Agents of Turnaround I

Agents of Turnaround I

Thursday, 1 August

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: 2 Kings 5:1-19 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. 18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. 19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

MORE LESSON: II Corinthians 6:1-11 

1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.

The Bible in 2 Kings 5:1-3 records: Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

Naaman was a strange man; he was a leper in the age of spear and sword, he was an honorable man and helped of the Lord. Naaman was a stranger to the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob yet he was enjoying the defense that comes for the children of the covenant, but he was leper. Whatever is a “but” over your destiny, I send them out by fire. Naaman was a leper but he had a turnaround and you will also have a turn.

Everything remain in the same position until an external force acts on it. There are situations in our lives we can’t turn; someone has to turn it. Naaman had a turnaround in his health status from leprosy to good health. Leprosy is a stigma; though Naaman was a general, he had a stigma of being a leper. Every stigma in your life are taken away today, in Jesus’s name. Whatever is bringing you shame and affliction I declare them reversed, in Jesus’ name.

Naaman went to Israel and became healed and the question is: How did it happen? A little maid who was a captive of war waiting on Naaman’s wife gave the information Naaman needed to access his turnaround as recorded in 2 Kings 5:2-3: And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

Naaman must have been grateful to the little maid by the time he had a turn around and his treatment of the little maid would have become different. Although she was a captive, through her, her master had a turnaround. Her own captivity too would have turned around. Life is turn by turn; you pull someone down you will come down but if you raise someone up you will go up. The little girl had a turnaround from captivity to a child in the house.

Christianity has passed the age of bless me, keep me and pour on me. Genesis 12:1-4 says: …I will bless you and you will be a blessing…. If God has turned your situation around, make sure to reciprocate that because by so doing, you may experience a double turnaround.

Prayer/Action

* Ask God to help you to be His instrument of change upon the earth starting from your neighbourhood.

* Ask God to bless you with quality destiny helpers. 

* Pray that you will not be a victim of evil plans.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Thank You Jesus my Shepherd and Champion, for the month of August 2024.

Buried Glory

*STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS*
_A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare_

*Buried Glory*
Sunday 11 November
READ: Mark 5:1-20
MORE LESSON: Psalm 126:1-4

The passage in Mark is the story of a man who was possessed by demons. They tormented him so much that he could no longer dwell with humans but lived in the cemetery. As if that was not enough, they also made him to cut himself with sharp stones. He was perpetually in pain and it looked as if his situation was hopeless. People even tried the best they could to help him but whenever he was bound, he broke the chains and fetters. Because of the evil spirits in him, he became too wild to be tamed. Everyone had given up on him. But there is hope for a man in whom God is interested.
One day Jesus showed up on the scene and that was the end of the agony of many years. Whatever sorrow the enemy has put you through, today I declare deliverance, in the name of Jesus. Jesus cast out the evil spirits and the man was in his right mind again. Everyone who saw him was amazed. There is no situation that God cannot turnaround, all we need to do is to believe Him and ask for a divine visitation because no situation can stand His visit.
The most thrilling thing about the man in our text today is that he was an evangelist who was languishing among the dead. He had the call of God on his life but his glory was buried. What was an evangelist of the living doing among the dead? When the glory of a man is buried, he experiences the opposite of glory shame, reproach, pain and lots more. A man with a buried glory is like one who carries around a candle that is not lit; he has the potential but no results. When Jesus came across the mad man, all He did for him was to deliver his glory from the power of the grave and restored him to the original plan of God for his life. This is why when he requested to go with Jesus, He asked him to go and tell all his friends what great things the Lord had done for him. He was an evangelist of the living and not the dead. By the power of the resurrection, I call forth your glory, in the name of Jesus. Every grave is broken and your glory begins to spring forth again. In place of shame, receive double honour. Desperately cry to Heaven for a visitation today and your glory will experience the resurrection power in the name of Jesus.

*Prayer/Action*
* Command every hidden/buried glory of your life to come to manifestation.
* Ask God to deliver your glory from the powers of the grave.
* Ask God for double honour for all forms of shame you have experienced.

*TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: By the superior fire power of Jehovah, I invade every enemy's territory this month and recover all that belongs to me, in the mighty name of Jesus.*

Divine Speed

Saturday 10 November
READ: I Kings 18:41-46
MORE LESSON: Jeremiah 32:26-27

Sometime ago I sat in my office in Nigeria and the Holy Spirit told me about someone who was sick in Chicago in United States. He said, “Call that lady right now”. Then I called her and she said, “I was just looking for a way to call you and now you called me. I am disturbed”. I said, “Calm down, you didn't call me, I called you and I already know something is happening to you”. She exclaimed that it meant that God had answered her prayer and I said yes. Then I asked her what the matter was. She said her son was afflicted by an ailment that had defied medications. She said doctors did not know what it was. The boy would lie down and behave abnormal and that there was nothing they could do. She shouted, “Daddy I am finished” and I said God forbid. I said to her, if that thing is air borne, then it makes it easy because there is a force of Heaven that operates in the air, which carries anything on its pathway.
She said that the doctors told her that the boy would not be discharged in the next six months and I said not so. I prayed for her, the next two days I couldn't pray for her because they were very busy days for me. I called her Sunday night and she started shouting, “Hallelujah! my child has been discharged from the hospital, he is alive and well. They said they could not explain how an illness that was scheduled to be treated in six months was done away within six days”. This can only be by divine speed. God is time Himself and He can adjust time to fit His purpose. It doesn't matter what the report is in the natural, by divine speed, God can bypass protocol and make things work out for your good. But you must believe the report of the Lord.
Most times the report of man is contrary to the report of God. God's report says you are healed, free, victorious, joyful, wealthy, prosperous etc. while man's report says you are sick, bound, victimised, sad, poor etc. I dare to ask you, “Whose report will you believe?” You must choose to believe the report of the Lord, irrespective of what man's opinion is. Make only God's opinion about a matter the final say. Any man can say what he wants, but choose to believe what God has said.
How can you explain the gap, six months to six days? This can only be by divine speed. This is the speed that made Elijah to run ahead of Ahab's chariot, which comes by the hand of the Lord. Ask for the hand of the Lord in your life and you will enjoy divine speed.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to answer you speedily.
* Declare that no contrary report will stand, only the counsel of God will stand in your life.
* Pray for divine speed in your endeavour today.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: I excuse this month from being a deficit to my life in any area. I will increase and advance in it, in the name of Jesus.

Team Work

*STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS*
_A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare_

Team Work
Wednesday 7 November
READ: II Kings 6:1-7
MORE LESSON: John 6:5-12

There is something prominent in the text of today which we must draw from if we want to move forward in life. There was a problem, yet it was not discovered by the leader but by the subordinates, who also suggested how to overcome the challenge. You may never grow out of smallness if you are the only one who does everything in your organisation; you dream, plan, take decision and execute everything all by yourself. Such an organisation does not grow beyond one man’s ability. When you have a river you should be able to assess whether you require a hook, a boat, or a ship to bring the desired quantity of fishes. Every successful organisation should have every hand on deck. If your business will be successful, your staff should be part of the people that make it work. If you must grow, you must be able to take other people's ideas.
A successful family is one where everyone contributes his/her quota for the efficient running of the home. So also the staff and everybody in an organisation should consider and handle issues concerning the business as though it were their personal problem, but not so in Nigeria. An average Nigerian sees himself as a Yoruba man; in fact, he sees himself as an individual first, then as a Yoruba and then as a Nigerian; Nigeria is never number one with Nigerians. Everyone is contented with whatever happens to Nigeria as long as it is alright for them. But how can it be alright for you when it is not well with the land where you dwell?
In the Bible passage, it was one of the men who identified the problem of insufficient accommodation, not the leader. Another man suggested that they go and cut trees to enlarge the place and another one requested that the master go with them. Every stage of the advancement and enlargement was a collective responsibility; it was a united front, everyone was doing something.
The problem with most organisations is that only the leaders own them. They are the ones responsible for decision making, planning and execution without the contribution of members of staff. Any man who lives this way will wear himself out and will remain perpetually under productive. No man is an island for God has purposely created man to be an interdependent being. Therefore, any attempt to be independent leads to a life of struggle and under productivity. Could it be that the current challenge you have been struggling with is because you have refused godly counsel? Why not open up to the people that God has sent to help you? Receive godly counsel and be delivered from that trouble forever.

Prayer/Action
* Pray for grace to contribute your quota in advancing the place where you are.
* Pray for team spirit in the organisation where you work/serve.
* Pray that God will surround you with people that will help you in fulfilling what God has sent you to do.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Today I decree by the blood of Jesus that no one will go to hell in my family, in the mighty name of Jesus.