The Church: Repairing Destinies

Saturday 22 April
READ: Luke 7: 37 - 48
MORE LESSON: John11: 2

The church is a place for raising men. The house of God is a place for giving meaning to meaningless lives and repairing ruined destinies. The church is like a hospital where the sick can come and be healed and a school where the unlearned can come and become something in life. There must never be discrimination and segregation in the church. It is a place where everyone should be able to come, rest assured that he will be accepted and raised.
Some pastors are always looking for good and ready made people to bring to their church. A good shepherd is known when bad people come to him and he makes good out of their lives. It must be fully noted though that the job of making something out of people who are nothing in the church is not only for the pastor; it is for every child of God whom the Lord has raised. After all, the church is not one man or an organisation; together all of us who have been saved constitute the Church of Jesus Christ. Every child of God is raised to raise others.
The Church is the Light of the world. Light only makes impact when there is darkness. An already well lit place needs no further light. It is the dark places that actually need light. It is the person that is struggling and helpless that needs the church more than the person who already has all his acts together. This is the reason Jesus said, ...They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick: Matt 9:12.
God has called us individually and corporately as a church to rebuild old waste places and repair the foundation of many generations. This means repairing the foundations of people's lives. Drug addicts, harlots and sinners are not to be condemned and banned from coming close to us while we assume a holier-than-thou attitude. We should rather love them, bring them to church and repair them. People who have been spoilt by sin need the repairs that only God can give through the Church of Christ. We must love, accept people and work together with the Holy Spirit to see their destinies changed.
However, a sinner is not to be brought into the church and allowed to remain in his ways. We are not to tolerate sin, making it appear acceptable. Sinners are to be accepted and loved but sin is never to be accepted. Jesus accepted harlots in the Bible but He converted them to saints. One of them came in tears, using her hair and precious ointment to wash Jesus' feet as she pondered the greatness of what the Lord had done for her. Mary Magdalene who later became a great follower of Jesus Christ was a demon possessed woman out of whom the Lord cast out seven demons and repaired her destiny (Mark. 16: 9). The church is a place of transformation of lives.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that anyone that comes in contact with your local church will be transformed daily to the full image of God, in the name of Jesus.
* Pray that God will make you an instrument in building the lives of people and His church, in the name of Jesus.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every forest harbouring altars against me, catch fire now, in the name of Jesus.

Gladly Receiving the Word

Friday 21 April
READ: Acts 2:41
MORE LESSON: Heb. 4:1-7

The Bible says that the early converts gladly received the Word of God. It means they excitedly accepted all the conditions. In the Church at that time, it was only those who gladly received the Word that were counted to be born again. It is time that we started emphasising again that it is those who gladly receive the Word and not church goers that are true Christians. A man who gladly receives the Word of God has acknowledged his depravity and realised that he is the one that needs God and not God that needs him. So out of his own volition, he comes to the Lord.
These days, you see someone who just came out for altar call and then you have to start begging him for days to come to church again. Even people who have been in church for a long time still need to be cajoled to do things that God wants done. The Early Church gladly received the Word of God and whatever the Word commands, even if it was bitter and difficult, they did it joyfully. If you receive the Word gladly, you accept its supremacy and are ready to obey without anyone policing you.
When you gladly receive the Word of Christ, it means that you have accepted the terms and conditions of God and you should be excited doing them. This is shown as you are excited coming to church, gladly paying your tithes, joyfully working for God and you take pleasure in living by the dictates of the Word. It is when you have received the Word gladly that Heaven is sure for you. It is not enough that you have given your life to Christ and that you come to church. A person who has not gladly received the Word might just decide to go back one day. The question is, 'How have you received the Word? Are you excited coming to fellowship or you see it as an avoidable necessity? Do you see God's work and living for Him as a burden or as a privilege? Do you complain when you give to the Kingdom of God; are you excited at the opportunity to obey His Word?”
If you are a sinner and you have not accepted the Lord, you need to acknowledge that you are a sinner, confess your sins, ask for pardon and accept Jesus as the Saviour and Lord of your life. If you are born again but are not gladly doing the Word, you need to reconcile with God. If you are no longer excited at the things and service of God, then you also have to repent and confess your loss of love and turn back to God. It is those who serve God with gladness that are truly His.

Prayer/Action
* Father, take away the little foxes that will not allow the Word to settle in my heart, in the name of Jesus.
* Father, take away the stony heart and give me a heart that pants after Your Word, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, today I withdraw power from every agent of downward trends and I decree a rising up for my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Expressing Gratitude

Thursday 20 April
READ: Psa. 100: 1 - 5
MORE LESSON: Psa. 89 : 1 - 2

You can never get the best of someone by murmuring and complaining about the person. Many of the prayers that people claim to pray to God are actually complaints. A person thinks he is praying and his words are, “Father, you see the way the economy is. You can see for Yourself that things are terrible and I am suffering. You know I go to church regularly and I pay tithes but still life is not easy. What else do you want me to do, Lord?” If that is how you pray, then you don't pray, you only grumble. Be it known to you that grumblers always come back with empty hands. If a grumbler ever gets something, it will be peanuts.
When children cry and disturb so much because they want something and the mother gets tired, she gives the child something little so that the mother can rest. She just puts a tiny thing in the hands of the child and says, “Take this and let me rest; don't kill me.” However, if the child keeps disturbing then the next thing she gives the child is a good spanking. A well behaved child, on the other hand, gets to be given everything he needs even when he doesn't ask for it. In fact, a well behaved child would be begged and patted to have the same thing for which a nagging child is spanked.
The Bible says in Psa. 100: 4, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. This shows us how to approach God in prayer. The way to get the best from God is to thank Him. Expressing gratitude is the key to getting more and more from God. You get God’s attention when you thank Him and you turn Him off when you come complaining. Therefore, the password to accessing God's presence and getting Him to incline His ears to you is to come with thanks and praise. Saying 'thank You Jesus' is a sure way of getting His attention on a daily basis. For the fact that you need God's attention even more when you are in trouble, then you have to praise and thank Him more when you have problems. There is great wisdom in thanking and praising God even when you are in trouble. When things are good or bad, thanksgiving should never cease from you. Always praise the Lord.

Prayer/Action
* Father, I am grateful for yesterday, today and tomorrow, in Jesus’ name.
* In the name of Jesus, my needs today shall not overshadow my seeing God's goodness in the past.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every padlock used to shut down my destiny, break open today by fire, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Jesus the Great Teacher II

Wednesday 19 April
READ: John 3:2
MORE LESSON: Matt 28: 18-20

When Jesus was on earth, one of the popular appellations for Him was 'Rabbi', meaning 'teacher'. Jesus is a teacher. If Jesus is a teacher, then God is a teacher because Jesus is God revealed; Jesus is the revelation and proof of God. No one has seen God but Jesus has revealed Him to us; He revealed Him in supernatural miracles, signs and wonders and holiness. He also revealed God as the Father through His Son. In addition, He revealed God as a teacher through His teacher-student relationship with His disciples and those around Him.
We must strive to be good teachers in our daily lives. We must not condemn people but teach them in love like Jesus did. Parents should teach children and not just shout at them. Teach your spouse and don't just keep grudges in your heart. Pastors should teach their congregation and not complain about them. When you see people not getting things right, do not ridicule, disdain or despise them; rather meekly teach. One thing Jesus always did was teach people everywhere He was found. The Bible says that He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem (Luke 13:22). He always taught people the right things to do.
In 2 Tim. 1: 11, Paul asserted that he was a teacher. Men have always acclaimed Paul as an apostle with signs and wonders, but he added, Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. So Paul called himself a teacher. Jesus our Lord is a teacher, and the disciples were teachers. One of the greatest requirements of God upon the life of every believer is to teach. The Lord gave the Great Commission and told us to go into the world, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen: Matt. 28:20.
Who have you taught? Who is wiser, better or more knowledgeable because of the truths and wisdom that you gave? It is not enough to be satisfied that you know something, you must seek to pass the knowledge to someone that needs it. Your knowledge about the Lord must be taught to someone. Your knowledge of the way of salvation must be passed to someone. Your knowledge in right living and proper way of life should be taught to someone. Your knowledge in your academics, business, marriage or any area of life where God has given you success is not to be hoarded; it is to be passed to someone through mentorship. Teaching is a noble act; it is a great ministry. Even if you are not a professional teacher by the reason of your job; you can still be a great teacher after the example of the Lord Jesus. Find someone to teach and make better.

Prayer/Action
* I pledge to live an exemplary life of leadership to my (mention what you do), in Jesus’ name.
*I receive a teachable spirit today, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I fire back all satanic arrows of failure at the edge of success, in the name of Jesus.