VOICE FROM HEAVEN.

For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. PSALMS 33 : 9.

READ : MARK 10 : 46 - 52 :

46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

MESSAGE :

In Genesis 1 : 1 - 3, the Holy Spirit takes us back in time to the beginning of God’s creation. In this account, we are introduced to the voice of God for the very first time. All He said here was “Let there be light”, and light immediately appeared. That simple sound from Heaven instantly got rid to darkness. “Let there be light” could mean several things to different people, but basically it means “darkness depart!” In our Bible text, we read of a man who was born blind. He heard that Jesus was passing by, and so he began to cry to the Lord for mercy. He desired to hear a sound from Heaven, and he did all within his power to actualise his desire. “What can I do for you?” Jesus asked, and he answered, saying “Lord, I want my sight restored”. The voice from Heaven sounded “Receive your sight”, and immediately darkness gave way to light. Similarly, in Mark 5 : 1 - 15, the mad man of Gadara who had over 6000 demons living inside him had the opportunity of hearing a sound from Heaven. After he heard it, all those demonic forces in him promptly took their leave. Is your life surrounded now by the powers of darkness? I release the sound from Heaven to you: demonic powers and every form of darkness in your life depart now in the mighty Name of Jesus!

Prior to the sounding of the voice from Heaven in Genesis 1:3, there was so much chaos on earth; but immediately it sounded, light appeared and the first day was created. A young man once testified to his encounter with the creative power of the sound from Heaven. He was not only born blind, he also had no eye balls and his eye sockets were empty. One day, a great evangelist organised a week-long crusade in his area, and people daily led him there. On the first night of this crusade, the man of God preached about the creative power of God, and the blind man’s faith rose. “This is exactly what I need”, he said, but he went home still blind. The following morning, while washing his face, he discovered that his eye sockets which used to be very cold because blood never flowed through them now had some warmth. On the second day of the crusade, still nothing happened. But on waking up the following day, in those empty sockets, he felt something bulging. On that third day of the crusade, he heard a sound from Heaven saying “You can now open your eyes”, and his eyes were opened. Are your eyes physically shut? The sound from Heaven is saying “Open your eyes now!” Are you spiritually blind? The Lord of Heaven is saying to you, “Eyes be opened now!”

PRAYER POINT : Every form of darkness in my life and family, depart now!

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : MATTHEW 13, AND ISAIAH 5 : 8 - 23.

THE EVER PRESENT HELPER.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. PSALMS 46 : 1.

READ : 1 KINGS 17 : 8 - 16 :

8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

MESSAGE :

The poor widow in today’s Bible reading was getting ready to eat her last meal and then die; but against her expectations, help came her way. This indicates that help can come to you when you need it the most. Psalms 46 : 1 tells us who our help is :

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Sometimes, when a child of God is going through some difficulties, God may appear silent. That He is silent does not mean He is ignorant of what is happening. Though things may go on to deteriorate, He will step in before it’s too late. The Lord knows about that painful and highly detestable situation you have been living with. Although He has been quiet for a while, He will now arise for you and arrest the situation. When it appears like the enemy is about to put you to shame, just in the nick of time, your help will locate you. God’s intervention shall not be late concerning your situation in Jesus’ Name. Can you imagine what would have happened if the fourth man had not appeared on time in King Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace ( Daniel 3 : 25 )? The three Hebrew children would have been history, but because He came right on time, they made history! You too shall make history! God will not be late for you. His intervention in your life shall be timely, and He shall shut up the mouth of your enemies.

Moreover, in the case of this widow, not only did help come in time, it kept on coming everyday because she was connected with the One called the All Sufficient God ( Genesis 17 : 1 ). When you go into battle, your strength, wisdom and resources are limited to what you and your allies have. In other words, who you partner with in a crucial battle can either guarantee your victory or turn out to be your undoing. At such a decisive moment, the widow partnered with the God that is more than enough, and she never lacked again. Who is your ally today? When faced with a most trying time, who do you run to? If you run to man whose strength, wisdom and resources are limited, you will be unable to tackle that situation. If you run to a local or foreign deity, you will still be limited. Some people depend on charms, rings and amulets from so-called Indian spiritual temples for help. It’s a pity that after the serpent spirits of such temples have offered some form of fake assistance to them, those spirits end up turning them into their slaves, thereby ruining their destiny and that of their family members. Partner with the One who can always help you.

KEY POINT :

There is no helper like Jesus, and no one deserts in the time of need like Satan.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : MATTHEW 11 - 12 and ISAIAH 3 : 24 - 5 : 7.

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? JOHN 14 : 9.

READ : JOHN 14 : 4 - 11 :

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

MESSAGE :

“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”
Daniel 11 : 32.

It is clear from the above passage of scripture that knowing God is the key to doing exploits. The knowledge of God releases the power that helps us perform exploits. To know God means to be a partaker of His divine nature and essence ( 2 Peter 1 : 3- 4 ). Because our God is a God of exploits, those who manifest His nature will consequently do exploits. To know God, you need to have experienced Him as God the Father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. Someone might ask: Does this mean we have three Gods? The answer is no! He is only one God, but He manifests Himself in three personalities. How can this be? Permit me to use myself as an example. To my children, I am Adeboye the father; to my mother, I am Adeboye the son; while to my wife, I am Adeboye the husband. Does this make me three? No. I am still the same person. How I respond over an issue will be determined by the person I’m dealing with. The way I behave as a father will be different from the way I behave as a son or as a husband.

How God relates with you depends on whether He is relating with you as the Father, as the Son or as the Holy Ghost. To further illustrate, I will use the example of my beautiful crystal drinking glass-cup. If it falls from my son’s hands and gets broken, I will rebuke him sharply with words like: “Son, what is the matter with you? Don’t you know that you should not be careless with such an expensive cup?” But if the same cup falls from my mother’s hands, I would be gentle with her, showing understanding and care. In this case I would say “Mama, take it easy; I hope you were not hurt; I am sorry about that incident ma.” The same cup, the same me, yet my reaction as a father is different from my reaction as a son. Similarly, there are some ways I would relate with my wife that cannot be applied to my mother. For you to boldly say that you know God, you must know Him personally under His three personalities. Can you say you truly know Him? Do you have firsthand knowledge of God as the Father? Have you experienced Him as the Son? Do you walk with Him as the Holy Spirit? What strength or exploit has your knowledge of God produced in your life? Ask God to reveal Himself the more to you today.

PRAYER POINT : Father, more than You have ever done, reveal Yourself to me today.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : MATTHEW 9 : 10 AND ISAIAH 3 : 1 - 23.

ACCEPTABLE SERVICE.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 

JAMES 1 : 27.

READ : ROMANS 12 : 1 - 2 :

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

MESSAGE :

The major difference between David and the other soldiers at the war front was simply the fact that David could not stand the insult and blasphemy against the God of Israel. He knew God so well, and he feared and honoured Him so much that he decided to confront the giant warrior called Goliath without any fear of losing his life. David, in this case, took the meaning of acceptable service to another level. It can be very painful when the authority of God is so challenged, you will want to do anything to defend Him even if it means doing so with your life. In 1 Samuel 17 : 23 - 26, Goliath came out, boasted exceedingly and asked; "Where is the God of Israel?" For as many as had no intimate relationship with God, this threat, challenge and disgrace meant nothing to them. But then, one day, a little boy who loved the Lord was there, he heard Goliath talk against his God and he got very angry. His love for God propelled him to dare this giant that was bringing shame on God and His people.

It can be very painful when you have a problem that has persisted, especially when you know that your God is more than able to solve it. People may even ask, "Did you not say your God can do all things? Why has He not done yours?" Yes, it can be painful, but you must be prepared to love God to the extent of not minding what people say about your condition.

In Palms 115 : 1 - 3, when the unbelievers were asking the psalmist: "Where is your God?" instead of being embarrassed or wallow in self-pity, he was not bothered. Infact, he began to make excuses for God because of his love for Him. He replied them: "Are you asking of my God because of this little problem? My God is still in Heaven. He is still on the throne and He cannot be dethroned. If you must know, my God does whatever He pleases and He is not accountable to anyone. Whether He does it or not, you cannot take Him to court. He knows the right time to solve this problem because your time and mine may not be His. Is it not for me? I am prepared to wait for His time; I am not in any hurry". With that kind of answer, the mouths of the enemies will be stopped. How much do you love God? The proof of your love for God against all odds is the mark of an acceptable service unto Him!

PRAYER POINT : Father, I commit my life to You wholeheartedly.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : NUMBERS 7 : 84 - 10 : 10 AND PSALMS 140.

THE LORD'S SPOKESMAN.

 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2 CORINTHIANS 5 : 20.

READ : 1 PETER 4 : 10 - 11 :

10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

MESSAGE :

The first instruction that God usually gives to any appointed spokesperson in the Bible is to be bold. Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were all enjoined to be bold and courageous to face the task ahead of them. This is simply because human beings are always rebellious to God's commandments, this is more so with the rich, powerful and influential people in the society. Without boldness, it becomes difficult to speak against such prominent people out of fear of reprisal. However, when God surrounds your life with His presence as a mountain, you become immune to all attacks of your enemies. It is not that they won't try; but their attempts will fail. Many believers take God's protection for granted, because it is not physical or tangible to them, however, it is very visible to their enemies who operate in the negative spiritual realm.

For so long, Satan desired to harm Job but could not, because of the protective wall he called a hedge.

"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land." Job 1 : 10.

The enemy knows the areas God's protection covers in the lives of believers. They know the areas that are exposed, and and it is those exposed parts that they usually target. If you are toying with sin, you are gradually exposing yourself to the enemies. From Satan's reply, he must have been frustrated in previous attempts to harm Job. He could touch just anybody but Job. As long as you are inside the protective cover of the Lord, the enemies will be frustrated concerning you. They will look for every opportunity to strike at you, but finding none, they will attempt to distract you from the path of holiness into sin. If they can succeed in getting you to sin and especially get you to continue in that sin, God will withdraw, and they will take over. Ensure you remain under His cover.

PRAYER POINT : Father, please, help me never to shed Your covering over me in Jesus' name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : NUMBERS 7 : 1 - 83 AND PSALMS 139 : 17 - 24.

RESIST THE DEVIL

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

James 4:7

Read: James 1:12-16

1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

MESSAGE

The Bible presents the devil as the accuser of the brethren, but more importantly, the devil is also in the business of presenting God in a bad light to human beings at every opportunity he gets. He usually puts questions in the heart of men in order to cast doubt on God's acts of love towards humanity. He successfully did that in the Garden of Eden, and he is still using the same trick today. The Psalmist, in the midst of his troubles asked questions.
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Psalm 42:5

There is a difference between questions and queries. He asked why his soul was feeling downcast. In other words, he expected his soul to look up to see the brighter side in the midst of gloom. When you ask God questions, but still demonstrate faith in Him and His ability, it is okay. But when your questions do not reflect your past experiences of what you enjoyed from God's mercies and faithfulness, you are already issuing God a query. Before any child of God issues out a query to God, the fellow must have changed his view about God and how powerful He is, if not, he wouldn't dare query God. After all, you cannot issue a powerful king a query. Romans 9:20 says,
"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"

Similarly, the one who will query God is in doubt of God's love and good intentions. He believes God is negligent, carefree and irresponsible. At such a time, he has believed the lies of the devil.

Beloved, God loves you much more than anything else, He is the One who gave Himself for your salvation and washed you clean in His Blood. No matter the situation, His love for you will never diminish as long as you remain in His Kingdom. Believe the best about Him. Believe His good intentions even when you do not understand. The One who who died for you will not work against you when you are in a good relationship with Him. Never query God; it will worsen your situation.

Prayer Point:

Father, please forgive me for all the queries I have issued through doubt in Jesus' name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Numbers 5-6
Psalms 139:1-16

SPIRITUAL WARFARE II

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. James 5:15

Read: Ephesians 6:16-18

6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

MESSAGE

Spiritual warfare is an invisible battle that is waged in the spirit realm. The enemies cannot be seen with the physical eyes and the weapons of warfare are not physical as well. What is even more significant is that it is what happens spiritually that determines the physical manifestation that will be experienced by humans. A person overpowered in a spiritual war may become sick, paralyzed, or mad in the real world. Many that are attacked at night may develop an incurable sickness that will lead to their death within days. Some may be physically alright health-wise, but may begin to operate under a terrible demonic bondage that hampers growth of any kind, and this may go on for years unnoticed. These are prisoners living within invisible prison walls while appearing to be normal and free. Isaiah 49:25 says:
"But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."

The worst type of imprisonment is being within invisible prison walls while appearing to be free. Nobody will offer to help you out because there will be nothing physical to suggest that you are imprisoned. The lame man in Acts 3:1-18, was physically born into a prison of sickness and was there for over 40years, he was in a physical prison, obvious to everyone, but most people are in spiritual prisons, invisible prisons. One of my uncles, who studied in Britain returned, and in an attempt to protect himself from forces of darkness, went to meet an herbalist and obeyed the man's instructions to the letter. He got seven leaves of a particular plant, spread them on the floor and defecated on them. Thereafter, the herbalist gave him a particular powder to spray on his faeces and instructed him to eat it. After this, he returned home boasting that since nobody touches faeces, nobody could touch him. He almost died of cholera! Some professors, despite all their Western education, still bow to trees and worship various objects because they are in a spiritual prison. A medical doctor who knows and teaches people about the dangers of smoking but still smokes himself is imprisoned spiritually.

It is not enough to point accusing fingers at somebody somewhere, consider your life and find out if there is any trace of imprisonment. Prayerfully take steps to break loose from it.
When you are free from physical and invisible prisons, then you are truly free.

Prayer Point:

Father, please break every prison wall around me in Jesus' name!

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Numbers 3:5-4:49
Psalms 138