THE PRINCIPAL PERSONALITY...

Memorise: Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understand. Proverbs 4:7

Read: Proverbs 4:5-9, Bible in one year: 2ndChronicles 28:5-29:36, John 1:29-51
Today’s Bible reading defines wisdom as the principal thing in life. Wisdom is most important because you need it to relate effectively with God, the devil and his cohorts. You also need wisdom to govern your relationship with friends and foes. At work, at school and in the ministry, you need wisdom. With wisdom, you can successfully handle all your life’s pursuits. Wisdom connects everything you do. Wisdom can mean the difference between life and death, success and failure, wealth and poverty, growth and retardation. Everything you can ever ask for will come to you if you have wisdom. There are different types of wisdom operation in the natural and spiritual realms. There is devilish wisdom, human wisdom and divine wisdom. Jesus Christ is declared to be the Wisdom of God in 1st Corinthians 1:24
“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
If wisdom is the principal thing, and Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God, it therefore follows that Jesus Christ is the Principal Person. There is a link between the principal thing and the Principal Person. But why is wisdom so crucial? Proverbs 3:35 says,
“The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
Your pursuit of wisdom will deliver you glory. No wonder the Bible says if you have Jesus Christ, you automatically receive glory (Colossians 1:27). Conversely, if you lack wisdom, shame will be waiting at around the corner for you. There is a direct link between wisdom and a glorious future. Glory is the opposite of shame. Sickness, disease, failure, defeat, barrenness, stagnation, disappointment are all products of shame. When you have Jesus, you receive wisdom, and when you get wisdom, you have access to glory, which makes every token of shame disappear. As the principal thing, getting every other thing without getting wisdom amounts to a waste of time. In the same vain, acquiring material wealth, academic degrees and attaining heights in any field without having a personal relationship with the Principal Person converts one’s gains into one big loss! In all that you strive for, never stop seeking for more of Jesus and His wisdom!
Key Point
Having Jesus can deliver every other thing to you, but getting every other thing cannot give you Jesus.

DIVIDENDS OF HOLINESS

Memorise: Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12; Read: Lamentations 3:22-25, Bible in one year: Ezra 1-3, John 4:46-5:18
Everyone saved by the precious Blood of the Lamb is called to a lifestyle of holiness (1stThessalonians 4:7). Believe it or not, a lifestyle of holiness pays great dividends. Proverbs 11:19 says:
“As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.”
There is therefore a link between righteousness and life, just as there is a link between sin and death (Romans 6:23). Although God has promised you long life in Psalm 91:16, it is only when you live holy that this promise can be fulfilled in your life (Psalm 91:14). If you look close enough, you will discover that most of God’s promises have conditions attached to their fulfilment. If you live holy, you will easily have access to long life, but if you live in disobedience or secret sin, you have moved from life to death. Are you holy? Are you still secretly living in sin? Repent today and turn a new leaf!
Another dividend of holiness is mercy. If you sow holiness, you will reap a harvest of God’s mercy. Hosea 10:12 says:
“Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Holiness is a seed. If you sow holiness, mercy will definitely be part of your harvest. If there is one thing all men need at all times, it is the mercy of the Most High God. Lamentation 3:22 says we are alive today not by our efforts or power but by the mercy of God. Just as holiness is a seed, sin is also a seed. If you sow sin, you will reap judgement and death (2nd Corinthians 5:10). Mercy makes God to relate with you not on the basis of your sins, but on the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death and shed blood. Mercy makes God not to give you the punishment you deserve, but sin ensures you are served what you sowed. Sin ensures God relates with you only on the basis of your crimes or evils. God has said that the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). If God were to relate strictly with us on the basis of our sins, everyone on earth would have died by now (Psalm 130:3). If you want to live long and enjoy God’s mercy on a continuous basis, live holy. Live to please God and God alone.
Key point
The wisest people on earth are those who live according to God’s commands

NOT MOVED BY TEARS!...

Memorise: I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Psalm 138:2

Read: Psalm 138:1-3, Bible in one year: Ezra 6:13-8:23, John 6:1-24
If there is anything we need so dearly to succeed in life, it is wisdom. In God’s manual of life, wisdom is declared to be the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7). What then is wisdom? Practically speaking, wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. The fellow who is educated but fails to apply what he or she knows appropriately will be considered a fool. This is why education alone does not confer wisdom. There are several professors who, in spite of all their chains of degrees, still operate in folly. If knowledge alone is wisdom, then no doctor would engage in smoking because all doctors know that smoking is injurious to health. A particular doctor who smokes was asked “You are a doctor; you know smoking is bad for your health and yet you still smoke. Why? Can you believe his reply? He said “Everybody will eventually die by one means or the other someday. Some will die in an accident; some will die by an assassin’s bullet. I have chosen to die by smoking cigarettes.” Wisdom therefore is having knowledge and applying it correctly for your personal benefit. Are you an educated fool? It is time to change your ways.
As a worker in God’s vineyard, it is important to know that God is not moved by emotions, tears, or by rolling on the ground. Rather, He is moved by the correct application of the principles contained in His Word. His Word is declared to be forever settled in Heaven (Psalm 119:89). God is a God of principles; hence, a mathematician like me finds it easy to enjoy Him, because mathematicians are not often moved by emotions. Take for instance this equation: 2+2=4. Whether you like it or not, it always remains the same. If you like, you can weep from morning till evening saying “I want 2+2 to be 6.” It will not change anything, because 2+2=4 will ever remain the same, be it on earth, on the moon or under the sea. When you know that God is not moved by emotions but by His Word, wisdom demands that you apply His Word more often. Psalm 138:2 says,
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
Obeying God’s Word moves Him. God honours those who stand on His Word. This means that you need to increase in the knowledge of God’s Word so that you will be able to stand on it. Give more time to knowing His Word and stand on it today.
Action Point
Pick a problem confronting you, and find out God’s principles on how to solve it. Simply apply these principles, and check out the result you will obtain.

POSITIONED FOR GENERATIONAL BLESSING

POSITIONED FOR GENERATIONAL BLESSING
Memorise: There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. Psalm 14:5
Read: Genesis 48:13-19, Bible in one year: 2ndChronicles 16:1-18:27, Luke 23:18-43
Shortly before Israel’s death, Joseph his son visited him with his two sons. When it was time to bless the boys, he positioned Manasseh his firstborn to come under his father’s right hand, while Ephraim would come under the left. He knew the implication of position and blessing. But when Israelstretched his hands to bless the boys, he crossed his hands, placing his right hand on the younger and his left hand on the older. Joseph protested but Israel insisted. Let us draw out a few lessons from this passage. The first of these is that after a period of service comes a time of reward. Hence, John the beloved warns in 2nd John 8 that:
“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”
It is therefore possible to labour for something and never get the reward.
There will always be a time to reap after sowing. Hence, you need to be very careful what you sow, because the harvest is always around the corner. Another lesson from today’s Bible passage is that after a long stretch of service, there comes a time for the impartation of generational blessings. That is, after serving God for several years, a time comes when the blessing that transcends you will be delivered to your children. This can only be done if you have brought up your children in the way of the Lord. Generational blessings come from God. It is more than just a right; it is a reward for quality and consistent service. Psalm 23:30 says:
“A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.”
When the time comes for a generational blessing to be transferred to your children and your grandchildren, may they not be found wanting in Jesus’ Name. The implication of this is that whatever effort you put into God’s Kingdom is duly recorded, and that for all your efforts in God’s kingdom, a reward awaits your children. This is why you cannot afford to get tired of loving, serving, pleasing and sacrificing to God. Such efforts help to lay a solid foundation for your children’s future. To what extent are you preparing your children for their tomorrow? Abraham served God and it created a higher platform for Isaac. Isaac also served the Lord and Israel rode on the pedestal. Israel continued from there and Joseph was given a soft landing. Joseph loved the Lord and it affected his sons positively. What kind of blessing will be transferred to your children through your service?
Key Point
Whether your children will have a smooth ride to destiny or not depends on your relationship with God today.

CALLED UNTO HOLINESS

Memorise:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Matthew 5:44
Read: Matthew 5:43-48
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Message
The call to salvation is a call to holiness. The day you were invited to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you were automatically called to a life of holiness. The Bible in 1st Thessalonians 4:7 says:
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness”
Have you responded to this call? The reason why many Christian leaders are heading for Hell today is because they have not answered the call to holiness. This ingredient is so indispensable to the Christian faith that having salvation without holiness is like leaving the substance and taking the chaff that can be easily blown away. Without sanctification, the salvation experience may not know stability. The accounts for the rising-and-falling syndrome being experienced by many Christians. When you are sanctified after receiving Christ into your heart, your faith in Christ is given the strong roots it needs. Hence, when the winds of affliction, temptation, persecution and other challenges of life blow, your faith in Christ will be unshaken, because it is deeply rooted.
While the experience of salvation is akin to cruising in God’s shallow waters, experiencing sanctification is like launching out into the deep oceans of God’s nature. You need this experience!
When you are sanctified, you will have control over your emotions. If you have been battling with lust and sexual sins, ask God for a sanctified heart and you will overcome. Do you know that many leaders still have problems with anger? When they are angry, they can destroy just about anything. They become filled with rage and behave irrationally. What they need is sanctification. When you are holy, you are not easily provoked.
In fact, after several failed deliberate attempts to make you angry, people will wonder whether you can ever get annoyed. If you are sanctified, you will find it impossible to cheat anyone, how much more your fellow Christian brother. With a sanctified heart, you will easily forgive your persecutors like Stephen and Jesus did. You will make excuses for those who fall below your expectations. You will have grace to love the unlovable, and pray for those who spitefully use you. When Jesus gave the instruction in today’s reading, He was actually calling us to holiness. Have you accepted this call? Have you received a new heart?
Prayer point:
Father, as I renew my mind with Your Word, sanctify me wholly that I may live to please You.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 2 CHRONICLES 23:16-25:13 and LUKE 24:36-53

LOVE MUST BE RECIPROCATED

Memorise: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10
Read: John 15:9-10, Bible in one year: 1stChronicles 23:25, Luke 18:35-19:10
God loves us so much the He gave us Himself as a gift. Giving Jesus Christ to die for us was the same as giving Himself to us (1st Timothy 3:16). But He did not stop there, He went further, pointing out to us in Romans 8:32 that:
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.”
However, love should be a two-way exchange, and not one-sided. If you love someone and your love is not being reciprocated, after a while, something will happen to that love. That love may grow cold or even die. The same applies to the relationship between God and us. If you check through the scriptures, you will learn that whenever God does something for someone, He expects them to do something in return. It is one thing to be loved and another thing to abide in that love. While you were in your sins, God demonstrated His love for you by sending Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, to die for you. When you respond to this divine initiative by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you will be washed by His blood and forgiven. After this, God increases His love towards you, and when you reciprocate, that love increases.
Love begets greater love. If you want to sustain or increase the love that God has for you, reciprocate His love. In today’s reading, Jesus tells us that when He came to earth as a man, He was loved by the Father; but to sustain that love, He had to keep the Father’s commandments. What the Father expected of Jesus is what He expects of us today. There is no way you will continue in God’s love when you deliberately break His commandments or refuses to obey Him. If He has loved you, He expects you to love Him too. He expects your obedience. He also expects you to love other brethren. How have you reciprocated the love of the Lord? even though afflictions, persecutions, angles, Satan, what we see and what we can’t see cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39), disobedience, manifested by violation of His word, can deal that love a terrible blow
Action Point
List some things you have never done that you can start doing to reciprocate the love of God. Do them from today!

FAKE PROMISES & SCALES

Memorise: Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 20:10
Read: Proverbs 20:7-10, Bible in one year: 1stChronicles 26:1-28:8, Luke 19:11-40
It is unfortunate that some people make promises and don’t bother to keep them. This is one area that requires restitution. Broken promises can stand against you in eternity. This is why you should not make a promise you are not prepared to keep. Politicians easily fall prey here. When they are campaigning for votes, they will promise heaven and earth, but after their election, may of them fail to live up to their promises. If you are a child of God and a politician, let people know the difference between light and darkness by making sure you fulfil your promises. One of the characters of a person who will enjoy the ever-abiding presence of God and make heaven is keeping of promises. Psalm 15:1&4b says:
“LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill… He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”
There is a user of this devotional: you have made several promises to individuals and even to the Church of God but failed to keep them. Your inability to fulfil them is keeping back certain promises made to you from being fulfilled. If you can repent and fulfil your pending promises, the door will be opened to promises made to you to be fulfilled.
Closely allied to the issue of trustworthiness is the use of fake weights and measures, especially in trading activities. Some people beat in their measuring cups so that they can make more profit. That is fraudulent. Believers should not manipulate their instruments, but measure accurately. Serve completely and charge for it. Sell a full cup of the full amount and not ¾ of a cup for the full amount. You cannot be asking for God’s blessings and be doing what He hates. Proverbs 11:1 says:
“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.”
Just as individuals offend here, so also do governments and government agencies. For instance, any government agency making people pay for services not rendered is fraudulent and destroying itself. One way this happens is through the use of fixed estimates by power companies. When a person’s monthly consumption of energy is 200 units, why must such a person be compelled to pay for 300 or more units? This is serious fraud. This also applies to fuel (gas) stations. Some of them tamper with their meters so that instead of the requested quantity being delivered, fewer litres are dispensed for the same price. They believe people will not know, but what about God? In any way you are delivering below what is expected of you or your organisation, repent and return the difference to the owners before it is too late.
Key point
Whatever is not originally yours that you take from others by deceit can never truly add to you.

WONDERFUL MIRACLE

Memorise: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about untoIllyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:19
Read: Ezekiel 37:1-10, Bible in one year: 1stChronicles 28:9-29:30, Luke 19:41-20:18
Miracles have a lesser degree of awesomeness when compared to wonders. Let us closely look at examples of these. It is undeniable that the raising of the dead through prayer is a great act of God. In 1stKings 17:17-24, when the son of the widow of Zarephath died and Elijah was informed; the prayed, paced up and down, threw himself on the child about three times and the child came back to life. This was a miracle no doubt; but when dead bones cause the dead to be raised to life, it is a great miracle. This happened in 2nd Kings 13:20-21. Someone died and was being conveyed to the burial site, but because the mourners sighted a band of enemy soldiers heading in their direction, they threw the corpse into a nearby grave. Coincidentally, that was where Elisha had been buried. Elisha’s body had decayed leaving only his bones behind. As soon as the corpse touched his bones, the dead man came back to life and ran after his fleeing relatives.
However, when you compare all these great miracles with Ezekiel’s experience documented in today’s Bible reading, you will conclude that they are incomparable in awesomeness. What Ezekiel experienced was a wonder. Ezekiel was taken to a valley full of dry bones and God asked him if the bones could live again. This man of God immediately realised he had come face to face with a situation his faith could not handle. “Lord, this is beyond my faith. Only You can tell”, he replied. God then said to him, “Don’t pray, don’t touch, just prophesy to them and say, Dry bones, hear God’s word and come together, every bone to its bone as it was originally”. Oh! That was easy to say, and he said it as he was commanded, even though he knew it sounded far-fetched. How can you ask dead, dry bones to hear? Oh yes, they can hear, though not your words but God’s Word. This is why you should not stop speaking the Word of God to dead situations, people and things. They all have ears to hear God’s Word and they respond to it. Meanwhile, as the dry bones began to move to form their original bone structure, Ezekiel must have been saying, Wonderful! But God was not done yet; He commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind. Now, this was a bit more outlandish! At least the bones he could see, but the wind he could not see. He however obeyed, and the wind began to blow. Breath came into the lifeless entities that had been formed from the dry bones. In no time, a valley full of dry bones was taken over by a strong and able army. Always use God’s Word to call up what you want to see in the Name of Jesus Christ, and it will be so.
Prayer Point
Father, in my life, family, workplace and ministry, make us recipients of your wonders

Memorise: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about untoIllyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:19
Read: Ezekiel 37:1-10, Bible in one year: 1stChronicles 28:9-29:30, Luke 19:41-20:18
Miracles have a lesser degree of awesomeness when compared to wonders. Let us closely look at examples of these. It is undeniable that the raising of the dead through prayer is a great act of God. In 1stKings 17:17-24, when the son of the widow of Zarephath died and Elijah was informed; the prayed, paced up and down, threw himself on the child about three times and the child came back to life. This was a miracle no doubt; but when dead bones cause the dead to be raised to life, it is a great miracle. This happened in 2nd Kings 13:20-21. Someone died and was being conveyed to the burial site, but because the mourners sighted a band of enemy soldiers heading in their direction, they threw the corpse into a nearby grave. Coincidentally, that was where Elisha had been buried. Elisha’s body had decayed leaving only his bones behind. As soon as the corpse touched his bones, the dead man came back to life and ran after his fleeing relatives.
However, when you compare all these great miracles with Ezekiel’s experience documented in today’s Bible reading, you will conclude that they are incomparable in awesomeness. What Ezekiel experienced was a wonder. Ezekiel was taken to a valley full of dry bones and God asked him if the bones could live again. This man of God immediately realised he had come face to face with a situation his faith could not handle. “Lord, this is beyond my faith. Only You can tell”, he replied. God then said to him, “Don’t pray, don’t touch, just prophesy to them and say, Dry bones, hear God’s word and come together, every bone to its bone as it was originally”. Oh! That was easy to say, and he said it as he was commanded, even though he knew it sounded far-fetched. How can you ask dead, dry bones to hear? Oh yes, they can hear, though not your words but God’s Word. This is why you should not stop speaking the Word of God to dead situations, people and things. They all have ears to hear God’s Word and they respond to it. Meanwhile, as the dry bones began to move to form their original bone structure, Ezekiel must have been saying, Wonderful! But God was not done yet; He commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind. Now, this was a bit more outlandish! At least the bones he could see, but the wind he could not see. He however obeyed, and the wind began to blow. Breath came into the lifeless entities that had been formed from the dry bones. In no time, a valley full of dry bones was taken over by a strong and able army. Always use God’s Word to call up what you want to see in the Name of Jesus Christ, and it will be so.
Prayer Point
Father, in my life, family, workplace and ministry, make us recipients of your wonders.

RETURN REDUCED WAGES!

Memorise:
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
Read: Genesis 31:36-42
36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.
38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Message
God is a righteous God, and as a result, He hates all forms of Fraud. According to Leviticus 19:13, it is a crime to delay your workers salary for 24 hours. Do you promptly pay your staff – whether church or secular?
Another aspect of fraud is manipulating your workers’ salaries. One Bible character who was a victim of this was Jacob. All the years he worked for Laban, he suffered a great deal. He was deceived, cheated, made to bear the losses his boss should have borne and earned an ever-decreasing wage. Laban was extremely wicked.
But do you know that some employers today are like Laban? They take all the gains of their businesses and push all the losses to their staff, irrespective of what caused such losses. Also, while they plan to make more profit and push their staff to work hard at it, they hardly ever plan to increase their salaries. If anything, they continue to come up with excuses as to why such salaries should remain at the same level, or even be reduced.
Laban reduced Jacob’s wages 10 times. If you are happy to cut down your staff salaries rather than increase them, though your business is not diminishing, you are toying with Hell.
If your business cannot afford an employee anymore, it is better to let such staff go after paying their entitlements.
Take note of the words of Romans 13:8:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
Every cent, kobo or penny you fraudulently cut off the wages of your staff amounts to a debt you owe them.
Also, the fact that you owe your staff shows your lack of love for them. You cannot be cutting down the salary or wages of those you love, while your business is doing fine.
Do not be surprised that some employers who claim to be believers in Christ will die and get to the gate of Heaven, only to be told that they cannot enter in because of the debt they owe their staff.
At that checkpoint, the entire amount owed will be found on them. They will then say “I am sorry; I am now prepared to pay the debts I owe my staff”, but the angles will say “Sorry, it’s too late.”
The money such persons fraudulently stole from their staff will follow them to Hell-fire and torment them there for eternity. For your own good, go and restitute all the wages you have cut off without just cause.
Key Point:
Besides pride, another vice that God cannot stand in people is breaking of agreements. If you make a promise, you must keep it.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 1 CHRONICLES 7:14-9:34 and LUKE 15:1-24