ALL CHANGE PLEASE

MEMORY VERSE: he answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see, John 9:25 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 9, Rom 7, Jer 46, Luke 14

When you search through the scriptures, you will find out that every one Jesus met experienced a change in one area of their life or the other. In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus met a woman who could not walk well because her back was bent. Immediately she was healed, her walking pattern and posture changed. In the Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus met a leper who had sore all over the body. I do not need to tell you that the clothes on him were torn and the parts that were meant to be covered were exposed. From the day he was healed, his clothe and the way he dressed changed. In John 5:1-16, Jesus healed a man by the pool of Bethesda. This man had been sick for over thirty years, but after spending a minute or two with Jesus his location changed. Jesus met two terribly violent boys – James and John, Mark 3:17. They had so much anger in them that Jesus called them sons of thunder but by the time He was through with them they became advocate of love and peace. John was so transformed that he wrote a 1 John, 2 John and 3 John. Peter on the other hand was not interested in the things of God. He was so bad even Jesus had to call him Satan, Mark 8:30-33. The same Peter became one of the pillars of the early church.

Brethren, we cannot meet Jesus and not experience a change. The moment we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and savior, people around must notice the change or difference. The moment Jesus becomes the captain of our ship, the way we carry our self must change. Do you know that once Jesus truly comes in, you begin to feel uncomfortable to wear some clothes you used to wear or dress the way you used to dress? Once Jesus comes in, you become a lover of peace.

The man that was healed said something, ‘whether he be a sinner or no, I know not; one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see (John 9:25)’. In other words before I met Jesus I lived in darkness i.e. I had no love inside me. According to 1 John 2:11 anyone who hates resides in darkness and the darkness blindfolds them. But after I met Jesus, light came i.e. the love of God has now been shed abroad in my heart. Once Christ comes in, there is no room for hatred anymore or unforgiveness or bitterness or malice or envy. All must change when He enters. The reason why many of us do not experience these changes is because we ask Him to come in and put Him in the store or basement. For that change to take place, Jesus must occupy the whole house – the room, sitting room, e.t.c. of your heart. We must allow Him free access not only when we are in church on Sundays or during weekly service.

TO PONDER: Until He truly takes over, the world will not see His presence in our life.

Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus

JESUS GREW

MEMORY VERSE: and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man, Luke 2:52

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 7-8, Rom 6, Jer 44-45, Luke 13

From the moment a pregnant woman puts to bed, the baby starts growing. The body weight increases by about 30% and the length by 20%. At a point the baby starts crawling, from crawling to standing unassisted, from standing unassisted to walking, from walking to running or jumping. As the baby begins to grow in height and weight, his immune system too develops. With time the boy grows into a teenager, from a teenager to a youth and finally becomes a man. As the boy passes from a boy to a teenager, the parents begins to assign some responsibilities to him. Not only that, they also begin to commit one or two resources into his hands too. As he grows, the responsibility increases so also the resources.

The same thing happened in the life of Jesus when He was on earth. The bible records that He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, Luke 2:52. What Jesus was able to do at the age of thirty, He could not do them at the age seven. As a teenager, He did not raise the dead or walk on water or open the eyes of the blind. It wasn’t because the power was unavailable; it was because He needed to grow to a certain level before the power was committed to Him. No matter how much a father loves his son, he will never buy him a Jaguar. It is not because he cannot afford it or because he hates him, it is because the son is not matured enough to own a Jaguar.

The Most High is a responsible father; He will never commit His resources into the hands of a baby Christian. The Lord has great plans for each and every of His children but the plans will not come to fruition until we grow spiritually. The reason why many promises are delayed is because the recipients of such promises are not matured enough to handle the fulfillment of the promises. If the Lord should grant the request of some of us, we will abuse it because we are not matured spiritually to handle the blessings. He will rather wait until we are matured enough to handle them than give it to us and we mess up. The blessings of many are been delayed because the recipients need to grow in humility and love. All some sisters’ need to grow in is humility and the Lord will bring the brother. All some brothers need to grow in is love and the Lord will bring the sister. Your spiritual prosperity will determine your physical prosperity, 3 John 1:2. There are two activities that have been found to be very helpful when it comes to growth spiritually – meditating on the word of God and praying in tongue. If you would meditate on a chapter daily and speak in tongues for an hour daily, within weeks you will be amazed by your spiritual growth.

ACTION POINT: Meditate on a chapter of the bible daily.

FELLOWSHIP WITH THE BRETHREN

MEMORY VERSE: blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, Psalm 1:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 4, Acts 8, Jer 17, Mark 3

There is safety in fellowshipping with christian brothers and sisters. There is peace in fellowshipping with the brethren. You will never find a true brother or sister in Christ get into trouble with the law because they are law abiding citizens. The life of Christian brothers and sisters maybe boring but it is problem and heart ache free. It is true they don’t do fun things like partying late at night or clubbing but there lifestyle gives peace of mind. I heard a story not too long ago that brought tears to my eyes. A Christian lady escorted her friends to a night party. While everyone was having fun, someone spiked her drink (added some drugs to her drink) and she unknowingly drank it. Before you know it some strange men took her into a room and began to have sex with her. One way or the other her friends found out what happened and reported the matter to the police. The boys were arrested and the parents of this lady demanded a blood test. The result of the test that came out showed that two of the boys that slept with her were HIV positive. If only her friends were born again, she would not have gone out that night.

When you fellowship with the brethren, evil ideas and strange suggestions will not be giving to you. When you fellowship with the brethren, they will never advise you to divorce your husband or be rude to him. When you fellowship with the brethren, they will never encourage you to participate in extra – marital affairs. When you fellowship with the friends, there is no jealousy or people talking behind your back. When you fellowship with the brethren, you will never get depressed because they are always talking about faith. When you are down, they will speak the word of encouragements to you and share bible verses that would build your faith. When you fellowship with the brethren, you don’t give up easily because faith in the power of God is always preached.
Psalm 1:1 says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. In other words, if you want the Lord to bless you walk with the godly / brethren. If you are looking for a counselor, choose a brother or sister in Christ. The reason is that the mentality of the brethrens is very good. In all their counsels, God always come first. If those that are counseling you do not have the fear of God deeply rooted in their heart, God help you. Not that they will purposely lead you astray, but their counsel will be devoid of divine wisdom which is pure, full of mercy, impartial, sincere ( James 3:17).

ACTION POINTS: Choose your friends in Christ.

HAGGAR VS ESTHER PT 1

MEMORY VERSE : Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her : for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when was she brought up with him, Esther 2:20

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 1 Sam 4, Rom 4, Jer 42, Luke 11

There are a lot of similarities between the Haggar ( hand maid of Sarah) and Esther. For example both of them came from humble beginnings. Their parents were so poor, the bible did not even bother to mention about their families. Not only that, both were slaves in a foreign land. Both were young girls who did not know where they were heading in life. Both were very humble. For Sarah to have given Haggai to Abraham, she must have demonstrated humility. If Esther had been a proud girl, Mordecai would not have bothered enrolling her for the beauty contest that saw her become the queen.

In one way or the other, the story of these girls changed. Haggar became the wife of one of the richest man in the world at that time and Esther became the Queen of one the most of prosperous nation at that time. Later in life, Haggar was sent out of the house and Esther was celebrated.

In these series we will be investigating the reasons behind Haggai’s failure and Esther’s success. One of the factors that led to Haggar’s Failure was her attitude when she got to the top. The bible records that immediately Haggar saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes, Genesis 16:4. Haggar used to be very humble suddenly but the spirit pride entered into her . Haggar who was the hand maid of Sarah suddenly began to look down on her mistress. Esther on the other hand became humbler. The higher God lifted her the humbler she became. The fact that she was the queen did not affect how she related to Mordecai. According to Esther 2:20,Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when was she brought up with him. Please don’t ever allow any promotion or blessing to affect your relationship with the people who used to counsel you or people you used to look up to. Since Haggai refused to humble herself she was demoted while the king threw a feast for humble Esther. Haggar became an ex – Madam while Esther remained a queen all her life.

PRAYER POINT :Father, help me not loose my advantage .

CALLING IT BY ITS REAL NAME

MEMORY VERSE: and Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them, Genesis 26:18

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 3, Rom 3, Jer 41, Luke 10

BACKGROUND: The Philistines are a wicked set of people. What could Abraham have done to them to warrant destroying his properties after his death? Out of envy and jealousy they went and covered up the wells he had dug with sand. Isaac dug the wells again and called them by names which his father called them.

ANALYSIS: Isaac could have given the wells new names. No one would have questioned him as to why he did that. But he did that to honor his father. Despite the fact that he dug the wells at a different time and season, he still gave them the old names. Another reason why he gave them the old names was because the old names represented something.

Words are powerful. Names are more powerful. How we describe a thing matters. I remembered as a young school boy I was suspended from school for a week and when I got home, I told my parents that I have been exempted from all school activities for a week. My wise Dad then asked, why? I had no other choice than to tell him I was suspended. I tried to play with words but I was caught. I knew that ‘exempted from school activities’ did not sound as terrible as ‘suspension’. To be suspended from school sounds very bad, but ‘exempted from school activities’ didn’t sound too bad.

Back in the days, sex before marriage or sex outside marriage used to be frowned upon by everyone including unbelievers because of the name that was giving to it. Sex before marriage used to be called fornication and sex outside marriage used to be called adultery. Today it is not so anymore , they call it names like ‘having fun’; ‘ making love’ ; ‘having a nice a time’ ; ‘spending time the night together’. These names have made fornication and adultery acceptable or look not so bad. It sounds ok when you say i made love with that sister but it sounds like a sin when you say I fornicated with that sister. Adultery is adultery and fornication is fornication not having a good time.

Back in the days anyone who partakes or commits a crime is called a criminal. Anyone who stole or robs a bank or do fraud or do credit card fraud or send funny emails with the intention to dupe e.t.c were all referred to as criminals but today it is now called ‘yahoo boys’; ‘sharp boy’; ‘fast boys’; ‘big boys’; ‘town boys’; ‘hustler’ e.t.c . A criminal is a criminal and a thief is a thief. When a woman sells her body for money or favor, it used to be called prostitution but today they call it ‘business’ or ‘runs’. We never used to hear of the word boyfriends or lovers or girlfriends. All we used to hear was fiancé or fiancée. Names can make an unacceptable thing look acceptable.

KEY POINT: No matter what we call it, what is bad is bad. God still frowns at sin regardless of how we describe the sin.

BITTERNESS HINDERS

MEMORY VERSE: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, Ephesians 4:31

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 2, Rom 2, Jer 40, Luke 9

BACKGROUND: Between Genesis 21:12 where God told Abraham to hearken to Sarah and send Hagai away to Genesis 22:1-2 where God told Abraham to go and offer his son for a burnt offering on a mountain was a period of over fifteen years. 

ANALYSIS: Isaac was weaned between the age of two and five according to the Jewish culture. Abraham sent Hagai away around the period when Isaac was weaned. Now Isaac was a young adult (between the age of nineteen and twenty five) when the Lord asked Abraham to go and offer him as burnt offering on the mountain. We know Isaac was a young adult because he was old enough to travel on foot for three days with Abraham without his mother. Not only that, the conversation between Abraham and Isaac showed that he was young adult. Besides Isaac was the one who carried the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain.

When you carefully study the bible, you will notice that from Genesis 21:12 to Genesis 22:1-2, Abraham did not hear a single word from God. In other words for a period of over fifteen years Abraham who was a friend of God never heard a word from God. The question is why? Why would God keep silence for such a long period despite his relationship with Abraham? The reason for this is found in Genesis 21:25 -26, Abraham dug a well and the servants of Abimelech violently took it away from him. Instead of the old man (Abraham) to bring the matter before Abimelech, he just kept it inside and bitterness began to grow in him. The old man taught Abimelech was aware of what his servants had done so he began to nurse bitterness against him. It was until later when Abimelech visited him and he raised the subject of the well that he found out that Abimelech did not even know about the evil thing his servants had done. Immediately Abraham settled with Abimelech, Abraham began to hear from God again.

Bitterness is a spiritual poison. It kills one’s spiritual life. Bitterness is in the soul. It blocks one’s spiritual eyes and ears. Hearing from God becomes impossible when there is bitterness inside us. If you have bitterness against anyone please call the fellow and settle right away. For over fifteen years God was looking for an opportunity to speak to Abraham, because his spiritual ears were blocked he could not hear a single word. Immediately he emptied himself of bitterness, his spiritual ears were unblocked and he began to hear from God again. An old man of God found some fliers and began to use it for evangelism. The publishers of these fliers found out that this old man was using their fliers so they took him to court and the whole court procedure stressed this old man out. After the court case the old man began to nurse bitterness against these young men. One day he slept in the Lord and when he got to heaven Jesus told him that no one harboring bitterness is not allowed in the heaven. Out of unusual mercy, the Lord permitted him to return to make amendment.Ephesians 4:31 says let all bitterness be put away from you. Is it really worth it to spend eternity in hell because of a fellow who wronged you? Why not call those you harbor bitterness against and settle.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please rid me of every bitterness today!

BLESSED MEMORY

MEMORY VERSE : the memory of the just is blessed: the name of the wicked shall rot, Proverbs 10:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 1 Sam 1, Rom 1, Jer 39, Luke 8

BIBLE STUDIES : Acts 9:36 – 42

If the Lord tarries, a day is coming when we will all sleep and not wake up. If the Lord delays His second coming, a day is coming when the alarm clock will go off at 5am as usual and we will not hear not because we overslept but because we slept in the Lord. Brethren a day is coming when the bold will not be able to utter a single word again , when the strong and mighty will not be able to defend himself no more. In that day the king’s subjects will say long live the king and he will not be able to respond with his usual smile. In that day they will call Mr President , and Mr President will not able to respond. In that day the husband will say dear and the wife will not be able to answer, the wife will say honey and the husband will not be able to answer. In that day the word ‘late ‘ will now be added to our names i.e. late Mr A.

In Acts 9 : 36 – 42 Dorcas slept like everyone in Joppa but did not wake up the next morning ; her race on earth had ended. They laid her in the upper chamber and by her was memories of how she spent her time on earth – the widows she had fed ; the people she had helped; the families she had paid for their children’s tuition ; the naked she had clothe; the hungry she had fed ; the homeless she had given accommodation to e.t.c.

In that day when my body and your body will be laid down, what will be the memory beside it? Proverbs 10:7 says the memory of the just is blessed. Sister will it be all the abortion and sugar daddies you had? Bro will it be all the ladies you impregnated and denied it or those you slept with behind your wife ? Manager will it be all the staff you refused to pay their salary in time or those you sacked because they did not play the game ? Supervisor will it be the staffs you victimised? Mr Politician will it be all the money you embezzled – money meant for the community you used for yourself and family? Born again will it be all your neighbors you don’t greet? Anointed man of God will it be the truth you refused to preach because you don’t want offend some sets of members? Mr Police will it be cases of perverted justices? Believers will it be those that backslided because of you.

TO PONDER : Will my memory be a blessed one?

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus