Take your Place

Sunday 8 April
READ: I Kings 18:20-40
MORE LESSON: Matthew 6:21-24

Today it seems like the reigning ministry is the prophetic. We have more prophets rising every day, exhibiting all manner of 'powers' and they seem to be taking over the cities. They go to newspaper houses and give prophecies, and journalist, as well as political leaders are running after them to ask them what tomorrow looks like. There seems therefore to be a lot of confusion as to who is fake or original.
In the days of Elijah, the counterfeits were discovered with ease. They had been ruling and reigning, carrying unholy oil around, prophesying and doing wonders. You know fake oil also does wonders but they are temporary wonders. God spoke to Elijah, and he gathered the children of Israel alongside the 400 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel to differentiate the fake from the original because there was also confusion just as we have today.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word:1 Kings 18:21.
Israel could not differentiate between Baal and Jehovah; so he asked them to make a choice whether to follow Baal or Jehovah, and they answered not a word. Their backsliding was so deep and they were in such a confusion that they couldn't answer.
In the days of Moses, one day he stood up and said, “Choose ye whom to serve”, and they said, “We will serve the Lord our God” because revival was still on. When Joshua took over, he also said, ...choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell...: And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve...: Josh. 24:15, 24.
But in the days of prophet Elijah, because genuine prophets had gone underground due to fear, the fake men took over the centre stage. They were referred to as the prophets of Baal while Elijah was referred to as the prophet of Jehovah. Elijah believed he was the only one left and he asked that God should kill him. Then God told him there were seven thousand prophets who had not bowed to baal in hiding. The problem was that, though they had not bowed to Baal, but they were hiding their identity. When a man is given a gift and he hides it, that gift does not exist because buried gifts don't produce result.

Prayer/Action
* Commit yourself to the Lord as His servant who will stand for Him no matter what.
* Pray that you will not fall into deception of false prophet.
* Ask the Lord to, by His grace, keep and sustain all His true prophets in our land.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Every messenger of hell working to make me a perpetual spiritual dwarf, I command you to lose your hold over me now, in the name of Jesus.

Living on the Mountain Top II

Saturday 7 April
READ: Mark 9:2-7
MORE LESSON: John 14:12-15

God places us on the mountain top so that we can show forth the excellency of His glory; we are His ambassadors. If you must live as an ambassador and representative of the Kingdom on the face of the earth, the only place that is convenient and correct for you is the mountain top and only privileged people are taken there. The Master Jesus had 12 disciples and only three were taken along to the Mount of Transfiguration.
The experience on the mountain top is never the same as the one in the valley. This is because the higher you go the cooler it becomes; God releases a fresh breeze. The eagles are on the top of the mountain and it is time for us to locate ourselves correctly. Eagles should stop having a nice time with chickens on the ground. Flap your wings and fly. There is strength inside you to mount high as an eagle, …they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint: Isa. 40:31.
God is expecting us to go up and not remain on the ground. We are the ones who give direction to the world, and other people are supposed to look up to find us. It is not enough to be a light, this light must be set on a hill top; that is, higher height. Higher because for light to break over darkness it must be lit upon a hill. That a double ability.
In John 14:12, Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Don't run down anyone because he is doing better than you; get out and do your own. Every eagle is endowed with a wing, so spread out your own and soar. Jesus said we can do better but no one has hit his standard till today. We have a long way to go. Everyone satisfied with mundane things needs to change his mind-set. Many of us have not even hit the target of the Old Testament prophets. We are not expected to be complainers anymore, but testifiers.
The plan of God is a greater height, so I want you to get out of your little mentality and be challenged to a greater height. Make up your mind to compare yourself with the Master Jesus and not be satisfied until you hit His standard. Say to yourself, “No matter how far I've gone, I see a higher height ahead of me, in Jesus’ name”.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that your life will show forth the excellent glory of God.
* Ask God to raise you and keep you at the top in every area of life.
* Ask for grace to keep pressing towards the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: I shall serve the Lord, and He will bless my bread and my water and take away sickness and diseases from my land, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Living on the Mountain Top I

READ: Matthew 5: 14-16
MORE LESSON: Proverbs 4:18

There is a higher life; it is the life on the mountain top. God's dream and desire for our lives is that we live on top of the mountain and not in the valley. God has no business looking for you down the valley. There is something wrong with the Church that must be corrected. We go to the world and copy what they do instead of the world taking direction from the Church. Prosperity must rule in the Church and the world should come to borrow from us not the other way round. When we talk about living a higher life, we are talking about living a life that is on top of the hill, and it is all encompassing; physically, spiritually, materially, financially, maritally etc.
Five things distinguish a man who is on top of the hill.
1. He is delivered from obscurity; he isn't hidden. No one lights a candle to look for what is on top of a hill. God strategically placed us on the hill so that the world won't keep looking for us. The world lies in gross darkness and to illuminate it, God has placed us as light on the hill. We are only relevant as light if we are placed on the mountain top. We have been delivered from obscurity, so don't go down the hill to seek relevance in the world (Matt. 5:14).
2. He is prominent. He always comes first in the list of honoured men. God's intention for His children is that the world will see His excellency through us. I Peter 2:9 says we are called to show forth His praise. He has placed us on the mountain top so that in the class of the honourable, we will be more honourable.
3. He lives above all situations and conditions. Nothing puts Him under. Any man sitting on the mountain top is there because he has been able to surmount all the challenges that would have stopped him. Living on the mountain top makes you live above every challenge.
4. We are lifted by grace. It is by His grace that we are lifted from being ordinary to become extra-ordinary people. Grace is a lifter.
5. Finally to be a man on the mountain top is to be a celebrity. May you be celebrated by the divine hands. May the glory of the Lord lift and engrace you to the mountain top, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer/Action
* Declare that you are a city on the hill top; you will not live in obscurity.
* Ask that the gift and grace of God in your life will bring you to prominence.
* Give God thanks because you are now seated together with Christ in high places.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Oh Thou that answereth prayer, make me a proof of Your power and faithfulness this year, in the name of Jesus.

Vision

Thursday 5 April
READ: 1Samuel 3:1-3
MORE LESSON: Acts 2:17-18

Vision is a key ingredient of a great destiny. Becoming mighty in life starts with having a purpose and a vision. Visionary leadership is the secret of greatness. A visionary man sees better and beyond what obtains around him/her. Visionary people are people that bring in new ideas of how things can be done better wherever they are. Vision is knowing how things can work better, having a pictorial understanding of what the future should be like. It is good to ask God to give you a vision and also to expand your vision. A man's life is at the mercy of his ability to plan for the future. Where there is no vision, the people perish. According to Hos 4: 6, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. If people were asked to write a vision of their life now, you will be surprised. Some people are living just like that. Vision births sacrificial living. Sacrifice is a pre-requisite for greatness. It is a visionary person that puts himself under restraint and delays gratification so that the cause can be furthered. A visionary person will not consume everything he has today because he is thinking about the future. Don't only dream, have goals and vision. When your dreams are supported by actions and targeted timeline, then they become a vision.
One of the disasters of the present day Church is that there are lots of visionless Christians. It is lack of vision for one's spiritual life that makes a man come to church on Sunday and you don't see him again till another Sunday. A person whose vision is to know God intimately will seek Him passionately and sieze every opportunity to appear before God. A person without a vision does anything, anyhow. He seeks any job, no plan of what type of job or the career path he wants to pursue. In those days brethren would not take a job that prevented them from having time to serve God; those were days of visionary Christianity. It is vision that should govern the decisions which you make in life. The course you read, the place you are located and even the spouse you will marry must all be borne out of an understanding of God's given vision for you. May we never have a repeat of the days of Prophet Eli, when the Word of the Lord was scarce and kings were not available, when the eye sight of the prophet had begun to go dim and the nation was consequently thrown intodisaster. May we live with a clear vision from the Lord, for all areas of our lives.

Prayer/Action
* Give thanks to Jesus knowing that your tomorrow will be better.
* Ask God to help you focus on a greater future.
* My destiny will shine, my glory will sing, no matter what it looks like today.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Every enemy masquerading as a friend, I confirm you exposed and terminated, in the name of Jesus.z