The Believers Growth

Text: Acts 17:10-12
More Lessons: Lk. 11:1-2
Bible Reading in One Y ear: Ecclesiastes 10-12

The eternal truth for today is that anyone who sincerely desires to grow in the Christian faith must do more than whatever others are doing. Given the circumstances surrounding the end time Church today, the general food from the pulpit will not be sufficient for the proper growth of any believer. The Church today is confronted with two problems: (I) That of a congregation that is too restless to sit and learn and a congregation more interested in survival prayer than revival, in some cases people even tell the pastors what to preach and what not to. (ii) The problem of the Church not being focused, some have outgrown their capacity to pastor effectively by their slumber and of course the end time spirit that is working so hard to weaken the Church of Jesus by sin, money, politics, distractions etc.

It is therefore important for every growth conscious believer to go an extra mile beyond the pulpit to personally develop himself / herself. If you don't ensure a growth in your Christian life, you will gradually die off although you may still be sounding like brass. The church ought to provide the learning materials, the inspiration and skill, while the individual picks from that point to develop himself. The Berean church exemplified this when, after learning from Paul, they created time to read over what they had been taught and to study further whether those things were true. Also, after Jesus’ public teaching, His disciples came back to Him privately to seek further clarification of what they had been taught in public. Any believer who truly wants to grow must create time for extra  information, reading and asking leaders questions like the disciples did (Lk. 11:1) on healing (Mk. 9:29), and on Jesus’ parable( Mk. 4:10). Every believer must learn to create time beyond church sermons to study the Bible, fast and pray alone, and do night vigil with their family.
You  have a responsibility for whatever you want to become in life and destiny, do take up the challenge today.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to lead you to everything you need to become what you need to be in Christ Jesus.
* Pray that the negative spirit and forces of the end time will not be your portion.
* Pray that you will find all it takes and you will give all it takes to grow in your Christian faith.
Examine yourself critically, locate areas where you need to do more and what you need to do to grow into maturity, and do them.

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A Thousand Times More

Text: Deut. 1:1-11
More Lessons: Gen. 22: 17
Bible Reading in One Year: Ecclesiastes 7-9

The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you! (Deut. 1: 11).

A hundred fold blessing is what people think is the highest that God can give but I have discovered that God is able to give a thousand fold. God wants to showcase His children so that the world may know that what comes out of Him can never be small. The God that created such a large universe as this is surely able to make you a thousand times more than you are now. And by the time God has fulfilled the promise to make all His children a thousand times more than they are now, the resources of heaven would not even have been scratched a bit; He has in abundance all we need for life. God has abundance of riches in heaven but He doesn't need them; it's only here on earth that we have needs. It is God's will to give you a thousand times more . . . May you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Gen. 24:60 (NIV). May God give you a thousand times more, in the name of Jesus!

A thousand fold is a different order of increase. It is a special type of increase because it has broken all natural laws. A thousand fold is that which only God can give. The help a man needs to enter into a thousand times more can only come from God.
A student that receives a thousand fold blessing starts getting results that are a thousand times more than his ability. A civil servant, by the hand of the Lord God Almighty, can receive a thousand times more than his labour till he stops being the servant they have been calling him. A business person with the thousand times anointing gets a thousand times return on investment for his business. The laws of the market; supply and demand, all begin to work together to favour him and they deliver a thousand times more to him.

My prayer for you today is that spiritually, physically, materially, and in all the results of destiny, you will be a thousand times more, in the name of Jesus. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will not leave you at this level. May He make you a thousand times more than you are. Amen!

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for the blessing of a thousand times more.
* Ask God to open the windows of heaven and pour upon you His limitless blessings.
* Ask God to pour upon you such blessings that only God can give.
* Command the door of smallness to be replaced by a net breaking harvest.

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Acceptable Fast

Text: Isa. 58:6-7
More Lessons: Isa. 59: 1
Bible Reading in One Year: Ecclesiastes 4-6

Fasting is not just a hunger strike. When the children of God fast, it should be to achieve some definite results by the help of God. Some people take pleasure in boasting about how many days they have fasted, thinking it portrays them as being spiritual. Boasting goes against the very spirit of the act of fasting. The purpose of a fast is for a man to humble himself before God. Fasting is to repent from any dead work and every sin in your life. If your fasting and prayer must deliver results, then you must truly repent of your sins, humble yourself and be broken before God. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear: Isa 59:1-2.

Another major thing that must accompany a fast, in order to make it effective, is sacrificial giving. When fasting, you are not only to give up food but also to make a sacrifice to meet somebody's need. Y ou should also make a sacrifice for God's work in the church. Every fast must be accompanied with a practical sacrificial act of doing good. These are the scriptural responsibilities attached to moving the hand of God by your fast.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?: Isa 58:6-7 (NIV). God told the children of Israel that the reason they had fasted and not received answers is because they fasted and still did as they pleased (v 3) and also fasted for strife (v 4). The kind of fast a man does and still fights will not be acceptable, and a fast borne out of competition with others will never get a man anywhere.

I pray for you that your waiting on the Lord shall not be in vain. May your fasting, prayers and sacrifice be acceptable before the throne of God, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to help you prevail over carnal fasts.
* Pray that you will never fast in vain.
* Ask God to help you fast the Jesus way and get Jesus' type of result.
* Ask God to purge you of every act that hinders the blessings of fasting.

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Zealous for the Lord

Text: Num 25:1-13
More Lessons: Exo. 32:22-29
Bible Reading in One Year: Ecclesiastes 1-3

Israel had transgressed the law of God by committing sin with the Moabite women. While Moses, the servant of God, stood on the altar and was rebuking them for the evil they had done, one of the Israelite men took a Midianite woman. He probably put his hand round her neck and leaned over her as they walked like they were not concerned with what the man of God was saying, determined to go into the camp to commit sin. Phinehas went after them with a javelin and stabbed them to death. Thereafter, Jehovah turned His anger away from the house of Israel because Phinehas was zealous to avenge unrighteousness on behalf of God. God also made a covenant of a lasting priesthood with him.

The zeal and enthusiasm with which you serve God can determine what you get from Him. The reason many people are serving God and are not getting a return for their services and giving is because they are not doing such acts zealously. Anything you are doing for God reluctantly is a waste of time and energy, you will not get a reward. Worse still, you can even incur God's anger and punishment. Be zealous to do right and to serve God.

But it is not just enough to be zealous to do right; you must also be zealous to do something about the wrong that is happening around you. Phinehas took spear and avenged iniquity. Many of us need to learn a lesson from this. Sometimes while doing things right and you see a colleague doing wrong but you don't bother to correct him, you have aided the wrong act. Phinehas was living right; if he was not, he wouldn't have been able to correct someone else. But he also didn't stop at just living right, he went ahead to confront wrong. If you see a brother doing wrong and you turn your face the other way or encourage him, you have partaken of the sin. Instead, he needs to be confronted and corrected.

God's blessing to Phinehas was that he and his descendants shall be priests for all times. By this one zealous act, he rescued the nation, distinguished himself and got his unborn children blessed. Some of the blessings we are enjoying today are the products of the zeal of our parents. This is where parents have to pay due attention to their lives. If as parents, being in church three times a week is already a problem, what will the children inherit? This man left an unforgetable heritage for his children; this should be our zealous pursuit in this generation.

Prayer/ Action
* Pray that you will serve God in an extraordinary way all your life.
* Pray that the spirit of immorality will not prevail over you.
* Ask God to help you live a consecrated life.
* Pray that you will never be a partaker of sin.

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