Divine Settlement II

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

Divine Settlement II

2 November

But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil. II Thessalonians 3:3

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY II Thessalonians 3: 1-5: 1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

 

MORE LESSON II Thessalonians 2:15-17: 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

 

We continue our meditation on how to be divinely established.

ii) Be willing to “suffer” a while. This entails a lot; and personal in its dimensions because we have different callings and destinies. Everyone’s “suffering” differs; but we all must pass through to reach our divine settlement. This involves training under God and man, it involves enduring hardship like a good soldier of Christ, it involves learning and applying knowledge; making mistakes; failing and correcting mistakes and trying again and again. Anyone who will not “pass through” will not “get to”. Don't shy away from this; you can't get divine settlement without suffering. Even Jesus, the sinless Son of God passed through to become the author of salvation for mankind as Hebrews 5:7- 9 . Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, was heard in that he feared; though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

Suffering here does not just connote enduring hardship but also having resilience,  pursuing  your  goals empowered by God till you attain. It involves refusing to give up even in the face of challenges. This word is so relevant in today's world more than before, due to the economic downturn and high costs of living globally. We must be ready to navigate and succeed despite all by being humble, teachable, flexible, all in the spirit of fervent prayers knowing God is there to see us through and establish us.

The issue of time cannot be overlooked in the path to divine settlement. Experiences are gathered over time, training involves time, divine establishment involves time therefore, patience obedience is required to be established by God. Just stay close to Him and allow the leading of the Holy Spirit day by day and you will be settled.

 

Prayer/Action

* Praise God because the experiences you are going through will lead to your divine settlement

* Ask God for grace to obey the leadership of the Holy Spirit daily.

* Ask for strength to overcome in the pursuit of being established by God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Hallelujah, no more limits. It's time to fly beyond bounds, in Jesus' mighty name.

Divine Settlement I

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

Divine Settlement I

1 November

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. I Peter 5:10

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY I Peter 5:7 -10: 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

 

MORE LESSON Isaiah 54:11-14: “O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

A popular song says ”Hold not your peace, O Lord, Rise up for me, O Lord! It is time for you to establish me, O Lord, And make me a praise in the earth”. Indeed God wants us established but there is a process. To be settled or established means to have firm roots in the land, to be firmly fixed and securely entrenched; to cause to grow and multiply; to be accepted and respected by those in your community; to be successful for a long period of time and to be widely known. These are sweet and highly desirable definitions; they become phenomenal when you add the divine dimension to them.

 

Divine settlement is God's hand performing all these in a man's life. God's hand dealing with obstacles to settlement, connecting one to helpers of establishment and giving favour. May we be divinely settled. May the Gospel of our Lord be divinely established and entrenched in our land. Divine establishment or settlement will not just jump to one from the air; there are steps to being settled. In the first reading, Apostle Peter spoke about some of these steps one has to go through before being settled or established.

 Things to note in his injunction to everyone pursuing settlement:  

i).   Recognise and accept the call of God into glory by Christ Jesus. Do not put the cart before the horse: Only a person that has heeded the divine call can be divinely settled. Come to Jesus, accept his call by surrender our life to Him and be a child of God. Then you can be divinely settled because you are now part of God's family. Some say but there are many established people who don't have Jesus. The establishment of such people is temporal and can vanish to thin air without God's hand. They are only piling up for another to eat; then their blessings will not really be full or complete. Also as they amass, they lose their peace and can't sleep well because they are not secure in God. They are not shielded on earth and not eternally secure. Having Jesus in your heart and ruling your life is what secures a person on earth and eternally. That is why the first step in the pursuit of divine settlement is to have Jesus as Lord and Saviour. He said in John 14:6, ...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Ensure you are right with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer/ Action

*     Ask for the Lordship of Christ in your life, you are called to glory through Christ our Lord

*     Ask for divine settlement by God's hand in all areas of life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: The God of my new beginning, I give you the glory for the eleventh month out of twelve. Take the praise Lord, in Jesus' mighty name.

 

TODAY’S FASTING FOCUS:  A new thing Isaiah 43:19; 42:9

As the Father has Sent Me

STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

As the Father has Sent Me

Thursday, 31 October

 

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: John 17:1-22 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

 

MORE LESSON: Mark 16:14-15 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

Jesus’ resurrection is an opportunity for the Church to manifest glory. It's wrong to sit and mourn Jesus' death. What will you do with the post resurrection power? The agenda of God after resurrection is for the Church to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons and ensure that the enemy is made the footstool of the Body of Christ. This is why the Bible says, in Psalms 110:1, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Here God is referring to Jesus; God's desire is to see that the enemy is beneath the feet of even the least in the Kingdom. Heavens rejoiced after the disciples began to manifest the power of God in them.

There is power in you and Heaven is waiting for you to do something with it. The post resurrection power is for the manifestation of the sons of God. Until we do, it we are just gathering in church and fellowships for nothing. You don't call your pastor when the enemy is striking; you first deal with it before calling him. Jesus has already resurrected and the next person to resurrect now is you. Resurrect from your cold Christian life (Mark 16:15–18). You are activated for signs and wonders. The grace upon your life should not be under-utilized.

All that the Father endowed Jesus with to enable Him fulfil His assignment has been given to us too. This is why Jesus confidently said that, as the Father has sent Him, so He sent the disciples. Also after He resurrected, just before He ascended to heaven, he said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen: Matt. 28:18-20.

God does not send a man for a job He has not equipped him for. This therefore means that for Jesus to make such commands, He had already given all that was needed. He understood that they needed power to carry out the assignment and that there would definitely be challenges so He asked them to wait until they had received power. When that happened on the day of Pentecost, the disciples stepped out and the world is yet to recover from all that they did. You and I are products of their exploits because if they messed it up, there would have been nothing like Christianity today.

That same power has been passed to us and we must use it to bring the world to the obedience of Christ. We must not allow the grace of God in our lives to be of no effect. I encourage you to labour more and put to use the power that the death of Jesus has made available to us.

 

Prayer/Action

* Pray in the Holy Ghost for at least ten minutes. 

* Command the grace and glory of your life to begin to manifest. 

* Terminate every thing that is stopping your light from shining and bringing glory to God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Hallelujah to the Lamb of God who sits upon the throne without limits. October is done gloriously.

Zealous for Christ

  STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

Zealous for Christ

Wednesday, 30 October

 

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Revelation 3:19

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: 1 Kings 19:10-14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

 

MORE LESSON: Revelation 3:19-21 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

Zeal is the tireless devotion to a person, cause or ideal. It comes with an ardent determination to see to the furtherance of what you are zealous about. Zeal is an expression of your deepest hunger and greatest pursuit. Aheart searching question today is, 'What are you zealous in?' A lot of people serve God but are not really zealous in their pursuit of God. Many are zealous in the pursuit of wealth, fame, knowledge, certificate and even ministerial success but few are passionate for Jesus Christ Himself. What you ardently seek is what you love the most. Elijah said in 1Kings 19:10, And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. Elijah was a man of zeal for the Lord; no wonder he did unusual exploits. There are levels of impact that are reserved only for men of zeal.

Zeal is not merely a human affair, even God has zeal. The Bible severally talks about ...the zeal of the LORD of hosts.... Isaiah 37: 32. God fights battles with zeal. Zeal is one of the attributes of God. The Church of Christ has known about the merciful, faithful and gracious God. It is high time we discovered the zealous God. 2 Corinthians 7:11 says, For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Zeal approves a man before God. It was zeal that approved Phinehas (Numbers 25: 1 – 13). If zeal approves, then lack of zeal disapproves. Can you see why so many people have not been approved by the Lord? It is not enough that you sing in the choir, preach the Word, give to God or even witness to sinners. It is only enough when you do them zealously. Prayerfully check your zeal gauge. Are you zealous enough for the Lord?

Zeal is doing everything you can to make things right. According to Revelation 3:19, zealousness is a requirement from God for those who will make Heaven. Today, pray for the zeal of the Lord to consume you once again.

 

Prayer/Action

* Ask for mercy in every area of your life, where you have lost zeal for the things of God. 

* Ask the Holy Spirit to reignite your zeal for God more than ever before. 

* Come against everything that kills the zeal for the things of God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Hallelujah, my days of limitations are over now. Thank You Jesus.