Succeeding in your Career I

Friday 21 October
READ: Psa. 16: 6- 8
MORE LESSON: Josh. 1: 8

If you ever want to reach your goal in destiny, you must locate God's appointed place for your destiny. It is at God's appointed place for you that you can be sure of a successful ending irrespective of the challenges that come your way. God has a calling and assignment for you. Even in your career, there is a particular place that God has for your destiny. Do not just choose a career because everybody likes it or it is popular in the esteem of men. Ask God before you make a decision for a career path.
Many men fail because they are not where God appointed unto them. You should not go into any course of study or career path because somebody said it is lucrative. You may struggle in a lucrative career if it is not God's design for your life. You must discover God’s pathway for your life and pursue it. When you do so, you will have result and make progress in life. The good news today is that even if you had made mistakes in the past by taking a path without asking God, the Lord can still correct the past and bring you to a desired end.
Following God’s pathway for you in your career will make you fulfilled and experience prosperity. Do not just move around from place to place and job to job because of increased financial benefit. As good as higher salaries and allowances are, your destiny should revolve around God's location for God's purpose. When you stay in your divine location, fulfilling divine purpose in your work or career, every benefit will eventually locate you.
However, it is expedient to know that staying in God's location doesn't mean staying somewhere doing nothing. You can be where God has designed you to be and be a failure because you are lazy. Laziness is not part of God's nature and a lazy man is headed for failure. Even in the right place, you must work hard. God's provision is in His location but we know that a man can have food in the house and be hungry if he is too lazy to cook. Success is not by partying and fun; it demands hard work.
Another major cause of failure is ignorance. People fail because they are ignorant or disobedient to God's principle of success. There are keys that open the treasure of God to you in your work, business and career. You need knowledge to take your place. According to Josh. 1: 8, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Remember, divine location, hard work, prayer and godly living are keys to a successful career. Check which one you need to get.

Prayer/Action
* Father, make me a symbol of excellence at work, in school and in church, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, crown my effort with great success and make me an example of excellence in all that I do, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I prophesy, my hope and expectation in 2016 shall not be dashed, in the name of Jesus.

Valuing the Word of God

Thursday 20 October
READ: Mark 6: 1-6
MORE LESSON: Matt. 13: 13 – 17

It is a very dangerous thing to become too familiar with the Word of God because then it loses its potency in your life. Many people stay in church year after year and attend meeting after meeting but they get nothing out of it because they do not take the Word serious. It is not that the Word of God has lost its power; it is that such people take it lightly. God gives His Word and teachings and some just accumulate revelations and they never put them to use; when you put so many bulbs in one place and you do not allow the light to express itself through any outlet, it becomes blinding. That is what has happened to many Christians who have become blinded by many revelations and their lives lack the reality of the Word because they never put it to use; they only keep accumulating head knowledge.
Many ministers of the gospel have noticed that the same teachings and declarations that they proclaim to their congregations without results bring amazing results and testimonies when they go out. It is risky to get so used to God's servants that you make light of what they say. This is one of the reasons destinies are remoulded, people promoted and lives changed and it looks as if some are being left out. The best thing you can do for your destiny is to always take the Word of God and His servants with maximum esteem.
God Himself walked the earth and touched many lives but there were those who didn't benefit from Him because they made light of Jesus Christ saying, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him: Mark 6:3. He came and saved people from their sins but some people are still waiting for the Messiah up till today; they missed their hour of visitation because of familiarity.
Today, I have come to charge you to hold each word that comes from the Lord with great esteem; whether the word comes through His servants or in your personal study, celebrate it and honour it, For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them: Matt. 13: 17. It is your time for a positive change as you honour God's Word and go out to put it to use.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, I shall not take Your Word lightly and it shall not lose its potency in my life.
* The Word of the Lord shall profit my life, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
This year, my enemy shall wait in vain, in the name of Jesus.

The Extra Oil II

Wednesday 19 October
READ: Matt. 25: 1-13
MORE LESSON: Eccl. 9:8

I remember conducting a wedding in one of our churches and the bride delayed for so long. She was probably taking all the time to dress up. After a while, I told them to start the service and it started. The order of the service continued and this lady was still nowhere to be found. Close to the time allotted to the actual joining and exchange of marital vows, the lady arrived outside and sent to the ministerial seat that the processional hymn be sung for her to enter majestically with her train. I sent back to inform her that she should gather the flowing gown in her hands and run straight to the altar if she is still interested in the joining. She should come or else we would skip that item and close the service. Of course, she rushed and she sat quietly down beside her husband who had been troubled waiting.
I called them to the altar to be joined, she looked at my face and broke down in tears. It is not pleasant to see a bride being joined while crying, so I allowed her to finish all the crying. In fact, I was prepared to wait and allow her cry, finish crying, do her make-up and regain her composure before I continued the actual joining. However, she and everyone in that service had learnt the lesson that a wedding service before God should be approached with reverence. It is not a day to keep God and man waiting while you take all the time to dress and make up. I also discovered that the wedding day is a terrible day for a bride to cry.
In Matt. 25: 1-13, we also see five ladies that wept bitterly on their wedding day. Theirs was more terrible because their tears would last for eternity. The reason was that they were not prepared for the bridegroom and were careless about eternal things while they focused on less important things. Jesus is coming back and since we do not know the day of His arrival, it is imperative not be careless with the things of God. If any man misses the coming of the Lord, there will be no opportunity to reverse the damage. The five virgins who cried on their wedding day did so because they didn't have extra oil in their lamps.
The extra oil means going an extra mile in the things of God. The difference between the wise and the foolish virgins was the extra oil. It is the extra you do for God that stands for you and makes you an uncommon man in common situations. The coming of the Lord is so close you can't leave anything to chance. God is not only demanding your all, but the extra mile also. In all you do for God, go the extra mile, it shall not go unrewarded.

Prayer/Action
* Surrender your life to God afresh today.
* Receive grace to be faithful to the end, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God for grace to be able to warn others about Heaven and hell today, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Anything in me, spiritual or physical, attracting strange occurrences to my life or family, be exposed today, in Jesus' name.

The Extra Oil I

Tuesday 18 October
READ: Matt. 25:1-6
MORE LESSON: Rev. 22: 12

Jesus told a parable, using it to describe what His coming will look like. He said there were ten virgins - five were wise and five were foolish. Both the wise and the foolish were waiting for the coming of the bridegroom in the night. The wise five took extra oil in addition to what was inside their lanterns. The foolish five took their lanterns, put oil inside and forecast that it was enough. However the bridegroom delayed and all the oil burnt out.
Eventually the bridegroom came in the dead of the night and all the virgins got up to go and receive him. All their oil had burnt out but the ones that had extra oil, had something to pour into the lamps afresh and therefore met the bridegroom with their lamps still burning. The other five who had no extra oil had their lights gone off. They couldn't meet the bridegroom with lights gone off, so they quickly went to look for oil. But before they returned, the bridegroom had entered in with the ready five and locked the door. Afterwards, came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not: Matt. 25: 11-12. Definitely, it is a painful thing for a bride to be told by the bridegroom that he doesn't know her. How can a woman come to be wedded only to be told by her bridegroom that he does not know her? The bridegroom said to the five foolish virgins, I don't know you, and they were locked out forever. They left home fully dressed for a wedding but never returned home with a husband. And I want to say to you that there is a great day coming. Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Church, is on the way. The five virgins that had extra oil were prepared.
All the ten were virgins, which means they were saved but some were prepared while the others were not. The issue of going with the Lord when He comes is the issue of preparedness. I want to ask you whether you are busy with the mundane affairs of life or you are living in preparation for His coming. You need the extra oil; you need more zeal than you have ever displayed. You need more attention to the things of God. You need more consciousness that the end is near and live with that consciousness. In a short while, the sound of the trumpet shall be heard and the Bridegroom will come. Only the people with the extra oil and lamps still burning bright will go with Him.

Prayer/Action
* Receive power to be conscious of the end time, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that the negative prophecy of the end time will not be fulfilled on you, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will help you to proclaim the goodnews in this end time, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, this month, do for me what I cannot do for myself, fight my battles and grant me victory, in the name of Jesus.