HANDLING ANGER

MEMORY VERSE: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Ephesians 4:26

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 13-14

Two forceful personalities in a relationship are like two rivers flowing into one; there is definitely going to be a strong current. Anger comes in different forms. It can be like a flash of lightening or prolonged like the rumble of thunder. Sometimes we clash painfully, other times we distance and silently abandon the relationship. But, anger handled the right away doesn’t have to destroy (the relationship that has been built over the years).

There are few things we can do to handle our anger. Firstly, let’s be honest when we are angry. When angry, do not deny it. Let’s not pretend that all is well when all is not well. It is perfectly normal to get angry when people are mistreated and wrongs are not being made right. We are right to get angry when people falsely accuse us of something we know nothing about. Ignoring the other person, stifling, suppressing the anger or pretending that we are not angry is basically dishonest. Another form of lying when we are angry is exaggeration. “You never listen to what i say.” “You always ignore my wishes.” “You are always doing these things to get me angry.” Such generalizations are untrue and serve only to aggravate and polarize, guaranteeing the real problem gets obscured and goes unresolved. Another way to lie when we are angry is blaming. “It is your fault that this happened to us.” “Maybe if you had arrived on time i wouldn’t have to nag you.” Blaming is a way of evading our own responsibility while pointing the finger at others. It angers others, perpetuates our own anger and never produces the result we want. Blaming is counter-productive.

Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” What this means is that we must not let our anger escalate to the point of doing damage. When angry we must not use our words as a weapon or a control mechanism. It is okay to express our emotions in a healthy way; we must keep them in check. Our goal must be to resolve the problem and strengthen the relationship, not ‘sound off’ and wound the other person. Words spoken in jest, sarcasm, self- righteousness or ‘righteous indignation’ wound people, sometimes permanently. Perverseness of the tongue breaks people’s spirit. Proverbs 15:4 says, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” Angry words, once unleashed, can: “go down into a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 16:22). Our words can live in the heart and memory of a person and go all the way to the grave with them. A person can die of crushed spirit, and the one who spoke the words can live to regret the damage that they inflicted and never get a chance to undo it. On the other hand, anger properly handled never needs to be repented of.

NOTE: We must learn to differentiate between the anger we feel and the words we speak. Anger, carefully thought through, can reveal important information about needed changes.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please rid me of anger.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

QUIT MAKING EXCUSES

MEMORY VERSE: Alas, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young. Jeremiah 1:6

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 4

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” It is one thing for God to want to bless an individual; it is another thing for that to happen. It is one thing for God to want to give an individual a major breakthrough; it is another thing for that to materialize. It is one thing for God to want to take an individual to the very top; it is another thing for that to happen at God’s time or even happen at all. It is one thing for God to want to give a brother a good sister as wife or a sister a good brother as husband; it is another thing for that to happen for the brother or the sister. One of the things that has prevented many from becoming who God wants them to be or becoming who God created them to be is ‘excuses’.

Moses was born to be a deliverer. God created him for the sole purpose of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt to the promise land. When the Lord sent him to Pharaoh, he came up with an excuse. Exodus 4:10 says, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” The same thing with Jeremiah, God ordained him to be a prophet from his mother’s womb. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” When the Lord called him into ministry, he too gave an excuse. Jeremiah 1:6 says, “Alas, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” How about Esther? The Lord raised her from dunghill to sit with kings and queens. She was an ordinary orphan before the Lord elevated her to become the queen of a whole kingdom. When it was time for her to speak for her people because that was why God put her there ( to speak for her people), she too came up with an excuse. Esther 4:11 says, “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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 sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days."

I thank God that He did not allow Moses, Jeremiah, and Esther to have their way. He insisted, directly or indirectly, that they carry out His assignment. They did and profited greatly from carrying it out. One thing that will hinder you from becoming who God created you to be is the excuse you are giving not the devil or household enemy. Those excuses will not take you anywhere. There is no man or woman alive who does not have an excuse. Every great man or great woman you read about today or hear their stories had excuses not to do those things they did that made them great. Many miss church because they are not feeling well. Not everyone who comes to church feels well. Some despite their menstrual pain still come to church. Friend, you are not the only one who has excuses. I read the inspiring story of a man named Stephen Sutton. At the age of 15 he was diagnosed with cancer. He decided that although it was over for him, he would raise enough money to cater for other cancer patients. Before he died at the age of 19, he had raised over 4.96 million pounds from over 340,000 donors. This young man had a genuine excuse to be unhappy. He had a genuine excuse to complain and moan. He had a genuine excuse to sit back and wait for death but he didn't. He decided to raise money for charity.

NOTE: Excuses and self-pity will not take you anywhere.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

WHAT IS HOLINESS?

MEMORY VERSE: For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.1 Thessalonians 4:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 1-6

What is Holiness? We are not talking about the type of holiness we parade in public. We are not talking about how you, as a brother, carry or conduct yourself in the church or in the midst of other Christian brothers, NO! There are a lot of us, brothers, who are soft and cool as a cucumber in the church but something else at home or at work. There are many of us who are tyrants at home. We exhume so much love to people in church but at home we are terror. We curse and call our wives terrible names. Some of us even make reference to their past - something they shared with us out of love. For some of us, any time there is a misunderstanding we stop eating the food she prepared . Some of us even keep malice with our wives for weeks. Also, there are sisters who are sweet in church. They lift up holy hands in church but at home they are a totally different person. Some of them use sex to punish their husbands whenever there is a misunderstanding between them and their husbands. Some sisters even refuse to cook for their husbands whenever there is a misunderstanding at home.

When we talk of holiness, we are not talking of how we conduct ourselves on the pulpit. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when no member is around. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when we are in traffic and someone cuts us in. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when a scantily dressed lady passes by and no one who knows us is around. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when a member, who instead of dropping his or her tithes in the offering basket, gives them to us. Do we convert them to personal use or pay them into the church treasury? If we want to be sincere with ourselves, the only individual who can tell us whether a brother is holy or not, is his wife - the woman who lives with him under the same roof. Or, colleagues at work - people who work with him. The same thing with sisters, only their husbands can tell us whether they are indeed a sweet saint or not. We don’t really know if a brother is living in love or not unless we ask his wife. So also a sister, we don’t know if she is submissive or not unless we ask her husband. If we want to really know who a student is, let’s go to his or her university campus.

What is holiness? Holiness is a ‘calling’. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 says, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” This ‘calling’ is on my life, your life, and the life of everyone who has accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and savior. For us to be able to answer this ‘call’ God has made some provisions. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Our sinful nature have been crucified with Christ. Holiness is also our pass code or passkey to God. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Holiness is a requirement for answered prayers. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

NOTE: The reason why many of us are struggling to live holy is because we are not taking advantage of the things God has put in place to help us live holy. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

PRAYER POINT: Father, please circumcise my heart.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

YOU AND YOUR STAR

MEMORY VERSE: Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Matthew 2:2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 69-71

BIBLE STUDY : Matthew 2

There is no man or woman who does not have a star. Matthew 2:2 says, "Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Just as that little baby had a star, you and i have a star. God was trying to show Abraham, that night when He took him out and told him to look towards heaven, the stars of his unborn children (Genesis 15:5). This 'star' is not something we can see with our physical eyes or with a telescope. It can only be seen with the spiritual eyes or the 'third' eye. Our stars reveal important information about our lives. Our star reveal God's plans for our lives . Our star also reveal who we really are. That baby in Matthew 2 was not an ordinary child; He was a divine child. To the parents of the baby He was just a child, but the wise men knew better. They knew He was the King of the Jews; this, they decoded from His star. No wonder when they saw Him, the bible records that they fell down and worshiped Him ( Matthew 2:11).

Just as those three wise men were able to see the star of that child, there are people who are able to see our stars. Many many years ago, an elderly woman met me as i was about to board a public transport and told me that one day i will travel abroad. At that time, i didn't have a passport talk less of have a visa to travel. Today, what she said has now materialized to the glory of God. That old woman saw beyond the physical. She saw my star. Thank God she was not a wicked woman. That young baby did not have any problem until Herod heard about His star. From the day he heard that the King of the Jews had been born, he started to plan how to destroy him. Herod represents spiritual wickedness. The problems some are facing started when the enemy saw their stars. Do you know the parents of this child lived in peace until Herod heard about the star of their child (Matthew 2:13)? There are parents facing attacks all because the enemy saw the star of their child. After Herod discovered that the three wise men did not return with the location of the child, he passed an evil decree that all children from two years old and under should be killed (Matthew 2:16). There are certain evil laws that are being made right as we speak all because the enemy has seen someone's star. The good news is that the enemy did not succeed over that young baby. Oh, they tried! They did all they could do but the Lord frustrated their efforts. Just as those wicked people who heard about the star of that child did not succeed, no man or woman will succeed in destroying you because of your star. Whether they will succeed or not will be dependent on whose side you are. Are you on the Lord's side? Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and savior? Do you hate what He hates and love what He loves.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, please hide my star from the wicked one. Father, please destroy every Herod that is seeking to destroy me because of my star. Father, every challenge that is coming to me as result of what you want to do in my life, please put an end to them today.

WARNING: Be discreet. Watch who you share certain information about your life with.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

THEIR WEAPONS SHALL NOT PROSPER

MEMORY VERSE: No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, says the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Kings 10-13

There is no place in the bible where the Lord promised that once a man or woman give his or her life to Christ everything will be hunky-dory. There will be a lot of challenges on the way. There will be persecutions. A lot of your close friends and relatives will find your new way of life boring because you no longer entertain people saying terrible things behind people’s back, you no longer go out and get drunk, you rebuke them sharply when they share dirty jokes with you, you no longer accept bribes, you no longer participate in office deals, when they do something wrong you no longer cover for them, etc. Not only that, people will start attacking you for being too religious. When all these begin to happen don’t panic because the Lord has everything under control.

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, says the LORD.” The bible did not say they will not fashion their weaposn against you, no. They will fashion it but it will not prosper i.e. it will not be able to harm you. I don’t know who is planning something against you in your place of work. I don’t know the lies they are cooking up against you in the ministry. I don’t even know how far they have gone in fashioning those weapons or those involved in fashioning the weapon. This is the word of the Lord, "no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper”. Psalm 21:11 says, “For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.”

Not only will their weapons not prosper, they will fall for your sake. Isaiah 54:15 says, “Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.” When you go through the bible, you will find that virtually everyone who tried to harm a child of God paid dearly for it. Oh Yes! Haman was hanged on the same gallows he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). The same people who hatched the plan to throw Daniel into the lion’s death ended up in the lion’s den with their families (Daniel 6). I will never forget an incident that happened when i was in the secondary school. We were in the exam hall writing a paper when the invigilator came in and began to search everyone. Unknown to me, the boy who sat behind had the answers to the questions with him. Immediately he saw the invigilator, he squeezed it and threw it under my chair. The invigilator found it under my chair and took me out of the exam hall. At the end of the day, the boy and his friends were caught. He wanted to get me into trouble but God turned it around. He and his friends repeated the class but i was promoted.

NOTE: If you are busy planning or scheming against any child of God you better stop because you are playing with fire.

CONFESSION: No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

IS YOUR LOVE FOR HIM UNDER ATTACK?

MEMORY VERSE: All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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 sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. Esther 4:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 1-3

Esther 4:11 says, “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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 sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.” The state of Esther’s relationship with King Ahasuerus (her husband) in Esther 4:11 can be compared to the state of our relationship with our ‘Husband’- our Maker. Isaiah 54:5 says, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” For Esther, she did not hear from her husband for thirty days. For some of us, we have not heard from our Husband (our Maker) in weeks and some, months. Some of us have not heard His voice in weeks. Some cannot even remember the last time we experienced His overwhelming presence. Many of us cannot remember the last time we saw a vision. Back in those days, He used to reveal things to us, either in a dream or vision, before it happens. Back in those days, He used to tell us what the pastor will preach on and the bible text he or she will use before we get to church. Some of us were so close to Him that He used to open our eyes and we will see His angels all around us but today it is not so.

The question is this, what happened? Could it be that you have now put on weight and your Husband (your Maker) is no longer interested in you? A type of weight some of us have put on is 'pride'. Could it be that you have stopped putting effort into looking good for Him? Is you garment of righteousness not stained with sin? It could be that your garment is now torn. When you appear before Him, you come in rags. Have you not allowed bitterness and unforgiveness in your heart? These things do tear one's garment apart. Could it be that your priority has now changed? Is your number one priority still to please Him? Is your number one priority still to obey Him not caring about the cost ? It may not be any of these. You may even be living a life of holiness and you observe that things are not what it used to be between you and your Maker. It could be that your love for your Husband (your Maker) is now under attack. You don’t know why but you just don’t feel as excited as you used to feel when you study the bible. You no longer have time for bible study or bible study has now become boring to you. You now arrive at church late or sometimes you don't go at all. Praying and fasting have now become very tedious that you can't even remember the last time you fasted. Winning souls and follow up are no longer your hobby. The farther we are from God, the closer we are to a life of pain and hardship. The farther we are from our Husband, the closer we are to unusual challenges and disappointments.

NOTE: The biggest risk a man can take is to stray away from the presence of God

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PRAYER POINT: Every attack on my love for my creator, back to sender in Jesus name.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

ATTACK ON LOVE

MEMORY VERSE: All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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 sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. Esther 4:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 11-12

Love is powerful. Lovers give gifts to each other. Because God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son (John 3:16). Because Jesus loved His friends, He gave His life for them (John 15:13). In addition, lovers love to spend time with each other. They will pay any price to be together. Jacob so loved Rachel that he was willing to pay any price to have her, by him, all the days of his life. Genesis 29:20 says, “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” King Ahasuerus chose Esther to be his queen because he loved her. Esther 2:7 says, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.” He could have picked any of the virgins presented to him but he picked Esther out of love .

Esther 4:11 says, “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, 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 sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.” For thirty days, Esther did not set her eyes on her husband. The king did not set his eyes on her too and he didn't bother to send for her. Why? This is unusual between two lovers. What some of our sisters are facing is similar to what Esther faced back then; it is as if they no longer exist to their husbands. It is so bad, some husbands don't even notice when their wives make a new hairstyle talk less of compliment her.

A lot 'could have' contributed to Esther loosing relevance before the king or his dwindling love for her , for instance, maybe Esther stopped putting effort into looking good for the king. Dearest sister, do you still put effort into looking good for your husband? Maybe Esther's priority changed. Her number one priority used to be to please the king but now it is something else. Maybe her number one priority used to be to serve the king but that has now changed? Beloved sister, could it be that your priority has now changed? Your career or children are now your number one priority not your king i.e. husband. It could be that Esther became familiar with the king. It could be that she took the attention he showed to her for granted. It could be that she began to treat the king as her equal not her head. Sister, do you now talk to your husband any how? Do you now shut him up and disrespect him? Esther was a good and respectful woman. She could not have been guilty of any of these. What happened was the enemy attacked her marriage. The enemy is still in the business of attacking Christian marriages. He attacks the husband's love for his wife and vice versa. The enemy wanted to destroy the Jews. He knew the only way to succeed in the task was to attack the king's love for her so that she will not be able to stop the destruction of the Jews.Thank God she prayed and the attack was repelled.

PRAYER POINT: Father, we come against every attack of the enemy on Christian marriages and courtship.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.