in return. This is why Luke 6:38 says you will get back in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The reason for the pressing down and shaking together is to create more room in the container or sack to receive more. When you sow a seed, you get a tree with fruits which contain several seeds in them. The third thing you need to know is that whatever you give on earth is converted to materials for building your heavenly homes. Matthew 6:19-20 says do not store your treasures on earth but in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and where thieves do not breakthrough nor steal. One of the ways to store treasures in heaven is by investing in evangelism. The fourth and the most important thing you need to know is that giving prepares you for God’s blessing. Several years ago I began to hear what the Lord was doing in the lives of people especially in the area of finances and I wanted the same too. One evening as I knelt down to pray I saw a vision. In the vision I saw a woman holding a big cake. Standing in front of her was a little girl holding sweets in her hand. For one reason or the other the little girl could not receive the big cake because she had sweets in her hand. The Lord told me that the little girl needs to drop the sweets first before she can get the cake from her mum. In other words to receive those mighty things the Lord has in store for me, I need to release the little things in my hand.

PRAYER POINT: Father help me to release those things in my hands so I can receive what’s in Your hand.