Vainglory

Saturday 12 August
READ: Phil. 2: 3
MORE LESSON: Matt. 5: 13-16

When men seek self glory it is vain. Vainglory is the glory that a man seeks for himself without allowing God to bestow it on him, ...so for men to search their own glory is not glory: Prov. 25:27. It is when a man does things to be seen and praised by men. Whatever you do to get praise for yourself will not attract the praise of God. If you seek your own glory, you will not see the glory of God on your life.
There are people who give money in church and they are offended because the pastor did not announce, “we thank God for Brother X who the Lord used to meet this need”. The pastor is in trouble if he acknowledges and praises the input of many in the church anonymously. The question is, 'Are they doing it for man or for God?' If you are doing it for God, then you don't need the praise of man. Do not let men give you all the reward you will get because they have praised and blown your trumpet; rather let God who sees in the secret reward you openly. Some brethren even complain, “Our church shows no appreciation, you come for meetings, contribute to the work and serve in the workforce and no one even says thank you.” Are you doing it to be thanked by men or to be rewarded by God?
Gal. 5:26 says, Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Vain glory stems from pride of life; it is when self wants to be seen and praised. Pride is a terrible destroyer as demostrated in the fall of Lucifer from Heaven to hell to become the devil. He was a beautiful angel who said in his heart that as attractive as he was, he was not getting due attention because God was always the subject of attraction. So he wanted to be seen and praised as well and he thought the best way to do it was to exalt himself above God so that all the attention that God got would come to him. Consequently he was cast down to hell. Pride always precedes a fall and vain glory will always lead to loss of God's glory.
If you want to amount to anything great in the hands of God, pride and vain glory must be cast out of your life. You must learn to do everything to the glory of God. This is not to say good deeds should not be appreciated in church or anywhere but that appreciation should not be the motive and purpose of doing anything for God, so that if you are praised give glory to God who enabled you to do what is praised and if not there should be no offence, all must be to the praise of God. Showmanship has no eternal reward, only a clap is its reward. All things should be done that God be praised, not us; that is the will of God.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that your service shall not be to seek vain glory nor the praise of men, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that you will not miss the reward for your services in God’s vineyard.
* Ask for grace to be spiritually minded in your spiritual service, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, the mercy You have shown me shall be extended to all my family members, none shall see death before seeing You, in the name of Jesus.

The Offering of Cain

Friday 11 August
READ: Gen 4: 3 – 15
MORE LESSON: Heb. 11: 4

Cain and Abel were brothers; born of the same parents. They both offered sacrifices to God. The offering of Abel was accepted while that of Cain was rejected. When Cain's offering was rejected, he became very angry. If God rejects a man's offering, anger should not be the next thing; rather he should find out why his offering was not accepted and make amends. God even told Cain that he had a second chance to get it right and become accepted, If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Gen 4:7 (NIV). However, like many people today, when Cain was corrected, he became angry and reacted against God instead of making amends.
Obviously Cain wanted to glorify himself by his offering and not to glorify God. If he really wanted to glorify God, he would have gone the extra mile to seek to know what God wanted when God rejected what he brought. It is when a man wants to glorify himself that he takes things personal when not approved. If you really sing to glorify God, why do you feel slighted that you are not chosen to lead a song? If you preach to glorify God, why do you get angry that the people didn't clap for you as much as they clapped for the other preacher in a meeting. A man who is out to glorify God with his offering is not after the praise of men.
Cain's offering was not accepted and so he was 'very wroth' (verse 5 KJV). 'Very wroth' is an advanced stage of anger. Cain was so angry that even God's attempt to pacify him was turned down, he refused God's warning and advice and he killed his brother. Cain became the first murderer in creation, and so he was damned.
Cain merely brought an offering to God but he ended up becoming damned for it. Men have brought offering to God and they lived because of it while some did and they died because of it. The difference is the heart; when a man brings offering to God, it must be brought on God's terms and to God's glory. It is when men want to offer to God on their own terms and to their own glory that they are destroyed for it. The offering of Cain is the offering done with a selfish intention. It is like the offering of a man who gives to church and thinks he has earned the right to start controlling the pastor. It is the service done to flaunt self and promote personal agenda rather than God's agenda. Today, you must pray to God to purify your heart and intention so that you may offer to God in righteousness (Mal. 3: 3).

Prayer/Action
* Pray that your life will be an offering of continual praise to God, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that your offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable to God, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask that by the mercy of God you will know what He requires of you and walk in it, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
This month I shall not live in ill health, I shall not waste my resources on sickness, I shall prosper in my body even as my soul prospers, in the name of Jesus.

Stewards of God's Resources

Thursday 10 August
READ: Matt. 14: 14 – 20
MORE LESSON: 2 Cor. 9: 10

All the resources we have are given to us by God, ...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven: John 3:27. We are actually not owners of riches or blessings but stewards to whom God has committed them. The earth with its fullness is owned by God (Psa 24: 1) and all that we have are what He has given us to hold in trust for Him. According to Jam 1: 17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. We will give an account of how we use God's resources that He has committed to our care.
God gives us money to keep for Him and then He demands for it when His work on earth needs it. One notable thing about God's resources in our care is that while He gives us money to keep for Him, He allows us to enjoy the interest that accrues on the money. So God's money is in our hands for His use, however the money yields interest for our use. God does not wish that you give to His work without a return, ...and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it:
Mal 3:10. He desires that you give to Him and He multiplies the resources in your hands so that you have more than enough to meet your needs.
In Matt. 14, Jesus collected five loaves of bread and two fish from a young lad so that it could be used for His work. We must not forget that the bread and fish was created by the Master and was His in the first place; the boy realised that he was a steward of the Master's belongings. So after the boy handed it over to the Lord, the Lord used it but it yielded an interest. The bread and fish multiplied and there were 12 baskets leftover. That interest belonged by right to the boy who gave up his lunch pack.
This shows that even though God puts resources in our hands and will make demands on them, He will always leave us with the interest so that we also have more than enough for ourselves. God is gracious. He gives His resources to us, asks us to give to Him out of His resources that He has given us, multiplies our gift when we give to Him out of His resources and gives us the multiplied interest so that we have more than sufficient for our needs and more to give to Him, which He will multiply again when we give.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to make you a channel through which His resources will flow to the world at large, in Jesus’ mighty name.
* Pray that you will be a faithful steward of God’s resources, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today I shut the door of August against every force of sorrow, misfortune and sad news, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Trust not in Riches

Wednesday 9 August
READ: Psa. 62: 8 – 10
MORE LESSON: Psa. 49: 6

Wealth is a great blessing that helps us to further the cause of the gospel and help humanity. Zech 1: 17 says, Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad.... Wealth and prosperity are part of God's plan for expanding His kingdom and purpose on the earth. There is an assumption in the Body of Christ that when a righteous man is rich, he will commit sin; therefore, God doesn't want us to be rich so that we will remain holy. This teaching has made a lot of believers unconsciously desire poverty in order to be safe. The truth is that poverty, more than prosperity, endangers salvation. It also endangers the work of God. The danger in prosperity comes when the money in our hands is not used for advancing the work of God. Anything we have that we cannot use for God becomes sin in our hand.
In the quest for prosperity, we must never allow riches to take the place of God in our heart. Those that trust in riches instead of God will destroy their own souls. Psa 62: 10 says if riches increase, do not set your heart upon them. It is in setting your heart on riches that you begin to offend God. When making money becomes more important to you than loving and serving God, or your sense of security is in the amount of money you have and not in the God that you have, there is trouble.
There are people that cannot give because there is a benchmark that they do not allow the money in their accounts to go below. Once their bank accounts start reading below a particular amount, they get restless and behave as if the sky is about to fall. This benchmark that they have set for themselves is another man's financial prayer point for a whole year. The sad thing is that they have not set a benchmark for their prayer life or fellowship with God.
As children of God we must get victory over the hold of money as we get victory over sin. As a child of God overcomes sexual immorality and stealing, he must also overcome the hold of money over his life. Greed and lust for money must be destroyed so that one is not ruled by money. Paul said, I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need: Phil 4:12. Paul is not advocating poverty but advising that there is nothing that we should not be able to live without. We should not trust in riches but be able to live contentedly with or without it.

Prayer/Action
* Tell the Lord that He will remain first in your life, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to add everything else to you as you seek first His kingdom, in Jesus mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I open the door of miracles, signs and wonders to this month; it shall be testimony all the way, in the mighty name of Jesus.