A New Beginning

Friday 8 January
READ: Gen.12: 1 – 4
MORE LESSON: Isa. 51: 1- 2

One of the greatest stories of what God can do with the life of a man that will yield to Him is found in Abraham. After Abraham lived for seventy-five years, he had nothing to show for living. He had no purpose, no achievement, no child and no hope for the future. However, one day this old man had an encounter that changed his life forever and changed the world through him. He encountered the God of Heaven and earth. God called him out of his native land of Ur of the Chaldeans, a land of idolatry, to come and begin a journey of faith with the Almighty. At such an old age when many would have retired from service, Abraham started his and today the rest is history.

Whether you are young or old, I want you to know that you stand a chance at greatness. You can become a reference point for future generations and an eternal excellence. It is not too late to enter into your purpose, all you have to do is to learn from Abraham. Isa. 51: 1-2 puts this advice clearly, Yes, ponder Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who bore you. Think of it! One solitary man when I called him, but once I blessed him, he multiplied (The Message). This is a call to take a cue from the life of Abraham who at seventy five years, was childless, wandering through life aimlessly, but once He encountered the Lord, he became a phenomenon.

It is your turn for a new beginning in life. no matter how many years have gone by and you have nothing much to show for life, you can become the Abraham of this generation. It started for Abraham by obeying the call of God, and so also for you if you will hear the call of salvation from Jesus Christ today. The call of God to Abraham was a call to leave the idols of his father's house and follow the living God. You have to leave all the sins, mindset and ways of life of the past and follow after God. You must answer the call to do the assignment He has for you in life. Your greatness is in the assignment He has for you and it is never too late for you to start. Abraham started at seventy five and he still had enough time to fulfil his purpose and became so great that he is still remembered today.

You can have a new beginning today if you will hearken to the call of the Lord. Whether the call is to salvation, consecration, service, purpose or the call to do something new for the Lord; the day you hearken to His call is the day you commence a new beginning.

Prayer/Action
* Father, like Abraham cause me to encounter You today.
* Let my heart be transformed for the better today by Your encounter with me, in Jesus’ 
name.
* I receive grace not to dishonour God’s call upon me, in Jesus’ name.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
2016, I command you to open up your goodness to me from today, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Forget not His Benefits

READ: John 11:49-52 
MORE LESSONS: I Jn. 1:8-10, Act. 2: 36-40

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Psa. 103:1-2.
One of the characteristics of an ungrateful man is that he is forgetful of the good things he received yesterday. It is very important that you never forget anything God has done for you; it could be through any man- a friend, a relative or a stranger. You must know that it is God who did it and you should appreciate Him first and also the vessel He used. You should be grateful for the seemingly small gifts from God like the fresh air you breathe. You do not pay for the air you breathe but have you ever thanked God for it? Your gratitude is a cardinal point to your next level.

In order not to forget what God has done for you, one thing you should do is to write them down. Many have books where they write what they want God to do for them but they don't have a book to write what He has done. This is not good enough because you may forget His benefits if you don't write them down.
An important thing to do if you do not want to be forgetful of the good things that the Lord has done for you is to testify about them to people. When you testify about the goodness of God, He is glorified in Heaven and then that act of God in your life is sealed such that the enemy cannot reverse or undo it.

Another good way of making sure you do not forget His benefits is to create a memorial of what God has done in your life. It is like creating a monument to immortalise what God has done. Do something that each time somebody sees he will remember that God did something for you. Several people have given things to the church to stand as a monument of their gratitude to God and every time we see such things we remember the benefit of God to them.

Also, you can make permanent the memory of the goodness of the Lord by giving a sacrificial offering – a sacrifice that hurts. When Hannah took Samuel as a gift back to God, that was more than a memorial, it was a sacrifice. God responded by giving her five other wonderful children. When you make a sacrifice you cannot forget, neither will God forget. If you are just a consumer who gets all the blessings and keeps quiet, you will be forgotten. Give a sacrificial offering to God so that you will remember and also be remembered.

Prayer/Action
* Give thanks for all that God has done and is doing for your destiny.
* Thank Him, among other things, for salvation and the life you still have.
* Pray that the spirit of ingratitude will not creep into your life.
* Pray that you will not hide from God and His people all His goodness to you.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I declare January to December 2016 a permanent season of fruitfulness, multiplication, replenishing and dominion, in the name of Jesus.

Be a Carrier of Good News

Wednesday 6 January
READ: Isa 52:7
MORE LESSON: 2 Sam 1: 1-16

There was a newspaper that was always full of obituaries; the other news in it was scanty as the paper read more like a collection of who and who died in the country. The media is replete with news of hunger, wars, earthquakes and recession. So we have companies and organisations built on and profiting from selling and dispensing bad news.

But as believers in the Lord Jesus and citizens of the Kingdom, our task is to publish good news, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Isa. 52:7. And there are different dimensions to publishing good tidings. The first is to publish the good news of redemption and salvation that Jesus has purchased for the world. Preach the Word and let ...your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Eph 6: 15. The word 'evangelism' is a derivative of the Greek word which means 'good news' and has the same root as the word 'gospel'. So the message we bear as believers is naturally of good tidings.

This also extends to your relationship with people. Don't be the mouth piece for propagation of unfortunate happenings. When evil happens, it is not your duty to broadcast it, Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? James 3:10-11.

Slander, backbiting and gossip should never be heard from your mouth. When people make negative remarks about others, churches, or the government and they ask for your opinion, find at least one thing to praise God for in that person or situation.

Finally, be a giver of hope by the kind of news you carry. Some people are so good at giving current statistics of death, accident, poverty, layoff and unemployment. They know all the number of people that attempted something and failed and they won't hesitate to dish out their statistics to anybody they see that wants to try to succeed in that same thing. That is not befitting for a believer, But speaking the truth in love, you may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Eph 4: 15. You should speak with all honesty and frankness, but they must be words that encourage and impart grace to the hearer, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers: Eph 4:29.

I pray as you make the commitment to be a carrier of good news, glad tidings will not cease from your life, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Prophetically shut the door on negative news coming to you for the rest of this year.
* Pray that you will be good news wherever you enter and you will be a giver of same for life.
* Pray that you will not fail God in the compulsory assignment of spreading the good news about Jesus.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
My Father and my God, in 2016, I shall turn the enemy to flight and win territories with no loss, in the name of Jesus.

Pressing towards the Mark l

Monday 4 January
READ: Phil. 3:12-14
MORE LESSON: 2 Cor. 12:1-4

Paul was a man of exceptional grace and revelation. God worked through him and he is on record as an apostle who had more results than the other apostles in his time (1 Cor. 15: 10). He endured hardships and suffered many things for the cause of Christ. The glory of a veteran soldier are the battles he fought and won. When we examine the life of Paul, we will conclude that he was a general for the Lord even while still alive. In visions and revelations, Paul excelled, he wrote in 2 Cor 12:1-4, I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. I believe Paul was talking about himself here. He had visions and revelations in the realm of Heaven beyond what other men were permitted to have. It is this same Paul who wrote about two-thirds of the books of the New Testament.

This means that most of the books that we live, preach, teach from in the New Testament were written by Paul. Paul travelled to continents and reached different sets of people. In preaching, teaching and oratory, Paul was in a class of his own. As a professor of law, he spoke once and a ruler named Felix looked at him and said, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad: Acts 26: 24. He spoke at a level of reasoning that was so much above the intelligence of the king that the king thought that Paul was mad. When a man is too much to be understood, people call him names.

However my intent is not to glorify Paul as only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is worthy of all glory. The point that makes me wonder about the life of Paul is when in Phil 3: 12 – 14, which is our text for today, he remarked that he had not attained the call of God in his life but he was still pressing to the mark. In fact he said he forgot all that he had done in the past and he pressed toward the prize. If a man with kingdom achievements like Paul was still pressing to do more for God, then no man alive today has the right to think that he has arrived. I want to charge you to forget all the things you have done in the past and press to do more for God. Appreciate God for the past, but don't rest on it. Press towards the mark.

Prayer/Action
* Today, I receive grace and strength to press forward, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, help me to leave my failure behind so that I can succeed and move forward, in Jesus’ name.
* I declare that I shall not give up in the fight of destiny.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, in the name of Jesus, I must advance in 2016 and not retreat, in the mighty name of Jesus