Dangers of Ingratitude

Tuesday 9 January
READ: Psalm 100:1-5
MORE LESSON: Luke 17:12-19

God expects us to be grateful to Him. Every loving parent teaches their children to be appreciative of the support given them by all. Most times we claim we are grateful to God yet we do not show any sign of gratitude to our fellow man. But if we are not grateful to people who we can see, how can we be grateful to God who we cannot see? The Bible calls such a person a liar in I Jn. 4:20, If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.... We must therefore learn to appreciate God and the people He uses to help us. We must also appreciate God even for yet unanswered prayers. We must give thanks for all things.

When we live a life of not appreciating what God does for us, we heap a lot of trouble on ourselves:
1.We lock the doors of blessing. Do you know that a single “thank you” can lead to another kindness? Psa. 100:4 says, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.... This means anyone who is not thankful at the gate cannot access the court. Our thanksgiving at the gate is our password to entering the court. The court is where God dwells, and everything we need or will ever need is found there. But ingratitude can hinder us from entering the court.

2.We activate anxiety in our lives. No wonder the Bible says in Phil 4:6, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. We must present our requests to God with thanksgiving. Whenever we are not grateful for what God has done for us, the good things He has done diminish in our hearts and the things He is yet to do are magnified. This is a trick of the devil to make you feel that God is not faithful and therefore afflict you with anxiety. If you learn to see what God has done and thank Him for it while waiting patiently for Him to do others, you will save yourself  the trouble of anxiety.

3.We become short sighted. An ungrateful man is one who lacks the ability to see and appreciate the good done to him. So any man who chooses to be ungrateful will always only see what has not been done for him. We do this a lot of times. When we take a record of all that God has done for us against what He has not done, we will discover that what He has done is more than what He is yet to do. But when we complain, we sound as if God has not done anything for us. This is what ingratitude can do- make you short sighted.  

Prayer/Action
*Confess every act of ingratitude to God and men.
*Ask the Lord to give you grace to be grateful.
*Thank God for everything around your life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, in 2018, make a way for me that even with closed eyes, I shall not miss my way, in the name of Jesus.

Gratitude

Monday 8 January
READ: I Kings 2:7
MORE LESSON:  I Thessalonians 5:18 

David was a man who God recognised because of his acts of gratitude. He virtually lived his life appreciating every kind gesture done to him and this made God pleased with him. The Bible tells us that at the time David was dying, he called Solomon his son and told him to show kindness to people who had been good to him as a way of appreciating them. David’s heart was the heart of appreciation. No wonder the King of Glory had to come from his family and lineage; he was a man that was given to appreciation and was grateful in all things.

In fact, David was grateful to a fault. In spite of all that Saul did to David, he still sought an occasion to be kind to his family in appreciation of what Jonathan had done for him when he was running from Saul. When Saul died, he asked if there was somebody left in Saul’s family that he could favour for Jonathan's sake. Jonathan was a very close friend of David, and the son of Saul but he loved David so much that he made a covenant with him. He took the risk of revealing his father's next plan to David; a rare act. Imagine that your father wants to kill somebody but you became  that person’s friend and revealed security information to him. If Saul had discovered it, he would have killed Jonathan. He risked his life to love his father's enemy, and David appreciated it. 

In that war, Saul and Jonathan died and David regretted the loss of Jonathan such that he was prepared to do anything in honour of their friendship. When David got to the throne, he asked if there was anyone in the house of Saul that he can show his kindness to. David could have decided to be ungrateful because of Saul's wickedness to him. But rather than look at the negative things and remain ungrateful, David chose to remember the positive thing about Saul's family and show them kindness.

Most times we are quick to forget people's act of kindness to us, especially if they later offend us. Rather than consider the negative and remain ungrateful, we should remember the good they have done and be grateful for it. Refusal to acknowledge the good acts because of an offence makes us the same with our offender. However, when we choose to overlook the wrong and still remain grateful for the good done to us in the past, we create a class for ourselves. This is why the Bible admonishes us; Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good: Rom. 12:21. Be grateful anyhow!     

Prayer/Action
* Give God thanks for many of His benefits in your life.
* Ask God to give you grace for a heart of gratitude to God and man.
* Ask God to help you see reasons to be grateful in all things.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
8th January 2018, you will not sing the song of my enemies, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Discover and Finish your Assignment

Sunday 7 January
READ: Joshua 13:1-6
MORE LESSON: II Timothy 4:1-8

Many people wander aimlessly through life. They don't know why they were born and for some, it has never occurred to them that they were born for a reason. No one is a biological accident. Even children who are born out of wedlock are not accidents. There is a reason why God allowed them to be born. They would have been aborted but God preserved them so that they can fulfil His eternal purpose.
On the other hand, there are people who have discovered what they are destined to do but who are just lazing around or who lack the capacity to complete that which they have started. The beginning of a race is as important as the finishing. No one who competes in athletics hopes to begin and not reach the finish line. In the same way, God expects that we don't only discover our purpose but also run with it to the end.
The following keys will enable you discover, run with and finish your assignment.
1. The first key in doing God's work and any other thing in life and finishing is being a faithful seeker and not a gambler. There are too many gamblers in church who have no direction. They always live by trial and error. This is a waste of time, and consequently a wasted life. Closely related to gamblers are gossips. They are always interested in people's life because they lost focus. Gossip, like cancer, is a destroyer of destiny. Nothing productive comes from the gossip. With their tongue they kill faster than the sword; they run down people and never get to the height of the people they run down. If all you do is spend your time talking about others, you may not have the time to seek and discover your assignment and if you don't really know what you were born to do, then how can you finish it?
2. You must be determined. If you are not determined in life, many things will take you from your purpose.
3. You must be ready to pay a price. There is always a price for a good finishing; there is no successful end without a price. Eye service does not deceive your Master but it reduces your destiny. You must work hard because spiritual things are not for the lazy.
4.  Make sure your methods are scriptural.  Godly means bring good result while ungodly means may give what you want but you will pay for it at the end. Pay the price for following a godly means so that your joy will not be cut short when you get to the finish line.
Child of God, I pray for you that you will not end your assignment half way; like Paul and Jesus you will reach your finish line strong. Another man's destiny will not become your own, you will find yours and fulfil it, in Jesus’ name.  

Prayer/Action
*Ask God for grace not to miss your purpose in life.
*Declare that your purpose in life will not be truncated.
*Ask God for the grace to finish well in life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
By the authority in the name of Jesus, 2018, you must hear me when I call, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Anointing for Assignment

Saturday 6 January
READ: I Samuel 15:10-28   
MORE LESSON: I Samuel 28:3-8 

Our text today is the story of David whom God anointed in place of Saul. God appointed Saul first but he disobeyed Him; he was more interested in what he could get than serving. As a result, God took away the kingdom from him and gave it to David. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God departed from Saul. God did not only take the kingdom, He also took His Spirit, who is the Anointing.

The anointing of God upon a man's life is for the purpose of the assignment God wants him to do. Therefore, the moment the assignment ceases the anointing also ceases; the anointing functions so long as the man functions in his assignment. Notice that God was quick to take His Spirit away as soon as Saul decided to please himself and not the Master. Many people get so busy bragging around with the anointing given to them instead of using it to fulfil the assignment. The anointing is not for show-off. The day God takes the assignment, He will also take away the anointing. God took the assignment from Saul and the anointing went away too.

Do you know you can lose the anointing? Anything that comes can go; anything that can hear, ‘come’ can also hear, ‘go’. Glory can come and it can also disappear; it is not permanent. It is for a purpose, and where it is not used for what it is meant for God does not hesitate to give it to someone else who will make judicious use of it. In the same way as God calls men, He also replaces them if they fail in the duty He has assigned them. The day that Saul abandoned the assignment that was given to him, the Bible tells us that the glory of God departed not just from Saul but the entire land of Israel was affected. That was to the point that they were disgraced when they went to war; the secret of their victory was taken away. Israel always had victory over their enemies because of the presence of God that was always with them. However, when the presence departed, they were badly defeated.

As children of God and as servants in His vineyard, we must be careful what decisions we make because they could have not just local but national or even global impact. It is my prayer that we would use the anointing to carry out our assignment for trans-generational impact, in Jesus’ name. Today check your life to see if the assignment and anointing are still in place. Do not sit down and allow demonic powers to carry on the work like Saul did and as many fake prophets do today. When the anointing departs, we can also go back and seek the face of our merciful God for restoration. God is ever willing to take us back and re-equip us for greater exploits.

Prayer/Action
*Ask that the Lord will anoint you afresh today for His assignment.
*Pray that God’s presence and anointing will not depart from you.
*Pray that you will not lose sight of your destiny assignment.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER:
As the Lord lives, this year, I shall prevail on every side, in the precious name of Jesus.