Bible In One Year-Day 11 (January 11, 2014)

In chapter12 Abram moved from the place of revelation after his call, Gen12:7-8. As Abram increased, Lot also increased;

Genesis 13:2&5 “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. … And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.”

There are family problems that grow with us as we grow also. They gather strength and dominance if they aren’t dealt with decisively. Abram was seeking for a ground that would accommodate him and Lot as many a seeking for the ground that would accommodate them and their problems. He found none; rather, he started lying to be accommodated in Egypt. Christians who still engage in worldly tricks and pranks to gain status and positions are just definitely far from the point of salvation. Since Abram moved from the place of first revelation, all other altars he build did not bring revelation. But when he came back to that first altar and called on the name of the Lord, the God of that altar moved to separate him and his problem, Lot. Gen13:9 talks about his decisive confrontation with his problem, v11 talks about how they were separated;

Psalms 18:44-45 “As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.”

Lot was a stranger in Abram’s dream (God’s vision). When you locate what the stranger is in your God’s given vision, separation is absolutely allowed; otherwise, the stranger will choke the vision and perhaps truncate it. The manner of separation is not a partial one but as Abram suggested and acted on; back to back and in opposite directions;

Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Not until the separation was effected, Abram did not see the deeper and detailed revelation (compare Gen12:7 with Gen13:14-17)

Genesis 13:14 “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him …”

Sodom offered Lot beauty and unholy splendor; he accepted and preferred it to Abram, the called. The Sodom offered Abram material splendor, but Abram rejected it;

KJV-R (Webster) Genesis 14:21-23 “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:”

Lot contended with Abram and in separation, he faced Sodom because of the spirit in him; you will always head and take steps towards where you face. He first perched at the border of Sodom and ended up in the township of Sodom, Gen14:12. Abram loved Lot, but Lot was not in God’s agenda for him. Abram loved Lot as a person but rejected the spirit in him. Lot never heard God, though he walked after the manner of Abram. The scripture even called him the righteous (just) man, but the spirit of Sodom influenced him to miss the fruit of righteousness;

2 Peter 2:7 “And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:”

As time went by, Lot became a judge at the gate of the land of Sodom and of course, an in-law. His ruin is written in Gen19. Everything he gathered while with Abram was carted away in Sodom. Many grew up to be Christians just because their parents, brothers, uncles or aunts were Christians. They never had any encounter with the Spirit of God. Lot grew to see the life style of his uncle, Abram; he never had the spiritual experience of Abram. To follow the law as taught in the Bible School and life styles as seen in relatives is not the same as encountering the power of God by His Spirit. The first part of Saul of Tarsus’ life was full of the knowledge of the law. The second part as Paul was of experience of GRACE. His life was re-branded and story changed totally. When you encounter Jesus, your life cannot remain the same; there shall be the re-branding of your life by His Spirit;

1 Samuel 10:6 “And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, …, and shalt be turned into another man.”

You cannot be the same person, a newness of life comes in. you can’t worship God pleasingly without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will reveal more of Jesus to you;

John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

To receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you must give the totality of yours to Jesus, the giver of life and to the reading of His word.

Our reading for today is Genesis 19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year- Day 10 (January 10, 2014)

The thinking of man is absolutely too shallow compared to that of our God, Isaiah 55:8-9. Men were thinking of building a tower that would reach heaven (not minding their state of spiritual death), while God was planning and working out life for mankind. It is so pathetic that the problem of man today is that he does not know where, what and who he is. This, consequently, has engaged a great deal of men in satanic assignments, profitless ventures. The building of the tower was a satanic assignment. The intention, motive, plan and purpose were all wrong; lack of knowledge. When a man starts acquiring wealth, power and position without thinking of his true condition before the most High God (spiritual status), it is satanic assignment. In searching for a lineage to lay the foundation of salvation, God found a man of unusual faith, Abram. Abram was a man that feared the Lord so much. His life and living was admirable. You know, young ones, in most cases have role models. Lot, being a young man, found Abram as a role model. He attached himself to Abram. He followed Abram anywhere because he loved Abram. He did what he saw Abram did. We could say that he patterned himself after the righteousness of Abram (no record of him hearing God at this time). Many are so deep in doctrinal teaching that they know very little about grace and the works of the Holy Spirit. Just because Lot was living in the pattern of the life of Abram, he became wealthy like Abram to the point that the land was too small for the two of them. Lot was enjoying the grace upon Abram. His wealth got into his head; he regarded Abram as his equal. Abram asked him to make the first choice, he did. That was an evidence of waywardness. He could have said “sir, I’m sorry for whatever my herdsmen might have done to yours, I can’t go from you …”; Lot lost respect for the uncle who brought him up. But he looked into the eyes of his mentor and insulted him. Mr. Lot separated himself from the contact of his wealth. Unfortunately, from that moment of taking the wrong step, decision and action, his life went down until it withered in the valley of destruction. What did Jesus say in John 15:4-11? You need to be reconnected to Jesus if you have deviated or backslided. Jesus is the reason for our living. There is no life outside of Him. We shall talk more about Lot tomorrow. Pray like this “I plug my life back into the socket of divine flow, in the name of Jesus” The scripture reading for today is Genesis 16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day9 (January 9, 2014)

Many will find it boring reading the names listed in chapter10. It is good for us to read and study genealogies. Atleast, one sense we could get from it is that God has a record of family history. A genealogy is a pedigree; i.e. a register recording a line of ancestor, a lineage, history of a family. Through genealogy, traits and patterns of occurrences could be found. As a matter of factor, hidden problems and the root of occurring issues could be discovered. God keeps record and Satan also keeps record. Through genealogy, we could know which of these records are in effect. If that of God is in effect, blessings flow immeasurably;

Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

On the other hand, if Satan’s record is in effect, he will always be using it against the progress of the person unless such record is set ablaze in prayer (deliverance). God in His infinite mercy released good fountain to each lineage but Satan will always take advantage of our weakness to sneak in and pollute it. The secrets behind most problems were not known until Jesus revealed them in His words.

Matthew 13:25 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and departed.”

These family TARES (bad traits, bad omen, unfavorable evil patterns, curses and bondages, yoke and evil law) are the battles in the families of the earth; ignorance makes it worse. The power of any of these tares is responsible for people putting on sin as cloaks. These tares are the works of the devil and it is the reason Jesus came to the world;

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the demon; for the demon sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the demon.”

Jesus is the great deliverer, healer and the Rock of our salvation. Without Him we remain in bondage. Jesus must walk into our lives to break the yoke of family tares and separate us from it. Only Jesus can change the evil law in the family;

Romans 7:6 “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”

We were in the bondage of the corruption that was introduced in our adamic lineage, but Christ came to set us free by grace.;

Romans 8:21 “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Abram was in that bondage, God called him out of it by grace. By grace, God decided to re-brand Abram’s lineage. Abram was given certain instructions before the re-branding could start;

Genesis 12:1 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:”

Abram got out of his country as instructed by the Lord but carried his kindred (relative) along. As he was increasing, the kindred was also increasing, until he was being choked. Partial obedience to God’s instruction could make a Christian’s life to be miserable. These tares contend with our progress, health, career, spiritual life and all the good things of life. Apart from carrying Lot along, another of Abram’s weakness was that he lied to the Egyptians. Despite his weaknesses, he still walked with God. The righteousness attributed to Abram was not because he was sinless (i.e. never sinned) but because of his faith in God; he always returned to God in his weaknesses. He was the second person to build an altar for the Lord; he was even more consistent than his ancestor, Noah.

Abram trusted in the Lord, we need to trust and obey Him also.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Psalms 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Our next reading is Gen 13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year – Day 8 (January 8, 2014)

God started a clean-up process of wickedness in chapter 7. In the lineage of Cain, there was not a dot of righteousness hence the lineage was terminated. Adam had another son after Abel was assassinated by his brother; his name was Seth (Gen4:25). It was in the time of Seth that men began to call on the name of Lord (v26). His ability to start calling on the name of the Lord was counted as righteousness and his lineage continued. As the wickedness of men increased on the face of the earth, God was grieved in His heart and summed up to destroy men for wickedness to cease, Gen 6:5-7. Noah was of the lineage of Seth and the fruit of righteousness was found in him; he found grace before the Lord.

Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

It is good for us to note that Noah was not born righteous and, again, he wasn’t a saint but a sinner by inheritance; corruption was in him by birth. Noah was part of the men mentioned in Gen6:5;

Genesis 6:5 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Noah had his weakness also, however, the difference was that he learnt to walk with God in his weakness and that was counted for him as righteousness. He could draw strength from walking with God; he relied totally on God for strength to take care of his weakness. If a man realized his weakness and the weakness kept him on his knees seeking the face of the Lord, then, that weakness is no more in the negative (i.e. weakness) but positive (i.e. strength) and it could be counted as righteousness because he has faith and trust in the Lord for help, i.e. sowing the weakness in prayer.

1 Corinthians 15:43 “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:”

Apostle Paul had his weakness which kept him on his knees praying for God to remove it, but God’s response was that His grace was sufficient for him.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Our weakness should not take us far from God but keep us walking with Him. Therefore, grace is for those who acknowledge their weaknesses but look unto God for strength; they are always raised in power. Seth knew the defeat in his flesh which moved him to start the process of calling upon the name of the Lord; and anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Noah’s weakness was evident in his drunkenness; perhaps that was his struggles. Our salvation is not by the works of righteousness but by His grace alone;

Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

GRACE is what makes us to be complete in Christ. Noah walked with God with his heart in his weakness; he was the first person to build an altar to the Lord and  offered a clean sacrifice to the Lord, Gen8:20-22. This gesture was pleasing to the Lord and consequently invoked the blessing of automatic multiplication. It became a law backed up by a covenant symbolized by the rainbow. The history of the church started from here. From the altar to the temple, to synagogue, then the heart; the church is the gathering of children of God, not the building. A pure heart is that which reverence, worship and adore God in love. It is not about the church attendant, but about a pure heart, Ez36:24-30. Your heart must be an altar for the Lord. Any praise from a clean and pure heart is a soothing aroma to the Lord. Those who praise God with a good heart of thanksgiving and deep appreciation will ever have God meeting them at the very point of need. Supplies are well calculated and timely. To such, every season yields profitably, Gen8:22. Noah sowed his weaknesses in prayer and he gained power;

Genesis 9:1-3 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”

The question is “what is your weakness?” Don’t let it push you out of God’s presence but into His presence. Don’t ever imagine that you could take care of it within your human effort. Wickedness has increased like never before and divine direction is the only panacea.

Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”

I pray that you will find grace in the eyes of the Lord, in Jesus name. We are reading, today, Genesis 10-12. There are two characters I would like you to pay attention to; Abram and Lot. Keep the fire burning and alive on the altar of LOVE.

Bible In One Year-Day 7 (January 7, 2014)

Chapter 3 of Genesis shows us how evil law (flesh to soul to spirit) was established in our members, i.e. the soulish life (soul living according to the dictates of the flesh). The first fruit this sin yielded was FEAR;

Genesis 3:10 “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

The spirit of fear is from the devil and not from God (2Tim1:7). The presence of this evil spirit robbed mankind of the soundness of mind, God’s nature (which is love) and power over creatures (i.e. dominion). The first singular sin started yielding other fruits.

Romans 7:5 “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit to death.”

From this moment, anything Adam did became corrupted; even the children that came out of him became corrupted (sinner) by inheritance. Since God is Spirit and to worship Him, we must be spiritual, Adam lost this grace and became carnal; it was no more possible to please God.

Romans 8:8 “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Mark you, beloved, the flesh could be good and could be wicked. Both the goodness and the wickedness of the flesh are not accepted by God.

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: …”

Only the goodness of the Holy Spirit through man is pleasing to the Lord. This is why Jesus admonished us that unless we are born of water and of the Spirit, none can enter the kingdom of God. Those who are qualified to enter the kingdom of God are those who please the Lord. The good man cannot enter the kingdom of God, only those who are counted as part of Christ by the indwelling of His Spirit are qualified for the kingdom of God. Rapture is not for the good man but for those with the Spirit of Christ in them

Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Anything done in the flesh will result in WORKS of the flesh (Gal5:19-21). But whatever is done by the leading of the Holy Spirit will yield the fruit of the Spirit, Gal5:22-23. Peter defended Christ in the flesh, he missed it;

John 18:10 “Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.”

Peter manifested in the flesh many times in the scripture with the thought of doing good.

To please God, His nature must be introduced into us which could only be accomplished by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John14:16:17).The Holy Spirit will not seek for His own but that which is pleasing to God (John16:13-14); the scripture makes us to understand that He even prays for us according to the WILL of God. Even Jesus had to be anointed with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of pleasing the Father (Luke4:18-19);

Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the demon; for God was with him.”

Therefore, beloved, no matter how good and kind a man is, if it is not of the Spirit, it is not accepted by God. You may think “how can this be true?”. Yes, it is true. All the attributes of the WORKS of the flesh are always at the background of our actions if not led by the Spirit. They could form the motive behind our actions and these are what make us to count offences against one another. Also, this excerpt gives us some insights to that; “the flesh profits nothing”

1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

KJV-R (Webster) 1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

We must respect the rule that was on ground at creation, “after his kind” (Gen1:11,12, 21, 24, 25/ 6:20/7:14 etc). Corruption will produce after his kind and incorruption after his kind. It is a rule that ensures multiplying effect in a system. Anything produced out of error will remain in error. Adam left the garden without any apology to God. His son, Cain, also left the presence of the Lord without any apology. Since the ‘law of sin’ was in the member (i.e. the flesh) of Adam, whatever comes out of his loins has that law. We are SINNERS by inheritance and not by what we do. We are sinners by the “law of sin and death”. This is the law that pushes us to commit sins (our conducts).

Romans 7:5 “… the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth (produce) fruit (other SINS) to death.” (Parenthesis my emphasis)

Paul said he wanted to please the Lord in his mind but he found himself unable, because there is another law in his members warring against the law of his mind (Rom7). Beloved, there is a difference between SIN and SINS. Sin is the law in the member (i.e. ‘adamic’ defeated nature) that forces us to commit sins (unrighteous conducts). You can’t find SINS mentioned in the bible (KJV) before Leviticus. To take care of sins, forgiveness is what is needed, but as for SIN, deliverance (from the power of sin) is what is needed. The law that was established in chapter 3 led to the multiplication of sin; murder, hatred, pride, envy and other works of the flesh. By the time we get to chapter 6:5, it has become wickedness in a big form to the point that God regreted ever creating man.

Genesis 6:5-6 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

Adam lost communication with God after being sent out of the garden. Cain lost communication with God when he left the presence of the Lord. His son, Lamech (the first polygamist), continued the ministry of murder; his generation was discontinued, even though the evil spirit continued. The saving grace for Seth is that, it was from him that “…men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen4:26, Prov18:10, Rom10:13). The cry for MERCY started from Seth. Noah was the first to find grace before the Lord (Gen6:8). You can only find grace in mercy. It is so pathetic that men still run from God when they sin. Beloved, don’t run from God but run to Him; HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER.

John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You can only find rest for your soul in JESUS CHRIST.

Today, we are reading Genesis 7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive on the altar of love.