HIS RETURNS

MEMORY VERSE: Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Haggai 1:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Mark 1 - 2

God, like every other businessman, expects 'returns' on His investments. He has invested a lot into our lives. He gave us mouth to speak, nose to breath, eyes to see, legs to walk, ears to hear, a sound mind, functioning brains, etc. What kind of 'returns' does He expect from us? Praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 139:14 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” How often does He expect these 'returns'? At all times. Psalm 34:1 says, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” The fact that you bathe yourself this morning is a reason to thank God. The fact that you are able to feed yourself is a cause to thank God. The fact that you have children that are always making the house dirty is a reason to thank God. Sick children don’t make the house dirty because they are always in the hospital or lying down on their bed. Praise and thanksgiving is one area we are all lacking. We spend little or no time thanking Him. We praise Him too little and when we do it, we are in a haste to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Whenever one brings Him the returns of praise and thanksgiving, He makes them whole. Out of the ten lepers that were healed, only that leper who returned to give thanks to God was made whole (Luke 17:11-19).

Another investment He has made into our lives is the power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” That you are gainfully employed is God. That you have a job at all, even if it is part time, can only be God. Asides these, the strength needed to work comes from Him. A sick person cannot run a ministry or a business. In addition, no employer wants a sick staff. This is why employers sometimes request for HR files of those they want to employ (which contains their sickness record) from their former employers. What kind of 'returns' does He expect from this investment? Offering and tithes. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” He has promised to open the windows of heaven and pour down His blessings to those who bring these 'returns'. And to those robbing Him? A curse (Malachi 3:9). Another ‘returns’ He expects is payment of building funds. Haggai 1:8 says, “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.” Do you owe building funds? Pay it up. We build God’s house by being faithful in the payment of our building funds. You can also buy a microphone, a speaker, musical equipment, etc. Neglecting God’s work or the building fund can cause every effort made in other areas not to yield results (Haggai 1:4-7). Also, out of the much He has given to us, He expects ‘returns’ in the form of helping the poor and needy around us. Deuteronomy 15:7 says, “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:” It is our duty to help the less privilege around us. For all He has given to us, He expects something back. One major ‘returns’ He expects is soul winning. Someone preached to you and led you to Christ, you have to preach to someone and lead them to Christ.

NOTE: A lot of people find it difficult to witness because they are shy and they don’t know how to go about.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to give you the spirit of boldness and ideas on how to witness. Speak to your pastor or the outreach leader in your church about evangelism. I want you to know that not everyone you witness to will give their lives to Christ the first time you speak to them. It took me up to six months to win a particular sister to Christ.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

TRUST HIS WISDOM

MEMORY VERSE: And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Genesis 12:5

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 24-27

Don’t marry a brother or sister out of pity. You don’t marry a brother because a lot of sisters have disappointed him. Also, you don’t marry a sister because a lot of brothers have broken her heart. It will be a naive thing to do. It is never too late to stop a relationship if you are not sure if it is God’s will. It is not a pleasant thing to do, actually, it can be very demanding and a lot of emotions are involved. But, if you have prayed and you are convinced that the brother or sister is not God’s will for your life, stop the courtship. It does not matter how far you have gone in the relationship, as far as you are not married and there are no kids between the two of you, i will advise you both to go back to the prayer room. Don’t marry a brother or sister because of what you can see in that brother or sister’s life today. When it comes to the decision of who to marry, wait to hear from God.

Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” Abram moved out of his country, his kindred i.e. his tribe or clan, but not from his father’s house. Genesis 12:5 says, “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.” There was a reason why God told Abram to leave his nation, his kindred and his father’s house. There is always a reason behind God's instruction. The reason(s) may not be obvious at the time of the instruction, but i want you to know that God will never ask you to do something without a reason, and most likely it is always for your benefit. In the case of Abram, God saw what Abram could not see. The Most High saw the future; He saw the fight between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen even before Lot was born (Genesis 13:4-6). He knew Lot was going to turn against his uncle, Abram, so He told Abram to move out and take no one with him – including Lot. Abram didn’t understand God’s instruction.  To him, Lot was just a boy. Actually, at the time God spoke, Lot must have been a well behaved young man for Abram to have taken him along.

Abram never envisaged that Lot was going to turn out to be an ingrate.  It never, for once, crossed his mind that Lot will become a thorn in his flesh.  When God warns you against a particular relationship or a fellow, please take heed. At the time of warning, you may not see anything wrong in the relationship or with the fellow. Actually, the person may appear very hot for the Lord and you think the fellow is a saint. It is until later that you will realise that God was right. John 7:24 says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”Trust God’s judgment of a fellow or a situation, because He knows more than you do. If you don’t take heed when He warns you, you will have yourself to blame. I hope you will take heed so that it will be well with you.  God knows what people will do at a time in the future, so He warns us in advance. Abram thought He knew Lot but He didn’t. God knows that sister more than you do. God knows that brother more than you do. God knows that business more than you do. By the time the real Lot came out, Abram was dumbfounded.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: When you allow people who are not meant to be in your life into your life, what is not meant to happen to you will happen.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please uproot every tree you have not planted in my life.

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TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE

MEMORY VERSE: Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead for days. John 11:39.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 11-12, Matthew 17-19

There are three basic attitudes to work. Attitude one, you delegate work to people, competent or incompetent, sit back and relax. This is full of disadvantages. Firstly, you get what you inspect not what you expect. If you give out tasks to people and you don’t inspect it as they are carrying it out, you will be disappointed at the end of the day. Recently, a friend, who is into photography and media business, was sharing with me how he gave a job to a cameraman, to cover a show. When the cameraman got the job, he promised heaven and earth. Thank God, this friend was diligent enough to be at the show before time. The cameraman who was meant to be at the show by 10 am did not turn up and did not pick up his call until 5pm. His excuse was he went to club the previous night and overslept. If all a man wants to do, as the leader, is delegate tasks, sit back and relax, the work will go on forever. People generally love to work at their own pace, which many a time is at snail’s speed, in their own way and if care is not taken, one will end up paying ten people for a job that two people should have done.

This is what informs ‘attitude two’ to work which is, 'do everything yourself'. One of the advantages of this attitude is that you complete the work in record time without any complains. Also, none of your staffs will be able to hold you to ransom because they know that without them, you can manage quiet well. In addition, the quality of the work will be to your taste. This has few disadvantages and one of them is you will experience a burn out. A lot of people are being treated for exhaustion as we speak. Also, this could affect one’s marriage. This could affect one’s service to God. There a lot of ministers of God, who labour so much on ministry that they no longer have time to minister to God. To wake up at night to pray is now an uphill task because they have worked and worked - visited this family, settled that quarrel, spoke at this event, travel to another part of town to give a speech, and so on. Many a time, they rarely spend time with their family – their number one ministry. There are a lot of wives who are experiencing a burn out too. Although they have grown up children, they are the one who does the cooking, the cleaning of the house, the laundry and so on. Added to this, they support their husbands especially by praying for him, and still go to work.

What is the solution? How did Jesus, the most hardworking man that ever lived, the most effective man that ever lived, the most successful man that ever lived, managed to do all He did within a space of three years and the bible never recorded that He experienced a burn out or could not go out to minister as He was too tired? Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit. There are other secrets too; if the Lord permits we will touch them. One thing He usually does when there is work is that, He did bulk of the work especially praying and fasting, and delegated some out to his disciples. This is attitude three. Jesus never tried to do everything by Himself. For instance, when He wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:39-44), He delegated tasks out. When He got to the tomb, He told some people to roll away the stone at the mouth of the tomb. After praying and calling out Lazarus from the grave, He told another set of people to lose him and him go. Also, when He wanted to feed five thousand (Mark 6:36-43), He didn’t do all the work by Himself. He got some people to make the people sit down. After praying, He got the disciples to share the bread. After everyone had left, He got another people to clean the whole field and pack the remnants.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: If Jesus, our role model, delegated tasks, there is nothing wrong in delegating task. Also, whilst Jesus delegated the tasks, He did bulk of the work and supervised the tasks.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please strengthen me and give me the wisdom to use the resources you have given to me.

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DON’T GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT

MEMORISE: And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 29-32

After a man gives his life to Christ, God puts His Spirit, Holy Spirit, inside him. First Corinthians 12:13 says this: “for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit acts like a conscience in that, He warns us when we are about to do something wrong and convicts us when we sin against God. He also assures us that we belong to God. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” He leads and guides us - believers. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The Holy Spirit does not lead a man to disobey God. The Psalmist says, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm23:3b). The Holy Spirit leads a man into God’s will for his life.

The Holy Spirit does far more than I have mentioned. Some years back, a colleague at work misplaced his bunch of keys which contained his car keys, home keys and locker keys – I think. He searched everywhere and didn’t find it, so he came downstairs to inform us. As he spoke, the Holy Spirit told me where the key was and I told him. He doubted me, so I went to where the Holy Spirit told me it was, and he followed me. When I got there, I lifted a particular chair up, lo and behold; the key was underneath the chair. Sometimes last year, I, a pastor, and another colleague of mine were looking for a particular document. We literally turned the office upside down and didn’t find it, so I told them that the Holy Spirit will find the document and they said amen. We checked the office again and we found the document where we had checked 4 times! The value of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer cannot be measured.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” The first thing I want you to know is that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Secondly, if a fellow continually grieves Him, He will take His leave. Can the Holy Spirit leave a man? Oh Yes! After Saul repeatedly disobeyed God, the Holy Spirit left him. First Samuel 16:14says, “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” This brings us to the question, how does one grieve the Holy Spirit? We grieve the Spirit by living like pagans (Ephesians 4:17-19), by lying (Ephesians 4:25), by being angry (Ephesians4:26-27), by stealing (Ephesians 4:28), by cursing (Ephesians 4:29), by being bitter (Ephesians 4:31), by being unforgiving (Ephesians 4:32), and by being sexually immoral (Ephesians 5:3-5). The moment He, Holy Spirit, warns one not to do something, and the fellow goes ahead and does it, He becomes grieved. When a man continually grieves Him, He will leave.

QUESTION: Are you grieving the Holy Spirit by the way you live your life? Does your conscience still convicts you when you tell little white lies?

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me never to grieve you again.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

MAN’S REVIEW VS GOD’S REVIEW

MEMORY VERSE: 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. Isaiah 40:31

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Joshua 16-20

I was informed, recently, by my Mobile Network Provider that i was due for an upgrade. Since i had two mobile phones in mind but i wasn't sure about which one to pick, i went online to see what experts and users of both phones had to say. I also spoke to some colleagues at work who owned both phones to get their opinions. As i considered what everyone had to say about these phones, this dropped into my spirit, “you have checked man’s reviews of both phones, how about God’s review of both phones?”

As this question sank in, i realized how little i depended on God. It dawned on me that i only run to Him when i am about to make a big decision like the choice of where to reside. For one reason or other, i just felt that God was not in interested in trivial matters like mobile phones. Is it not disturbing how technology and the internet have in one way or other reduced our dependency on the Holy Spirit? When we don’t understand a bible verse, instead of asking the author which is the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), we check Google. There are a lot of good materials on the internet but be careful of the wrong interpretations too. We are eager to hear what people – experts, business associates, friends and families – have to say concerning a particular move we are about to make not what the Holy Spirit has to say. A fellow, who wants to relocate to an area, will first inquire from the people who have lived in that area or who live in the area not the Holy Spirit before making the move. One thing he does not know is that the Holy Spirit knows that area even more than the residents. Many have missed their ‘God-sent helpers’ simply because they made the right journey at the wrong time. A man wanted to buy a plane ticket for his junior brother who was coming from abroad. Whilst booking, he saw that the flights on 26th December where cheaper than those on the 24th December. Rationally, he would have booked the flights for 26th December but he didn't. As he prayed, the Holy Spirit told him to book the flight for 24th December and he obeyed. Unknown to him, his God-sent helper was also coming from abroad on the same flight. Whilst he was waiting at the airport, something let to another and he got talking with a man. Later they both shared contact details and left. His ministry and life changed that day forever because a lot of big things happened in his life as a result of that meeting.

Back to my story, as i pondered on the question, i remembered a major incident that happened last year. One of the biggest car companies in the world recalled 1.75 million cars in England alone due to faults in their break systems, faults in the fuel deliver pipe systems and faults suction plates. Anyone who knows about cars will tell you that a faulty fuel deliver pipe system could cause leakage which increases the risk of the car catching fire. Had it been the owners sought for God's reviews, they probably would not have bought that particular model at that time. But as usual, people always prefer what experts write in car magazines not what God has to say. A similar one occurred in Australia where a mobile phone company had to recall a particular model of phone due to technical faults. Many who were not good with phones lost contacts, pictures, files, etc. God's review on this particular brand would have saved one a lot of hassle. In these two instances, we saw the limitation of human reviews. God’s review is always better as it not only focuses on the present but on the future too.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: The length of time we are willing to wait on God determines how dependent we are on Him. Those who really depend on God are willing to wait on Him no matter how long it takes. It is those who wait that end up with a meaningful achievement (Isaiah 40:31).

QUESTION: How much do you depend of God?

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

MEMORIZE: And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:10-11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 6-8

As we heard at the beginning of this year, 2015 is going to be a year of meaningful achievement. Every genuine child of God will have cause to rejoice because of what God is going to do in their family, marriage, career, ministry, business and work. However, there are conditions attached to the fulfilment of this promise. One of them is taking responsibility. Anyone who will have a meaningful achievement this year must take responsibility. One of the things people do when they don’t want to take responsibility for their actions or their life is they look for people to blame. Friend, you do not need your parents to succeed. The fact that your father practiced polygamy is not the reason why you are not where you are meant to be. There are a lot of people who their father practiced polygamy who are doing fine. The fact that your parents did not send you to school is not an excuse. There are people who did not have that opportunity but worked hard, saved some money and enrolled themselves on a part time course. Today they are graduates. The fact that your parents were not there for you when you were growing up is not an excuse because we have seen orphans who became employers of labour. Stop blaming your mother who left your father when you were a kid or your father who left your mother when you a kid for your current problems. There are people who went through worst things and still made something out of life.

This year, you want meaningful achievement? Take responsibility. Accept that you are where you are because of the decisions you took in the past. I found in counselling that one of the most difficult people to help are people who do not want to take responsibility. They are always looking for people to blame. Maybe they entered into courtship with the wrong man; instead of taking responsibility, they blame their aunt who introduced the man to them. Some brothers fall into fornication and blame the sister they are in courtship with. “I fornicated with her because that sister is too weak” they will say. What an irresponsible brother! I have seen parents who instead of taking responsibility for their child’s terrible behaviour, they blame the school. “Junior became a bad boy when he joined that school,” they will say. Is Junior the only child in that school? How come other children in the same school - and in the same class with junior - are behaving well? Oh sherry failed that exam because of her teacher. Really? How come other class mates of sherry passed the exam? Is Sherry the only student that teacher taught? Some blame the internet? How come other children who use the internet don’t do the terrible things your children are doing? Some blame the society; how come in the same society we have youths – male and females – who are still virgins? They don’t have two heads. I have met some adults who blame their current lack of self discipline and character on their upbringing. If you believe your parents are at fault for that, why not re-train yourself now that you are an adult? Adam’s problems started when - instead of taking responsibility for his actions - he began to blame his wife. Genesis 3:10-11 says, “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” God asked Adam “have you eaten from the tree you should not eat from?” All he needed to say was either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. But he didn’t, he was looking for who to blame for his nakedness so he blamed God- first, and then his wife.

ACTION: Start taking responsibility. People will only waste your time if you give them your time to waste. Take responsibility for how you spend your time.

CONFESSION: As from today, i refuse to allow people to waste my time and my life.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.     

DON’T GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT

MEMORISE: And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 29-32

After a man gives his life to Christ, God puts His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, inside him. First Corinthians 12:13 says this: “for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit acts like a conscience in that, He warns us when we are about to do something wrong and convicts us when we sin against God. He also assures us that we belong to God. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” He leads and guides us - believers. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The Holy Spirit does not lead a man to disobey God. The Psalmist says, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3b). The Holy Spirit leads a man into God’s will for his life.

The Holy Spirit does far more than I have mentioned. Some years back, a colleague at work misplaced his bunch of keys which contained his car keys, home keys and locker keys – I think. He searched everywhere and didn’t find it, so he came downstairs to inform us. As he spoke, the Holy Spirit told me where the key was and I told him. He doubted me, so I went to where the Holy Spirit told me it was, and he followed me. When I got there, I lifted a particular chair up, lo and behold; the key was underneath the chair. Sometimes last year, I, a pastor, and another colleague of mine were looking for a particular document. We literally turned the office upside down and didn’t find it, so I told them that the Holy Spirit will find the document and they said amen. We checked the office again and we found the document where we had checked 4 times! The value of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer cannot be measured.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” The first thing I want you to know is that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Secondly, if a fellow continually grieves Him, He will take His leave. Can the Holy Spirit leave a man? Oh Yes! After Saul repeatedly disobeyed God, the Holy Spirit left him. First Samuel 16:14 says, “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” This brings us to the question, how does one grieve the Holy Spirit? We grieve the Spirit by living like pagans (Ephesians 4:17-19), by lying (Ephesians 4:25), by being angry (Ephesians 4:26-27), by stealing (Ephesians 4:28), by cursing (Ephesians 4:29), by being bitter (Ephesians 4:31), by being unforgiving (Ephesians 4:32), and by being sexually immoral (Ephesians 5:3-5). The moment He, the Holy Spirit, warns one not to do something, and the fellow goes ahead and does it, He becomes grieved. When a man continually grieves Him, He will leave.

QUESTION: Are you grieving the Holy Spirit by the way you live your life? Does your conscience still convict you when you tell little white lies?

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me never to grieve you again.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.