VIOLENCE IS REQUIRED

MEMORY VERSE: and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:30

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 6-10

Violence is required to achieve certain things in life. Oh yes! And please, by violence i don’t mean physical violence or causing terror. No. No. No. Someone once told her pastor, “Sir, the only language my husband understands is violence.” This is not the type of violence i am talking about. I am against physical violence of every form. You need to go after certain things violently;i.e., aggressively, if you are serious about getting them. Violence is required to become who God created you to be. Violence is required to get to the top. Violence is required to realize your potential in Christ. You need to knock and keep on knocking for some doors to open. Matthew 11:12 says: “and from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force”. What brought down the walls of Jericho was not a whisper. It was not a gentleman’s shout. Joshua 6:20 says: “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a GREAT SHOUT, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” Jesus prayed a violent prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44 says: “and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Been violent requires force, energy, persistence and determination. An example of a man who was violent in his decision to serve God was Elisha. The day he decided to follow the Lord, he did it in a violent manner. He burnt his bridges. (A bridge is any link with your sinful past that is capable of returning you to that sin). The decision to follow Christ must be done violently. Photographs of former sinful partners must be burnt. Occultic books and regalia from secret societies must be destroyed. Pornographic and x-rated materials must be destroyed. Clothes that expose part of your body that are meant to be covered must be burnt. Music that glorify sex outside marriage or sex before marriage must deleted right away. CDs /DVDs that glorifies crimes and guns must be burnt immediately. Erotic books, Tarot and palm reading books must be burnt. The Lord used us to restore a sister back to Christ several months back. I said her, "the only way to get rid of your sinful partners is preach to them". It wasn't easy but she did it.  She promised the Lord never to return to her past again and she didn't. You must be violent about your decision to serve Christ. You must be violent about your decision to make heaven. Matthew 5:30 says: “and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell”. Sometimes the people capable of bringing you back to Egypt (sinful practices) may be close and precious to you as your right eye. They could even be your right hand man or childhood friends. The bible says if you don’t want to go to hell, cut them off right away. It is better to go to heaven without a friend, than go to hell with a circle of friends.

NOTE: The reason why a lot of people backslide into the world is because they fail to burn the bridge that links them back to the world. To serve Christ , there are some friends, from your past, you will have to cut off. There are some relationships you will have to disconnect yourself from because they are not drawing you closer to Christ. There are some places you will have to stop visiting if you want to remain standing.

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YOUR BREAKTHROUGH WILL FOLLOW YOUR OBEDIENCE

MEMORY VERSE: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-16

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 16-19

God is love.1 John 4:8 says: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” He gave His best, His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ), to us out of love (John 3:16). The Lord takes special interest in those who reciprocate this love back to Him. Proverbs 8:17 says: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” We express love through gifts. Husbands give gifts to their wives and vice versa, out of love. Love must be expressed verbally and through our actions. Jesus demonstrated His love to us by laying down His life for us. John 15:13 says: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Because Christ demonstrated His love to us, we must also demonstrate our love to Him – if we really mean it. If He gave all, we must be ready to give our best at the minimum. What’s our best? Romans 12:1 says:” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” We can demonstrate our love to Him through our sacrifices and offerings. If only you will give to Him – and you do it cheerful because He loves a cheerful giver ( 2 Corinthians 8:7)- He will say a big thank you. And, just a thank you from God is enough to change a man’s life forever. 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.” Also, lovers love to spend time together. It is impossible to love God and dislike church or dislike bible studies.

One thing God loves more than sacrifices is obedience to His word. Jesus said, “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33).” Actually, another way to demonstrate your love to Him is by obeying His commandments. John 14:15 says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Your obedience to Him will usher in your breakthrough. It will usher in your long-awaited season. It is one thing for God to want to bless a man; it is another thing for that man to receive the blessing. Whether the man will receive what God has in store for him or not will be determined by his attitude to God’s instructions. His instructions are basic and simple. What ushered in that widow’s season of abundance was her obedience to Elijah ( 1 Kings 17:10-16). Verse 15-16 says: “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.” Although God wanted to bless her, had she disobeyed she would have lost that blessing. She had to first do what Elijah asked her to do before the divine supply came. Many of us would have said to Elijah, “let me go and pray about it”. That’s a polite way of saying, "i refuse to obey that instruction".  Her breakthrough was activated when she obeyed. The same with you -  your breakthrough will be activated when you obey God’s instruction. Has the Lord commanded you to start a project? Please start with whatever you have because the resources needed may not arrive until you start the project. If you decide to wait until you get all the resources you need before starting, you may wait forever because God rarely provides everything you will need for a project before the project starts. God may not move until you move.

NOTE: God is only committed to supplying your needs (Philippians 4:19). Once you start, it becomes a need and God will supply the resources needed.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

“BUT HE PUT HIS ARMOUR IN HIS TENT”

MEMORY VERSE: And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1 Samuel 17:54

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 17-18

God fights for His children in three basic ways. Way one: He fights their enemies alone. His children don’t have to do anything except sit and watch Him destroy their enemies. There are several examples of this in the bible but one that comes to mind is in the book of 2 Kings 18&19. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, besieged Jerusalem. He sent a nasty letter to the Hezekiah, king of Judah, and that one began to shake. Hezekiah was a child of God; He simply laid the letter before the Lord. Many don’t know God can read letters. He is the Teacher of teachers. The Lord read the letter and took action that evening. 2 Kings 19:35 says: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, theywere all dead corpses.” The next morning, Sennacherib, quietly, withdrew his men and went back home. Hezekiah did nothing except watch. He didn’t even lift a sword. Way two: He fights alongside His children. Five great kings - king of Jerusalem, king of Hebron, king of Jarmuth, king of Lachish, and king of Eglon- came together to fight the children of Israel ( Joshua). The Lord fought alongside Joshua. His men were fighting with swords, the Lord opened heaven and great stones began to drop on the head of the enemies of His children. Joshua 10:11 says: “And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.”

Way three – probably the most common way: He empowers His children to fight their enemies. Psalm 144:1 says: “A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” Three thousand men of Judah (enemy within)
bound Samson with a rope and handed him over to the Philistines (enemy withal). The enemy saw Samson bound and began to dance for joy. As they were rejoicing, the Lord sent down fire and it consumed the rope that was used to tie Samson. He found a jawbone of an ass - strategically positioned there – and began to fight the Philistines with it. Judges 15:15 says: “And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” The rest ran away. Sadly, Samson threw away the jawbone after he defeated the enemy. He threw away what God gave him to fight the enemy with and then began to thirst. He threw away what he secured victory with. He threw away what brought him peace. Just like Samson, many have thrown away the “jawbone of an ass” they secured victory with. For some, they have misplaced it. Where is your “jawbone of an ass”? What God gave David to finish off Goliath was Goliath’s own sword. Thank God, David kept it. 1 Samuel 17:54 says: “And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.” Don’t throw things away because you never know when you might need them. Don’t destroy relationships you have built because you never know when you might need them again. There was a man in my team who behaved badly to everyone because he was moving over to Spain to start a fruit business. He was a difficult person to manage and work with; as his supervisor, i had to draw strength from heaven to manage him. He moved to Spain –thinking he will never need the organisation again. Unfortunately, the fruit business didn’t do well so he had to return to UK. When he couldn’t get a job, he came back to us. At the interview, the interviewer remembered him and decided to give the job to a less qualified candidate. I was told after the interview that he literally went on his two knees to ask for a second chance –which he didn’t receive. Be careful how you treat people. Be careful how you behave in your current role. When i heard the story i shook my head. You don’t know tomorrow so behave well. Samson cried to God and God pointed him to the jawbone he threw away; from it water began to flow and he drank.

NOTE: David never thought he would need Goliath’s sword until Saul began to chase to him to kill him.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

YOUR CLASS DETERMINES YOUR OPPONENTS/ CHALLENGES

MEMORY VERSE: And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Zechariah 3:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Peter 4-5

In some sports especially boxing and horse-racing, there is something called “weigh-in”. Individual competitors report a day before or on the day of the competition, depending on the sports, to be “weighed-in’ first to ensure that they compete in the right class. In the realm of professional fighting, size does matter. The bigger you are, the harder you hit, the harder you are to hit, and the more your attacks exhaust your opponent. As such, it will be unfair for two competitors e.g. boxers from differing weight class to fight each other. Hence, your weight determines your class, and your class determines your opponent. If you are a heavyweight, you will get an opponent in the heavyweight category. Also, your class determines your reward. You can’t compete in the lightweight category and expect to be rewarded as a heavyweight. It is the same in life; the size of your destiny will determine the size of your challenges. You will be matched against an opposition as big as you. The higher you go academically, the tougher the exams will be. I found that as the Most High was helping me and i was being promoted, the exams i was sitting for were getting tougher. I remember a particular exam which had two sections: Section A, answer any three out of five and Section B, answer any two out of four. I had only 90 minutes. The next one was a 3 hours open book exam; 100 objective questions, answer all.

The spiritual challenges you will face will be determined by your spiritual level. The kind of attacks you will get will be determined your spiritual level. The mad man of Gadara was attacked by over 6000 demons because he was created to be a mighty evangelist. Somehow, the enemy got hold of that information and bombarded him ( Mark 5:1-20). The higher you go, in the Lord, the stiffer the opposition will be. This is not to scare you or anything, but to prepare you. The reason why you are facing unusual challenges could be because of what God created you to be. The enemy, somehow, got hold of some information about your life and is now attacking you to cancel out that plan. I want to inform you that he will not succeed. I remember a time in my life when it seemed as if as someone opened the gate of challenges at me. As i was leaving one, i was entering into another.
I now understand why. As David grew, his opposition grew. His first opposition was a lion, and then a big bear, and then Goliath, and so on.

Zechariah 3:1 says: “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” In the synagogue, the position of the chief high priest is the highest and Joshua, the high priest, was at that level. In the demonic world, the highest ranking demon is Satan himself. As you can , from our memory verse, Satan was withstanding Joshua. The reason why you are facing great challenges could be because of your level in Christ. Although you are a young man or woman, before God you are not. Although David was a small boy , he was dripping with anointing. Although , he was a young, he was king in waiting. As you grow in Him, He will give you the right weapon to fight the enemies at your level. When David’s enemies were just beast – lions and bears- He only strengthen his hands. This was why he could club a bear to death. Psalm 144:1 says:” A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:” When he grew to the level of Goliath, the Lord gave him a sling and stone. You have no reason to fear the enemy because you will always receive weapons to conquer the enemy at your level.

PRAYER POINT: Father, fortify your protection over my life.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

DIVINE PROMOTION SHOULD NOT CHANGE YOU

MEMORY VERSE: And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? First Samuel 15:17

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 131-133

In First Samuel 17, Jesse sent his youngest son, David, to the Valley of Elah to deliver food stuffs to his brothers who had followed Saul to war. When he arrived, he heard Goliath challenging Saul and his men. A holy anger arose in him and he volunteered to fight Goliath. Saul tried to discourage David unsuccessfully . 1 Samuel 17:37 says: “David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.” Saul gave David his armor but he rejected it as he was uncomfortable with them. David with his sling and stones coupled with the help of God conquered Goliath. There are several lessons we can learn from this story. Firstly, a familiar sling and stone is better than an unfamiliar sophisticated military gear.

Secondly, divine promotion should not change you. Success should not change how you relate to your fellow brothers, disciplers or God. The bible is littered with several examples of people who changed after the Lord promoted them. A typical example is King Saul. He was humble before he was anointed king over Israel. According to First Samuel 15:17, he saw himself as unimportant before he was made king. First Samuel 15:1 says: "Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.” The question is this, why, on God's green earth, was this old prophet reminding Saul of his humble beginning? Why remind Saul of how he was instructed to anoint him? If for one reason or the other your husband or pastor began to remind you that he is your husband or pastor, you are probably undermining his authority as your husband or your pastor. That was exactly what Samuel was trying to do. He observed some changes in Saul; hence, the need for that reminder. Unfortunately, the reminder meant nothing to him. Out of pride, he disobeyed God by destroying the worthless things and keeping the valuable things for himself. When Samuel refused to go with him to offer sacrifice because he had disobeyed God, he tore his robe.

David never for once attributed his past success to his strength or anything. He told Saul, “the Lord that delivered me out......” Between First Samuel 17:45 to 47, he mentioned the name of the Lord over six times – depending on the version of the bible you are reading from. The Lord did this.... the Lord did that.... the Lord that did this will do that... etc. It is sad that success has shut the mouth of many. They no longer witness about Christ because they think evangelism is for poor people. Also, divine promotion/provision has caused many to disdain their skin colour and as such, they bleach. Divine promotion should bring us closer to God not draw us away from Him. Success should not turn you into a modern Christian or liberal Christian. You are either a Christian or not a Christian. As a result of success, many have requested to move from sanctuary keeping to join the protocol team. They want a more posh role in the church; something more dignifying – according to them. It is God who will reward, and fortunately, those roles you consider as not dignifying attract greater rewards. If you clean His house He will clean your life. If anything, success should encourage you to serve God more.

QUESTION: In what ways have you changed as a result of your divine promotion ? Have you now become unruly because you were promoted at work? Repent today!

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

USE WHAT YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH

MEMORY VERSE: And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 1 Samuel 7:40

 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 1-5

BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 17:31-40

David went to the battlefield to drop some foodstuffs for his brothers who had followed Saul to war. There, he heard Goliath, a Philistine, a giant and also a champion, harassing the armies of Israel. 1 Samuel 17:8-10 says, “And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array?am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” A holy anger arose in him; he volunteered to fight Goliath so they took him to Saul – probably to talk him out of it because he was very young. “There's no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win!” he said, “You're only a boy, and he's been a man of war since his youth.” Persistent knocking opens doors. David's persistence wore Saul down; at last, he gave him the go ahead. He offered him his fighting gears which David tried and found very uncomfortable. 1 Samuel 17:40 says, “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.” God gave David victory over Goliath using ordinary sling and stones. 

 There are several lessons we can learn from this story. A familiar sling and stone is better than an unfamiliar sophisticated military gear. There is a saying where i came from: “a known devil is better than an unknown angel.” You know what to expect from the known devil. You know how he behaves and what to expect from him but with the unknown angel you have no clue. He could even be worse than the unknown angel. (NOTE: When we say a known devil, we are talking of human beings not satanic agents. An unknown angel of God is always better a known devil.) When attending to a critical matter especially those with little margin of errors, it is better to use a tool or employ an approach you are familiar with. I will rather work on a project with a group of average people i have worked with in the past and achieved success with than a group of experts i have never worked with. The familiar (sling and stone) is better than the unfamiliar (sophisticated military gear) because you know its strengths and weaknesses. That knowledge alone gives you an added advantage; you can work on its strength to your advantage. Besides, there is more to winning wars than having the latest sophisticated military gears or high-tech equipments. Weapons don’t always win wars; history proves this. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Brute force or bullying tactics don’t win wars. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” One may plan and strategize but God decides the outcome of the war. Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.”

NOTE: David didn’t try to show off, he used what he was familiar with although they were old fashioned and achieved success. 

PRAYER: Pray that peace will reign in Syria and other war torn countries.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

DON’T ALTER THE LORD’S INSTRUCTION

MEMORY VERSE: And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. Joshua 6:4

BIBLE READING: Numbers 34-36

One of the secrets of success is studying successful people and doing what they did. If you want the kind of success Steve Jobs (Apple founder) had, get his autobiography, study what he did and do the same. Some years back, Elon Musk (founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, Space X, etc.) in an interview mentioned that he read the autobiography of Steve Jobs and learnt a lot from it. If you want the kind of Daniel’s success, third-in-command to an emperor who ruled the world ( Daniel 6:1-2), or Joseph’s, a man who created economic and business models that sustained the economy of Egypt (the greatest economy at that time) when currency failed, read their autobiographies which are documented in the Holy Scriptures and do what they did. As for me, I want all so I read everything; viz.,the Bible, autobiographies, memoirs, etc.

Let us briefly look at two of many secrets of Joshua’s success. Firstly, Joshua did well because Moses laid hands on him. Deuteronomy 34:9 says: “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.” Moses laid hands on Joshua and transferred the grace and anointing he carried to Joshua. Also, Moses literally laid hands on him as in mentor him. Secondly, Joshua did well in ministry because he followed (divine) instructions to the letter. Many of us find it hard to follow basic instructions. The doctor says, “take two tablets three times daily." What do we do? We take three tablets four times daily. That’s drug abuse and no child of God should abuse drugs. Joshua followed God’s instruction to the letter. The Lord’s instruction to Joshua was “….And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets… ( Joshua 6:4)”. What did he do? He ensured that the priests used trumpets of ram’s horns not goat’s horns. Joshua 6:6 says: “And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.” Again, the Lord told him to pick seven men i.e. priests and he did that. Some would have picked six men and a woman because they want to be politically correct.

NOTE: The Lord is the wiser than the wisest. He knows why He chose ram’s horn over goat’s horn. Learn to follow His instructions to the letter.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.