PARTAKING IN DIVINE AGENDA For Friday July 31st 2015

Topic: PARTAKING IN DIVINE AGENDA

Memorise: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1:33

Bible Text: Luke 1:31-33

Bible in one year: Nehemiah 4:1-6:14, John 7:1-24

When God says He will do a thing, He is telling you what He has already done in the realm of the Spirit. It is already a settled matter. If He says He will give you peace, it means that peace is already released to you. Every good promise that God has made to you shall become reality shortly in Jesus’ Name. When Jesus made this promise in Matthew 16:18:

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

He was simply saying something He had already done. He was telling Peter what He had already finished, long before Peter was born. Luke 1:33 declares that there is no end to the increase of God’s kingdom. This means that whether the devil and the world like it or not, the church will keep marching on. It also means that even when you do not know how to access to the funds you need to build that local assembly to the glory of God’s Name, God knows. He has already provided for all the churches that would be built in His Name, even before the foundation of the world was laid. This is why I know that you will not be stranded or frustrated over the assignment of enlarging God’s kingdom on earth. God’s provision for your assignment shall be evident this season in Jesus’ Name.

Moreover, it is important to note that since God has set out to build His church, if you cooperate with Him, He can use you to build His kingdom. Building His church is God’s agenda. God is looking for those who will cooperate with Him to establish His agenda of building His church. Are you willing to partner with Him? Long ago, God decided that He would take a general from the Syrian army and turn him into a worshipper of Jehovah (2^nd Kings 5:1-19). In today’s setting, it is like saying God wants to take to take the Sultan of Sokoto (the traditional head of Muslims in Nigeria) and turn him into an evangelist or a pastor. Some people will say this is impossible, but with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37). Once He has set out His plan, and His Word has gone forth, He will do it. To get Naaman to become a worshipper of the Living God, the Lord needed someone to cooperate with Him. It was a housemaid in Naaman’s household who told her mistress that there was a prophet in Israel who could cure her husband’s leprosy. Like this housemaid, are you ready to cooperate with the Lord in building His church?  

Action Point: Every child of God has a role to play in building the kingdom of God. So, don’t just sit on the fence!

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RESPONSE TO DISCOURAGEMENT For Thursday July 30th 2015

Topic: RESPONSE TO DISCOURAGEMENT 

Memorise: Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9

Bible Text: 1^st Samuel 30:3-8

 Bible in one year: Nehemiah 1-3, John 6:52-71

David’s response to the distress he was confronted with, after his family and those of his men were taken captive, shall serve as an example of what our response shall be in the face of discouragement. The Bible in 1^st Samuel 30:8 say:

“And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after his troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

Whenever you experience a loss, you need to go back to God to find out if it is possible to recover what was lost, and how such recovery would be achieved. Do not take it for granted that every loss must be recovered. Sometimes, when the Lord calls home a loved one who is very ill and going through excruciating pain, there might be no need for Him to return such a fellow back to life, except of course if He wants to heal

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ASK FOR PERMISSION! For Wednesday July 29th 2015

Topic: ASK FOR PERMISSION! 

Memorise: Thou shalt not steal. Exodus 20:15

Bible Text: Genesis 49:3-4

Bible in one year: Ezra 8:24-10:44, John 6:25-51

One commandment that God gave to the children of Israel in the wilderness, which is still very relevant to us today, is the commandment not to steal (Exodus 20:15). Stealing can occur physically, in the realm of the soul and spiritually. Physical stealing can further be classified as stealing from man and stealing from God (Malachi 3:8). To steal is to take another person’s property without their consent or approval, particularly with the intention of not returning it. As a growing child, teenager or youth, if you take your parent’s money without their consent, you are a thief. Some youths will say “Whatever belongs to my father belongs to me. I shall be free to take any of his things whenever I like.” No sir! Your parents have plans for all that they have. Taking their things without their approval can destabilise some of

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NOT MOVED BY TEARS! For Tuesday July 28th 2015

Topic: NOT MOVED BY TEARS!

Memorise: I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Psalm 138:2

 Bible Text: Psalm 138:1-3

Bible in one year: Ezra 6:13-8:23, John 6:1-24

If there is anything we need so dearly to succeed in life, it is wisdom. In God’s manual of life, wisdom is declared to be the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7). What then is wisdom? Practically speaking, wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. The fellow who is educated but fails to apply what he or she knows appropriately will be considered a fool. This is why education alone does not confer wisdom. There are several professors who, in spite of all their chains of degrees, still operate in folly. If knowledge alone is wisdom, then no doctor would engage in smoking because all doctors know that smoking is injurious to health. A particular doctor who smokes was asked “You are a doctor; you know smoking is bad for your health and yet you still smoke. Why? Can you believe his reply? He said “Everybody will eventually die by one means or the other someday. Some will die in an accident; some will die by an assassin’s bullet. I have chosen to die by smoking cigarettes.” Wisdom therefore is having knowledge and applying it correctly for your personal benefit. Are you an educated fool? It is time to change your ways.

As a worker in God’s vineyard, it is important to know that God is not moved by emotions, tears, or by rolling on the ground. Rather, He is moved by the correct application of the principles contained in His Word. His Word is declared to be forever settled in Heaven (Psalm 119:89). God is a God of principles; hence, a mathematician like me finds it easy to enjoy Him, because mathematicians are not often moved by emotions. Take for instance this equation: 2+2=4. Whether you like it or not, it always remains the same. If you like, you can weep from morning till evening saying “I want 2+2 to be 6.” It will not change anything, because 2+2=4 will ever remain the same, be it on earth, on the moon or under the sea. When you know that God is not moved by emotions but by His Word, wisdom demands that you apply His Word more often. Psalm 138:2 says,

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy

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STAGNANCY IS NOT YOUR PORTION For Monday July 27th 2015

 Topic: STAGNANCY IS NOT YOUR PORTION 

Memorise: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 28:2

Bible Text: John 5:2-9,

Bible in one year: Ezra 4:1-6:12, John 5:19-47

 On the 20^th of July, we looked at the states of progress represented by retrogression and repression. One lesson we must learn is that sometimes, repressive forces are not necessarily interested in taking over the harvest of their victims; rather, all they want to do is ton ensure that all the labour and efforts of their victims are wasted, so that they can mock and laugh them to scorn (Judges 6:3-16). Every repressive force seen and unseen that is interested in wasting all your honest efforts shall be destroyed by the fire of the Holy Ghost in Jesus’ Name.

Moreover, another state of progress is stagnation. This is a state of standstill. In this state, there is no forward or upward movement. The fellow operating in this state remains on the same spot in spite of his or her efforts. In a situation of stagnancy, effort does not count, because it appears there is some invisible rope tying the victim to the same spot. In our Bible reading, we read about a man who was sick for 38 years. This man was operating in a state of stagnancy. He was at the pool of Bethesda waiting for an angle to stir up the water. He was waiting for a once-a-year miracle available to just one person. The unfortunate thing is that he was not alone. There was a crowd also waiting to take this same chance. As a result, he kept on waiting for several years!

There are some people who are so full of hope at the beginning of a year, but at the end of that year, they realise that they are still at the same spot. When I was schooling at the University of Lagos, there was a particular student who had been there for eight years, but he never went beyond year one. He kept changing from one faculty to the other and from one department to another. We met him there and left him there. Have you been stagnant? Are all your efforts futile? Have you been so long on the same spot? The Lord will intervene in your situation today! The Lord will turn things around for your good. I rebuke every force keeping you on the same spot. Whatever is tying you down is destroyed now. That miracle that your stagnant situation is trying to deny you is released to you now in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer Point:I command every spirit of stagnancy keeping me and my family on the same spot, in the Name of Jesus Christ, pack your load and leave now!

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DIVIDENDS OF HOLINESS For Sunday July 26th 2015

Topic:DIVIDENDS OF HOLINESS 

Memorise: Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12,

Bible Text: Lamentations 3:22-25

Bible in one year: Ezra 1-3, John 4:46-5:18

Everyone saved by the precious Blood of the Lamb is called to a lifestyle of holiness (1^st Thessalonians 4:7). Believe it or not, a lifestyle of holiness pays great dividends. Proverbs 11:19 says:

“As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.”

There is therefore a link between righteousness and life, just as there is a link between sin and death (Romans 6:23). Although God has promised you long life in Psalm 91:16,

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HOLY LIVING & HEALTHY LIVING For Saturday July 25th 2015

Topic:HOLY LIVING & HEALTHY LIVING

 Memorise: The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 1^st Corinthians 15:567;

 Bible Text: 1^st Timothy 4:6-9, Bible in one year: 2^nd Chronicles 35-36, John 4:16-45

At the time of man’s creation, there was no notion of sickness. There was indeed nothing like sickness. There was no expectation of death either. The human body was created to be self-sustaining through regular contact with God’s glory, and maintained by the foods provided by God. But when man fell, he lost so much, most importantly, the sustaining power of God’s glory. He had to begin to virtually rely on food for sustenance. As good as food is, it is limited in its ability to keep a man healthy. Although a daily diet of good food, vegetables, fruits and exercise is very important to

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