Bible In One Year –Day 21 (January 21, 2014)

Romans8:28 was one of the scriptures I first memorized as a Christian. The phrase “…the called according to His purpose” was not clear to me until the study of Jacob’s ‘Peniel experience’, Gen32:24-31. Jacob was never the same after this experience. Peniel means, in Hebrew language, the face of God. Jacob’s natural strength was dealt with and he realized his weaknesses and inadequacies. What he used to be boastful of became a thing of shame to him. Before now he used to think of himself more important than others. He used to take unholy advantage over people’s weaknesses with his strength and grace. But after the Man touched the socket of his hip and dislocated it, the way he walked and portrayed himself changed; pride, cheating, lying, self, flair for worldly things and pleasure disappeared. The most wealthiest and peaceful moment of Jacob’s life was at his old age in Goshen. Joseph’s ‘Peniel experience’ was in the prison. He, too, had no respect for his seniors and often times use his father’s favoritism to take undue advantage to exercise control over his senior brothers. Both became so humbled just because they were children of purpose and they had to be conformed to purpose by the disciplining of God (a process). All they went through was not to kill them but to change and pattern them for purpose, Rom8:18, 35-39. For the word of God to Abraham, Gen17:6, to be fulfilled, Jacob’s natural life had to be dealt with. And for His word in Gen15:13 to be fulfilled, Joseph had to be humbled through the prison life. Many of us are children of destiny but lack the humility to attain the height of destiny and so we need to be disciplined to suit the purpose we are created for. This PENIEL EXPERIENCE, i.e. the transforming process. God touches us with His Spirit of light, Psalm119:130/John6:63. The closer we are to His glory, the more we see our filthiness, weaknesses and inadequacies and the more we cease to see our strength. Hence, our walks become different and we appreciate people when we are accepted. The prayer of Isaac for Jacob in Gen27:28 was fulfilled in 45:18. As Jacob’s story was rounding up, we could see the gradual transition into the next step of God’s promises and covenant to Abraham, the father of faith. Jacob went through a lot, Gen47:9; pursued by birth-mate, maltreatment from in-laws, loss of Rachel, daughter defiled and Joseph taken from him. He had a wounded heart and refused to be comforted for 13 yrs because of Joseph, Gen37:35. Joseph was the vessel for the next fulfillment in God’s plan. When he heard that Joseph was alive, Gen45:27, his spirit was revived and heart received healing. I pray for you that this very year, you will receive a divine message that will heal you perpetually in the name of Jesus. God gave Jacob the message of assurance, Gen46:2-4; “…and Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.” (46:3-4). Meaning that Jacob will die and the chapter will be closed by the next person (Joseph) carrying the mantle of purpose. God will not change His plan, purpose and agenda, he will rather change a person. Money can fail, 47:15, but purpose sustains. Whoever runs after money, evidently, has not discovered purpose. When you find purpose, people will seek for you. In Gen47, we could see the awesome leadership/management skill of Joseph; he ruled without oppression and difficulty, bought everybody without their knowing, increased the wealth of Pharaoh without any argument. Can we find such leader in the community, churches, nations and the world today? You could go through 2Tim3. Gen49 is a parable to us. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God and BOOKS will be opened and records read out, Rev20:12-13. The most important is the book of life.

Joseph was the only one amongst his brethren that had the testimony of the Spirit of life and the blessing he received was immeasurable. May the Spirit of Gen49:22-26 flourish in your life in the name of Jesus. Joseph was the only one recorded in the Bible (KJV) buried in a coffin. What is the implication? That coffin was a prophetic contact, Gen50:24, for the fulfillment of God’s promises, Gen15:13-14. Abraham passed ‘purpose’ to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, and then Jacob to Joseph. After Joseph, the mantle of purpose was preserved as bones in the coffin. Your dry bones shall rise again, IJN. In summary, beloved, we learnt of the taste of God the Father in Abraham, God the Son in Isaac, the work of God the Holy Spirit in Jacob and purpose in Joseph. The brothers of Joseph only made us to understand that VISION and PURPOSE shall prevail, they bowed to it, Gen50:18. But what happened to Rebekah? I pray that you shall not be missing in the plan of God, IJN. Prayer: My Father, baptize me with the Spirit of purpose, IJN. The book of EXODUS is the explosion of the summary of Gen15:13-14. The next mile in this trip is Exodus1-4. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about JESUS today!!!

Bible In One Year – Day 20 (January 20, 2014)

Commentary: Genesis43-45. I used to think that Joseph was trying to retaliate the wrong of his brothers by plotting series of accusations against them. The truth is that, he wanted to be sure if they still have the same horrible character and if Benjamin had not been killed. Judah, Gen37:26-27, suggested Joseph to be sold into slavery, he is now the one begging to be a slave to Joseph, Gen44:33.

Genesis 44:33 “Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.”

Beloved, this is to tell us that what is genuinely revealed by God shall surely prevail against all schemes and evil conspiracies. Revelation could be bound and thrown away, it will florish in that place it is cast for as long as it remained undefiled. There was a grace in the life of Joseph that placed him in a position too high for the hands of his household enemies to reach. God will promote you in the name of Jesus, Psalm30:4-5. Gen45 is very crucial in Joseph’s life and we could learn a great deal from it. 1John4 reflects the nature of God, which is LOVE. It is very difficult for God to hate because His nature is love. Based on His nature, He has compassion for us. His compassion forgave us. His forgiveness reconciled us to Himself through His dear Son, Jesus Christ, John3:16/ Ps78:38. Whoever is born of His Spirit must, in this view, manifest this nature, 1John4:17 (“…as He is, so are we…”). No wonder, anytime Jesus wanted to perform miracle of deliverance and healing, the bible always say “and He had compassion on…”. Without compassion, there is no forgiveness, without forgiveness there is redemption and consequently no restoration or reconciliation.

Romans 5:8-11 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Everything has its root in the nature of God, which is LOVE. Without the Spirit of God, the heavenly (God’s) nature cannot be expressed through us. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is what expresses the nature of God through us. The disciples were boastful (Lk10:17-20) and contentious, lacked respect for one another, struggled for position and greatness among themselves, Lk22:24-30. They were just lent a bit of power and authority, but because there was not the fullness of the Holy Spirit in them, they used what they borrowed to fight one another. This is the plight of those who claim to be Christians but without the genuine indwelling of the Holy Spirit; using the garment of salvation to fight one another instead of warring against the devil. When Jesus resurrected and breathed on the disciples, John20:22-23, the nature of God was introduced into them and they could forgive in the power of that nature.

John 20:22-23 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith to them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

To forgive is to bear the cost/pain of the offense of the offender and restore the offender without asking them for any payment. The Holy Spirit started His work in each of them. The evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives after Christ breathed in them was that they were doing things together in harmony and in love. That was why they were with one accord at the upper chamber. So the first thing the Spirit of God brings into a life is LOVE and COMPASSION. This love carries other fruits. Love is the water the tree of power draws from the ground for the health and fruitfulness of that tree. The baptism on the day of Pentecost was just impartation of gift for ministry. If Jesus never introduced God’s nature into them, they would have used that grace at Pentecost against one another. Every gift of the Holy Spirit must be expressed on the platform of love. Believers and church leaders are in two states: before death of Jesus and after death. Those not manifesting the fruit of the Spirit are in the state before death, i.e. flesh has not been crucified with Jesus. The genuinely born again Christians are of the state after resurrection, i.e. they are crucified with Christ, Gal2:20. To love, forgive, tolerate, respect and endure won’t be difficult for them. Joseph demonstrated these attributes of a carrier of the Spirit of God. In Gen45, he showed compassion (v1-2), love and forgiveness (3-4), purpose (v5-8) and reconciliation (v9-12). Question; are you a vessel of mercy and love or a vessel of brutality, envy, jealousy and hatred? (1John4:20-21).

1 John 4:20-21 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”

There is a deep mystery in the coming together of Jacob and Joseph which we are going to look into after the next mile in the trip, Gen46-50. Keep the fire burning and alive on the altar of love. Tell somebody about JESUS today!!!

Bible In One Year – Day 19 (January 19, 2014)

The result of the school of God Almighty is now evident in the life of Joseph; humility, respect, love and discipline. Before now, he was unwise about dreams, not even understanding his own dreams neither did he know how to handle it. But now, wiser, because of the fullness of the Holy Spirit which Pharaoh also acknowledged, Gen41:38.

Genesis 41:38 “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?”

The mere fact that you got a vision does not mean you are commissioned for that work; you need the Spirit for that vision or assignment and this is what you need to crave for. It is only when you have received the spirit for the assignment that you’re commissioned, Jer1:9-10.

Jeremiah 1:9-10 “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

Joseph’s father decorated him without the spirit for the work, which brought a great deal of problems into his life. In this wise, we have to be careful about those who hear our dreams and want to help God. When God shows you a dream, He is only giving you information of what He wanted to do; patience is therefore required, otherwise, un-instructed actions could cut short God’s hand thereby leading into serious troubles. This was the problem of Joseph before God sent him into training in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar’s decoration was just to enroll him in the required school of wisdom. Funny enough, Potiphar’s name was never mentioned again in the scripture, just because his role in the life of Joseph was done or over; as a matter of fact, Potiphar was mentioned twice. Other reference to him was ‘master’. Beloved, you must be careful and don’t let Satan severe you from a person of destiny; somebody God is having mercy on that could be an ancor to your elevation. Joseph would have cut corners by sleeping with his master’s wife, but he didn’t. The decoration by Pharaoh was after the Holy Spirit was evident in him; he ruled nations, i.e. the earth and heaven agreed to favor his leadership and people, even Pharaoh, the other ‘stars, sun and moon’, bowed before him, Gen37:9. Whether people agree with your dream or not does not matter. All that matters is for the spirit of the dream to start work and before you know what is happening, the same people will agree with you and “sir” will be attached to it, Gen43:20.

Genesis 43:20 “And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: “

In essence, there has to be inward re-branding by the Holy Spirit before there could be outward decoration with the garment of destiny.

I have studied the life Joseph for 16 years now, I never noticed a phrase in Gen41:42 “Bow the knee!” until now. God revealed to Joseph twice that people will bow down to him, but his brothers said “no” to God’s “yes”. By the time we finish reading his story, you would count the number of times those who said “no” bowed to him. I pray for you that those saying “no” to God’s “yes” in your life will bow before you, in the name of Jesus. All you need is the Spirit of the assignment. That Spirit unlocked the door of the King’s palace and unveils the chair of destiny fulfillment for Joseph. Halleluiah!!! As at the time he was interpreting the King’s dream, his thinking was that he would return to the prison after the whole show, little did he realize that he was about to be decorated with his graduation gown; God is faithful. Everything Joseph was doing was attributed to God, even the interpretation of the King’s dream. He had been emptied of self. He told his brethren “I fear the Lord”. He has developed a special LOVE FOR GOD. The fear of the Lord cannot be evident in the flesh; only by His spirit can we fear God.

Isaiah 11:2 “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;”

The authority given to Joseph was exercised in the fear of the Lord. This is one of the virtues that should be evident in a genuine Christian, Luke22:24-30. Whoever carries God’s love and His fear along in any position cannot be reduced, John12:32. Joseph’s brethren stripped, bound and sold him. Their expectation was that he would be naked all his life. So their expectation was not to see him in the position and condition they met him afterwards. My advice is that, though you were rejected and thrown out, work on yourself, so that you don’t remain in that condition they left you. For you to be decorated by men that matter, you need God to decorate you with the Spirit of His assignment. Gen41&42 has a prophetic connotation that meets the world’s present situation. The economic regression is not restricted to a particular country but all over. God knew this before now and has prepared some people to do just like Joseph. It is a weapon God will use to humble the world before Him. It is only those with genuine Spirit of God that will have the solution and prevail, Gen41:38-39. Fake prophets will go blank (Gen41:8) and prophecies not from God will fail. In times of famine, revelation is needed. Abraham and Isaac (Gen26) were not affected by the famine of their times because of the Spirit of God that was updating their visions. The revelation from God is clean, clear and concise without any adulteration. After Joseph became a spiritual graduate and the anointing taught him how to manage a spiritual problem.

1 John 2:27 “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

Joseph’s management skill was awesome. He said what you have now, safe 20%, i.e. be wise. Prayer: My Father, baptize me with the Spirit that will unlock the office of my destiny, in the name of Jesus. The testimony of Joseph in Gen41:49 shall be your testimony, no matter the economic condition, IJN.

Genesis 41:49 “And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.”

The next mile in the trip is Gen43-45. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about JESUS today and spread the WORD!!!

Bible In One Year –Day 18 (January 18, 2014)

Jacob lived two lives; the ‘disquieted and the quieted’ lives. Disquietedness entered his life when he cunningly took advantage of his brother’s weakness. Deliverance came into his life after he prayed and offered to pay the restitution of what he collected from his brother, Esau (Gen32), the Angel of deliverance met with him. From that time he started living a quiet life; he became broken.

KJV-R (Webster) Genesis 32:11-13 “Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;”

Jacob’s life history never ended with the death of his father, rather, since the experience with God, his life changed; he began to live a life of quietness. The Lord will give you His quietness in the name of Jesus. When God gave Jacob quietness in his wrestle with the Angel, Esau had no option but to be at peace with Jacob;

Job 34:29 “When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:”

When you read chapter 33 (precisely v8-9) you will realize that God had touched the heart of Esau before he met Jacob. The lesson is that we should not give up but wrestle in prayers for God’s quietness. Jacob was trying to bribe his conscience with all the activities of chapter32 (v1-23), but we could see in his prayers that he came out humbly to God;

Genesis 32:10 “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.”

If we want to live a quiet life, we must not bribe our conscience but correct what is wrong. If the heart is noisy, there will be restlessness outside. The voice of our spirit is the conscience.

Our reading, Gen37-39, started with Joseph. The nation, according to God’s word, had been established. The next thing is the fulfillment of Gen15:7-14, which is part of God’s plan. Joseph was enlisted for that. May God use you to carry out His plan in your generation in the name of Jesus. His word shall surely come to pass, Matt24:35. Just like Jacob, Joseph’s character needed some pruning and discipline to prepare him for the great responsibilities in God’s plan. Though he was living a life of honesty, he had attitude that needed to be checked. He had to go through the school of God. He got a vision but had no wisdom (which he needed if he would wear the crown). His father thought he could be of help; instead, he put him in more trouble with his brothers. In my study of the life of Joseph, I guess the father should have worked on his attitude as a parent and not to decorate (pamper) the bad attitude with tunic of many colors. Many parents defend the errors of their children instead of making prompt correction. Some over trust and love them at the detriment of the children future. The wrong you refuse to correct now will definitely grow bigger in their lives and become giants of concerns. Many have been decorated with positions instead of working on the character; i.e. putting right (crucial) responsibilities in the hand of wrong character and unbroken spirits. Joseph had no regard for his seniors; his relationship with his siblings was horrible and full of pride. His attitude introduced hatred and enmity in his father’s house. The lack of godly wisdom is what is breaking families, churches and ministries apart today. Polygamous families face this problems; pride, envy, jealousy, hatred and resentment etc. Though Joseph was enlisted as a vessel in God’s plan, his heart (i.e. the motive to gain father’s favor) and character (how he relates to people) was not prepared for the plan. He helped his father to gain control of activities of the seniors on the field, and, so the father decorated him. But, unfortunately, Joseph lacked the wisdom to do what his father wanted to achieve through him and the wisdom to accomplish God’s plan. He had the trademark of leadership but lacked the spirit. He needed to go through the College of God Almighty. Joseph inherited the grace of prophetic dreams from his father and, I guess, this was how the mantle of fulfillment of God’s word fell on him, Gen15:7-14. Perhaps the training the father was giving him was not good for God’s plan; he had to be taken away from his father. That was another difficult moment for Jacob. Whichever way, God’s plan must be accomplished; PURPOSE is the most important thing. Parents (biological or spiritual) might not be comfortable with what you are going through, but you need it for fruitfulness, humility and total reliance on God’s Spirit, Zech4:6. Whilst in this school of God, Joseph’s character went through gradual change (transformation) and in Gen40:6-8, humility was evident in him, approach to people was more amicable and relationship improved. The spirit of leadership was in operation on pruned platform.. Joseph’s assignment in God’s plan was leadership and so he needed the spirit of that assignment. God has a plan and we all have our different responsibilities in that plan. That responsibility is called destiny. Are you having the spirit of the assignment, the spirit of your destiny? The spirit to walk with God, Ezek36:26-28. This is the Spirit God wants to identify with in His plan. You need the Holy Spirit to re-brand you for this assignment, Isaiah11:2. Prayer: O God, my Father, baptize me with the spirit of my divine assignment, in the name of Jesus. The next mile in the trip is Gen40-42. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about the love of JESUS today!!!

Bible In One Year – Day 17 (January 17, 2014)

Looking at the life of Jacob, we could see that the activities of his life started from the womb. Jacob was a man full of activities right from his mother’s womb, doing one thing or the other, Gen25:23&26. It would have been quite difficult to change such a man using human logic or law. But, in God’s terms, it was a systematic way. After wrestling with the angel of God, the fruit of righteousness began to yield, his manner of handling things became different and maturity was becoming evident in him. Beloved, to receive a vision is one thing and to be aligned, patterned or disciplined for the realization of the vision is another thing (Samson refused to be disciplined for the purpose of his destiny, his end was too bad). The first test after that experience of wrestle with an angel was the defilement of his daughter; Jacob held his peace, Gen34:5. Dinah, on her part was opened to attack through 2 means; first, she was the only girl among the boys and she needed to play with some other girls and 2nd, she grew up to be pampered by boys, so she never realized the danger of an outsider until she became a victim. We need to constantly educate out wards or children. Obviously, the reaction of Jacob’s children against the defiler was too dangerous for Jacob to continue staying in that land. God appeared to him again and told him the next thing to do, Gen35. God is always there for us in moments of difficulties, especially after re-birth, and this is why we must take our dreams seriously (e.g. Mtt2:12-13). God is totally given to His plan, purpose and vision and He always defend His interest within these aspects. The four different occasions God spoke with Jacob so far has been about Bethel (which means to us a place of re-firing or retreat). Every life carries a trademark of His vision which people will use to recognize you. That is what you should protect for the enemy not to steal, kill or destroy. That is your duty, 1Thes5:22. Joseph and Samson faced the same temptation; one protected his trademark and the other was careless with it. You can’t stop temptation from coming your way but you have the grace to refuse to fall for it. Jacob loved Rachel but Rachel loved idols. He lost Rachel on his way to Bethel for 2 reasons: no idol is allowed on the land of covenant/ vision and secondly, Jacob’s pronouncement in Gen31:32.

Genesis 31:32 “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.”

Rachel sat on the idol of her father’s house, the curse of death stuck to the part of her body which she used to hide the idol at the time of pronouncement. The next time she was to have another baby, the unbroken curse of death manifested. If the spirit of the idol of your father’s house has a place in your life, its duty is to usher in bad omen, curses and afflictions with ease. This is why deliverance is important and needful in a child of God’s life, Obad17; it sanitizes one’s life of evil attachments. It was in Gen35 the nation of Israel was officially inaugurated, v10-12. This time around, God did not introduce Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac but as God Almighty. By who He is, He declared fruition and multiplication and handed the land over to Jacob. Mind you, Jacob had, hitherto, undergone spiritual discipline in the school of God and honesty, maturity, subservience, humility and godliness became evident in his life. He would have messed up divine purpose and vision if he had received the key to the inherited blessing before now. Look at your life, until you allow the stronghold of Mr. Flesh to be removed, the purpose of destiny might linger, Matt7:6;

Matthew 7:6 “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

Position is not purpose. God blessed Jacob exceedingly and equally blessed Esau, Gen36:6-8, but the difference is PURPOSE. In the womb, Esau struggled for worldly POSITION, but Jacob relinguished position in his struggle for PURPOSE. When you struggle for position, you become a nuisance, but when you struggle and find purpose, you become relevant to the vision and the people. Christians are children of purpose and not worldly position. We could get position, but we should not forget purpose while occupying position. We need to discover purpose before finding position. Joseph did not forget purpose through trials and while occupying position, he became fulfilled. The dream he had was the greatest discovery; he protected his dream even when the brothers wanted to kill it, Potiphar’s wife wanted to steal and the prison wanted to harvest it. Don’t compare yourself with the world for you are a child of purpose. Prayer: My Father, connect me to purpose, IJN. Next mile in the trip is Gen37-39. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about Jesus today!!!