Embracing Persecution

Sunday 1 April
READ: Acts 21: 1– 14
M O R E L E SSON: Mark 10: 29 - 30

Paul was about to go to Jerusalem and a prophecy was given to him that if he did, persecution and bond was waiting for him. He replied that he was willing to go, not only to be bound but to be killed for the cause of Christ. His companions wept, trying to dissuade him from going to the place of persecution. He told them that they were only breaking his heart by their tears because he was ready to suffer for the sake of Christ and also to die for Him, if the need arose. It is high time the Church began to study the lives of men like Apostle Paul again. One would wonder whether it is the same faith that these people received that we have received today. When the Lord called Paul to preach, He told him that he would suffer greatly for the cause of Christ. Paul heeded the call and embraced the suffering. How many people today will answer God's call if the Lord tells them that the call includes suffering and persecution?
Several times, Paul was put in jail for preaching; on getting there, he would start preaching in the prison and convert all the prisoners to Jesus. He was charged to court for preaching the gospel and was brought before the judges and kings. He stood up as if to defend himself but started preaching to everyone in the court so much so that he nearly converted King Agrippa to Christianity (Acts 26: 28). It was Paul who said ...woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel: 1 Cor. 9:16. This man actually vowed that he should be cursed if he stopped preaching the gospel.
The depth of the commitment of Paul and many others in the Bible and post-Bible days was what made Christianity survive till it reached our generation. Living less than the standard set for us is failing in passing on the baton that was passed to us. Jesus asked whether He would find faith on earth when He returns (Lk. 18:8). Each generation is to preserve the faith that is handed over to them and hand it over to the next generation. I pray that our generation will not be the one to fail the Lord. We must rise and rescue Christianity from the decadence that is setting in. We should go back to the ancient path and see how the fathers did it. We should learn from the example of men that laid all down to make sure the baton reached us and we should not be afraid to pay the price to see that we pass on genuine faith to the next generation.

Prayer/Action
* From today, I lay off my idol I go for Jesus.
* There shall be nothing too precious for me not to give up for Jesus.
* My life, my time, my everything I surrender all at the feet of Jesus.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Jesus, Your death and resurrection made today ajoyful day, thank You for April's good!

The Hallowed Place

Wednesday 31 January
READ: Exodus 3: 4 - 6  
MORE LESSON: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

A nation, tribe, people or place can be chosen by God. Jehovah does not do things haphazardly; He is a God of order and choice. It is man's responsibility to find out what God has chosen and align yourself with it. There are places that God has chosen; when you recognise and position yourself in such places, you attract God to yourself.  In Exo. 30:6, the Lord said to Moses, And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you (NKJV). The Lord specified where He would meet with him. If Moses went somewhere else and waited for God, he might end up waiting in vain. In the same vein, when Moses was to encounter the glory of God face to face, God told him where to stay. The Lord said, ... Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock… and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen: Exo. 33:21-23.

We must understand and respect the power of places that the Lord has chosen. Hallowed places must be given due reverence. God has a great regard for such places and so must we. If God has arranged to meet you at the vigil in church and you decide that you want to pray in your bedroom while the other brethren are praying in the church, you can lose the blessing. There is a principle of places with God. It seems at times that unsaved people respect places of God than believers. I have never seen an unbeliever enter a church and light a cigarette, because even in the heart of unregenerate men, there is an understanding that the church must be hallowed. Normally, in times of war, when you run into a religious place of worship like a church, no one is allowed to harm you inside the sanctuary. This is because even governments and warlords respect the consecrated place of worship. However, some people in the name of Pentecostalism have lost respect for God and the altar. People do unspeakable things in and around the house of God and some have thereby brought curses on themselves.
Some hallowed things of God include:
1. God's name and altar.
2. God's offering – don't steal it.
3. Marriage bed – don't desecrate it.
4. God's anointed ones/servants – never raise a finger against them.

Everyone that respects what God hallows gets the blessing that he deserves. God has set aside places of worship and everyone who respects such places gets a reward from the Almighty.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that today you will be where God wants you to be, and do what He wants you to do.
* Ask that the presence of God will go with you from today.
* Request that the will and command of God will guide you.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I can't explain it but thank You Jesus, You made a way in January and it shall remain so throughout 2018, in the mighty name of Jesus. 

Mercy for a Manasseh

Tuesday 30 January
READ: 2 Chronicles 33: 1 – 20 
MORE LESSON: Psalm 89: 30 - 37    

Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Israel's history. He led Israel astray into idol worship and, of all the kings before him, did evil beyond measure. He went as far as building altars for idols and placing them in the Holy of Holies of the temple of Jehovah. He thereby turned the tabernacle of God to a shrine for idols. Manasseh burned his sons as offerings to devils and gathered sorcerers and magicians as his court advisers. Manasseh is believed to be responsible for the death of Prophet Isaiah and many other men of God during his time. This king of Israel actually killed prophets as he was out to abolish the memorial of Jehovah from Israel. Manasseh was a man that can be rightly termed a stout enemy of God. The Lord spoke to him many times but his heart was hardened like Pharaoh’s.

God then sent Assyrian troops to conquer Israel. Manasseh was bound with chains and carried as a slave to Babylon. In the anguish and pain of slavery in the dungeon of Babylon, Manasseh pleaded with Jehovah for mercy. 2 Chron 33:12-13 records, And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. When Manasseh prayed to God in affliction, the Lord did not only forgive him but took him out of the prison of Babylon, returned him to Israel and set him back on the throne as king. In fact, the prayer of Manasseh is one of the Apocryphal books that is recorded in some Jewish texts. This means that the prayer of repentance that the evil king prayed was documented and read as scripture.

The story of Manasseh is a testament of the depth of the mercy of God. There are 'Manassehs' in our world today and the Lord has not given up on them and neither should we. No matter the evil a man has done, he can obtain mercy and acceptance from God. If God can forgive and restore Manasseh, then there is no person that cannot find mercy. The mercy of God turns the vilest sinner to the greatest saint.

Another thing the Lord must have considered in restoring Manasseh was His covenant with David. God had promised David that even if his children go astray, He will punish them but He will not take the throne entirely from the seed of David. Manasseh was a seed of David, so he obtained mercy. This is a lesson; we should start sowing seeds of covenant with God that will give a harvest of mercy to our children when we are gone.      

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for His mercy for any sinner in your family (nuclear and extended).
* Ask that by God’s mercy, your long standing problems will give way.
* Ask that by God’s grace and mercy, every long standing judgement on you be averted.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Thou everlasting God, as long as You remain on the throne, my place cannot be empty in destiny, in the name of Jesus.

Desiring More of His Glory

Monday 29 January
READ: Exodus 33: 18-23       
MORE LESSON: Psalm 63:1-8  

Moses started a journey to a greater dimension of God's glory by making a request that nobody before him had ever made. Many of his fore fathers had encountered God but his divine encounter was different as  He saw God face to face (Exo. 24:10). The reason Moses was able to go far  in his encounter with God was that he was a man that  always desired more of God. Moses had experienced God at the burning bush (Exo. 3:2); he had spoken to God one on one as a man with his friend (Exo. 33:11); he had seen and performed miracles, signs and wonders but he was still not satisfied; so he asked for more and said, “Lord, show me Your glory”. Glory starts when a man desires and pursues the right thing which is the knowledge of the glory of God. I pray that you will make the right request to God today.

It is what a man desires that he attracts to himself. If he desires money, he  will always think, talk and attract money. However, the man that desires God and pants after Him will get God. When you acquire the glory of the Lord , you will attract every other thing to your life.  Therefore, the best desire a man can have is to know God more and partake of His glory. God granted Moses' desire  and he saw  God's face. After seeing the face of God, his own face began to shine and the children of Israel could not look at his face anymore but began to bow before him. When you contact God's glory, your countenance will shine and people will bow to you. He who kneels before God can stand before men.

It is time to desire God above all material things. Like Moses, become a man who is always hungry for more and more of God. Remember Matt. 5: 6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Those that hunger and thirst for God are the ones that will equally receive the precious gifts and material blessings that people run after.
Steps to finding more of God
1. Accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
2. Accept that there is more of God than you have seen, Phil. 3:10.
3. Like King David, ask for more of God, Psa. 42:1.
4. Spend more time in the study of the Word and prayer, Jude 1:20, 2 Tim. 2:15.
5. Be sensitive to things of God and His workings, Lk. 24:15-16, 30-32.   

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to increase your thirst and hunger for Him.
* Ask God to reveal His glory through you.
* Receive the grace to be sensitive to God and His workings.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Thank You Jesus, my path shall drop honey, honey and honeycomb throughout 2018, in the mighty name of Jesus.