“AND THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH”

MEMORY VERSE: For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 21-25

Genesis 2:24 says: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” There are several lessons to learn from this verse; for instance, marriage – as recorded in the Holy Scriptures - is a union between a man and a woman not a man and several women, Steve and Steve, Mary and Mary or man/woman and an animal. Also, marriage is a union between a man and a woman not a man and a girl or a boy and a woman or worse still, a boy and a girl. There are many brothers with full grown beards who are still boys. Someone once threatened to kill himself because a lady dumped him. You know for a fact that such fellow is a boy. Also, there are many sisters with full developed bodies who are still girls. A man has to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

 Unfortunately, many cultures frown at this. It is seen as a sign of weakness for a man to cleave to his wife.
“They shall become one flesh”, what does this mean? Man (and woman) is tripartite in nature. In other words, man has three parts; namely, spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The spirit is the part of man that relates to the unseen spiritual world; viz, God and Satan. The soul is the part of man that relates to the mental realm; viz, his reasoning and intellectual powers. The body is the part of man that deals with his physical environment . In a nutshell, man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body. To become one in flesh means to become one in spirit, soul and body. What does it mean to be one in spirit? It simply means to agree in matters relating to spirituality and God; i.e. biblical doctrine and practices. It is advised that husbands and their wives attend the same church, listen to the same sermons, read the same books, attend the same seminars, have the same spiritual parents or disciplers, etc. 1 Corinthians 7:5 says: “Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” Some deliberately fast to punish their husbands or wives. This is not a good practice. Besides,such fast is a hunger strike and nothing worthwhile will come out of it. To be one in soul means to agree in matters relating to vision, purpose, ambition, goals, etc. To be one in body is quite straight forward. Many marriages fail because the man and the woman that are joined in Holy Matrimony refuse to become one in flesh; viz, spirit, soul and body. The husband is heading north and the wife, south. The husband has his goals and the wife has her goals too. They are not united in their vision, purpose or goal. Some couple agree on everything except finances. The husband has his money and the wife has hers.

NOTE: Dear single brother/ sister, if you are not one in spirit with the person you want to marry; i.e. you disagree in matters relating to spirituality and God, please seek counselling before you go to the altar. If you believe in holiness, righteousness or tithing and the person you want to marry does not believe in them, I will advise you tread carefully.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.

ARE YOU PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT?

MEMORY VERSE: Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Isaiah 43:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 11-20

Please ignore anyone who tells you that God loves everyone equally. That is not true. The Lord said concerning Esau and Jacob, long before they were born, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (Romans 9:13).” The same God who created Esau and Jacob said to Rebekah whilst she was pregnant, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger (Genesis 25:13).” One will be deluding himself or herself if he or she thinks that God loves everyone equally. He said in Isaiah 43:4, “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” You will realize from meditating on Isaiah 43:4 that some are precious in His sight and some are not. Many years ago, some men were travelling from Okenne, Kogi State, to another part of Nigeria. As they were about to set off, one of the men who sat in the back seat requested to swap seats with a young man who sat in the front passenger seat. The young man agreed and they swapped seats. Two minutes later, their vehicle was involved in a ghastly motor accident and the man who sat in the front passenger seat died instantly because of the injury he sustained. The man who swapped seats with him (and sat at the back) escaped with a mark to the side of his face.

Isaiah 43:4b says: “therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life”. The question is this, who created the men He promised to give for your life and my life? He created them. Proverbs 11:8 says: “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead." Whenever trouble opens its mouth to swallow a child of God, the Lord will replace him or her with the wicked. An example that comes to mind is the incident that happened to a Christian brother at his place of work some years back. Whilst he was on holiday, someone drove one of the company vehicles without signing it out and was fined for over-speeding. The police contacted the organization and when they could not produce the fellow who drove the vehicle, they decided to take the organization to court. In other to save their image, the company decided to sacrifice someone and the person they decided to sacrifice was this Christian Brother, the fleet manager. On the day they were going to sack him, the Lord delivered him and the manager, his manager, who wanted to sacrifice him was sacrificed instead. This brings us to the question, are you precious in His sight? Proverbs 8:17 says: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Do you love the Lord? Firstly, only believers, born-again Christians, are precious in His sight. If you hate Jesus you are not precious in Lord's sight. Secondly, only those who love Him are precious in His sight. John 14:23 says: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Thirdly, only those who fear Him are precious in His sight. Proverbs 16:6 says: “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”

NOTE: You cannot claim to fear God and accept bribe. You cannot claim to love God and fornicate.
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DID HE SEND YOU?

MEMORY VERSE: And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. Luke 10:41

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 41-42

READ: Luke 10:38-42

Luke 10:38 says: “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.” I want you to take note of this sentence - “Martha received him into her house”. Jesus didn’t force His way into Martha’s house; she opened her door to Him out of her own volition. Jesus will never force His way into your life except you open the door to Him. He said in Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” No one has ever opened his door to Jesus and regretted it. Whoever opens his or her heart to Jesus will receive everything Jesus has to offer. Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17), and He will give them to anyone who asks in faith.

Jesus sat and taught in Martha’s house. Mary, Martha’s younger sister, sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His gracious Words. I want you to take note of where Mary sat – “at Jesus’ feet”. Bro, where are you currently sitted? Mary had a teachable spirit. She sat at Jesus’ feet to learn. Martha, on the other hand, was in the kitchen preparing food. She was busy preparing food for Him without asking Him if He wanted to eat and what He wanted to eat. What if He was fasting? No wonder, Jesus rebuked her when she came to report Mary for not assisting her in the kitchen. Luke 10:41 says: “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.”

Did Martha bother to know what Jesus wanted to eat? NO! Had she asked, Jesus would have told her not to bother. Many of us are like Martha in that we are busy serving without asking the Lord what He wants us to do or in what capacity He wants us to serve. Martha wasted all that food, time and effort doing what she was not sent to do. I doubt she got a thank you from the Lord for the food. Many of us are expecting a "thank you" from God for doing what He has not sent us to do. Who sent you on that mission you are on? Don’t expect a reward for a task He has not given to you. Those unassigned tasks are “weights” and they can pull you down. Hebrews 12:1 says: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Don’t join groups in the church because your friends are part of that group. The Lord may want your friend to be part of the protocol team and you, a choir. You will know if the Lord is leading you to join a group. Many a time, the Lord will speak to your pastor who will then direct you to the right group to join.

NOTE: You must ask yourself from time to time, "Why am I doing what I am doing?" Brother, why are you in the prayer warrior group? Is it because it is convenient or because you want to stand in the gap? If you are doing it because it is convenient, you will leave once it becomes inconvenient. If you are in a group because your friends are there, if care is not taken you will leave when they leave too.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.

ENROUTE TO JERUSALEM

MEMORY VERSE: Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Ecclesiastes 9:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 31-40

READ: Luke 19:1-9

A large crowd followed Jesus as He walked through the streets of Jericho. There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector. He was a wealthy man. He heard that Jesus was in town and he made up his mind to see Him. There was one little problem; he was a man of small stature. However, he vowed in his heart to do everything humanly possible to see the Lord. Whilst contemplating on what to do, an idea dropped into his heart. “Why not climb up a tree”, he thought to himself. God will inspire you today in the name of Jesus. An idea, a great one, a life transforming one, will drop into your heart in the name of Jesus. He ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree. The bible did not tell us how long he waited on that tree before Jesus arrived at the location. That's immaterial. What matters is he waited until Jesus arrived. People must have made fun of him as he tried to climb the tree. "Look at that short man trying to climb a tree", they must have said cheekily. Does it really matter what people say? No, it doesn't! Zacchaeus probably didn’t take notice of the people who were making fun of him; he knew what he wanted and focused on his goal of seeing Jesus. Focus on your goal this year. Finally, Jesus arrived at the location. He stopped under the tree Zacchaeus was on and looked up. Jesus, no matter how busy, always has time for people for like Zacchaeus - people who are desperate to see Him. Luke 19:5 says: “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” I can’t imagine the look on the face of Zacchaeus when the Lord looked up and smiled at him.

The bible records, in John 2:24, that Jesus knew the heart of all men. He knew the heart desire of Zacchaeus. He knew this poor man wanted to serve Him. One would have thought that Jesus would have allowed Zacchaeus to join His train to Jerusalem just like that but He didn’t. You see, our God is a God of order. He does not do things anyhow. There are certain issues that must be dealt with, first, before He will allow any man to follow Him. You cannot follow the Lord when there are unsettled matters at home. Jesus went home with Zacchaeus. Whilst in Zacchaeus' living room, the Holy Spirit began to convict Zacchaeus of the "wrongs" that needed to be made right. The Holy Spirit convicted him of restitutions that needed to be made. The same thing with you and me, no matter how passionate we are about the things of God, Jesus will not allow us to join His "train to Jerusalem" until He literally goes home with us to settle the matters at home. Those pornographic movies have to be destroyed first before Jesus will allow you to join Him. Those books you borrowed years back needs to be returned. Those immoral acts you are involved in such as; masturbation, phone sex, fornication, kerb crawling, visiting brothels, dating married men and women, must stop. Abortion must stop. Ecclesiastes 9:8 says; “Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.” Bleaching of your skin must stop if you want to follow Jesus. Gossiping and speaking evil of brethren must stop if you want to follow Jesus.

QUESTION: Is your garment still white? Or, it has been stained by sin.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to wash you in His blood and promise Him never to return to your old ways.

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WILL HE FIND YOU? PART TWO

MEMORY VERSE: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 21-30

There are several types of prayers; today, by the special grace of God, we will be looking at intercessory prayers. To intercede means literally to “come in between God.” The intercessor is one who comes in between God and those for whom he is praying. Intercession is one of the highest arts of a Christian life. Sadly, many of us rarely pray intercessory prayers and when we do, we spend little or no time doing it. We spend quality time bombarding heaven with our personal prayer requests – things we want God to do, household enemies we want Him to destroy, etc. – but we rarely pray for others. Many of us who claim to intercede for others only intercede for our close friends. Ezekiel 22:30 says: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” The Bible is littered with examples of men and women who made a difference through their intercessory prayers. Abraham, in Genesis 18, stood in between God and a city. Verse 22 says: “And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.” This is the position of an intercessor. Abraham stood in front of the Lord and said, “Lord, hold on a moment. Don’t go just yet. I have something to say to You.” In a sense, he held the Lord back. And then began a time of bargaining.

Intercessory prayer is a must for all believers. One group of people the Bible enjoins us to pray for are leaders. We have a responsibility as believers to pray for Presidents, State Governors, Principals, Vice Chancellors, Police Chiefs, Head of Departments, Pastors, just name it. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 says; “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.” Someone asked, I want to intercede but I don’t know who to intercede for. You can intercede for judges all over the world. Pray that God will give them boldness and wisdom to judge cases correctly. Many innocent people are being committed to prisons whilst the guilty roam around the street. You can also intercede for men especially fathers. Pray that God will fill them with wisdom and give them the wherewithal to look after their families. You can pray for marriages all over the world. Pray that the Lord will still every storm affecting marriages. Pray for the police and security agencies. They need our prayers to do their jobs. There are a lot of wicked people out there and except God helps them, they will not be able to do their jobs effectively. Pray for missionaries. Many of us forget to pray for missionaries. Remember, some of them left families to do God's work. Pray for the family they left behind. Pray for those on the sick bed that God will miraculously heal them. Pray for those who have lost loved ones that the Lord will comfort them. A lot of accidents could have been prevented if only believers prayed when the Holy Spirit nudged them to pray.
NOTE: God is looking for people who will stand in the gap for the barren, singles, pastors, wives, etc. Will He find you? Your prayer in Congo can prevent a car accident in Nepal.

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WILL HE FIND YOU? PART ONE

MEMORY VERSE: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 11-20

What is prayer? According to Noah Webster’s dictionary 1828 edition, it is a solemn address to the Supreme Being, consisting of adoration, or an expression of our sense of God's glorious perfections, confession of our sins, supplication for mercy and forgiveness, intercession for blessings on others, and thanksgiving, or an expression of gratitude to God for his mercies and benefits. There are several types of prayer. There is the prayer of praise and thanksgiving. Praise is offered to God for who He is and what He does in general. A popular form of praise is a eulogy. “You are the Biggest… You are the Greatest….. You are the Wisest….. You are the Strongest….. You are the Best….”, are forms of eulogies. God loves it when we eulogise Him. Unfortunately, many don’t eulogise Him and some of us who do spend a little time doing it. Going through the Scriptures, I discovered that whenever people eulogise God, He does wonders. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is offered to God for what He has done for us in particular. You thank Him specifically for what He did. You slept last night and He woke you up this morning, thank Him for that. Why? Not everyone who slept last night woke up this morning. Thank Him for your vision. Why? Many lost their vision last week. Now, granted, if you are having an emergency – you are about to slide into another car ahead of you – you do not have time to do a lot of talking. But apart from that, it is a good principle to start prayers with praise and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving gives you access into His court and praise gives you access into His presence. Psalm 100:4 says: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Another type of prayer is worship. Worship is not singing hymns or choruses or slow songs; worship is not a declaration of God’s attributes. Vocal expression has to do with praise and thanksgiving; worship has to do with attitude. What’s your attitude in prayer? Different attitudes are represented by different words. One means to bend the head low. Another means to bend the upper part of the body forward and stretch out the hands. A third means to prostrate oneself face downward in the presence of the One whom one is worshipping. NOTE: Thanksgiving and praise are vocal, meaning they come out of our mouths; worship is the attitude or (of position of the body) in which we come. There is the prayer of petition which means asking for physical and material needs to be met. Might I remind you that praying is not just thinking of anything we want and asking for it. Praying is discovering God’s revealed purpose in Scripture, and then praying for the outworking of that purpose. Also, there is the prayer of intercession. The intercessor is one who comes between God and those for whom he is praying. There are several other types of prayers and we have treated them in the past. God willing, sometimes this year, if God delays His second coming, we will repost them. Prayer is one powerful tool believers, all round the world, have to turn things around. Another one is speaking in tongues. John Wesley wrote this in his journal: “ I am persuaded that God does everything by prayer and nothing without it”. Paul, the apostle, said in Phillipians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” You can achieve a lot through prayers. You can destroy the plans of the enemy in advance. Through the power of prayer, Jesus destroyed the plans of the enemy over Peter’s life. Luke 22:31- 32 says: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Peradventure you have been set up to fail like Jabez, if you will cry to God He will turn that around. Prayer changes things –events, people, situations ,etc. Prayer also fixes things. It fixes a bad marriage. Prayer also corrects things.

NOTE: God is only committed to answering the prayers of His children. Before you go to Him, you need to ask yourself this personal question, am I lamb or a goat. Am I His child? If you have not given your life to Christ you are not His child, period!

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IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

MEMORY VERSE: Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? Isaiah 66:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 5-10

One of the names of God is “The Greatest” (Isaiah 66:1). The word “greatest” suggests a comparison between entities or things in the same class. God is so great there is nothing to compare His greatness with. In terms of greatness, He is in a class of His own. His arms, according to Deuteronomy 33:27, are everlastingly long. From His throne in heaven, He can touch you wherever you are in the world. Attached to His hands are His great palms – so big that the whole universe can fit into it (Isaiah 40:21). His eyes run through the whole earth (2 Chronicles 16:9). You will agree with me that a pair of eyes that runs to and from throughout the whole earth are not small eyes.

Another name of God is “The Highest”(Lamentations 3:35). The word “highest”, again, suggests a comparison between entities in the same class. According to Revelations 19:16, He is the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. David, one of the greatest warrior that ever lived, described Him as the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts means the commander in chief of all the hosts or armies in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth (1 Samuel 17:45). He is the Supreme Ruler. Our God is “The Strongest” (Isaiah 13:13). In terms of strength, He is in a class of His own. Comparing God to anything is simply comparing the incomparable. Describing Him is like describing the indescribable. Or, explaining His existence is explaining the unexplainable. He is bigger than the whole earth yet He can fit into you. He is far and close at the same time. He is in heaven, in UK, USA, Germany, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, etc, all at the same time. He is present everywhere at the same time. He is listening to the worship of the angels in heaven, listening to prayer requests in Cambodia, Vietnam, Congo, etc, all at the same time. The whole world speaks to Him at the same time and He hears them all at the same time. He is speaking to me, you, to those in villages, golf courses, offices, etc, all at the same time. He is too big to measure. He is too much to count. He is too bright to look at. He is beyond human comprehension. Imagine, He created everyone –there is nothing on earth that was not created – yet no one created Him. He gave life to every living organism yet no one gave life to Him. He feeds everyone yet no one feeds Him. The whole world depends on Him and yet He depends on no one. He protects everyone and yet He needs no protection. He meets the needs of all and yet He lacks nothing. He is the only Teacher that was never taught. He is the One who can’t be made wiser. He is the rich One who cannot be made richer. He is the great One who cannot be made greater. He can change the unchangeable; reverse the irreversible; move the unmovable; break the unbreakable, etc. Indeed, He is in a class of His own!

ACTION: Meditate on the greatness of our God and praise Him.

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