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.