Wednesday 14 November 2012
Monday 12 November 2012
WISDOM WITHOUT THE FEAR OF GOD
Proverbs 4:7: Wisdom is a principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.
You can call the devil any name that will be fine. You can call him a liar that will be fine. John 8:44 calls him the father of lies anyway. You can call him a thief, murderer and destroyer that will be perfectly fine because John 10:10 says he steals kills and destroys. You can call him any name in the world, you are have the perfected right to do so but do not ever call him a fool because he is not. Jesus says in Matthew 10:16, behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves which suggest that the serpent (referring to Satan) Is wise .2 Corinthians 2:11 says we should not be ignorant of his devices. One of the wisest men that ever lived was Adam. This man was full of wisdom. He had a mental ability that exceeded all the modern day geniuses
combine together. For a man
to have given names to all the animals, organism, microbes, fishes and
birds in the world it takes a considerable amount of wisdom and
understanding. Asides this, Adam had a very close relationship with God.
God usually visited him regularly, for Adam to have had this kind of
relationship with God, he must have been really wise because if there is
anything the Lord cannot stand, it is the foolish. Psalm 5:5 says the
foolish cannot stand in the presence of God. Yet the devil outsmarted
him, despite all his ability! Solomon operated at a level higher than
that of Adam. According to 1 Kings 4:33 , he was so intelligent that he
became an authority in the branch of science dealing with trees,
animals, birds, fish and all other living things. He was so wise the
bible records in 1 Kings 4:32 that he spoke 3000 thousands proverbs and
wrote 1005 songs! Despite all this, the devil still managed to outsmart
him and make him sin against God.
This brings us to the question of how the devil managed to cause them to sin against God despite their wisdom. How was he able to trick them? Were they careless? They were certainly not careless, they all lacked one small thing; the fear of God. It is impossible to fear God and still disobey Him. It is impossible to fear God and still court His wrath. By wisdom kings reign – Proverbs 8:15; Wisdom brings riches and honor – Proverbs 8:18; those who find wisdom can be compared to he who finds life – Proverbs 8:35. The moment the fear of the Lord is missing in all these, one becomes a toast in the hands of the enemy. The only fellow the enemy cannot bring down or outsmart or cause to offend God is that fellow who truly fears the Lord. One reason why the devil could not outsmart Jesus while He was on earth was because Jesus had the Spirit of the fear of the Lord – Isaiah 11:3
POINT; Father, Please give me the spirit of the fear of the Lord
This brings us to the question of how the devil managed to cause them to sin against God despite their wisdom. How was he able to trick them? Were they careless? They were certainly not careless, they all lacked one small thing; the fear of God. It is impossible to fear God and still disobey Him. It is impossible to fear God and still court His wrath. By wisdom kings reign – Proverbs 8:15; Wisdom brings riches and honor – Proverbs 8:18; those who find wisdom can be compared to he who finds life – Proverbs 8:35. The moment the fear of the Lord is missing in all these, one becomes a toast in the hands of the enemy. The only fellow the enemy cannot bring down or outsmart or cause to offend God is that fellow who truly fears the Lord. One reason why the devil could not outsmart Jesus while He was on earth was because Jesus had the Spirit of the fear of the Lord – Isaiah 11:3
POINT; Father, Please give me the spirit of the fear of the Lord
Saturday 10 November 2012
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.
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.
Friday 9 November 2012
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.
Wednesday 7 November 2012
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.
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