OFFERING STRANGE FIRES

Numbers 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and
Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.

What is a strange fire? Strange fire simply represents practices that are either not biblical or God is not happy with. The Most High God abhors strange fires in His presence. Today in the body of Christ there are so many strange fires offered unintentionally. It is true that ignorance of law is no excuse but we thank God for His mercies. One of the most popular strange fires offered before God is in the area of eating Holy Communion. Holy Communion is not to be eaten in the morning or afternoon but midnight. Eating it in the late evening is permitted but not morning or afternoon. There is no record of Holy Communion been eating in the afternoon or morning in the bible starting from the first day it was eating by Moses and the children of Israel (it was called Passover then) to the night Jesus was betrayed.

Also been rude to a man of God or prophet is offering strange fire. If you do not believe me please ask Saul in 1 Samuel 15:1-35. Samuel rebuked Saul on an issue, as he turned to leave Saul grabbed the prophet’s garment and it tore ,right on the spot God tore his kingdom gave it to another man! In Acts 5:1-10, Ananias and Sapphira ganged up to fool the man of God and right on the spot the Lord struck them dead. Maybe we should add the story of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:1-23. There was no doubt that this man had spiritual gift. The gift of vision made him one of the greatest kings that ruled in Israel and at very young age but what happened? Because of his gifts, he began to over step his boundary by trying to offer incense on the altar – a task solely for the Levites. Been a king the priest tried to ask him politely not to do so but he would not listen and from heaven God struck him ;right on the spot he became a leper. I pray that none of this will happen to anyone of us in Jesus name. Do you also know that been rude to elders in the church or calling them nick names is offering strange fire? Oh yes it is! Some youths began to make fun of the baldhead of Elisha in 2 Kings 2:23-25, the man cursed them and the Lord said amen in heaven. From nowhere, two female bears came out and mauled forty-two of the youths. Also abusing one’s position as a pastor or prophet or worker or leader in the church is offering strange fire. The sons of Eli –Hophni and Phinehas, sons of the prophet used their position to satisfy their evil desires. Because they were leaders and prophets, they began to use the church to enrich themselves; they used the offerings to make themselves fat- 1 Samuel 2:12-17.They graduated into using their positions to sleep with beautiful women in the church – 1 Samuel 22-25. God warned Eli to warn his children but no one listened to God. One day God got tired and decided to take off his hands from their life. The next minute the enemies killed them – 1 Samuel 4:11. Sending blackberry messages to our friends during church services or sermon is offering strange fire. It is not good. Send messages, picking calls, talking to our friends during church services or sermons is not good. When we are in the present of God we must behave our self not to court His wrath.When we are in the presence of our earthly parents or bosses at work , we do not ping our friends or chat on the phone ,why do that before the One who created heaven and earth ?

PRAYER POINT: Father, please forgive my ignorance and help me not displease you again.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

1 Thessalonians 5:17: pray without ceasing

In 2 Kings 13:14- 19, a king was given an opportunity to permanently deal with his enemies –the Syrians. Elisha told him to strike the ground with an arrow; each time he struck the ground stood for a victory over the Syrians. The foolish king struck the ground three times and began to look. Even when he was rebuked, he did not even make any more attempts. The attitude of this king could be compared to our attitude in prayers. God inspires the pastor to lead a particular prayer point, after praying for five minutes, we stop. At times we pray for two or three days over a matter ,if we do not get a response we stop praying. 1 Thessalonian 5:17 says pray without ceasing. John 16:24 says we should ask until our joy is full. If your joy is not full over a matter please do not stop praying. At times when ask God for one or two things and we do not get an answer within days we get angry at God. The truth is if we petition the president of our country, he is not obliged to answer immediately and we have no choice than to exercise patience. How much more God? He is not our servant or our employer. He can decide not to answer and nothing will happen but thank God He is merciful and He has promised in Isaiah 65:24 that while you are praying, He will answer Hallelujah.

How do I make request known to God? Acts 4:24-30 shows us how to do this. The early Christians had challenges in the area of boldness and evangelism. They went to God in prayers. They started by praising the name of the Lord – Acts 4:24. After that they proceeded to thank Him for the things He had done in times past – Acts 4:25-27. After this they reported what was disturbing them to Him – Acts 4:28. They concluded by telling Him what they wanted Him to do for them – Acts 4:30. By the time they finished praying, the bible records in Acts 4:31 that there was an earth quake. If anyone will go before Him in prayer and start by spending time to exalt His holy name, calling Him the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Most High, other lovely names. Then spend time again to thank Him for the things He had done in past. Then proceed to report everything disturbing them to Him and conclude with what they want to Him to do there will be an earthquake. Also when we make requests to Him, it should be in the name of Jesus. John 14:13 says and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And also when we ask let’s do so through the spirit of God (i.e. speak in tongues) .Romans 8:26 says for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. When God sees our prayer request in heaven signed by Jesus (when ask in the name of Jesus, we are stamping our request with the signature of Jesus) and our requests packaged by the Holy Spirit (when we pray in the spirit), He will say yes! I pray that the Lord will say granted to all your petitions in Jesus name.

ACTION POINT: Start your request by praising God, then thank Him for the things He has done in times past , bring to His attention everything disturbing you and ask Him what you want Him to do with them.

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

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