Trust in God wholeheartedly and surrender control to Him. Like Abraham and Jehoshaphat, unwavering faith in God’s promises leads to victory and success. Self-reliance and seeking help elsewhere bring hardship. Surrender fully to God’s will.
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Dig ditches all over this dry stream bed. Even though you will not see any rain or wind
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
2Tim.4:10 for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Opportunity is the chance time when a particular situation makes it possible to do or achieve something. It a really not a case of being prepared or ready for the occasion. In a lot of instances also , opportunities presents itself as a challenge rather than a thing of chance. It is commonly said that “opportunity once lost can never be regained”. There are many bible characters who missed their opportunities in life because they could not see the opportunities embedded in the challenge that confronted them, as it was in the days of these folks, so it is today, many children of God continues to fall short of their Divinely arranged heights because they could only see a giant that cannot be defeated rather than one who is a stepping stone to greater height. Till date God is still throwing opportunities in the way of people, unfortunately, many are spurning it, for various reasons. “Preparation precedes manifestation”, every experience you have had in life is a preparatory pool of skills that will stand you in good stead if you will deploy for the benefit of others rather than you crying over such “treatment”. When opportunities comes, hardly do they present as such! In 1Sam.17 when Jesse sent David to the camp of Israel to check on his brothers , little did they both know that it was the beginning of the change of his life story, the important this though was David’s spontaneous response to Goliath’s threat. For you to take advantage of opportunities as they come your way, you cannot afford to dilly dally, spontaneity is the key. Also important is being selfless, the greedy and self-conscious cannot take maximum advantage of opportunities when it is presented, Nehemiah did not consider what he will miss out on while on the mission to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, neither did he receive the regular payment for the office, he rather asked for God’s blessings. In the case of Esther (Est. 4), being mindful of the consequences of her action, she went to the king uninvited, a service to humanity. It appeared as her death, but it tended to life for the people of God. Another important factor is desiring to do everything to the glory of God, it is only then that opportunities will not slip by one, when Solomon prayed for wisdom, it was not to the end that he may be the greatest but that the glory of God may be revealed in the lives of His people, little did he know he was setting himself up for unsurpassable comprehensive blessings. When opportunity comes calling, it scarcely presents itself as such, it will catch you by surprise, and if you are not willing nor ready to offer yourself for the required service, you will miss it. 2Cor.12:15, Paul said “……… I will spend and be spent for you……” that is the mindset of a man who is ready to maximise opportunities, bear in mind also, that opportunity means blessings and breakthrough is on the horizon (Gal.6:7).
WHAT TYPE OF LAND? Heb.6:7-8(ERV) “Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain and produces a good crop for those who farm it. That kind of land has God’s blessing. But other people are like land that grows only thorns and weeds. It is worthless and in danger of being cursed by God. It will be destroyed by fire.” From the above bible text, it is clear that there are two types of soils, the one that receives rain from heaven and bring forth good and beneficial fruits, while the other, brings forth only tares and weeds despite receiving the same heavenly blessings. The narrative is not so much about the different types of land, but the lives of people and particularly that of professed Christians. After having been born again, Holy Spirit baptised and hearing the word of God, many children of God makes one wonder if these blessings are not a waste of time because they remain in the old nature revelling in the deeds of the flesh against which Apostle Paul admonished in Col. 3:5-9 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. The life that still indulge in these have denied the faith having not put off the deeds of the old man, clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. On the other hand, there are others who received the same grace and became profitable in the hands of the Lord, they have consigned themselves to Col.3:15-17, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Their lives brings God pleasure, being fruitful vines and honourable. Beloved, the question is, which side of the divide are you? Today is a good day to make amends should you identify that one is needed after a sincere and objective review of your standing with the Lord. May you receive help to take the right decision and do the right thing IJN. Maranatha!!
“And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” Luke 1:20 When an individual gives their life to Jesus, they acquire the title of a Believer. Now, with that title comes a lot of responsibilities, chief of which is to take the Word of God at face value regardless of how reasonable or not it seem. Luke 1:45 “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Believing the Word of God is the path to blessedness, whereas non believing leads to Divine reprimand. It is not enough to be called a believer, rather it is mandatory to believe every Word that proceeds from the Lord. And there are many Words that were clearly proclaimed to us, but which after a while of waiting and confessing them without immediate manifestation, are thrown into the garbage bin of life. The implication of such attitude is that prayers are not answered and destiny missed, just because the fellow cannot wait. A clear indication of unbelief is to demand a sign that the Word of God will come to pass. Ps.119:89 “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” The Word of God is the final authority over any situation, therefore, whatever is the circumstances one finds themselves in, there is a Word from God that had settled it even before the situation arose, all you need is believe the Word, even though it may tarry, it will surely come to pass. Quit doubting the Word of God, do not be another Zachariah that would only believe if he saw a sign, but, be like Mary, who believed God, therefore there was a performance of that which you will believe.God is still very much in following through on every Word He says, only believe. The title of a Believer is nothing if you do not believe God at all times
Jer.51:20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms. In the days of yore, a major weapon of warfare was the battle axe, we also know that axe is usually used to break hard items, such as wood, bones of animals. The axe has many use, it can be used as useful implement around the house, or as a weapon of defence and indeed as that of offence. Our memory verse lends credence to the fact that our God is involved in warfare , therefore it is correct to say that the life of the Christian(Children of God) is a life of battles against the enemies of God as His battle axe with the mandate to break in pieces nations that are opposed to the rulership of God, and also to such kingdoms that exalts itself against the knowledge of Him. You His battle axe. For an axe to be effective it must submit itself to the One who handles it (Is.10:15), for you to be useful in the hand of God, you must be willing to do His bidding, additionally, the axe must be sharp (Eccl. 10:10), meaning as children of God and His battle axe , we must be holy and always ready for His use, particularly when we consider that the battles with the kingdom of Satan is one that comes in waves, never ending and always changing format. Ps. 11:3 What can the righteous accomplish when truth’s pillars are destroyed and law and order collapse?” Unrighteousness in our lives will render us unprofitable in the plan of God to deploy us as His battle axe, as a matter of fact it makes us a thing of scorn and derision before Him, Eccl 10:1 says As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour. Although God desires for or us to be His battle axe, however, no one goes to battles with unprepared and not fit for purpose army (Jud.7:1-3), it takes more than being a Christian to be an effective battle axe, it takes consecration, commitment, readiness and a life of holiness. Since He does not want any to be a casualty in the battle front, as many that are not ready to watch and pray in preparedness for the waves of satanic onslaught against the kingdom of God may be easily expended, therefore God will not count on them, those are the ones Apostle Paul described in 2Tim.3:5 They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these! Your job as God’s battle axe is to stand against and destroy every part of the kingdom that runs contrary to that of God, and ensure the establishment of His kingdom on earth, that is why you are alive and have been blessed with every blessings in Heavenly places….. Are you living as His battle axe, can He use you to break in pieces the opposing nations and destroy such kingdoms? God needs you to be ready for deployment, I pray when you are called upon you will not disappoint Him. Maranatha
Gen.12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” As the saying, “there is no free coffee……” to every right, there is a responsibility attached, as a matter of fact, it will be irresponsible to give a fellow rights without being accountable for anything. It is commonly said that it is only a parent that have no good plans for their children that will not hold them to anything while they enjoy all privileges. Our Father is a responsible father, Who though have made provisions for our wellbeing, yet will not hand it to us on a platter without us “paying” for it. We have seen a lot of examples of where children are raised with an entitlement mentality, where they get whatever they want and whenever without any need to give a value, it is therefore not surprising that such individual will not attach any importance to anything, the story of the prodigal son is one example, it was because he had no value for hard work having not earned the estate he was given that made him to waste all of it in riotous spending. In our text God told Abram, I will bless you, make your name great and bless the whole earth through you…. Fantastic promises, however, it came with preconditions, leave everyone, everywhere and everything you have ever known, to a place I will take you, He must uproot himself before he will enter into the blessings. It does not become a right until he had done as God instructed. The reason it seem that God does not answer the prayers of many is because, we want to eat our cakes and have it, we want all the rights as enumerated in the scriptures but are unwilling to do the responsibilities, it does not work like that with our Father. The major responsibility He gave us and the blessings thereto can be found in Matt.6:33 (AMPC) “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.” As you seek the Lord with all your heart and might, He begins to show Himself true in your life, the you enter into the inheritance covenant that He has with all who are in Christ. The rights are there for the taking, however, you must satisfy the condition….. That is your responsibility
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