HELP FROM SUBORDINATES : Friday August 7th 2015

Topic:HELP FROM SUBORDINATES 

Memorise: And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. Isaiah 61:5

Bible Text: 2^nd Kings 5:1-4, 10-14

Bible in one year: Esther 8-10, John 9:35-10:21

God had His agenda already set out before the foundation of the world. When the right time comes for Him to unfold a specific plan in His agenda, He looks out for those He can use to achieve His purpose. For example, when the time came for God to accomplish an earlier plan to turn a Syrian army general into a worshipper of Jehovah, God sought the vessel to use, and He found a young captive girl who was serving as a maid in the house of Naaman. She cooperated with God and told Naaman’s wife of a highly anointed prophet of God in Israel who could cure the incurable leprosy that was a blemish upon Naaman’s life.

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RETARDED PROGRESS For Monday August 3rd 2015

Topic RETARDED PROGRESS 

Memorise: For when for the time you ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Hebrew 5:12

Read: Genesis 49:1-4

 Bible in one year: Nehemiah 10:1-12:26, John 8:12-30

A state of progress in which forward or upward movement is so slow, sluggish or negligible, to the point of becoming an embarrassment, can be referred to as retarded progress. When a 13-year old teenager is still being fed with a feeding bottle or is behaving like a two-year old child, growth in such a case is referred to as retarded. Sometimes, it is better not to make any progress at all then to make the type of progress that brings embarrassment. Retarded progress can also be seen as a trapped destiny. When Jacob was about to die, he called all his children together and began to make certain pronouncements over each of them depending on how they had lived their lives. When he was the one supposed to receive the double portion generational blessing, it would be denied him. Jacob categorically stated that he would not excel. From that day, the future of Reuben that looked so bright and promising became bleak. His destiny was trapped.

I met a particular man of God sometime ago. We had last seen each other some five years before. I asked him, “How are things?” “All is well” he replied. “How is your church?” I asked. “Oh, the church is good”, he said l, and so I asked, “What is your attendance like presently?” desiring to know how the church was actually doing. “We are now about 105”, he replied. Surprised, I said “I thought the last time we met some five years ago; you said your attendance was about 100? So five years later, it has only grown by 5 people? Even if you were winning a soul per month that period, you should have added at least 60 members.” Then he replied, “Please pray for me; I think I am suffering from the spirit of retardation.

One unfortunate thing about retardation is that in some cases, because of the negligible growth or improvement that has been recorded, the victim may be considered to have made some progress. As a result of this false progress, consideration will not be given to putting on the type of effort that would have been required to salvage the situation if there was no progress at all. Is your progress being impeded? Is your destiny boxed? Is the sight progress you have recorded becoming an embarrassment to you? Call on the Lord today for help. Every power that has retarded your progress or destiny is destroyed today in the mighty Name of Jesus.

Prayer point:Father, fast-forward my progress that has been slowed down by the enemy today.

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HOLINESS DELIVERS PEACE For Sunday August 2nd 2015

Topic: HOLINESS DELIVERS PEACE 

Memorise: I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. Isaiah 57:19

Bible Text: Isaiah 57:19-21

Bible in one year: Nehemiah 8:13-9:38, John 7:40-8:11

Long life and mercy are two benefits derivable from living a life of holiness. In addition to these, peace is another dividend of a holy life. A fellow living a sanctified life enjoys God’s peace at an optimum level. If you are saved and still lack peace, ask God to sanctify you wholly. The moment He does this, you will begin to enjoy peace that is way beyond human understanding. After interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel gave him this piece of advice.

“Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.”

Daniel 4:27

While great peace is available for the upright, there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 57:21). There is a user of this devotional, you lost your peace sometime ago and you have tried everything possible to get it back without success. Your peace disappeared after you were mean to a particular child of God, and you made life unbearable for this fellow. If you ask God for forgiveness and make restitution to this fellow, your peace shall be restored.

Moreover, a call to holiness is a call to peace. Our God is the Author of peace (1^st Corinthians 14:33), and Jesus is declared to be the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). A father can only give whatever he has to his son. If you have God, you will definitely have peace. That peace will grow ad you live holy. It is possible to be wealthy and not have peace. It is also possible to be healthy and lack peace. Peace cannot be bought with money. One of the attributes of God’s kingdom is peace (Romans 14:17). If you therefore want peace, you must first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness. In Psalm 29:11, God promises to bless His own with peace. This really means that after God has blessed His children, He will add peace to it. If you are blessed and no peace is added, those blessings can transform into a curse at some point. Some people are “blessed” and yet, sorrow, pain, regret and trouble are added. Such blessings are already cursed! Do you have the peace of God?   

Key Point:Sin always brings trouble. If you want peace but you are still living in sin, you are responsible for your own troubles.

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FAVOUR FROM A DISTANCE For Saturday August 1st 2015

Topic:FAVOUR FROM A DISTANCE 

Memorise: And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Isaiah 60:3

Bible Text: Exodus: 3:1-4

Bible in one year: Nehemiah 6:15-8:12, John 7:25-39

When your day of favour dawns, favour will locate you wherever you are. Sometimes ago, we went to hold a crusade in Italy. While we were preaching, the message was being aired over the radio. Suddenly, the Lord said that there was a man listening to me via the radio who was impotent. The Lord asked me to tell the fellow that his virility was restored. Meanwhile, the man in question was lying on his bed in his house, far away from where we were. As soon as he heard the word, his manhood was restored. Favour located him at home. By the time he tried to locate us at the crusade ground, we had closed and left for the hotel where we were staying. When he

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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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