Bible In One Year-Day 104 (Monday, April 14, 2014)

Commentary: 1Sam1-3. The birth of Samuel was God’s way of transiting from the era of the Judges to Prophets and kingdoms. The parents of Samuel were religious people, but the mother was more spiritual. Religious in the sense that they obeyed and followed the principles of the law on yearly basis, and spiritual in the sense that the mother contacted God through an usual manner of prayer, a prayer that was not from priestly prescription, rather it was an out pour from the bitterness of the soul and grieved spirit,

Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Eli the priest had never seen such prayers before and that was why he regarded it as drunkenness; 1 Samuel 1:13 “Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.”

Yearly sacrifice did not change things but her prayer changed it, her prayer provoked a prophecy that moved the hand of God. Many prophecies are given just to make the hearer comfortable, feel good or because the giver of prophecy loves you and wants to be respected. The one Eli released came from an involuntary action, not within the human elements or figment of imagination but from the spirit. This is what is called “deep calleth unto the deep” This is where we need to understand the efficacy of prayer. God has a sure plan which no ‘one’ man could complete but just have a role to play if such is humble enough to listen to instructions for the role. In essence, there are a lot of vacancies as far as God’s work is concerned and He is the only one who recruits for such jobs. Many of us are actually doing the jobs on hand under another hire (or under a chosen laborer), not God Himself, yet unfaithful. He searches for Himself His own hire or laborer; Matthew 20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.”

In our reading, the vacancy on ground was somebody to be the last Judge of Israel and also the first prophet in the Promised Land. Whilst performing the duty of a priest in addition. But the person must pant after His heart;

1 Samuel 2:35 “And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.”

Meanwhile, while God was going about searching for a medium to send forth the right candidate, Hannah was busy applying for the vacancy in prayer;

1 Samuel 1:11 “And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”

When God saw Hannah’s objective in her prayer resume or CV “I will give him unto the Lord” He pulled out her application for consideration. Hannah was somebody we need to learn from in the face of discouragement, ridicules and mockery. She never gave up on praying all manner of prayers;

Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

A persevering prayer never give up nor faints. The prayer she prayed before Samuel was born still worked for Samuel all the days of his life. Hannah was a good prayer warrior worthy of emulation, and also a very good praise lifter according to chapter2. Are you at the point of giving up, learn from Hannah. The resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus was His application to God requesting for the Holy Spirit on our behalf;

John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”

This was His word before His death, it had been fulfilled. The Holy Spirit is here and He is the only one that could help us to pray and walk according to God’s will and mind, He gives strength to prevail as Hannah said in her song “For by strength no man shall prevail …” To receive this Spirit that prevails, JESUS must be alive in you through His words in your heart.

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

God is still searching for laborers for His vineyard, and to be relevant in life and be established like Samuel, you must apply earnestly and faithfully;

Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Though Hannah’s womb brought forth late, it still brought forth the best which was quite outstanding;

1 Samuel 3:19 “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.”

It is what God puts on ground that He increases. I pray that the word that will change the status of your destiny will come to you from the Lord in the name of Jesus. The reading for today is 1Sam4-6. Keep the fire burning and alive. ALL OTHER PROPHETS ARE DEAD WITHOUT KNOWING THEIR FATE ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, but JESUS is alive and will be the JUDGE at the judgment seat; 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

Matthew 25:32 “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:”

Bible In One Year-Day 103 (Sunday, April 13, 2014)

Commentary: Ruth1-4. When we concluded the book of Judges, we saw the chaos amongst the Israelites. Israel was in serious trouble with heaven and earth. Imagine a land that was predicted to be flowing with milk and honey, now faced with serious drought and famine. This famine was what made Elimelech from Bethlehem in Judah, the husband of Naomi, to leave for the land of Moab with his two sons. Moab is a descendant of Lot, Genesis 19:37 “And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.”

This Israelite, Elimelech, unfortunately died. The sons took their wives among the Moabites women, Orpah and Ruth. The death of these two sons left three widows behind. When the famine subsided, Naomi decided to return to her hometown, Bethlehem. She summoned her daughters-in-law and briefed them of her decision. The young ladies were to, conclusively, go back to their fathers’ houses. Though they were reluctant, Orpah returned while Ruth was adamant on following Naomi. When you stick to the right people, you will get the correct, true, pure and direct connection. Ruth declared that she had made up her mind to make Israel her people and their God her God. By this, she became born again, i.e. born of water (identified with the Israelites) and of the Spirit (making the God of Israel her God and abandoning her idolatrous heritage). She had the privilege to have a place in the lineage of King David and our Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth was a model of faithfulness, loyalty, dedication, hardwork and honesty. These virtues impressed Boaz greatly that he made Ruth comfortable with his household. Boaz knew he was not the right person to have Ruth by tradition. In chapter4, we could see the trick he played on the right person just for him to decline Ruth. There is a trait we could notice in these lineage; Tricky attitude. His ancestor, Perez was a twin born to Judah by Tamar through tricks. Perez also came to the world through trick; Genesis 38:29 “And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez (Perez).”

Another trait is sexual indiscipline. This was more evident in the life of Solomon. Boaz eventually married Ruth to the delight of Naomi. The beginning was sorrowful but the end of the book ended well with the birth of Obed, the grandfather of King David. The book of Ruth is not about the Judges, law or the prophets but about how an accursed, condemned and rejected (Moab) was graciously accepted into the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ; Deuteronomy 23:3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:”

When you remove sin from the Holy Bible, there is no more Bible and the nature of the devil is removed. At the same time when you remove grace from the Holy Bible, you have succeeded in removing the mercy and the nature of God. The purpose of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is to destroy the works of the devil, 1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

You need Christ’s grace, which is the Holy Spirit, to overcome the power of sin in the flesh and usher you into the kingdom fold.

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say to thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

BE BORN AGAIN. Next reading is the book of 1 Samuel1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive. JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE.

Bible In One Year-Day 102 (Saturday, April 12, 2014)

Commentary: Judges19-21. It was very unfortunate that the Israelites turned against themselves to the point of trying to wipe out a tribe just because of the sin of a few men. Sin came into the world by one man. It could be very disastrous if through the offense of a member of family, the whole family is put in serious trouble. You could imagine the number of lives that died because of few perversed men in Gibeah. Achan sinned and the whole country of Israel remained stagnant and even suffered defeat in the hand of a very minute tribe of Ai. Sin is horrible; it subjects the strong to unexplainable defeats. If the Spirit of God is absent somewhere, liberty disappears and the bondage of sin becomes stronger. Sin kills, steals and destroys. Many families are suffering today just because of the sin of their ancestors or parents. Sin is a thief that steals and defrauds from the future, it repaints the future and gives it another appearance. Sin blinds and turns light into darkness, i.e. it is a switch which the devil uses to turn of the light in a child of light;

Isaiah 59:10 “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.”

It was sin that nailed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the cross and made His Father to temporarily forsake Him. Through sin we identify with the devil and through the practices of righteousness we identify with the Savior, 1John3:4-10.

1 John 3:4-10 “Whoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.Whoever abideth in him sinneth not: whoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.He that committeth sin is of the demon; for the demon sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the demon.Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the demon: whoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

The garment of salvation makes you to be called but the garment of righteousness makes you to be chosen;

Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

You don’t use the garment of salvation to commit sin; it will get stained and unfit for the Lord’s wedding banquet.When the garment of righteousness is stained with sin, it relegates one to the bottom or even drop off. Flee every appearance of sin. Each sin you commit opens the wound of Jesus afresh, a fresh bleed. Hate it with perfect hatred and have nothing to do with it. May the Lord give more grace to overcome the power of sin in the name of Jesus.

Our reading for today is the whole book of Ruth. It is a very interesting book. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 101 (Friday, April 11, 2014)

Commentary: Judges16-18. The ruin of Samson was not in the enemies surrounding him for greater was Him that was in him than the enemies around, Isaiah 59:19 “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

The ruin was in him revealing the secret of his strength due to his carelessness and indiscipline. Though he was highly anointed, his weakness was in his inability to resist influences. Though Delilah was an agent, yet she still asked honest questions from Samson three good times. This is how Satan uses the scriptural truth to negatively influence the believers. The negativity is using the truth but with a hidden agenda and evil motive. He did that to the first Adam and the last Adam, he has not changed that style till now. Those who always fall are the double minded. Good ideas could be suggested but with hidden agenda. Anxiety and ambition could be expressed in form of good suggestions. A lot of satanic agents had succeeded in falling great deal of children of God, men of God inclusive. Many think they could play games with the devil just as Samson was playing games with Delilah. A gradual fall is what the devil wants and this is what he pursues in men. Samson’s fall through Delilah was gradual. The first time, Samson was far from the secret of his strength, but by the second attempt, he was already talking about his hair, very close to total woe. Delilah did not give up;

Judges 16:16 “And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;” Samson told Delilah what his condition would be in verse17 if the strength was defiled, “… an ordinary man” what the enemy wants is for us to become ordinary persons, irrelevant, un-mattered, useless, subject of mockery, ridiculed and frustrated. Ahab was a king (power and authority), but unfortunately, the influence in his life was called Jezebel, a horrible spirit that had no power and authority but, through influence, uses the position of her husband to subdue other anointed men of God in favor of her husband to achieve her ulterior evil motive. She wanted more power for her husband just for her to achieve her motive. Such close and uncultured influences, if not tamed, could destroy dynasty and kill anointing. It destroys wonderful relations between good friends, in family and even with God.

If God calls, He shares some secrets with the person, Psalms 25:14 “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” Not every of these secrets must be shared. Inability to keep secret is a horrible sickness and no matter the level of anointing, such cannot go far with God. Quite sometimes the Disciples asked Jesus questions but He told them it was not necessary for them to know. There are deep spiritual secrets that must find a place within you, this is your strength but when ego and pride (self centeredness) are still in your life, you will want people to see things they are not supposed to, just for them to respect you. What the enemy knows is what he will use against a person; Isaiah 30:15 “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” The stronghold of your strength is in quietness but inability to keep quiet when and where necessary is the beginning of ruin; 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.” Lack of discipline in this wise had made a lot of marriages to break, homes to scatter, caused destinies to be diverted and lives destroyed. The mouth is the gate of the heart and an unruly or untamed tongue is a trap of death. The enemy saw the hair of Samson but did not understand what it was all about until he revealed the secret to them. Don’t be careless with God’s grace.

James 1:26 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” Our next reading is Judges19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 100 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)

Commentary: Judges13-15. So far we could see that the life the Israelites lived was in absolute contrast to the life they lived in the book of Joshua. In Judges, they were so disobedient and idolatrous unlike in the time of Joshua at which they were obedient to God and His prophets. They fell into sin again and rebelled against God in chapter13 which led them into bondage for 40yrs. God’s raising up of Judges was an expression of His mercy and loving-kindness. He couldn’t leave them in horrible situations. They were in this bondage when God visited Manoah’s wife to tell her of the child that was to come out of her barren womb. The woman was, however, cautioned on what should enter her mouth just for the sake of the child to be born, a Nazirite, i.e. one separated unto God. What a lesson to learn from; the things done in pregnancy could be a defiling factor on the unborn child; places we go, things we watch, parents in argument or fighting, words we speak or hear etc. Parents should do more of praying and meditation. They could ask God for the child’s name or destiny just as Manoah asked the Angel;

Judges 13:12 “And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. What will be the boy’s rule of life and his work?” (NKJV).

This will help a great deal in bringing up the child. Samson was born in this wise to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines and God rested the Spirit for the assignment on him. If God chooses you for a particular work, He gives you the Spirit for that work to make it easier for you. No one can do God’s work without His Spirit. It wouldn’t have been possible to tear the lion apart without the Spirit that came upon Samson, to break a well secured rope or kill a 1000 people with ease. The point of the first victory of Samson became the point of first violation of God’s rule. As a Nazirite there should be no alcohol, eating or touching unclean thing, including dead things. Samson did not only touch a dead thing but ate from it. Satan set him up with satanic bees. This is a lesson for us to know that the point of victory can be the point of defeat without the Holy Spirit. What makes the difference between Adam who ate the apple given to him by Eve and Samson who fell for the influence of his wife? The wife of Samson was God’s arrangement, Judges14:4, just as Eve was created for Adam. Here we see power/strength and influence at battle. Man signifies strength while a woman signifies influence. Before you go into marriage, discover your destiny first you to know the spouse that will influence your destiny positively. This applies to both genders. Sarah influenced Abraham to sleep with Hagar, Rebecca influenced Jacob against Esau and the two wives of Jacob influenced him to sleep with their maids. We are not talking against women in this wise, but for us to know that no matter how powerful or anointed one is, be careful of the type of influence you go into marriage or agreement with. There is no how one could make it without influence, you need it but let it be the one that will push you positively. Influence could come from friends, family, associates or peers. Moses’ success lies in the fact that he sought for God’s mind on every matter or suggestion. We need to be careful of negative influence. May the Lord give us the grace to overcome negative influences in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is Judges 16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive. 1 Corinthians 12:7 “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”