Good Relationship II

Wednesday 8 March
READ: Acts 4:23-34
MORE LESSON: Lk. 6:17

Continuing yesterday’s study about developing good company, we note today the positive results of company. First, note that the disciples went to was a praying company, … And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord… Acts 4:24. This is indeed a great company that knew how to sharpen, strengthen and encourage one another in difficult times. It reveals to us what to look for in a relationship or friendship. Don’t company with weaklings who will rather aggravate your challenges than remove them.
My counsel is threefold:
1. Relate with all people but choose your friends
2. Relate with people who can caution you and enrich your wisdom and knowledge.
3. Don’t give your life to people you cannot trust or listen too.
Friends are to give advice; if you have one whose advice you cannot take, then drop him. Verse 23 says, …they went to their own company, and REPORTED all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. This was a company that had something to do in times of difficulty (v24), one that knew and could use God’s Word (vs 25-28) and it was a company that could lift up their voice and pray (vs 24-31).
Now note the results of their prayer:
1. The place shook by the reason of God’s presence (v31). Do you have a company that brings God’s presence down in time of trouble?
2. The place was filled with the Holy Ghost.
3. As a result of the presence of the Holy Ghost, courage came upon the disciples and they began to speak with boldness (vs 29, 31).
4. Then the spirit of unity came upon them … were of one heart and of one soul … v32.
5. They also began to express power (v33).
6. And finally lack disappeared from among them (v34). How much of such result can the company you keep offer you? I pray God will lead you today to a friend indeed.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, surround me with people ordained for the advancement of my destiny, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will lead you to a friend indeed, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, by Your mercy make 2017 as a season of testimonies in my home, destiny and at work, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Good Relationship I

Tuesday 7 March
READ: Acts 4:1-20
MORE LESSONS: Dan. 2:16-19

The Scripture reading today reveals the wonderful power of good company. It tells us that when the disciples had challenges they went back to their company. They had a company to fall back to in the days of difficulties. A company is described as a people of like mind with whom you have close working relationship. That the disciples went to their own company meant they had a people with whom they shared things in common before the day of trouble. It was not an accidental/circumstantial (fire brigade) group who came around because of an incident that just happened.
The lesson here is that when the disciples had a problem, they knew where to go- their company. It is therefore good to sacrificially build a relationship today that can be useful tomorrow. No matter the cost, start building a good company now. Let me ask you, do you have a company good enough for the day of pain? Don't wait until a challenge arises or else you will end up running to people you have not tested before for advice and decision over crucial matters of life.
How do you build a good company?
(I) By knowing and testing the kind of people around to know whether they are dependable and trust worthy. Abraham was tested by God (Gen. 22:1-2).
(ii) By developing a personal principle of distinguishing between friends and confidants.
(iii) By being someone else's trusted confidant because life is a seed; if you are trust worthy you will find trustworthy friends.
(iv) By developing quality relationships and not sentimental/emotional ones. For example, don't relate based on tribe, language, gender or for what you can benefit as a priority, but for what you can contribute and the value you can add.
(v) By relating with people of same faith, understanding and purpose.
In today's reading, it is disciple to disciple; because it is only iron that can sharpen iron (Prov. 27:17). If you have a challenge and need someone to talk to, who would you go to? Learn to build a good and godly relationship, patiently allow it to grow and mature. but make sure it is a tested and proven one.

Prayer/Action
* Father in the name of Jesus, bring me out of every negative relationship I am in by your mercy, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, make me a trustworthy confidant and a blessing to people around me, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I receive divine triumph over every force and power of delay and denial, in the name of Jesus.

Restoration

Monday 6 March
READ: Job 42: 10 - 17
MORE LESSON: Joel 2: 25

There is nothing more devastating than to become impotent in a place where one has been potent before. When man begins to fail in the place where he succeeded before, the shame becomes unbearable. When a student that was on top in his class begins to fail and struggle academically, the pain becomes great and people start saying all kinds of things. When a man that was rich becomes so poor that he begins to walk around begging, the pain of his present situation becomes amplified by the shame of remembering his previous position. In fact, people have opined that it is better not to have tasted wealth at all than to taste wealth and become poor after that. God's will is for you to be successful and to continue in it till the end.
God delights to restore all men that are languishing in the shame of loss. Job lost all he had and was covered with dust in shame but God still restored him. God gave job more than twice all he had before the enemy attacked him with losses. I pray that all you have lost will be restored, in Jesus’ name.
There was a young man that I met when I was in the university during one of the evangelistic outreaches. He was the only child of his parents who went into fornication and contacted a sexually transmitted disease that rendered him impotent for life. He couldn't tell his old parents because he knew they might just commit suicide. He was the only hope of the continuity of the family and he had lost his potency as a man. After we met, he gave his life to Christ and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We prayed for him and the Lord restored him; today he is married with children.
A man was also rushed to me one day who after shaking hands with somebody lost his manhood. He was in panic and even ran to the police station but the police could not help him. The police told him that even if they caught the offender, there was no evidence to use against him. It was then that he knew he needed God and came to me. We prayed and told him to go back home. He ran back to me the next morning to testify that Lord had restored back to him that which was lost.
There are many areas of life where men lose potency. It could be in the spiritual; may be you were vibrant and operated in the grace of God but now you have lost it. It could be in your finances, career, academics or family. Today, I announce to you that wherever you have lost potency, there is restoration for you, in Jesus’ name. If Job could be restored despite all that he went through, you too can be restored. Keep alive, stand in righteousness, remind God of His promises and your tree will blossom and bear fruits again. God is on your side.

Prayer/Action
* In the mighty name Jesus, I will not end as a loser.
* By the mercy of God, I command a restoration of all that has ever brought me joy, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I disconnect my destiny and endeavors from the foundation of gracelessness, in the name of Jesus.

The Good of the Land

Sunday 5 March
READ: Isa. 1: 19
MORE LESSON: Gen 41: 54 - 57

Isa. 1: 19 says, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. This means that there is good in every land. There is no land in which good doesn't exist. The extent of goodness or prosperity may differ from land to land. There is, however, no land where there is no good. Don't ever believe the lie of the devil that tells you the land where you are is dry. There is no land where there are no rich people and poor people. There are successful and unsuccessful people in every land.
Egypt has been associated with many terrible things in history. The plagues happened in Egypt, the death of all the firstborn and many other negative events have made Egypt go into history as a spiritual example that is unpleasant to people. So I pray that you will not go to Egypt; to those in Egypt, you will leave Egypt. However, it was in this same Egypt that Joseph fulfilled his destiny and became great and prosperous. Evil existed in Egypt but Joseph had the good of the land. There was the good of the land even in Egypt. In fact, there was a time when there was no food everywhere except in the land of Egypt. When famine plagued the entire world, Egypt had food and Joseph had the sole control over all the storehouses of Egypt. Joseph would have missed this great good if he had run from Egypt because he was carried there as a slave or complained about the hostility he faced, being a stranger.
No matter what anybody has said concerning where you are, I want you to know that there is good where you dwell. God wants to open the veil to you and reveal where the good of the land is located. Your prayer is that God should locate the good of the land where you dwell and make you partake of it in the name of Jesus. The evil of the land shall not locate you, in the mighty name of Jesus.
One thing is essential in locating a good land, and that is to ask God, the universal Landlord of all creation. Joseph, Jacob and Israel prospered in Egypt because God led them there. Isaac was even specifically instructed concerning Gerar, a Philistine territory where he was a stranger, … Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you…: Gen 26:2-3 (NLT). The key here is ...do as I tell you... I tell people, that the safest land is where God sends you. A good land is that land/place where you are sure God is; He who sent you there. Don't change it because of circumstances or the gossip/suggestion of men. Stay there and prosper until God says otherwise.

Prayer/Action
* I will not be barren of the good that my land of sojourn carries, in Jesus’ name.
* This land shall be rich towards me, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every bloodthirsty Herod seeking to kill my glory, die, in the name of Jesus.