Power to Forgive Sins

Monday 26 June
READ: Luke 5: 17 - 25
MORE LESSON: Psa. 32: 1 - 5

A man was brought to Jesus for healing. Invariably, his sickness was as a result of a sin he committed. Sin causes sickness and every kind of calamity. It was after the first man sinned that death, sickness and every other form of suffering entered into the world. Many times the troubles that a man faces are as a result of the sins he has committed. A person who lives in sexual immorality contacts HIV/AIDS and the toll of sickness begins to tell on his/her body. Sin has gross repercussions.
However in the text, we see a man who was suffering from sickness as a consequence of the sins he committed. When he was brought to Jesus, contrary to what many men would have said, Jesus didn't tell the man, “That serves you right. You committed sin and now sickness is ravaging your body. Good for you.” The compassionate Jesus looked at the man and said, ...Man, thy sins are forgiven thee: Luke 5:20. The religious guys were angry because He attributed to Himself the ability to forgive the man's sins. Jesus told them, But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house: Luke 5:24. Jesus healed the man as a proof that He had actually forgiven the man.
No matter how numerous or grievous your sins are, Jesus has the power and willingness to forgive you. Even if your suffering today is a consequence of the mistakes and sins of the past, Jesus is ready to forgive you and remove the consequence of your sins. If you have contracted a disease because you lived in immorality, Jesus is not one of those people who will stigmatise you and say that your condition serves you right. He wants to forgive your sins and heal your diseases. You will no longer be judged by the mistakes of yesterday, the Blood of Jesus will wipe your slate clean. His blood washes all your sins-past, present and future. The accuser might still be looking for your sins, but the blood of Jesus washes you.
There are only two things He requires of you. First, He wants you to come to Him in utter repentance. He has promised that whoever comes to Him, He will by no means cast out (John 6: 37). Come to Him and He will forgive you, wash away your sins and their consequences by His Blood. The second thing He demands of you is what He said to another man that had diseases as a result of his sins; Jesus said to Him and to you, ...Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee: John 5:14.

Prayer/Action
* Father, whatever is happening in my life as a consequence of my lifestyle, have mercy Lord, in the name of Jesus.
* Father in Heaven, forgive me my past and present sins, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Every dark stain on the horizon of my glory, by the blood of Jesus I decree them removed, in the name of Jesus.

The Heart, not the Message

Sunday 25 June
READ: Luke 8:4-15
MORE LESSONS: John 8:31-36

A friend once asked me why there are so many churches and powerful preachers in Nigeria, yet unrighteousness abounds. Before I could give an answer, he concluded, I think there is something wrong with the messages that are preached. It is either the preachers are not preaching the right stuff to change the people or the messages lack power to convict men of sin, righteousness and judgment. My friend may be right, but I also think there is something more as the Scripture reading explains. The sower planted the same seeds at different locations, but what influenced the different performances was the nature of the land.
Those which fell by the way side were trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured the seeds. Some fell upon a rock and as soon as they sprang up, they withered because there was no moisture. Some fell among thorns and were choked up by the thorns that sprang up with it. Yet others fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bore fruit a hundredfold (Luke 8: 4-15).
In the explanation of the parable, Jesus says the seed is the Word. No one can doubt the potency of God's Word. If the Word fails to produce result, it is not the inefficacy of the Word or of the sower, but the land, and in this case it is the heart of men that influences the performance of the seed. It is unfortunate that some listeners in church have the hearts that are
vulnerable to birds of the air. Such hearts are those that wonder about when preaching is going on.
They hardly hear anything in church. Even if they hear, the Word does not get home with them. The enemies of their souls simply pick everything. Others have hearts that cannot stay upon God's Word for a season. Although they hear and even respond to altar call, when their flesh demands for things contrary to the Word they hear, they easily submit to their flesh. These are believers who cannot resist temptation because they are not deep rooted in the Word. Some believers have hearts full of the cares of this world. Although they seemingly love God, they also love the world. They are those who use the Word as a cloak for covetousness. You never can be a friend of the world and please God in anyway, as the Scripture cannot be broken (1John 2:15-17). The cares of the world will stunt the growth of the Word.
It was the same seeds that fell on fertile ground and produced fruit in thirty, sixty and hundred folds. Anytime God's Word finds a fertile ground, the fullness of its potential will manifest. God's Word is perfect, converting the soul. It is a lamp to the feet of men, and a light to the path of them who believe. Make your heart ready today for God's Word, and the preaching you hear daily will produce positive effect in your life.

Prayer/Action
* Bind the forces that destroy the seed of God's Word in you.
* Decree that your heart will be receptive to God's Word.
* Pray that you will not miss any Word of God meant for you, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
In my life, work and family, I reject backward motion and lack of testimony, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Heart, not the Message

Sunday 25 June
READ: Luke 8:4-15
MORE LESSONS: John 8:31-36

A friend once asked me why there are so many churches and powerful preachers in Nigeria, yet unrighteousness abounds. Before I could give an answer, he concluded, I think there is something wrong with the messages that are preached. It is either the preachers are not preaching the right stuff to change the people or the messages lack power to convict men of sin, righteousness and judgment. My friend may be right, but I also think there is something more as the Scripture reading explains. The sower planted the same seeds at different locations, but what influenced the different performances was the nature of the land.
Those which fell by the way side were trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured the seeds. Some fell upon a rock and as soon as they sprang up, they withered because there was no moisture. Some fell among thorns and were choked up by the thorns that sprang up with it. Yet others fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bore fruit a hundredfold (Luke 8: 4-15).
In the explanation of the parable, Jesus says the seed is the Word. No one can doubt the potency of God's Word. If the Word fails to produce result, it is not the inefficacy of the Word or of the sower, but the land, and in this case it is the heart of men that influences the performance of the seed. It is unfortunate that some listeners in church have the hearts that are
vulnerable to birds of the air. Such hearts are those that wonder about when preaching is going on.
They hardly hear anything in church. Even if they hear, the Word does not get home with them. The enemies of their souls simply pick everything. Others have hearts that cannot stay upon God's Word for a season. Although they hear and even respond to altar call, when their flesh demands for things contrary to the Word they hear, they easily submit to their flesh. These are believers who cannot resist temptation because they are not deep rooted in the Word. Some believers have hearts full of the cares of this world. Although they seemingly love God, they also love the world. They are those who use the Word as a cloak for covetousness. You never can be a friend of the world and please God in anyway, as the Scripture cannot be broken (1John 2:15-17). The cares of the world will stunt the growth of the Word.
It was the same seeds that fell on fertile ground and produced fruit in thirty, sixty and hundred folds. Anytime God's Word finds a fertile ground, the fullness of its potential will manifest. God's Word is perfect, converting the soul. It is a lamp to the feet of men, and a light to the path of them who believe. Make your heart ready today for God's Word, and the preaching you hear daily will produce positive effect in your life.

Prayer/Action
* Bind the forces that destroy the seed of God's Word in you.
* Decree that your heart will be receptive to God's Word.
* Pray that you will not miss any Word of God meant for you, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
In my life, work and family, I reject backward motion and lack of testimony, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Another Repentance

Saturday 24 June
READ: Psa. 119:11
MORE LESSON: Jn. 5:39-47

Aside from repenting from our sins and iniquities, there exists yet another kind of repentance that we all must experience in our faith walk. It is repentance from sheer unbelief, which in the life of a Christian is one of the most grievous offences one can commit. This is so because we know that the Word of God cannot lie yet out of logic and personal perspectives we develop reasons to doubt the Word of God.
Every believer has the Holy Spirit, and it is He who empowers us to believe God’s Word until we receive what it promises. It is one thing to have the Word of God in your head (logos) and it is another to have the Word in your heart ( rhema). King David who was a man after God’s heart made this clear enough when he said of the Word of God in Psa. 119:11 that it must find its way into our hearts. For it is from our hearts that the abundance of life flows.
The Word of God is not a logical book and cannot be approached as such. It is spiritual wisdom and can only be interpreted by the Spirit of the One who inspired its writing. We are not even mandated to understand everything that the Word of God delivers to us at first contact because we just might not; we are rather instructed to believe it. This is the difference; faith. We must exercise our faith in God’s Word, both individually
and corporately. Faith is the prerequisite for getting the best out of God’s Word.
The litmus test of true maturity in the things of God is actually a measure of the difference between the scriptures we know in our heads and the ones we have received into our hearts and lives. Our head knowledge must be mixed with faith in our hearts so that we can get the results that the Word talks about. The Word in the book cannot do us good until it becomes the Word in the heart. Sin is figurative of all the works of the devil, so the psalmist was saying that the Word of God in his heart was his defence from the powers of darkness. Oh, how powerful is the Word of God in our hearts!
Enough of confessing your feelings, pains and your negative situations. Away with sense knowledge and approach to things; away with our traditions. It’s time to make heartfelt faith proclamations from the Word that is stored up in our hearts. It’s time to confess the Word of God by faith and see the power of God at work in and through us.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to help your unbelief, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to open the Word to you everytime, in the name of Jesus.
* Promise God that you will always obey His Word.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Rain of mercy and help from Heaven fall on me and my family this year, in the name of Jesus.