It is by Grace

Sunday 26 November
READ: Rom. 11: 5 – 6   
MORE LESSON: Rom. 9: 15 – 16

A highly respected servant of God once told us that if God were to make a choice based on qualification, it shouldn't have been him. All of us were stunned because we actually saw him as a person that was high in the esteem of God and man. But he told us that his mother was not the first wife in his father's house, and so by biblical implication, he was born in adultery. If God was to choose by human qualification, He wouldn't have chosen him. He also said that he borrowed shoes to graduate in secondary school. So if God's election was to be by a good financial  background, he would not have qualified. He is great and highly placed today by the grace of God.

I have also found that the highest qualification of man does not impress God. It is only who He decides to have mercy on. Being chosen and distinguished by God does not leave room for human pride; it is not the making of man. It is by the election of God's grace (Rom. 11: 5 -6). No man should take credit for the work of God in his life because he can’t pay for it, neither is it because of his capacity; it is the gift of God. Today, be like-minded, that whatever God is doing through you or has given you, you should not brag about it. After all, ...who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 1 Cor. 4:7 (NKJV).

It is foolish for a man to go around in pride because God is using him. God's power and grace on any man is a gift that  God put there. Some people are proud of being 'Men of God', forgetting that the man is not important, it is the God behind the man that matters. Take the God away, and the man becomes nothing. Today, whatever God has helped you to achieve or is helping you to do, I want you to maintain a humble posture and not see yourself as more spiritual or better than others around. Recognise that it is only by His mercy and grace that you are who you are. It is because God delights in you that He elected you to stand in that place. Do not give in to pride because if you do, the delight of God will be turned away and that favour will be removed and you will realise that on your own, you are nobody. I pray earnestly that God will never move His grace from your life, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that grace will lift you above every high standard, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will not forbid His grace from increasing in your life, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to help you live a life of humility, in Jesus’ mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
As the Lord ordered the release of the donkey (Mk 11:1-10) because he needed it, so I declare my own release today from everything tying me down because the Lord needs my life for His glory, in the name of Jesus.

No dry Day

Saturday 25 November
READ: Jer.17:7-8    
MORE LESSONS: 1 Kings 17: 1-16

Elijah was a man very zealous for the Lord. When Israel forsook the way of the Lord and turned to idols, He single-handedly declared drought upon the nation, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, but according to my word:1 Kings 17: 1. When there is no rain and dew, the plants cannot thrive and famine sets in. So Elijah triggered a national famine. Did Elijah overlook the fact that if Israel experienced famine, he would partake of it? Did he forget that if there was no food in the nation, there would be no food for him as well? No, Elijah knew but he understood something that we need to understand today, The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied: Psa. 37:18-19. As it turned out, Elijah was fed throughout the period of famine.

You need to get to the point where you sincerely know that rain or no rain, God can take care of you. Salary or no salary, connection or no connection, job or no job, He can ceaselessly supply your needs. In Elijah's case, God led him to the brook Cherith and sent ravens to bring him food daily. But it was not the brook and the ravens that were the source of his provision, it was God. So when the brook dried up, God the source of the supply opened another channel. Next time a man
closes a door on you, don't run helter-skelter; God is your source and He will open another means.

God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath and did a miracle so that the cruise of oil in the widow’s house did not dry throughout the famine. There was famine in the land but they didn't know a single dry day; that shall be your portion, in Jesus’ name. You need to know how this happened to Elijah so that you could apply it to your life. As earlier said, Elijah was zealous for God, he was a God-addict. He didn't start seeking God because of the famine, he had been irrevocably committed to God. It is possible to experience surplus and abundance no matter the economic problems in your nation, but you must be relentlessly committed to God. Secondly, Elijah's trust was not in the rain, brook, ravens or the widow; he understood that these were just channels. His trust was in God. As you trust God with all your heart, you will not experience a dry moment anymore, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Ask the Lord to give you exceptional portion no matter the prevalent evil in the nation, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Declare that your provision shall not stop even in the time of famine, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to help you trust Him in every situation, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I am a servant of the kingdom of God; I shall not serve the devil, sin or the world, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Growing in all Areas

Friday 24 November
READ: Lk. 2: 40    
MORE LESSONS: Psa. 18:32-34

Jesus grew into the greatness we see in Him today. There is no sin in being small or being a child; the only crime is choosing to remain a child. Some believers are always complaining about people and the church not giving them enough attention and care, so they move from one church congregation to another. Everybody needs attention but there is a degree of attention that a man looks for and you know that he is still a child. If you are a new convert in Christ, there is nothing wrong with always needing people to visit you, buy a Bible, books and devotionals for you. But a time should come for you to grow and start doing those things for somebody else. If you always need to be followed up and encouraged before you attend church services, you need to grow. It is a child that always looks for attention and wants to be carried; an adult gives attention and carries others.

The major defining point in growth is assuming more responsibility and less dependence. When you start taking responsibility, then you become mature. It is a sign that you have refused to grow up when you don't stop complaining of not being taken care of by people. Evidence of growth is that you learn to handle some things for yourself and have a personal vision and target for your life physically, financially and spiritually.     

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and
man: Luke 2:52. Jesus grew and waxed strong in spirit. Growth and advancement must be all-round. Any man who grows in one direction and doesn't grow in others is not growing. A human being with one part of his body growing while the others remain the same is obviously sick. Kwashiorkor is a medical problem in children in whom you could see just the belly growing big while  other parts of the body are emaciated. If you concentrate only on making money and doing well in your career but your spiritual life is going down, that is not growth. At the same time, if you are growing spiritually and there is no growth in other physical aspects of your life then something is wrong.

Remember the Bible says, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth:  III John 1:2. So as you prosper in spiritual things, there must be corresponding growth in physical and material things. Advancement is growing physically and spiritually, and may this begin to find expression in your life from today, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that you grow in grace until the fullness of the stature of Christ, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray for all-round growth physical, spiritual, and career, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that you will grow in strenght, wisdom, and favour with God and men, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
November is my set time, I can no longer be stopped, by favour and mercy I advance to my new level today, in the mighty name of Jesus.

God at Work

Thursday 23 November
READ: Psa. 44:1-9  
MORE LESSONS: John 14:1-3

One way you can know a man very well is by the nature of his work. In Deut. 32:2-3, Moses the servant of God ascribed greatness to God because of the nature of His work; His work is perfect. God does not just do things but does  perfect works. The word ‘perfect’ in this regard means His work is complete in all respects, completely correct, accurate, exact, without reservation or qualification, pure and absolute. Because Prophet Moses knew the quality of God's work, he decided to sing a song to glorify Him.

Each time God works, He does not do anything less than can be described as perfect. But before He can go to work on your behalf, He wants to know that you trust Him and you are able to stress your belief in Him. Moses did just that through his song as we see in today’s text, "Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us." : Psa. 44:5.
He told God they wanted to get victory through Him. Beloved, through God you can triumph over your enemy, and even get God to start a complete new thing in your life (Joel 2:21).

Boasting in God and praising Him also makes Him to go to work on your behalf. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah: verse 8. And as you know, when God is at work, His Spirit and His name will be present there (Gen.1:1-2).

Dearly beloved, you can provoke God to go to work in your life. May the Lord Almighty work His work in your life today and now, in Jesus’ name. Getting God’s attention is not difficult at all, in as much as you are in the fold. All you need more than any other thing is to praise Him every day. Give the testimonies of what God has done before and project your faith for more and you will know that God is never tired of doing works. As it is written concerning Jesus,
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him: Acts 10:38.
Jesus is anointed for good works because of what we may need today and tomorrow.

Prayer/Action
* Declare that the perfection of Jesus will be seen in all that you do today, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that God will put the weight of His glory to work on your behalf, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to perfect His workings in your life and family, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I shall not be a casuality of warfare; I receive cover by the blood of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.