THOUGHTS FOR THE COMING YEAR

• " Don't leave till tomorrow what can be done today"-Sunday Punch,December 29,2013

•  " Take time to put away into the pen black goats while there is still daylight for at dusk,it may be difficult to tell which goat is black and which is white".- Anonymous   

                     

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD--WHAT TO DO WHEN GOD SPEAKS.

     
                       2Kings 8:13-15

" .....The Lord has shown me that you will beome king of Aram,answered Elisha. Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his Master. When Ben-Hadad asked, what did Elisha say to you? Hazael replied, he told me that you would certainly recover. But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the King's face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as King."

Observations: 

• You may need to read from Verse 7-15 to get the full story of what actually transpired. The King of Aram was sick and sent his chief official ,Hazael to Prophet Elisha to enquire from God if he will recover or not.
• Elisha's response was in the affirmative even though he knew the king would die from the illness.
• The Lord opened the eyes of Elisha to see that the king's emissary,Hazael, would later become king but will be wicked , destroy Israel and kill her children and women.
• This brought tears to the eyes of the Prophet.
• Hazael armed with the prophesy of becoming king,returned to Aram and quickly masterminded the sudden death of the sick king.
• He usurped the throne and became king.

What Not to do when you receive a word from the Lord:

• Use human wisdom and calculations to work out God's promises ( we can learn from the mistake of Abraham who gave birth to Ishmael through his slave girl).
•  Seeking to plug in God's promises into your own time table rather than God's timetable.
• Claim to have the full picture. God's promises are as mysterious as God Himself.

What to do when we receive God's Promises.

• Pray firstly and ask the lord to guide you to the promise.
• Walk in God's timeline not yours. This can be done through daily intimate relationship with the Lord.
• Go back to God intermittently to confirm you are moving in the right direction.
• Take godly steps of faith. Unrighteousness and God are opposites.

Key Lesson from Hazael's life:

• God's promise is God's will and will be executed by God Himself.

EXPLOITING OPPORTUNITIES IN 2014

" Don't wait for extra ordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great."
                                               (-Orison Swett Marden)
                                                                                                         
                                                                                          
" How do you join the 3% in 2014?  The first step is " don't do what the 97% do"
                                                ( Vic and Lisa  Johnson)

                                                                                                  Culled from My Daily Insight.

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

                                                                    2 Kings7: 1-2

Key Observations:

•  The nation of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) with its capital in Samaria was under a severe siege by their enemies, the Arameans, and as a result there was famine /drought in the land. Siege is the old military tactics to weaken the economy and social life of those being attacked.
•  Israel's disobedience and  sin against their God, Jehohah was the cause of the current situation.
•  In the midst of the severe famine, Elisha the Prophet of God brings God's word to the King and the nation.
•  He proclaims," This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gates of Samaria ( A seah is just a measure of their staple food,flour and barley). 
•  The King's official would not believe the Prophet's word from God- He said that even if the flood gates of heaven were opened to rain down flour and barley, what the Prophet declared was not going to be possible.                               

                                                                       Key Lessons  

•  When we no longer revere and tremble at God's word, we make that word of no effect because it loses the power to act. That power is our faith filled words.
• The Prophet or any other servant of God is the vessel God's uses to deliver His intentions and plans. If we disregard and belittle the messenger(in this case Elisha), we deny ourselves the blessing and the anointing the vessel carries. This anointing drives the fulfillment of God's promise.
•  Our rejection of God's word denies us the blessings of its fulfillment but it will nonetheless come to pass because God has spoken it ( You need to read subsequent verses of this chapter to see how God brought His word to pass).   

Notes:  I have assumed here that the Prophet/God's spokesperson is  genuine and the word spoken is genuinely from God.

WISDOM

QUEEN UBA IS NIGERIA'S CENTENARY QUEEN BUT THERE IS MORE!

She was asked this question: What have you planned to use your prize money for?
Her Answer:  First and foremost, I would give one tenth as tithe to my God,my creator.
                     Then I will divide the balance into three parts:
                     Will give the first part to my parents who brought me up.
                     Will  invest the second part in a profitable business to generate more income.
                     Will   use the third part to finance a project that is so dear to my heart-promotion of girl child
                       education in parts of the nation where it is still an issue.
She is my Queen and God's own too!

A LIFE OF DISTINCTION

                                                                                                                                                                      Apostle Paul's letter to the Roman Church in Chapter 16 captures a unique moment in his ministry. He writes to greet those who served alongside him but what is instructive is the categorization of the greetings.

Some were held in higher honour than others. They paid more price and sacrifice in their service I believe. In other words,they distinguished themselves from the rest.

                             Honors List                                                       Others List

   Verse 3-4  Priscilla and Aquila  risked their lives                      Verse 11 Greet Herodian my relative.

   Verse 6.     Mary who worked hard.                                                         Greet those in the household of

    Verse 7    Andronicus and Junais been in prison with                             Narcissus.

                   Paul and are outstanding among the apostles.         Verse 14 Greet Asyncritus,Phlegon,

                                                                                                                     Hermes,Patrobas,Hermas

                                                                              and the brothers with them.

The "others list"  equally served in the Roman church but their names were just read out with no distinctive  acolade like those in the honors list.

Our Lesson:  Be determined to serve with distinction for the LORD will reward accordingly. 

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

                                                       
                                                                 2 Kings 6:5-6

  

" As one of them was cutting down a tree,the iron axehead fell into the water. Oh,my Lord, he cried out.it was borrowed. The man of God asked, where did it fall? When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there,and made the iron float."
                                                               Key Lessons

1.  The fact that God has promised us His daily companionship and support, does not insulate us from occasional challenges of life. In the case it was a loss.
2.   There is nothing the devil has taken away from us that is irretrievable. You may not have exactly the same but God who gives generously will always give you the best.
3.   Our daily challenges and difficulties are opportunities for God's miracle.
4.   God expects us to cry out to Him in our time of need. This underscores the need for prayers.
5.   Faith works for without it there will be no miracle.

                                                           Conclusion
 Expect great things from God as you step into 2014, for with God nothing will be impossible

DAILY FEEDING FROM THE SHEPHERD

                          2Kings 5:18
" But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of  Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon,may the LORD forgive your servant for this." 
                  Some Notes to theText 

• When you read the chapter from verse 1 -18, you will notice that Naaman , a general in the Assyrian army was a leper but was directed to Samaria in Israel where he finally met Prophet Elisha.
•  He was instructed by Prophet Elisha according to the word of the LORD to go and dip seven times in the river Jordan so he can be healed.
• He hesitated but finally obeyed the instruction and was healed.
• The text above clearly shows that Naaman's healing by the LORD, the God of Israel, motivated his change of allegiance from worshiping the idol god,Rimmon to the true God,the LORD. You may call this his conversion from idolatry to the worship of the eternal God.
• He thus became an ambassador of the true God in pagan Assyria and verse 17 of our text clearly shows that he may have pioneered the worship of the true God in Assyria. 

                                                                                        Key Lesson
God's goal in dealing with us is not just to give us some temporal blessings like healing, riches,family, career etc but bring us to the place of knowing Him and in knowing Him partner with Him in expanding His kingdom like we see Naaman do in Assyria.

2014 GOALS

                                    

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?

~Bob Hope

 

To find what you seek in the road of life,

the best proverb of all is that which says:
“Leave no stone unturned.”

~Edward Bulwer Lytton 

( Courtesy of Daily Insight)

THE MYSTERY OF CHRISTMAS

A mystery is defined as something that baffles the mind and cannot be explained. As we celebrate the birth of God's Son,Jesus Christ on this Christmas day, a few things baffle my mind.

1. God Eternal, Ageless, Changeless came into the world to become Immanuel, God -Man with us . The Immortal God became Son of Man.

2. A Virgin, named Mary who was engaged to Joseph became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to a Son without the natural involvement of man.

3.  The Creator of the universe came to the earth as one that is created. He became like one of us except for our sins. 

What do these mysteries teach us at Christmas?  FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.(LUKE 1:37) Alleluya!!!

CELEBRATING THE MOST DARING RESCUE OPERATION.

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present age, according to the will of our God and Father,to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen"  ( Galatians 1:3-5)

As we celebrate Christmas ( the birth of Christ) we must remember that it was for our rescue he came.

1. To rescue us from the hands of our enemies-Luke 1:74

• Jesus provides freedom to all prisoners of the devil and his agents.
• Jesus provides release to all that are oppressed of the devil.
• Jesus grants recovery of sight for the spiritually blind.

2. To rescue us from the coming wrath of God -1Thessalonians 1:10

• He makes us sons of God instead of enemies of God.
• He moves us from the unrighteous left side of God to the righteous right side of God.
• He brings us to the stand of righteousness before God on the day of judgement.

3. To rescue us from the present evil age. Galatians 1:4

•  The age of compromise and extreme liberalism to the detriment of godliness.     
•  The age of self-centedness, selfishness, disobedience,money loving rather than lovers of God.
•  The age of perversion of proper standards of moral living.

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower,the righteous run into it and are safe."
You can run to Christ,the Lord, today for rescue and you will be safe.

MESSSIAH FOR JEWS & GENTILES

Christmas is a time of celebrating the birth of a Savior. The Savior for both the Gentile and the Jew. 
 Luke1:8-9 An angel of the Lord appeared to some Jewish shepherds living out in the fields near Bethlehem and keeping watch over their flocks. In vs11-12 the angel announced the birth of Jesus Christ,the Savior to these Jewish Shepherds who in turn left to Bethlehem to see this great event for themselves. What did they do after seeing the baby Jesus? Most probably took the news around to other Jewish families with great excitement. The Messiah has been born!!!

In Matthew 2:1-2 wise men from the East( most probably areas around present day Iran & Iraq) saw the star  of the Messiah. " Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." They found their way to the house of Herod the King of Judah at the time to announce to him that the Messiah has been born. They returned after paying homage to the new born King/Messiah to their gentile nation to proclaim that a Savior has been born.

So God sent both Jewish and Gentile emissaries to announce the birth of the Messiah, who will save both the Jews and the Gentile that look up to him.Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah for all.