Bible In One Year-Day 248 (Friday, September 5, 2014)

Commentary: Job13-15. The wordings of Job’s friends were really true when considering God’s nature and attributes. Unfortunately, they applied it wrongly. They focused on the afflictions of Job to judge him; that is, their actions and counsels were based on sight and not of the Spirit. They had good knowledge of the word of God so to say, but not the Spirit of the word.

John 7:24 “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

2 Corinthians 10:7 “Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.”

Whatever is not of the Spirit is not true; no matter how logical it is. Only the Holy Spirit declares what is true. The flesh can reveal according to Jesus Christ, but it leads to falsehood;

Matthew 16:17 “And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon-Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.”

The flesh is under the power of sin and so its revelation can come from the pit of hell. For instance, if you are embittered against someone else and you refuse to forgive, the flesh could reveal such to you as a pursuing enemy in the dream. When you wake up, you might ponder over the dream and probably conclude that the person is evil or meant evil to you. Whereas, offenses without forgiveness resulted into the bitterness of heart which became a platform for the devil to takeover to defile the mind. God says we should not allow bitterness to take root;

Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”

If spouses, friends or relations hold bitterness against each other, they cannot be friends in the dream.

Job and his friends had knowledge of the nature and attributes of God but because the interpretation of Job’s predicament was by the flesh, they all misappropriate the knowledge they had.

In this view, many Christians today fall into the same error. They regard all trying times as consequences of sin; God is not a cruel God. He is merciful, forgiving and loving, full of grace and truth. Trying times are to prune, refine and make you better (spirit, soul and body) than the way you were when you found Jesus. It is a means of spiritual purging and re-branding. Through trying times, the world and its unholy splendor are shaking out of you and Christ is gradually built in you through His word by the working of the Spirit. The evident of the working of the Spirit is that we start living according to the will of God and not for the lust of the flesh.

1 Peter 4:1-3 “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:”

We should, therefore, rejoice when we fall into such conditions because God is about to preach another message to the world through your experience. God used Job to preach FAITHFULNESS to Satan. God is not interested in the richest in material things, nor the most anointed person. He is not establishing a platform for the best. He will honor only the FAITHFUL. The disciples were in this error of contesting the greatest, but Jesus corrected them. Only the FAITHFUL will find his or her name in the book of life. In terms of the greatest, best, perfect and the most endowed, no man has the position on earth; all these attributes lies in Christ. However, the most faithful will have the grace for Christ to manifest these attributes through such. For as long as we go into any form competition in spiritual things, there will be rivalry, contention and rancor which delight the devil and displease God. Whenever you realize that the gift you have is not producing the fruit of the Spirit in you to unify the body of Christ, you are not faithful. It is not a matter of condoning sin, but resisting it.

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh (or produces) patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting (lacking) nothing.”

A man can fake the fruit of the Spirit; however, the one that is true is that which is spontaneous as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; demons can recognize this one very well.

Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing (not to give up) instant in prayer;”

You have received salvation by FAITH which will be tried and tested. Your unwavering steadfastness in faith is FAITHFULNESS. Faithfulness is ceasing from sin no matter the pressure to sin. Job was tried, yet he did not sin. God will only usher the faithful into his glory. Job’s trial was a demonic attack, yet he remained faithful. This is God’s admonition to us all.

Revelation 2:10 “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the demon shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful to death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Job16-18. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA

Bible In One Year-Day 247 (Thursday, September 4, 2014)

Commentary: Job10-12. In chapter9:32, Job reverenced God that He is not a mortal being that would warrant him to argue with God. He realized there was the need for a mediator. In his words in chapter10, Job exclaimed his littleness before God and acknowledged himself as the hand work of the Almighty. His words were spiritually significant and touching. His friends, again, couldn’t stand those words. They, rather, regarded his words as mockery of God.

Job 11:2-3 “Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?”

The responses of the friends points to the fact that whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap. They used the principles of life to analyze Job’s problems.

Just as Satan attacked the body of Job and stole his living, he is doing that to a lot of people through the power of sin in the flesh. Job did not get a mediator, but we have a Mediator, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

Job bore his pain, but Jesus bore our pains and grieves. He paid the price that death demanded and redeemed us from the power of the grave through His cross. Our faith in Him gives us salvation. This salvation equips us for deliverance, and through deliverance we could practice holiness and remain faithful to the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”

Obadiah 1:17 “But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.”

Jesus has perfected all requirements and removed the ordinance that was against us, He nailed it to the cross. Sinners remain under the bondage of Satan but those who call upon His name shall be delivered from the claws of Satan.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Job13-15. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA

Bible In One Year-Day 246 (Wednesday, September 3, 2014)

Commentary: Job7-9. There are two basic lessons worth learning from Job’s plight so far.

1. The boasting of God over His own is not in the mass of material wealth but in the faithfulness of such in trials and righteousness in wealth. Job was tried, yet did not sin; he remained faithful to God. Instead of blaming God for his predicament, he looked at himself as a mortal person who cannot be righteous before God and a shame to God for his iniquity which he couldn’t figure out;

Job 6:24 “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.”

Job 9:2 “I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?”

2. We also learnt that sin is not necessarily the reason for all afflictions. Afflictions come in the form of trials sometimes but this leads to a better state if one endures to the end.

Job was afflicted on all sides and in every aspect you could think of.

1. Materially, he was devoured
2. Financially, he was squeezed to the bone

• Bodily, he was tormented, i.e. assumedly decaying; his mouth could not taste food

1. Family wise, he was reduced to a nagging wife.
2. Death was preferred to what he was going through; not denying God in his words but probably there would be some relieves from the suffering. The devil was very hard on him
3. His dream was full of fear to the point that he was afraid of his bed

Job 7:13-15 “When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.”

Beloved, the greatest asset a man could ever have is JEHOVAH; not as confessed in the mouth but as regarded in the heart. Job’s totality was Jehovah God in his heart. It was very hard for him to deny and forget God even in his affliction and at the advice of his dear wife. He trusted God for His righteousness and faithfulness. Job’s attitude in his trial marked Satan as a liar and God the truth. His friends tried to convince him out of his conviction, he remained adamant against their counsels. Job needed to know what was going on; he trusted God for the right answer and not what his friends uttered. Studying the comments of his friends, we could see that they were actually helping Satan to condemn Job. Their statements praised God out rightly but they were to make him to deny his God. This was the same tactics Satan used to fall man in the Garden of Eden and to test Jesus in the wilderness. His responses were outstanding just as Jesus knocked out Satan in the wilderness.

Job 9:1-4 “Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?”

He still honored God in his trials as read in chapter9. He refused to trust in his righteousness, good works, sacrifices, ability and strength.

Beloved, the righteous do suffer but it ends well and better than what he was before the trial for as long as he is faithful.

Jesus came to die and pay the price for our sin. Satan is there to make believers remain ever guilty (not forgiving themselves) for their shortcomings. Many Christians don’t even know much about their salvation not to talk of their rights as children of God.

Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Salvation is absolutely a gift to sinners and not to the righteous. You don’t need to fast for it, nor pray for it. You need not be a good person before you obtain it. It is a gift not of works.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It is not by the works of righteousness either.

Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit;”

All you need is to confess and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. The only thing He asks from us is to believe (inter-changeably used as FAITH) in Him.

However, this is not to mean that you will automatically make heaven; rather your FAITHFULNESS to the salvation you receive is what earns you the reward of the KINGDOM of HEAVEN. That is to say you obtain salvation by FAITH and make heaven by being FAITHFUL. Only the faithful will God usher into His glory (Matthew25). Kingdom of heaven is a REWARD (not a gift) to the righteous (not for sinners). You don’t work for a gift but you work to earn a reward. In essence, SALVATION is a GIFT to all SINNERS but the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is a REWARD to the FAITHFUL (righteous)

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Without REPENTANCE no sinner shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven as the scripture says.

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The ‘faithful’ aspect is being consistent with God’s will in all areas of life, i.e. observing or doing His will. To preach His word or confess His name is not the yardstick but living a life of Christ. Ministering in the gift is not the pathway but for the fruit of the Spirit in you to preach Christ to others. The summary of the New Testament is for us to be Christ-like; this is the works of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Job went through satanic persecution, condemnation, ruin and woe, yet he never denied God. He was a righteous man yet suffered for that.

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

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.”

Job was faithful to God in his predicament. Christians that will miss it are the unfaithful ones who compromise trials and practice lawlessness as Christians. Faithfulness is the only price you will have to pay to earn the reward of the kingdom of heaven. Job acknowledges his righteousness could not help him before God, but trusted in God’s mercy. Jesus is our righteousness without which we cannot make heaven. Whatever you are going through, NEVER compromise Jesus for anything.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Job10-12. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA

Bible In One Year-Day 245 (Tuesday, September 2, 2014)

Commentary: Job4-6. Surely, Job was a succor and an asset to his friends before his predicament.

In chapter 3, Job cursed the day he was born. His wordings were so hard and quite uncomfortable for his friends bear. The friends then made the statements in chapter4 referring to how Job was there for them when they were in their predicaments.

Job 4:3-6 “Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?”

Job’s plight is a message to us that difficulties are not necessarily because of sin. No sin was recorded against Job for him to experience this woe; rather it was God’s pride over him. The plight was God’s way of boasting over Job to Satan. There are some truths in what his friends said in chapter 5, but these truths were said out of ignorance and so may not be appropriate for Job’s case. For instance, they believed that Job must have done something terrible for God to unleash such punishment on him. It is true that such problem could be as a result of sin, but not in the case of Job. Any Christian going through difficult times should not opt for an alternative outside God’s word but TRUST God for help. Whatever He allows in our lives as His children is to shame the devil and encourage others for as long as we do not disappoint Him.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Job loved the Lord and this helped him to overcome the trying period. We are made to understand that in his trying time, he did not sin against God. One of the promises of God to His genuine children is that no temptation will overcome them for as long as they remain in the boundary He has provided for them.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”.

To understand the principle of spiritual warfare, we must know what the rules are, and to know the rules, we must read, study and meditate the word of God. And our hearts must be soft enough to let the word take root.

Luke 8:13 “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”

We can make use of our trying times to our own advantage by getting closer to God in prayer and the study of His word. His response to such attitude is always awesome.

Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Job7-9. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA

Bible In One Year-Day 244 (Monday, September 1, 2014)

Commentary: Job1-3. In the scripture, there are many instances where debates and deliberations took place in the spirit realm over a situation or personality. The book of Job started with one unique one; a debate over the personality of Job, the righteous one. If we regard the book as a book of debate, we will be right in that after the debate between God and Satan, the remaining part was a debate between Job and his earthly friends.

He never knew that there was a debate in heaven over him and was never revealed to him in the dream of vision that something was about to happen. He was so squeezed by the devil, that his friends and wife could not bear him.

We need to know as well that the problem of Job was not due to any sin, because whatever the scripture says remains the truth. Here is how he was introduced and described by the scripture.

Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

To eschew is to habitually avoid or shun things especially on moral or practical ethics because you do not think it is right or proper.

This is what is required of a person of God. Job fulfilled what is required by the scripture. His life was a clear representation of what Christ says in Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

The comfort and peace in his life was a reflection God’s faithfulness. No one rivaled it in that region all his life.

Job 1:3 “His substance also was (great), and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” (mine emphasis in parenthesis).

From this we could realize that your righteousness could anger the devil so much that he could go to obtain permission from God to harm you.

From God’s statement in the debate with Satan in Chapter 1, there are things that are under the control of Satan, yet very useful to us.

Job 1:12 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.”

All the wealth of Job were given to Job by God but were under the control of Satan only by permission. Satan must have tried to use these possessions to distract Job without succeeding. Job did not put his life on it, rather he used all he had to glorify God. To be wealthy and have material comfort is not a sin, but when it becomes a thing that dictates to us, then it becomes an instrument of death. Though Job had what it takes to be comfortable in life, he did not let this steal his heart from God. In the face of the bombardment of the calamities that befell Job, he blessed the Lord and refused to sin against the Lord.

Job 1:21 “And said, …; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

The heart of Job was not in the treasure he had but in God; that is to say that God was Job’s treasure and not the possessions he had.

Matthew 6:19-20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”

Satan became frustrated because he could not get at Job by afflicting him in taking away what gave him earthly comfort and so he went back to God for another debate over Job in Chapter 2. Satan knew that a man could compromise when he comes to the point of death. He said to God that if God allowed him to inflict his health, Job will change towards God. God told him to go ahead but refused him to tamper with his life.

Job 2:6-7 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore (painful) boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.”

Not only did Satan attacked his health, he also exposed him to scourge of tongues from his wife and friends to break him down emotionally. But the scripture has a testimony on him.

Job 2:10 “… In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”

We have to stand for God even at the cost of our life. In the book of Job, Satan told God: “skin for skin! Indeed all that a man has he will give for the sake of his life” (2:4). Satan realizes that man values his life above everything else. But God said that the overcomers love not their lives. The attitude of the overcomer is that he does not care what Satan may do to him. Even though Satan would take his life away, he would never bow to Satan, but always remain faithful to God. The attitude of the overcomer is to be able to say to the Lord: “For Your sake there is not one thing that I would not forsake, even my life.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Job4-6. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA