HINDRANCE TO MANIFESTATION

Genesis 13:14: and the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him “lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward and westward.

Bible text: Genesis 13:14-17

In Genesis 12:1-3, God gave Abram three instructions; obedience to them will bring seven major blessings. He told Abram to get out of his country, from his fami

ly and from his father’s house and in return He will make him a great nation , bless him, make his name great , make him a blessings, bless those who bless him, curse those who curse him and through him all the families of the earth will be blessed. Abram got out of his country, his family but not from his father’s house because he took Lot with him. Because of this, the promises of God could not come to fruition in his life. Just like Abram , there are many of us who the Lord have made big promises to that are yet to come to fruition. Many of us think maybe the Lord has forgotten us. The Lord has not forgotten you. According to Isaiah 49:15 , it is possible for a woman to forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb but our Lord will never forget his children. One of the reasons why we are yet to see the manifestation of the promises God has made is because of the hindrances on our path. For Abram it was Lot. While Lot was still with Abram, God did not speak and Abram began to run into trouble everywhere he went to.

For Peter it was fear. The fear of losing Jesus made him to cut the ear of Malchus in John 18:10. It was also the fear of persecution that made him to deny Jesus in John 18:15-27 .He denied Jesus not only once but thrice. Proverbs 29:23 says the fear of man brings snare. For Thomas it was doubt, when they told him that Jesus was raised he said I will not believe unless I see His hands the print of the nails, not only that and put my hand into His side, I will not believe –John 20:25.James 1:6-7 says no doubter will receive anything from God. For others it is anger. They get angry easily. Once they are angry they speak to anyone anyhow, they can do and undo. Proverbs 30:33 says the forcing of wrath produces strife. Stubbornness could also be a hindrance. The parents of Samson pleaded with him to marry from his people he refused; he stubbornly married from the Philistines. He later died in the hands of the same philistines. Another hindrance to manifestation is refusal to evangelize. Jesus has said in Luke 11:23, He that is not with me, is against me: he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When we do not evangelize we are pitching our camp opposite the camp of Jesus and scattering what He is gathering. Immediately Abram recognized the hindrance, he removed it and God spoke again.

PRAYER POINT: Father, everything hindering You from blessing me please help me to recognize them and give me the grace to remove them.

THE NEED TO BE HOLY

Ezekiel 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trusts in his own righteousness, and commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

What Is Holiness? Holiness is simply obedience to God. When a man is holy, God puts a covering around him. This covering serves
as a shield from the enemy. In Job 1:7-10, Satan could not come near Job or his belongings because the Lord had placed an edge around him. Why did God put an edge around Job? Because of Job’s life of obedience to God. God testified in verse 8 that there was none like job in all the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. When a man is obedient to God, he becomes untouchable. According to Psalm 91:7, a thousand may fall at his side, ten thousand at his right hand but nothing will come near him.

When we disobey God, the reverse is the case. This is why we need to avoid sin. Prior to sin, Adam was fully protected by God. He was clothed in God’s glory but immediately he disobeyed God that glory left and he was exposed. Once the covering of God over one’s life disappears, such person is at the mercy of the devil. Sin exposes us to attack from the enemy. Some brothers were travelling for a revival in another part of town when they were stopped by armed robbers. One of the armed robbers singled out a particular brother and began to beat him up. He pushed this brother to the ground and took out a big cutlass to kill him. This brother said immediately he saw this huge cutlass, in split seconds he remembered all the sermons he has heard about living holy. He said at that point he asked God for one more chance. The Lord answered him and from nowhere the leader of the armed robbers shouted stop. That was how God spared his life that day. Although he was Christian brother, because he indulged in sin the covering of God over his life disappeared. He only discovered that he was exposed to attack when the armed robber took out the huge cutlass to kill him. Civilization is not an excuse to disobey God. Malachi 3:6 says God does not change. Many a times we believe because we live in a civilized environment we can now disobey him, we cannot! Ezekiel 33:13 says if the righteous commits iniquity all his righteousnesses will not remembered and because of the iniquity he has committed, he shall die for it. I pray that this will not be our portion in Jesus name , Amen.

PRAYER POINT: Father , help me to obey you to the letter.

THE SEEING EYE

Proverbs 29:18a says where there is no vision, the people perish.

There are different levels of seeing. There are those who cannot see at all, we call them blind. There are people who can see which constitutes the majority of us. There are people who can see through skill for example sculptors. A sculptor looks at a rock and sees an object; he gets his chisel and other tools and carves out the object. Without the skill one will see nothing but a rock. There are people who can see with their mind, they imagine things. There are people who can see through experience. Because of experience in certain areas they can see what ordinary people cannot see. Sometimes back I went to buy bananas in a shop. On coming out of the shop , an elderly woman met me and said ‘young man those bananas are not good , by this time tomorrow they will be all be rotten’. I looked at the banana they were very fresh. I said thanks ma but I was too tired to walk back and change them so I went home. I ate two out of five and by the time I got to the kitchen the next morning the three left were completely rotten. This woman from experience saw what I could not see. 

There are also people who can see with their spiritual eyes. In 2 Kings 6:15-17, Gehazi saw the whole town been surrounded by an army and He began to panic. He ran to call Elisha the anointed man of God and when that one got there, he just began to smile. Why? Because he saw the host of heaven in their millions protecting them. Two of them saw the same thing; while one was panicking the other began to rejoice. In 1 Samuel 17:1-58, while the whole army of Israel saw Goliath and his stature and began to panic, because of the anointing on David he saw the unprotected skull of Goliath and began to rejoice. Notice this, the whole army of Israel stood before Goliath and saw nothing but a young anointed boy saw an exposed skull. Whether we believe it or not, the spiritual runs the physical. Anyone who is blind spiritually is equivalent to a man blind physically. With all the gadgets in this world, we know a blind man is still limited in a lot of ways. How easy is it for a blind man to defend himself when he is been attacked. How fast can a blind man run? How much can he achieve and at rate will he achieved them? If a physically blind man is this limited how much more a spiritually blind man? Many have entered into wrong relationships, accepted wrong contracts, partnered with wrong people because they cannot see the spiritual. According to Proverbs 29:18a, the lack of vision i.e. spiritually blind can lead to physical harm or loss.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please open my spiritual eyes.

IT SHALL COME TO PASS

Number 23:19 says God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

The Lord holds His holy name in high esteem. In Isaiah 42:8, He said “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” The name of the Lord brings safety. Joel 2:32 says whoever calls on His name, He will save. Philippians 2: 10 say all we need to do is say the name –Jesus and every knee will begin to bow. Do you know that as high as God holds His name, He esteems His word above His name? According to Psalm 138:2, God has exalted His word above all His names. Because the name of the Lord cannot fail, the word of the Lord can never fail. Once He speaks over a matter, you can be rest assured that the matter is settled! He told Abraham that by this time next year, Sarah (Abraham's wife) will be a nursing mother. At the time when God spoke, Sarah was not only old but according to Romans 4:19 her womb was dead. Because the Lord had spoken, it came to pass

I remember many years ago when a chance for promotion came up in my place of work. Although it was advertized as temporary, there was a strong possibility of the successful candidate been made permanent. I went into prayers and the Lord spoke through a man of God that it was done! I applied like every other candidate but did not make it. While I was still recovering from the shock, challenges began. The challenges came from different angles to the extent that I almost lost the job but God was faithful. Two years passed and the post was re-advertised again as temporary for the second time. I tried to apply but I was told I was not qualified to apply. A year later, they decided to fill the post permanently and instead of selecting those that were acting they decided to throw it open for everyone. I applied and got the job permanently. Because the Most High had spoken, while the role was temporary nothing happen but immediately it came out as permanent the Lord fulfilled His words. Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He now make it good? What has the Lord promised you that is yet to come to pass? As He spoken through a man of God over a matter and you are yet to see manifestation? Do not lose hope because it shall come to pass! That which He has promised to do in your life, He will do. That challenges He has promised to deal with, He will deal with it.

ACTION POINT: God is never late, once He has said it, He bring it to pass

FORGIVE! FOR YOUR SAKE

Matthew 5:7 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Unforgiveness is a powerful tool in the hands of the enemy and he has used it rob many of their healings, breakthrough and blessings. What unforgiveness does is it shuts the heaven over an individual. One can pray but as far as there is unforgiveness, there is a possibility that such prayers will not b
e answered. Mark 11:25 says and whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Before God restored Job, He first dealt with the unforgiveness that could stand in the way. He told Eliphaz and
the other two friends in Job 42:7-9 to take an offering to job so that he can forgive them and pray for them.

You may not belief this but there have been cases of women who the Lord told to go and forgive their husbands or someone who mistreated them before they can conceive and have children. I think I should this testimony of a pastor friend. Several years ago when he was still a brother, he went into transport business with his very close friend. The business was doing well, they normally meet at the end of the year to share profits and plan for the next year. This particular year they met as usual and the friend declared no profits but loss. After investigation, the brother found out that his friend had misappropriated the funds and he was unhappy. He became angry and never forgave this friend. Several weeks later the Holy Spirit fished out the friend in the church and he confessed. He was asked to go and make restitution. The friend approached this brother to apologize but this brother did not want to even see him. No matter what the friend did, this brother did not forgive. Few months passed, the friend began to prosper and buy new cars while things began to go the other way for this brother. This brother petitioned God that why should the man who dupe him prosper while He suffers. The Lord told him listen “your friend is prospering because I have forgiving him but you are yet to forgive. I cannot forgive you and bless you until you forgive him.” Thank God the brother was wise, he quickly forgave his friend and things changed. I think I should share this too. A particular sister suffered break down because her fiancée made another lady pregnant. Her world literally collapsed because that man was the only man she ever trusted in her life. She was so disappointment and this caused a deep wound in her heart. A year later due to the recession; she lost her lucrative job and was employed for almost two years. She was a trained accountant; she applied for all sorts of jobs and got nothing. She prayed and fasted nothing happened. The pastor bounded and loosed nothing happened. While discussing this year, for some unknown reasons I began to talk to her on the subject of forgiveness. She said there is someone that offended her but she forgave but not from the heart. We advised her
to forgive and she did. A month later she got a job after two years and to cap it up God has brought another brother!

ACTION POINT: Forgive that brother, sister, friend, family out of mercy so that God can show you mercy.

GOLD IN THE MOUTH OF FISH PART 2

Proverbs 11:30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.

In Matthew 17:24-27 is a well known story. Jesus was asked to pay temple tax so He told Peter to go to the sea, cast in a hook, take the first fish that comes up and open its mouth. He told him to use the money found in the mouth of the fish to pay the bill. The question is why could Jesus not pay the bill from His pocket or take some from the money bag to pay the bill? We know from reading John 12:6 that Jesus and His disciples had a money bag from which they took money to take care of the poor. Why the need to go all the way to the sea to catch a fish that has money in its mouth?

Jesus did this to teach His disciples of the importance of evangelism. When we talk of fishing we know biblically fishing symbolizes evangelizing. Jesus was trying to tell His disciples that for every fish they catch for Him, there is gold in its mouth. For every soul we win for Jesus we get gold. When I began to go to church my attendance was terrible. I will go this Sunday and will not go for another couple of Sundays which was my routine back then. There was this particular sister who kept on encouraging me and my attendance improved. After a while I began to witness about Christ. It was in the course of witnessing I met an unemployed Muslim sister. I began to witness to her but I was not making progress at all. I spoke to a brother about this and he told me I needed to show her Jesus cares by first caring for her and assisting her. I did as I was advised, on my way to our weekly church service I called this sister (Muslim) to meet me after church that I have something to give to her. While the service was going on in the church, the Holy Spirit began to tell me to give the money to the sister that used to encourage me to come to church when I first joined. I put the money in an envelope and gave it to her. On my way home I met with the Muslim sister and assisted her with some money too. As I was opening the door to my house my phone rang and when I checked, it was this sister from church. When I picked it up, she began to cry and thank me. I was deeply touched , i knew God had touched her in a way she never expected. She prayed and prayed and prayed for me. I did not know what she was going through and she did not mention it but what if she had not encouraged me to come to church regularly, would the Lord have been able to use us (me) to meet her needs? I do not know how many people God has sent to her on that day that has refused but one thing I know was that day God gave her gold for witnessing to me. Proverbs 11:30 says he that wins soul is wise. Please witness about Jesus, you never know who you will win for Jesus. That person may be the key to solve a particular problem or breakthrough in your life.

PRAYER POINT: Father make me an incurable soul winner.

THE REWARDS OF PERSISTENCE

Romans 2:7 says to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:

In Matthew 15:22-28 is a story we all know. A woman came to Jesus about the condition of her daughter. The daughter was demon possessed and things were going out of hands. Despite all she was subjected to, she stayed and continued to ask for help, Jesus prayed and her daughter was healed. From this story there are one or two things to learn about persistence. Firstly, when you are persistent at something, those who ignore you will begin to notice to you. At first Jesus seem to ignore her to test her faith but because she was persistent Jesus had no option than to notice her. People around blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:42-56 knew him but they never gave him attention. Although Bartimaeus was at the road usually begging he was invisible, but immediately he began to persistently cry for help people began to notice him. Elisha and Gehazi in 2 kings 8:4-17 had been going to the house of the great Shunamite woman to eat but they noticed nothing, but as she persistently fed them and looked after them, one day the man of God noticed that she had everything money can buy but lacked one thing only God can give which was a child. Secondly, when you persistently knock on any door, the door will eventually open. The Great Shunamite woman kept on looking after the prophet and at a point she received her breakthrough. Everyone kept on telling Bartimaeus to shut up but he persisted and he received his sight. The woman in Matthew 15 did not take no for answer and at last her daughter was delivered.

Thirdly, when you are persistent those who have turned you to a laughing stock will later congratulate you on your breakthrough. Because of the woman's persistence, Jesus recognized her and congratulated her on her persistence. After Bartimaeus received his sight, when he shouted praise God those that were telling him to keep quiet were the first to shout Hallelujah. Romans 2:7 says to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. Persistence in doing good works brings rewards.
It does not matter the number of times you have failed at that endeavor, persist in making efforts and one day you will breakthrough. God may have assigned a task or two to you and whilst you are putting all your efforts into it, no one seems to notice but I can assure that your time has come today in Jesus name, amen!

ADVICE: Persist in that endeavor because a day is coming when the world will notice you, you will breakthrough and those who doubted you will congratulate you.