Bible In One Year-Day 109 (Saturday, April 19, 2014)

Commentary: 1Sam16-18. The lives of Samson and Saul were pointers to the fact that one can misbehave under anointing. It also points to the fact that mismanagement of anointing or grace could be very disastrous; Romans 6:15 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” We must be more conscious of grace to flee every appearance of evil. In reading 1Sam16-18, there are lessons to learn from King Saul who started with God but ended in witchcraft, seeking the life of an innocent boy. Jealousy, envy, evil conspiracies and manipulations are practices of witchcraft. The first lesson is impatience, 1 Samuel 13:10 “And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; …” Saul couldn’t wait less than 3 hours longer. What we call grace in our time is anointing and whoever has it must be patient in all his or her doings. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, i.e. the nature of the Holy Spirit. Any child of God under grace who does not exhibit this attribute will hinder the Holy Spirit from manifesting His acts and this is foolishness in the highest order. Where is your PATIENCE? Another lesson is that Saul wanted to help God instead of yielding to the Spirit of God or, better put, walking in the Spirit. Know one thing, beloved, the flesh could do good, and be wicked as well. However, both the good of the flesh and its wickedness, none is acceptable to God, John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: …” Apostle Paul says that the flesh serves the law of sin, even what the ‘good’ of the flesh does is to serve sinful ulterior motive; only the Spirit profits. In chapter13, Saul wanted to help God out of impatience and in chapter15, he wanted to help God with what he was to destroy. The Bible put it in this way 1 Samuel 15:9 “…, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them: …” This is DISOBEDIENCE. Instead of Saul to be a ‘praise’ unto God, he became a regret before the Lord. As far as heaven was concerned, his chapter was closed, though he was still king (but with another spirit). Whosoever would walk with God must learn to be PATIENT and OBEDIENT. Any unrighteous proceed cannot be used to serve God in any capacity.

1 John 5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin: …”

Romans 9:14 “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.”

David was ceremoniously inaugurated in chapter16 before men and heaven approved him with the Spirit of God. There is great contrast between Saul and David. The behavior of Saul was accounted as foolishness, but three times in chapter18 it was recorded “David behaved himself more wisely”. He was not even impressed when Saul’s servants told him Saul wanted to make him his son-in-law; meaning he had no hidden pride looking for a position to manifest, he just feared God. And because God was with him, his name was not in the death register of Saul and the philistines. The more King Saul set a snare for David the more he got his promotion before man and God. Victory is in battles and promotion is in tests and trials. David recognized fear as the problem of the Israelites before Goliath and he advised them to do away with that. In 1Sam17:37, David remembered the goodness of the Lord when he fought a lion and a bear, and considered Goliath a forgotten issue. Has the Lord been good to you before? Then you need to regard your present predicament as a page about to be flipped over. As far as David was concerned, Goliath was a dog just as Goliath himself confessed. What will terminate your problem is in that problem, you only need to prayerfully move closer, probe further. Goliath carried what eventually cut off his own head. The most powerful statement of David is 1 Samuel 17:47 “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.” Do you believe in this? That statement impressed God. That God is still alive today; Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Trust in Him for victory in your battles. Our next reading is 1Sam19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive

Psalms 147:10-11 “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”

Bible In One Year-Day 108 (Friday, April 18, 2014)

King Saul found himself under a compelling situation which made him to take a decision out of God’s counsel. He gathered 3000 troops to fight a war only to realize that the troop of the enemy massively outnumbered his, 1Sam13:5. Fear gripped his soldiers; they ran into the cave of fear and every available refuge. His army was getting reduced in number, more were departing from him and his people scattered all over the place. He resorted to seeking for God’s help in a way contrary to His command. Unfortunately, he was rebuked and his appointment with God came under review. What a lesson to those who think God is taking too long in answering prayers. Saul saw three ‘D’s in 1 Samuel 13:11 “…, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me (DISCOURAGEMENT), and that thou camest not within the days appointed (DELAY), and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; (DEFEAT)” None of these is a good banner to fight under. Saul had forgotten that his position was not of his doing but God had chosen and anointed him to rule over his people, not over dead people. The weapon you have to fight with might be small compared with what the enemy has, the difference is in the realm of the spirit, i.e. which power is behind the weapon in your hand. Elisha said in 2 Kings 6:16 “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” Gideon chose a number of Soldiers but God reduced the number to His desirable minimum. You don’t need everybody to agree with your vision or dream, even though you started together, many will still fall back; IT IS THE LAW, Matt22:14. If you rely on human beings to be there in the time of great help, you will be discouraged and highly disappointed. Whoever is discouraged cannot see visions and cannot go far. We run with vision and where there is no vision or revelation, the people perish. In times of trial, seek for vision or revelation. Don’t jump into conclusions under any evil compellation or pressure just as Saul did. The summary of such actions is FOOLISHNESS in the highest order (1Sam13:13). Jonathan, Saul’s eldest son, had a different heart in this battle from that of his father. He trusted in God; 1 Samuel 14:6 “And Jonathan said … for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” He went to war with this believe and without telling his father. He didn’t want the spirit of discouragement which was already in his father to infect him. You need to know whom you share difficult times with. When they are supposed to join you in prayer and fasting, they tell you about how you are horribly looking. Discouraging spirit always look for the mouth of the close ones to come in. The wisdom in it is to politely and quietly do away with them until you sort yourself out; Micah 7:5 “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.” Elisha advised the widow in 2Kings4:1-6 to borrow vessels from neighbors and shut herself up in the room while she fills the vessels. This was to keep discouragers away from her. Your testimony is what will make them seek for you. Jonathan had a very good armor bearer, the man with the same heart as he was; 1 Samuel 14:7 “And his armor-bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.” Saul had no armor bearer as at this time who could encourage him but those around him were those who wanted to identify with him by virtue of his position. He put them on compulsory fasting because of fear, it didn’t work, and rather, they were distressed. Any fasting and prayer made in fear don’t work. Esther fasted in faith and power changed hands. Jonathan had a good faith in God and he had a wonderful armor bearer who joined his faith with one heart. God respected their faith and therefore ordained an earthquake to fight for them, 1 Sam14:15. What was a threat to King Saul melted away. The people there and then gathered around Jonathan the moment they saw him as the person who defeated the Philistines. People will only identify with your victory and testimony, they will not identify with your battles. The question is “who is your armor bearer in ministry or in this Christian race?” Another question is “Are you having an armor bearer as friend, a rumor-bearer or a rancor-bearer?” Our next reading is 1 Samuel16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive.

John 19:35 “And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.”

Revelation 1:2 “Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”

Bible In One Year-Day 107 (Thursday, April 17, 2014)

We just concluded reading 1 Samuel 10-12. Samuel told Saul to let his servant take a step ahead because there was a secret he (Saul) needed to know. Oil was poured on him to consecrate him for purpose, this was the activation code. As soon as the oil was poured, Samuel gave Saul three signs to annul his doubt of what Samuel had told him. The first sign linked him with his ancestry. Benjamin, at birth, his mother died and named him Benoni, i.e. “child of my sorrow”. His father regarded that as a bad name and changed it to Benjamin, i.e. child of my right hand. If you followed the trend of our readings, you will realize that, starting from Joshua, God testified to his choice with a sign to instill confidence in such and to make the people respect his choice of person. For instance, the parting of River Jordan in Joshua3 was an assurance that God was with them. Gideon requested for signs and he was given. Saul’s prophetic signs were these three signs. This is the sign to remember each time you call upon God especially in time of difficulty;

Isaiah 45:11 “…, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.”

Where is the point of your calling and salvation? At that point, you receive a new heart, an exchange takes place there;

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

This is not a matter of profession but a matter of a transformed heart which is evident in actions and attitudes. Your prophetic sign is the banner of your destiny. It is after the code and signs have come to pass that the Spirit of God (Password, grace, which you use as occasion demand) will enter your life which turns you into another man. The first thing that happened to Saul after receiving these prophetic signs was that a new heart was given to him. For a man to fulfill destiny, the most important need is a new heart, a changed, transformed and circumcised heart. Nothing works without this change. The heart, i.e. the soul in this wise, is where spirits operate;

Acts 5:3 “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”

Once a heart is captured the person is captured. To pleasingly do the work of God we need the heart for that work. God said this in Ezekiel 36:26-27 “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.And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

There is no place for the Spirit of God in a stony heart. Seeing visions, revelations or receiving prophecies does not result in fulfilled destiny, they are just your prophetic signs. You need a new heart otherwise one could violate the prophetic signs just as Samson violated his and ended up grinding pepper in the kitchen of the enemy. The computer has an operating system which is different from application software. The operating system is used to run other programs, control and manage the hardware of the computer and other devices, the software or application system is what gives the information you need, the interactive platform. Your heart is the operating system that controls and manages your members while the brain processes. The word of God is the software in your heart which you interact with, just like the software we buy and install on our computers for use; buy the truth and sell it not. The word of God works on the heart; deliverance and healing start within the heart. Jesus’ ministry in Lk4:18-19 deals more with the heart. We err in the heart, serve, give, condemn and do a lot of things first within the heart. The Holy Spirit rests and speaks in the heart of man; 2 Corinthians 3:3 “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” The circumcision we need now is not in letters but in the heart. The heart of man is his database where the word of God is stored for the use of the Holy Spirit as occasion demands just as Samuel advised Saul; 1 Samuel 10:7 ‘And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.” If the heart is void of the word of God, what will the Holy Spirit work with? An empty heart are easily carried about with diverse doctrines, very unstable, easily offended, proud and arrogant in thinking, it becomes the devil’s workshop, unteachable and reprobate in actions; Hebrews 13:9 “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”

Just as Gideon, Jephthah and the like operated under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Saul also operated under that anointing and grace; 1 Samuel 11:6 “And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.” The Holy Spirit is your password to access the presence of God, to get information from Him. Many are confused today because they have made the mouth of man their source of information from God. You need a new heart and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 2:18 “For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” May the sword of the Spirit of God circumcise out hearts for the Master’s use and for the kingdom. Our next reading today is 1Sam13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Acts 4:32 “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”

Bible In One Year-Day 106 (Wednesday, April 16, 2014)

Commentary: 1 Sam7-9. 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Ignorance of God’s sovereignty is no excuse for room mating Him with darkness, the result is what we see in chapter5; the BATTLE BETWEEN GODS. In the first place, the Ark was captured because of sin. Sin is a banner of defeat which should not be seen in the hand of any child of God. Though the hand of the living God troubled those who captured the Ark until they returned it, the Israelites did not have peace either on receiving it;

1 Samuel 7:2 “And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

It was as if God had abandoned them. Samuel stood up to carry out his first recorded ministry to the Israelites in verse3 to tell them why their situation was like that; they had other gods with them, Isaiah59:1-3. Samuel preached repentance and restoration to them in Mizpah before praying. The message of Samuel was repent, forsake and ye shall be restored. The Philistines went beyond their bounds by trying to ridicule God through the capture of the Ark, they paid dearly for it. This is true for any repentant sinner; if you allow the Spirit of God inside of you, fully (i.e. under His control), no spiritual prison can hold you. Paul and Silas couldn’t be held captive for long in the prison, Peter received angelic deliverance. The Philistines had no option, but to return the Ark with trespass offering. The Egyptians paid back the unpaid labor to the Israelites as they were living Egypt. When the finger of God starts fighting for a child of God, his deliverance brings results beyond bargain;

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”

Unfortunately, what happened to Eli was about to happen to Samuel; his sons behaved just like the sons of Eli. That is, there are similarities between Eli and Samuel concerning family issues. At old age their children were perverted, rebellious and treacherous in the things of God. God rejected Eli because of his children’s misdirected ways while the people rejected Samuel for the same reason. Samuel’s children were perverted in justice but, probably, still respected God’s tabernacle unlike Eli’s children who defiled the Tabernacle, 1Sam2:22. Samuel was a busy man, going from city to city judging right and building altars for God, 1Sam7:15-18. Eli was conscious of his children’s perversion; God told him about it but never took any step to correct it. COMPLACENCY was the real problem of Eli and we could see this even when he asked Samuel what God said, his reaction was an “I don’t care” attitude, 1Sam3:18; unlike Samuel who went to meet the Lord when he had about his children attitudes. The rebellion and the attitude of his sons made the Israelites to demand for a king to judge them. Their request was granted in chapter9. Just like Gideon who thought he was unfit for favor, God made Saul the desire of Israel. Saul was looking for the father’s lost donkey, but by the time he left Samuel’s place, he was the one they were looking for. Power changed hands instantly. Saul’s legs were in agreement with his destiny, they carried him to where God had left His words;

1 Samuel 9:17 “And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.”

According to verse16, logically, the Donkey was lost but the activation code for Saul’s destiny (or password to open his destiny) was what was in Samuel’s hand.

May you be divinely connected in the name of Jesus. What are these passwords and activation codes? Let’s go to the next reading 1Sam10-12. Keep the fire burning and alive. GOD IS GREAT, Isaiah 40:29 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

Bible In One Year-Day 105 (Tuesday, April 15, 2014)

Commentary: 1Sam4-6. Chapter3 of this book is what every minister and worker of God should prayerfully read for precaution while doing the work of God. Two great things that the people needed were not available while Eli was a priest; the word of God and revelation. Eli was doing the priestly duty without these things. He was working for God without God’s hand in it. No wonder it is written that Samuel did not know God even though he was ministering to God;

1 Samuel 3:7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.”

He couldn’t differentiate between Eli’s voice and another voice. All he knew was that the voice he heard was a voice of an elderly person and Eli was the only person that fitted that thought of his. You could imagine the number of people in this category then. Was Eli inconsistence in the way he spoke then or what? God despised Eli and every adult around and went for a small boy too young to be his grandson; this is ridiculous. This is Peter’s word, Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:”

God does not need any permission from Bishop A to call Pastor B. Bishop A could, however, call anybody, it is not the same as he whom God has called or chosen. Bishop A only needs information from God to know if God actually called whoever. We, as workers in the vineyard, need to respect one another. Moses loved Joshua, but he still had to ask God who He had chosen to succeed him, Numbers 27:15-18 “… And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;”

When you look into God’s economy in Moses-Joshua relationship and Eli-Samuel relationship, you will realize that God honored one before his subordinate and ridiculed the other before his subordinate. Until Moses died, God was still talking to Joshua through the mouth of Moses while He went straight to Samuel despising Eli, an old man. You could imagine Eli, the priest, asking Samuel (a small boy who should still be in the present daycare) what God said. As at this time, Samuel’s parents were still packing his needs in his backpack, 1Sam2:19, just as they do in the present daycare. If we refuse to humble ourselves, this is how God humbles us. I was with a friend and his son of three years who was with us in the living room, and pressed, ran to the bathroom, turned on the light, lifted the toilet seat and ran back to us in the living room, holding his pant restlessly, and said “ daddy, I want to pee”. Instead of easing himself out in the toilet, he came back to the father to tell him he wanted to pee. That was the level of Samuel’s thinking then compared to the age of Eli. He came to Eli three times “Here I am, for you called me” If God said He wanted to do a new thing, He starts from nothing to something new. Humility is the ladder to greatness;

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” Jesus also emphasized that greatness in His kingdom is given to those with the garment of humility;

Matthew 18:4 “Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

The young, the old, man and woman should desire the cloth of humility. There is no grace for the proud;

1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

The humiliation of Eli did not end there, the invasion of the Philistines in chapter4 took the life of his two sons and the Ark of the Lord was taken away. A priest in Israel was nothing without the ark of the Lord. The life of Eli was miserable at old age. The word of God against Eli came to pass fiercely, which became a concern for the daughter-in-law. This led to her early labor. The later end of Eli lost the glory of God. The last chapter of his ministry was titled ICHABOD. May God have mercy on us in the name of Jesus. Workers in the vineyard of God must be conscious of Eli’s predicament and be conscientious in their attitude towards God’s assignment; He will not change His project but, rather, change persons. The Apostles were almost distracted but they quickly realized the importance of prayer (through which revelations come) and the ministry of the word.

Acts 6:4 “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

Whatever, no matter how innocent it looks, that steals these two cogent ministry elements (prayer and the ministry of the word) from you, should be cast away, otherwise, it will eventually cast one out of God’s presence. What remains afterwards is Mr. Flesh. Anything done without God’s Spirit cannot be right or accepted by God; i.e. it is not true. Whatever we do for God must be done in Spirit and in truth. Postings and readings, for instance, on Facebook could look innocent and good, but if it steals our time from praying, reading and studying the word of God, it could be demonic. Whatever we have to post should be as revealed after prayers. The frequency of checks for responses could subtly get us addicted to facebook unaware. Many ministers of God are becoming victims of demonic oppressions, possession and under serious attacks through these social media nowadays without knowing it. The gift of the grace of God should so much be cherished as to allow anything to steal it from us. Our next reading is 1Sam7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Job 28:28 “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”