Bible In One Year-Day 129 (Friday, May 09, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings22-2Kings2. Ahab’s dynasty received the sentence of death when he exploited his subject, Naboth, under the influence of his wife, Jezebel. He still lived three years after this judgment. Probably he had forgotten about it entirely, or he thought the sentence was expired; something prompted him to decide to go to war against the Syrians. That decision was marked for destruction in heaven and a spirit came to effect the decision in the mouth of his reliance, the fake prophets. Jehoshaphat was the King of Judah. Because of his affiliation with King Ahab, he almost lost his life. As children of God, we must watch out for any evil association, i.e. that which does not go well with God’s mind. Ahab, in the presence of Jehoshaphat, rejected God’s counsel for that of 400 fake prophets who were eating from Jezebel’s table. He even saw Ahab jail the prophet that spoke the truth. This should have been a pointer to break his association with Ahab. Ahab made Jehoshaphat to put on his royal robe (deception; acquired from Jezebel) to disguise as the king of Israel, this would have finished Jehoshaphat totally but for God, he survived it. When Christians go into association with an unbeliever, he or she might be bargaining for untimely death. Every relationship must be subjected to God’s word and mind otherwise, it is not worth it. Gradually the dynasty of Ahab was being wiped out as we read in 2Kings1. His son walked in the same way he did. Ahaziah consulted witchcraft to ask if he would survive his sickness but God sent Elijah to tell him that his end has come. There are different levels of anointing. The one in Elijah’s life was another level, the one that could not be ridiculed or insulted. The first captain went to him arrogantly and sarcastically called him “man of God” Elijah replied by calling down fire. The second captain never learnt from that, unlike the third captain who begged Elijah to have respect for his life. The mouth of the first two captains killed them;

Proverbs 6:2 “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”

Beloved, it is only with humility of heart that you draw virtues from anointing, but with pride and arrogance, one is left frustrated and rejected. The woman with the issue of blood humbled herself and she drew virtue from Jesus. Humility is an element of faith which is needed to make the required change in life; 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

There is a garment which God honors most in peoples’ lives and that is the garment of humility. No one falls before God in humbleness of heart that does not receive answer from Him.

2 Chronicles 34:27 “Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.”

The difference between Saul and David was lack of humility on the part of Saul. Saul sinned and David sinned, but one knew how to humble himself before God and he obtained mercy. We need to wear the garment of humility in our dealings. Lack of humility could make us lose the virtue that creates miracles. May the good God have mercy upon us in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is 2Kings3-5. Keep the fire burning and alive

Bible In One Year-Day 128 (Thursday, May 08, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings19-21. It was easier for Elijah to confront, disgrace and execute 450 Baal prophets, but to stand the vow of Jezebel, he had to run for his dear life. He probably ran because he did not hear any word from God concerning Jezebel who captured her preys by the power called ‘Jezebel’s Table’. People might consider this to be a sign of weakness, but in the spirit of education in the things of the spirit, it isn’t. Elijah did things the way God directed him. As at this very time, there was not any direction or word from God concerning Jezebel. The message he received was to King Ahab. This is a lesson to us all; don’t jump into what God has not commanded. You could only find God where His word is. Many go into the ministry God had not called them. We must seek God, like Moses, in cogent matters. God is never late as we think. When things seemed threatening, let us go into retreat to seek God’s mind. We should regard Elijah’s escape for Jezebel as a retreat, because the angel of the Lord eventually came to him and strengthened him with angelic food twice. His was different from the 450 prophets who ate from Jezebel’s table and became weak. It was at this retreat that he received from God concerning Jezebel, the powerful evil influence on Israel;

1 Kings 21:23 “And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.”

When you find yourself in an unplanned battle with Jezebel, run to God for the right weapon; don’t stand on your past experience or logic, RUN. She captured a whole church in Rev2:20 and a whole nation through the perversion of her husband’s elevation; she could subtly capture a whole ministry. The power of Jezebel was so great that even the Ministry or Department of Justice was under her influence. Ahab, even in his perverted ways, still enjoyed God’s protection, but this protection was broken when his wife, Jezebel, schemed to kill Naboth through the ministry of injustice and took his inheritance. Ahab’s atrocities were because he was under the influence of Jezebel;

1 Kings 21:25 “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.”

The problem of Ahab started when he went to marry Jezebel (1Kings16:31); Ecclesiastes 7:26 “And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.” Ahab displeased God and he fell into the trap of Jezebel.

Ahab, in his natural sense, was a good man. And this is evident in the display of humility when he heard God’s judgment over his life and family. This gesture pleased God to the extent that God shifted the judgment to another generation; 1 Kings 21:29 “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.”

Though Ahab was humble, this was not pleasing to Jezebel; she clamored for authority to propagate her evil motive and intention. She wanted to take charge. It is a lesson to us the Christians. Jezebel is a symbol of evil enticement, influence and seduction. When you see yourself compromising God’s word, you might be under the influence of this spirit. This spirit operates where those with God’s covenant are, and the mission is to influence the worship of material things, position and power. Many churches can now be regarded as Hollywood where fashion parades are the order of the day. Check the pastor and the wife, you will be surprised to see that you are seeing a celebrity from Hollywood. On the fingers are 6 different types of rings and on the neck is the most expensive layers of jewelries; 1 Timothy 2:9 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”

The appearance of Jezebel’s spirit isn’t only in this manner. Some don’t even use jewelries but their influence in some other forms, manners or ways is quite subtle; Revelation 2:20 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.”

Jezebel found her husband in a sad mood; on realizing that it was because somebody refused him what he wanted, she moved to kill the person. That is exactly what a Jezebel does; to make sure she gets anything the husband wanted even at the detriment of another’s woe. Jezebel spirit promotes slandering and perverts protocols. She goes out of her ways to manipulate things in order to get recognized. She is very good in bribery and corruption and her targets are people that matters in her pursuit; no wonder she got the prophets with her foods and gifts. She lies and changes stories, falsifies documents;

1 Kings 21:8 “So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.”

Jezebel used the name and seal of an authority to propagate her evil intentions and pervert justice. Jezebel cleaves to authority and not to average men. Perhaps you are already a victim of Jezebel; check who your friends are. Are any of them influencing you against people? She will first act as a good friend to you but with another agenda. She comes in sympathetically but to work on your emotion;

Proverbs 17:9 “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.”

Ahab claimed what Jezebel had gotten for him. To him, he was progressing because his wife was getting for him all he wanted, not knowing that judgment of woe had been divinely passed over his lineage. Jezebel was death in the palace without Ahab’s knowledge. Prophets who never agreed to eat from her table were killed. Without any doubt, she was self-centered. The battle against Jezebel isn’t a battle against any gender but against evil influences. Christians should be aware of negative influences; they break the wall of divine protection, destroy unity amongst brethren and bring calamity into a person’s future. May the Lord deliver us from the claws of the Jezebels of our days. Our next reading is 1Kings22-2Kings2. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 127 (Wednesday, May 07, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings16-18. It is quite unfortunate to see that all the kings we read about in chapter16 disappointed God through idolatry, just because they wanted power. Most of them were raised by God just as He raised Jeroboam from the dust. Unfortunately, they patterned their lives after Jeroboam. For instance, God said to Baasha, the King of Israel, 1 Kings 16:2 “Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;”

To pattern after Jeroboam is to be an ingrate for what God has done. King Ahab was not left out in this and that was how Elijah came into the scene to pass God’s judgment. The heaven was locked up and he put the spiritual key in his pocket;

1 Kings 17:1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Elijah, the man with spiritual airline, feared no man but God. He was known to be a man who could not be caged because the wind was his wings. Jesus indirectly described the manner in which Elijah moved, John 3:8 “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Any position God has given us to occupy by grace should be maintained by His Spirit. King David confirmed that the Spirit of the Lord spoke by his mouth (2Sam23:2), which means he was under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You could imagine his statement when he sinned against the Lord;

Psalms 51:11-13 “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

David enjoyed the company of the Holy Spirit so much that he begged God not to take Him otherwise he was doomed. David was interested in repairing the broken relationship with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as a king, administrator, you need the Holy Spirit and as a priest you need Him. As a child of the living God, you must not ignore Him if you really want to live as a champion. To be a spiritual giant you need to ride on the airline of the Holy Spirit, i.e. He must be your Pilot. By the Holy Spirit, you worship God better, know Jesus deeper and defeat the wiles of the enemy. The peace of heaven fills you with immeasurable hope only by the Spirit of God. You don’t need to introduce yourself when the fullness of the Holy Spirit is upon you, He does that, just as He did for Elijah;

1 Kings 17:24 “And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”

He confirmed His words in the mouth of the Apostles. The manner in which He confirmed His words in the mouth of the Apostles was not in just preaching but in power, i.e. things changed instantly;

Acts 10:44-45 “While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word.And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

If there is anything we need in the church today, it is the comfort of the Holy Spirit and not display of the flesh or eloquent motivational speeches by the flesh (i.e. brain power). Acts 9:31 “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied.”

His comfort increases the church. May the Spirit of the living God comfort us on every side in the name of Jesus. Reading for today is 1Kings19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive

Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Bible In One Year-Day 126 (Tuesday, May 06, 2014)

From the reading of 1Kings13-15, we could see that it has always been human beings who disappoints God; God never disappoints. Jeroboam was not worthy of the throne but God gave him an unusual promotion. A servant to Solomon, but was handpicked by His majesty to proof His supremacy to the world;

1 Kings 11:31 “And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”

If you consider the greatness of Solomon, then you will fear God for what He did for Jeroboam. If a man doesn’t know the value of what he has, he will abuse it. Jeroboam enjoyed both physical and spiritual security, 1Kings12:22-24. Unfortunately, he never realized God’s grace in his life, for the fear of losing the throne back to Solomon, he decided to scheme. He built an image to represent the God that brought them out of Egypt and gave priestly positions to those not of the lineage of Levi, 1Kings12:28-33. Before one of the altars, was where his hand withered in chapter13. Though he received mercy and got his hand restored, he never learnt his lessons. Rather he became a ‘Bishop’ and ordained political priests; 1 Kings 13:33-34 “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would (or wished), he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” By prophecy, Jeroboam was raised to be king over Ten tribes of Israel, by prophecy he was deposed and his entire family terminated from the surface of the earth; 1 Kings 15:29-30 “And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.”

Beloved, let us be very careful in the manner in which we manage God’s grace. Grace is the endowment and investment of heavenly nature by the Holy Spirit in us. We should manage it humbly. Carelessness in its management can ruin an entire generation. God’s promises are ye and amen; he never disappoints us. If we live in the fear of God, His is able to see us through. Grace should not be used to serve the flesh. Jeroboam, because of the dictates of the flesh, wanted to pervert justice; he wanted to change God’s rules. Grace isn’t a liberty to change God’s ordination, Romans 6:15 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” In any capacity we find ourselves, let us be careful and serve with the fear of God. The punishment a person receives if after enjoying grace, he falls back is greater. On the last day we shall give account of our servitude to authority and over subjects. The privilege given by God should not be for the comfort of the Mr. Flesh. To attain the position of greatness is not as difficult as retaining and maintaining it. It is easier to fall than to rise. When one writes, he makes mistakes that are difficult for him to pick, but the reader easily picks the mistakes. The devil reads us and picks mistakes to condemn us, but God reads us and picks mistakes to correct. Jeroboam was once corrected by the altar where his hand withered but never changed. Jeroboam was better as Solomon’s servant than when he fell, because the Bible says he was a mighty man of valor, 1Kings11:28, he was a labor Minister to King Solomon. A man is absolutely nothing and empty if God withdraws His grace. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, AMEN. Reading for today is 1Kings16-18. Happy New month and keep the fire burning and alive.

Hebrews 6:4-8 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh to cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

Bible In One Year-Day 125 (Monday, May 5, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings10-12. These chapters mark the peak and the fall of King Solomon’s reign. At his peak, 1Kings10, we could see the greatness of God in Solomon. He solved problems with ease, gained fame and respect beyond borders, Kings and Queens brought treasures to his door step, his wealth made silver worthless (verse21), the land was full of his wealth as much as the seas. Solomon had all anybody could desire in life. He was unrivaled in earthly (riches) and heavenly (wisdom) blessings; 1 Kings 10:23-25 “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.”

When God loads you with His treasures, others may occupy the same position as you, but yours will be different. There were other workers with Joseph under Pharaoh but because of God’s infilling, Joseph was unrivaled and unique. May you be relevant in your own generation in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will not struggle to bear good name and represent the position you occupy. King Solomon did not struggle to get fame; neither did he struggle to represent his position amongst kings and princes. He had what it takes to defend the position given to him. His life in the hand of God was a representation of what God said in Isaiah45:1-3; “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Many run helter-skelter searching for the treasures of darkness and hidden riches all over the places. Beloved these great things are not inside the earth, the sea or in any physical bank, but learning from Solomon, they were inside of him. However, we need to know that God gave them to him because he bargained rightly. For you to know how to bargain for this kind of grace, carefully and prayerfully study 1Kings3:5-13. However, one thing must be clear in your mind, Solomon asked for them in order to serve the people in righteousness, i.e. not for selfish reasons. God’s endowment is for service. There are people out there in need of these treasures and when such finds them in you they will bring their wealth to your doorpost as they did to Solomon. When Pharaoh found the treasure in Joseph, he didn’t know when he created a position that was never in existence for him and, even, removed his own garment and ring and put them on him. God’s treasure in you will arrest peoples’ hearts.

Solomon’s life in the hand of God was a clear interpretation of Jesus’ word in John 7:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” That is, a fountain that satisfies other lives’ thirst will be opened.

As a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, your life must represent a prophecy in the scripture because the Spirit is in you to fulfill prophecies, i.e. the Holy Spirit residing in you works on you to pattern your life after the prophetic word.

It is quite unfortunate that in chapter11, his life was fulfilling another bad condition which God warned him of in 1Kings9:4-9. A great grace was upon Solomon but the fountain of ancestral evil flow (promiscuity) in his foundation, changed the GRACE to DISGRACE; 1 Kings 11:1 “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;” The same weapon the enemy used to defeat Samson was what the enemy used against Solomon which is evil influence. A man symbolizes STRENGTH while a woman symbolizes INFLUENCE, but the dominating one is influence. The heart of man is deep and dark, no one can know it. God hid his treasures and riches (not as the world defines it) in the darkness of Solomon’s heart. Unfortunately, the strange women got his heart and he started using God’s blessing to hurt God Himself. His end wasn’t a good story. He became a witch like Saul, seeking to kill God’s chosen, Jeroboam; 1 Kings 11:40 “Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.”

May the Lord give us the heart of His kingdom in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is 1Kings13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.