KEEPING PROMISES - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 34-36


KEEPING PROMISES

Thursday, April 07, 2011

MEMORIZE: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19).

READ: Numbers 23:18-20

Before you hold on to a promise, you should first get to know the Bperson who made it. If a little boy meets you and offers to buy you a car, you will simply assume he is 'prophesying'. But if a billionaire who has integrity asks you to come and pick your choice car the following week, you will go home celebrating. The One who is making great promises to His own is the One called Jehovah ElShaddai— the God that is more than enough (Gen. 17:1).

His superabundance can swallow up the lack in the lives of all. Psalm 91:1 also refers to Him as the Most High and the Almighty God. He is the custodian of power. In fact, He is so powerful that He can raise children out of stones (Matt. 3:9). Are you left with just stones? This wonderful God can turn stones into your desired blessings. Unlike us, He does not need to be very careful about the raw materials to use.

He can organize several different combinations and still achieve His desired outcome. He is the God of all flesh who knows no impossibility (Jer. 32:27). Are you grappling with an impossible situation? Simply refer it to the Jehovah El- Shaddai and you will have your desired result. Ezekiel 37:1-10 says He is the God of the dry bones, the One who can instruct them and they will respond.

However, sometimes, when a man of means makes a promise, you cannot be sure if it will be fulfilled or not. There is a man I know whose, 'I am coming' means 'I am leaving'. There are a couple of instances where some people met me and with much excitement announced that a particular important dignitary said he was coming but he never did. Are you like that?

As a father, do you promise to buy some biscuit or ice cream for your children on returning home, but fail to do so? And when you forget to keep your word, do you intimidate them with an unfriendly face, harsh voice or deliberately find faults, all in a bid to cover up? If you do, you lack integrity. Don't make promises you cannot keep. If you have promised, then keep it.

If for any genuine reason you fail to meet up, politely apologize and make it good next time. When a parent loses credibility before the children, it becomes difficult for that child to believe that others can keep their words. Keep your word! Be like God who never goes back on His Word!

KEY POINT: If believers can be men and women of their words, this world cannot be the same. Make good on your promises

SUFFICIENT GRACE - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 31-33


SUFFICIENT GRACE

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

MEMORIZE: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”



READ: Romans 8:35-39 (Rom. 8:35)



When you look at believers who renounced their faith in Christ Wfor flimsy reasons—“My leader is not a good example of a Christian”, “A fellow believer hurt me in a way I never thought possible”, “My friend is on suspension for a particular act and I am leaving the church in sympathy;” you will wonder if they really loved Christ in the first place. Genuine love does not look at who you are, your size, height or status.



Many who claim to love the Lord find it difficult or out of place to say, 'Jesus is Lord' or to preach in public for fear of being ridiculed. The love of Christ is so strong that if you are connected to it, you cannot easily be separated from it. In today's reading, Paul stated from experience that nothing - persecution, hunger, nakedness, joblessness, childlessness, sickness, sword or war etc. can separate us from God's unfailing love.



In other words, those who backslide in the midst of difficulties do not go back because of the difficulties but because they choose to. They are only yielding to their flesh having taken their eyes from the One who is with them in the fire. His grace is ever sufficient for you in the midst of trials. He is a present help in times of trouble. Are you going through hard times? Stick with Him.



As long as you do so, you cannot sink. You are coming out victorious. There are some churches which after losing one or two churches to religious crises in the North would call it quits. Just a little persecution puts them on the run. Some people will say, 'If I do not have my husband or promotion within the next six months, I am out'. A child of destiny is not a quitter! During the heat of communism, some Christians were holding a meeting in a secret place. Somebody discovered and went to report to the authorities. Soldiers were sent to arrest them. One of them was a sister in her wedding gown.



They asked if she was about to wed and also if she is a Christian. She said 'Yes'. They offered to release her to proceed with her wedding plans if only she could deny her faith. She refused. They handcuffed her to lead her to her place of death. She kissed the handcuffs, looked to heaven and said, 'My darling Jesus, I should have known you loved me so much that you wouldn't share me with any man'. Then she admired the handcuffs: 'How beautiful is your wedding ring!' Let nothing separate you from the love of Christ!



ACTION POINT: God's grace is more than sufficient for you to go through all the tough times in this heavenly race. Go ahead and ask for it.

SUBMISSION AND LEADERSHIP - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 28-30



SUBMISSION AND LEADERSHIP

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

MEMORIZE: “And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:” (1 Cor. 1:28).

READ: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 n John 17:6

Jesus said that the leaders He chose were God's. They Iwere God's property and in God's custody before the Lord Jesus asked and they were given Him. This simply tells us that all the leaders we need are in God's custody. However, it takes asking right to be able to get them. To get leaders at all, you must pray. To get the right leaders, you must pray effectively.

The quality of leaders you get is a function of the quality of prayer made. However, since God is the One who assigns leaders in His vineyard in response to the needs or prayers of His church, it therefore follows that if you manipulated your way into your present position, or used fraudulent means to get there, you are surely not one of those that Heaven assigned.

You are advised to resign immediately. Moreover, besides being dead to self as a true Kingdom leader, you must be ready to become a fool. A fool in this context can be defined as the fellow who is not sure of what he or she wants, someone who cannot exercise his or her rights over what to do, where to go. To become a Kingdom leader, you must be ready to go wherever He sends you, and to do whatever the Lord wants done without asking questions.



When the apostles of Jesus became fools in God's hands, it became easy for God to use them as He pleased. To witness God's unprecedented move like in the Bible days, we must get to a point of total submission. Today, in the Christian fold, some people brag about knowing what they want; whereas, the issue is not about what they want but what they need.



You may know what you want, but do you really know what you need? One attribute you need is total submission. You need to submit to God to the point that you are viewed as a fool. Are you submissive to God? If you were sent to a parish or location far below your social, financial or academic status, will you go? If you are still giving God conditions before accepting His directive, it shows you are not yet ready to be a Kingdom leader. May God release upon you the grace to submit to Him as never before.

KEY POINT:  True leaders in God's Kingdom have only one agenda: God!

SIMPLY BELIEVE - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 25-27


SIMPLY BELIEVE

Monday, April 04, 2011

MEMORIZE: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”



READ: Ephesians 3:20-21 (Eph. 3:20).



hereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Wpromises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). We can have great expectations because God has given us great promises. According to the above scripture, some promises of God to us are far more than just great.



This season, you will be a beneficiary of these wonderful promises in Jesus name. Deuteronomy 7:14 says, “Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle”. God is not a liar. Since the Word has gone out of His mouth, He is committed to fulfilling it. He surely will deploy His every resource at your disposal.



This also means that if you are a child of God and you are going through a situation of barrenness, it is only a phase; it is just for a limited time. Soon, God's Word shall prevail over that situation and you shall be fruitful. Similarly, in Deuteronomy 28:11-12, He promised to open Heaven's treasury and rain down blessings upon us. That's another great promise. He said instead of borrowing, we shall lend to nations.



That's another great promise! Every promise God has made to you shall come to pass. One important thing about promises, however, is that a promise and the one who makes it always go together. The value placed on a promise is determined by the worth of the one who made it. If you make promises but fail to keep them, it means that you have zero credibility.

You have no self-worth. Some leaders make promises but show no commitment. Such people can hardly be believed. Today, some church members find it difficult to believe their pastors because they lack integrity. Do you have pending promises you have not made good on? Go ahead and fulfil them today! Nonetheless, God remains faithful. He has the ability, capacity and integrity to fulfil any promise He makes—even beyond our expectation.

Hence, He should be believed. If it means bending the rule or suspending a law in order to meet your need, He will do it. The issue is: how far can you go in believing God? Do you take Him at His Word, or do you just fold your arms waiting to see before believing, like doubting Thomas?

KEY POINT Without believing there is no receiving. Without faith there is no Christianity.

GIVING CONTEST - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 22-24




GIVING CONTEST

Sunday, April 03, 2011



MEMORIZE: “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.” (Mark 12:41).



READ: Mark 12:41-44



Besides believing God and obeying His Word, another thing you may be required to do is to give your all. The widow who gave her two mites is an example here. Unfortunately, her giving has been grossly misinterpreted even by preachers to mean 'giving your least', when, in context, it means 'giving your all, even in the time of your greatest need'. One of the most important things to do during your time of favour is to give sacrificially as it will give you access to unlimited blessings.



One lesson from today's passage is that just as the Lord sat to monitor what and how people gave and at the end, He gave a verdict on the best giver, so also does God scrutinize every giver and act of giving in churches today. Do you know that at the end of every offering, Heaven picks candidates for first prize, second prize, third prize, etc.? In today's passage, a poor widow won and you can be sure that after the Lord's commendation, poverty would forever be banished from her.



Have you ever won a price for bounteous cheerful giving? You may say, 'Yes', because you once made the largest donation in a particular fund raising drive, or because you paid the biggest tithe on a particular Sunday. But your assessment may not line up with God's. So, the poorest widow who gave the least offering emerged the winner on that day? The criteria Heaven will use to determine the winner includes: whether you are giving out of your abundance or out of your need.



In other words, after giving, what do you have left? Other criteria are: Do you have something to fall back on? Is your giving sacrificial or out of convenience? What is your motive? Is your objective to be seen and applauded by men or to glorify God? Is it done in faith or without faith? Is your giving with or without understanding? What is your post-giving attitude: does it reflect expectations from God or not?



Do you grumble, murmur and complain to one or more people about what you gave, or you worship and thank God for the opportunity to give? What is your general attitude to giving vis-à-vis God's expectations? As you make amends and give well from today, you can be a winner of the giving contest in your local assembly and even beyond its walls!



KEY POINT Those who give the fattest offerings are not necessarily Heaven's star prize winners.

Wasting or Redeeming? - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 19-21




WASTING OR REDEEMING?

Saturday, April 02, 2011

MEMORIZE: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16).

READ: Ephesians 5:15-16

To effectively utilize your time, there is need to tie-up assignments Tand tasks against seconds, minutes, hours and days. If you can do this effectively, you will avoid waste and achieve more. This is the logic behind the Psalmist asking us to number our days, not our years (Psalm 90:12). May God answer the prayer of the Psalmist in your life! Waste reduction is a very significant part of effective time management.

Across the globe, many people indulge in activities that eat up their time, without getting any good dividend in return. Your time is an asset you must carefully trade with. So, if you spend it on what will not give you good returns, it is a waste. I feel sad when I see people wasting time on the phone. This year is already on the move. No matter the level of anointing in your life, you cannot bring back the hours, days, weeks or months that have passed.

They are forever gone! Soon, you will be greeting 'Happy new year' and while doing so, you will discover that the New Year is fast becoming old. What is your attitude to time? There are definite assignments that the Lord would want you to accomplish this year. If you use your time properly, they will all be achieved. But if you misuse your time, many of them will be left undone by the end of the year.



Do you know that there are believers who have continuously carried over tasks from year to year, now spanning several years? No matter how anointed you are, if you cannot effectively plan your time, and accomplish your tasks, you are a great Kingdom waster. If you were to borrow one million naira with 20% interest from the bank without repaying, you will be amazed at what your debt will be in two years.



Hence, Ephesians 5:15-16 says you need to apply wisdom. You should be redeeming your time rather than wasting more. To redeem is to buy back, to recover lost time. Are you taking steps to recover lost grounds? One of my daughters understands this very well. She was saved at 60 years old. Since she had lost so many years to the devil as a sinner, she employed some measures to redeem her time.



One of such measures was to pay 20% tithe for the rest of her life. What steps are you taking towards the time wasted in Satan's kingdom? You can set high goals for soul-winning such as leading 10 to 20 souls to Christ monthly. You can also choose to be of more service to God's Kingdom by attending diligently to Kingdom projects.

ACTION POINT List 15 time-wasters peculiar to you. Ask God for grace to prayerfully and practically avoid them from today.

OCEAN TALES - Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Isa. 16-18



OCEAN TALES

Friday, April 1, 2011



MEMORIZE: “And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” (Exodus 33:15).



READ: Exodus 33:13-15



When Christ is with you, God is with you. Psalm 121:5 says, “The WLORD is thy keeper: The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand”. When Christ is with you, God's shadow will follow you wherever you go. Three fishes in an ocean were terrified by some sharks whenever they went swimming. One day, they held a prayer meeting and invited God to be in attendance.


When God came down, He asked them what they each wanted. The first fish asked for eyes all over its body so that from a long distance, it could sight the sharks approaching. The second fish requested wings to fly whenever it was being chased by the sharks. The third fish simply requested that God should follow it wherever it went. The Lord granted all their requests.

Immediately God left, the first fish realized that all the scales on its body had become eyes. Its new look attracted the sharks and they began to chase it. From a distance, it sighted the sharks swim fast towards it. Immediately, it leaped into a small pool of water nearby. Safe from the sharks, it began to laugh at the predators. Hours later, however, the pool dried up and it died.

The sharks then turned their sights on the second fish. As it was being chased, it flew out of the ocean, and from a safe height began to mock the sharks. Unfortunately, an eagle was flying overhead and, thanking God, snapped up the fish. Meanwhile, the third fish was swimming quietly and enjoying itself. The baby shark told its mother that there was another, seemingly not afraid of them.


Now, when the baby shark asked that they go after the fish, its mother cautioned: “Can't you see the shadow of a man following that fish? If you go near it, you will be killed”. That was how the third fish survived the sharks. When Christ is with you, there will be no need to fret. He will take care of you. Is Christ with you? Do you feel His presence? Or do you like the first two fishes prefer something else to God's presence? Moses, like the third fish, chose well; he refused to go anywhere if God would not follow him. Are you going to places without God's presence? Do not be surprised when you meet with disappointment.



KEY POINT.  According to Exodus 33:14, the only time you are guaranteed rest is in God's presence.

One meal, multiple healings- Daily devotional with Pastor E.A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Mark 11-13




ONE MEAL, MULTIPLE HEALINGS

Thursday, March 31, 2011



MEMORIZE: “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.” (Psalm 105:37).



READ: Psalm 105:36-38



The Holy Communion is a powerful meal. When God was about to lead His children from Egypt into the Promised Land, a journey of several years, He looked at their state. This was not a journey for the sickly or weak person. There was no way they could leave the aged, the children, the sick, the injured, the pregnant women or nursing mothers behind; all had to go at the same time.



While the strong and healthy looked forward to that journey, the weak, sick and feeble did not. No sick person in right mind would want to embark on such a laborious journey. So, in order to achieve complete wellness, total healing and fitness, God gave them a meal. The night they took the Passover meal, all sicknesses disappeared from their bodies.



Weakness, tiredness and pains were replaced by divine strength. Suddenly, those who were not looking forward to the journey immediately packed their bags and baggages ready to march out. In one night, a nation was healed! What a meal! Is there a journey or project you are about to embark on but lack the strength, wisdom, clear vision and other resources to start?



Do you know that if you can key into the next communion with faith, all you need to embark on that journey would be provided? Another lesson here is that if a nation can be healed, then whole states can be healed; whole cities can be healed; whole communities and villages can be healed; whole lineages can be healed; whole tribes can be healed; also, whole families can be healed.



You and your family are not designed to be weak but to be strong. If members of your family— nuclear and extended—can call on the Lord, receive Him into their hearts and take the Holy Communion in faith, they can all be healed. With one uncommon meal God can heal you, your family, and lineage, of a generational curse. As you go to take the Holy Communion this season, ask the Lord to use that single meal to deliver multiple healings or deliverances to you and your family.



KEY POINT: The Holy Communion is a stone that can kill several birds. Partake of it wisely.

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Mark 7-10




RELATIONS, NOT SPARED

Wednesday, March 30, 2011



MEMORIZE: “And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?” (1 Sam. 26:9).



READ: 2 Samuel 6:20-23



Apart from sin and breaking God's order on the Holy wrong use of the tongue—particularly in speaking against the Communion, another cause of sickness among believers is the anointed of God. In Numbers 12:1-16, Miriam and Aaron were not happy that Moses married an Ethiopian woman.



That became a subject of discussion to the extent that they began to say unprintable things about their younger brother who was the leader of the nation. Though Moses refrained from taking up issues with the leaders of the revolt who were his own siblings, God did something about it. God's response brought about the worst disease outbreak of their day—leprosy, upon Miriam. But for Moses' intercession, the leader of the Israeli women in the wilderness could have died a leper! If God's reaction in verse 8 is anything to go by, you must handle God's anointed with care.



You must be afraid to speak against, gossip about, or instigate people against a truly anointed servant of God. And if you hurt God's anointed, even if he or she refuses to do something about it, God will defend His anointing on His anointed! Many people have pegged their progress and contracted different types of diseases that defy prayers and medication because they have spoken against the Lord's anointed. Even when God's anointed does wrong or errs, do not make the fellow a subject of gossip; it is dangerous to do so.



Do you know that gossiping about men of God is a fast way of losing God's unction and power? If after spending hours in God's presence, fellowshipping and basking in His glory, you talk down your pastor, the result will be that all you gathered for several hours will leak out in a matter of minutes! Barrenness became a permanent feature in the life of Michal, David's wife, because she spoke against her husband who was God's anointed.



God will not spare relations who violate His anointed! For wrong use of her tongue against her husband, Michal became one of the few women who started and ended up barren. Wives, stop speaking against your husbands! Children, stop speaking against your parents, particularly when they are servants of God! You can get your fingers burnt!



KEY POINT: Some mouths attract sicknesses others attract healings. What does your mouth attract?

PARTIALITY NOT ALLOWED- Daily devotional with Pastor E.A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Mark 4-6



PARTIALITY NOT ALLOWED

Tuesday, March 29, 2011



MEMORIZE: “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).



READ: James 2:1-9



According to James 3:17, God's wisdom is not partial. In other words, it does not discriminate. As a believer in Christ, you must not be partial or discriminatory. Discrimination is one of Satan's divisive tools in the church of God. In the Early Church, during the revival, some church workers began to discriminate in their service. They gladly served some people while others were deliberately neglected.



It took the intervention of the apostles to arrest this anomaly (Acts 6:1-7). If you are partial, Satan is using you to divide the Body of Christ. Moreover, today's reading raises crucial issues relating to partiality in the church of Christ. The first is that the Christian faith does not support the preferring of the rich over the poor. In God's Kingdom, all are equal and should be given equal treatment and opportunities. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).



Unfortunately, in some places, the criteria for appointing leaders is their material wealth. Where in the Scriptures did you see the Early Church equating material wealth with spiritual credentials? Today, those with the spiritual know-how and records of integrity are neglected, marginalized or frustrated out because they do not drive exquisite SUVs or cannot afford to pay 'homage' to the pastor in charge. Any leader that does this is a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel. The fellow is bringing strange fire on God's altar and will surely account for it.



One thing that has slowed down the growth of the Kingdom is because too many wrong people are in the right places and too many right people are in the wrong places. Any leader who is partial harbors evil thoughts and is a bad judge.



That is, his or her judgment is biased and faulted by Heaven. Some superiors have refused to appoint those that God has chosen for certain leadership positions because they enjoy playing 'God' in their lives. According to James 2:9, partial leaders are sinners, and no sinner can inherit God's Kingdom. If you are guilty of these, repent, and restitute concerning the wrong appointments you made.



PRAYER POINT: Pray that every leader appointed by worldly yardsticks will be uprooted and replaced by leaders appointed by God in the Body of Christ.