The Royal Wedding Gown

Text: Matt.22:2-13
More Lessons: Rev. 16:15
Bible Reading in one Year: 2 Timothy 1-4

Wedding day is a very important day and event of life. Everyone’s wish is to make it special and memorable; everything has to be beautiful and grand. Moreover, what the bride and groom wear really matters. Wedding day is not a time to be nude and indecent as some people think.

Part of a tract about a girl who was privileged to do her wedding shopping in the US reads: “I tried up to five beautiful wedding gowns before making my final choice. I settled for a tube-like gown that had a small jacket on it”. That night, she had a dream that a man in a silk robe sat in front of her and began to chat her up.
Stranger: Why did you choose that wedding gown?
Me: It was the one that fitted me best.
Stranger: Do you know that half of your breasts was revealed when you wore it?
Me: But there is a jacket to cover the exposed part of my breast.
Stranger: When you get to the reception, will you not remove the jacket?
Me: Removing the jacket at the reception is the fun of the gown.
Stranger: With your breasts out for public consumption?
Me: But we would have left church.
Stranger: At the reception, will there not be unbelievers there who will blaspheme my name? Those who will say, “See what she is wearing, and she calls herself a Christian”
Me: People don't think like that anymore, moreso it is this tube-like gown that are reigning now.
Stranger: You seem to be adamant on wearing the tube.... What if I ask you to return it and pick a decent one, that covers the upper part of your body?
Me: But I like this one I'm not sure I want o return it
Stranger: You are my precious daughter and I know you would not like to hurt me just as I would not like to hurt you.
Me: Who are you, please?
Stranger: I am the Holy Spirit, and your body is my temple, holy and I will keep my temple your marriage holy. I will also keep your body holy. If you insist on wearing it, can you cope with breast cancer?
I woke up sweating. By mid-day, I returned the gown to pick one that would not expose my breast.

In that shop, she met the daughter of a very popular king in Nigeria, who did not even go to the section of tube styles. When she asked her why she did not try the tube styles, she said, “My father says that royalty does not dress indecently”. This story teaches some eternal lessons. from the Holy Spirit: 1) Royalty does not dress indecently. 2) Every believer is born of King Jesus and so is royal.

Prayer / Action
* Repent of all forms of indecency whether in word or in deed.
* Ask God to purge you of every mentality that is inconsistent with the divine royalty in Christ Jesus.
* Declare that your mind is conformed to the mind of Christ.

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God's Best

Text: Col. 1:9-12
More Lessons: Matt. 6:32-33
Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Timothy 4-6

Immediately man was created, God gave him His best as we can see in Gen.1:26-30. Man was not supposed to struggle to have the best of all things. But immediately sin entered into the garden, man lost the divine provision. Moreover through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross to save mankind from eternal destruction, all God's provision was channelled through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is only those who are in Christ Jesus that can have God's best. Being in Christ is belonging to God's Kingdom on earth. And all of God's provision is accessed through the Kingdom principles. God has given the believer all he needs, but he can only have them through Christ Jesus.

Here are some of the things the believer can do to access the fullness of all that God has for him/her. The believer must:

a. Have a good and fertile heart. What you get from the Word of God depends on the response of your heart.

b. Must not settle for less; the fullness of God's provision must be enjoyed by the believer (Heb. 12:15-17). And we can only have them through our knowledge and by constantly appropriating the promises.

c. Focus on Jesus: ever y serious believer must know that there may be times of difficulties or hardship in the process of following but we must persevere and hold unto Christ (Heb.12:1-2), filling your heart and mind with the word of God.

d. Mediate on God's Word, daily so that the believer's mind and spirit can be filled with God's Word (Josh. 1:8, Psa. 1:1-3).

e. Make friends with the Holy Spirit who always wants to be intimate with believers; and as we open up to Him we can enjoy His love and help (John 16:12-15, Rom. 8:14).

f. Hear and obey God's voice promptly. As God speaks to us, those who want to enjoy His promises must obey God's instruction without delay (Exo. 15:26, Deut. 28:1-2).

g. Be careful how and what you hear in order to have a consistent spiritual growth (Mk. 4:23-25, II Tim. 2:16-18).

h. Make sure your priorities are right by being in the spirit and always seek directives and clarification from God and godly men.

i. Let God choose for you. When the believer allows God to choose for him in all things, he is bound to always choose right.

j. Give God your best and have God's best without struggle. All of God can be ours if all of us can be God's.

To have God's best, you must put the eternal before the temporal.

Prayer / Action
* Pray that your life will not go less than God’s best for you, in Jesus name.
* Ask for grace to abide in Christ and do His perfect will everyday.

What is Faith?

Text: Rom. 10:6-17
More Lessons: Matt. 21:21
Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Timothy 1-3

Faith is one strong force that connects heaven to the earth. And for the believer, having faith in God makes all things possible. The inability of a believer to trust fully in the Lord is a spiritual attack from the pit of hell. Moreover, to refuse to believe in God is to doubt and that insults God. What then is faith?

a. Faith is not a supernatural charge or feeling; it is the consciousness of “God has said” and therefore it is true: Phil. 4:19, Gen.1:3.
b. Faith is a by-product of knowing God's Word: Rom. 10:17.
c. Faith goes ahead; it doesn't stop or wait until everything is clear: Mk. 5:25-29.
d. Faith is knowing your place, your right, your privileges and your authority in God: Lk. 7:8.
e. Faith is a product of the spirit, the inward conviction called assurance; you cannot explain it, yet you know it.
f. Faith is the reality of greater is He that is in me than him that is in the world.
g. Faith is not having confidence in physical manifestation or physical evidence but it is always in simple words: Lk. 1:37.
However, there are several enemies of faith that must not be tolerated by the believers. Some of which are:
1. Ignorance- the believer must be knowledgeable in the Word of God: I Cor. 2:12.
2. Hope mentality- this is the attitude of always pushing things to the future; it is an enemy of faith.
3. Mental assent- this is believing but not acting while faith is active and acting.
4. Sense knowledge- this is the mentality of unless I see it. It is contrary to faith: Jn. 20:24-29.
5. Unbelief- it may be due to lack of knowledge and is contrary to faith because faith is full persuasion with proofs.

Dearly beloved, to be a believer who has active faith, you must be a man of prayer. Prayer is a process of joining force between you and God; without prayer God is limited.

Prayer / Action
* Ask God for a personal encounter with the spirit of faith.
* Pray that the enemies of faith will not prevail over your heart and mind.
* Ask for faith enough to pray until something happens.

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One Thing is Needful

Text: Deut. 30:1-10
More Lessons: Luke 10:42
Bible Reading in one Year: Zechariah 11-14

One of the things that determines your worth and value in life is the choice you make. Life is full of many choices so we all require the power to choose correctly. Choosing to live is living to choose. Your future is determined by the choice you make today. It is clear that God does not force His will on man, but holds him responsible for His choices, And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine: I Sam. 17:40. According to this scripture, David chose out of many stones in the brook by the power of the Holy Spirit; the greatest tool for choice making in life is the inherent power in the believer called the HOLY SPIRIT. Whenever a man chooses correctly, he gains, and anytime he makes a wrong choice he loses.

We choose daily. How? We choose by the way we live; our life style is all about choice making. When we live a reckless life today, all we are saying is, “I don't care what tomorrow holds”. In fact, what you say, wear, allow or refuse is choice making.

In Luke 10:42, Mary was able to identify the good part due to her sensitivity and discerning ability, and Jesus commended her. When we choose out of carnal considerations as Lot did in Gen. 13:8-11, we are likely to miss it.

It is good for young people to be careful when making choices especially the choice of marriage partners. My counsel is to choose the will of God; by choosing what He has chosen for us, we can be sure we got it. Though adults also make choices every day, young people need to be much more careful in choosing because they lack the wisdom, understanding and the experience the adult uses in choice making. God is always ready to assist you in choice making; all we need to do is to hand over the options to Him in sincere prayer.

Apart from the choice of career, courses to offer in higher institutions and where to live in future, every young person is confronted with the choice of a friend and marriage partner . In addition to choosing the will of God, good character, virtues and values should be other considerations when we choose. Surround yourself with good people and allow them to influence your choice. It is said that life is better, if lived in company of good people. The more good people we have around us, the warmer our lives can be. Friendship with good people can open you up to opportunities and ideas that can blow you up in good ways; deliver you from loneliness; make you realise how useful and valuable you are contributing to other people’s life; make you feel adequate because your friends can complement your life with their virtues and talents.

Prayer / Action
* Pray that you will only choice what God has choosen for you everyday of your life.
* Review some of the choices you have made in recent past and weigh them against the balance of God’s Word.

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