Understanding Prophecy

Thursday 17 December
READ: Gen. 12: 1-7
MORE LESSON: 1 Thess. 5: 20

In Genesis 12, God gave eight “I wills” to Abram who was already old when God gave him this prophecy. A prophecy denotes a Word of the Lord about what is to come. Prophecy could be a promise or a warning. It could come to give direction and sometimes a confirmation. God might give you a prophetic word to tell you what tomorrow will look like and at another time, He might just be warning you about what could happen tomorrow if you do not do something. God can also give you a prophecy as an instruction and direction about what should be done and how to do it. At such times your obedience to instruction is what determines whether the expected result will come or not. God can also use His servants to give you a prophetic word to give you a confirmation of what He had spoken before.

God told Abram that He would make him into a great nation with people as many as the stars in the sky but at the time the word came Abram didn't even have a child. God was making a promise to him about tomorrow. In Ps 32:8, the Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you (NLT). By His prophetic direction, a child of God should not wander around like sheep without shepherd and live life by trial and error. God will tell you where to go, when to go the kind of job to do, the location to settle down, who to marry and what ministry to do for God. Your blessings are connected to the instructions God gives you. When you stay personally connected to God. He will give you leadings which are prophetic directions on the best pathway for your life.

God spoke through Jeremiah to the people of Israel that If they didn't give up their ways of sin He will hand them over to the Babylonians- that was a prophecy of warning. (Jer. 22: 25) He was warning them that they would end up as slaves if they didn't repent as He asked them to. The Bible says, we should not take the issue of obtaining prophetic directions, instructions, warnings and declarations from the Lord lightly. A prophetic word might make the whole lot of difference that you have been waiting for all your life. So, despise not prophesyings. 1 Thess 5:20. I pray for you that you will have the wisdom to heed the directions and warnings that God gives you and every good prophecy that has gone ahead of you will be fulfilled in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that God’s Word will never cease to come to you in life.
* Ask God to fulfill Isa. 30:21 in your life - ..thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it...
* Uproot every negative word that could have been prophesied against your life to die now in Jesus’ name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I redeem today from every evil memorial and repeated evil occurrences, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Land flowing with Milk and Honey

Wednesday 16 December
READ: Num. 14:8
MORE LESSON: Heb 3: 15 - 19

Num. 14:8 says, If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us to the land and give it us, a land which floweth with milk and honey. There is a destination of glory being described here and it is the land flowing with milk and honey. There is a land in every man's life either flowing with milk and honey or wailing in dryness. Every destiny has a land which can either be a positive land or a negative one; a land of glory flowing with milk and honey or a land full of disgrace, shame and dryness. There is no in-between- every man is a land defined by something.

In this scripture, God shows us the condition for entering into glory which in this case is a land flowing with milk and honey. The condition is simply the LORD delighting in you. When the LORD delights in you, you enter into the land flowing with milk and honey. The Bible says that if you delight yourself also in the LORD; and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37:4 (NKJV). When you delight in the LORD, He will also delight in you and you will enter into the land promised you. Some people in the scripture could not enter into the land flowing with milk and honey because they grieved God by their sin of unbelief. (Heb 3: 15 – 19). But you will enter into your Promised Land as you commit yourself to the ways of the LORD.

God described your Promised Land as a land flowing with milk and honey; that is not an ordinary land. God didn't plan an ordinary future for you. He is interested in bringing you into uncommon greatness. He wants to bring you into a land of uncommon wealth; and all He requires from you is that you should delight in Him so that He can find delight in you as well. You will not miss your land of milk and honey in Jesus’ name. Never look down on yourself or think negative about your future. There is a destination of greatness and glory that God has prepared for you. Regardless of what and where you are at the moment, keep hope alive in God who is able to bring you to your land of fulfilment. If He did it for the children of Israel; He will also do it for you.

Prayer/Action
* Command the flood gate of milk and honey to be opened to your life in Jesus’ name. 
* Declare that your land shall not be barren nor dry of good things.
* Place a demand on heaven that you will ever be a delight of God.
* Ask God for grace to be able to walk in His will forever.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I proclaim that my season of rejoicing can only start but can’t end. I shall rejoice ever more, in the name of Jesus.

The Body of Christ

Tuesday 15 December
READ: 1 Cor 12: 12 - 27
MORE LESSON: 1 Cor. 12 :27

The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church literally means 'the called out ones'. These are the people who have been called out of the world and are gathered together onto the Lord. Everyone who has accepted the lordship of the Lord Jesus is part of the Church. When you get born again, the Spirit of God baptises you into the Body of Christ and you are part of His Church as long as you continue to live by His Word. The Church was bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ and that is why it is called the Body of Christ. The Church is not called the Body of God or the Body of the Holy Spirit. God in His infinite wisdom decided that the Church should be the Body of Christ and that is why Jesus says, . . . I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail over it: Matt 16: 18. It is Jesus Christ's Church: it is His body and you are part of that body. In the human body there is no part that is not important. The teeth cannot be removed for the eyes and the legs cannot be substituted for the hands. There is no part of your body that you will ordinarily cut off, even to your tiniest finger. So if the Church is the Body of Christ, that means we are the members and we are all important. Everyone has a role to play. Stop seeing the church as a place where you come to sit down while the choir sings, the pastor preaches and then somebody prays and you say 'amen' and leave. You are part of that Body and you have a role to play.

In a body, the same blood flows through all the veins and every organ yields to the central control system. So also it is that the Holy Spirit flows through and binds everyone in church together. Everyone must yield to the control of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of the church and He has organised the church by putting leadership and structures in place. You must respect the central control system and ordained authority system of the Holy Spirit in the church. Don't be in church and be living an independent life that is not answerable to anyone. There is no organ in the body that tries to live independent of the rest, so get attached to others in the body; you are part of the Body of Christ.

Today I want you to know that the Church is the Body of Christ and function with the consciousness that you are an integral member of the Body, it is only then that you can benefit from what the body supplies.

Prayer/Action
* Pray for grace to be a useful member of the local church that you attend.
* Pray to be a blessing to every member of the body and not a burden and a problem.
* Pray for the Body of Christ globally, that she will represent Christ correctly in the world.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
I declare that with Jesus as my great shepherd, I shall not want in destiny: the doors of provision shall be opened unto me, in the name of Jesus.

The Bride of Christ

Monday 14 December
READ: Eph 5: 22 - 32
MORE LESSON: Matt 25: 1 - 12

The Church is called the Bride of Christ in the Bible. Jesus is the groom and the Church is the Bride. The relationship between husband and wife is a type of the relationship between Christ and the Church. In other words, every believer, male or female, is a wife and Jesus the husband. When we get to Heaven, this husband wife relationship between Jesus and the Church will be fully consummated. I suppose that women are going to find it easier to settle into this wife position with Christ; it is like they have been practising on earth what we all are going to be in Heaven! Being a wife here on earth is glorious; it is a foretaste of the role of every believer in Heaven. Jesus has paid the 'dowry' for the Church with His precious Blood. This is why you cannot live and do as you please anymore. You are under the authority of your Husband and you have to do His will. 1 Cor 6:20 says, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

You will notice that there is no wedding service where the bride needs to be introduced among all the ladies present because in every wedding service, there is no confusion as to who the bride is. You automatically know the bride because she is distinguished by dressing, different in attitude and specially seated. The Church should not need introduction in the world; as part of the Church, you should be so different and distinct in living that everyone around you knows that you are the bride of Christ. The bride sits in a wedding service with all her thought and attention on the bridegroom. In fact, if the father or mother is not around, the wedding can still proceed but if the bridegroom is absent, the wedding cannot be done. The Church is the bride of Christ, we must not forget that Jesus is coming. Our whole attention and focus in life should be on His coming. If He comes today, will He find you ready? In Matt 25: 1 -12, we see some virgins that were not ready for the bridegroom's coming, they missed their eternal home. Jesus is coming back for His bride, only those who are ready will go with Him. I pray you will not miss Jesus' coming.

Finally the Bible says, therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing: Eph 5: 24. The wife should be submissive and obedient to the husband; as a part of the Church which is the Bride of Christ, you should obey every instruction of the Lord. You should give diligence to do whatever Jesus, the husband of the Church, assigns you to do.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that you will live a distinct, exemplary Christian life among your peers.
* Pray that you will not be distracted in preparing for the Lord’s coming.
* Pray that you will be a faithful bride of Jesus from this earth to Heaven.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
December will not close without divine assistance and connections that will turn my life around for good, in the name of Jesus.