True Disciples II

Wednesday 28 October
READ: Lk. 9:23-26
MORE LESSON: Matt. 10:1-4

It is a great thing to witness the mass conversion of souls in our generation through great evangelistic campaigns, crusades, outreaches, church services and personal evangelism. Nothing can be better than registering souls in the Kingdom of God.
To be converted from a sinner to a saint is a worthy thing. However, the divine plan of God is for disciples to be made of such converts. Only disciples can truly represent their Master because they are touched and groomed by Him. Jesus our Lord had many converts in His earthly ministry. Remember, He was a crowd puller; He went about doing good, healing the sick and setting free all that were oppressed of the devil. Multitudes were always coming to Him because He met their spiritual and physical needs. However, each time He went to the mountain or crossed the sea to the other side, only His disciples came to Him,
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him; Matt 5:1.

Each time He came down from the 
mountain, converts (multitudes) followed Him, 
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him: Matt. 8:1.
Multitudes followed Jesus for what they stood to gain while disciples were always with Him for what they could offer Him in service, 
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me: 
Lk 9:23.

Discipleship is costly because they must learn to constantly deny themselves (even of rightful pleasure), take up the cross (to suffer for the Lord, if and when necessary) and follow Him daily (no alternative whatever the case, they focus on Him daily). Certainly, ordinary converts will not endure all these. 
God wants you to move to the next level in your Christian life. Be a disciple indeed and not just a convert. Make up your mind to be a disciple today and disciple others thereafter.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to help you pay the price of being a disciple.
*Ask God to promote all converts in JAWOM to the level of a disciple.
--Take a decision today not to be an idle bench warmer in your local assembly. Specifically decide which department you will join before your next fellowship day.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
The Lord God shall be my sun and shield, therefore I shall have grace and glory and no good thing will be withheld from me in 2015, in the name of Jesus.

True Disciples I

Tuesday 27 October
READ: Jn. 1:34-42
MORE LESSON: Acts 17:10-11

Words are powerful. In the beginning God spoke and the world and its fullness came into being. Even among humans, the spoken words and the written letters form the basis of all civilisation. Imagine the pronouncement of a blessing or a curse; the vehicle for both is the word. Words also are foundations of good or bad things. This also applies to the spiritual. Jesus says, …the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life: Jn. 6:63. No other word has the potency for the fullness of life like the Word of God.

In our text today, John the Baptist spoke the word and his two disciples followed Jesus forever. The spoken word of their discipler or pastor made them enter into Christ’s school of discipleship. No wonder they stayed with Jesus unto death. True disciples cannot live without the Word of God; they follow the Word everywhere, everyday; their lives are anchored on the Word; they are constantly with the Word.

The Word affects their character and manner of life and the impact is visible to all. No wonder the believers in the early Church were quite different. The Word was their daily companion, 
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same 
day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers... Acts 2:41-42.

Are you a minister of the Gospel and wondering why you are not very successful in making disciples for Jesus? Speak the Word like John. Are you a Christian wondering why you cannot be like the disciples of old? Stay with and live by the Word like they did and you will see the difference. Everything is hidden in the Word, so discover by the Word and recover by the Word!

A true disciple lives on and dies in the Word, never distracted by anything out of the Word. Even when the apostles had crises, they insisted on staying with the Word instead of looking for an alternative, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables: Acts 6:2. In verse 4, they said, But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. That is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus. Does your Word level prove you as a true disciple of the cross? How many chapters of the Bible do you read per day, how many scriptures can you commit to memory per day; have you updated your memory verse of recent?

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to make you a disciple whose life is ruled by the Word.
* Command everything that has taken the place of the Word in your life to leave now.
--Take a decision to learn at least one verse of the Scripture per day and read a minimum of a chapter of the Bible per day.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In the day of my battle, my sun shall not go down, and all creation will join hands together for my victory always, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Planted by the Rivers

Monday 26 October
READ: Psa 1: 1 - 3
MORE LESSON: Matt. 13: 3 - 9

You can break all limits and boundaries that have been set over your life. You can prevail in life irrespective of your background and become prosperous in life. God can do it for you like He did for me. My father had a statement he used to describe his rise in life as a seed that grew up on a rock. He was actually saying that to encourage us to work hard. He told us how he had no parents to sponsor him when he was growing up and how he had to labour as he grew up under hard and tight conditions. He would then encourage us that since we had little help from parents we should work hard to maximize it. As good as that line of reasoning sounds, each time he said it, I felt discouraged in my spirit instead of being encouraged to work as he intended. I would become sad on hearing it, wondering how I would fare in life.

When I got born again and I began studying the word of God, I read the parable of the sower and saw what a seed that grows up on a rock is. The Bible records about the seed that grew up on a rock that it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root (Matt 13:5-6 NIV). A seed that grows up on a rock doesn't have soil to support it. It doesn't have deep roots; so it gets scorched, dries up and dies soon. When I got this revelation, I closed the Bible I was reading, put it aside and immediately started praying. I said to myself, I bind every spirit of a seed that grows up on rocky places in my life. I rejected that mindset and began declaring that I didn't rise from a rock. Later as I was reading the Bible, I saw the kind of soil I should grow up from. I discovered that I ought to be a seed that is planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper (Psa. 1:3).

I began to declare this passage over my life. I spoke it forth into my past, present and future. I declared it till everything changed. God changed my story and the rest is glory. Today, the Lord will shift you from a seed planted on a rock to a seed planted by rivers of waters. Whatever struggle you are going through as a result of your background comes to an end today. You are planted by the rivers of water to bring forth fruit in season. Your leaves shall not wither and whatever you do shall prosper. That is your portion in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Command every Satanic limit placed over your life to be terminated now in the name of Jesus.
* Lay your hands on your head and command every dry land and wrong placement in your life to be changed now in the name of Jesus.
Take Psalm 1:1-3 and declare it on your destiny now.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
As the covenant of the day and the sun cannot be altered, so is the covenant of goodness and peace over my life.Nothing shall break it, in the name of Jesus.

From Prophecy to Reality

Sunday 25 October
READ: Gen. 12: 1-3
MORE LESSON: Rom 4: 17 - 22

God is a God of promises and it is in the nature of God to fulfil every promise He made. The Bible is replete with stories of men that God gave prophecies of blessings e.g Abraham who waited for years but God didn't fail him. The prophecy over his life became a reality. For the prophecies that God has given you to be fulfilled as well, there are some things that must be in place. The first is that you must be holding to an established prophetic word from the Lord. There must be something definite that the Lord has said. He doesn't perform the assumptions of men or the ambitions of your heart. You don't hold Him to ransom when He didn't say a thing. Make sure the word you are holding to is the word of the Lord.

That being in place, there are other things to do for God's prophetic word to come to reality in your life. 
1. Remind God of His prophecies concerning you. You do this by prayers and constant confession of faith. 
2. There are certain results that cannot come except by fasting and prayer. (Mark 9: 27). Fasting cannot bribe God but it can speed up the fulfilment of your prophecies. Great men have had great victory in life by the force of fasting and prayer;Even Jesus did not start ministry until He had fasted and prayed for 40days and 40 nights.

3. Faith in God: This is the most essential ingredient in having the promises and prophecies of God come to pass in your life. 2 Chron. 20:20 says, Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established . . . . For by faith that the elders received good report: Heb. 11:2
4. Live a consistent life of holiness. A sinner cannot receive a fulfilled prophecy. If God promised you and you don't fulfil the condition of righteousness you can't get it. Ps. 66:18 says If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 
5. Sustain a life of service while you wait for the prophecy to become a reality. Remember Zachariah in Luke 1:8, he was waiting for a child but he didn't fold his hands, it was while he was serving that an angel came and informed him that God had heard him. Active service can provoke God to bring His word to pass upon you.

6. Give praise to God before, during and after the prophecy. Whether the prophecy has happened or not give Him praise. Abraham was giving praise to God even when Isaac had not been born. (Rom 4: 20). He gave glory to God till the prophecy became a reality.
It is your turn to experience the performance of all the promises God made to you. The prophecies over your life will become reality in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Proclaim that every promise of God upon your life shall run to fulfilment in the name of Jesus.
* Command every force of performance to come upon God’s Word for your life.
* Decree that no Word of God upon your life will fall to the ground.
Ask God for grace not to faint in times of waiting.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I am not in 2015 as a spectator; this year will not end without my testimony, in the mighty name of Jesus.