Hope for Change

Wednesday 19 August
READ: Job 14: 7 - 9
MORE LESSON: Job 14: 14

Job is a man that experienced difficulties like no other man in history. He was the richest man in the entire East who lost all his possessions, wealth, family and health in one day. He cascaded from the throne to the dunghill within hours. It was so bad that his wife felt there was no need for him to stay alive; therefore she told him to curse God and die because she felt he was better dead than alive the way he was (Job 2: 9 – 10). Everyone thought that the end had come for him and there was no hope or reason for him to live anymore. But then Job, in all the agony and misfortune, said something that every man in tribulation and difficulty should learn from. He said, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come: Job 14:14. However bad you think your situation is, I want to boldly say that your situation is not as bad as Job's. But Job replied those that told him to kill himself that if he died there’s no hope anymore but as long as he was alive he had hope and he would wait for his change to come.

Job’s determination to wait for change means he believed there was time limit to his predicament. Beloved, there is time limit to your pain and affliction. There is a positive change that is on the way but you must learn to wait without losing hope until it happens.

There are three points I want to make from Job's statement in our text.
1. He believed that change was possible even when he was going through a situation that he did not understand. Whatever situation you find yourself today, know that change is possible. Your situation can change from bad to good and it can change from good to better. Positive change is possible; do not lose hope.

2. He said he would wait all the days of his appointed time. Don't ever give up until you get your desired result; even if it will take all your life, keep waiting. God never fails, keep waiting on Him.

3. He described a course of action until his change comes. In other words, he was saying, 'It is only waiting I can do now and I'll keep doing it till my change comes'. What can you keep doing till you get result? For you, waiting will not mean to sit and fold your arms, cry or complain. There are scriptural steps you can take while you wait; keep doing what you can while you trust God for your change to come. 
I declare today that you will experience the great change that will take you to your Promised Land, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Tell God you believe in His power to change all negative situations in your life.
* Tell God you will never give up your confidence in His promises.
* Give thanks to God for His promises that can never fail.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
The Lord shall arise and favour me today, for the appointed time of my goodness is now, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Hope for Change

Wednesday 19 August
READ: Job 14: 7 - 9
MORE LESSON: Job 14: 14

Job is a man that experienced difficulties like no other man in history. He was the richest man in the entire East who lost all his possessions, wealth, family and health in one day. He cascaded from the throne to the dunghill within hours. It was so bad that his wife felt there was no need for him to stay alive; therefore she told him to curse God and die because she felt he was better dead than alive the way he was (Job 2: 9 – 10). Everyone thought that the end had come for him and there was no hope or reason for him to live anymore. But then Job, in all the agony and misfortune, said something that every man in tribulation and difficulty should learn from. He said, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come: Job 14:14. However bad you think your situation is, I want to boldly say that your situation is not as bad as Job's. But Job replied those that told him to kill himself that if he died there’s no hope anymore but as long as he was alive he had hope and he would wait for his change to come.

Job’s determination to wait for change means he believed there was time limit to his predicament. Beloved, there is time limit to your pain and affliction. There is a positive change that is on the way but you must learn to wait without losing hope until it happens.

There are three points I want to make from Job's statement in our text.
1. He believed that change was possible even when he was going through a situation that he did not understand. Whatever situation you find yourself today, know that change is possible. Your situation can change from bad to good and it can change from good to better. Positive change is possible; do not lose hope.

2. He said he would wait all the days of his appointed time. Don't ever give up until you get your desired result; even if it will take all your life, keep waiting. God never fails, keep waiting on Him.

3. He described a course of action until his change comes. In other words, he was saying, 'It is only waiting I can do now and I'll keep doing it till my change comes'. What can you keep doing till you get result? For you, waiting will not mean to sit and fold your arms, cry or complain. There are scriptural steps you can take while you wait; keep doing what you can while you trust God for your change to come. 
I declare today that you will experience the great change that will take you to your Promised Land, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Tell God you believe in His power to change all negative situations in your life.
* Tell God you will never give up your confidence in His promises.
* Give thanks to God for His promises that can never fail.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
The Lord shall arise and favour me today, for the appointed time of my goodness is now, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Move Forward

Tuesday 18 August
READ: Deut 1: 6 - 8
MORE LESSON: Exo. 14: 15 - 16

God wants you to move forward in every aspect of your life. In Deut 1:6, God spoke to the children of Israel, You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites . . . See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — and to their descendants after them: Deut 1: 6 – 8 (NIV).

The children of Israel were moving in circles around Mount Horeb, then God rebuked them and told them to advance to the land of their inheritance. Even though Horeb was the Mountain of God, a place of encounter, God was not satisfied with them camping around that spiritual encounter, He wanted them to go for more. I don't know what you have but I want to tell you that God is not interested in you remaining at that level; there is more. God actually hates stagnancy; He is not pleased when He sees you labouring and sweating on the same spot. Stagnancy is against God's will; it contravenes His order.

Believers make much ado about sin, and we condemn it passionately. This is good; but I want you to know that sin is not limited to adultery and fornication. Sin is anything that is against the Word of God. Stagnancy is against God's will so you should resist stagnancy with the same fervency with which you resist sin and satan in your life. I want you to be determined in your spirit that you will move forward. Stagnancy is contrary to the Word of God, fight it, refuse it and break out of it.

If a man is stagnant, people who are behind him will overtake him and leave him behind. This is why it is important for God's children to know that they have to move forward in their career, academics, business, finance, society and every aspect of life. The Preacher in Eccl 10: 5 – 7 says, There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler . . . I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. When the children of God refuse to move forward they allow the devil's children to occupy the places of dominion and use it against the kingdom of God. So your stagnancy is not just against yourself; it insults God and works against the Kingdom.

You have stayed at the same point, doing the same thing for too long. Move! In your spiritual life, move forward, in your business move forward, get a higher certificate, start a new project, do something new. Today, I command you in Jesus’ name, Move forward.

Prayer/Action
* Pray with the following scriptures: Psa. 71:21, Isa. 60:1, Job 8:7, Job 42:12.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, in 2015 I shall be an instrument for great exploit in Your Kingdom, in the name of Jesus.

Secrets of Answer to Prayer

Monday 17 August
READ: John 15:1-8
MORE LESSON: Lev. 26:1-3

The joy of praying is in receiving answers. When you pray and receive answer to your prayer, your joy is full. In today's Bible passage, Jesus presented some fundamental principles that could make you enter unlimited opportunity to be joyful always. He told His disciples, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (vs.7). This statement connotes that there is a level of relationship you can enter into with Jesus such that any time you make a request, whatever your request is, God will do it for you.

What is this level of relationship? It is when you abide (that is, to live or stay) in Jesus and Jesus' words abide in you. The relationship is all about the Word; Jesus is the Word made manifest in the flesh. To abide in Jesus therefore is to abide in the Word. The Lord told Joshua: Let this book of the law not depart from your mouth...therein you will have good success: Josh. 1:8. The man who will ask whatever he desires and get answer must be deeply rich in the Word of God. Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian brethren: 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: Col.3:16. When you stay deeply rooted in the Word of God, you become a “god”, a son of the Most High (Psalm 82:6). The requests and desires of gods are never turned down. There are Heavenly Hosts whose responsibilities are to carry out the demands of God. No wonder, Joshua asked the sun and the moon to stand still for the season he was fighting war, and God did it as he commanded (Joshua 10: 12-13).

What does it take to stay in God's Word? Know it, memorize it, daily desire the sincere milk of God's Word and believe it as God's final instruction. Be passionate about God Word make it part of you on a daily basis. Let it become the compass of your life. The more of this you do, the more the power of God is created in you so much so that you can make a request and the spiritual hosts of the army of the Lord will rise and not fail.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, help me to abide in You as my Vine Dresser.
* I receive grace to know and practise the Word of God and to teach others to do it.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In the name of Jesus, I release the force of uncommon help to characterise the remaining months of 2015.