WHEN YOU RENDER HELP Pt 2

MEMORY VERSE: and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not, Galatians 6:9.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 25, Ps 68, Isa 15, 1 Pet 3

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-22

In part 1, we discussed that rendering help is a must for all believers. We also discussed that you stand to gain a lot if you allow yourself to be used by God to render help. Not only that, the fellow who the Lord uses to render help benefits the most, even more than the fellow who was helped. The story in our bible studies is a very familiar one. Moses was sitting by a well when some ladies approached to fetch water from the well. The overzealous shepherds around chased them away, Moses been a gentleman stood up and helped them. He also watered their flock. There are a lot of lessons to learn from our bible studies one of which is when we render help, it brings us closer to our destiny.

When we render help, it brings us closer to God’s plan for our life. According to 3 John 1:2, the plan of God is that we prosper and be in good health. Jeremiah 29:11 says His thoughts are to give us a future and a hope. The plan of God for Moses was to give him a job, a home and a wife and I believe that is His plans for you too. Just by rendering help to those ladies, the plan of God for Moses came to fruition. The reason why some brothers are still single is because the Lord knows that they will not help their wives. The Lord knows that they will use their wives as a slave so He decided that it is better they remain single until they change. Immediately the Lord noticed that Moses would make a good husband not a wife beater or slave master, He provided a wife for him immediately.

Another reason why we need to render help is because we only qualify for God’s help when we render help to people. The world runs by a law called the Law of Reciprocity. This means to give and take mutually; to return in kind or even in another kind of degree. What you make happen for people is what God will make happen for you. Psalms 18:25 says God is merciful to those who show mercy, and with an upright man He shows Himself upright. To those who render help, God shows Himself as a helper. Last year the Holy Spirit laid it on my mind to bless a church near my house with some items. Since it was a Palm Sunday, I bought some items and some Easter eggs (chocolate in egg form) for the children at the church. When I got to the church, it was obvious that they the Lord had truly sent me because they had nothing .Anyway I gave the pastor the food items and he prayed for me and I left. During the Christmas period I had a bit of challenge at work and this really touched my pocket. I could not afford to buy food stuffs at all. After the service on December 25, a woman I had never spoken to except just say hi and hello to called me to her car and gave me a big bag. I thanked her and I left. When I got home and checked the bag, I found a 10 kg bag of rice and 5 liter of olive oil. Within minutes I was already with a plate of rice celebrating. What I am trying to say? You only qualify for help from God when you have cultivated the habit of helping others.

PRAYER POINT: Father, as I render help to people in need please send helpers to me too.

DON’T STOP BECAUSE THERE IS A REWARD

Exodus 2:17 and the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 31, John 10, Prov 7, Gal 6

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-21

There is nothing as discouraging as an individual who does not appreciate a helping hand especially when you go out of your way to render the help. If the individual now repays your good deed with bad deed, you will be disgusted. This was the case of Moses. He was walking around minding his own business when he noticed an Egyptian mercilessly beating up a Hebrew boy. Out of pity he rushed to help this Hebrew boy. One thing led to another before you know it, the Egyptian fell and died. He buried the Egyptian and went on his way. The next day while passing by, he saw two Hebrew boys fighting. He approached the fellow at fault and appealed to him to stop hitting his brother and that one started to insult him. He even reminded him of the Egyptian he killed the day before and began to sarcastically beg him not to kill him like he killed the Egyptian. When Moses heard this he was very sad. He thought it was going to end there but it did not; these men informed Pharaoh and that one began to look for Moses to kill him. Moses had no choice than to run away. Moses got himself into trouble because he helped a Hebrew boy (his brother) who was about to be beaten to death by an Egyptian. This boy instead of thanking Moses for saving his life started spreading a rumor that Moses was a killer. The men of Israel instead of commending Moses for saving a Hebrew boy from death, went straight to report him to Pharaoh. Moses lost all he had as a result of this. He was a prince in Egypt, actually the theologians said he was next in line to the throne of Pharaoh but he lost all of this because he  rendered  help to a fellow Hebrew. He lost contact to his beloved mother and family, not only that he became a vagabond and a wanderer in the deserts. While he was wandering in the deserts, he saw some shepherds acting wickedly to some ladies. He defended these ladies and helped them get water from the well. Before the end of that day, God provided a house and a wife for Moses. 

Today I want to admonish you that whatever good thing you are doing, please do not stop because there is a reward for it. People might not appreciate you. They may even repay evil for the good you have done to them like Moses but don’t stop doing good. Moses like anyone of us could have sworn never to render any help again in his life but he did not. Despite all he suffered, when another opportunity to render help came, instead of refusing to help he rendered help and the Lord rewarded him right on the spot. Don’t let the enemy convince you stop doing good. Thank God Moses did not get tired of doing good and quit been a good person. In your last relationship, people might have taken advantage of your kind heart, please do not grow a tough skin and become mean to people. Continue with your kind heart, the Lord that rewards people with a kind heart will reward you in Jesus name.

PRAYER POINT: Father, give me the grace to continue to do good even people repay it with evil.

WHEN YOU RENDER HELP Pt 1

MEMORY VERSE: and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not, Galatians 6:9.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 24, Ps 66-67, Isa 14, 1 Pet 2

BIBLE STUDIES: Exodus 2:11-22

Rendering of help is not negotiable for heaven minded believers. We have to help people. We have to help the needy, the poor, orphans, e.t.c around us. One of the commandments of Christ is that we render help. Matthew 5:42 says give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Galatians 6:2 says bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ. Asides from the fact that it is a commandment from God, Matthew 5:16 says when you render help to people, the name of the Lord is glorified in other words by refusing to render help you are blocking the opportunity for the name of the Lord to be glorified. I will not block an opportunity for my Maker to be glorified. I know you will not do the same because you love God and you are very wise.

Every commandment of God is for our own good. For example Exodus 20:13 says thou shalt not kill. Who benefits from that commandment, God or humans? Obviously we humans because no one can kill God, besides there are many of us who before we met Christ would have been poisoned because of the terrible things we did but thank God for Exodus 20:13. Thank God for salvation! When the Lord commands us to render help, it is for our own good and benefit. One thing I have come to understand is that when it comes to rendering help, the fellow who the Lord uses to render help benefits the most, even more than the fellow who was helped. The devil knows this that is why he tries to frustrate us when we render help. When you help people and they do not show appreciation, don’t be angry because the enemy is trying to frustrate you and cause you to lose your reward. You will not lose your rewards in Jesus name. In our message titled ‘DON’T STOP BECAUSE THERE IS A REWARD’ we discussed the benefits of not relenting in doing good. If for some reason or the other, you did not get the message you can send me an email and I will forward it to you. By the special grace of God the Lord will encourage you through that message.

In these series we will be treating the benefits of rendering help. The story in our bible studies is very familiar one. Moses rendered help to a young Israelite and got in trouble for it. The fellow he helped reported him to a fellow, this fellow told another fellow and before you know it Pharaoh heard and began to seek to kill Moses. Moses heard what Pharaoh was up to so he ran away. While running he got tired and decided to rest by a well. Some ladies came to fetch water by the well and the overzealous shepherds chased them away. Moses been a gentleman stepped in and assisted these ladies. He helped them and watered their flock. The father of these girls thanked him and gave him an accommodation, a job and a wife. There are one or two things to learn from this story. Firstly, when you render help it brings you close to your destiny. The destiny of Moses was to lead the children of Israel out of bondage to Canaan. The help Moses rendered to the young Israelite boy triggered a series of events that led to him running away from Egypt and coming back to deliver his people.

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to do something that will trigger a series of events that will lead me to my destiny.

GOOD SUCCESS

MEMORY VERSE: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein ; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success, Joshua 1:8.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 22, Ps 62-63, Isa 11, Jas 5

James 1:17 says every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The theory of opposites says that everything has an opposite – this is decided by looking at its function and deciding what the opposite of that function is. The word ‘perfect gift’ signifies the possibility of imperfect gifts. If perfect gifts come from God, then imperfect gifts comes from the devil. So also the word ‘good success’ informs us of the existence of bad success. Not all successes are from God just as not all miracles are from God. This is why 1 John 4:1 admonishes us not to believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Any form of success that takes you away from God or hinders you from serving God in spirit and truth is bad success. Any form of success that forces you to compromise your faith, please be careful of such.

What is good success? Good success is defined as sustained success. To get to the top and remain at the top forever is good success but to get to the top and fall back or to be either an ex or defeated champion is bad success. If you use to read your bible daily and now you no longer do that, you are gradually becoming an ex champion and that is bad success. If you use to pray for four hours or do night vigils and now you struggle to pray for an hour, you need to do something urgently or else you might become a defeated champion. If you used to dream or see visions or exhibit one spiritual gift or the other and  those gifts are no longer evident in your there is a possibility that you are already an ex champion. Thank God we have a Savior who is the champion maker, go back to Him today and He will restore you.

What is required for good success? Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein ; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. The first thing you need to do is own a bible. A believer who is heaven conscious will have a bible not the one with torn out pages. Hard copy bibles are better than bible application on ipads, phones and so on. Research has shown that people easily get distracted when reading on screen and this affects assimilation. There is nothing wrong in installing a bible app but this should not replace your hard copy bible. The second thing you need to do is meditate on the word of God day and night. There is a difference between reading and meditating on the Bible. Reading is primarily assimilation of facts without application. When we meditate on the word of God, we seek to make personal application of the scriptures to our lives and circumstances. The third thing you need to do is obey the scriptures. 

 ACTION POINT: Make it a point of duty to meditate on the scripture more often.

REASONS TO GIVE

MEMORY VERSE: 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, Luke 6:38.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 23, Ps 64-65, Isa 13, 1 Pet 1

Today’s memory verse is one of the most popular verses in the bible. It is popular because it is used during offering collections and other special fund raising in the church. People by default don’t like to give because every time you give you lose something. There are many believers who doubts that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The questions is how is it a blessing to live in minus? If you own five units of any currency and you give a unit out, you are left with four units which mean you are short by one unit. How is it a blessing to be short by one?

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 you give you, it will be given back to you. John 12:24 says verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Whenever you give a gift, you are sowing a seed.A farmer who eats his seeds instead of sowing will inevitably go hungry. It is not a good thing to be tight fisted when it comes to giving. Proverbs 11:24 says that there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Micers end up becoming poorer instead of richer. Ecclesiastes 1:7 says all the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. It is those who give to God that God will give back to too.

The second thing you need to know is that when you give, you get more in return. This is why Luke 6:38 says you will get back in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The reason for the pressing down and shaking together is to create more room in the container or sack to receive more. When you sow a seed, you get a tree with fruits which contain several seeds in them. The third thing you need to know is that whatever you give on earth is converted to materials for building your heavenly homes. Matthew 6:19-20 says do not store your treasures on earth but in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and where thieves do not breakthrough nor steal. One of the ways to store treasures in heaven is by investing in evangelism. The fourth and the most important thing you need to know is that giving prepares you for God’s blessing. Several years ago I began to hear what the Lord was doing in the lives of people especially in the area of finances and I wanted the same too. One evening as I knelt down to pray I saw a vision. In the vision I saw a woman holding a big cake. Standing in front of her was a little girl holding sweets in her hand. For one reason or the other the little girl could not receive the big cake because she had sweets in her hand. The Lord told me that the little girl needs to drop the sweets first before she can get the cake from her mum. In other words to receive those mighty things the Lord has in store for me, I need to release the little things in my hand.

PRAYER POINT: Father help me to release those things in my hands so I can receive what’s in Your hand.

GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS ADOPTION

GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS ADOPTION

MEMORY VERSE: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Ephesians 1:5.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 21, Ps 60-61, Isa 10, Jas 4

God loves little children a lot and they love Him too. He gets very angry when people hinder them from coming to Him. In Mark 10:13-16, some parents brought their children to Jesus and the overzealous disciples sent them away. Jesus got very angry and scolded His disciples for hindering the children from coming to Him. Jesus does not appreciate parents who bring their children late to Him on Sundays. I pray Jesus will not scold you for bring your child late to church on Sunday. Jesus has great compassion for orphans and fatherless children too. Exodus 22:22 says ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless children. James 1:27 says pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. As believers, it is essential that we assist orphanage homes and widows. You can not be a friend of God if you hate children. This is why those who practice abortion needs to cry for mercy because they are killing children (God’s little friends).

God also loves and has compassion on the childless too. Psalm 113:9 says He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. You might be feeling unloved because you are childless, please do not cry I want you to know that the Lord loves you and He will show you compassion. One of the questions people ask is, is it alright for a Christian to adopt a child? There is nothing wrong in Christians adopting. Some of the great bible characters were adopted for example Moses (Exodus 2:1-10), Esther (Esther 2:7) and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:22-28). Despite the fact that they were adopted, the Lord used them mightily. While waiting on God for the fruit of the womb, there is nothing wrong in you adopting a child before God gives you your own child. If you are rich and can afford to adopt, please consider adoption. 

Many frown at adoption, they see it as lack of faith in God but the question is this, did God not adopt you? We were not born into the family of God, we were all adopted. The only Child God has is Jesus! Ephesians 1:5 says having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Even though we were adopted by Jesus, He treats us as sons. Revelations 21:7 says he who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be His God and He will be my son. If God treats us (the adopted) as children, we are expected to treat our adopted children as our own sons not mistreat them. God loves adopted children a lot and one way to incur His wrath is by mistreating an adopted child. 

ACTION POINT: If you cannot adopt, support orphanage homes with gifts of food, clothes and other things.

SALVATION ABUSE

MEMORY VERSE: For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 20, Ps 58-59, Isa 9, Jas 3

Myles Munroe once said ‘when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. What is then an abuse or what constitutes an abuse? Abuse is using a thing in a way that is not meant to be used or not as prescribed or not as advised by the author. The biggest challenge facing the world today is abuse. The reason why sexually transmitted diseases are so rampant these days is as result of people not knowing the purpose of sex there by abusing it. Teenage pregnancy, rape, fornication, adultery and other forms of sexual sins are all products of sex abuse. Another canker worm that has eaten deep into the fabric of our states, organizations and so on is the abuse of position. Many do not know the purpose of an office, so as a result when they get into public offices instead of serving the people, they enrich themselves while the common man suffers. 

Many today do not know the purpose of a marriage. This is why we have many divorces today. It is either the man is taking advantage of the woman or the woman is taking advantage or not appreciating the man. Today in the body of Christ, the most common abuse is salvation abuse. To avoid this we need to educate ourselves on the purposes of salvation. What are the purposes of salvation? John 15:16 says ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you, and ordained you, and that you should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you. One of the reasons for salvation is for you to bear fruits and ensure that the fruits remain. To bear fruits simply means to evangelize and the only way to ensure that the fruit remains is through follow up. Salvation is not for us to sit and not bother about the souls going to hell. We were not saved to be idle or be a bench warmer in the vineyard of God, we are saved so that we can become active in the things of God. If you are a believer and you cannot point to a soul you brought to the Lord in the last one year, I am afraid you are abusing your salvation. You need to repent immediately and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Not only that begin to actively work on bringing your first soul to Christ. As a believer you should witness to a minimum of a soul per month. If the number of souls you have witnessed to this year is below three then you have a lot of work to do.

The most important reason for salvation is for you to live a life of holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 says for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. This is why it is wrong to assume that once you are saved, heaven is guaranteed. To go to heaven, Salvation is the first of many steps. After Salvation you need to bear fruits that will remain, according to John 15:2 every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut down. To be cut down signifies death and hell is death. Not only that you are expected to live holy. Romans 12:1 says I beseech you therefore , brethren by the mercies of God , that ye present you bodies as a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. When people tell you that you don’t have to be holy to get to heaven just ignore them. Once Jesus enters your heart, your conduct can either keep Him in or drive Him out. You were not saved to tell lies or do frauds. You were saved to a live a life of Holiness.

PRAYER POINT: Father , initiate the process of sanctification in my life.