The Permissive Will

Thursday 16 November
READ: Num. 22:12-22   
MORE LESSON:  Psa. 106: 14 – 15

The way of self-will is the way of destruction but the path of the will of God is the path of peace.  Many believers are being destroyed because they insist on their own way as against the way of the Lord. This is depicted vividly in the life of Balaam. The Lord told him not to go and curse Israel but because of the many riches and pleasure that the Moabites promised him, he kept wearying God with prayers of inquiry until the Lord granted him the go ahead even though it wasn't God's will.

Many believers have made up their minds about what they want to do before  they start bombarding God with prayers to endorse their decisions. Even when God tells them ‘No’, they keep praying and fasting as if that will force God's hand to change and allow them. Finally, they get a release to go the way they want and they say it is God that gave them a go ahead. No, God didn't, you made God to let you. It is like when we were kids, we would weary out our mothers with so much crying that they give us what they didn't want to. They tell us, 'Take and don't kill me. Whatever happens to you, you are on your own.'

Psalm 106: 15 captures this scenario right: the children of Israel kept pestering God with complains to give them flesh to eat in the wilderness. The Bible says, And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. There are many believers that are victims of God’s permissive will. God warns them not to go into a particular relationship, business or career but they refuse the counsel of God.  They keep pestering, fasting, praying and pushing ahead even though they have been warned that it is not God's will. The Lord does not force His will on any man, so He allows them to obey the idol in their heart but then the consequence will be theirs to face.

Balaam faced his consequence; he was disgraced as a prophet. Even an animal eventually had more sense than him. God left him and began showing visions to a donkey. He left God and joined camp with idol worshippers because of greed. Consequently, when the children of Israel were to destroy the inhabitants of the land and possess the land of Canaan, Bible records that, Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them: Josh 13:22.  Balaam walked the path of the permissive will and was destroyed for it. You will not be adamant in going against God's will, in Jesus’ name. Receive the grace to walk in the will of God in every area of your life. 

Prayer/Action
* Submit your will to God and ask Him to have His way in your life and matters.
* Rebuke the spirit of arrogance and self-will in your life and receive a humble heart to submit to God.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I command all pharaohs and all evil task masters over my life, hear the word of the Lord, my time of release is now, let my destiny go now, in the name of Jesus.

Flesh or Spirit?

Wednesday 15 November
READ: Gal. 4: 22 - 31   
MORE LESSON:  John 3: 6

Abraham had two sons. Ishmael was the first child who was born to the bond woman and Isaac was the younger one who was born according to the promise.  Ishmael was born after the flesh but Isaac was born after the Spirit. Abraham had to cast out the child of the flesh so that the child of the promise could occupy his rightful position. Until the flesh is cast out, the Spirit cannot find expression. The difference between the child of the flesh and the child of the Spirit is that God had given a word concerning Isaac but no word preceded Ishmael. Isaac was God's idea but Ishmael was man's idea that resulted from Sarah's advice to Abraham to sleep with her handmaid so that Sarah could have a child through her.  For everything that you do, you must check whether it is of the flesh or of the Spirit. Is it God's idea that you are carrying out or you are merely following man's agenda? It is only what God originates that He backs up.

Esau and Jacob were children of Isaac. A prophecy had gone ahead that the younger would carry the blessing of the covenant but the older one was preferred by the father. It is not what you prefer that matters, it is what God wants. You must check every step and every venture you undertake whether it is from God or from the flesh. Remember that whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3: 6). It is only what originates from the Spirit of God that is of the Spirit. This is why you must consult with the Holy Spirit and hear God before you take any step.

Was your marriage born of the flesh or the Spirit? The ministry you started, is it of the flesh or the Spirit?  Did God send you or you sent yourself? It is only the venture or idea which God initiates that He supports. Ishmael was the senior but he was not selected; Esau was also the senior but was not chosen. It is not about seniority but the Spirit. You might have been pursuing your own agenda for long but when you hear the voice of God, you have to set aside the 'senior' and pick up that which the Lord instructs. If you have been in a relationship that is not of God for years and God's Spirit is now warning you to stop it, do not count the number of years that has gone into it. It is not about how long, it is about whether what you are doing is of the flesh or Spirit.  Remember God's Word, For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting: Gal. 6:8.

Prayer/Action
* Repent of every step or decision born of the flesh, which you have taken, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God for grace to wait for His instruction for every step you take, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that you shall walk  by the leading of God's Spirit, in Jesus’ name

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
My cry shall be heard in the high heavens, I shall live to see my desires in the land of the living and I shall be a living testimony, in the name of Jesus.

Abraham and Lot

Tuesday 14 November
READ: Gen. 13: 5 - 8     
MORE LESSON: Gen. 19: 15 – 29

When God called Abraham, he took Lot with him.  It was as a result of God's blessing upon the life of Abraham that Lot became blessed. However, with time, Lot forgot the source of his blessing and allowed selfishness to overtake him. He began to have contentions with Abraham's men over grazing land. He felt that his cattle were not feeding well because Abraham's cattle were taking up the space.

It is like allowing a visitor to stay in your house where you pay the house rent, utility bills and even buy all the food while he keeps saving his money in the bank. Then one day, after accumulating at your expense, he starts to complain that you are suffocating his business. There are some selfish believers like that. They take advantage of other people's benevolence and want to live entirely on other people. I always teach that if a believer is staying with someone, he must also try to make contribution no matter how small. Even if the host is blessed and is not demanding, it is good you make your little input to his/her overall wellbeing. If you are working and are still staying with your parents, buy some things and bring home. They probably do not need them but it shows a sense of responsibility on your part.

Lot faced Abraham one day and said “Uncle, I don't know what is happening these days, my cattle are not feeding well because your herdsmen deprive them”. He has forgotten that when he left Ur, he had nothing. The cattle he was calling his own were probably part of what Abraham gave him to start him up in life.

Abraham on the other hand said, “Let there be no fight between us, choose where you want to graze your cattle and if you go one side, I will tell my men to go the other side”(v8). What a selfless man! He didn't even make the first choice though he was older. Sometimes selflessness could look like foolishness but it always pays off in the long run. Abraham relinquished the right to make the first choice to Lot who selfishly grabbed it. Lot looked at the place where the grass was green and the land was very good and went for it. Little did he know that he was camping in Sodom, the place of destruction. When selfishness rules a man's life; he ends up destroying himself.

Abraham chose the path of selflessness and ended up in Canaan – the land flowing with milk and honey. Beloved, review your relationships today and check what you are doing to your Abraham, your destiny helper. Look back and front and see whether you have been ungrateful, greedy or selfish in life, and repent before you end up like Joseph’s brothers who attempted to kill their Joseph yesterday only to seek his help from famine today! Abraham may still be needed tomorrow.

Prayer/Action
* Ask the Lord to grant you grace to live as an instrument of peace anywhere you go, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray against the spirit of selfishness, greed and self centredness, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, I declare that I might have seen delay but I shall not be late, my victory will appear to all this month, in the name of Jesus.

The old Lie

Monday 13 November
READ: Matt. 28:1-15  
MORE LESSONS: Psa. 2:1-3

When the enemies of Jesus noticed that their plot was failing, they decided to use a lie to defend their evil. They gave money to the soldiers guarding Jesus’ grave to make them lie that the disciples came by night while they slept and stole the body away, So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day: Matt. 28:15. Meanwhile, Jesus had resurrected and begun to show Himself to His disciples. What a courageous lie; that the  disciples stole a dead body but the dead person was seen walking in the streets. However, the Bible says, despite seeing the resurrected Jesus, though without effect, this lie is ...commonly reported among the Jews until this day: Matt. 28:15. It has become a mockery of the enemy to tell such an open undefendable lie.

In the same way, the lies of your enemies, no matter how old and popular, will have no effect on your destiny. No matter how much was paid in monetary term or otherwise to raise a lie against you, the pronouncement will not stand, in the name of Jesus. Know that every pronouncement of men and of life circumstances that is contrary to God's Word and promises is an open lie and  cannot stand. Barrenness is a lie because it is written, There shall nothing cast their young nor be barren, in thy land: Exo. 23:26a. Untimely death is also a lie because the Word says, ...the numbers of your days I will fulfill: Exo. 23:26b; and With long life will I satisfy you…. Psa. 91:16. Poverty is a lie. David said, ...yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed begging bread: Psa. 37:25. Similarly, sickness and diseases are lies; …and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee…: Exo. 23:25. Oppression is a lie: ...thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear…. Isa.54:14.

Everything that is contrary to what God has said remains a lie and must end. Only the Word of the Lord shall stand forever (Psa. 33:11). No matter how old the  words of the enemy are, they shall bow to the counsel of the Lord, There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand: Prov.19:21. Therefore, child of God, stand on what God has said over your matter, disbelieve the lie of the devil. No matter how strong and real it may look, it shall not stand. Fill you heart always with what God has said. Read the Word, memorise it and confess it to your situation and it shall be well with you. Whose report will you believe from today? God's Word or Satan's lies? (Isa.53:1).

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to expose every lie of the devil in your life, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that every satanic curse shall turn to foolishness, in Jesus’ name.
* Today disclaim every negative report about you that is not from God, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I have a covenant with life, this month will not see my obituary, I shall live to see greater days, in the name of Jesus.