Silent Labourers

Tuesday 8 December
READ: Lk. 2: 36 - 38
MORE LESSON: Matt. 6: 1 - 4

It is common for workers in the vineyard of God to desire to be in positions where they can be visible to all. But the Lord actually esteems those who can humbly labour in the secret place where no one sees them. Such people obtain great rewards from God who sees in the secret and rewards in the open (Matt 6: 1 – 4). In the Bible, Anna was an old woman who had been a widow for 84 years. Instead of complaining, she stayed in the temple day and night for all the years fasting and praying to God to send the Deliverer of Israel. Her silent labours were part of what ushered in Jesus Christ (Luke 2: 36 – 38).

Dr. Yongi Cho the pastor of one of the largest congregations in the whole world shared a testimony about his church in South Korea. He noticed that each time he conducted a miracle meeting, miracles would happen on a particular row, another time it would be another particular row. The rows are very long as it is a massive church but whichever row the miracle was taking place, nothing would happen on the other rows in a particular service. So he was curious and wanted to know why it was so. He asked God what the matter was and God led him to go to the church as early as 5am one morning. He saw a sister that came around and was cleaning the chairs in a particular row and praying in tongues over them. She prayed and cried till tears flowed on the seats and after she was done she left. That particular day, when the meeting started, miracles took place on the row that the woman cleaned. He then realised that it was the silent labour of that woman that was responsible for opening the Heaven for the people on that row.

Another great servant of God in Nigeria also shared the testimony of a young lady in the choir. He noticed that each time she led a song, the spiritual atmosphere became so charged with God’s presence that he could hardly preach. In fact the people would have been praying before he came up. One day before service he was praying round the church and saw someone crying and praying at a corner in the church. He went and tapped her and discovered that it was the lady. He asked her if everything was okay and she said it was. After trying to get her talk and the lady insisted that she was fine, he left. It was later in the service that the girl climbed up to sing that he realised what happened; Heaven opened as she sang.

Whether your service is in the secret or in the open, you can be a silent labourer. The success of your ministry is dependent on the quantity of your labour in the secret place.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to make you a sincere and committed worker in His Kingdom.
* Pray that your singular effort will make a difference in God’s work.
* Pray that you will be a mighty tool in the hand of God in your generation.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, in the name of Jesus, December will be a new and better season for me.

The beginning of Sorrows

Monday 7 December
READ: Matt. 24: 8
MORE LESSON: Matt 24: 8 - 13

All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

The end-times are the times when believers need to be strong and be ready to take firm stands for Jesus even in the face of tribulation and oppositions. Jesus told his disciples that when wars, tribulations and persecution start arising against them, it was just the beginning of sorrows. He told them that greater hatred and affliction will arise against the nation of Israel and believers in Jesus Christ. So as we see the hatred against Israel and persecution against the Church, we must know that this is the beginning of sorrows – the sign of the end-time. Today, we see parents disown their children because such gave their lives to Jesus. These people are actually fulfilling end time prophecies.

There were seven believers caught in a Communist country where the weather was dangerously cold - as cold as -50 degree Celsius. Cold could be very deadly. There was an intensive cold at one time that people were beginning to turn blue and the only means to stay alive was to eat ice. This was to keep their body temperatures at that of ice; because the ice was 'warmer' than the atmospheric temperature. Imagine that it was under such atmospheric conditions that the believers were stripped of all clothing and then asked every other hour if they would renounce Christ or continue in the 'cold torture'. The torturers had an ambulance standing by to rush them to the hospital in case they renounced Christ. The brethren refused to renounce Christ and one after the other they began to drop dead. Eventually one of them got tired and said, “I renounce” and was removed from the line. Instantly one of the torturer-soldiers ran to take his place on the torture line, pulled off his dress and began to shout, “I accept Christ”, to the amazement of his fellow torturers who wondered what was wrong with him. What actually happened was that, in the spiritual realm, at the hour the brother renounced Christ, an angel had held a crown over his head and was about to place it on his head. The tortured man was just to say the final 'No' that would put the crown on his head, but he renounced Christ. Nobody saw it but the atheist soldier had his spiritual eyes opened to see all these unfold. And the mystery was that as soon as he took the place of the brother, the crown was laid on him and he died. One man did the labour and another man got the crown.

If Christianity gets to such a point of persecution today, how many people will remain Christians? Will you endure or give up? You must advance from this valley of decision unto the mountain of convictions where you will not give up but endure till the end no matter what.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that nothing will separate you from the love of Christ.
* Pray that no negative end time prophecy shall function in your life.
* Reject everything that can take your name off the list of spiritual champions.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I decree that all present negative situations and events in my life must give way to new things and celebrations in my life,in the name of Jesus.

The right to Choose

Sunday 6 December
READ: Josh 24: 15
MORE LESSON: Matt. 25:1-10

There are a lot of things imposed upon us in life that we actually don't want. Example of such are inheritance cases faced by some believers where they are given titles, positions or ungodly property that belonged to their fathers but which the community believes should be theirs.

It is a sign of maturity to know what to accept and what to reject. The greatest power God gave man is the power of choice. If you don't choose and you allow other people's choices to be imposed on you, God will still hold you responsible for the action. This is the reason God judges every man for his choices both temporal and eternal. 'They were the ones who told me to do it' is not a plea at God's judgment seat. Today I want you to learn that you should not allow anything that is not in accordance with your destiny to be imposed on you. If what is being imposed on you is not God's will for you and will not take you to your destination in life, you must have the courage to say no. If people imposed anything on your destiny and you accepted it when you were an unbeliever, now that you are born again, you have a right to terminate it.

It is amazing that some people accept things for courtesy reasons, even when they know such things are not in conformity with their vision and purpose in life. Some keep friends that are not in accordance with their paths of destiny because they don't want to offend those friends by breaking the friendship. Beloved, friendship is by choice and not by force, if you have a friend that wants to lead you off the path of purpose and destiny, close the book on it. Even in a courtship, as much as I encourage people not to break courtship but if you find out that you are going out with a partner that is not God's will for your life and that relationship will destroy your destiny, no matter how advanced the courtship is, you can still say no. Marriage is a lifetime commitment, so don't allow a wrong one to be imposed on you. God hates divorce so if you realize that you have entered into a courtship that is not in accordance with God's plan for your life, don't manage it into marriage because you don't want to hurt people. There is no need for long talk, just close that chapter.

Finally don't allow spiritual afflictions to be imposed on you- whether ancestral curses or adverse family traits. Because everyone in your family suffered something does no0t mean you should suffer it. Make your choice that your own life will not run that way. Choose, don't be imposed upon.

Prayer/Action
* Tell Jesus you renounce every ungodly relationships and gifts today.
* Ask God to forgive you for every avoidable wrong choice you ever made.
* Ask God to grant you the wisdom of the five virgins in all life decisions.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Lifting up holy hands, I declare that this month every disgrace shall be turned to celebration, shame to fame, sighing to singing and story to glory, in the name of Jesus.

Don't let your Love grow Cold

Saturday 5 December
READ: Matt. 24:12
MORE LESSON: 2 Tim 3: 1 - 3

One of the signs of the end-time declared by our Lord Jesus is that the love of many will wax cold because iniquity will abound. Of a truth, when we compare the way people were passionate about the things of God in the early days and how they take the things of God now, we see that the love of many has waxed cold. Many people were radical about evangelism, prayer, personal study and Church fellowship when they first gave their lives to Christ but now it has become difficult to see these same people in Church. The few times they come to Church, if the service extends just a bit, they start complaining. These days you see Christians hurry out of Church only to go and attend village and clan meetings.

When I was young in the faith, our services were lengthy and we enjoyed it. We counted it as a crime to read anything except the Bible on Sunday; in fact we didn't even read school books on Sunday. Though sometimes we were unnecessarily religious, it showed the extent of our heart for God and our dedication to Him. But these days many abscond from Church on Sundays to attend to their business. Even Church workers and leaders absent themselves from week-days meetings. I know of people who almost swore that they would serve the Lord in the ministry in those days who have now forgotten about God's work and some are now married to unbelievers because they waited on God and, in their own esteem, He did not come through for them on time.

The Bible prophesied that iniquity will abound and we can see it everywhere. I recently saw a fellow with dreadlocks and tattered clothes. I sincerely thought he was a mad man until I was told that it was just fashion. I was shocked. These days we can hardly tell the difference between madness and fashion. Only prisoners wore trousers that sagged in those days but now, people deliberately 'sag' their trousers. The number of iniquitous things tagged “it doesn't matter” has increased; ranging from same sex marriage to divorce, immorality and corruption. These iniquities have found their ways into the Church and you have to decide that you will not be part of it. Matt 24: 12 says, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. This prophecy must not necessarily be fulfilled in your life. He didn't say that 'the love of all . . .' but 'the love of many will wax cold.' You can choose not to be among the many whose love will wax cold. I want you to decide that whatever it will take , you will remain steadfast in heart to the Lord. Do not let anything take away your love for the Lord. Decide that the iniquity and lukewarmness of this present world will not affect you. Do not let your love for God wax cold.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that the force of iniquity in this end time will not prevail over you.
* Pray that your love for God will not dwindle.
* Pray that nothing will replace the love of God in your heart.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I hand over to You Jesus the month of December, and like never before let not the enemy have a memorial in it, in the name of Jesus.