Contending for your Promised Land

Wednesday 1 November
READ: Deut. 2: 24   
MORE LESSON:  Josh. 10: 14

In Deut. 2:24, God told the children of Israel that He had given them the land of Canaan, but then He told them to contend in battle for the possession of the land.  Many times God has made promises to us and what we need is to act and contend for those promises. A lot of believers love praying for promises, which is not bad, but there are times that what you need is to act and not pray. The Lord had already given the land to Israel so the land was theirs to take. However, no amount of speaking in tongues would deliver the land to them without their effort; they needed to cross the Jordan, carry arms and go into battle for the land. The good thing is that it was not a battle that they could lose as the Lord of host Himself had already given the land to them.

Our victory had been guaranteed before the war even started. The reason we have not possessed the land is because the Lord is waiting for us to do something. A lot of people claim they are waiting for God when God is actually waiting for them. It is when you take action that God will have something to act upon in order to intervene in your battle. When Israel conquered Jericho they only shouted and the walls came crumbling down. This shows that it was not their power but God's intervention that gave them the victory. They needed to do something; They needed to walk round the city seven times and they needed to shout. When the walls came down, they needed to go in and take the spoil.

Any sermon that makes you think you will do nothing but pray for you to possess your promised land is incomplete. After prayers, you will need to contend for your possession. No one ever bagged a degree by prayers alone, you will need to read your books and contend with difficult exams. You will have to get down to work and go after the deals for you to succeed in business. You will have to contend in battle to possess what God has promised you.

However, in every situation the Lord always wants to take all the glory.  So He will not allow you to do it in a way that there is no intervention from Him. Joshua eventually possessed the promised land, according to Josh 10:42, . . . because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. The final victory was the combination of what Joshua did and what God did. Your victory will be a combination of what you do and what God does but what He does will be much more than the little you do so that He will take all the glory at the end. Work, pray and trust God; testimonies will come.

Prayer/Action
* Raise a standard of God against every power opposing the promise of God in your life, in the mighty name of Jesus.
* Declare that the promises of God for your life will begin to manifest now.
* Decree judgement on all giants on the way, in Jesus’ mighty name.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, my heart rejoices in the gift of the eleventh month, it speaks of Your faithfulness Oh God, thank You Jesus, in Jesus' name.

The two Men and their Names

Tuesday 31 October
READ: Luke 16: 19 – 31   
MORE LESSON: Rev. 20: 15

The story in the text is about two men; a poor and a rich man. The poor man had a name that Heaven recognised; the Bible records that his name was Lazarus. The name of the rich man, on the other hand, was not recognised in Heaven; he was merely referred to as 'the rich man'. In the world today, to be called 'the rich man' seems to be a very good name. But, no matter how nice a name sounds, if the name is not recognised in Heaven, it is not yet a good name. The Bible says, a good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth: Eccl. 7:1.

We should pursue a good name. Really, the best name that a man can have is a name that is written in the Book of Life. It is good to do things that give you a good name on earth but beyond that, the best you can do for your name is to get it into the Book of life. The issue of your name being in the Book of life becomes more and more crucial even as the day of a man’s death approaches with every passing second. Lazarus had a good name written in Heaven while the rich man's name was unknown in Heaven. For the two men in the story, it was death that eventually revealed the true value of their names. Similarly for every man, it is death that will reveal whether you have a good name or not.

The two men in this story died; just as everyone reading this will, if Jesus tarries. The rich man died and he was buried with fanfare with which a rich man's burial is always associated. Lazarus died and the Bible doesn't say how he was buried or not buried. But the Bible tells us that Lazarus woke up in Abraham's bosom while the rich man found himself in hell. We must never forget that, ...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment: Heb. 9:27 (NKJV).

There is life after death; and all that makes the difference is where your name is written. It doesn't matter the name you bear here on earth as much as where your name is written in Heaven. If a man's name is 'governor' or 'president' here on earth and the name is written in the Government House but it is not written in the Book of life, the man is in a very precarious situation. The timeless questions that you have to answer are. “Is your name known in Heaven? Is it written in the book of life?” Accept Jesus into your life today, confess your sins and receive forgiveness through His Blood. Then ask Him to write your name in the Book of Life. As you do this, your eternity is secure in Jesus.

Prayer/Action
*Pray that you will have a good name that Heaven recognises.
*Make use of this opportunity to decide for Jesus now.
*Pray that your name will be written in the Book of life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Thank You Lord for October, this last 24 hours will deliver and announce my day, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Blood Covenant

Monday 30 October
READ: Zech. 9: 11 – 12   
MORE LESSON:  Deut. 18: 10

God drove the inhabitants of Canaan out of the land so that He could give it to the children of Israel. God replaced the people that were living in the land of Canaan because of their sins and wickedness. I pray that your place in destiny will never be given to another, in Jesus’ name. One of the reasons why God replaced the inhabitants of the land was because of their wicked practices of witchcraft and making their sons and daughters to pass through fire (Deut. 18: 10).

In those times, fire and blood were used in making covenants. Men would pass through the midst of fire or blood of an animal cut asunder when they were to make a covenant. The implication of this action was that anyone who broke the covenant is bound to a vow that the way the blood of the animal was mercilessly shed, so would his blood also be shed. Similarly, in making a covenant by fire, they were agreeing that if anyone should break the covenant, fire should consume and destroy him. Blood or fire covenants are severe and dangerous; God therefore forbids His children from entering into such covenants. Many of the covenants made by men in the world are backed by demons and evil spirits. This is the reason children of God should not be involved in any covenant except the Covenant of the Blood of Jesus that has been made for us.

Blood covenants are very strong and except God breaks them, no man can. Blood covenant affects people through many generations. It is the cause of reoccurring misfortune, barrenness, incurable sickness and even untimely death in many lives and families. Many people are ignorantly suffering the consequence of the blood covenants entered into by ancestors in their family line. Until such covenants are broken, the effect continues in the lives of the children. Ancestral covenants are the reasons for so much oppression, stagnation and ill-luck in many lives today. Unfortunately, many of these victims are unaware that they are prisoners of demonic covenants and they sometimes just joke about the incidents plaguing their lives.  

However, there is a way of escape through the greater Covenant made by the superior Blood that silences all the other blood covenants. According to today’s text, it is by the blood of the covenant of Jesus that all prisoners are released from the pit that they have been put by negative covenants. The Covenant of the Blood of Jesus is the antidote to all evil blood covenants. When you engage the power of the Blood of Jesus, it will silence all blood covenants that might be speaking against you. Heb. 12: 24 says, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Prayer/Action
*By the Blood of Jesus, invoke life on your destiny.
*Pray that the Covenant Blood of Jesus Christ will not fail over your life.
*Pray that the riches of Jesus’ Blood will not be absent from your life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, one more day to the end of October, remember me Oh my God, in the name of Jesus.

Prodigal Ones

Sunday 29th October
READ: Luke 15:11-23 
MORE LESSONS: I Sam 2:12-17, 22-25

A man had two children and the younger one demanded for his part of  the inheritance from the father. The son was, more or less, telling the father that if he was not ready to die, he should at least give him (the son) his share of inheritance. The father let the son have his way because he realized that nothing could dissuade him from the path he was bent on taking. The only thing that can make some people to repent of their adamant choices is the repercussion of their wrong direction. It is right to continue to pray for them while you allow them to face the consequence of their willful wrong decision.

The prodigal son, who had been raised by a righteous father went parting and carousing with strange women until he was reduced to nothing. It was while living with pigs in a pen and scrambling with them for food that he realized that all his father has been telling him was right. He repented and came home. The father sighted him from afar on his return journey, which shows that the father was daily looking across the road, expecting and praying for the son to come back home.

Eli, the priest of God, also had two children - Hophni and Phinehas. They ministered with him in the temple but deliberately chose the way of destruction. They defiled God’s offerings and the women in the temple. They obstinately rebelled against the law of God and refused their father’s correction. Eventually the father gave up on them and left them for destruction.

When God told Samuel the judgment that would fall on Eli’s family, Eli replied, ‘He is God, let him do whatever he pleases’
(I Sam. 3:18). If Eli knew the anguish that awaited him, he would have cried to the Lord for mercy and raise his children with a strong hand to get them back to the Lord in repentance.

There are times you allow prodigal ones have their way because when the repercussion comes, it will come on everybody. When the judgment of the Lord came on Eli’s family, his children were destroyed and Israel lost a battle where more than 4,000 men died. Eli broke his neck and died. His daughter-in-law heard the sad news and had induced birth-pangs which resulted in her death. After giving birth to a son-who she named Ichabod because the glory of the Lord departed from the whole land of Israel and the ark of the covenant was ceased by the enemy. All these happened in one day.

There is mercy for prodigal children but the choice is theirs whether they will end up restored like the younger son or they will be destroyed like Eli’s children. You will not suffer destruction, in Jesus name. Just like the father of the prodigal son, God is still waiting and hoping that every lost child will return because He is willing to take them back.

Prayer/Action
• Ask God to restore those who have left the faith and turned to the world
• Ask God not to allow you go your own way but guide you in His will by His mercy.
• Pray that you will not be lost forever.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER
King Saul made a mistake that destroyed his throne, Esau made a mistake that took away his father’s blessing, I shall escape every moment of error and mistake, in the name of Jesus.