A MEAL WTH A DIFFERENCE

And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 1 Kings 19:8
Read: 1 Kings 19:1-8
19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
19:3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
19:5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
19:6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
19:7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
19:8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Message:
In John 21:1-13, we have an amazing account of Jesus inviting His disciples to come and dine of a meal He had already prepared. The Lord Jesus Christ loves good food and He prepares the best of dishes in the whole universe. To catch a glimpse of how those meals in Heaven will be, just take a look at the bread and wine that is used during the Holy Communion. By the time the Lord takes them over and they are transformed into spiritual food, the elements of these erstwhile ordinary items will begin to do what no ordinary meal can do in the life of those who partake of it. In today’s Bible reading, after the mass slaughter of the prophets of Baal, Jezebel sought to kill Elijah. He therefore fled for his life until he was so exhausted that he lay down under a juniper tree and slept off. Then two heaven-baked meals were set before him and he ate them. What was the result? 1 Kings 19:8 says,
“And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.”
That meal provided him physical sustenance to the extent that his body survived without food and water for 40 days and nights! Medical science will tell you that it is impossible to live without water for three weeks; But Elijah did this after he took the heaven-baked bread! Also, that meal revived him spiritually. The same person who was contemplating suicide was now able to ascend the mountain of God. Depression was completely gone away from him!
Do you know that the Holy Communion, which assumes a spiritual dimension after the Greatest Cook touches its elements, is capable of taking care of various sickness and diseases? Through it, you can be delivered from every power of darkness that is holding you bound! Your debtors can be compelled to pay you what they owe you! By this Heavenly meal, you can break the yoke of besetting sins and live righteously before God. Through it, various impossible situations can be made possible. How often have you availed yourself of the limitless opportunities provided by the Holy Communion? How often do you attend a meeting where it is served? When you attend such meetings, do you release your faith along with your requests, or do you withhold your faith? From today, take steps to enjoy the heavenly baked meal that is the Holy Communion.

Action Point:
Never take the Holy Communion without prayerfully connecting it with a definite, specific request to God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 56-62
Micah 3:1-4:5

CHRIST OUR REST

Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Isaiah 3:10

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:19-20

1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Message:

There is a time to work and a time for rest. Everyone who labors very hard always looks forward to a time of rest. Rest is so crucial that even God Himself rested after spending six days creating the heavens and the earth. It is therefore not a mistake that God programmed sleep into our body system. He knows that after we have worked hard and are tired, we would need to rest the body in order to get back on our feet. Psalm 127:2 says,

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

Good sleep is indeed a blessing from God. However, rest for the body is not as important as the rest needed by the soul. If your mind is seriously troubled over an issue, even when you lie down on your bed, you will be unable to sleep. The only place to find rest for your soul is in Christ. No wonder He made a call for you to enter into His rest in Matthew 11:28-30. Have you been worried or troubled lately? Receive rest today in Jesus’ Name!

“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings”. Isaiah 3:10

One major reason why you as a true believer should be at rest is because of God’s promises. According to our Bible reading, the promises of our God are very reliable. Romans 3:4 says that even if all men are liars, this cannot compel our God to be a liar like them; He will always remain true. Therefore, if He says your tomorrow will be alright, take it as a report card that you are getting even before sitting for the examination. If He said it, He will surely do it. God’s word has integrity. Based on His words that cannot fail, I know my tomorrow will be alright. Irrespective of the raging storm, I will simply rest in Him. Beloved, let Jesus Christ be the One you lean on. Who or what you lean upon in the time of trouble is very important. If you lean on human beings, they will most likely compound your situation because every human being is prone to failure due to so many factors within and outside their control. In contrast, if you lean on human being, they will most likely compound your situation because every human being is prone to failure due to so many factors within and outside their control. In contrast, if you lean on the Eternal Rock of Ages, you can be reassured of true rest, joy and peace.

Action Point:

Take every issue that is bothering your soul before the throne of grace today. Ask Jesus, the giver of rest, to give rest to your soul.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Psalm 38-43

Jonah 4

SEEKING PRE-EMINENCE?

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Matthew 23:11

Read: 3 John 1:9-11

1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

Message:

All those who have accepted God’s call to salvation should be aware that they have equally been called to a life of brokenness. The Christian life is a life that walks in the Spirit, having crucified the flesh with its affection and lusts (Galatians 5:24, Galatians 5:16). The place of brokenness is the place of true service and reflection of Christ. While the fellow who is broken is dead to the flesh, the fellow who is carnal is still very much alive to it. There are certain traits that characterize the life of an unbroken fellow. These traits will be visible in such a life, irrespective of the ecclesiastical position occupied. One of such traits is the desire to be preeminent in all things. Those who always want to outshine others must be extremely careful. It is good to excel, and God wants this for His children, but struggling for pre-eminence within the fold, just to gratify the flesh or feed your ego is a mark of not being broken.

In the early Church, there were people who liked to show that they were in charge, even where there were superiors set over them. Apostle John encountered Diotrephes and he had problems with him because of this trait (3 John 1:9). Those who like to have pre-eminence usually find it difficult to recognise or submit to higher authority. They want to be the ones calling the shots. They may have a superior over them, and yet they will still want to be the ones that people take orders from. They run a parallel government to that of their superiors, and because their power base is illegal, they use lots of manipulation, coercion, intimidation and forming of unhealthy cliques to maintain their power. Such people are involved in every divisive and rebellious scheme being witnessed in the Church and in society today. Those who seek pre-eminence operate through charismatic witchcraft, and they are involved in very subtle mind-control. They want to be recognised and honoured first and above others. Their suggestion must always be taken or else you must be prepared for a fight. If you have these traits in you, you are very carnal and close to Hell’s gates. If you struggle and manipulate your way to gain pre-eminence over others, in Heaven’s records you will be the last or even have no placement there. If you are involved in this manifestation of carnality, beat a retreat today!

Action Point:
Examine your life to see if you have any of the traits of life that seeks pre-eminence. If you do, repent and take corrective action.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 34-37
Jonah 2-3

KNOWLEDGE AND PRAYER

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 1 Peter 4:7

Read: Luke 21:34-36

21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Message:

In Philippians 3:10, Paul expressed his burning desire to know Jesus. It is good to have your gaze focused on Jesus and equally important to know Him. Why? It is because what you know determines your position in life. Knowledge is power. Proverbs 4:7 says,

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge for personal or corporate benefit. This implies that knowledge is the foundation of wisdom. If you want to be wise but you run away from knowledge, wisdom will elude you. How open you are tom learning new things demonstrates your readiness to be wise. Men of wisdom like Paul and Daniel were given to reading books. Daniel chapter 9 is a manifestation of how knowledge acquired from the study of books can be applied positively in actions that have serious spiritual implications. Daniel 9:2 says,

“In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

Today, not many people take time to read decent books on various subjects that can add to their knowledge base. For believers, this should not be so. If there are people who should be knowledgeable, it should be believers. We should be conversant with our environment, and we should stay very current.

In Matthew 26:41, Jesus established a link between watching and praying. What are you required to do while watching? You are required to gather information, and to know what is happening around you. God wants you to be informed. Why? Knowledge about your situation will help you pray more effectively with understanding. If you want to succeed as a prayer champion, knowledge is crucial. When you watch, seek knowledge or gather information, it will compel you to pray more often. Find out, those Christians who are prayerless are often those without knowledge. They know too little, and so they do not see the need to pray. If people come to tell you lots of things or if they confide in you, it is because God wants you to stand in the place of intercession for them, rather than becoming a tale-bearer. Are you seeking knowledge? Is what you know making you to pray more?

Key Point:

Daniel was provoked into indefinite prayer and fasting exercise by what he understood from what he studied (Daniel 9:1-3). Is your knowledge compelling you to pray?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Psalm 69-72

Micah 5:7-6:8

LISTEN TO ELDER

“I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.” Job 32:7

Read: 1 Peter 5:1-5

5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Message:

One way of avoiding mistake is to learn from the experience of those who have gone ahead of you in faith, business, career or family life. If you learn from the fall of other, you will not meet with the same tragic end that befell them. This is why you need to listen to the advice of elders. Piglets are expected to learn from the mother pig. For this reason, Job 32:7 says,

“I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.”

It is also commonly said that experience is the best teacher. There are several things you will be taught from the school of life when you listen to what the elders the Lord has placed around you have to say. There is a Nigerian proverb says, “A child may have as many cloth as an elder, but he cannot have as many rage as he.” Learn from those who have trod on the path you are walking on.

I had the opportunity of delivering a sermon at the wedding of the daughter of a country’s president not too long ago. I observed that both the girl and her husband were highly educated. I therefore said to them, “Looking at you, I can tell you are both brilliant people, but you are just starting a journey into marriage, a journey I have been engaged in for about 47 years, and as a result, I have one or two things to teach you”. It is very important that you listen to your elders. Are you newly married? I have two equations to keep you going- one: love is blind, and two: marriage is a miracle-worker with special anointing for opening blind eyes. When you solve these two equation simultaneously, the answer you will get is this: Love is blind but marriage will open its eyes.

Beloved, never shun the advice of an elder! Apart from your biological elders, your pastors and senior pastors are also elders. Except when they ask you to veer off the path of righteousness, please listen to them and follow their good advice. If you have a godly, humble heart, it will be easy to listen to elders. Can you believe that some people do not listen to their elders because they want to be in-charge of their lives? They erroneously believe that if they listen to elders, they will lose control of their lives. Righteous elders will want to guide you on God’s holy path and ensure you reach your goal. Be wise today!

Prayer Point:

Father, thank you for all the elders in the body of Christ; please use theom to provide righteous counsel for our youths, so that together we can all make Heaven

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Psalm 17-21

Amos 9

SERVICE AND FRIENDSHIP

Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? 2 Chronicles 20:7 

Read: Genesis 18:17-22

18:17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

18:20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

Message:

When you read through 2 Kings 2:1-7, you will notice that Elijah, Elisha and the sons of the prophets in Bethel, Jericho and Jordan were all very much aware of Elijah’s transition to glory and the day it was scheduled to take place. In fact, they even treated the knowledge of this event like an open secret. One lesson from this is that if you walk in the Spirit, significant events will be common knowledge to you. God has secrets (Proverb 25:2). There are certain things known only to Him, which He may want to share with men once in a while. Daniel 2:22 says,

“He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”

In as much as God wants to share His secrets with men, if He looks around and finds no one qualified by His grace for such secrets, He will simply keep it to Himself.

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7

When you have a closely guarded secret, do you tell everyone on the street about it? I very much doubt you would do that. Rather, you will want to keep it to yourself, and even if you would tell anyone at all, it will be someone who is not only close to you but who is also trustworthy enough in keeping secrets. Who are those God will share His secrets with? It is His servants! If you are not getting divine information regarding crucial future events, it is most likely that you need to correct certain aspects of your service. When you serve the Lord, He will share some of His secrets with you. The more you serve Him, the more you have future information ahead of time. Also, you must be his friend. Abraham was God’s friend, and so, when God was about to destroy Sodom and He realised that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family were there, the Lord told Abraham about it. This gave Abraham the privilege and opportunity to intercede for them. Are you a friend of Jesus Christ? What is the level of closeness you share with Him? Friends communicate a lot. Do you often hear God’s voice? How often does He speak to you using various means of communication? You become His closest friend by serving Him like never before, and He will not leave you in the dark concerning your tomorrow and that of your family.

Key Point:
When your relationship with God moves up to the friendship level, access to divine secrets will become a regular benefit to you.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 1-8
Amos 7

ONLY AN HONOUR

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

1 Corinthians 4:7

Read: Proverbs 3:9-10

3:9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Message:

In our Bible reading, we are enjoined to honour the Lord with our first fruits. What does the word 'honour' really mean? Honour can be viewed from the perspective of giving a person something he or she doesn’t really need. We see a manifestation of this in the academia. When universities or colleges want to give honorary degrees, they look for people who don’t need money, academic qualifications or any such things, and they honour them with a degree. This is why it is called an honorary degree. They give such degrees to eminent personalities, people of proven abilities and achievers in different fields. This is comparable to the way God operates. What money can you give to the One who created the heavens and the earth? What can you give to the One who owns all silver and gold? He says to us, “If you come to the city where I reside, what is most precious to you on earth is what the streets are made of. So what do you want to give me that I don’t have already?” Therefore, whatever we think we can give to God can only reasonably be given in honour of Him.

“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”
1 Corinthians 4:7

When we speak about giving God something, is it really so? What do we have that we have not received from Him? If we have indeed received all we have from Him, it clearly shows that we are simply giving back to Him out of what He gave us. When we were still living in our first house in the Redemption Camp, my little children held a meeting in the room one Christmas season, and they sent the youngest, who was about four years old then, to ask me what I wanted for Christmas. I said I would like a jet. He said they weren’t proposing that kind of gift, and so I asked for a pen. He ran back to the room to meet the others, and he later came back to me asking me to lend him N10. I gave it to him without asking what he wanted it for because I knew the purpose. So at Charismas time, I got a beautifully wrapped gift. Even though I knew what was inside because it was bought with my money, I still gathered my children round and hug them, just for even thinking of giving me something at that tender age. This mirrors the relationship between God and His children. How often do you honour God?

Prayer Point:
Father, grant me the grace to honour You in all I do, all the days of my life.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 9-16
Amos 8