Divinely Connected I

Friday 20 January
READ: Exo. 2: 1 - 9
MORE LESSON: Heb. 11: 23

God had a great destiny for Moses to be the deliverer of Israel. He was born at a time when Pharaoh had declared that all male children of the Israelites were to be killed. In order to preserve Moses as a baby, his parents had to make a basket of bulrushes and keep him on the River Nile. Keeping a child in a basket to float on a river is a big risk; the child could be carried away to where he would not be found or he may even drown. However, Moses was divinely connected and so his destiny was preserved.
Pharaoh’s daughter came to the River to take her bath on the very day that Moses was kept on the river. The daughter of a king had all the best bathrooms at her disposal and could even command her attendants to go and fetch water for her if she wanted to bathe with the water from that river by all means. She must have been prompted by the Lord as she left all the luxury of the palace and trekked all the way to the river to take a bath. When she got to the river she found Moses and from there onwards, the destiny of Moses took a new turn.
There is someone that needs to find you so that your destiny can enter into the place that God has ordained for you. When God connects you to the person that He has appointed as the doorway for your next level, your struggles will be over in a moment. How do you explain what happened to Moses? His mother was called upon to take care of him and she was paid handsomely and regularly to train her own child. Moses became a prince who had access to the best of education, life and everything in the land. He was adopted as the child of Pharaoh and had a portion of the throne of Egypt. All these happened without him losing his eternal connection to the covenant of God with Israel as he was with his family to tell him the true story of his life and continually teach him about the laws and covenant of the God of Israel.
Moses grew up and was able to fulfil his destiny in God but it all started with a divine connection that God granted him as a child when he couldn't even arrange anything for himself. This shows that destiny is not fulfilled as a function of arranging human connections for oneself but by seeking God to divinely connect you with the persons He has ordained for you. It is your turn to be found, connected and lifted by God, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to divinely locate you for destiny connection, in Jesus’ mighty name.
* Ask God for ceaseless divine connections.
* Announce the connection you are believing God for, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
As the sunrays break forth without hindrance so shall I break forth into victory, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Sheep or Goat?

Thursday 19 January
READ: Matt. 25: 32 – 46
MORE LESSON: Psalm 23:1 - 6

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Psalm 23 is a popular scripture that shows what the Good Shepherd has in store for His sheep. The blessings of the shepherd are for the sheep and not the goats. Goats make life difficult for the keeper but sheep are easy to lead. Goats are difficult to gather and lead while sheep are known for hearkening to the guidance and counsel of the shepherd. No parent wants children that are goats; such children are stubborn, rebellious, never at home and always causing trouble around the neighbourhood. Pastoring is problematic when goats are the ones gathered under you. It is a very worthy prayer for parents, leaders and pastors that those under you will not be goats but sheep.
I was surprised when I once saw a man taking pieces of water melon fruit with pen-knive and feeding them to a sheep. If you take water melon with knife and try to feed a goat, it will eat it all; water melon, knife and your hand. Psa 23: 1 – 2 says that the good Shepherd makes the sheep to lie down in green pasture. The problem with goats is that they never lie down in a place, even if the grass is green. They roam to someone else's house for foodstuff to steal and eat. The Good Shepherd willingly laid down his life for the sheep but the goats kill their keeper by the stress they give him. Sheep lie down in green pastures.
This talks about sustained relationship between the sheep and Shepherd. As sheep maintains good relationship with the shepherd; a sheep in the sheepfold of God also maintains good contact and relationship with the under-shepherd that the Great Shepherd has placed over him. This means that a sheep has good relationship and contact with God and with his/her pastor. Goats are not in good relationship with the fold; they don't lie down; they always wander around. Sheep stay with other sheep in the flock while goats roam solo. A believer, who isolates himself from the shepherd and the sheepfold, is becoming a goat and satan is at the verge of destroying such.
A church member who is always complaining about the church and not contributing his quota to the development and progress of the church is not a sheep. One who only subtracts from the church and does nothing to add is a goat; he is not useful to the church, he has become useless. I pray that you will be relevant and useful in your home, church, workplace and nation. In today's text, we see that the Kingdom of God is for the sheep and not goats. Jesus kept the sheep by the right hand side and the goats by the left. The goats were marked for eternal damnation. I pray that you will be a sheep and not a goat.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for grace to be a sheep-like Christian, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to separate you from habits that can question your faith, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I prophesy, lines will fall to me in pleasant places in glorious heritage, in the name of Jesus.

Responsible Children II

Wednesday 18 January
READ: 2 Kings 6: 1 - 7
MORE LESSON: Neh. 2: 3 - 5

We are examining the life of Prophet Elisha and how the sons of the prophet that were with him displayed a good sense of responsibility. Kings, generals of armies and great men were among people that used to visit Elisha. He didn't take things from these great men that came to him to gratify himself. He stayed in a humble house and all these great men came there. It could be that his sons felt that the prophet, who was teaching about the great and mighty God was living in a place which didn't reflect the greatness of the Almighty God. So they took it upon themselves to put the lessons he taught them about the greatness of God to practice by starting from the place where the man of God lived.
I remember one of my spiritual fahers told me that at a point if he went shopping and he looked too much at something, by the time he got home, it would have followed him home. This was because he had some sons that went around trying to study what he likes so that they can quickly buy it for him. It is similar to what the sons of Elisha the prophet did. Some exceptional children always take it upon themselves to see that their father has the best. Note that being a responsible child is not limited to buying things. Spiritual children can show responsibility by always praying for their parents. As a child to your biological parents, spiritual father, pastors and in the household of God, do not join those that pull their parents down with words? Look out for problems and solve them; don't be the problem. Children that condemn their parents always find out in a matter of time that they cannot do better than their parents; many times, they can't even do as much as them.
Responsible children in the church understand that God has brought them to the place for contribution and not mere collection. These are the two categories of people in every church; those that add and those that subtract. Choose the adding part; that is, the part of responsible children. In fact, this is not limited to the church but everywhere you find yourself. Don't just be an onlooker in your location, add to the place you are. A responsible child takes charge everywhere he gets to and adds value. This is the reason some people are successful anywhere you put them. Greatness is not in a location, it is in the person. You could live anywhere and be great; all it takes is taking responsibility. Responsible children sooner or later become an object of celebration wherever they are. Receive more grace to display a high sense of responsibility, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for grace to invest in your spiritual and biological parents, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God for more responsible children in our homes, church and society, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, this year I shall outshine every enemy of my advancement in every way, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Responsible Children I

Tuesday 17 January
READ: 2 Kings 6: 1 - 7
MORE LESSON: Psa 127: 3 - 5

The sons of the prophet called their father Elisha and begged him to let them a build bigger place for him. The explanation of the story in the text is that the sons of the prophet were ministers in training staying with Elisha and learning from him. They came to Elisha and told him that they noticed that it was getting too tight in his house where all of them were staying. They begged him to allow them go and build a bigger place for him so that it could conveniently contain them and he would also have a bigger space. You would notice that it was not Elisha that complained that the house was too small and jam-packed; they beseeched him to let them build a bigger place. These sons of the prophetic showed themselves to be responsible children.
It is always pleasing to parents when they have responsible children in the house. Such children identify problems and take initiative to solve them without anyone pursuing them around. Identifying and solving problems by self-initiative shows a sense of responsibility. It is always a thing of joy for a man to have grown to a point that the children he raised can solve his problems. Even if he has what it takes to solve the problems himself, he doesn't get as much fulfilment as when children solve them. It is not about the solution, it is more about the fulfilment and joy of having responsible children.
The sons of the prophet begged their father to go with them to the work site and Elisha left his tight ministerial schedule to follow them. Responsible children will always have the backing of their father. When they were at the site, the axe of one of them fell into the water. Thankfully, Elijah was around so he stood in his office as the prophet of God and commanded a miracle there and then. Responsible children also enjoy the miraculous because the grace of the father is released with the whole of his heart when they have a need and he prays for them. How will the grace of God on the life of Elisha not be stirred, when one of his spiritual children comes to tell him that he borrowed an axe to build for the prophet and now the axe has fallen into the water? The man actually went out of his way to borrow in order to get a bigger lodge for the prophet and he was in trouble. Miracle must surely be commanded. My prayer for you today is that you will be a responsible child of God in His church and of your parents, both biological and spiritual.

Prayer/Action
* Lord make me responsible to my spiritual and biological parents/guardian, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God that the blessings of a responsible child shall not elude you.
**Do something memorable for your parents today.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Jesus, light of the world, illuminate my destiny today, in the name of Jesus.