Bible In One Year-Day 84 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)
Commentary: Deut23-25. In these chapters, we find further rules given by Moses to the Israelites before entering the Promised Land. Through these chapters, few things are quite outstanding; cleanliness (23:14), paying of vows (23:23), payment of wages without deferment (24:14), perfect and just weights and measures (25:15) and be responsible for sinful acts (24:16). The violation of all or any of these is sin before the Lord;
Deuteronomy 25:16 “For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
What Moses was telling them in essence was that for them to live healthily and with long life, they shouldn’t sow evil seeds in the Promised Land. Just as it is usual for me to remark in my messages in the first three months of every year “don’t cheat while filing your tax return, and if you decide to cheat or defraud the nation, don’t bring your unrighteous harvest into the house of God”. It amounts to sowing evil seeds in the Promised Land by doing such things and you cannot expect to reap good health, gladness and joy in God’s own country, i.e. your Promised Land;
Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
My yearly slogan is quite biblical, whatever you reap from sinful businesses should not be brought into the house of God;
Deuteronomy 23:17-18 “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire (or wages) of a whore (harlot), or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
The blessing of God only falls on what you earn in the genuineness of your sweat and not that earned in cheating. A hundred dollars of genuine earning is weightier in blessing than a thousand dollars acquired through unrighteous means. One thing cheaters don’t really know is that each time they cheat, they actually rob themselves. The inability to make progress or gather much may anchor on this. We should ask the Lord to reveal to us where restitution is needful for us to make it quickly. The practical demonstration of restitution is in Lk19:1-10. No doubt Zacchaeus was a sinner and rich, but on meeting the Lord or when Jesus decided to be his guest, the first thing was to correct every wrong;
Luke 19:8-10 “And Zacchaeus stood, and said to the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said to him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Jesus as your guest is more precious than keeping the verdict of hell fire in form of wealth. Be like Zacchaeus and let Jesus be proud of you. We could see that Zacchaeus repented AFTER he received salvation. Jesus did not condemn or threaten him. Zacchaeus appreciated God’s love and grace and took the step to start showing it to the poor as well. He further decided to correct the wrong of the past where possible. This is genuine conversion. When you become born again, your old life shouldn’t be seen in your future, i.e. a remarkable difference must be evident when you evaluate your life 5-10 years after receiving Jesus into your life; the Holy Spirit must have done a great job in you. This is what is referred to as GROW IN GRACE.
2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”
The reading for today is Deut26-28. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 83 (Monday, March 24, 2014)
Commentary: Deut20-22. Faintheartedness is the major defeating factor in spiritual warfare. Victory in spiritual warfare is not about number but of faith in the God of all flesh who made heaven and earth. The man with God is the majority. Where you find a fainting heart, you have found a failing faith;
Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”
The secret of Caleb’s strength is unfailing faith. Fear gains strength in a failing faith. The devil gets an upper hand where fear is winning. It is the poison from the serpent of fear that troubles the heart and causes high blood pressure;
John 14:1&27 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. … Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Fear and faith are the two ends of the rod of advancement. When you hold that rod on the side of fear, you lose, but when you hold it on the side of faith, the impossible becomes possible. Moses was initially holding his rod on the side of fear, he argued with God; in his argument, he was telling God why he shouldn’t go for that assignment. But when God told him to cast the rod and pick it from the tail (faith end), there was no more argument. Through experience, Moses learnt the power of faith and that was why he was able to teach the Israelites about it;
Deuteronomy 20:1-4 “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
Let your faith increase and the chances of winning becomes higher than expected. With faith, the invisible hand of possibility changes and re-writes history;
Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
The gift of Satan is fear but the gift of God is power, love and a sound mind. Fear is the intimidating weapon the devil uses to weaken his victims. With fear, Satan is able to incapacitate children of God’s weapons of warfare. Goliath incapacitated a host of warriors for days. When David came to the scene, instead of being intimidated by Goliath’s boasting, he was provoked in faith and he did what a legion of armies couldn’t do. Saul wanted to help him initially with the weapon he never mastered, but he opted for what he could handle, a sling; knowing that it was a spiritual warfare that could only be won in faith. When prayers are made in fear, we pray amiss, no matter the number of hours on it. But when it is made in faith, no matter how short it is, no power of darkness can withstand it, just as the sling leveled Goliath. Are you considering your problems as a major factor while praying or the God you are praying to?
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
With fear, we get easily frustrated in spiritual warfare and, of course, in “twittering” with God through His word. Don’t give up, beloved, but persist in faith and what seems impossible shall become possible. Trust and believe in the God of possibilities. Our reading for today is Deut23-25. Keep the fire burning and alive

Bible In One Year-Day 82 (Sunday, March 23, 2014)

Commentary: Deut17-19. The judgment peculiar to violation of the law is death by stoning. The grace we have now is the grace in Jesus;

2 Corinthians 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

The law of Moses was given for the comfort of the Israelites in the Promised Land, but to us the children of God, the Spirit is given to comfort us;

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.”

The law gives no comfort but condemns. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit liberates and comforts perfectly. It is good for us to realize that all the kings that had trouble with God at one time or the other in the Promised Land violated the law. For instance, King Solomon in 1Kings10:28/11:4, violated Deut17:16-17. Verse16 says “Ye shall not return that way again”, i.e. you should not return to Egypt once you say you are born again. The path to Egypt is the involvement in abominable practices. The more you read the Bible the more you know what an abomination is before God which you should not get involved with. All abominable practices open the fountain of discomfort;

Deuteronomy 18:9 “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.”

Naturally, there is a vacuum in us as human beings that craves for divine contact or help, this is why God always raise prophets (of God and not by man) to protect and guide His people. The Holy Spirit has taken that task now in us;

John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”

You need the comfort of the Holy Spirit and I pray that you shall receive His comfort in the name of Jesus. The comfort of man cannot do any good, only God’s comfort by His Spirit can settle us. Our reading for today is Deut20-22. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 81 (Saturday, March 22, 2014)

Commentary: Deut13-16. Chapter13 shows God’s hatred for idolatry. Idolatry is spiritual harlotry which is initiated by unholy enticement and seduction. Four sets of people were identified as media of seduction: the prophets (i.e. those you have spiritual respect for), the dreamers (i.e. those you considered having special spiritual gifts), your relatives and your close friends. These sets of people would have shown love to you at one time or the other, thereby winning your trust in them. Basically, the devil works in such a way that he tends to win your confidence in him. He works through those you have confidence in. He will first provide an evidence for you to believe in him before introducing his intention, perversion, to you. When he met Jesus, he used the same old style he used to lure Adam into trouble; he quoted God’s word. Verse 1 says the prophets and dreamers give signs and wonders;

Deuteronomy 13:1 “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,”

The relatives will come with the countenance of “we care” but could be a bait into idolatry. This chapter, basically, is cautioning against violation of the first two of the Ten Commandments. In chapter14, there is a list of animals to eat and not to eat. Although, the New Testament makes us to understand that we could eat these animals, the truth remains that there are derivable health benefits in complying with these rules of abstainance. However, one rule remains and that is you abstain from any animal that had died a natural death even though it was considered clean before death. The blood is still in the animal and again, the death could be as a result of a disease.

The secret of increase is in tithing;

Deuteronomy 14:22 “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.”

In everything you do in the household of God, consider tithing as the priory. In addition to your tithing, God delights in those who go extra mile to care for the ministers, widows, strangers and fatherless in the community; this is genuine charity work, Matt25:34-46. Whoever has the heart of God cannot stop giving to the poor;

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.” Learn to be a blessing to somebody this weekend. Our reading for today is Deut17-19. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 80 (Friday, March 21, 2014)

Commentary: Deut10-12. The splendor of walking with God is in obeying His words;

Deuteronomy 11:13-15 “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.”

The contrary is the case when you disobey Him. Life is in the word of God. He encourages us to memorize it, paste it on the walls, so that anywhere we turn to, there is a word for that direction; in your going out and coming in you could see the word of God. Even if visitors come in they would see the word boldly written. It is difficult for Christians to paste stickers of the word of God on their cars; some say they don’t want any stain on their cars. Jesus says in 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.” Beloved in Christ, you may not take man serious, but please, take God for His words; live His word, eat His words, say Hos words, pray His word, confess it and reflect in His words. Through His words we get directions, we find help, light shines in us. Jesus is the word of God; having the word in your heart is having Jesus in your heart, meditating the word is conversing with Jesus. The light in His word illuminates and refreshes the heart and the mind. The fire in His word ignites and sets our souls ablaze, too hot for the devil to handle. I am not saying memorizing the word without the understanding of it; this means that the life of the word isn’t there. The richness of Christ in a Christian’s life is how well nourished he or she is by the word.

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

This passage simply tells us to act on His word in every ramification of life. Whoever does according to the word will never be ashamed. In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus walked on the water; Peter saw Him and requested to do same. Jesus gave him the go ahead. Peter acted on the word of Jesus, i.e. he WALKED ON THE WORD OF Jesus which to us looked as if he walked on the waters.

Matthew 14:29 “And he said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

Unfortunately, when Peter took away his eyes from Jesus and gave attention to fear, he began to sink. This is what happens each time we take our focus away from the word of God or lose trust in His word.

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”

There is power in the word of God. Jesus is that WORD according to John 1. The greatest honor you could ever give to Jesus is to trust in His word. Peter said “nevertheless, at Thy word”. He acted on His word and caught fish beyond his imagination. This is something he never did in his life as an experienced fisherman. This action usher his colleagues into abundance of wealth. When you hold unto His word with the whole of your heart, people will hold unto you, i.e. look unto you. His word has a changing and transforming power to the point that people who had the record of your past will be amazed at what they see in you after the transformation. Beloved, never trade in the word of God for anything; God will only stay where His word is. God’s word is His interest and that is what He will defend, not your logic. The Apostles refused to trade in the ministry of the word and prayer for serving table. They considered any other engagement that could steal this from them as “not right”

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

Anything outside of the word of God isn’t right. When His word leads you, His presence leads you and you cannot be moved. May the light in His words flood your lives and break the back bones of darkness to the glory of the living God. Our reading for today is Deut13-16. Keep the fire burning and alive.