HE SENDS ON ERRANDS

MEMORISE: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16: 15.

READ : LUKE 10: 1 – 3, 17

1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

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

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: GENESIS 10 – 11

God promotes like no one else. Since He is higher than the highest of men, He can lift you to the height no man can take you to. This season, the Lord will promote you. Many years ago, at the first time I was leaving Nigeria for overseas, I was on my way to Canada to attend a world conference of Applied Mathematics. The Nigerian Airways flight I was to take was delayed so I went to eat at their restaurant. I was served by a white man at the restaurant. At that moment, I wished I had a camera to record all I was experiencing so that when I returned to my village at Ifewara (south-west Nigeria), people would see how the son of Adeboye was being served by a white man. The truth is, the Almighty God can pick a shepherd boy and turn him into a king. Have people written you off? If God has not finished with you, anyone who writes you off is only wasting his or her time. People have repeatedly asked me why I say ‘Yes sir’ or ‘Yes ma’ to everybody and I told them that it is because you never can tell where God is taking the fellow. A messenger today may become president tomorrow. When God wants to promote you and somebody sits on your promotion, He can remove the fellow or set his seat on fire. Everyone sitting on your promotion shall be uprooted this season.

Moreover, God sends on errands. He told Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh. He is looking for reliable people He can send on errands. In Mark 16 : 15 – 16, He sends us to the whole world to preach the Gospel because according to John 15 : 16, He chose us to bring forth fruits. We are having problems today because we have refused to go. But if we repent and decide to go, signs will follow us. In Luke 10 : 1 – 3, 17 Jesus sent out 70 people in twos and when they returned, they were full of joy and testified that even the demons obeyed them. In your secular work, would your boss send you on an official errand and you would refuse? You will most likely not. What if the president sends you on an errand? You will feel privileged to carry it out. Now, why would the President of presidents send you on an errand and you will be making excuses? If you don’t go, He will not go with you.

KEY POINT:

If you carry out God’s errands perfectly and within the time specified, He too will honour you by going on errands for you.

LOOK UP TO JESUS ONLY

MEMORISE: And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9 : 23.

READ: LUKE 9 : 23 – 26.

23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: GENESIS 1 – 2.

Besides prosperity and comfort, another thing that can divert your attention while running the race is resting before you reach your goal. Your goal is Heaven and on earth we have no resting place. The wise men of Matthew 2 : 1 – 16 kept on travelling for a period of two years following the star. A period of resting would have been appealing to them, but because they had to reach their goal, and the star they were following was still moving, they kept on going for that whole period. If they had called for a rest, they would have missed their trail. Why are you declaring a rest when you have not reached you goal? Calling for rest before its time will always lead the fellow into trouble. When David was jumping from cave to cave, he did not commit adultery. But in 2 Samuel 11 : 1, he was resting when he should be at war, so Satan gave him another assignment which he did very well and lived to regret. That short period of rest led him into certain sins that brought the sword upon his generations.

Moreover, another diversion from the race is taking your eyes off the star. When the wise men entered Herod’s palace, they could no more see the star. All they were seeing was the glittering glory of an earthly king, while they were supposed to be on their way to the King of kings. When you take off your eyes from the Lord and place it on someone else or something else, you have diverted. When we were young Christians, we learnt not to look unto our leaders but Christ because human beings can disappoint you. I have been severally disappointed by people I looked up to, those I thought were better than me. I got the greatest disappointment from the fellow who brought me to Christ. Never look up to your pastor, minister, general overseer, etc. They can disappoint you any day. Look up to Jesus. Many pastors are living in sin on a regular basis today. If you put your hope on them, you may get the greatest shock of your life. Look up to Jesus and He will never fail you. Follow Him always!

KEY POINT:

Jesus is the perfect mould – the ultimate Mentor. If your leader is a bad example, pray for him but look up to Jesus. He is God’s standard.

IS YOUR VISA READY?

MEMORISE: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord : Hebrews 12 : 14.

READ: EXODUS 32: 30 – 35.

30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

31 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

35 And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PSALM 119.

Speaking of aspirations and ambitions in life, if all you can achieve on earth is for your name to enter and remain in the most important book in the universe – the Book of Life, it is worth it. On the Day of Judgment, many whose names were in earth’s halls of fame will be shown the way to the eternal lake of fire just because their names were missing from this great book. In Egypt, Shiphrah and Puah decided to fear the Almighty God and their names were written in the Bible. You must make sure your name is written in the Book of Life and that it remains there as long as you are alive.

If you are born-again, you have a divine passport. But it will take the Book of Life to determine those who will be issued visa of rapture or entry visa at death into planet Heaven. There are many people who have their country’s passport and may never travel to any country outside their place of birth. So also there are many souls who have the heavenly passport but will not be granted entry at death because they lack the visa. There are testimonies of some brethren who died but God allowed them to return to the earth. When they died, they got to Heaven’s gate because they had the passport -were born-again, but they were denied entry for lack of visa. For your name to remain in the Lamb’s Book of Life, you must be holy. You must live a life of full obedience to God. You must clear all your debts – both to God and to men. You must have served the Lord and not yourself while on earth. You must have lived a life that impacted men and woman and glorified God. You must have had a blossoming relationship with the Holy Spirit until the time of rapture or death. Are you saved? Do you have this visa to Heaven? Check your life now, and make amends today. Do you know that some people are only going about with titles but they have lost their true spiritual essence? King Saul was still on the throne for years after David was anointed as king.

ACTION POINT:

Ask for the grace to live in peace with everyone and to live a holy life.

GOD PROMOTES

MEMORY VERSE:  Psalm 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. 

READ

 Psalm 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

Psalm 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

Psalm 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

 

MESSAGE 

When God set out to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, it was to take them out of captivity and bondage and to lift them up. God has come to take you out of your current location in the miry clay to your promised land a land flowing with milk and honey. This simply tells us that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of promotion. When He promotes you, nobody can demote you. Psalm 75:5-7 says promotion comes from God but He can decide to effect it through any medium. If you catch this revelation, your attitude to God, your boss and your work place will be redefined. If God is the One to promote you, you will not break your relationship with Him. Also, you will not have to compromise your faith in any way. The fear of being denied promotion has made many believers to switch from serving God to serving their boss. Never let any superior or boss rob you of your relationship with God!

God still promotes. There is no promotion that takes place without the knowledge of God. If he says your time for promotion has come; there is nothing anybody anywhere can do about it. This season, the Lord shall promote you. Moreover, when He is set to promote you, it does not matter where the enemies have kept you; you are coming out and going up! For instance, He can locate you in the miry clay and take you up according to Psalm 40:1-3. He can also go to the dunghill to pick you up from there and set you up among nobles and princes and nobody will be able to challenge you (1 Samuel 2:8). He can take you from any depth and lift you up to any height. He can lift you beyond any level any man can take you. When he decides to promote you, even the sky will be your starting point. This season, the Godhead is taking a decision to promote someone, to take the fellow from the depths to the heights. That fellow is you. Thankfully receive your promotion today!

 

KEY POINT

The only time your boss can sit on your promotion or entitlements successfully, is when God allows you to go through that situation as a trial of your faith, for a period.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

MEMORISE: And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. John 16 : 8.

READ: HEBREWS 1: 8 – 9.

8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PSALM 91 – 93

It is one thing to receive the anointing and another to keep on growing in it. There are people who had the anointing, but today, everything has virtually ebbed out. It is possible to connect with the Holy Spirit and to continue to flow in the power of the anointing even at increasing levels. If this is your desire, then you cannot toy with sin.

“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Hebrews 1 : 9

The anointing and righteousness have a symbiotic relationship. If you are living in sin, the Holy Spirit will keep a distance from you and so will the anointing. If you are holy, the anointing can easily flow through you. If you want higher levels of the anointing or you want to sustain it, then you must increase your level of holiness and be far separated from sin.

You can say you know of some people who are not living holy, yet they still have the power. I have seen a lot of people who operated under a demonic power, usually their end is disastrous. There are two kinds of power – God’s power and the power of the devil which he stole from man. Goliath is an example of someone with demonic power. If you study carefully, you will find out that like Goliath, the devil uses his agent for a while and abandons them to destruction down the line. Satan has no value for the life of his devotees! He is also not committed to them beyond a certain point. But our God is committed to the end. He will defend His anointed. Whenever His anointed faces the agents of darkness, God is even more present in such situations. Hook up with the Holy Spirit because, of all the personalities in the Godhead, He is the most jealous of His holiness. The word ‘holy’ is not used before the name of the Father or the Son, but the Holy Spirit cannot do without it. This is why He is present with those who value His holiness. Little wonder He is rightly called Holy Spirit.

KEY POINT:

Without holiness, there is no relationship with the Holy Spirit. He is uncompromisingly holy.

SUBSTITUTION

MEMORISE: The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. Prov. 11 : 8.

READ: DANIEL 3: 19 – 22.

19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PSALM 89 – 90.

Another way God executes deliverance is by the law of substitution. Proverbs 11 : 8 says,

“The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.”

At oftentimes, if a particular incident that has been slated against the righteous must surely be carried out, God gives the captor an alternative. Take for instance, when the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fire of Nebuchadnezzar, they came out unhurt, but the king’s strongest and most outstanding men, who bound, carried and threw them into the fire were all roasted even though they did not physically enter the fire ( Daniel 3 : 19 – 22 ). The enemies that are after your life will lose their best hands in your place. Similarly, the lions that refused to eat up Daniel, ate those who threw him into the den ( Daniel 6 : 24 ). The lions that have been sent to devour you and members of your family will return to devour those who sent them on that evil mission.

A sister once told me she had a dream that her husband travelled abroad and they brought back his corpse. She was concerned because her dreams always come true. So we prayed. The following Sunday she was in church and there was no indication that anything was wrong. The following day, her husband’s name appeared on the obituary pages of the dailies. I called her to enquire what happened. She said God had answered our prayer because her husband travelled and returned safely. She however said that, his brother who was not a born-again Christian also travelled but they brought back his corpse. Whenever you face an enemy too strong to handle, call on Jesus, asking Him to be your ally. In the name of Jesus, the law of substitution will work for you from today. Every spirit of death sent against you will claim one of those sending it. God will give men for you and your family, and people will die in your place. Your enemies will know that you serve a living God.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, from today, let Your law of substitution work in my favour and over the lives of members of my family.

HOW PERSUADED?

MEMORISE: And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Romans 4 : 21.

READ : PSALM 82 : 2 – 4.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : PSALM 87 – 88.

In 2 Timothy 4 : 10, Demas – a co-labourer with Paul was floored by his love for the world. He became a victim of comfort. Today, many people are also becoming prayerless and shifting their faith or trust from God to uncertain riches. They are now tending towards believe that money can fix everything. If you are in such a situation, repent fast before it is too late. It is certain that, anyone who served God with his heart while poor, but could not sustain it after wealth and comfort came, is not fully persuaded of his or her faith in Christ. In Romans 8 : 38 – 39, Paul says,

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you go through Paul’s list, you will observe a man who is completely sold out to God. He has nothing to look back to having burnt his bridges. Many people still operate a plan B with God. Such people say: let me try God 80% and still put my leg in something else 20% so that should God fail, I will not lose out completely. Do not waste your time! If that is how your commitment is to God, He will definitely fail you. Any time you share your trust in God with someone else or something else, it is no longer God you are trusting in. If wealth can separate you from God, it shows you have not truly decided to follow Jesus. You are not persuaded. Paul says if he is threatened with death he will not deny Christ. He declares that even if all the angels in Heaven were to revolt against God today (which is not possible) and they talk him into denying Christ, they will simply be wasting their time. He says forces of darkness – no matter how vicious, cannot make him stop loving Jesus. He says no present or future technological advancement can take his faith in Christ away from him. He says no promotion or demotion can rob him of Jesus. No love for anything can break him away from Christ. That is a man who is fully persuaded! If any of these things can break you from Christ, you are not persuaded. How persuaded are you?

ACTION POINT:

The internet has become a major stumbling block to many believers. If you are a victim of this, break off and redefine your relationship with it today.

THE ETERNAL BOOK

MEMORISE: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 15.

READ: REVELATION 20: 11 – 15.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PSALM 85 – 86.

One outstanding need that divine midwives must satisfy is to have their names written in the Book of Life. This is the most important book in the universe. Given modern trends and need for details, most institutions have various books in which records are kept and can be retrieved in years to come. Every organisation has a staff register while clubs have membership registers. Most countries of the world have issued out social security numbers or national identity numbers in which certain details of their citizens are held. Apart from these, there are organisations that document great achievements within a section of the world or across the whole world. Some of such documentations are referred to as book of records. Many people strive for their names to enter a particular book of records, and when this is done they appear fulfilled as they have nothing else to strive for.

Of all books of records, there is one that is most outstanding. It is about human beings but it is not on earth. It documents the names and certain details about everyone who is saved and washed by the blood of Jesus. Since it is not accessible on earth, it cannot be influenced or manipulated. Human beings record only the information that is accessible to them such as the number of births, deaths, marriages, etc., but in the case of the Book of Life, no record escapes the angels in charge of this book. For now, this book may appear not so important to many, but according to today’s reading, after death and on the day of the Great White Throne Judgment, that book will be very relevant. If your name is in all the important books and halls of fame on earth, by the time you die, those books will no longer be relevant. Your fate will be decided by the presence or absence of your name in the Book of Life. So if there is one book your name should be written in, it is the Lamb’s Book of Life. How? By confessing your sins, asking for forgiveness and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

KEY POINT:

If you are alive, you must do everything possible for your name to enter the Book of life, if not, after death, you will be sent to hell. 

THE GREAT DELIVERER

MEMORISE: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psalm 91 : 15.

READ: PSALM 91: 14 – 15.

14 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.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 21 – 24

God is great but He humbles Himself to the level of His children to deliver them. The one who will deliver you must be stronger than the enemy holding you captive. The reason He is able to deliver is because He is stronger than all your enemies put together. This is why in Psalm 24 : 7 – 10, He is called the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battles and the Lord of Host. It does not matter the enemy fighting you, as long as the One who is mighty in battle is on your side, you will definitely be victorious. Even if you are the one who got yourself into Satan’s captivity – that is, you are a lawful captive – if you call on Him, He will deliver you ( Isaiah 49 : 24 – 26 ).

Many years ago, there was a wedding in my village and I was invited to preach on that day. I had been away from home for a long time because of the many things I had suffered from the hands of witches and wizards for 13 years. On arrival at the wedding, I saw many of them and had to change my message. I dared them to come out of darkness or get ready to be roasted. When the sermon was over, I left, but the witches went to confront the mother of the bride, saying that she invited them so that I could insult them. They threatened to wait for the lady after conception and that she will never deliver the baby. When her daughter became pregnant, the mother wrote to tell me the trouble I had brought to her. I smiled and replied that on the day of delivery, the witches will be asleep. The lady came to the camp for a programme while the witches were planning for the delivery date. She went into labour at the camp and within 10 minutes, she had delivered. Similarly, during a particular convention we had in America, news came that some people had planted a bomb at the auditorium, which was set to explode at 1 a.m. of the Holy Ghost night. My children panicked but I asked them to relax knowing that the God that I serve can neutralise any bomb, because He says no weapon formed against us shall prosper. What situation are you in today that holds back your freedom? The Lord will deliver you.

ACTION POINT:

Ask that the fire of the Holy Ghost will go to every evil gathering where the enemies are planning against you and your family, and destroy them.

WAIT ON THE SPIRIT

MEMORISE: I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: 1 Corinthians 14 : 18.

READ: LUKE 24: 48 – 49.

48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 18 – 20.

In Judges 15 : 14 – 15, when Samson was brought to his enemies bound, the Holy Spirit came mightily upon him and he began to level them one after the other. But you may want to ask: What were the others looking at while their colleagues were being killed? It happened this way because when the supernatural of God is in action, the enemies will first be paralysed. This season, the Lord will paralyse all your enemies and they will begin to grope in darkness, and they will become easy preys for your sword in Jesus name.

However, just as the positive supernatural is linked with the Holy Spirit, so also is the negative supernatural linked with the devil and his demons. In Acts 1 : 8 and Luke 24 : 48 – 49, the Lord told the disciples not to go out to preach until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19 : 11 – 12, God performed special miracles by the hand of Paul. You may wonder what facilitated this. To answer that, you may want to look at what he did more than other brethren. Based on his testimony in 1 Corinthians 14 : 18, the manifestation of the supernatural in a special way in his life must have been facilitated by the fact that he spent more time praying in the Holy Spirit than all other brethren. This simply tells us that the way you relate with the Holy Spirit in your closet will determine the outward or public results that will accompany you. If you invest time worshipping and praising Him, speaking in the language He freely gave to you and you live holy before Him, you will never be far from the miraculous. 

The Holy Spirit is the Chairperson of the Body of Christ while Jesus is still the owner. If you want to be relevant, you must link up with the Spirit of Truth. Do you monitor your relationship with Him? Do you hear the voice of the Spirit? When you do, do you obey promptly? Are there certain errands He sent you that you are yet to carry out? He is a very gentle Spirit. He must not be grieved often, yet He is equally as patient as the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ contrary to what some people teach. However, He should not be taken for granted. How much of your time do you devote to developing your relationship with the Holy Spirit?

ACTION POINT:

Pray in the Spirit for 1 – 2 hours today, and do so more often daily. Write down what you saw, heard or experienced for the next three weeks.

VICTIM OF COMFORT?

MEMORISE: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4 : 10.

READ: 2 TIMOTHY 4: 8 – 10.

⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 

⁹ Do your best to come to me quickly,  

¹⁰ for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 11 – 13.

Just as your attention can be arrested by certain things while undergoing a physical journey, so also can your
attention be diverted while running the race to Heaven. One of such things that can divert heaven-bound citizens is prosperity. Prosperity can give you a lot of comfort which can affect your focus, reduce your consecration and play down your personal relationship with God. Prosperity can truncate one’s journey to heaven if unchecked. One victim of this was Demas. 2 Timothy 4. : 10 says, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to
Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.” While other co-labours of Paul were travelling to different cities of the world for the work of the Gospel, Demas – a co- labourer of Paul, fell in love with the world to such an extent
that he went back to Thessalonica having been taken captive by worldly pleasures and amusements. Is your
prosperity gradually pushing you off the heavenly track? Control it now before it destroys your soul completely!

Many years ago, when all some of us had were two shirts, two trousers and one pair of shoes, we prayed, loved the Lord and served Him with all our hearts and strength. But today, it is a different ball game. For many who have now been blessed materially, it has become a herculean task to give even a quarter of our time and strength to God. Some find it extremely difficult to make sacrifices for God: everything now operates on how convenient it is. I remember when I called church members to join in a 100- day fast, those from low-income areas in Lagos such as Ajegunle, Mushin, etc., immediately received the announcement with joy, while on that same day when I went to make the same announcement in the high brow areas of Lagos – Ikoyi and Victoria Island, they were not happy to receive it, but thank God they joined. Is the comfort of your bed, store house and bank account now negatively affecting your fire? Watch it and adjust now before you become its victim.

ACTION POINT:
Ask God to take you to the level where nothing would ever affect your love for Him.

MOVE ON TO MULTIPLICATION

MEMORISE: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1 : 28.

READ: GENESIS 1: 27 – 28.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 8 – 10.

Another attribute of a divine midwife is that he or she must be able to earn a reward from God. God rewarded the midwives of Exodus 1 and He is looking for those who can work hard to earn His commendation. “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.” 2 John 8, His commendation does not come cheap: it must be earned. The way you are working for Him, can you earn His ‘Well done?’ If you consider His dealings with people in Bible times, you will notice that God loves fruitful people. He loves progressive increases but prefers multiplications. When the servants who received five and two talents returned to their master, with a double of what they received, they got the same level of commendation (Matthew 25 : 14 – 23). 

God loves multiplication! In Genesis 1 : 27 – 28, immediately after creating Adam and Eve, He commanded them to be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth. These are stages in growth. God wants you to start by bearing fruit, and then move to the stage of multiplication of the fruits so that you can eventually dominate the earth. Many of us stop at bearing fruit which should be our starting point. It is time you moved up to the stage of multiplication. If you were winning a soul to Christ per month, now win 10 souls or more to Christ per month, but do not stop there. Lead them to the believers class to disciple them. Follow them up and ensure that they are doing what you have done. In other words, reproduce yourself in them so that they too can do the same. As this chain continues, a time will come when your spiritual children will be in different parts of the world, taking the world for Jesus. Thank God for the past years of winning minimal souls. Increase your efforts and become a mentor to your converts, and they to their converts down the line. If we can take this up and be committed to 10 souls monthly for a year and mentor them to the point of each getting their 10 souls, in less than five years, we would have reached out to the world. Arise and start your chain of converts today!

ACTION POINT:

A convert you win today can lead 100 souls to Christ. Go for your 10 souls this period

CONDESCEND!

MEMORISE: Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Romans 12 : 16.

READ : ISAIAH 66: 1 – 2.

1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 30 – 32.

After seeing their plight, hearing their cries and feeling their pains, God came down to rescue the Israelites from Egypt. Our God is a mobile God. He comes down to deliver His own. As high as God is and even though He has His throne in Heaven, yet He condescends to meet the needs of His children on earth (Isaiah 66 : 1). Looking at Psalm 50 : 10 – 12 and Revelation 3 : 20, we see the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hill and who Heaven cannot contain wanting to dine in your house. Whenever you want to eat, after thanking God for the provision, sanctify it and invite Him to join you. You can be sure nobody can poison the food God is eating from. God can come down to any level. Philippians 2 : 5 – 8 says even though Jesus Christ is God, yet He became a man and served as a servant. One day, I was shocked when God told me that even though He is the Almighty God, He has been doing the work of a servant for His children. He said when we say: ‘Father, give me this or that’, we are actually sending Him on an errand, and He delivers. If God can condescend to any level just to serve His children, what level is too low for you to get to in serving those under you?

“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” Romans 12 : 16

God lives by example. Before He tells you to humble yourself and serve others, He has done it time and again. Some leaders consider themselves too high to be reached. If you are ‘high’ and you stay up there, you will be unable to reach out to those who are low. Most of the people you are expected to reach out to are somewhere down – they know less about God or His ways, probably have never been ordained, have little or no means of livelihood, have little or no education, etc. The ability to condescend to their level is a plus which makes you like God. That is humility. Put aside your differences and reach out to them today following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

ACTION POINT:

Prayerfully, reach out to 10 people below your status and show them the love of God.

UNCOVERING EVIL

MEMORISE: For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Acts 8 : 23.

READ: ACTS 5: 1 – 11.

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 26 – 29.

The presence of the supernatural power of God in a church can take that church beyond limits. It can also uproot the presence of evil in the midst of God’s children. In Acts 5, a couple were uprooted through this. If we are going to sanitise the church, we need the Holy Spirit. Just as we need Him to heal, save and deliver, so also do we need Him to kill. Sometime ago, a man from Cameroon who claimed to be a missionary came visiting our churches. One day, the Lord told me he was a spy and not a missionary. When he later came to me to say they were planning to do certain things, I reminded him of how the couple in Acts 5 had lied to Peter and were buried the same day. I told him he was busy lying to me, eating my food and receiving my hospitality. I gave him an opportunity to either apologise or die. He was covered in sweat. I just wanted him to say sorry because I did not want to be involved in his burial. But a week later, his evil caught up with him.

We need the supernatural to demonstrate to people that our God is who He says He is. Many people do not believe our testimonies because they think they are arranged. But when they see the raw power of God, you will not beg them to surrender to Jesus. A man came to the Holy Ghost service one day. His son had been telling him to yield to God but he refused, saying that he was stronger than his son’s pastor. On this particular day, he decided to pay a surprise visit to the camp without informing his son. As soon as he came in, the Lord told me that there was a man coming for the first time who came late because he was feeding his snake. And that before he gets home his snake will be dead, and that if he loves himself, he should surrender to the Lord or else he will die after his snake. The man ran out and surrendered to Christ, and today, he is a committed member of our church. Is the supernatural in operation in your life? If it is not, cry out to God today!

ACTION POINT:

Ask that in the body of Christ worldwide, the supernatural will become common place and through this, God will expose satanic agents.

ENLIST A STRONGER ALLY

MEMORISE: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. Luke 11 : 22.

READ: LUKE 11 : 21 – 22

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 23 – 25.

It’s amazing that some people who need deliverance do not realise their need; rather they look for others to deliver while they remain in their bondages. In any way you need deliverance, it shall be given to you this season. If God has made several promises to you, and at the time they should be fulfilled none of them is coming to pass, you need deliverance. When it appears you have a very bleak future and you have no vision or direction for the next two or more years, you surely need deliverance. If there is sorrow all around you or you are always quarrelling at home with your spouse and cannot even tell the cause, you need deliverance.

Moreover, who can deliver? When your ally is weaker or less fortified than your enemy, both you and the one you have invited to help you fight will end up as preys to the enemy. The one you should therefore invite to help you defeat an enemy stronger than you must be stronger than the enemy. In a battle between two strong people, it takes the stronger fellow to defeat his opponent, strip him of his weapons and take over his spoils according to Luke 11 : 21 – 22. If an individual wants to conduct deliverance for you, make sure he or she has the backing of the Almighty God. 

Today, we have several deliverance ministers who are self-sent and therefore have no divine approval. There are some deliverance ministers that will ask you to pay before you can see them. Both you and the fellow will be in trouble if God is not with him like He was with Jesus ( Acts 10 : 38 ). Also, the fellow to conduct the deliverance must be under authority or else you may return home with more problems than you went with. In Luke 7 : 6 – 8, the centurion who went to the Lord for help was under authority and Jesus Himself was under the authority of the Father. When the sons of Sceva attempted to deliver somebody, they were wounded, disgraced and had to take to their heels. Meanwhile the situation of the fellow they were trying to deliver remained the same. Enlist the right ally when fighting a stronger enemy.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, in all my life’s battles, never leave me alone. Fight for me.

OFFENDED IN CHRIST?

MEMORISE: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Matthew 11: 6

READ : MATTHEW 11: 2 – 6.

2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 20 – 22.

The Christian race must be run with lots of patience or else it will be bungled midway. If you are impatient with God’s timing, you will not only get into trouble but may not be able to finish the race. A good number of backsliders derailed from their heavenly track because of impatience. In Matthew 11 : 6 Jesus said: “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” When you know that God has a set time for everything, you will not try to compel Him to do it at your time and in your way. You will simply submit to His will and enter your rest; that is when you can enjoy a smooth ride in your race to Heaven. 

A man of God once made some mistakes which landed him in prison. While there, his wife left him, his house got burnt and he lost everything. The devil thought he had taken everything from him but there was something he could not take away from him: his rugged determination to make it home and he made it. Have you lost virtually everything? Are you thinking of giving up? Does it appear that everyone else has forsaken you and there is no one to turn to? Beloved, take heart! God has not given up on you. If God has not given up on you, the greatest disservice you can do to yourself will be to give up on the Lover of your soul. He is very close to you. He is right now in that situation. Don’t give up! No matter how bad things are right now, no matter how hopeless your situation is; it does not matter how many people have told you to your face that you cannot make it, God will turn around your tide. Adverse situations are not strange to us at all. It is just a phase. It will soon expire. The Lord is arising on your behalf. He will gather your pieces together and give you wholeness. If there are no pieces to gather, He will create wholeness for you. You are precious in His sight. Just put all your worries at His feet, worship Him regularly and thank Him in spite of your situation even if in tears, He will give you victory and you will have a great testimony. 

ACTION POINT:

If you are offended in Christ, you are getting something fundamentally wrong. Repent.

ANY QUERY FROM SATAN?

MEMORISE: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3 : 15.

READ: DANIEL 3: 14 – 30.

14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 17 – 19.

A divine midwife must be in control of his or her choices and ensure that they are God-centred and not self-centred. They must be ready to take decisions even when it hurts them. They must also be prepared to respond to Satan’s queries. “And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?”Exodus 1 : 18 When the plot to murder the Hebrew male babies failed, the king summoned the midwives and issued them a query. In other words, he was asking them: ‘Whose side are you on? Mine or theirs?’ Do you know that Satan is not bothered about querying many believers? Why? It’s because he cannot see any difference between their past and present lifestyles. If you still dress indecently, exaggerate events, think the same way and go to the same places you used to go before you were born-again, there will be nothing to query about you. The kingdom of darkness reacts to change and not stagnancy. 

If you have not practiced your Christian faith to a point where the devil or his agent will question you that: ‘Who is that your God?’ then you are not making an impact yet.

 The three Hebrew children stood for their faith in God without being disrespectful to the king. They refused to bow to his golden image because they feared God. This caused them to be noticed as it appeared they were on one side, while the rest of the people were on another. God is usually interested when He finds one or more of His children ready to face Satan’s query or persecution. Usually, based on His plan and purpose, He would decide on what to do in each of such situations. In the case of the three Hebrew children, He physically came down to let the crowd realise that there is a God in Heaven that is above man and gods who can do all things. He manifested Himself to also show that He can void the worst of man’s anger, punishment or fury. If you can stand for Him, He will lift you up in the midst of opposing circumstances and at the end He would have introduced Himself.

ACTION POINT:

Thank God for past Holy Ghost congresses. Pray that this year’s congress will have something great for every participant.

WHAT CHOICES?

MEMORISE: In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. Psalm 15: 4.

READ: JOSHUA 24: 14 – 20.

14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve theLord.

16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.

19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 CHRONICLES 24 – 26.

During the course of life, a time comes when you must decide who to serve. It is a time of choice. At such times you have to decide for yourself who would be your God. Have you faced such scenario? What was your choice? In Joshua 24 : 15, the children of Israel stood face to face with that decision. The midwives of Exodus 1 : 15 – 21 equally faced such challenge – to obey God or the king, and they chose the former. No wonder it is on record that they feared God. Your decisions in life indicate how much fear of God you have. Every divine midwife must be able to take the right decision even when it hurts. In Psalm 15 : 1 – 5, among the qualities listed that are required to enter God’s holy hill, is the ability to swear to one’s hurt without looking back. Can you take a decision to serve God and stand by it without looking back? The midwives refused to obey their king for fear of the highest King.

When it comes to the most crucial areas of your life, may you never make the wrong choice. Many times, we allow the choices of others to influence ours to a great extent: we want to do something only when our spouse or friends agrees to do the same. To be born-again is a very personal and crucial decision. Certain sacrificial decisions are equally personal. Take for instance, when God instructed Abraham to go and sacrifice Isaac, if he had told Sarah, would she have allowed him? He simply kept it from her because he wanted to obey. Today, some believers receive ‘hard’ instructions from the Lord, and because they do not want to obey, they share it with their spouse whom they know would disagree; and finally they tell God that the reason they disobeyed was because they could not agree with their spouse. Remember God knows every secret thought of the heart. Why do you keep looking for excuses not to do what should be done? A divine midwife will always look up to God and obey God’s instructions in spite of contrary circumstances. What are your choices in life? Have you chosen to serve God, to follow the way of holiness and adopt a life of prayer as well as of the study of His word?

KEY POINT:

While the Hebrew midwives manufactured excuses for obeying God, those who claim to love and serve God today are giving reasons for disobeying God.

GOD OF KNOWLEDGE

MEMORISE: Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2 : 3.

READ: 1 SAMUEL 2 : 2 – 3.

2 There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 CHRONICLES 14 – 16.

“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” Exodus 3 : 6

In the scripture quoted above, God introduced Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is one of His titles and you can be sure that none of His names or titles is just for fun. The first thing to note about God here is that God is not a talkative. He speaks once in a while but in Exodus 3, He introduced Himself three times. Somebody once said if God speaks two times, it is grace, when He speaks three times, it is amazing grace. While God was introducing Himself to the vessel he would use, the children of Israel were going through the worst suffering, slavery and denial in Egypt even though they prayed. This shows that if you have been praying but have not seen the answer coming, do not be discouraged because He is preparing an answer for you.

Who is this God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? He is a saviour and he sees. He is not blind like some gods. Psalm 94:9 asks: Will the one who formed the eyes not see? He does not only see but He also reacts to what he sees. He saw the Israelites crying to Him in distress and He got them a saviour. Long before the manifestation of danger, God would have seen it and taken steps to prevent it from harming you. He sees and knows all you do and as a result, there is no hiding place from Him. Psalm 139 : 7 – 12 says you cannot hide from God. You may hide certain things from your leaders but not from God. A pastor of a certain Gospel church took interest in a member of the choir and took her to a far away location to avoid prying eyes. When they got to the hotel, they carefully looked around to be sure there was nobody who knows either of them. They were about to fulfil their carnal desires when suddenly the sister had a conviction and said, ‘We forgot to look up. I think He is looking at us’. With that realisation, they called it quits. There is no secret before God. There is no hiding place. Whatever is hidden will one day be made public. Keep away from sin, particularly secret sins. He sees you.

PRAYER POINT:

Ask for God’s peace to reign in every crisis zone of the world.

DON’T BE SATAN’S FOOTBALL.

MEMORISE: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Romans 8 : 19.

READ: 2 KINGS 6: 1 – 7.

1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.

2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.

3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.

5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.

6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.

7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 CHRONICLES 10 – 13.

The word supernatural is a combination of two words – superior and natural. The supernatural is something superior to the natural, which can compel the natural to obey it. The supernatural can cause things to happen contrary to the laws of nature. While the natural sees dry bones as dead and dry, the supernatural on the other hand can make dry bones to live and reverse the irreversible. It is my prayer for you that from today, the supernatural by the Holy Spirit will prevail over every situation you find yourself. In 2 Kings 6 : 1 – 7, when the borrowed axe head fell into the river, the man of God took a piece of wood and threw it into the river. On contact with the anointing on the man of God, the wood sank and what was meant to be at the bottom of the river came to the surface and began to float. In the name of Jesus, all impossibility in your life will contact the power of God and they will become possibilities.

Why does the church need the supernatural? It is needful because the average human being loves something supernatural, which can either be from God or Satan. We know that we are more than just flesh and blood. Every man or woman comprises spirit, soul and body and the spirit inside everyone longs for the supernatural. Unfortunately, those who are yet to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour end up falling into Satan’s net by joining the occult and practicing witchcraft. Some do so for prosperity, security, healing, good luck, etc. However, they do not know that, they have consequently given the devil a foothold over their lives. Spiritual forces control the physical and this is why people want to be players in the realm of the supernatural. Know this: the divine supernatural far supersedes the negative satanic supernatural. In your life, do you see the operations of the supernatural? Is it positive or negative? Your quest should be to have the positive supernatural and not the negative one which can put you in bondage and turn you into Satan’s football.

KEY POINT:

The world is waiting for your manifestation according to Rom. 8 : 19. When will you manifest God’s power and glory?

DELIVERANCE

MEMORISE : He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. Psalm 18 : 17.

READ : PSALM 18 : 16 – 18.

16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 CHRONICLES 7 – 9.

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8 : 36

Within Christian circles, people often see deliverance only as casting out demons from someone. This is true for unbelievers but when you talk of believers in Christ, it is impossible for Jesus to be sharing His throne in the hearts of a believer with the devil. He is the light and in Him is no iota of darkness. John 1 : 5 says when light comes, it cannot be overpowered by darkness. It is my strong belief that when Christ come into the life of a sinner, at the point of salvation, His light shines in and repels all forms of darkness, except if the salvation is not genuine. However, looking at the example of King Saul, we know that it is possible for someone who used to be a born-again Christian to backslide and end up being possessed of demons. When the Spirit of God left Saul, an evil spirit took over him. That could happen because the spirit of God had stepped out.

For a believer what is deliverance? It is rescuing someone from the battle that he or she cannot win without being assisted. You need deliverance if you are fighting a battle that is beyond you in many respects. Psalm 18 : 17 says, “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.”

When enemies you can easily handle face you, God will fold His hands and ask you to deal with them while He watches. If a mountain stands in your way, He will ask you to command it to move. But when you are suddenly surrounded by enemies that are too strong for you, He will send deliverance. This was what happened when they threw Daniel into the den of hungry lions. God knew that battle was way beyond the physical ability of Daniel, so he sent His angel to rescue him from the lions. Are you fighting enemies that are stronger than you in power, wisdom, might? The Lord will arise on your behalf and bring you deliverance today. He will hit the enemy at his weakest point and deliver him into your hands.

PRAYER POINT :

Father, in all the battles that are greater than me, deliver me today.

HE EMPOWERS WORDS

MEMORISE: And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 1 Samuel 3 : 19.

READ: 1 SAMUEL 3: 19 – 21.

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EZEKIEL 4 – 7.

When you become a divine champion, God will support, promote, strengthen, and make you wise; He will love you, sponsor and sustain you. May He do all these to you from today. In addition, a divine champion fights in the name of the Almighty God. When David was in the ring with Goliath, he told him, you have come to fight me with physical weapons but I have come to fight you with the name of the Lord ( 1 Samuel 17 : 45 ). A divine champion is an ambassador of the Lord. When he speaks, God backs up his words. Concerning one divine champion, 1 Samuel 3 : 19 has this to say:

“And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.”

This is so reassuring and powerful! That a man will decree a thing and God will take up the responsibility of effecting it. In other words, God’s champion gives God tasks to do and He obeys. That also means that God is as committed to His champion as much as His champion is committed to Him.

In 2 Kings 1 : 9 – 12, when some bands of soldiers came to arrest Elijah, they said to him, ‘Man of God, the king wants to see you’. He replied, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire descend from heaven and roast you’: and it was so. God sent fire from Heaven which reduced the soldiers to ashes. At another time, the same Elijah told King Ahab, ‘As God remains on the throne and I remain His servant, the windows of heaven are shut from giving rain for some years until I reverse this decree’ ( 1 Kings 17 : 1 ): and it was so. For the next three and half years, the nation went through its worst drought because God backed up the words of His champion. Are you a divine champion? How many of your decrees have received divine backing? Yet, this is achievable! If God will let none of the words of Samuel fall to the ground, He can equally uphold yours. The question is: what have you done to provoke divine backing? How obedient are you to divine instructions? How much of His Word do you listen to, study, memorise and meditate upon? Do you honour God above everything else? Do you win souls?

KEY POINT:

Which do you belong to of these two categories of God’s servants – those that God upholds and establish their words or those that lack divine backing and their words fail?

WITNESS OF HIS JOY

MEMORISE: Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16 : 11.

READ: LUKE 2: 8 – 10.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EZEKIEL 1 – 3.

We are saved to bear witness of God’s goodness in our lives, particularly His power to heal and ability to give peace. God also wants us to be witnesses of His joy. Psalm 16:11 says joy is always available where God is present. But for this truth, how could Paul and Silas be singing in prison ( Acts 16 : 25 – 26 )? In 1975, I went to Kirikiri prisons (Lagos, Nigeria) for the first time together with an elder. There was a young man who was playing the organ and dancing with so much joy that I could not ignore him. “Is he about to be released?” I asked. The elder told me that the boy bagged a life sentence: he had a quarrel with his friend, gave him a slap and the friend fell down and died. He was charged accordingly and sentenced to death but appealed and his sentence was commuted to life. In prison, he met the Lord and discovered that one could be in prison and yet be spiritually free.

Recently, I visited the prison and a man was introduced to me who has been there for 28 years on death row. When every other inmate is sleeping, those on death row will be half awake – listening for the footsteps of the executioners – until 5 a.m. before they can be sure they will still be alive for that day. Imagine living like this for 28 years! While conducting a service for them, he was singing, shouting and clapping that at least God had given him another day. If somebody whose life is filled with lots of suspense can praise God for each day, why should we not praise God more with a full life ahead of us? It is sad that some believers would have to be pushed or virtually compelled to praise God. Are you a proof producer of His joy? We are not expected to be in sorrow like those who don’t know the Lord because we have the joy that they don’t have. The only time some believers will know a measure of happiness is when a good thing happens to them – say they buy a car, receive a promotion, or have a financial breakthrough. But our joy is not dependent on these fading earthly things. A believer who has no dime in his pocket should be like he owns the world and yes he does, as a joint heir with Jesus!

ACTION POINT:

A popular anecdote says, I was complaining I had no shoes until I met a man who had no legs. If you have legs but no shoes, thank God for your legs.

MEEKNESS

MEMORISE: Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23 : 34.

READ: ACTS 7 : 54 – 60.

54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PSALM 55 – 57.

One of the outstanding qualities of the midwives in Exodus 1 : 15 – 21 is meekness. Many people usually misconstrue meekness for weakness but this is not so. To be meek is to be capable of doing a lot of damage but to refuse to use such powers for evil. Those midwives had the power to kill new born babies but they refused to use it. Matthew 5 : 5 says, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” This tells us that if you are meek, you will attract material possessions in ways you cannot explain. That also means that if you usually use the power at your disposal to do evil and not show mercy, you will be repelling material things in ways that you cannot understand. No wonder the meekness of the midwives gave them households! In addition, meekness causes things on the earth to cooperate with the one who has it. Meekness is a show of mercy. The merciful obtains mercy and the way of the meek is clear. When the way to progress or prosperity is blocked for some people, they will begin to look for some external enemies, not knowing that it is their vengeful, highly retaliatory and unforgiving disposition that is causing it. 

Every believer is a potential divine midwife and as such should be meek. When somebody is doing everything to pull you down, and you have information about the fellow that can bring him or her down, don’t use it. Those who say: ‘Before you bring me down I will clear you out of the way’, are lacking in meekness. Is your senior pastor persecuting you? Are you seeking ways to get back at him or even to get him sacked? If you are, where is your meekness? A meek fellow does not have the terms: vengeance, unforgiving spirit, impatience with offenders, etc., in his or her dictionary. The meek fellow makes excuses for his or her offenders. Moses was the meekest of men in his days. Also when Stephen was being stoned to death, what did he say? He told the Lord not to record the event leading to his death because they did not know what they were doing. That was also what our Lord Jesus Christ did. That is meekness.

KEY POINT:

If you will not be meek because of the sacrifice it entails, be meek because of the rewards it attracts.