GO AND FISH

MEMORY VERSE: You do not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you, John 15:16

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 9, Ps 45, Sng 7, Heb 7

BIBLE STUDIES: Mathew 17:24-27

There are very few instances in the bible where you will find Jesus in need of something. He always has more than enough. One of the very few instances where Jesus was in need is recorded in Matthew 17:24-27. Jesus and His disciples went to the temple to pray, some men approached him and requested for temple tax. Since He had no money on Him, He told Peter to go to the sea, cast his hook and take the first fish that comes up. He told him to open the mouth of the fish, take the money there and use it to pay for the temple tax. There are a lot to learn from this story but I want us to focus on what Jesus did when the need for temple tax arose. He told Peter to go and fish. Spiritually fishing means soul winning. In Luke 5:1-10, Jesus told Peter that He would make him a fisher of men. Fisher of men to mean a fellow who brings souls to Christ.

In the mouth of every fish you catch for Jesus, there is gold there for you. For every soul you bring to Christ, there is a big reward. People who do not witness or are too shy to witness about Christ are robbing themselves of good things. One thing common with people who witness about Christ regularly is that they always have testimonies to share. Also one of the conditions that you must satisfy before going to God over any matter is that you must ensure that you are bearing fruit i.e. bringing people to Christ and your fruit must remain which simply means you must do follow up. John 15:16 says you do not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 

A particular sister who had been looking for a life partner for a long time heard a message like this and made up her mind to start witnessing for Christ. The first brother she brought to the Lord became her husband. She is happily married with children now. An illiterate driver heard a message like this and decided to start fishing for Christ. One day he witnessed to his educated boss and that one gave his life to Christ. When this boss was promoted and transferred abroad, instead of terminating his contract and sending him away he took his beloved driver with me. Today that driver that used to be an illiterate is now a well to do man courtesy of the doors of opportunity that opened to him in the foreign land. That gold or opportunity you are looking for could be lying in the mouth of a fish (unsaved soul). When I first joined my current church, a sister took it upon herself to do follow up with me. Every time she didn't see me at church she would check on me to see if all is well and encourage me to come the next Sunday. With time my attendance improved and I didn’t need any follow up again. One day during one of our evening services, the Lord instructed me to bless her financially and I obeyed. When she opened the envelope I gave to her, she burst into tears .It was then I knew that she had been struggling financially for a while and the Lord had visited her. It is not a coincidence that the Lord used the brother she was doing follow up on to meet her her needs.She found gold in the mouth of the fish she caught for Christ. If she had not done the follow up, who would the Lord have used? Maybe no one. 

KEY WORD: Evangelism is for your own good.

FED FOR SLAUGHTER

MEMORY VERSE: but thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of the slaughter, Jeremiah 12:3

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 8, Ps 44, Sng 6, Heb 6 

God wants you to prosper. It will be a disaster for the father to be rich and the son is poor. If the Lord owns the whole world according to Psalm 24:1 and Haggai 2:8 says silver and gold belong to Him ( gold to stand for economy), why then should His children be poor? If for one reason or the other you are struggling, it may be because you need Jesus. If you already have Jesus, and you are living a life of holiness and still struggling, I want to tell you that that struggle is temporary. It is temporary because Psalms 30:5 says weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning so friends’ joy is coming. Not only that the Lord says in Isaiah 3:10, say ye to the righteous, that it shall be with him. So regardless of what struggles you are going through all will be well, amen.

Our physical prosperity is hinged on our spiritual prosperity or our soul. The Lord loves you too much to prosper you above your spiritual prosperity. Solomon was a prime example of a man who prospered above his soul, what did he do with the prosperity? He just collected woman and concubines. This man had 700 wives and 300 concubines. God pegs our physical prosperity on our spiritual prosperity because He does not want His gifts to take us to hell. 3 John 2 says I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. If you are really serious about prospering, one of the things you need to do is read your bible more. Not only that you need to pay attention to living a life of holiness. 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.

When you see a fellow prospering above his soul or prospering whilst living in disobedience to the law of God you need to watch out. Back in Africa we use traps to catch birds. Since chickens love corns, we would strategically arrange corns to lead to a small hut. The chickens start picking the corns from where they have been strategically positioned and before they know it they are in the small hut where it is too late to run. The reason why we feed this chicken with corn is because we want to catch them, kill and cook them. We feed them not because we like them but because we want to slaughter them. This is the exact thing the devil does. He prospers people whilst living in disobedience to God’s word or prospers them above their soul so he can destroy them later; he feeds them for slaughter. He uses these things to lure them to himself so he can destroy them. 

PRAYER POINT: Father, please let me never have what you have not giving to me.

THE REAL LOVE

MEMORY VERSE: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:16.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 7, Ps 42-43, Sng 5, Heb 5 

Love is not cheap, it costs something. Anyone who loves free stuff should forget about love because it comes at price. One of the prices sisters have to pay depending on culture is that they have to drop their maiden names and pick up the surname or last name of the brother they get married to. In other words they have to drop their identity and assume a new identity. Not only that, they have to move from a known territory (her father’s house) to an unknown territory (husband’s family) also depending on cultures. They have to move from a place where 24 hours unconditional love is guaranteed to a place where it might not be guaranteed especially if the bro is not God fearing. A bro who is not God fearing can just wake one morning and ask for divorce or worse still marry a new wife. This is why before you say 'i do’, get all clear from God first. One of the prices brothers have to pay is that what used to be ‘my salary’ now becomes ‘our salary’. Not only that, they are expected to love regardless even if the sister is the carbon copy of the devil! It even gets worse if the sister lacks the fear of God because anytime she can decide to have a boyfriend or sugar daddy, worse still ask for a divorce and take half of what you have worked for all your life. The cost is even greater when bro and sister begins to have kids because they have to channel all their resources – time, money, energy to the children in the name of love. 

The love relationship between God and man is an expensive one too. This relationship cost God His one and only begotten son – Jesus. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. God knowing what men is capable of and what they are going to do to His son, He gave Jesus. Jesus did the same thing to. He knew Peter would deny Him despite all He would do for him. He knew Judas would betray Him, despite all the trust He would give to him. He knew that many He died for would accept Him as their personal Lord and savior but refuse to witness. He knew some of whom He died would claim he did not die for them. Despite all these, out of love he still decided to die for the entire world. The love relationship between God and man will also cost man something. Abraham to prove His love for God had to pay a very expensive price. He had to sacrifice Isaac - the son of his old age. A son he waited for over twenty years to have. Paul too out of love had to sacrifice a very profitable career to be a witness for Christ. 

Friends, your love for Christ will cost you something. It cost Jesus His life on the cross of Calvary and it will definitely cost you something. You cannot really say you love Christ until that love has cost you something. I remember several years ago, while the pastor was preaching the Lord pointed my attention to the old wooden pulpit he was preaching from and I understood. I exhausted my savings and bought a brand new glass pulpit. It wasn’t a convenient thing to do but just like David said I will never give God an offering that cost me nothing, 1 Chronicles 21:24. To really love God, you must be ready for many inconveniences. Your love for Christ will cost you your sleep, strength, resources e.t.c. True love is expensive at times it might even cost you your job. During my final hearing case at work, one of the key evidences against me was a written testimony from a fellow I witnessed to and a note from one of my bible studies. They said I spent more time reading the bible and preaching than doing the job I was paid to do which was a big lie. Real love costs something but there is also a reward. Abraham gave Isaac to God and He got the land of Israel in return. Several years ago I gave all to buy a pulpit for God; today God gave all to rescue me from sure defeat at work. God Himself gave Jesus, but today He has over a million children all over the world including you and me.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to really love you as I should.

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE

MEMORY VERSE: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you, Matthew 7:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 6, Ps 40-41, Sng 4, Heb 4

The onus of asking rests on you. James 4:2 says ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. God rarely gives people what they don't ask for. When you study the bible closely, you will find that almost everyone who the Lord gave something they did not ask for disappointed God. Virtually all of them did not appreciate what God gave to them, they abused what was given to them and most of them used it as an opportunity to sin against God. Nine times out of ten, God actually regretted giving them what they did not ask for. Starting from Adam, out of noble intentions God decided to give him a wife. Although he did not ask God for it, God felt the need for this man to have a companion – someone he could hold hands with and talk to, someone he could share his love and affections with. What did Adam do after eating the forbidden fruit? He literally told God told to His face that He made him sin. He told God in Genesis 3:12, the woman you gave to me offered me the forbidden fruit and I ate.

Solomon did the same thing. All he asked for was wisdom but God decided to be generous towards this young man and He gave him wealth – something he did not ask for. When Solomon got hold of money, what did he do? He began to marry women. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines! He so wasted the money, he himself confessed in Ecclesiastes 2:10 that, anything he wanted, he took and did not deny himself of any pleasure. God decided that the best way is that men should ask and he will only give them what they ask for. That was how Matthew 7:7 which says: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you came about. 

There are several ways to ask for a thing. Actions they say speak louder than words. Even the elders have saying, actions breeds’ reactions. Luke 6:38 says give and it shall come back to you. When you give, you are simply asking for God to give back to you and it has been proven that those who give always have something to give. According to Exodus 20:12, when you obey your parents you are asking God for long life and prosperity. Matthew 5:7 says blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. When you are mercy to people, you are simply asking God to be merciful to you. Proverbs 8:17 says those who love Me, I love. When you love God, you are simply asking God to love you in return. How does a man love a God? John 14:21 says he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. John 14:15 says if you love me, keep my commands. When you keep God’s commands, you are showing Him love and asking Him to love you in return. One of the commandments of God is Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation, Mark 16:15. Ever since you have giving your life to Christ, you have never won a soul for Jesus and you say you love Him. This year alone, you have not witnessed to a soul and you are singing that you are a friend of God, are you really a friend of God?

QUESTION: Since all our actions are a requests before God, what are you asking from God?

OVERCOMING THE ENEMY

MEMORY VERSE: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death,Revelations 12:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 1, Ps 35, Eccl 11, Titus 3

Who is the enemy? The enemy is not that brother or sister at work who does not give you overtime or who is against you. And definitely your enemy is not that fellow you are not in talking terms with. Ephesians 6:12 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That fellow that is against you is actually a well wisher. He is only mean to you because he is starved of two things: 1) – your attention and 2) your love. This is why the bible advises that we love them and pray for them, Matthew 5:44. The enemy is the devil. John 10:10 calls him a thief, murderer and a destroyer. Revelations 12:10 calls him the accuser of brethren. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies. He is the tempter and author of all the wars and hunger in the world. He is a very terrible devil. The devil is everything we call him except a fool. He is extremely smart and full of all sorts’ trickery. He is very cunning. He does not like you and he is the only one the Lord permits you to hate with a passion.

I want to also add that the enemy is not a respecter of achievements, political posts, contacts or possession.How can one overcome the enemy? James 4:7 says submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The first thing you need to do is submit yourselves to God. When you submit yourself to God, you become God’s property. The devil knows his boundaries; he never comes near what belongs to God. This is why you must really give your life to Christ and stop pretending. If you refuse to give your life to Christ, you are at the mercy of the devil and he can do all he pleases with you. After you have giving your life to Christ, you can then tell the devil to get lost and he will run with his tail between his legs.

Another way to overcome the devil is through testimony. The devil rob many believers of their breakthrough because they fail to testify. Revelations 12:11 says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Immediately God does something in my life, I share with it at least five people because I don’t want him to rob me of what the Lord has done in my life. When you share your testimony, the Lord perfects your miracles and makes it permanent. Any breakthrough or miracle that has not been testified about can be lost at anytime. After the healing of the mad man of Gadara in Matthew 5:1-20, Jesus told him to go and testify to his family of what the Lord has done for him? Why? So that he would not lose his deliverance.

Action: The Lord has laid on my mind, to create a Facebook page called testimony board. This page is dedicated to testimonies alone. The page is up and running and the link to is below:
https://www.facebook.com/TestimonyBoard

You can share your testimonies freely on there. Please add your first name and the first letter of your second name to your testimony. We would also like to know where you are from. Remember your testimony can build the faith of others. If you are also feeling down, please visit the page and I can assure you that your faith would be fired up.

GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD

GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD

MEMORY VERSE: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world, 1 John 4:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 5, Ps 39, Sng 3, Heb 3

1 John 4:4 says ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. The question is who is the ‘He’ that is in you? The ‘He’ that is in you so big 2 Chronicles 2:6 says the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. According to Isaiah 66:1, He sits in heaven and uses the earth as His footstool. His palms are so big that all the waters in the world can fit into the hollow of His hands. He is so big, Deuteronomy 33:27 describes His arms as everlastingly long. His breathe alone can part an ocean. According to Exodus 15:8, the blast of His nostrils parted the red sea.

The ‘He’ that is in you is also very powerful. Psalms 24:8 calls Him the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Exodus 15:3 says the Lord is a man of war: the Lord is His name. Psalm 62:11 says power belongs to Him. Philippians 2:10 says at the mention of His name every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth bow. Not too long ago I was walking and praying over a matter. I noticed a man screaming at a particular bus stop and everyone was crossing over to the other side. In no time the bus stop was empty but because I wasn’t really paying much attention to what was happening, I walked towards the bus stop and walked past him and the man began to scream loudly behind me. At first I decided to ignore him but I remembered that greater is He that is in me than whatever is in this man making to scream and shout so I turned back to go and keep him quiet in the name of the Lord. As I turned back, this man kept quiet. I held eye contact with him for around a minute expecting him to shout but the spirit in him recognized the presence of God and it kept quiet. I turned back and left hoping to hear him scream but I heard nothing.

Not only is He powerful, He is a defender. Psalm 68:5 calls Him the father to the fatherless, and defender of the defenseless. Psalm 46:1 calls Him God of our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Few months back, the Lord explained the meaning of His name – Defender of the defenseless to me. There was this colleague of mine who took it upon himself to get me the sack for no reason. He did everything in his power – reported me to senior managers that I was reading the bible instead of working, preaching in the office and many more. He would laugh and joke with me, but behind my back he was making un-true allegations about me. At a point, some colleagues of mine had to come ask me if I had wronged him and I said no. Anyway the Defender of the defenseless moved into action and he was sacked. Do you know that the day he came back to pick his things; I was the one he met at the door. I had to escort him around to pick his things and all. God will defend you in Jesus name. The ‘He’ is also a provider according to Psalm 23:1. If I am to testify about all He has done in my life or the life of other believers, it will take me over a week to type them out. Some of the great things He is doing are recorded on a face book page called testimony board: https://www.facebook.com/TestimonyBoard

Inside every believer is the spirit of the God. The reason why many cannot get the best out of the presence of God in their life is because of total disobedience or half obedience. I read something which says complete obedience to God and His word makes all other created things to obey us, whether human beings, plants or animals. You want to get the best out of God’s presence in your life? Obey God to the letter.

PRAYER POINT: Father, as I begin to obey you to the letter, let everything you have created begin to obey me.

RECOGNIZING AND RESPECTING EXPERIENCE

MEMORY VERSE: Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set, Proverbs 22:28.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 4, Ps 38, Sng 2, Heb 2

BIBLE STUDIES: Esther 2:7-17

The story of Esther is a very popular one. Queen Vashti suddenly became too big to entertain her husband- King Ahasuerus. Because of her beauty, she forgot her role as a queen and began to take the advantage she had in the kingdom for granted. Since she was not serious and ungrateful, the king decided to replace her with a serious and grateful queen. During the search for a queen, everyone brought their daughters including Mordecai. He brought her young cousin who was like a child to him. The practice was that these young virgins would be trained for a year. They would be trained on how to behave like queens, how to attend to royal dignitaries and how to please the king. They will also be looked after physically.
All the virgins were put under Hegai- the king’s eunuch. After this training, each virgin is brought before the King to examine and choose. Before been presented to the king, each virgin had the opportunity to ask for anything she desired to take along with her – maybe shoes, clothes, e.t.c to the king’s palace. So each virgin requested for whatever she wanted. When it was Esther’s turn,she requested for nothing but what Hegai advised. At the end she found favor in sight of all who saw her.

No one knows the king like Hegai. This man had been responsible for training queens for quite a long time. Other virgins ignored the experience of Hegai and requested for what they thought the king would like but Esther sought for Hegai’s advise and did as she was told. At end she found favor in front of the king. This virgins saw themselves as too important to seek the opinion of an ordinary eunuch. In life wherever you may find yourself, humble yourself and learn from those you meet there. In your place of work, the most experience person there could be the cleaner who have been there for over twenty years. Forget about all your qualifications, humble yourselves and be her friend. To you she may be a cleaner but i can guarantee you that she is a custodian of great secrets – secrets of what led to the fall of those before you. Most of the people will look down on like drivers and cooks are not to be joked with at all. They know your boss and spend time with him more than other staffs. They know how you can present your request in a way that it is nice. You might be the most qualified in your department but don’t look down on the staffs you met there. If you don’t value their experience they would frustrate you. The problems many are facing in their places of work today are as result of not recognizing and respecting the old staffs. They may be old or junior to you in positions but they know a lot of things you don’t know. The virgins looked down on Hegai the experienced queen maker and they paid for it dearly.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help me to humble myself before that will help me