Saturday 14 July 2012

Victory :How Permanent?

VICTORY : HOW PERMANENT? 
 
Sunday 15 July                                   Bible in one year : Judges 13-15

Memorise: O Sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand , and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.Psalms 98:1

Read: Joshua 7:1-6

Every victory God gives can be maintained or lost depending on several factors. Many people know how to obtain victory not how to keep them.It is better to continue in defeat than to have victory and return to defeat due to the inability to keep it. After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea , Moses immediately composed a song of praise and thanksgiving that they sang repeatedly ( Exodus 15:1-21). After that song of praise , every effort to cause them to return to Egypt failed; their victory was permanent. Anyone who does not know how to be grateful to God may never enjoy permanent victories. Are you grateful to God for what He has done for you?

In Joshua 7 & 8, God gave the Israelites under Joshua victory which they lost almost immediately but later recovered. Many people once walked in the victory that Christ has given over the flesh, Satan and other enemies but later lost the reality of this victory. Why did Joshua lose his victory ? It was because somebody under him tampered with what he should not. This simply tells us that your victory could be eroded by the misdemeanour of a close associate. A family can lose their victory because of a disobedient child. If you doubt this,ask Eli. This is why parents must train their children well. Train, not just teach. Parents should act as coaches, mentors and guided to their children in order to maintain family victories.Thank God Joshua’s loss was not permanent because he asked God the cause of the loss and what to do, and did as instructed. Have you lost a victory? Ask God what you can do to have it back and do so promptly . If you know who is stealing in church,expose the fellow. Doing this does not only helps that individual but also the church. Achan’s theft not only affected him but the entire nation . Are you a pastor or minister yet secretly fornicating? You are negatively affecting your church and bringing an evil cloud over the congregation. As a member of the church, if you know of a fornicating minister , or worker, report the fellow to your pastor as way of helping all concerned.

KEY POINT: Thanksgiving is the glue that helps to firmly attach your blessings to you. Without it , your blessing may be lost.

STRAY TEMPTATION


 
Saturday 14 July                            Bible in one year Luke 22-24

Memorise : Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure . 1 Timothy 5:22

Read: 2 Samuel 11:1-5

It will shock you to know that it is easier to manage lack and hardship than to manage abundance and pleasure. If you live in a single room in a “face-me-i-face-you” building (building with multiple tenants of low-income class), it is easier for you to wake up and pray even at night than when you live in an expensively furnished bedroom with water bed in a mansion overseeing the sea. When you want to get up to pray in such a house, the comfort of the bed will motivate you to sleep some more. Before you know , it will be dawn. Let us take the case of David as an example(2 Samuel 11:1, 12:14). While David was being chased from cave to cave,he had no time to think of adultery, but after been crowned king and baptized into comfort, when he should be at war , he was resting and so he saw what he should not have seen and got into trouble.
It is important to be where God wants you to be always. During evangelism, He expects you to be in the field witnessing to souls. During rehearsal time or Sunday School preparatory class, God expects you there if you are a teacher. He expects you in service during the time for service.Any time you are not where God expects you to be, you open yourself to see or encounter what you should not , and you may found yourself in trouble. Do you know that the devil could have planned for one of the David’s servants who stayed in the palace to be one to see the naked Beersheba?But because David was in a wrong place ,he got trapped by this temptation. Many people , like David,have entered into problem not planned for them and became victims of stray temptations. One way to avoid this is by being where God wants you to be at every point in time. But even when confronted with such temptations, know that God’s grace is sufficient to overcome all temptations. Ask God to guide your steps aright from today.

PRAYER POINT:Father ,order my steps according to your will and Word. Let me be where you want me to be at every point in time.

Friday 13 July 2012

For your attention !!!!

Attention:

While studying Luke 16:23-26 , the Holy Spirit brought my attention to things present in hell . They are
1-Torments through flame
2-Thirst
3-Lack of mercy
4-Rememberance of past and Regrets
5-Tears
6-Cries and
7-Pains .

Also He reminded me of what is present in Heaven as written in Revelations 21:4

1-Tears been wiped away
2-Absence of pain
3-Absence of death
4-Absence of Sorrow
5-Absence of regrets

You have now been informed. The decision is up to you. Deuteronomy 30:19 says I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you , that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;therefore choose life , that both you and your descendants may live ;

Heaven and Hell is real! If you have not giving your life to Christ please do so now . If you have backslidded please return to him now. There is no shame in been a christian. We came to the world alone and we will go alone. We will receive judgement alone. Confess your sins and depart from sinful lifestyle now.

The trumpet maybe sounded in anytime from now!

If you want to give your life to Christ .

Pray this prayer from your heart today!

Dear Jesus , I believe that You died for me and rose again on the third day. I confess I am a sinner. I need your love and forgiveness. Come into my heart . Forgive my sins. I receive Your eternal life. Confirm You love by giving me peace, joy and supernatural love for others, Amen.

Welcome to Christ brethren, Please join a bible believing church.

Copy and paste this so that your friends and family may see it. I pray that you will not be held accountable for their sins in Jesus Name.

Samuel Oluwatoki

VICTIM OF PEER PRESSURE?


Friday 13 July Bible in one year Luke 18-21

Memorise:and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of you mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable , and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2

Read : 2 Timothy 4:9-11

Undue peer pressure is an enemy to watch our for. Many times when we discuss peer pressure, our minds go to teenagers. Peer pressure is pronounced in that circle but not exclusive to it. Peer pressure exist with every group and assembly of people. Increasingly, and most unfortunately , many ministers of God are yielding to peer pressure. You will hear someone say : ” Pastor X has just moved to his house, i too must move to mine immediately” , or Pastor Y said he prophesied into the life of a member of his church and the fellow brought him a car, i too must prophesy to my members so that they can equally buy me a car”. Beware; peer pressure distorts vision and reorders priorities.

If you must forward and be what God wants you to be, you must overcome this pressure. Peer pressure makes a particular individual your standard instead of Jesus Christ. Whenever you hear that he has just added another feather to his cap, you become restless until you perform the same feat. The one who yields to peer pressure may never achieve his or her God giving goal or destiny because he will have no goal of his own, but only shift the goal posts in relation to the fellow he is copying. Peer pressure puts material things above spiritual things. The one who yields to peer pressure cannot set his or her affections on heavenly things. Such a person will be carnally minded. Peer pressure is all about “measuring up” and making people see that you are conformed . The one who yields to peer pressure can never please God. Like King Saul, he will strive towards pleasing men. While yielding to peer pressure, many have found themselves stealing, lying ,defrauding and dabbling into things they would not normally do. Peer pressure augments the works of the flesh, making a yielded soul wallow in lust , covetousness, envy, jealousy,greed, pride, arrogance, undue comparison, etc. Demas just wanted to be like other people so he yielded to peer pressure and he went out of the faith. Out of greed, some have turned the Bible upside down to support their intention of being rich overnight via the altar. Remember their elder Gehazi tried the same idea and he ended up with leprosy.

ACTION POINT: Peer pressure causes you to conform to the world instead of walking in Christ’s Victory over it.

Pastor E.A Adeboye

Thursday 12 July 2012

God is in control


THE UNLIMITED GOD

Thursday 12 July                         Bible in one year Luke 14-17

Memorise : To whom then will liken me, or shall i be equal? saith the Holy One . Isaiah 40:25

Read: Isaiah 40:28-31

God is the omnipotent God. The word ‘omnipotent’ is a combination of two words omni and potent. Omni means ‘all’ , while potent means ‘power’ . So the word omnipotent means the who has all the power.

Behold , i am the Lord , the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

A major difference between God and man is in the area of limitation. Man is limited but God is unlimited . Man is limited in strength. Isaiah 40:30 says

even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall,

As energetics as youths are, they can still faint, and fall. Man is also limited by death hence James 4:13-14 compares a man’s life with vapour. On the other hand , God is not limited in strength as He is neither tired nor weary (Isaiah 40:28). He does not need to sleep or slumber because He is never tired ( Psalms 121:3-4). God is not limited by death because He lives forever( Revelations 4:9). The spirit of death is only one of His numerous creatures and when God is through with it, He will send it to the lake of fire( Revelations 10:24).

Many people make promises that they honestly intend to keep but before they could fulfill their promises , death snatches them away. God never grows old as He is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalms 90:1-2). Also, He has no beginning , since everything that has a beginning must equally have an end. Hence , whatever problems there are in your life today started one day and must also end one day. Our God is unlimited in resources like men. There are times you will desire to do something,say assist a needy fellow or heal a sick person but the resources will be lacking; but not so with God. Some years ago, my youngest son came to ask me what I wanted for Christmas but I told him not to bother. He insisted that I should just mention it so I asked him to buy me an aeroplane.He laughed and said that was not the kind of gift he was talking about. Why? it was because he was limited. Some people would wish they could support the projects in camp or buy their pastor a car or house but they are limited in resources. The implication is this: because God cannot be limited, all our limitations are extremely limited. Every limitation facing you shall be swallowed up by His unlimitedness in Jesus name.

PRAYER POINT
Father, this season , let your Almightiness swallow every limitation in my life and family.