Tuesday, August 22, 2017

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 
2 Timothy 4:7
Read: 1 Timothy 6:11-14
6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
6:13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
6:14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
MESSAGE
The basis for all spiritual warfare can be explained as the opposition or hostility between light and darkness. Darkness is associated with blindness, emptiness, uncertainty, inactivity, stagnancy, ignorance, failure, wickedness, fear and evil. Darkness was the dominant authority over the universe in the beginning, and this was evidently the status quo at the time of creation in Genesis 1:1. Then God said let there be light and there was light. Light is a very powerful force. When there is light, darkness has no choice but to disappear. John 1:5 says,
"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
However, the truth is, not all light can outshine darkness. For instance, Genesis 1 talks of categories of light.
"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." Genesis 1:16
There are lights of the sun, moon and stars. Then there are man-made lights of varying sizes. If you put on a tiny torch in the midst of total darkness, you will only see the spot the torch is pointing at. Everywhere else will be surrounded by darkness. The size of a light determines the area it will dominate or rule over. The sun rules over the day because it is far brighter than the moon. If the moon were to replace the sun during the day, there would be darkness during the day. Similarly, if you bring the sun to replace the moon during the night time, the night will turn into day. This tells us that what determines the result of a situation is the amount of light it is exposed to. This means that exposing varying degrees of light on the same situation will give you different results. The volume of the light of God's Word that you are exposed to will determine the degree of the change you will experience.
The intensity and size of God's light in you will determine your sphere of domination. Although, God has commanded you to dominate everything, the actual scope of your dominance will be determined by the amount of God's Word that is in you. The Word is the light of the world. If you lack the Word, you lack the light that gives definition to your ability to dominate. As you increase your Word content, you enlarge your coast. Staying away from the Word automatically reduces you glow and ultimately your ability to control forces, situations and circumstances. On the other hand, the moment you stop shinning as light, darkness will swallow you up. If you want to be victorious over forces of darkness, you should daily expose yourself to the light from God's Word. The Word is the sword of the Spirit and the chief weapon of our warfare as Christians.
Prayer Point:
Father, please baptize me in the pool of Your Word today in Jesus' name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Leviticus 13
Psalms 123-124

Thursday, August 17, 2017

HE IS ABLE

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Tuesday, August 8, 2017

THE ALMIGHTY

For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37
Read: Genesis 17:1-2
17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Message:
In Genesis 17:1, for the first time, God revealed Himself as El-Shaddai: the Almighty God. Here, He was reiterating His wonderful promises to Abraham at the age of ninety-nine, particularly that he would bear a son, despite him and Sarah being very advanced in age. Prior to this revelation, God had been identified as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and He had also made Himself known as the God who knows all things. However, this time, He wanted to introduce Himself as the God who has the power to do all things. The eternal power of the Almighty is evident in the work of creation, and at a more personal level, the exceeding greatness of His power is expressed in all believers by the regeneration of our spirit man, through the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 1:20, Ephesians 1:19-20).
Several accounts in the Bible teach us that the unlimited power of the Almighty is always at work in any given situation to make all things go according to His original plan and purpose. For example, in the book of Ruth, Naomi was the only survivor of a tragic family decision to sojourn in the land of Moab. After a ten-year absence, the Lord brought her back to Bethlehem in His character as Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God. Later on, in His capacity as the Almighty, He exercised His power to implement His purpose in the life of Ruth and Naomi, so much so that the same circumstances that Naomi found to be bitter in Ruth 1:20 went on to bring about great joy and celebration at the end of the day. What a mighty God we serve! I therefore decree into your life, no matter what you are passing through at the moment, the original purpose of God for your life shall be established in the mighty Name of Jesus.
The almightiness of God can be translated to mean that with God, nothing shall be impossible. The Almighty God has proved Himself beyond any reasonable doubt in this regard. The book of Genesis reveals the power of God to bring everything we see in creation today into reality from virtually nothing. Exodus showcases among others things the execution of the ten plagues and the final deliverance of Israel from the hand of pharaoh in such a miraculous way. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy highlight the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness with great miracles and wonders attending to them daily. Joshua records how a feeble, worn-out and ill-equipped nation of Israel was assisted by the Almighty God to destroy and inherit the lands of nations consisting of giants. The list is inexhaustible! I therefore decree, that the power of the Almighty God will work in your life today to do the impossible, in the mighty Name of Jesus.

Prayer Point:
Father, You are the Almighty, please do a mighty thing in my life today in Jesus’ Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Kings 1-2
Ezekiel 21:18-32

LIKE THEOPHILUS?

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psalm 91:14

Read: Luke 1:1-4
1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
1:4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Message:
The name by which a person is identified is very significant. The Jews and a good number of Africa cultures attach great importance to the names they give to their children. It is amazing that God Almighty also recognizes the influences of names on the lives of their bearers. For example, while entering into a convenient with Abram, God changed his name to Abraham, and He gave reasons for this (Genesis 32:28). The Lord Jesus and His apostles also gave people new names (Mark 3:16-17, Acts 4:36).
In our Bible reading today, we read about a man whose name was Theophilus. ‘Theophilus’ in Greek means “lover of God”. It is amazing that this man loved God so much that he earnestly sought to know about Him and His Christ. His curiosity about God produced two of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament: the gospel according to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (Luke 1:1-3, Acts 1:1). When you love someone, you would seek to know more about that fellow. This was exactly the attitude of Theophilus towards God. His drive to know God more, led Luke to write his gospel on the life of Jesus. However, his continued thirst made him unsatisfied with just one book about Him, thereby necessitating the need for a second book to be written by Luke, which is now referred to as the Acts of the Apostles.
There are several lessons we can learn from the life and attitude of Theophilus, one of which is that in spite of his highly exalted position, Theophilus still sought to know the truth about Jesus Christ. The Bible says you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free (John 8:32). Whenever you are confronted with an idea, be it religious or philosophical, try and find out the truth embedded in it. Some people completely fall for some religious ideas without first finding out the authenticity; hence, they have been deceived to believe lies. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, yarned to know more of Jesus (Philippians 3:10). If you love Jesus, you would want to know more of Him through regular Bible study and fellowshipping with genuine Christians. The benefits of loving God and His Christ are obvious from our memory verse. When you love God, he will deliver you from erring from the truth (John 10:1-14). He will also promote you because your personal relationship with Him will avail for you. Beloved, do you love God? To what extent do you love Him? Jesus Christ, in John 14:15, said:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
By this benchmark, can you say you truly love Him?

Prayer Point:
Father, help me to love You as I ought to: in deed and in truth.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 20-21
Ezekiel 20:39-49
DANGERS OF FINANCIAL STORMS II
Memorise:
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 1 Timothy 6:11
Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-11
6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Message:
On the 23rd of this month, we established that financial storms can breed hatred and discrimination against the poor, and even make them contemplate suicide. Beyond these, financial storm can lead to a situation where people would resort to doing unimaginable things to survive a few more days, weeks or months, just like it happened in Samaria, where people began to eat their own children (2 Kings 6:26-29). When you speak of such scenarios, some people think this can never happen; but not too long ago in Nigeria, a woman was caught after selling her child just to get some money for food. This is almost the same as eating one’s child. When she was arrested, she begged everyone to listen to her story first before judging her. She said she decided to sell her child because she could no longer afford to feed herself and her child. She reasoned that whoever bought the child would feed her, thereby increasing her chances of survival. She explained that if she kept the child, they would both die of hunger, and that from the proceeds of selling her child, at least for a while, her own chances of survival would increase also. She probably never thought that her child could be killed and used for rituals!
Moreover, financial storms drive some people to consult the devil and swallow charms in their desperate bid to prosper. Some of such people are compelled to go to the graveyard at a specific period every month to eat there in order to sustain their wealth. The fear of poverty has really led many people into unthinkable and damnable things they would never have attempted with a sane mind. It is most unfortunate that many believers have allowed themselves to be caught in this same evil net. 1 Timothy 6:9 says,
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
God has a plan for everyone who comes to Him. In that plan, there is provision to meet all of their needs. However, to partake of the benefits of that divine provision, every child of God would have to follow certain divine principles. In Matthew 6:24-34, Jesus gives the blueprint for this, based on which you would have to focus on God and His Kingdom. If you do this faithfully, then God will make you His focus. It is unfortunate that several people prefer to focus on their needs at the expense of their relationship with God; they keep drifting further away from God’s sure place of provision. If you have drifted away from God in your search for bread, retrace your steps today!
Prayer Point:
Father, by Your mercy, terminate every financial storm in my life and family today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 8
Ezekiel 17: 11-24

HELP FROM ABOVE

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2
Read: Psalm 121: 1-4
121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
121:2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
121:3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Message:
The reason why many people pray without getting answers is because their prayers are actually directed to men instead of God. Today, many people seeking jobs, contracts, spouses and admission into academic institutions prefer to ask for help from those they believe can assist them instead of going to the true source of help: God. The truth about receiving help from man is that men are most unreliable, limited in resources and ability and can be swayed by situations and circumstances. Where do you channel your request to?
In 2 Kings 6:26, a woman in dire need cried to the King for help, and the King responded to her cry with these words:
“…If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?” 2 Kings 6:27
This king recognized that God is the true source of help we all need. No wonder David, in today’s Bible reading, said that he would look up to the source of his help: God. Who is your helper? To whom do you turn or run for help in time of need? God is the true Helper because He is the All-Sufficient God. He is the creator and owner of the earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1). He has all the ability, knowledge and power, and so He can do anything, answer any question and solve all problems. Ecclesiastes 5:8 says He is higher than everyone and everything, and so He is above all. Psalm 91:1 calls Him the Most High. He is also the most influential, because the mention of His Name compels everything and everyone else to bow to Him (Philippians 2:9-11). He is so powerful that with just a simple statement, the toughest of requests is granted (Psalm 33:8-9). His word is final on any issue; hence, you do not need to accept any negative verdict from any other source (Lamentations 3:37). He stands as the Universal Judge who can upturn any judgment as He pleases in favour of those He loves. It is a great privilege to have access to this God, table requests before Him and receive answers to our requests. If you find it difficult to make your requests known to God, it is obvious that you do not know Him, or you are proud. From now on, make it a habit to praise and worship Him and thereafter make your request known to the true Helper (Philippians 4:6). He will help you today.
Action Point:
Spend an hour thanking God for how He has helped you thus far, and then ask for His help on every difficult situation you are confronted with.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 7
Ezekiel 16:59-17:10

WHOLENESS IS POSSIBLE

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:19
Read: Luke 17:12-19
17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
17:18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
17:19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Message:
After reflecting on the goodness of God, David wrote in Psalm 103:1:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
The lame man in Acts 3:1-8 must have taken a cue from David in praising God. After his burden of 40 years was lifted, he praised God in a very dramatic way, just like David did in times past. When David praised God, his entire body was fully involved. He went to such great extents as removing his royal robes and dancing before God like one of his subjects (2 Samuel 6:14-16). He was used to leaping in praise and honor of the Most High. Have you ever leaped to give God praise?
After God has lifted your burden, in addition to praising Him, you can give Him generous thanks - not the kind of thanks that has to be squeezed forcefully out of you. Thank Him from a heart overflowing with gratitude. Some people are just too stingy! Not only do they find it difficult to give God a good offering from what He had already provided for them, they also find it difficult to give Him thanks. What such people fail to realize is that stinginess has never helped the stingy. What you hoard will go stale, become useless or be lost. Give God thanks and do it with a heart full of gratitude.
Moreover, if you give God quality thanks, you will definitely receive something in return. In other words, when God does something for you and you thank Him generously, He becomes so impressed that He gives you something else in addition to what precipitated your thanksgiving. When all is said and done, you end up with double blessings. Those who give shabby thanks or do not give thanks at all cannot get a second blessing, and if care is not taken, they may even lose their initial blessings to the devil. If you look at the example of the 10 lepers who were healed by the Lord Jesus Christ in today’s Bible reading, you will discover that thanksgiving opens the door to a very special blessing: wholeness! This is a type of blessing that no gates of hell can prevent. When God makes you whole, everyone will know about it. Wholeness is the height of restoration. It is a return to the original state you were in before a burden was placed on you. As you thank God from today, you shall receive the blessing of wholeness in Jesus’ Name.
Key Point:
Father, as I thank and worship You today, please make me whole.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 3-4
Ezekiel 16:23-43