Second Chance

Wednesday 21 June
READ: Judg. 16:25-30
MORE LESSON: Psa. 4:1-3

Nothing can be more devastating on the battle field than being disarmed by your enemy. Because the strength of a warrior is in his weapons, the seizure of one's weapons ordinarily signifies the end of the captive. This scenario is far more tragic when a child of God faces a situation of spiritual disarmament by the enemy. Before the birth of Samson, God set him aside for an assignment,
…he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines: Judg. 13:5.
He started well but because of his relationship with Delilah, he later fell into the hands of the Philistines. The dreaded Samson became a theatre piece brought out of prison to entertain his enemies. May we never degenerate and end this way. Thank God Samson realised what to do; he told the lad that held him,
… Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them: Judg. 16:26.
What pillars do you lean on in your trying times? The pillars of wrong and ungodly counsel or the pillars of encouragement that can lead you back to reconcile with God? Where you ask for the renewal of strength dictates how far you can go in your relationship with God. Leaning on the pillars for support, Samson cried unto the God of Israel, (v 28). May God remember you when you call on Him in your days of trouble. He cried,
.…and strengthen me.…
May the Lord strengthen you when you are weak. And he concluded,
… I pray thee, only this once.
The God of compassion answered and Samson pulled down the building and killed more enemies that day than in the twenty years that he judged Israel.
Who are the Philistines that plucked out your eyes of righteousness and commitment? Ask God for one more time to regain your strength. He will answer because He is the God of the second chance who granted Samson, Peter, David, Maneseh, Jonah, etc a second chance. If He has spared your life till today, then take advantage of that and seek a restoration over any area of life, now. This same opportunity might be unavailable tomorrow. What a privilege to have such a merciful and forgiving God, ever ready to receive any returning child.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to return back to you every opportunity you have lost, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to restore your lost glory, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Anything in creation that is hostile to my testimony this year, fade away, in the name of Jesus.

Time is Short

Tuesday 20 June
READ: I Cor. 7:29-31
MORE LESSON: Rev. 22: 12

The Scripture says that a day with the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. One of the lessons from this text is that time is short. This means that even if the coming of the Lord is 20 years away, the 20 years will pass so quickly that it will look like it was some minutes. It is after all very correct to tell people that Jesus is coming tomorrow. No matter the number of hours, days, weeks or years that will pass before He comes, they will pass so quickly and the coming of the Lord will come as quickly as tomorrow. Be ready, He can come at any time. The coming of the Lord is here.
The Scripture says that when you consider the brevity of time, it should advise you what manner of man you ought to be (2 Pet. 3: 11). The first kind of men we ought to be is men of holiness and godliness. No more time for careless living; the time is too short for you to postpone being born again.
The time is short so you have to use it to serve God so as to make impact for the Kingdom. As long as you are alive you must live for God and you must work for Him. You will one day stand before God and explain yourself, how you made use of the time He has given you. There was a lady I met that was paralysed and she was ministering powerfully in song and the title of her song was “Jesus is the greatest healer”. That is very touching to me, because she understands that her condition cannot make the Word of God untrue. So whatever you have or don't have, you must learn to serve God in the little time remaining. Some people complain that the reason they cannot serve God is because they are trying to make it, they want to read, work or make money so that when they are successful they can preach the message with proof. If the cripple lady was waiting to walk before she sings that Jesus is the greatest healer, she might never serve God.
The time is short, you need to do God's work with all your heart, what you have or don't have notwithstanding. 2 Cor. 5:19 says, ...God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. God is not counting your sins against you again. That's good news for you. God has committed the ministry of reconciliation to us. This is the task that God has given you for this short time remaining; you should be out reconciling men to God. The time is short; we cannot take anything for granted.

Prayer/Action
* I receive grace to do the work of the Lord while there is still time, in Jesus’ name.
* I rebuke the spirit of procrastination in my life, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Lord, I declare my testimonies for this year will not be postponed, in the name of Jesus.

Result Day

Monday 19 June
READ: Heb. 9:27
MORE LESSON: Eccl. 12:13-14

When I was in elementary school, we had a day called 'the result day.' It was the day the report cards for the term were given to the pupils to take home to their parents. The result days were bad days for me. My mother might not know when we wrote exams at school but she sure did know the day the results were given. That day I would refuse to go home until she came looking for me. I really failed examinations then, so when the result day came, I would collect the result but couldn't go home to show it. It was so bad that I had to be promoted on trial only because I had become the biggest boy in my class. However, things changed for me academically when I met Christ.
Life is like writing examinations everyday and one day your result will be known. Even teachers that give examinations in school have to know that they are also writing exams. Pastors, parents, bankers, business people, whatever you do, you are writing exams daily and your results will be out one day. If you don't want to be sad and ashamed to take your results home, you have to do something today.
Heb 9:27 says, ...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. That is the result day! God has fixed a day of reckoning when you will give account of your life. This is why you have to start from today to practise the wisdom that will make your result to be presentable on that day. All it takes to get your result presentable is to get your exams right. Getting this particular examination is the easiest thing because you are not even required to answer the questions, you are just to copy the answers right. Jesus has already answered the questions, all He requires of you is to copy the answers from His sheet into yours and you pass. Don't be like I was when a teacher told me that even if he gave me the answer sheet to copy, I would still fail. This examination is so critical and the questions have been answered, just take the answer sheet and copy.
The answer is salvation through the Blood of Jesus and you copy by being born again. You can't afford to fail God's exam. Can you imagine a man going to hell just because he is too proud to accept forgiveness of sin by saying, 'Lord I am sorry, I am a sinner' There is always a punishment for failing exams. Hell is the punishment for failing life’s exams.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, help me to live in such a way that I shall not be ashamed to stand before You, in the name of Jesus.
* When the Judge shall decide my case, I will not be a failure, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
In the journey of life in 2017, I shall not be stranded, in the name of Jesus.

Open my Eyes

Sunday 18 June
READ: Gen. 21:14- 19 MORE LESSON: Psa. 119: 18

Haggar was in crisis in the wilderness with her son. The water skin had gone dry and it looked like they both would soon die of thirst in the scorching heat of the desert. She began to weep. This is what most people would do in such a situation when it looks like there is no hope. Where would she get water in the desert for herself and her son? It looked like death was imminent. Many times when a problem is overwhelming and there seems to be nothing that can be done, all that people do is to weep. Crying about a problem doesn't solve it but praying does. Gen 21: 17 says that God heard the voice of the lad. It wasn't Haggar's wailing and weeping that got God's attention; it was the voice of the lad.
The solution came when God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water (Gen 21:19). This means that the problem was not even lack of water, the problem was because her eyes were closed. The Bible seems to imply that the water had been there all the while but she couldn't see it. She started crying and the tears blinded her the more so that she didn't know that the water she was weeping for was around her. She and her son would have died of thirst if not for God that sent His angel to call her attention to the well of water that was close by. The water was in a visible area but for as long as she could not see the water, she couldn't drink it. When she found the water, it was so much that it was enough to fill her bottle with much more remaining.
There is something that you are looking for and might be crying for but you are not getting. Yet, that thing is just around you where you are; all you need is for God to open your eyes. There are opportunities, hidden treasures and solutions around you, you just need your eyes to be opened. Your problem is not the problem; the problem is that your eyes are closed. When God opens your eyes to the right idea, you will arise and shine. Today God will open your eyes to the information you need to take you to the next level. You need the correct information and you also need the current information. When the eyes of your inner man are opened, you will get both the correct and current information and you will be moved from your present state to the next level. Ask God to open your eyes now to the answer you have been waiting for.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, open my eyes to the solution to every problem I am facing, in Jesus’ name.
* I receive spiritual sight to see what others are not seeing, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Whatever puts off people's candle light shall not prevail over mine, I shall glow and shine more and more, in the name of Jesus.