BE AN EAGLE

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I have always told people that out of all birds, the Lord loves the Eagle the most. Why? Well, the Eagle is the most favored bird. When you look at God’s favor, it is always directed at those He loves. For example the Lord loves the righteous – Psalms 33:5, and surrounds them with favor – Psalm 5:12. Because of His love for the Eagle, He ensured that out all the birds, only the Eagle is permitted to fly close to the sun. When we talk of flying close to the sun, we are talking real close. While flying around and hunting, debris gathers around the Eagle and this weighs it down. To get rid of th

is debris, the Eagle flies so close to the sun so that the heat from the sun melts the debris weighing it down. Also from time to time the Eagle goes so close to the sun so that the rays and heat from the sun can burn off the films that develops over its eyes and its vision is renewed .Any other bird that tries to go as close to the sun as the Eagle will either lose its eyes sight or something worse will happen. Asides flying close to the sun, the Eagle flies at an altitude that other bird can only dream of. Proverbs 23:5 says the Eagle soars to the heavens. While normal birds lay their nest on trees, according to Job 39:27-28 the Eagle lays its nest on very high mountains where no prey can reach.

Why does the Lord love this breed of bird specially? How come they are the only bird enjoying special favors? Firstly, the eagle does not touch dead animals or unclean things. The vulture eats anything but the Eagle will never go near dirty thing or unclean thing. Secondly, the Eagle depends on the wind to soar. Once the Eagle sees a storm coming from afar instead of running like other birds it simply uses the wind of the storm to lift itself high above the storm. Brethren anyone who wants to enjoy special favors from God must do away with unclean things i.e. sin. Anyone who wants to operate at altitude others can only dream off must depend on the Wind which is the Holy Spirit according to John 3:8. Without these two, enjoying favors will be impossible, and also achieving what people can only dream off will be impossible too. Daniel excelled so much in His endeavor because the Holy Spirit was operating at full blast in his life. The bible records in Daniel 6:3 that Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent Spirit was in him.

Prayer Point: Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit that i might be able to fulfill destiny.

ALL POWER BELONG TO GOD

Psalm 62:11 say God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

After the Philistines took the ark of God in 1 Samuel 5:1-5, they set it before Dagon their national god. Dagon was a very huge statue. By the time they came back the next morning, they saw this huge statue fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of God. They did not understand, they thought may be a wind blew overnight or the statue was not standing properly so they set in its place again. By the time they came the next morning , the saw Dagon not only fallen on its face to the earth but the head and palms of Dagon broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. It was then they knew that, Power exceeds power. There is no power that can be compared

to the power of God. It does not matter what name they call it, before God they are nothing. Who is Baal before God? Who is Dagon? When the Lord visited Egypt in Exodus 7:17-21, Hapi –god of Nile began to vomit blood. When Pharaoh continued to harden his heart because he thought he had Hapi, God ensured that Hapi began to vomit frogs! Exodus 8:5-6.

One early morning while I was walking and praying, I saw a man at a particular bus stop shouting and saying some strange words. The only thing I noticed was there were no one standing with him at the bus stop and everyone passing seem to prefer to use the other side of the road. As I approached him he stopped and when I got to him he began to shout again but because I was really busy praying I ignored him and walk past him. After taking five or six steps past him, something arose in me, I began to feel uncomfortable about this man shouting strange words behind me so I decided to go back and tell him to keep quiet in the name of Jesus. As I turned back to go to him we made eye contact and he kept quiet. I stood there waiting for him to speak but he kept quiet. I turned back and began to walk thinking he will continue shouting but he just kept quiet. I walked for another five minutes but he just kept quiet. The man did not keep quiet because of me, actually as a matter of fact if he were to have his way he will probably harm me. This force in this man kept quiet because of the Jesus I serve. The force in the man saw the spirit of God and it kept quiet. John 1:12 says but as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Every believer has the right to the power of God.

PRAYER POINT: Father , I have received Jesus as my personal Lord and savior , Please give me power.

Jehovah Jireh

Psalm 23:1 says The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

There is a very difference between needs and wants.’Need’ is a basic living essential i.e. if you do not have it, you could die while ‘Want ’ is something you feel you need ,or you really desire. God is not only able to meet your needs but your wants also. The Psalmist say in Psalm 23:1 that even his wants will be catered for. Why is the Lord able to meet needs and wants? Because according to 1 Corinthians 10:26, the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. Genesis 14:22 calls Him the possessor of heaven and the earth. Because everything belongs to Him, He is able meet our needs regardless. Have you ever wondered where the ravens that feed Elijah in 1 Kings 17:2-6 got the bread and meat from? When the Lord asked Elijah to go to the house of the widow of Zarapheth, it was because the brook dried up not the bread and meat. God’s supply can never dry up.

Jehovah Jireh means the Lord will provide .Sometimes back the Lord helped us to understand the meaning of Jehovah Jireh. While I was praying, the Holy Spirit told me to bless a particular sister with a token. I did not really feel comfortable with the idea because I did not want the sister to read funny meanings to it. Besides the funny meanings she might read to it, the amount was quite small and honestly I would have love to give her more but that was all I had in the world . I thought giving her such an amount will be an insult and she would get angry and I will be lucky if all I get is a slap. Anyway I summoned courage and made attempts to contact her but I did not get through. I tried for three weeks but for one reason I could not reach her. When I got hold of her over the phone, I gave her the message from the Lord and she was reduced to tears. She told me things had gone so bad that she was just managing until this morning (because I spoke to her in the evening) when things went from bad to worse. She could not feed herself and her junior brother. She thanked and prayed for me. A week later, the Holy Spirit asked me what I learnt from what happened. I said I learnt that you are a God who meets needs and you can bring help from anywhere. He said not only that, I make provisions ready long before the needs for it arises . He further explained to me that when He told me to give her a token, everything was alright with the sister; she did not really need the token then. That was why I could not get through to her. Immediately the need arose, that was when I got through to her. Long before her situation went from bad to worse, the Lord had made preparations to cater for her needs. Can I tell you that long before that problem started, Jehovah Jireh had created a solution? Long before that need arose, Jehovah Jireh had prepared the resources you need to cater for the need.

ACTION POINT : Go ahead and thank Him because long before you were born , he had provided the solutions to every challenges you will ever face.

HAVE YOU GIVEN YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST?

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.

When we give something out, that thing no longer belongs to us. How that thing is used is little of our business. In Legal terms, when you give something out, you are transferring the right of ownership to another person. When we give our lives to Christ, we are transferring our right of ownership to Jesus. We are saying from this moment onward, I belong to You- Jesus. From that day onward we seize to own our life. The totality of our life – our strength, our hopes, our resources, our times, our future, our challenges, and our failures in life e.t.c now belongs to Jesus. Basically once we give our lives to Christ everything we own now belongs to Jesus. Our resources now become a

tool for Him to propagate the gospel around the world, to feed the poor and needy, orphans and widow. He now uses our strength in His vineyard. He now uses our time for His own business. Many of us say we have giving our life to Christ but how many have actually given all to Him without withholding anything back? If Jesus should speak now and say My son or My daughter , i want you to leave everything you have worked for all your life , i need to send you to a missionary field for only two years ,how many of us will say Ok Jesus with a smile on our face ?

What are advantages of giving once life to Jesus? From the moment you give your life to Jesus your life no longer belongs to you. The responsibility of protecting your life now becomes that of Jesus not yours. I am yet to see any demon in hell that will come near what belongs to Jesus. When give Him our mourning, He turns it into dancing, Psalm 30:11. When we give our failures to Him He turns it into success Luke 5:1-7 .Just give Him your resources and He will multiply it like He did for the boy who gave five bread and two fishes in Matthew 14:13-21.Once we give our body to Him , what we will eat ,wear and shelter becomes His responsibility. When we give Him our time, He will visit us and fill us with His presence and the bible records in Psalm 16:11 that in the presence of God is fullness of Joy. If we give all to Him – our Life, He will take it and in return give us eternal life. Jesus says in Matthew 16:25, those who lose their life for my sake will get it back. According to Luke 6:38, For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help me today to give my life to you the way i am meant to.

The Power of Testimony

Revelations 12:11 says and they overcame by him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

There is power in testifying to the goodness of God. After the healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, one of them came back to testify to the goodness of God. Why do we have to testify? By sharing testimonies we are appreciating God. We are simply telling God thank You. Testimonies open doors to more miracles .When we thank God for what He has done, He will do more. Because this man thanked God for his physical healing, Jesus decided to make him whole i.e. healed in all areas of his life. Testimony perfects our miracle and makes it permanent. Any breakthrough or miracle that we have not 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 what the Lord has done for him. Why? So that he would not lose his deliverance.

When we share testimonies, it builds the faith of others. Also every time we testify, satan loses grip over our life. Revelations 12:11 says they overcame him by the word of their testimony. I believe the Lord wants me to share this testimony with someone. Not too long ago, I was very hungry with no money to buy food. I could not use that opportunity to fast because I had eaten something that morning.  While I was sitting, my phone rang and when I checked it was a sister who I witnessed about Christ to. When I picked up the call, she told me she was preparing an African soup and wanted to know if I was interested. I said yes, and then she asked if I had anything to eat the soup with, I said no. She said ok and within thirty minutes my door bell rang, lo and behold she brought the special African soup with what to eat it with. I thanked her and she left. I descended on the food aggressively and before you know it the dish was clean. A month or so later, she asked me if I knew why she called me and gave me the food. I said no and she went to explain that immediately she left work, she had this urge to eat that particular soup so she went to market to buy the ingredient. When she got home and began to prepare the soup something began to tell her to call Sam and give him some. She tried to dismiss the voice but the voice kept on ringing in her. When the voice will not let her be, she decided to call me and asked if I was interested in the food.

I do not know who the Lord is talking to but I pray that the Lord will touch the heart of people (even people you have not told you need help) to offer help to you in Jesus name, Amen.  Before the food came, I had witnessed about Christ to her. I testified to her how the Lord saved my life. What if I had not witnessed to her? What if I was too shy to testify about Jesus to her? hunger would have dealt mercilessly with me that day. Thank God i testified. Testify about Jesus to someone today.

PRAYER POINT: Father, give me a testimony today and I will tell the whole world of your goodness.

KEEP THE ROAD CLEAR

Psalm 66:18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

One of the constant things in life is challenges. The presence of Jesus did not prevent the storm in Matthew 8:22-27 but once the storm rose He calmed it down. The assurance we have is regardless of what happens we will come out victorious. Psalm 34:19 says many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them from it all. One thing with challenges or storms of life is that they do not give notice. From studying 2 Kings 8:18-37, we will notice that the son of the Shunamite woman was hale and hearty. Suddenly he began to complain of minor headache and before you know it he was dead.  This like many other challenges happen unexpectedly. When Elisha slept in 2 Kings 6:15 everything was alright, he woke up the next morning to see that the whole city had been surrounded by army.

Because the challenges and storms of life do not give notice, we need to keep the road clear between us and God.We need to do away with anything that might hinder our prayers from been answered. We never know when we will need to cry to God in a hurry. Psalms 66:18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. When you look at fire stations, they do not permit cars around their offices because emergency might occur.  One thing they do not want is been called to attend to an emergency and there are cars parked blocking them. The same thing applies to us .We need to do away with sin and live a holy life, we need to forgive all those who have offended us, and we need to be merciful because we do not know when we might urgently need the mercies of God. We need to pay the tithes we owe, fulfill our vows immediately. Psalm 50:14-15 says pay your vows to the Most High, Call upon Me, and you shall glorify Me. A born again sister was traveling in a commercial bus to a city. While sitting at the back reading her bible, something happened and the car began to somersault. It had happened so fast that all she could say was JESUS; she did not even have the chance to ask for forgiveness. She had no chance to forgive anyone. In a mysterious way, she survived the crash with no scratch but others died. If you have not giving your life to Christ please do so immediately. If you have and still living in sin please stop and take away anything that may stand in your way of getting to heaven.

ACTION POINT: Challenges and storms of life do not give notice neither does death, keep your path to heaven clear.

CREDIT WITH GOD

Psalm 20:3 says may He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice.

In Acts 9:36-42 is the famous story of Dorcas. She loved the Lord and loved helping people. She helped the sick, the broken hearted and everyone who needed help around her. When she died , they sent for Peter .When Peter arrived they began to show him the good works Dorcas had done . Peter seeing all these had no other option than to beg God to release her from heaven back to earth and God answered. From reading this story, we see God relaxing His rule for Dorcas. As a matter of fact the bible says in Hebrew 9:27 that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this judgment. The same God who declared that it is appointed unto men to die once had to suspend this rule because of Dorcas’ credit with Him. When we talk of credit with God, we are not talking of tithe and offering. We are talking of something major the Lord can look at and decide a case in your favour.

A king who had good credit with God was Hezekiah. The bible records in 2 Kings 18:2-6 that he did what was right in the sight of God. Verses 5 and 6 of 2 kings 18 says He trusted in the Lord God Israel, he held fast to the Lord and did not depart from following God but kept God’s commandment which the Lord had given through Moses. On his death bed in 2 Kings 20:1-6, God was so happy with his service that he added another fifteen years to his life. This brings us to the question, can God look at our walk with Him and decide to add fifteen years to our life. Have we served God to the extent that he will relax some of his rule? It is a rule that whoever sees God will die but because of Moses’ credit with God, God arranged a way for Moses to see Him without seeing death. As big as the bible is, there is only a record of God leaving heaven to dine with a family and that was the family of Abraham in Genesis 18.This happened because of Abraham’s record with God. He had touched God with his faith. It is not an easy task to convince God to come and dine with us, but it is something that can happen if we are prepared to work hard.

ACTION POINT: Take your service to God to another level today, so that you can have good credit with Him.