God's Favourites 1

Saturday 9 January
READ: Isa 43: 3 - 4
MORE LESSON: Acts 10: 34 – 35

The level of access you have to a person is dependent on your relationship with him. Relationship determines what flows in your direction; therefore what you get from a man is determined by your relationship with him. In the same way, what you get from God depends on your relationship with Him. I want you to know that God has favourites. God is not a respecter of persons and He is not partial (Acts 10: 34). At the same time, He does not give everybody the same level of favour and blessing. Remember that God destroyed the host of Egypt in the Red Sea so that the children of Israel might live. In fact, in Isa. 43: 3, God declared without any remorse that He gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Sheba as ransom for Israel. Why would God, who created everybody, strike three nations dead so that one could be preserved? The answer is revealed in the next verse, Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Isa 43:4 (NKJV).

God gave up Egypt, Ethiopia and Sheba to redeem Israel because Israel was His favourite. God is impartial but His impartiality is not in the absence of favourites; it is in the fact that everyman is allowed to determine his place in God's favour. God has favourites but He gives an open chance for anyone who will do the things that are acceptable to Him to win His favour, regardless of gender, race, tribe or genealogy.

Always remember that it is your relationship with God that determines where you stand in His favour. Know also that there are different degrees of relationship with God and the choice is yours where you stand with Him. There are those who He doesn't know at all (Lk. 13: 27). But as many as believe Him become His sons (Jn. 1: 12). Some go ahead to please Him especially and become His friends, like Abraham did (Isa. 41: 8). The disciples of Jesus also served Him till their relationship with Him changed from being mere servants to friends (Jn. 15: 14 – 15). David loved God and desired intimacy with Him so much that he was called a man after the heart of God (Acts 13: 22). Enoch also walked so closely with God as a friend that God took Enoch away without him seeing death. That is exceptional favour! You are the one that determines where you stand with God.

I want you to know that you can choose to become God's favourite today. The first step is to give your heart to Him if you have not done that already. However, even after that, your righteousness, obedience, love, sacrifice, service and intimacy with God continue to place you in a position of favour with Him.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God that Heaven will remain open over you.
* Pray that nothing will hinder your access to God’s throne.
* Declare that you are God’s favourite and all benefits will reach you today.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
In 2016, God will honour my destiny with all-round thanksgiving, in the mighty name of Jesus.

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.