He has what you Lack

Sunday 5 July
READ: Eph. 3: 8 – 21
MORE LESSON: Prov 8: 18-21

This grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ: v8. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not of doom; it is not that of poverty and wretchedness as some people think. Apostle Paul in our text called it “unsearchable riches” and that is one of the things that make the Gospel good news .Those who receive Christ into their lives are free to enjoy His spiritual riches, but many are not informed, or convinced about using all that He has given the believer.
Author Bob George said that it's possible for a Christian to live as a “practical atheist”. That person is someone who, despite having the right doctrines and salvation, approaches life as if he is the only resource available to himself. Such an approach is like buying a powerful car and then pushing it when nothing is wrong with it.
That is why in our text today Apostle Paul's passion for the Ephesian believers was that they might realize that all their needs could be met by Christ's resources. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God: v19. This was Paul's prayer for the believer. He prayed because he believed our God is able to do ...exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,...:v20.
Similarly, my prayer for you too today is that you might begin to enjoy Christ's treasure to the fullness and no longer push on in your own strength. God wants to be everything to every believer at every moment. So, why not lift your empty hands to the Lord, who has promised you His store of goodness that transcends earthly riches, and receive His fullness now.

Prayer/Action
* Today, I fully enter into my inheritance in Christ Jesus.
* I will no longer live by my strength and income; I will live by the resources of heaven.
* I declare an end to lack and want in my life today; I am rich in all things, in Jesus’ mighty name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
The munitions of the Rock of Ages shall be my defence in this new month;my help will come to me and my bread shall be sure, in Jesus’ name.

Power for Living

Saturday 4 July
READ: Acts 1:8
MORE LESSON: Act 2: 1 - 4

The forces of hell that are released against men in these end times are so strong that it is not possible to live a successful Christian life without the power of the Spirit. Weakness, sin and struggle become the order of the day when the power of God is lacking in a life. There was a young lady that literally couldn't live a single day without fornication. She was so much afflicted by the spirit of immorality that she wouldn't survive a day without having a man sleep with her. This spiritual torment made her go around each day begging her male class mates to come sleep with her: she just couldn't withstand the forces of hell that was contending with her. Finally she came to a crusade where I was preaching, she gave her life to Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost came upon her. After seven days she came to me and testified, “I can't believe it but I have lived the past seven days without any man sleeping with me.” That was the beginning of her deliverance and she thereafter continued to live in holiness. It was the power of God that enabled her to live in holiness even though she had been a slave of sin. I want you also to know that it is absolutely possible to live a life that pleases God, all it takes is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
When a man gives his life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside him. Everyone who has accepted Jesus has a measure of the Holy Spirit inside them. However, you need to go beyond that measure and access an overflowing measure of the Spirit. The Spirit of God overflows your life when you receive the baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. The Holy Spirit is the power for living. He empowers you to live in holiness, power and miracles. In John 7:37-38, Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. He was talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is available to everyone who thirsts and desires it. When you ask, God will give you the Holy Spirit (Luk 11: 13).
It is easy to receive the Holy Spirit. A sister gave her life to Christ and then I began to make her understand that she needed the power of God with the evidence of speaking in tongues. She asked me, 'do you mean like this . . . ?' And then she began to speak in tongues. I didn't even lay hands or pray for her, she just received. She later told me that as I was speaking, she began to sense a language within her, and so she decided to speak it out and that was it. Today, receive yours.

Prayer/Action
* Ask for the overflowing power of the Holy Spirit to come afresh upon you and uphold you in grace.
* Ask God to rekindle the fire of the holy Spirit upon you and re-energise your faith.
* Lift your hands and pray in the Holy ghost.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In 2015, I will sour higher, not by my power or might but by the Spirit of the Lord, in Jesus’ name.

The place of Vision

Friday 3 July
READ: Prov. 29: 18
MORE LESSON: Hab. 2: 2-3

The place of vision is very important in life. We need vision in every area of life to achieve success. If you don't have a personal vision for your life - academics, finances, home, family - one day you will collapse and perish, because he who fails to plan is planning to fail. As expressed in scriptures, Where there is no vision, the people perish . . .: Prov 29:18. Vision is prerequisite for planning: when you know your target and goal, you can start working towards it. Vision helps us develop strategies and a visionary person is not easily distracted. If you see men who wander to and fro in life; today they are in a ministry, tomorrow in another and next tomorrow, they move to yet another, the problem is that they don't have a vision. A visionless person doesn't know what he is doing, where he is going and where he belongs.
The beginning of vision is salvation, when you are reconciled to God, you can be reconciled to your purpose and vision, because your purpose is in Him. Howbeit, even after salvation, you still have to discover what God has saved your soul to do. If you discover what God would have you do, you also need to find the place where He wants you to do it.
Discover the location for your vision. Because for every God-given vision, there is a particular place where you most effectively fulfill what God has asked you to do. You don't just attend Church as a religious gathering, because the vision you have is what determines the Church you attend. When you see that your personal life vision matches with the vision of the people gathered in a Church, then you come in to achieve the vision with them. If you don't have that kind of mindset, you will not excel in ministry and service to God as you will have to be pushed and pulled before you serve God in Church. So vision is the foundation for excellence in ministry.
Vision is the bedrock for a successful marriage as well. When marriage seminars are organized, some young people don't take part because they think such seminars do not concern them. Some of these young people later find it difficult when it is time to make the right choice of partner. They find themselves in such situations because they didn't have a vision of a good marriage well in advance of time. Vision makes you start careful planning of your family, finances, children and career when other people still think it is still too far way.
Today is the day to get a vision for every aspect of your life from God; present your life to Him and discover what He wants you to do, where He wants you to go and what He fashioned you for. I pray you will not miss your place in destiny.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to give you a vision for living.
* Pray against a vision-less living.
* Pray that every dormant vision in your life should come alive and strong.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
My steps are ordered today and I shall be guided to my green pastures with perfect accuracy, in Jesus’ name.

Don't be Ungrateful

Thursday 2 July
READ: 2 Tim 3: 1-2
MORE LESSON: Psa. 103: 1 - 5

One of the traits that the Bible gives to characterize the end-times is that people will become increasingly ungrateful (2 Tim 3: 2). It is necessary to know the attitudes that constitute ingratitude so that you can guard against such in your life.
The first is that an ungrateful man does not give thanks, either to God or to man. When you refuse to give thanks, you play down on what is done for you. Ingratitude insults the mighty works of God; it is like saying that the deed was not remarkable enough to be appreciated.
Another trait of an ungrateful man is that he is forgetful. If you are a person who soon forgets a good done to you, you are ungrateful. Ps 106: 1-12 speaks of all the amazing things God did for Israel, but then in verse 13 it describes their ingratitude . . . But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel: Psa. 106:13 (NIV). This is similar to how some people soon forget all the things God did for them and then behave as if He has never did anything before when they are hard pressed with a need.
The third attitude of an ungrateful man is that he is impatient. God has been faithful to him but because of one thing that he has not yet received, he becomes impatient. We have seen people rashly renounce faith in Christ because answers to their prayers were not forthcoming according to their own sense of timing (not God's sense of timing). That is ingratitude. An ungrateful person will not think twice before he deserts someone who did good to him.
Lust and greed are also characteristic of an ingrate. When you have so strong a desire for something to the extent that you can't praise God until you get it, that is gross ingratitude. Envious people also are always ungrateful people. Envy is when you see someone blessed by God and then wish that you, and not that person, are the one with the blessing. Envious people are ungrateful for the blessing they have, they want another person's.
Murmuring and complaining are also the language of an ingrate. The children of Israel during the Exodus were not grateful that God parted the Red Sea and fed them with heavenly food – manna, they started complaining about lack of fleshy meat to eat. In the Western part of Nigeria there is a saying that a person who goes around complaining, kills faster than a witch. Ingratitude is the beginning of the spirit of witchcraft. A person who always complains is digging his own grave.
An ungrateful man cannot be great: He is 'un-great-ful'. Uproot any manifestation of ingratitude in your life. Show gratitude for what God has done and He will do greater things.

Prayer/Action
* Give God thanks for all he has done this year and in the years past.
* Declare that the spirit of ingratitude will never have a hold upon your life-reject ingratitude.
* Pray that you will never murmur or complain anymore but give thanks for all things.
* Give thanks now!

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, with thanksgiving, I receive the gift of a successful second half of 2015, in Jesus’ mighty name.