Double Honour

Thursday 28 July
READ: Isa. 61: 4-7
MORE LESSON: Joel 2: 25 - 27

The devil delights in putting shame on a man but God has provided a way of escape. In Isa. 61:7, the Bible says, For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. God has promised that instead of your shame, He will restore double honour to you. This means that in whatever area of life the enemy has made you to suffer pain, God will give to you double honour.

God is concerned with every situation that brings shame in your life because He has not called you to shame but to glory. 2 Pet. 1: 3 says, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. God called you into glory and virtue. He has called you into grace and not disgrace. Therefore God desires that you enjoy double honour in life as compensation for all that the enemy has done in time past to afflict you, the Lord delights in compensating His children. According to Joel 2:25, The Lord is saying to you today, ...I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

All these He will do because of His name sake and His covenant. As a covenant child of God, the reproach that men put on you is actually a reproach to God. You must learn how to invoke the covenant of God when situations arise that want to put you to shame so that His name shall be feared among the Gentiles. As you live according to His covenant and remind Him of His covenant in the face of imminent shame, God will give you a full restoration of honour and make you to be satisfied in every area of your lack, And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name: Isa 62:2.

In every place where you have been called a name that is shameful, the Lord God will announce a new name for you in a glorious way. In the name of Jesus, wherever you have been disgraced, you shall now be embraced. Wherever you have been shamed, you will be celebrated. Rise up now and begin to prophesy honour, success, breakthrough, victory, prosperity and celebration to your destiny. Say it and believe it. It is God’s plan for your life and as you declare it, it will run speedily to fulfilment beginning from now.

PRAYER/ACTION
* As I step out today, I shall tread in pleasant places of celebration, in Jesus’ name.
* Oh Lord, give me laughter in place of shame.
* This year, those who look down on me before will look up to me, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I prophesy, today's goodness will reach me without fail, in the name of Jesus.

Beware of Distraction

Wednesday 27 July
READ: I Kgs. 20: 39-40
MORE LESSON: Matt. 6: 22

Distraction is anything that prevents you from giving full attention to your object of attention. Anything that prevents you from concentrating on your assignment and meeting your target is a distraction. When God gives you an assignment, a vision or a task, it takes refusal to be distracted, a determination to stick at it till you get the desired result.

There is a parable in the Bible of the king's servant whom the king gave a prisoner-of-war to guard with his life. The king warned him that if the prisoner escaped , he would have to pay for it with his life. The Bible says, While the servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared...: 1 Kings 20:40 (NIV). Distractions make you busy here and there at the expense of the assignment God has given you in destiny.

Distractions can occupy a man's day from morning till night as he traverses the whole city, all for him to get home in the night to realise that he can't point to a specific thing that he achieved for the day. This is why it is important to look back moment by moment, day by day and year by year and see whether we achieved our objectives for the moment, or spent time on distractions. If at the end of each day,, you reflect on the day and cannot point to one single thing that has been achieved for that day, that day was wasted. This is the reason you must beware of distractions on your journey of life if you must move forward and not miss your targets and visions.

Distraction makes a man lose focus and makes him miss his mission. . Unproductive and unfruitful lives, unfulfilled and distorted destinies have resulted from distractions. At the direst, it makes him lose his life. In the text, when the prisoner escaped and the prisoner was to be judged, it was decided that it was binding on the guard to lose his life as it was agreed when the prisoner was put in his custody. Distraction can cause a man his life. Take a good inventory of your life today and check everything that is not in direction with your purpose in life and is merely serving as a distraction. It could be a habit, a relationship, a game or sinful pleasure. Whatever is a distraction, destroy it today.

One of the strongest prayers you need in your journey forward in life and eternity is to bind everything sent from the enemy to distract you. Similarly, one of the best decisions you can make is to decide that you will not allow anything to distract you and you will not distract yourself. Go and live a life that is not subject to distractions, in Jesus’ name.

PRAYER/ACTION
* I bind every force of distraction hindering my moving forward, in Jesus’ name.
* I separate myself now from agents of distraction that make a man to lose focus in life.
* In my journey of destiny, I am unmovable and unshakable, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I am appointed today as an ambassador of good news, I shall not give or receive evil news, in the name of Jesus.

Prepare to meet your God II

Tuesday 26 July
READ: Lk. 3:1-9
MORE LESSON: Rev. 22:12-15

It is common knowledge that if a man doesn't prepare for a thing, when it comes, he will be caught unawares. Lack of preparation leads to regret because whatever is not prepared for will not be properly done. If there is a visitor coming to you at a time and you do not know the time he will come but he said that he could walk in at any time, the best thing to do for such a visitor is to be prepared 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, thirty days in a month, all year round. You just get ready for that visitor so that any moment he comes, you are not caught unawares. This is the attitude to assume in the issue of preparing for life after death and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This issue needs urgent attention because Jesus can come at any time.

Life is fragile and death can come any time. Death is not the end for all men are heading somewhere after death. There is life after death and it will be either spent in hell or in the presence of God. Whatsoever we do now or do not do, will determine where we end. The body will return to dust and the spirit will return to God. Whatsoever we do now to prepare for that time is what is most important. Everything on the face of the earth is good, but any life that is lived with the abundance of every good thing without a good relationship with God will be regretted. It will obviously be regretted because a time will come when you will have to stand before your God and explain how you spent your time on the face of the earth. All the things that God has given you the privilege to attain, all the things you have acquired, those you were not able to get, one day you will stand before God to give account.

God told the people of Israel to prepare to meet their God (Amos 4: 12). God had to forewarn His own people about the danger of living a life without preparation to meet Him. Those of us who are privileged to be in the world today need to be warned and warned again. So the Lord is calling our attention to this great issue again today, prepare to meet your God, But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death: Rev. 21:8.

PRAYER/ACTION
* The coming of the Lord shall not meet me unawares, in Jesus’ name.
* I shall not be ashamed to meet with my Lord at the end of my life, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today is a good gift from God, I reject evil from dawn to dusk, in the name of Jesus.

Prepare to meet your God I

Monday 25 July
READ: Amos 4:12
MORE LESSON: Isa. 40:3

Therefore thus will I do unto Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet the Lord. The way people live today, one would wonder whether they are conscious that a day is coming when all things on the face of the earth will be over. People live for money, self and material pursuit. The desires of many men these days are more towards things of the earth than heavenly things. These are truly the last days as people have lost natural affection and perversity is idolised. Many kill for position and fame. Riotous living among youths is on the increase and even adults are partakers of atrocities. When you go to our schools and institutions, you will see how young boys and girls live in unrighteousness as if it is the order of the day. All manner of reckless dressing, some with the consent of parents, occult and fetish things have taken over everywhere, including the Church.

It is at such a time as this that everyone has to pay attention to preparing to meet the Lord. The increase of unrighteousness shows that the coming of the Lord is here. So instead of waking up in the morning and pursuing money till evening to come back home, eat, sleep, and leave again the next day to continue the vicious cycle, men should prepare for the coming of the Lord. There is more to life than food, drink and material things.

Israel was once like that in the text of today. They forgot about God and everybody was just doing what they liked and running their lives as if they had no God. God sent His servant Amos to go and speak to them to either return to Him or He would visit them with His anger. And He said, if you will avoid my anger, prepare to meet your God. This is the message for this time and season. Both the young and the old, parents and children need to return to God. We need to examine our lives, and begin to remember that after this place, there is another place we are going and if we don't prepare for it now, it will meet us unawares. Death can come at any time and it will be very disastrous to leave this face of the earth without having any contact with God. Do not be deceived by the fast pace of the world today that keeps men busy as if there is nothing else apart from daily survival and acquisition. Take a pause to reflect, break out of the rat race and prepare to meet your Lord.

PRAYER/ACTION
* Father, I receive grace to live each day ready to meet the Lord, in the name of Jesus.
* Ask the Lord to deliver you from every distraction of this age.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I step into this week in the power of the Holy Ghost, nothing shall fail, in the mighty name of Jesus.