Vessels of Mercy and Wrath

Thursday 14 May
READ: Rom 9:2 – 23
MORE LESSON: 2 Tim. 2:20-21

Today we celebrate the power of God and His mighty salvation when we remember what He did to Pharaoh and the hosts of Egypt. Pharaoh and his hosts were a creation of God as much as Moses and the Israelites, but one is a story of the wrath of God and the other, a story of the mercy of God. When God wants to show His power, terrible and fearful, He selects certain vessels over whom He will display His power so that the whole world will see it and fear Him. Such vessels are described in Rom 9: 22 as vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. A major attribute of such vessels of destruction is the hardening of their hearts against all hands of peace and amnesty that God extends to them. Vessels of wrath are produced by divine predestination, but they have an active part to play in becoming such vessels by deciding in their hearts to draw the battle line against divine tolerance and damn the consequences of the warnings of the Living God. Such is the story of Pharaoh and as many as tread the path of God's wrath today. My heartfelt prayer is that you will not be a vessel of God's wrath, in Jesus’ name.

The Scripture also talks about the vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory (Rom 9:23 NKJV). When God wants to show how kind He is, He selects a man by grace to find favour and be the object of His mercy. It is not about the person's qualification or lack of it, his strength or weakness, his background or pedigree. God, that cannot be questioned, just decides to use the man to explain what His mercy looks like. How else can we explain Jacob and Esau still in the womb, having done nothing and God had selected Jacob to be master over his elder brother. That is selection by mercy! Many people start seeking theological explanations of why God chose Jacob over Esau, instead of them to throw theology away and say, God I don't know the explanation of what made you select Jacob over his elder brother. But whatever You saw that made You choose him as a vessel of mercy, by the same discretion, choose me as a vessel of mercy above those more qualified than me. Mercy has no explanation; it is God using His veto power to one’s advantage; nobody questions the King's veto.

That's why He said to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy: Rom 9:15-16 (NKJV).

Prayer/Action
* Lift your hands to God and say, Father, grant me Your mercy in life and destiny.
* Say, Lord, divinely choose me as Your vessel of mercy.
* Ask that your cry for mercy will not go unanswered today.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I declare that from now on, life shall be easy for me; my ways shall be prosperous and Jehovah shall be there for me, in the name of Jesus.

Principles of Sweet Savour

Wednesday 13 May
READ: Lev 23: 12-13
MORE LESSON: Psa. 119:89-90

There are several types of sacrifice and offering that God requests in the Old Testament. All of these offerings are for different purposes, and each has specifications. In Lev. 23: 12 – 13, God gives His instructions for burnt offering. The fact that God gives descriptions and specifications for offerings to be brought to Him shows that God works by laid down rules, principles and prescriptions. He doesn't do things anyhow, so if you want to walk with or work for Him, you must agree to His principles.

It was not only offerings that God gave specifications for, He also gave directives on the feasts to be observed by His people. These feasts are annual celebrations for the nation of Israel, and God gave the purpose, peculiarities and principles for each of them. The implication of this is that you can't offer to God on your own terms; it must be on His terms. There are believers who are suffering just because they lack knowledge of God's terms, principles and prescriptions. Anybody who wants to enjoy God must learn His principles. God is very principled and He is not a respecter of persons. When He states what He wants to do, He is bound to do just that. God binds Himself with His principles and standards, how much more will He expect you to work with the standards. Whenever a man meets God's standards or principles, nothing can stop that man from achieving the desired goal.

For example, God's principle for dealing with the problem of poverty is for you to live a life of giving. To put an end to poverty, begging and slavery to money, you have to walk by God's terms, Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again: Luke 6:38. Weeping, crying, fasting and prayer are not the principles for prosperity. It is seed sowing and giving, There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself: Prov 11:24-25.

The point is that in serving, working for and walking with God, there are conditions that He has set for you to adhere to. These principles and standards were not fixed by the pastor or preacher, but by God who binds Himself and everybody else with these principles. As long as a man does not operate by these principles, he will not get the desired result. Only when you operate according to His principles will your offering be a sweet savour that is acceptable to Him.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for grace to walk in His will and precepts.
* Pray that God in His faithfulness will remember His promises for your life.
* Declare that your life will be a sweet smelling savour to God forever.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
My Father, as I go out today, let my eyes see the place and people ordained for my blessings this year, in the name of Jesus.

Ministry of Angels

Tuesday 12 May
READ: II Kgs. 6:8-23
MORE LESSON: Acts 12:7-10

One sure way the help of God comes to man is through His angels. Angels are heavenly beings created by God to guide, protect, deliver and provide for God's children. They are ministering spirits to God's people on earth, Are [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Heb.1:14 Angels heralded the birth of Jesus (Lk.2:10-12). And until the world ends, angels will work for God on earth.

Moreover, as we can see from our text, Elisha and his assistant woke up one morning to find themselves surrounded by armed enemies on horses and chariots. The assistant panicked, but Elisha did not, and he encouraged his assistant, … Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha: vs16-17. As the eye of Elisha's assistant opened, I declare that your spiritual eye open, and you will begin to see into the spirit realm as from now on, in Jesus' name. Psa. 91:9,11 say, Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;…For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Since Jehovah is your dwelling place, angels shall become your body guards and armour bearers as from today, in Jesus' name.

Perhaps you can remember a time when you were rescued from disaster, and nothing but an angel could have done it. What about times of suffering? What about death? Jesus told a story about a man named Lazarus who suffered poverty and illness, but when he died, angels carried his soul to Heaven (Lk. 16:22). As far as we are on earth as God's children, God's chariots of fire surround us. So, go and do all you will today with a sense of security and protection because God is with you as a mighty warrior to defend you. No evil shall befall you again as you carry this awareness wherever you go, in Jesus' name.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that the activities of ministering angels around your life will be more obvious than ever.
* Ask that God will give His angels charge over you in all your ways today.
* Ask that you will not be disconnected from your ministering angels.
Prophesy Psa. 91: 11-14 on your life and family.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Like King David in Ps 103:4, I receive the crown of loving kindness and tender mercies to achieve what my strength and labour cannot achieve today, in Jesus’ name.

Help Meet for Man

Monday 11 May
READ: Gen. 2:18-20
MORE LESSON: Ecc. 4:9-12

The most honourable of all kinds of relationship among humans is marriage (Heb13:4). It is an honour from the Lord when a man marries a woman though it is not an honour without responsibility. It is a call to duty; the husband at work in the life of his wife and the woman at work in the life of her husband for a much more productive life (Eccl.4:9-12). Moreover, for the wife it is a call to a help ministry, And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed: Gen.2:18. God saw the situation of Adam in the garden and made up His mind to improve on it by giving him a help that is suitable for him. God is always ready to help man whenever He senses an inadequacy. It is not just that God can always make help for man, God is help to His people, as the Psalmist confirms, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble: Psa. 46:1.

God is our refuge, He is our strength, and above all He is our very present help. To help Adam in the garden God made a woman, brought her to him and joined them in holy wedlock. The procession of the wedding ceremony is described in Gen. 2:23-25, when Adam identified what God brought to him, And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, (he named her as he did others) because she was taken out of Man (by divine revelation, Adam understood what God did). Then, God did the joining, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh... Eve became Adam’s wife and one with him.

A wife is a valuable divine helper in the life of her husband. She represents God as a very present help to her husband; that is, she helps the man in the task he cannot manage alone. At times, she can be an expert assistant in her husband's life and destiny; that is a type of help given by those who know more than one does in a given task, and so can teach how to do it.

Invariably, God created and brought out the woman to fulfil an important task in the life of man, so she is neither inferior nor superior to the man, but is very essential in his life. Therefore, every wife should be alive to their God-given role in their marriage and serve well. The wife's success in her marriage and home is tied to her love for Jesus. She must learn to sit down with the One who has the hearts of her husband and children in His hand and receive all it takes to fulfil her role as a very present help to make good what is not so good. God help the wife in carrying out this role.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that God will raise help for you, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will help all women to be helpers indeed.
* Pray that no man will lack a help mate in your church.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I receive the baptism of God’s favour right now, in Jesus’ name.