Bible In One Year-Day 115 (Friday, April 25, 204)

Two basic things are possible for the flesh to do; goodness and wickedness. Both of them are not acceptable to God considering two scenarios in chapters4-6 of 2Sam. The first one is in 2 Samuel 4:8 “And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.”

These men thought they did the king well by killing the son of Saul, not knowing that it was sin. It became a sin to them because they had a hidden agenda; they killed to obtain favor with David. Where were they when Saul was seeking for the life of David? To appease David’s favor they decided to kill Saul’s son. The good they did was by the flesh, and therefore, not acceptable by God.

The second scenario is in 2 Samuel 6:6-7 “And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”

Uzzah meant well but he violated some rules on ground, Numbers4:15. God’s command should be handled with high esteem. Moses admonished Aaron not to be sentimental and emotional about the death of his sons when God killed them for the strange fire they brought into the sanctuary, Lev10. Samuel quickly left Saul and prayed for him from afar. Uzzah was so emotional in his service to the Holy thing of God, but God did not accept that gesture. In doing good, make sure you do not violate God’s word because it will not be accepted. Any good you do must be led by His Spirit; this is the only one that glorifies God. Peter enjoyed grace when he jumped out to cut off the ear of Jesus’ arrester. But at one time, we saw how Jesus rebuked him for trying to stop divine agenda from coming to pass. In these two times, Peter was lead by emotion and on the two occasions he was wrong because he viewed the situations from man’s angle;

MLB Matthew 16:23 “But, turning around, He said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan, you are a snare to Me; for you are not taking the divine view but man’s.”

In as much as our emotion is appreciated by God it should be controlled by the Holy Spirit and tailored towards obedience (i.e. doing the will of God) and not disobedience. Every good done by the flesh has no mark before God according to the following scripture;

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

This is the truth behind the statement of Jesus to the ruler who had a discussion with Jesus in Luke18:18-26 (Matt19:16-26). This man considered himself as good for obeying the Ten Commandment in the flesh. Jesus, knowing his position, corrected his misconception of the things of the spirit. The practice of religion in the flesh is never acceptable to God. This, of course, is the more reason, why many get frustrated if after obeying all the laid down laws, rules, they still get no result. This is why God has given us His Holy Spirit to be our Help in pleasing Him. If your not putting on pants (trousers) or earrings as a woman is done religiously, it has not made you righteous before God because the flesh profits nothing. When you follow the law, you fall from grace but when you walk in the spirit, everything you do is right before God because you are led by His Spirit which cannot go wrong. The only goodness accepted to God is that which is led by His Spirit.

Galatians 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect to you, whoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

Galatians 5:16-18 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

Saul thought of reserving good sheep for sacrifice to God not knowing that he was already disobeying God. This is why we need to allow the Holy Spirit to express the goodness of God the Father through us and not our emotion. To expound more on the action of Uzza is much bigger than the scope of this commentary, but I will make some clues clear as much as possible; within human reasoning, there was no justification for his death. In the Old Testament, the word of God was so sacred; it comes upon men as a power or spirit. When it comes, everything about man is suspended; his emotion, will, intellect and sometimes his senses. As soon as this happens, the mouth is what opens up in response to expressing the mind of God. That is why you see “Thus saith the Lord” only in the Old Testament. In essence no part of human being is mixed with the word of God, He never needed man’s help, and there was a veil between the holy of holies and the outside. Any attempt to chip in human effort corrupts the word of God. Moses was guilty of this when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. That same word of God came and wrapped himself in human flesh and that is what we call Jesus;

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” From that moment human emotions, will and mind became useful in expressing God, but under the control of the Spirit. In most places in the gospel, where Jesus was about to minister, the Bible says “and He was full of compassion” In this wise, the emotion of man, his will and mind became that of God. The Holy Spirit is given to us as a promise to pattern our lives to conform to the word of God in the likeness of Jesus; this is the works of the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit fills you, God’s nature, which is love (Gal5:22-23) starts manifesting in you. That is why you see that in the time of the Apostles, before they ministered, the Bible says “was full of the Holy Spirit” The Holy Spirit then uses our emotion, will and mind to express the nature of God. By the help of the Holy Spirit, the word of Godcould be mingled with man as did in Jesus. Jesus, as sacrifice for sin, removed the veil and by this believers receive the Holy Spirit which helps us gain access to God the Father;

Ephesians 2:18 “For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

The fullness of the Holy Spirit in us makes our will, emotion and mind become that of God. Under the law, Uzzah was guilty for trying to stabilize the shaking Ark. The good by the flesh and its wickedness, none is acceptable to God, “the flesh profiteth nothing … the Spirit quickeneth” Do not be led by the flesh but by the Spirit. Our reading for today is 2Sam7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Galatians 6:8 “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

Luke 6:33 “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.”

Luke 6:35 “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.”

Hebrews 13:16 “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

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.”

Bible In One Year-Day 114 (Thursday, April 24, 2014)

This 2^nd Samuel is about the reign of David; 1^st over Judah and then over the entire nation of Israel. Though Saul was dead, yet David was not pleased with it. The news of Saul’s death came to David by a man who unconsciously had covenant with death. This young man was an Amalekite but was in Saul’s camp. The Amalekites had wronged David in the first place without this man’s knowledge. If he had stayed in his country, he might probably have been killed because David had just returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites. While he was in Saul’s camp, he narrowly escaped death and fled to David, carrying Saul’s crown and royal bracelets. He probably had removed the king’s crown and bracelets after the king’s death, before the Philistines got there the following morning to cut off Saul’s head. Unfortunately, the exaggeration of the young man killed him. He thought of how to join David’s camp. His tactics was to exaggerate Saul’s death just to gain favor from David, knowing that Saul was David’s arch enemy that never gave him rest all along. This is where we need to be very careful in exaggerating things. Many preach the message of God exaggeratingly. Some even attribute miracles that never happened in their ministry to themselves, all for the purpose of gaining favor and acceptability from the hearers. There is death behind the pulpit, beloved. When you sugarcoat the word of God, it loses its power, relevance and becomes ineffective. Spiritual plagiarism can lead to serious demonic attack and, probably, death. Spiritual plagiarism killed this young man. In everything we do, let us be moderate and honest. A man of dignity knows when to talk and when not talk; Job 29:10 “The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.” The Psalmist warned, Psalms 34:13 “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”

He knew that his tongue could kill untimely. A controlled tongue gives a peaceful living, Proverbs 21:23 “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

Exaggeration is a disease of the tongue and if not cured through deliverance, it will result in serious catastrophe. Lying spirit manifests by exaggerating issues. Taking the prophecy of another man of God and attributing to yourself is spiritual plagiarism. Whoever dies through assassination by his own tongue has his own blood on his own head and not on the head of the killer, it is the law;

2 Samuel 1:16 “And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’S anointed.”

This man was not the one that killed Saul but because he wanted favor from David, he exaggerated what he probably witnessed. It is quite unfortunate that this young man’s tongue sentenced him to untimely death without anyone being held accountable for it. He has a case to answer before God on the last day. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. As at the time this man ran to David, his tongue had no life but death. What do you use your tongue for? Do you destroy or build? We have many like this young man behind pulpits, offices and all over the places. Their messages center on other men of God, killing them before their congregation just because of rumors which they hear. Should you take joy in the fall of any Christian? David taught a song after Saul’s death;

2 Samuel 1:19-20 “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.”

David asked the young man “are you not afraid to destroy the Lord’s anointed? (Paraphrased)” The same question goes out to you. The admonition of the Bible to us is in Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

Yes, just as Saul did destroy himself, it was not for the mouth of David to proclaim. David said publish it not in the street of Ashkelon. Our ability to stand where we are now isn’t within our doing but HIS GRACE. The best way to appreciate such grace is to maintain humility.

James 4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.”

If we actually face our own calling we will realize that we have no much time to complete the task God has given us talk less of seeking to redress other peoples’ ministries. We are actually less busy if we have the time to put our ears down waiting for bad news from another ministry or person. That is not a mark of being better off, but of lost vision and purpose. If David had tampered with Saul’s life, God knows what would have happened. The piece he removed from Saul’s garment took PEACE away from him for a moment. But you see, David is very good in quickly amending any broken relationship with God; that is what he cherished most. This should be evident in a spirit filled Christian as well. You can’t afford to lose this very important relationship. It’s like cutting power supply to a building; everything in that house will lose its relevance and the food will soon get decayed. Without the Spirit of God one would definitely misinterpret His word stored up in the brain. May God help our ignorance. One could obtain promotion through the spirit of exaggeration or any contrary spirit, but the end of it is not too good.

Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

This passage simply reveals to us that what we call promotion or testimony a times is actually a path of death; especially if obtained through untamed tongue and wicked heart or motive. Haman followed this path but ended up in his own gallows.

Esther 6:4 “And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.” (also Est7:9-10)

David was a sinner but the fear of God curtailed his excesses. We all need to cry to God to purge our tongues with His fire. Our next reading for today is 2Sam4-6. Keep the fire burning and alive.

1 Peter 3:10 “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:”

James 1:26 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”

Proverbs 15:2 “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”

Proverbs 12:19 “The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”

Proverbs 21:6 “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.”

Bible In One Year-Day 113 (Wednesday, April 23, 2014)

We just concluded reading the book of 1^st Samuel and three characters were outstandingly discussed; Samuel, Saul and David. Samuel’s life was totally yielded to God right from the age of 3 years until he passed on. He lived a life pleasing to God because he did nothing without seeking the face of God. He never despised staying under the canopy of God in all his doings. He humbled himself under great anointing, was not proud, neither did he lord it over his subject. However, he never identified with whoever was not on the Lord’s side or whoever has broken an existing relationship with God. I guess this was to avoid any form of ungodly influence. Samuel was a prayerful person and uncompromising in the things of God. He stood for what God stood for, nothing else. This is an eye opener to the fact that whoever lives by God’s standards will make less mistakes if he ever made one. As for Uncle Saul, it is quite unfortunate that he started well with God as the first king in Israel, but his ending was a disgrace to God and to the chosen. He obtained an unusual favor from God, because while he was searching for his father’s lost donkey, he found destiny. He never fasted nor prayed for this grace but he got it; what a great grace. The enemy of Saul’s destiny was not outside of him but right within him; fear, arrogance, pride, contempt and complacency. He experienced Holy infilling but lost that grace; when the Holy Spirit came upon him, He found no place to occupy or sit. Everywhere was occupied by Saul’s internal enemies. His life proved the scripture right;

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.”

Saul messed up the greatest divine privilege one could ever have. Saul became guilty of what he initially detested, witchcraft, 1Sam28:3. He practiced witchcraft by killing a priest and the entire family. He sought to kill the innocent and God’s anointed, David, out of envy and jealousy; this is witchcraft. He refused to kill the witchcraft within himself, and he ended up in witchcraft. He even fasted to hear from the grave and the grave judged him, 1Sam28:19-20. This was fulfilled in 1Sam31:2. Saul, who was under the influence of the Holy Spirit hitherto, ended up under the influence of evil spirit. He broke his fasting with the food from witchcraft (Satan’s) table. Beloved, the dreams and visions of heaven, angels, Jesus and men of God you had are not for nothing, rather it is grace, pointers to destiny and you must not mess it up. If there is pride, anger, envy, ‘unteachableness’ or the like in you, kill it before it kills you. Learn from Saul. Saul was dead before he was killed, 1 Samuel 28:6 “And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” The first time Saul wronged God, Prophet Samuel told him he did something foolish but he did not repent neither did he ask God for forgiveness. To him he was right; he thought he could not be corrected. God gave him another chance but he thought he was doing God well by not totally carry out God’s instruction. God’s response was “I regret …” It will surprise you that Saul was referred to as ‘King Saul’ only once in the Bible, i.e. to say, as far as heaven was concerned, Saul had disappeared from that stool. As far as heaven was concerned, Saul had been stripped of his royalty. He had lost his soul and couldn’t think right anymore. One of the horrible mistakes of Saul is in his words;

1 Samuel 15:24 “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”

He weighed the voices of people more than the voice of God. Has God spoken to you in dreams and vision and yet you consider the words of men better? Learn from Saul! Not only that, his plead with Samuel was not a genuine repentance but to save his face from shame, unlike David who regretted transgressing against God.

1 Samuel 15:30 “Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.”

As for David’s transgression, he never minded who was looking at him; all he cared for was for the broken relationship between him and God to be restored. He broke down before his own servants; this was not Saul’s position. What Saul was supposed to totally kill and eliminate which he refused to, eventually became a snare to him (1Sam15). Unfortunately, Saul was buried without his head, just because he messed up the grace. I must emphasize, beloved, that, it is easier to lose grace than to receive it, LEARN FROM SAUL. I pray that the throne of iniquity within you shall receive the fire of destruction in the name of Jesus. We shall be discussing David in our next reading 2Sam1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Bible In One Year-Day 112 (Tuesday, April 22, 2014)

Commentary: 1 Samuel25-27. 1^st Samuel talked much about Samuel’s calling, commissioning and activities in judging Israel. Unfortunately, only one verse in chapter25 talked about his death. That single verse was even shared with David. Though it may be short, it is loaded with a great deal of messages. The first message is that it is not how a man dies that matters but how he spent his life. Whatever you want to do for God, do it now and not later. Do it diligently and with one heart and spirit, because it might be too late if you postpone it or gamble with it. If you did not kill yourself, God will not ask what killed you, but what you did for Him on earth. Are you into church politics or one leg in the church and the other in the world, think again, please. God told Joshua, Joshua13, that there where yet many work to do but he was old. Have you ever considered this moment in your life? Jesus put it this way;

John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”

God has not sent you to struggle for positions but to bring people out of darkness and show them the path of salvation;

Matthew 20:25-26 “But Jesus called them to him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.But it shall not be so among you: but whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;”

He has not sent you to contest with workers in the ministry in terms of anointing, Lk22:24, but he has sent you to contend with the power of darkness and depopulate its kingdom;

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

He has not sent you to go and erect buildings as churches, but to go and build His kingdom by winning souls into the church. He has not sent you to build an empire but to empower people for the kingdom work. He did not send you in your own power and imagination but to wait on His grace in the Holy Spirit;

Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

Acts 1:7-8 “And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.”

Those who will see the kingdom are those who allow the Holy Spirit do the right thing through them in building that kingdom. To do the right thing, you must be born again, John3:3. We shall be concluding our reading of first Samuel today by reading 1Sam28-31. Keep the fire burning and alive

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

Bible In One Year-Day 111 (Monday, April 21, 2014)

Commentary:1Sam22-24. David’s battle was a very hard one in that his adversary was carrying the mark of God (the anointed one), 1Sam24:6. The battle was against the person that wanted to kill him by all means but whose death shouldn’t be by his hand because of the fear of God. Many people face such battles also; battles with men or women of God. Perhaps, one way or the other, some people gain access to a man of God under which you minister and they succeed in slandering your character, you need to learn from David. Perhaps, you are considered demonic by renowned men of God because of the grace of God operating in an unusual manner in your ministry, be focused and learn from David. Apostle Paul, in Galatians 2, also suffered this persecution; you can learn from him. Generally, people criticize and castigate what they do not understand. Perhaps, you are a victim of slanders, campaign of calumny and fictitious castigations because of your uncompromising biblical standard of living; learn from the saints in the Bible and from Jesus’ statement.

Matthew 10:22 “And ye will be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

When you read chapters22-24 carefully, you realize that the battle wouldn’t have been so hard if the rumor bearers weren’t between them. Take for example, Doeg, an Edomite, was there when Ahimelech the priest handed over Goliath’s sword to David, but didn’t utter a word;

1 Samuel 21:7 “Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.”

He was the one who told Saul about it and this caused the death of Ahimelech and the members of his father’s house, 1Sam22:9-19. Doeg carried out the killings as ordered by Saul, even when Saul’s servants refused to do that. This was an ancient battle at work; the sword of Esau (Doeg the Edomite) drinking the blood of Jacob (Ahimelech of Jacob’s descend). Only Abiathar escaped to David and told David what had happened. David’s response was pathetic;

1 Samuel 22:22 “And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house.”

The spirit of Doeg the Edomite is now in churches, ministries and fellowships. Apostle Paul experienced it in Galatian2. This is the evil power behind the battles between spiritual fathers and sons today, and brothers and sisters. A times, it is to obtain favor for promotion, or envy and jealousy. And if the man of God is not careful, he could fall into Saul’s regret;

1 Samuel 24:16-20 “And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. …”

Saul eventually prayed for David that he would surely become King in Israel. However, if David had not fought by revelation, he would have fallen prey for Saul’s sword and probably offended God and this is the sure lesson we need to learn from David, ‘Fight by revelation and not by hear-say’. Many mouths are having diarrhea and, therefore, they are bound to run uncontrollably. One will fail and fall into deceit if you fight by hear-say because it is written emphatically in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

You will hear rumors, undoubtedly, but it is your duty to verify it in the light of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Only God’s Spirit could judge right. David operated under the leading of God’s Spirit and the fear of God even though it caused him physical restlessness and discomfort, yet he was secured and strengthened in the Lord. The relationship with Saul was bad but he made sure that his relationship with God was intact. If with a genuine heart, you maintain your relation with God, He would make the wrong right because He is not an author of confusion. It is possible for a Christian to be fighting you wrongfully, especially if you are under the same ministry, your anointing and the grace on you, your relationship with God are as important as winning the battle. Don’t allow any misguided person drag you towards hell. You need to be wise about it, for it is a test of your faith. Saul was anointed and David also was anointed. But Saul had allowed the glory of the anointing depart through disobedience and stubbornness which resulted into witch-hunting David. The statement you hear from people about other Christians should be handled wisely so that you don’t fall into the same error of misjudgment. If you make wrong judgment about a Christian, man or woman of God based on the wrong information you receive, the anger of God could rise on behalf of that innocent person.

Proverbs 21:18 “The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.”

Christians who engage in unresolved malice are gambling with their salvation and the glory of their anointing; this is witchcraft in the church. Many are experts in keeping malice and record of offences, be careful of them; simple “I’m sorry” could exonerate you of condemnation on the last day. Though Saul was arraigned in royal apparel and David in the shepherd clothing, Saul was full of bitterness of heart against David, therefore was more tormented by evil spirit. Christianity is not about the beautiful cloth, flashy car and the mansion full of expensive decorations; Christianity is about plainness of heart, love and pure relationship with God.

1 Peter 2:1 “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,”

May God guide and direct your step to total victory in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is 1Sam25-27. Keep the fire burning and alive.

1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

Psalms 97:11 “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

Psalms 32:2 “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”