DISADVANTAGES OF FAVORITISM

MEMORY VERSE: and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him, Genesis 37:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 14, 2 Cor 7, Ezek 21, Ps 1-2

Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children for obvious reasons. He loved him because he was the first born of Rachel (his favorite wife). Not only that, he loved him because he was the son of his old age. Because of all these, he showered this young man with gifts. As parents it is quite understandable to like a child above the others but it is unwise to show it or favor one above the other. Jacob did not only love Joseph more all his children, he favored him more than his children. Out of his twelve sons, he made a coat of many colors for Joseph alone. The other sons noticed and began to hate Joseph. Genesis 37:4 says and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 

The problem of Joseph started when his father began to favor him above all the other children. Friends became foes when Jacob began to pay extra attention to Joseph at the expense of other children. Jacob broke the bond of unity amongst his children because he favored one above the rest. This old man unknowingly divided his family into two – Joseph and other children as a result of favoritism. Favoritism births enmity between children or a team. Favoritism amongst any team breaks the bond of unity within that team. Favoritism causes problems and breaks up a team.

There are a lot of parents who have caused enmity between their children as a result of favoritism. There are many who look after the male children and neglect the female children. All children should be treated the same and no one should be neglected. When a parent begins to favor a child above the other, such parent is dividing the family and giving the enemy an opportunity to come in between the children. Treat all children the same, give them the same opportunity. The fact that you love a child above others is not a criterion to favor him. The fact that you love a member of staff above others is not a criterion to favor him or her above others. When you favor an individual above others, you are only creating problem for the individual. Not only that, the favored individual will begin to face unnecessary challenges. Favoritism can turn brothers to murderers. It was favoritism that landed Joseph in the pit. Although Joseph was favored above his brothers, he paid dearly for it and it almost cost him his life .Favoritism should be frowned upon in our churches, homes, community, national assemblies and parliaments. It only gives the enemy an opportunity to divide us.

ACTION POINT: Voice against favoritism.

Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus.

MY DEFENSE IS OF GOD

MEMORY VERSE: My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart, Psalm 7:10

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 13, 2 Cor 6, Ezek 20, John 21 

The importance of defense cannot be overestimated. In Football we have different playing positions, we have the goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forward. The defenders play behind the midfielders and their primary responsibility is to provide support to the team and to prevent the opposition from scoring a goal. They also stop opposing players particularly the strikers from scoring, and bring the ball out from their penalty area. The defense is supposed to be an impenetrable wall that provides a team with the security it needs. How effective the defender is will help in determining whether the team that he plays for will win or lose. There are two physical qualities one looks for in a defender, height and strength. High ball is one of the most common attacking strategies in soccer, especially if the opponent has the advantage of a tall striker. A tall defender will be able to deal with high balls easily. The role of the defender is an active role throughout the game hence the need for a defender with strong stamina.

When your defense is of God, you can be rest assured that you will not concede any goal in the game of life. When you talk of height, our God is taller than the tallest. According to Isaiah 66:1, heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool. He is not only very tall, He is massively big. According to 1 Kings 8:27, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. When you talk of strength, our God is stronger than the strongest. According to Isaiah 62:11, all power belongs to Him. Not only that, He is able to break the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder, Psalm 107:16.

When your defense is of God, you can be rest assured that you will not die before your time. When He is your defense you can boast and say no weapon fashion against me shall prosper. The enemies can attack but the Spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against them, Isaiah 59:19. For God to be your defense, you must be upright in heart. Psalm 7:10 says my defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. Theologians have said that the Hebrew word for upright has two significations. It signifies plainness of heart. The tongue and the heart of an upright man go together. In other words, he says what he mean and means what he says. It also signifies a man approved by God. An upright man is one whom God thinks highly of. An upright man works by an upright rule, works from on upright principle and also works to an upright end. Not only that, he endeavors to make others upright.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please give me an upright heart today.

 

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.

DO AWAY WITH THE STRANGE GODS

Genesis 35:5. The family of Jacob consisted mainly of women and children. They had no sophisticated weapon, they had no military experience, they had nothing yet mighty nations dreaded to engage them in battle because the terror of God was upon them. Everyone knew Jacob was tiny yet they dare not come near them because the mighty One of Israel was with them. 

When God is behind an individual, such an individual will enjoy peace. Proverbs 16:7 says when a man’s way please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Matthew 10:36 says a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. When those of your household know that your God is a consuming fire, they will hold their peace. When God is behind a brother, his journey in life will be smooth and hindrance free. According to Isaiah 45:2, the Lord will go before him and make the crooked places straight. Not only that, he will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunders their iron bars. When God is behind a fellow, the resources and energy that should be used to fight the enemies will diverted into other profiting project. 

The first thing an individual needs to do to get God behind him is that he needs to change his garments. He needs to put away the old garments of sin and wear a garment of righteousness. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 all things must pass away and all things must become new. The individual also needs to put away the strange gods in his life. Genesis 35:4 says and they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. I have always wondered why they gave Jacob their earrings. Is there a relationship between strange gods and earrings? Could it be that earrings were a form of strange gods? Or could it be that earrings have the potential of becoming strange gods? The strange gods were things that had taken the place of God in their life. Do you know that if care is not taken, our children can become our strange gods? When we begin to displease God to please them, they become strange gods. Our phones can easily become strange gods, when we spend so much time on them and have no time to wait on the Lord. Until we get rid of the strange gods, the presence of God will not be evident in our life. 

PRAYER POINT: Father, please let your presence be felt by everyone around me.

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus. 

DANGERS OF FREEDOM

MEMORY VERSE: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls, Matthew 11:29

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 11, 2 Cor 4, Ezek 18, John 19 

BIBLE STUDY: Genesis 34:1-2

BACKGROUND: Dinah was bored at home; there was no one to play with, no one to chat with, and no one to have fun with so she decided to go out to see the daughters of the land. On her way Shechem took her and raped her. Later Shechem was killed. 

ANALYSIS: Dinah was safe at home. Her Dad had several guards who watched after her and the family. If she had remained at home, she would not have become a victim of rape. Because she wanted a bit of fun, she left home (a safe territory) to see the daughters of the land (an unsafe territory) and was attacked. Dinah saw staying at home as living under a yoke, but she failed to realize that living under that yoke afforded her safety.

The day you give your life to Christ, He puts His yoke on your neck. You are no longer free to do whatever you want to do. You are no longer free to dress the way you want to dress. You are no longer free to say the things you want to say. At times people will talk to you rudely and you want to respond but you can’t because of the yoke of Christ on you. You know as a Christian you are not allowed to be rude. At times you want to take revenge but you can’t because of the yoke of Christ on you. You know as a Christian you are not allowed to take revenge. At times you want to relax with a pint of beer but you can’t because you know Christians don’t drink beer. At times you are so stressed and you desperately need a fag or smoke a cigarette but can’t because you know Christians don’t smoke. The yoke of Christ restricts in a lot of ways. You want to go to clubs but you cannot. You want to do the things your friends do but you cannot. Brethren, I want you to know that the yoke of Christ may restrict you but it keeps you from a lot of harm. The Christian life maybe boring, but it keeps you safe. That is why you will never hear that the police arrested a believer for a drink driving offense because a true Christian does not consume alcohol. That is why you will never hear a true Christian having sexually transmitted diseases because a true Christian will not fornicate. You will never hear that a true Christian was stabbed at the club because he won’t be there in the first place. It is impossible to hear that a Christian lady got pregnant and the man refused to accept the baby because a Christian lady will not have sex until she is married. Inside Christ your marriage is safe and it is almost impossible for the man to cheat. Where is the time to cheat? He will go to work, attend all the church programs and come back home tired. Where is the time to cheat when he is concentrating on winning souls for Christ?

POINT: The Christian life maybe boring but it gives peace of mind.

Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus.

THE PART OF PRAYER

MEMORY VERSE: but ye, beloved, building you yourself on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Jude 20.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Sam 21-22, 1 Cor 3, Ezek 1, John 2

Prayer is a FEAR/ ANXIETY DESTROYER. In Acts 4:31 the disciples of Jesus gathered to pray, as they prayed the ground shook and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. By the time they had finished praying, all the fear in them (fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of death, fear of the future, fear of men e.t.c) had disappeared. Prayer also gives one the ability to walk on water (water denotes problems). Through prayers natural laws are suspended. In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus prayed till the early hours of the morning , when He got to shore there were no boats around to take Him to his disciples so He temporarily suspended the law of gravity and began to walk on water. Prayer not only suspends natural law, it also suspends human laws. There is always a deadline date for project submission in the university, once you miss it you have to wait till the next semester – this is human law. Due to one reason or the other when I was writing my final year project, I missed the project deadline by six working days. After praying I walked into the office to submit my project, without been asked any question the lady at the desk accepted my project praise God.

Prayer is an IDEA GENERATOR. To be successful in marriage, business, ministry e.t.c we need ideas. To be a force to reckon with in this generation we need ideas. To solve problems we need ideas. To become the head and remain the head all through our life we need ideas. To take the gospel to the uttermost part of the world we need ideas. Many Christian Scientists have testified that the ideas behind most of their inventions came during their prayer walk or when they were on their knees praying. One of the greatest inventors in American history – George Washington Carver got the idea of three hundred uses of peanuts during his prayer walk. From peanut he created peanut butter, diesel fuel, gasoline fuel, lubricating oil, insecticide to mention a few. The idea that unified the gentiles and Jews came when Peter was praying, Acts 10:9-16. How about medical science? One of the fastest growing branches of medical science is Herbalism or herbal medicine. People prefer herbal medicines to drugs because of the side effects. Do you know the idea for herbal medicine came whilst praying? If you don’t believe me please read Isaiah 38:21

The only accepted means of making withdrawal from an ATM machine is by using an ATM card. Do you know that you can have a billion in your bank account, except you use your ATM card withdrawal will be impossible? You can cry by the ATM machine all day, if you don’t use your ATM card you will not be able to make withdrawal. The same thing applies to spiritual things. The only means of withdrawal from your heavenly account is prayer. The only means of asking for help is prayer. The only means of doing anything is prayer. We can complain from today till tomorrow, we can sit and discuss about how bad the economy is if we don’t pray it will only get worse.

ACTION POINT: Use prayer today to inform heaven of your situation.

Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus.

HAGAR VS ESTHER PT4 - ATTITUDE TO THE LAWS OF THE LAND MATTERS

MEMORY VERSE: All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live, Esther 4:11a.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 10, 2 Cor 3, Ezek 17, John 18

In part three of these series, we saw that one of the factors behind Hagar’s failure as a wife was her attitude to rebuke. We also saw that her attitude to the poor or less privilege played a significant role in her demotion. Hagar lost her advantage as a result of her attitude to those who were not as favored as her. The Lord decided to demote her and promote those she considered as less privileged.

We have be comparing and contrasting the life of two young women – Hagar and Esther. Both from humble beginning rose to prominence. Hagar lost her advantage but Esther was elevated. While one was demoted, the other was celebrated. One of the reasons behind Esther’s success as a queen was that she used her position to bring joy. Haman hated the Jews with a passion. Since he was close to the king, he used his position to petition the king to pass out a law that will give everyone the right to kill the Jews. Esther got a wind of what Haman was up to, she went before the king and pleaded for mercy. Been a merciful king he agreed and permitted the Jews to defend themselves also. The Lord was with the Jews and they destroyed all their enemies. In the case of Hagar, she used her position to cause pain. She used her advantage as a means to torment Sarah for been childless. The Lord decided that if this is how she is going to use her advantage, I will demote her and promote someone else. She was demoted and the person she was victimizing was promoted.

Another reason behind Hagar’s failure was her attitude to the law of the land. In the days of Abraham it was acceptable for mistresses to raise children through their maid servants. On no occasion should a maid servant disrespect her madam. Hagar disobeyed the laws of the land by disrespecting her madam. Romans 13:1 -2 says all governments are ordained by God, by refusing to obey the laws of the land one is refusing to obey God. Hagar refused to obey God by refusing to obey the law of the land and she was relegated. Esther on the hand respected the laws of the land. The first thing she said when Mordecai prompted her to go before the king was the law of the land states that on no occasion should any one go before the king except he calls them , Esther 4:11a. The fact that one is in position does not mean he can do and undo. Men may not be able to discipline a fellow for transgressing the law but the God who instituted the law can. Because Esther respected the laws of the land, the Lord used the laws of the land to deliver her and her people from the hands of evil Haman.

NOTE: Failure to obey the laws of the land is failure to obey God

HAGAR VS ESTHER PT 2

MEMORY VERSE: so Esther’s maid and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them, Esther 4:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 7, 2 Cor 1, Ezek 15, John 16

Hagar and Esther started as slaves in a foreign land. They both enjoyed God’s favor –. Out of all the maid servants Hagar found favor before Sarah. Out of all the virgins in the land Esther found favor before king Ahasuerus. The both rose to prominence- Esther became the wife of a great king and Hagar became the wife of one of the richest man at that time. Later in life, Hagar was sent away with nothing from her husband’s house but Esther was celebrated. In these series we will be investigating the reasons behind Hagar’s failure and Esther’s success.

In part one of these series; we discussed one of the reasons that led to Hagar’s failure and Esther’s success. James 4:6 says God gives grace to humble but resists the proud. Immediately Hagar got to the top she became proud. Sarah became despised in her eyes. On the other hand the higher God took Esther, the humbler she became. Before you know it Hagar fell from grace and was sent out of the house while the king held a big feast for Esther.

Another reason behind Hagar’s failure was she never appreciated her helpers but Esther did. The Lord used Sarah to lift Hagar up; when she got to the top she became a thorn in her flesh. It got to a point; Sarah had to report Hagar to Abraham. When Esther got to the top, she appreciated her helpers. She heard that Mordecai (her helper) was sitting at the king’s gate in sackcloth, she quickly sent him garments. Esther 4:4 says so Esther’s maid and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. Brethren, no one is obliged to help you. They are within their rights not to but when they do appreciate them. No matter how small the help appreciate your helpers. The fellow who rendered a small assistance today has the potential to render a bigger one tomorrow. Appreciate those the Lord has used to bring help to you. You may think you will never need them again and later need them at a crucial hour. When Abraham finally decided to send Hagar away, the only person who could have pleaded for her was Sarah but she could not to turn her because she failed to appreciate her earlier.

REMEMBER: You may think that you will never need that fellow’s help again, but something might happen in the future that will require you to run back to him for help.

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus