WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR ALTAR?

MEMORY VERSE: And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 1 Kings 18:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 134-136

What is an altar? An altar is any structure upon which offerings; such as, sacrifices are made for religious purposes. For instance, Noah built an altar (a structure upon which offerings are made for religious purposes ) after the flood unto the Lord, and took of every beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on it (Genesis 8:20). An altar is also a place of consecration. Whenever God visits His people or does something tangible in their lives, they respond by building an altar unto Him. This altar represents a desire to consecrate one's self fully unto the Lord. For instance, Abram, after the Lord appeared unto him, built an altar (Genesis 12:7).

In summary, an altar is merely a designated place, a meeting point, where man meets with God regularly to talk to Him, hear from Him, pray to Him, study His words, and so on. It is a place where we come to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1). 1 Kings 18:30 says: “And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.” Elijah's restoration of the altar was significant, given the rampant paganism of his day. For the altar to be repaired, it must have been broken. For the altar to be broken, then, it must have been standing. For the altar to be standing, it must have been built.
There are four types of altars. Firstly, “No- Altar”. In Exodus 1, 2&3, the children of Isreal struggled before erected altars unto the Lord - when they worshipped the gods of the Egyptians. This period was a period of bondage. This was not only a tough time, it was a difficult time. Their children were cast into River Nile. A man who has not given his life to Christ is at this stage. He will always be at the mercy of the enemy. There is the “Standing-Altar”. After God delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians, they built altars unto the Lord. This period was marked with signs and wonders. It was marked with an abundance of resources. It was a period of peace because they had a relationship with God. After a man gives his life to Christ, he is expected to enter into this stage. He is expected to have an altar where he meets God regularly. He is expected to have a quiet time. There is the “Cold-Altar”. This was the period where the children of Israel began to relax in their worship. This is a time when a man begins to miss his quiet time. Lastly, there is the “Broken-Altar”. This period was marked by hardship and struggle. It was a period of stagnancy in their lives as they abandoned God and worshipped Baal and as a result, the altar of the Lord fell into disrepair. During this period, God shut the heavens and it didn’t rain for three years. When a man begins to miss his quiet time, if care is not taken he may backslide into the world and his altar before God becomes “broken”.

QUESTION: What is the state of your altar? Do you have an altar at all? Do you have a quiet time? If you have, what happens during your quiet time? Does God still speak? The state of your altar will determine the state of your life.

ACTION: Carefully assess your altar before the Lord and take necessary action.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

YARDSTICK FOR SUCCESS

MEMORY VERSE: And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:15

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Zechariah 8-14

One of the yardsticks we use to measure success in the world today is material wealth. If a brother who hops from bus to bus suddenly buys a very big jeep or a brother who is renting suddenly builds/buys a big mansion, we say he is successful. We Christians will say he has enjoyed divine favor and some will begin to use his life as a point of contact for their breakthroughs. God wants all His children to prosper (3 John 2). He actually delights when His children do well which includes financial prosperity (Psalm 35:27). When Peter said to Jesus, "Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?" Jesus responded saying:” Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:28-29). In other words, all you have lost for the sake of Christ are not lost, they are only being kept for you. One day it will be multiplied and given back to you.Although, material wealth is ONE of the ways of measuring success, it is NOT the absolute way to measure success. A brother can appear to be doing well physically when he is actually going down spiritually. A typical example is Lot. The moment he moved into Sodom and Gomorrah, he began to go down spiritually. On the surface, he was doing well. He was acquiring cattles, sheep, servants and all that. He even became a judge in Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, he was going down. Friend, not all wealth is God’s favour.

Sister in Christ, you have entered into a relationship with a brother who is an unbeliever. On the surface, people may be congratulating you. He may even buy gifts and make you feel loved and appreciated. It may appear as if you are moving in the right direction because at the end of the day, you are no longer single. However, remember that marrying an unbeliever means you will be having the devil as an in-law. As a matter of fact, the moment you begin to date an unbeliever, you begin to go down. To everyone, Brother Lot was enjoying divine favour until he lost all and began to live in caves (Genesis 19). If you are robbing people or cheating people and you are buying houses, you are not going up – you are actually going down. Also, success in ministry, at times, is measured by the size of the congregation and size of the tithes every Sunday. Well, increase in tithes don’t always mean God is blessing His church. Someone who stole from government coffers may decide to share some of his bounty and give a big offering. Besides, there was a time when Korah’s ministry grew. He had virtually all the princes in the land with him -although they were all rebels. Yet, by man's standard he was doing well. The only way to measure success is by checking how one is performing against God’s standard for one's life. If by God’s standard –considering the fact that you have been a Christian for several years – you should have won at least one soul to Christ and you have not then you are failing.

ACTION: Pray to God and ask Him to help you in areas you are failing.

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HIS DISCIPLE OR THE MULTITUDES?

MEMORY VERSE: And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. Matthew 5:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ecclesiastes 9-10

Two categories of people followed Jesus: His disciples and the multitudes. His disciples were His followers; viz, the apostles (Matthew 10:2-4), the seventy- two (72) whom He sent in pairs to towns and places He planned to visit (Luke 10:1), Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), Mary called Magdalene, Joanna wife of Chuza (Luke 8:2-3), etc. The multitudes, on the other hand, were the nameless, faceless people who followed Jesus. They came to Him because they were in need of one thing or the other. They took their leave the moment He answered their prayers.The multitudes were always 'coming and going’; the disciples were with Him because they loved Him. The multitudes only wanted to receive; they never gave back in return. The disciples received and gave back to Him. Whilst the disciples were at His feet learning, the multitudes were busy chasing after things - things they would leave behind when they die. The disciples were always available - always available to run errands for Him. The multitudes, as you rightly guessed, were never available for work. The disciples shared the passion of Christ. They were with Jesus through thick and thin; the multitudes weren’t. Matthew 5:1 says:” And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.”

Jesus dealt (and still deals) with these two groups - His disciples and the multitudes - differently. For instance, He spoke to the multitude in parables but He spoke to the disciples in plain words. Mark 4:11 says: “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.” The multitudes only saw Him when He wanted them to see Him. Luke 5:15-16 says: “But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” His disciples saw Him when they wanted. Jesus shared His secrets with His disciples. Luke 18:31 says: “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” Several months back, I walked past a man around our office and the Lord said to me, “that’s your new manager.” We had no manager at the time and I didn’t know the senior managers were recruiting for the position.  I told my colleagues when I returned to the office but they doubted me. Four hours later, the man was introduced to us as our new manager. Jesus rarely hid things from His disciples. He told them that one of them was going to betray Him.

QUESTION: Which of these two groups do you belong? Are you one of His disciples or multitudes?

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VIOLENCE IS REQUIRED

MEMORY VERSE: and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 6-10

Violence is required to achieve certain things in life. Oh yes! And please, by violence i don’t mean physical violence or causing terror. No. No. No. Someone once told her pastor, “Sir, the only language my husband understands is violence.” This is not the type of violence i am talking about. I am against physical violence of every form. You need to go after certain things violently;i.e., aggressively, if you are serious about getting them. Violence is required to become who God created you to be. Violence is required to get to the top. Violence is required to realize your potential in Christ. You need to knock and keep on knocking for some doors to open. Matthew 11:12 says: “and from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force”. What brought down the walls of Jericho was not a whisper. It was not a gentleman’s shout. Joshua 6:20 says: “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a GREAT SHOUT, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” Jesus prayed a violent prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44 says: “and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Been violent requires force, energy, persistence and determination. An example of a man who was violent in his decision to serve God was Elisha. The day he decided to follow the Lord, he did it in a violent manner. He burnt his bridges. (A bridge is any link with your sinful past that is capable of returning you to that sin). The decision to follow Christ must be done violently. Photographs of former sinful partners must be burnt. Occultic books and regalia from secret societies must be destroyed. Pornographic and x-rated materials must be destroyed. Clothes that expose part of your body that are meant to be covered must be burnt. Music that glorify sex outside marriage or sex before marriage must deleted right away. CDs /DVDs that glorifies crimes and guns must be burnt immediately. Erotic books, Tarot and palm reading books must be burnt. The Lord used us to restore a sister back to Christ several months back. I said her, "the only way to get rid of your sinful partners is preach to them". It wasn't easy but she did it.  She promised the Lord never to return to her past again and she didn't. You must be violent about your decision to serve Christ. You must be violent about your decision to make heaven. Matthew 5:30 says: “and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell”. Sometimes the people capable of bringing you back to Egypt (sinful practices) may be close and precious to you as your right eye. They could even be your right hand man or childhood friends. The bible says if you don’t want to go to hell, cut them off right away. It is better to go to heaven without a friend, than go to hell with a circle of friends.

NOTE: The reason why a lot of people backslide into the world is because they fail to burn the bridge that links them back to the world. To serve Christ , there are some friends, from your past, you will have to cut off. There are some relationships you will have to disconnect yourself from because they are not drawing you closer to Christ. There are some places you will have to stop visiting if you want to remain standing.

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YOUR BREAKTHROUGH WILL FOLLOW YOUR OBEDIENCE

MEMORY VERSE: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-16

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 16-19

God is love.1 John 4:8 says: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” He gave His best, His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ), to us out of love (John 3:16). The Lord takes special interest in those who reciprocate this love back to Him. Proverbs 8:17 says: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” We express love through gifts. Husbands give gifts to their wives and vice versa, out of love. Love must be expressed verbally and through our actions. Jesus demonstrated His love to us by laying down His life for us. John 15:13 says: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Because Christ demonstrated His love to us, we must also demonstrate our love to Him – if we really mean it. If He gave all, we must be ready to give our best at the minimum. What’s our best? Romans 12:1 says:” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” We can demonstrate our love to Him through our sacrifices and offerings. If only you will give to Him – and you do it cheerful because He loves a cheerful giver ( 2 Corinthians 8:7)- He will say a big thank you. And, just a thank you from God is enough to change a man’s life forever. Luke 6:38 says: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Also, lovers love to spend time together. It is impossible to love God and dislike church or dislike bible studies.

One thing God loves more than sacrifices is obedience to His word. Jesus said, “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33).” Actually, another way to demonstrate your love to Him is by obeying His commandments. John 14:15 says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Your obedience to Him will usher in your breakthrough. It will usher in your long-awaited season. It is one thing for God to want to bless a man; it is another thing for that man to receive the blessing. Whether the man will receive what God has in store for him or not will be determined by his attitude to God’s instructions. His instructions are basic and simple. What ushered in that widow’s season of abundance was her obedience to Elijah ( 1 Kings 17:10-16). Verse 15-16 says: “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.” Although God wanted to bless her, had she disobeyed she would have lost that blessing. She had to first do what Elijah asked her to do before the divine supply came. Many of us would have said to Elijah, “let me go and pray about it”. That’s a polite way of saying, "i refuse to obey that instruction".  Her breakthrough was activated when she obeyed. The same with you -  your breakthrough will be activated when you obey God’s instruction. Has the Lord commanded you to start a project? Please start with whatever you have because the resources needed may not arrive until you start the project. If you decide to wait until you get all the resources you need before starting, you may wait forever because God rarely provides everything you will need for a project before the project starts. God may not move until you move.

NOTE: God is only committed to supplying your needs (Philippians 4:19). Once you start, it becomes a need and God will supply the resources needed.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

“BUT HE PUT HIS ARMOUR IN HIS TENT”

MEMORY VERSE: And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1 Samuel 17:54

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 17-18

God fights for His children in three basic ways. Way one: He fights their enemies alone. His children don’t have to do anything except sit and watch Him destroy their enemies. There are several examples of this in the bible but one that comes to mind is in the book of 2 Kings 18&19. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, besieged Jerusalem. He sent a nasty letter to the Hezekiah, king of Judah, and that one began to shake. Hezekiah was a child of God; He simply laid the letter before the Lord. Many don’t know God can read letters. He is the Teacher of teachers. The Lord read the letter and took action that evening. 2 Kings 19:35 says: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, theywere all dead corpses.” The next morning, Sennacherib, quietly, withdrew his men and went back home. Hezekiah did nothing except watch. He didn’t even lift a sword. Way two: He fights alongside His children. Five great kings - king of Jerusalem, king of Hebron, king of Jarmuth, king of Lachish, and king of Eglon- came together to fight the children of Israel ( Joshua). The Lord fought alongside Joshua. His men were fighting with swords, the Lord opened heaven and great stones began to drop on the head of the enemies of His children. Joshua 10:11 says: “And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.”

Way three – probably the most common way: He empowers His children to fight their enemies. Psalm 144:1 says: “A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” Three thousand men of Judah (enemy within)
bound Samson with a rope and handed him over to the Philistines (enemy withal). The enemy saw Samson bound and began to dance for joy. As they were rejoicing, the Lord sent down fire and it consumed the rope that was used to tie Samson. He found a jawbone of an ass - strategically positioned there – and began to fight the Philistines with it. Judges 15:15 says: “And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” The rest ran away. Sadly, Samson threw away the jawbone after he defeated the enemy. He threw away what God gave him to fight the enemy with and then began to thirst. He threw away what he secured victory with. He threw away what brought him peace. Just like Samson, many have thrown away the “jawbone of an ass” they secured victory with. For some, they have misplaced it. Where is your “jawbone of an ass”? What God gave David to finish off Goliath was Goliath’s own sword. Thank God, David kept it. 1 Samuel 17:54 says: “And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.” Don’t throw things away because you never know when you might need them. Don’t destroy relationships you have built because you never know when you might need them again. There was a man in my team who behaved badly to everyone because he was moving over to Spain to start a fruit business. He was a difficult person to manage and work with; as his supervisor, i had to draw strength from heaven to manage him. He moved to Spain –thinking he will never need the organisation again. Unfortunately, the fruit business didn’t do well so he had to return to UK. When he couldn’t get a job, he came back to us. At the interview, the interviewer remembered him and decided to give the job to a less qualified candidate. I was told after the interview that he literally went on his two knees to ask for a second chance –which he didn’t receive. Be careful how you treat people. Be careful how you behave in your current role. When i heard the story i shook my head. You don’t know tomorrow so behave well. Samson cried to God and God pointed him to the jawbone he threw away; from it water began to flow and he drank.

NOTE: David never thought he would need Goliath’s sword until Saul began to chase to him to kill him.

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YOUR CLASS DETERMINES YOUR OPPONENTS/ CHALLENGES

MEMORY VERSE: And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Zechariah 3:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Peter 4-5

In some sports especially boxing and horse-racing, there is something called “weigh-in”. Individual competitors report a day before or on the day of the competition, depending on the sports, to be “weighed-in’ first to ensure that they compete in the right class. In the realm of professional fighting, size does matter. The bigger you are, the harder you hit, the harder you are to hit, and the more your attacks exhaust your opponent. As such, it will be unfair for two competitors e.g. boxers from differing weight class to fight each other. Hence, your weight determines your class, and your class determines your opponent. If you are a heavyweight, you will get an opponent in the heavyweight category. Also, your class determines your reward. You can’t compete in the lightweight category and expect to be rewarded as a heavyweight. It is the same in life; the size of your destiny will determine the size of your challenges. You will be matched against an opposition as big as you. The higher you go academically, the tougher the exams will be. I found that as the Most High was helping me and i was being promoted, the exams i was sitting for were getting tougher. I remember a particular exam which had two sections: Section A, answer any three out of five and Section B, answer any two out of four. I had only 90 minutes. The next one was a 3 hours open book exam; 100 objective questions, answer all.

The spiritual challenges you will face will be determined by your spiritual level. The kind of attacks you will get will be determined your spiritual level. The mad man of Gadara was attacked by over 6000 demons because he was created to be a mighty evangelist. Somehow, the enemy got hold of that information and bombarded him ( Mark 5:1-20). The higher you go, in the Lord, the stiffer the opposition will be. This is not to scare you or anything, but to prepare you. The reason why you are facing unusual challenges could be because of what God created you to be. The enemy, somehow, got hold of some information about your life and is now attacking you to cancel out that plan. I want to inform you that he will not succeed. I remember a time in my life when it seemed as if as someone opened the gate of challenges at me. As i was leaving one, i was entering into another.
I now understand why. As David grew, his opposition grew. His first opposition was a lion, and then a big bear, and then Goliath, and so on.

Zechariah 3:1 says: “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” In the synagogue, the position of the chief high priest is the highest and Joshua, the high priest, was at that level. In the demonic world, the highest ranking demon is Satan himself. As you can , from our memory verse, Satan was withstanding Joshua. The reason why you are facing great challenges could be because of your level in Christ. Although you are a young man or woman, before God you are not. Although David was a small boy , he was dripping with anointing. Although , he was a young, he was king in waiting. As you grow in Him, He will give you the right weapon to fight the enemies at your level. When David’s enemies were just beast – lions and bears- He only strengthen his hands. This was why he could club a bear to death. Psalm 144:1 says:” A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:” When he grew to the level of Goliath, the Lord gave him a sling and stone. You have no reason to fear the enemy because you will always receive weapons to conquer the enemy at your level.

PRAYER POINT: Father, fortify your protection over my life.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world