AVOID DEFILEMENT!

Memorise: 

“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 21:27

Read: Isaiah 52:11-12
52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
52:12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.

MESSAGE:
It is the great desire of the wonder-working God to work wonders through His children. However, for you to be a partaker of the manifestation of this desire, you must be prepared to pay the price.

Nothing good comes cheap. Anything that is cheap is obviously of low quality and value. If you are interested in working wonders as a worker in God’s vineyard, you must be prepared to be a living sacrifice to God Romans 12:1.
You must be ready to say,
“Lord, for the rest of my life, feel free to do whatever you want with me.”

In addition, to work wonders, you must have clean hands. Isaiah 52:11 says,

“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.”

Your hands must be free from defilement at home, at work, when nobody is watching, and everywhere else.

Many years ago, while I was still lecturing in the university, I wrote a personal letter, and as I reached out to take one of the official envelopes assigned to me, the Lord said,

“You wrote a personal letter, but that envelope is for official use.” I replied, “Lord, how much is an envelope?”, and He said to me, “If it is so cheap, go and buy your own.”

If you want to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, or if you want to lay hands on demon-possessed individuals and have the demons obey your voice, then it cannot be with hands that have been stealing, defrauding or writing false reports.

Moreover, you need to be in constant touch with God. 1st Thessalonians 5:17 says that you should pray without ceasing. One way to do this is by regularly praying in tongues like Paul 1st Corinthians 14:18.

You can also keep in touch with God by constantly thanking Him. I tell you, Jesus would like that. I heard the testimony of a man who on his 50th birthday said all he wanted to do was say ‘Thank You’ to Jesus at least 50 times. I said that was a beautiful idea which had never crossed my mind.

How old are you now? When you want to pray, say thank You to Jesus the number of times corresponding with your age, and you will be amazed at what could happen through this.

Do you want to be a worker of signs and wonders? Are you ready to pay the price?

Prayer Point:
Father, by Your power, keep me from being defiled, every day of my life.

Bible in one year:
Revelation 20-22
Zachariah 5:5-6:15

INVITATION TO GREATER WORKS

MEMORISE:

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luke 10:17

READ:
Matthew 14:23-29

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

MESSAGE:
On one of their journeys by sea, the disciples saw Jesus walking towards them on water. Astonished to see this wonder, Peter asked the lord Jesus Christ if he could join Him, and the Lord invited him to come. Peter’s fellow disciples watched in amazement as he walked towards Jesus on the water. If only they too had responded to the Lord’s invitation, they would have partaken of this awesome experience, but they were not courageous enough to step out. Nevertheless, that invitation to do the impossible was not limited to them. It is still open to you and me today. In John 14:12, Jesus said,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Beloved, the call to do the works of Jesus and even perform greater works than He did is a call to do the impossible. To be able to do this, you must be prepared to believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart, leaving no space for doubt. Do you believe in Him? Why then do you still leave room for doubt? Don’t you know that the Lord never fails?

Furthermore, Jesus invites us to follow Him. John 8:12 says,

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

As the Light, if you follow Jesus, you will not walk in darkness, and neither will you stumble. Also, if you follow Him, He will make something great out of your life. He will make you what you never dreamt you could become. Consider a person like Peter: he would have died an unknown fisherman if he had not accepted Christ’s invitation to follow Him (Matthew 4:18-19). Have you accepted that invitation to follow Jesus? Today, some people give various excuses for not following Him. One of such excuses is that they do not want to be disturbed or distracted from their life’s goal or ambition, failing to realize that if only they accepted the Lord’s invitation, they would have had a greater future and they would have enjoyed His backing in all their life’s endeavors. Have you heeded his invitation?

KEY POINT:
The call to follow Jesus is a call to true discipleship. Are you His disciple?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 135-141, Zephaniah 3:9-20

AUTHOR:
PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

WHAT OF YOUR VOW.

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Ecclesiastes 5:5

READ: Ecclesiastes 5:1-6

5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.

5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

MESSAGE:

The institution of marriage is largely misunderstood and consequently abused by lot of people in today’s world. Marriage was designed by God for the good of the partners involved. He designed it as an institution where they can complement each other, enjoy life on earth, and reproduce their kind to replenish the earth. In contrast to what is sadly the norm in the world today, marriage is a covenant relationship that is of a permanent nature. The Lord Jesus Christ himself stated this in Matthew 19:6 when He said:

“Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Contrary to God’s expectations, the marital vow that is supposed to be very sacred is fast becoming a recitation that violated at will. How many married people ever reflect on the vows they exchanged at the alter to see if the current state of their lives has not deviated from it? Marriage is very serious covenant relationship. God expects the partners involved in it to keep the pledge they made to each other in the presence of many witnesses. Are you married? How faithful have you been in keeping your marital vows?

As Children of God, we should not be surprised by the current sorry state of the institution of marriage in the world today. The Holy Spirit told us ahead of time that unfaithfulness to vows will form part of the unrighteousness of men in such times as this, when in Romans 1:31 He described the characteristics of people in the last days as follows:

“Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:”

In 2 Timothy 3:3-4, He also indicates to us that a sign by which we will know we are in the last days is when we see men increasingly becoming traitors and trucebreakers (i.e implacable). Are you breaking any of the promises you made in your marriage vows? Are you the type that cannot be appeased? Do you find it difficult to forgive your spouse whenever there is a form of misunderstanding in your relationship? If you have any of these traits, it shows that you are not walking in the love of God. Are you unmerciful to your spouse? How can you receive mercy from God when you cannot even show it to your spouse? At the later, you promised to take care of your spouse; are you doing so today? You promised to use all your worldly goods to make life easier for your spouse, but is that what you are doing today? You promised to leave everyone else and belong to your spouse forever; is that so? Are you secretly dating someone else? If you have fallen out of line, repent and keep your vows from today!

PRAYER POINT:

Every vow made shall be accounted for someday. Never break your vows!

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Revelation 14-16

Zachariah 3

INVITATION TO GREATER WORKS.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Luke 10:17

READ:
Matthew 14:23-29

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

MESSAGE:
On one of their journeys by sea, the disciples saw Jesus walking towards them on water. Astonished to see this wonder, Peter asked the lord Jesus Christ if he could join Him, and the Lord invited him to come. Peter’s fellow disciples watched in amazement as he walked towards Jesus on the water. If only they too had responded to the Lord’s invitation, they would have partaken of this awesome experience, but they were not courageous enough to step out. Nevertheless, that invitation to do the impossible was not limited to them. It is still open to you and me today. In John 14:12, Jesus said,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Beloved, the call to do the works of Jesus and even perform greater works than He did is a call to do the impossible. To be able to do this, you must be prepared to believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart, leaving no space for doubt. Do you believe in Him? Why then do you still leave room for doubt? Don’t you know that the Lord never fails?

Furthermore, Jesus invites us to follow Him. John 8:12 says,

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

As the Light, if you follow Jesus, you will not walk in darkness, and neither will you stumble. Also, if you follow Him, He will make something great out of your life. He will make you what you never dreamt you could become. Consider a person like Peter: he would have died an unknown fisherman if he had not accepted Christ’s invitation to follow Him (Matthew 4:18-19). Have you accepted that invitation to follow Jesus? Today, some people give various excuses for not following Him. One of such excuses is that they do not want to be disturbed or distracted from their life’s goal or ambition, failing to realize that if only they accepted the Lord’s invitation, they would have had a greater future and they would have enjoyed His backing in all their life’s endeavors. Have you heeded his invitation?

KEY POINT:
The call to follow Jesus is a call to true discipleship. Are you His disciple?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 135-141, Zephaniah 3:9-20

STOP THE PRETENCE!

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 1Timothy 1:5

READ: 1Timothy 1:5-9

1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

1:6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;

1:7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

,

MESSAGE:

Salvation through Christ is such a great experience, but the devil in his characteristic manner has introduced counterfeits into people’s lives. The consequence of processing a counterfeit salvation experience is a life of pretense. To guard against this wile of the devil, the holy spirit in 1 timothy 1:5, admonishes us thus:

“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:”

While God wants us to show love to all, he equally cares about the source of this love. The source of a thing goes a long way in determining its quality and value. You cannot bring something good out of an evil heart. If you do, that good thing is already tainted. For instance, even though you see lots of food in a dunghill, you will not go to eat from there. God is therefore saying that you should do away with pretense and hypocrisy, because they taint whatever good works you are doing. He is saying that if you will show Him love, make sacrifices for His sake, or give to his cause, such actions must come out of a pure heart, with a good conscience and done with sincerity; otherwise, the doer of these works may not get any reward.

Are you saved? Is your salvation genuine or false? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says if you are saved, old things are passed away. This means that if you were stealing before, after experiencing salvation, you will stop stealing. You cannot continue to stealing and still lay claim to salvation. While my father-in-the-lord was alive, if you claimed to be saved, he would ask you these questions: “what were you saved from? What were you doing before that you no longer do now?” today, people claim they are saved, and yet they still steal, lie or fornicate. What kind of salvation is that? In one of my missionary trips outside Nigeria, a man came to me and said, “Sir, I heard that you are a prophet of God and that your prophesies are deadly accurate.” “Is that so?” I replied and further added, ‘I am not a prophet but a pastor, but I do hear from God once in a while.” He then asked me to tell him his future. I asked him if he was born again and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and His response was “No”. So I said to him, “Your future will be terrible.” Alarmed, he said, “How do you know? You don’t even know my name, and you have not even prayed!” I told him there was no need for that because Isaiah 3:11 says “Woe to the wicked!” on the other hand, if you are saved, your tomorrow will be alright. Are you saved? Did you genuinely give your life to Jesus Christ on a particular day? If not, do it today!

KEY POINT:

The afterlife has no room for pretense. It’s all about reality and truth.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Psalm 120-134

Zephaniah 2:13-3:8

A SACRIFICE OF LOVE.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

Psalm 116:17

READ: Psalm 116:17-19

116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

116:18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.

116:19 In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

MESSAGE:

If you have been washed in the precious blood of the lamb, thanking God for the salvation of your soul is something you need to do daily for the rest of your life. Some people throw parties to celebrate milestones and achievements in different areas of life, but Jesus said that what should give us the greatest joy is the fact that we are saved and have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Luke 10:20). That your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life is a great testimony that you should regularly thank God for whenever you pray.

However, giving thanks to god is not always a very easy thing to do, particularly if you have been going through a spate of negative and very sad events or experiences. In such situations, thanking God requires sacrifice. Our God loves sacrifices- particularly a sacrifice of thanksgiving. No wonder the Psalmist says thus in Psalm 116:17

“I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”

When you offer thanksgiving to god at a time when every situation is your life is saying that He doesn’t deserve it or that He has forsaken you, it is sacrificial.

Similarly, your thanksgiving is sacrificial when you thank God even when he has not granted your request. This is an expression of faith. Sacrificial thanksgiving glorifies God and proves to Him that your faith is Christ has spiritual substance. Do you know that most people remember to thank God only when they believe He has “earned it’? Such people live by a personal philosophy which says “whenever God does something for me, only then will I give Him thanks in return.” Such an attitude is simply calculative and myopic. There are so many things God does for us every day which we take for granted as normal everyday occurrence, but the truth is, nothing is ever really “normal”, and every day comes with its challenges. Those who give God a sacrifice of thanksgiving do so because they choose to. They choose to see things from God’s perspective, which makes them see reasons why they ought to be grateful to God, even when other people cannot see any reason why.

ACTION POINT:

Apply the lessons learnt in today’s study to offer God a sacrificial thanksgiving today.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Psalm 142-150

Haggai 1:1-11

7 Things To Remember When You’re Struggling To Forgive...

Bitterness and unforgiveness hurt us more than the one who has sinned against us.

Lee Strobel said, "Acrid bitterness inevitably seeps into the lives of people who harbor grudges and suppress anger, and bitterness is always a poison. It keeps your pain alive instead of letting you deal with it and get beyond it. Bitterness sentences you to relive the hurt over and over." A Bantou proverb agrees, telling us, “The bitter heart eats his owner.”

Unforgiveness hinders our prayers.

In Psalm 66:18, the psalmist tells us, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” To cherish means to hold something dear, which is a strange way to describe what we do with sin. But when we hold onto something tightly and refuse to let it go, we are, indeed, cherishing it. By stubbornly clinging to anger, hurt, and bitterness, we make a home for the very emotions that can destroy us.

Every sin is offensive to God, even our own.

It’s easy to be self-righteous when someone has sinned against us. “I’d never do anything like that,” we tell ourselves, but Scripture tells us differently. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 says. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Because God’s standard is perfection, none of us can please God on our own.

In God’s eyes, we’re just as lost as the murderer on death row and just as desperately in need of a Savior. When we begin to see our sin as God sees it, we acknowledge that we have no righteousness of our own in which to stand. It is only God’s mercy that has kept us from committing the horrible sins others have committed.

Unforgiveness hinders God’s desire to forgive us.

If we, who have no righteousness of our own, withhold forgiveness from another, we elevate ourselves above God, who freely extends forgiveness to all who ask for it in sincerity and truth. The Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11 tells us that God's forgiveness hinges on our willingness to forgive others: “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”

God’s mercy and forgiveness extends to us and those who sin against us.

Psalm 103:10-14 tells us, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions for us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

It is only when we fully grasp the depths of our own sin and the mercy God extends to us that we are able to extend forgiveness to others. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God, through Christ, forgave us,” the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:32.

We can trust God’s sovereignty and justice.

We live in a fallen world, and sin and Satan have wrapped their poisonous tentacles around everything good. But it won’t always be this way. One day, God will right every wrong, punish every unrepentant sinner, and call every wicked soul into account. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:19, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

We cannot experience the abundant life God has for us if we’re carrying stones of bitterness and unforgiveness around. They weigh us down, slow our steps, and steal our joy.

It’s been more than 20 years since the first time I forgave my uncle’s murderer. I say “the first time,” because I’ve had to forgive him again and again, every time the feelings of anger and bitterness return. To combat these thoughts, I picture myself carrying my burden of unforgiveness to the cross of Jesus Christ and leaving it there, trusting him to take it away.

If you’re struggling to forgive someone today, don’t try to do it in your own strength. Do it in Jesus’ name. Ask him to give you the power to forgive, and then step out in faith to do it. You’ll be very glad you did.