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!!!

Bible In One Year- Day 16 (January 16, 2014)

Jacob, in Gen28-30, built a family but without peace of mind, he built a career without satisfaction. We could recall that it was by his mother’s word that he left for the land of Padan Aram and not by God’s word; all because of the product of his evil handiwork against his brother, Esau. He ran with an unresolved sin. On the way, God spoke to him about blessing and the covenant with Abraham, which He wanted to fulfill in him (i.e. Jacob), but Jacob was praying about food and clothing. From his vow, we deduct that he was only interested in God’s gift and not God Himself. Let’s have a look into what God said briefly;

Genesis 28:15 “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”

At this point in time, Jacob was short of spiritual discipline; he was not fit for God’s planning or purpose. God was indirectly telling him that He would make him fit for it (i.e. purpose and the blessings attached). Jacob was still running with the garment of sin on his neck and God did not tell him not to run away or turn back from making the trip to his uncle’s place. Rather, He told him that He would be with him. The journey eventually became God’s training program for Jacob. The resume/CV of his sufferings is Gen31:38-41. Only a mathematician could deal with a mathematician very well. All those years, Jacob still remained in his fleshly attitude (scheming). He could not go back to his father’s house because of what he left behind, and Laban was not treating him well either. God, being faithful, still increased him. All through his stay in exile, he never prayed to God one day. God had to remind him of his vow, Gen28:20-22; now I have given you what you wanted, go back to your father’s place. This time around, God did not introduce Himself as the God of Abraham but “the God of Bethel”, Gen31:13, just to remind him of his vow. God will not suggest another thing to you if you have not obeyed what He has just said. You may run for 20 years, when you call Him again, He will still talk to you from the last discussion you had with Him. By now, God’s word is finding a place in him because his confidence in his strength is breaking off little by little. He obeyed God, though schemed again to do that; Jacob was still Jacob here. Gen32 is the turning point in Jacob’s life. Here is where Mr. Flesh was decisively dealt with by God, his strength was knocked out and he became weak before the Lord. Though he increased in exile, his problem (Esau) had increased also. When he cheated Esau, it was one to one, but now, Esau had multiplied, v6. Fear gripped him on hearing the size of Esau. Running from problems is never the solution. This was the most difficult moment for him. He prayed for the very 1st time, quoting God’s word. Material things never meant anything to him again because he knew that his brother had no pity in shedding blood, after all, Esau had killed many animals. He tried to bribe his own conscience by dishing out most of the things he had acquired, but it never worked. Many are still bribing their conscience now instead of dealing with the sin in their lives. Then God moved in to do His own part; to deal with Mr. Flesh (Jacob’s natural life). God touched his strength and the experience afterwards left him leaping (a humble life). If we look into our lives today, we could see traces of Jacob’s life. God, in working out His plan of eternal life for us, takes us through His school of discipline where we get an unusual experience; an experience that makes our stories to be sweeter and faith-lifting for those who hear it. An experience that makes us leap afterwards and takes our mind away from material thought. The leaping is a symbol of humility. It gives room for the word of God in us and we become useful for the vision and to mankind. It is an experience that makes us do away with bribing the conscience (i.e. defending error or sin) and do what is right. At that point, we appreciate grace and not our works, (Gen33:11) just like Jacob.

Genesis 33:11 “Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.”

It would be no more our way but God’s way. Again, grace is defined in another aspect; despite Jacob’s shortcoming, God still walked with him. However, he was gradually dealt with; God gave him time. Grace will not make us to continue in sin but to work us out of sin, i.e. to be dead to sin.

Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Many think and argue it that we are no longer under the law but under grace and so we could continue in sin; that is not true. Grace, rather, works us out of sin. It helps us to overcome the sinful nature. Grace is the residence of the Holy Spirit (God’s righteousness) in us. The law was to restrict us from sinning but it could not. Grace has now replaced that weak law to empower us to overcome sin. Beloved, we need an unusual encounter with the Lord Jesus that will drastically transform our lives from ordinary persons to extra-ordinary persons. This encounter is God’s dealing that will humble us and make us useful for the Lord. Only an extra-ordinary person can do exploits in this present age. You need JESUS!!!

John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, work on me, in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is Gen34-36. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about JESUS today!!!

Bible In One Year-Day 15 (January 15, 2014)

In the previous chapters, we discussed about Abraham and Isaac. God introduced Himself to Abraham as God Almighty and to Isaac as the God of Abraham. Isaac never received any new thing from God but the same word He spoke with his father. The story of Jacob started from Gen25 and lingered till Gen49, i.e. 48% of Genesis was about Jacob. The experience of Abraham was that of plan and vision. The experience of Isaac was of a son totally obedient and dependent on the father. The life of Jacob was full of trials and troubles. The 1st aspect of his life was from Gen25-27. We saw the type of person he was; full of self, even though he had strength right from the womb, quite materialistic and covetous. Esau’s character was a mind of his own; absolutely walked in the flesh not knowing the relevance of spiritual endowment or grace (birthright). He grieved his parents through unholy marriage, Gen26:34-35. This was one of the things that made Rebekah to scheme against him by arranging with Jacob to receive the blessing that was due to Esau. The step Esau took with his birthright and in marriage shut him out of divine plan and enhances the prophecy which was given while he was in the womb to come to pass;

Genesis 26:34-35 “And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.”

Isaac’s pronouncement upon Jacob was as a result of the prophecy given to Rebekah whilst pregnant;

Genesis 25:23 “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Many at one time or the other argued that God hated Esau. It is not like that, the truth is that God is a God of purpose. PURPOSE chose Jacob. When God reveals purpose to you, He will breed you for that purpose through trials and troubles. His purpose was the salvation of man and He had chosen Abraham to be His person for the actualization. Abraham was submissive, also Isaac was reliable. But Jacob was another character entirely. His character was an issue, if the vision was to be realized. God, having His own way of doing things, raised a rage through Esau to drive Jacob out of his father’s house so that He (God) could deal with his character to the point of absolute usefulness. That journey of brokenness started in Gen28. His 1st sleep on this journey was an encounter with God’s plan which was not clear to him. The plan of God was clearly relayed to him but he did not understand it, Gen28:13-15; Jacob, rather, was talking about food and clothing in v20-22. God’s declaration to him was not conditional because God was already committed to a covenant with Abraham. That was why He introduced Himself to Jacob as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and what God said to Abraham, was repeated to Isaac and now to Jacob. This simply means that God’s plan remains; instead of changing it, He will change persons. Jacob never understood the plan but was concerned about himself. He needed to be dealt with to fit PURPOSE and PLAN. This is the process a lot of us go through. It took 20 years under God’s discipline for Jacob to be reliable and fit for PURPOSE and PLAN; he came back to this same spot where he first received the revelation of purpose. He was a cheat, but he met a master cheat, Laban. Beloved, when it comes to God’s plan, He knows how to deal with us to pattern us to suit His plan. In the school of God Almighty, there is no automatic promotion; you will go through each experience and course necessary for you to be suitable for His use. God deals with our character when preparing us for greater assignment. Many believers are going through that training now. Without Abraham, there wouldn’t have been an Isaac, without Isaac there wouldn’t have been a Jacob and without Jacob there wouldn’t have been the 12 tribes of Israel, Gen17:4. Any believer who wants to move in the power of the Holy Spirit must be prepared to undergo spiritual panel beating, re-shaping and re-modeling; this is for the purpose of adding value to your life. In essence, the root of trials and troubles of life is in PURPOSE. Once you give your life to Jesus, the next stage is to enroll in the school of spiritual discipline. Prayer: O God, enroll me in Your school to shake off activities that will devalue me, in the name of Jesus. Let’s move forward today by reading Gen31-33. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about Jesus today!!!