Springing Up

Tuesday 24 October
READ: Zech. 1: 20 - 21  
MORE LESSON:  Isa. 44: 4 – 5

A spring is an elastic metal that contracts when a force presses it down and expands when the force is removed. The spring goes up when the load which has been holding it down is removed. Most people are familiar with the pen that one presses and the ball-point comes out and you press again and the point goes inside. The mechanism of such pens operates by a spring. When a force is applied, it pushes the ball-point out and when force is applied again, it causes the point to go in. The same is true of the destinies of men. There are forces that hold men down and there are forces that make them spring up. For your destiny to spring up, a force higher than that holding you down must be applied. The fullness of your potential will only manifest when the superior force of the Spirit causes you to spring up. This force must be stronger than any force oppressing and holding down your destiny.

There are yokes of oppression that limit men and hold them down so that they are not able to lift up their heads. Zech 1: 20 – 21 talks about the four horns that scattered Israel, Judah and Jerusalem so that no man was able to lift their heads. However, the Lord sent four carpenters to destroy those horns. The result is that the people of God began to spring up and lift up their heads. Today, whatever force has been holding you down is destroyed, in the name of Jesus Christ. You are free to spring up and attain the fullness of your potential. Every curse, limitation and weight upon your destiny is destroyed, you are free to go higher.

Sometimes it is the force of sin that holds men down and does not allow them to reach the fullness of grace and calling of God on their life. Those yokes of sin need to be destroyed so that you can soar in the spirit. According to Hebrew 12: 1, we are to lay aside every weight and sin which easily besets us. This means we should remove the force of sin from our destiny so that we can spring up. Every sinful habit and stronghold that has forced your destiny down is destroyed today and you will spring up to righteousness and holiness as you move in great grace and do mighty things for God, in Jesus’ name.

Finally, ignorance also holds men down. The Bible says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...: Hos. 4:6. When men lack knowledge of what God has put in them no one can lift them up. We must search God’s Word for His promises for our life and go from there to discover our God-given potential and by faith put them to work. Prophesy to your destiny to spring up now, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
*Command every force and darkness holding you down to be broken now, in Jesus’ name.
*Declare that there is a lifting up for you today, in Jesus’ name.
*Pray that your destiny will bud and blossom, in Jesus’ mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
His banner over me is love; no force of hatred will be able to conquer me, in the name of Jesus.

Strength and Wisdom for Battle

Monday 23 October  
READ: Psa. 18: 35-46 
MORE LESSON:  2 Cor. 10: 4 – 6

Life is a battle. If you do not fight, you will still be fought. Some of the wars you face are due to envy and anger of people that hate you. As a child of God, the devil has drawn the battle line against you before you were born, so you had better get ready to fight so that you will not be a victim. However, keep in mind that the weapons of our warfare are not physical but spiritual (2 Cor .10: 4).

There are two types of people in war: those that have strength and those that have expertise in war. There are people who are strong and powerful in fighting battles. There are heroes in the Bible like Barak, Gideon and Jephtha who were mighty in battle. You should not be a weakling in the faith or else you will soon backslide. These are the days of His power and you must have power and strength for battle. However, there are people in the Bible like Samson who had great strength and power but lacked wisdom. Samson was so strong that he could tear a lion to pieces, carry the beam of the gate of a city, kill thousands of people with a stick but he had no sense enough to avoid Delilah. 

So eventually it was a woman that made a weakling of him and finished his destiny. Strength without wisdom is dangerous for we must  be people of wisdom in battle. Solomon was a man of wisdom but he didn't have strength of character, so he ended up marrying one thousand women and started worshipping idols. Do not be a wise man who cuts corners, or cheats at work. For you to last in this endtime battle, you need strength of character and godly wisdom.

Perhaps, a man who had a good blend of power and wisdom in battle was David.  In the Bible, David fought many battles and never lost. There was a situation where David found himself in the hands of his enemies and he quickly acted like a madman so that they sent him away instead of killing him (1 Sam. 21: 11 – 15).  Part of wisdom is knowing which battle to fight and which to avoid. David also sinned against God by committing adultery but he quickly made amends with God and when the child produced from the sinful act died, he glorified God rather than complain. Part of the wisdom for battle is knowing how to ask for forgiveness when you are wrong.  I pray that the Lord will infuse you with strength and courage and also make you a man of wisdom so that you can triumph in the battles of life. Success in battle is a combination of strength, wisdom and divine ideas, but above all, God.

Prayer/Action
*Ask God to gird you with strength and wisdom to win every battle of life, in Jesus’ name.
*Pray that you will not be a casualty in the battle of life no matter how tough it may be, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I plead the blood of Jesus over the remaining days of this month, and I rid it of evil story; it's time for glory, in the name of Jesus.

Don't forget God

Sunday 22 October
READ: Deut. 6:10-12 
MORE LESSON:  Deut. 8:9-18

God, in His fore knowledge, had seen ahead of time that man could become so full and satisfied with the pleasures of life and forget Him. So, in several scriptures, He warned man of the consequences of forgetting God. In Deut. 8:10-14, God said, When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. In Deut. 4:9, God warned, Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons.

The consequences of forgetting God are better told than experienced. Anyone who forgets God perishes as God Himself warned, And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God: Deut. 8:19-20. It is wickedness to forget God, and according to Psa. 9:17, The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.

One way to avoid forgetting God is to always praise Him and recount His benefits. When you praise God, you will have more of His goodness, Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us: Psa. 67:5-6. The more of God's goodness you see around you, the more of Him that fills your heart and mind. Choose to remember His benefits today and more will come rolling your way.

Prayer/Action
*I renounce anything that makes men to forget God, in Jesus’ name.
*Lord, I remember all Your benefits in my life and I thank You for them, in Jesus’ name.
*I choose to give God thanks instead of murmuring and complaining, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
My Father and my God, before this month runs out, multiply my shine and end my dark clouds, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Written Judgement

Saturday 21 October
READ: Dan. 5:22-31   
MORE LESSON: Psa. 69:20-25

When the sentence on King Belshazzar was passed, his judgement was written by a hand on the wall for him and those who were with him to see. Even when he and his people could not interpret the handwriting, they knew the implication. That was why he was so troubled and the entire nation stood still until a man was sought to give the meaning of the writing and gave the interpretation. The same night the judgment was proclaimed, Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was dethroned and slain. His kingship came to an end and another man took his place.

In the ancient world, whenever a judgement was passed and documented, it was irrevocable and must be executed. In the days of King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther in the Persian kingdom, the judgement contrived by Haman was documented. When the king discovered the error, he could not withdraw it even though Queen Esther pleaded for its reversal because it was already written. The king could only authorise another judgement to be written to empower the Jews to arise and defend themselves against the first judgement that had gone into circulation, Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse. Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them...and to take the spoil of them for a prey: Est.8:8,11. It was customary with the Romans to tag anyone they passed judgement on with a written code. That was why Pilate had to write on a plate “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews” and fixed it on Jesus’ cross.

There are judgements proclaimed and documented in the Holy Scripture concerning those who trouble your life and destiny. In Psalm 149:8-9 it is written, ...bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written. In Psa. 35:4-7, the judgment reads, Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Activate the written judgment over your matter today by proclaiming it in the name of Jesus and go on with your day. By night fall, you will hear news.

Prayer/Action
*Thank God for the written judgment for those who trouble my life. As You have written concerning them, let it be so now, in Jesus’ name.
*Declare that every force that opposes your destiny will go into captivity.
*Declare that the enemy’s decision against your life will not stand, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, rid me of circumstantial reproachful names beginning from today, in the name of Jesus.