The Captain of the Lord's Host

Saturday 17 June
READ: Josh. 5: 13 - 15
MORE LESSON: Judg. 4: 14 - 24

Joshua was a man of extra-ordinary exploits in war. He was the one that led the Israelites in all the battles in the wilderness and brought them successfully into the Promised Land. In one battle he commanded the sun to stand still so that he could finish claiming his victory over his enemies (Josh. 10: 12). It was this same Joshua that led the people against Jericho and the walls of Jericho fell (Josh. 6: 24 – 27). The Lord promised Joshua that no one would be able to stand before him all the days of his life and that he would possess the land wherein he stepped (Josh. 1: 3). Joshua didn’t lose battles; even when Achan sinned and made Israel to be temporarily defeated at Ai; after Joshua prayed, the Lord revealed the problem to him and returned the victory to Israel.
The battle exploits of Joshua can be traced to an encounter he had with the Lord of Hosts. In Josh. 5: 13 – 15, a man with a sword drawn appeared to Joshua and revealed himself as the Captain of the Lord's Host. This one man was greater than the whole army of the enemies. Joshua won the battles of life because the angels of the Lord, led by the Captain of the Lord's Host Himself fought for him. The Lord is not just a warrior; He is the Captain of warriors. When He draws His sword, it is not for play; it is for war against your adversaries. When the Captain of the Lord's Host fights on your behalf, your victory is sure.
Barak in Judg. 4:8 also understood this. Deborah had asked Barak to go out in battle against Sisera; the captain of the host of Jabin, king of Canaan, who oppressed Israel. Sisera was a captain of a host and in order to deal with him, Barak knew that he needed a higher captain of host. Barak knew that even though he was no match for Sisera, if Deborah went with him to the battle, the angels of God and the Captain of the Lord's Host that worked with Deborah by the reason of her spiritual office over Israel would follow her to the battle with him. So Deborah went with General Barak to war against Sisera and the Hosts of Heaven followed them into the battle and finished off the enemies. God is not limited by gender, the Lord gave victory through a woman that day. Any woman or man can be a general in the Lord's battles, all she/he needs is that the Lord of Hosts should work with them.
Today, invite the Captain of the Lord's Host into the battles of your life. Hand over your battles to the Lord of Hosts and watch your enemies discomfited.

Prayer/Action
* I hand over every battle I am facing to You Lord, fight for me, in Jesus’ name.
*Father, gird me with strength to face every challenge to victory, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
He that lit my candle will defend it from all evil winds unto the perfect day, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The best Life Insurance Package

Friday 16 June
READ: Phil 1: 21 - 23
MORE LESSON: Matt 16: 26

One day my assistant and I were on a journey on a rainy day. All of a sudden, a car overtook us at an incredibly high speed and I wondered where the man was going that he was speeding like that. A little distance ahead we saw the car had crashed fatally. I wondered whether the man felt that he had enough insurance that was why he was moving at such speed even in rain. It is possible that he had insured his car and had life insurance to support his family after he is gone. However, did he insure his eternity?
The Church rightly preaches that the trumpet will sound and the rapture will soon happen. However, an additional fact is that anyone that dies, it is like his own trumpet has sounded. The day of reckoning has come for such a person. I have been to the mortuary and seen dead bodies of all ages. What amazes me is that they always have new bodies to bring in every day. I also noticed that all the corpses are kept together, male and female, no beautiful or ugly corpse. When life is gone, all are dumped together. Even young people that are freaks in appearance, when they die and their corpses enter into that place, they are stripped and they can’t complain. Youthfulness should not be taken for granted, there are young people in the mortuary. No one should live anyhow; for people of all ages die.
The only insurance against death is to be born again. All other forms of life insurance are useless to the dead person. Will a dead man go and collect money from his insurance premiums after he is dead? It is only good for the people he leaves behind. As for the dead person, the only thing that counts is whether he was born again or not; if he would make Heaven or not. If he makes Heaven, then he didn't die, he only transited from earth to Heaven. That is the only life insurance package that is of use to the person.
A genuine child of God is the only one insured against death. Death is not the end of a man if he is born again; it is just a passage into eternity. People may cry on earth but he stands to gain because he is insured. Our text reads, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain… For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Phil. 1:21-23. Giving your life to Christ is the only and the best insurance for your life. For everyone who is in Christ Jesus, death is gain because his/her name is written in the book of life. Let me ask you, “Is your name written in the book of life or in an insurance broker’s book or even in a guinness book of life?” You need to write your name in the book of life today.

Prayer/Action
* I hand over my life to Jesus for the rest of my life, in the name of Jesus.
* Lord, help me to live the life that I profess in Christ in order to be ready for Your coming, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I shall never lose my relevance, I shall be remembered in great places; even my enemy will need me and seek for me and remember me for help, in the name of Jesus.

Seeing the Invisible

Thursday 15 June
READ: 2 Kings 6:8-19
MORE LESSON: 2 Cor. 4: 18

The king of Syria led his army against Israel. He drew brilliant strategies in his board room on how to launch a surprise attack on Israel. But each time he executed his strategies, he realised that the king of Israel was already informed and prepared in advance for whatever tactics he had. He began to suspect that there were traitors that were spying for Israel even among the most trusted generals in the boardroom. He confronted them and they advised him that there was a certain man in Israel whose eyes and ears were so open that he could hear and see what you do in your bedroom without him being there. Elisha the prophet was a man that was so close to God that he could see beyond the natural, so he always had privileged information that helped him succeed in every battle of life.
The king of Syria sent his troop to arrest Elisha. Thousands of soldiers surrounded Elisha's house and his servant saw them and began to panic. However Elisha looked out the window, saw the thousands of soldiers that surrounded his house, smiled and went in to relax. His servant must have cried, “Master, can you see the thousands of soldiers against us?' Elisha simply smiled and prayed, not for the soldiers to die, but for the eyes of the servant to be open, ...the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha: 2 Kings 6:17.
When God opened the servant's eyes to see the invisible, he became equally bold as his master. He saw that those who were with them were more than those that were against them. You will only stop panicking in life when your eyes are open to see the invisible. When you see God's provision for you, you will stop complaining about situations. When you see the hosts of angels guarding your family, you will cease to faint because of the crisis in the land. When eyes are closed to the spiritual, a man becomes defeated but when your eyes get open to the invisible, strength and courage come. When you see the invisible, supernatural faith comes as it is written in Heb. 11: 27, By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
When a man has seen God, he does not fear the devil. This is why you need to pray for your eyes to be open to see the real things in the spirit and not the apparent things in the physical. When you see the secret of your trouble, your victory is certain. Begin to see the invisible and do the impossible, in Jesus’ mighty name.

Prayer/Action
* Today, by the Spirit of God I receive privilege information that my enemies don't have, in Jesus’ name.
* Oh Lord, open my spiritual eyes to see beyond the physical, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I release the spirit of recovery over my destiny, whatever I have ever lost, return today, in the name of Jesus.

Fighting the Wrong Battle

Wednesday 14 June
READ: Eph. 6: 12 – 13
MORE LESSON: Prov. 20: 18

There was a lady who was a very committed worker in a company. She always received compliments from her boss who testified that she was a hardworking staff. However, she noticed that each time there was promotion exercise, her name was always missing. So she decided to confront her boss over the problem no matter what the consequence would be. She went to the office and told her boss, “ I have done everything right and you refused to promote me. You are a very wicked woman. You even said I am the best worker and you still refused to recommend me for promotion. What did I do wrong? My God will punish you”. After her outburst, she lost her job and then started a three day marathon fasting.
Each time she prayed that her enemy should fall down and die, she had the boss in mind. Unfortunately for her the boss didn't die but seemed to even prosper more. The boss bought new cars and lived well. Luckily, the lady got a new job. The trend started again as her name was being omitted during promotions despite her diligence. It was only then that she realised that it was not about the boss but there was an unseen force that made her to be forgotten each time people were to be promoted.
She began to confront every spirit that vowed to keep her at the same spot. She only got delivered when she had an accurate understanding of the battle and channelled her prayers in the right direction.
Many times people fight physical battles when the battle is to be fought in the spiritual. When the source of a problem is in the spiritual and a man is beating the air in the physical, there will be no headway. There are forces of darkness that influence people and make things go wrong. This is why it is important to obtain guidance from the Holy Spirit and from the Word of God before you engage in prayers of warfare. Matt 10:36 says that a man's foes are they of his own household. Many times the enemy is someone within the house and you are busy fighting the wrong person outside. In fact, the problem is many times right inside the person who is busy fighting people outside. Many times, it is the ideology, belief-system and attitude of a person that are responsible for his problems while he is busy fighting every other person outside as the cause of his problems.
It is important to pray for guidance and instructions in engaging in spiritual warfare. In the name of Jesus, every enemy, both within and without you, that has camouflaged to afflict you will be exposed. The Lord will give you victory over every battle of life, in Jesus. name.

Prayer/Action
* Father reveal Your will and purpose for my life so that I will not do another man's work, in the name of Jesus.
* Every distracting force of darkness intending to make me lose focus, I come against you, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Any altar or covenant set up to quench my light, celestial or terrestrial, right now catch fire, in the name of Jesus.