Bible In One Year-Day 79 (Thursday, March 20, 2014)

Commentary: Deut7-9. It is quite unfortunate that greater percentage of Christians is not having the knowledge of deliverance. Deliverance, by itself, is the greatest gift of God to His children;

Mark 7:27 “But Jesus said to her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.”

Deliverance is the children’s bread. We could only enjoy the fullness of Jesus Christ through the ministry of deliverance;

1 John 3:8 “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.”

Without deliverance, one cannot posses what God has given, Obad17; it is not even possible to live a holy life according to this verse. But for one to enter the ministry of deliverance, you must understand Deut6:18-19

“And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.”

Obedience (i.e. observe and do) to God’s word is absolutely important in casting out the enemies from your land.

2 Corinthians 10:5-6 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

Chapter7 of Deut further remarked that nothing should we have in common with the enemy; marriage, covenant etc. Unfortunately, Christians have violated the commandments that can give victory in the Promised Land. Spirit spouses are dealing with a huge number of Christians and Christian children are given out in marriage to the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites etc. When God instructs, it is for our own good;

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

Anyone who is not right with God should not go into the ministry of deliverance even though it is our right. Also, it is not possible to be a genuinely growing Christian without deliverance. The enemy has its own scanner to check any seed of disobedience in us. If he finds one, he will take advantage of that and the result could be very terrible. The yoke of disobedience must be destroyed first before you can effect this type of ministry. Moses warned the Israelites very well about this before they entered into the Promised Land. The only defeating factor is the seed of disobedience. Disobedience, in essence, is rejecting or turning away from the statutes and commandments of God. All the occupants of the land, the Girgashites, Canaanites, Perizzites etc have their spirits operating now in the lives of Christians; bitterness, strife, jealousy, hatred, lying, slanders, envy, unholy ambitions, witchcraft etc. God said emphatically that we should have nothing to do with these spirits; they will turn our hearts away from righteousness;

Deuteronomy 7:4 “For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.”

To deal with the manifestation of these spirits is not by physical combat but employ the weapons and strategies stated in Eph6:13-18.

Ephesians 6:13-18 “Wherefore take to you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

What are we saying, beloved? God’s faithfulness will usher us into the Promised Land but maintaining our wellbeing therein is our duty. Salvation is God’s undeserved gift and expression of His faithfulness. However, this grace is not to continue fulfilling satanic conditions but to maintain our relationship with God, endure hardtimes to the Promised Land and walk in God’s agenda. Is your life in line with the word of God, are you really born again or you are still compromising with the Perizzites and co? Make a firm U-turn and follow the Lord with the whole of your heart and He shall direct your path. May His Spirit guide you into all truth in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is Deut10-12. Keep the fire burning and alive.

(THANK GOD FOR ANOTHER YEAR ADDED TO MY LIFE; What shall I say unto the Lord, all I have to say is THANK YOU LORD)

Pastor Supo Abayode

MFM Delaware, USA

+1-302-230-6792

Bible In One Year-Day 78 (Wednesday, March 19, 2014)

Commentary: Deut4-6. God is more interested in observation of His statutes and carrying out His instructions rather than sacrifices, Deut4:1.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Everything that originates from man is impure and this is why God gave the instruction in Deut4:2, that nothing should be added to or removed from His words. Any addition to God’s commandments by man in any form corrupts the life in His word, i.e. no human logic or wisdom should be added to His words. His words are perfected and any attempt for man to bring in logic or wisdom will make the word to lose its power. The only wisdom allowed is to observe God’s words, Deut4:6.

Deuteronomy 4:6 “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

In His warning to them, they must not engage themselves in spiritual harlotry, Deut5:7. To enter the Promised Land, on God’s part, it is His faithfulness, but to live, enjoy and have long life on the Promise Land depends on the level of obedience of the Israelites;

Deuteronomy 5:32-33 “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”

Howbeit, the belly is a great servant but a horrible master. In poverty, people may serve the Lord better but when the belly is full, they tend to forget God. Your relationship with God can be genuinely seen when the problem of food is out of the way or taken care of;

Deuteronomy 6:11-12 “And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

The mere fact that you could afford three square meals a day does not mean God should be despised. Rather in all things give thanks to God because there are people out there who could not afford a meal a day, yet they praise God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

Psalms 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

Wealth has stolen the place of God in so many lives. Their comfort has separated them from God even though they confess Him, their heart is far from Him. According to Jesus’ parable (Luke16:19-31), the rich man used God’s blessing to build fence around himself against what God wants him to do; to show love to the poor, Lazarus. The fence became a reality against him when he died such that the angels who carried Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom could not get to him to carry him also; he ended up in hell. The man’s comfort took God’s place and he lost glorious eternity. Beloved, be careful not to allow your comfort to take you far from God;

Deuteronomy 8:18 “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

America shall continue to be a blessed country because of its charitable work to other parts of the world. America has the largest number of NGOs that reaches to the poor all over the world not minding the faith but in love. The wealthy in Africa are pretty far from the poor. As a matter of fact, they deny the poor the basic things of life. They exploit the poor to get rich. Unlike the Americans who release part of their wealth to raise the standard of living of the poor. Every working American has a certain percentage of the pay that is deducted in one way or the other to cater for the less privileged. The more you earn, the more the tax you pay. The rich are very careful not step in the rights of the poor. The greatest help to Africans come from America. Sad to know that the average blackman has the highest level of respect and right on American soil; Africans are hash towards each other. When you move from one country to another, you will see the level of hatred towards each other especially when you let them know you are from another country within Africa. This hated is what results into political killings.  You are blessed to be a blessing to others. God is not a ‘religionist’; God is LOVE. He doses not need human blood to show to the world that He is the Supreme Almighty. Any god that seeks for the blood of anyone not believing in what the god stands for is witchcraft. The Supreme God allowed the blood of His dear Son to be shed for our salvation This is what was demonstrated in Jesus (John3:16), and Jesus admonishes us to continue in LOVE. This love starts within a household, then the household of Christ, the community and then the world. Our reading for today is Deut7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 77 (Tuesday, March 18, 2014)

Commentary: Deut1-3. Deuteronomy is very much like Leviticus. The similarity is that they are both the books of the law. However, the difference is that, Leviticus is more of the law to the priest while Deuteronomy is addressed to the people. It is also a farewell message of Moses to the young generation who were about to possess the Promised Land. The chapters we read are narrations of what happened on their journey through the wilderness. The closer they were to the Promised Land, the more battles they fought; not ordinary battles, but battles with kingdoms. There are evil kingdoms around every Promised Land. The battle gets fiercer as you get closer to your Promised Land and this is the more reason you don’t have to give up. For as long as there is breathe in you, fight on. On the positive side of the battles, we could see that the more they fought, the richer they were. Each kingdom they fought, they spoiled. This is the message of Jesus in Matthew12:29;

Matthew 12:29 “Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and seize his goods, except he shall first bind the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”

To defeat the strong man manning your Promised Land you need Jesus to take over your life. It is quite pathetic for Moses also not to enter the Promised Land just because of anger; a demon he should have dealt with. The worst defeating factor in a man’s life lies within him. Among all is discouragement. Leadership is not an easy thing. Discouragement is one of the weapons the devil uses to fight leaders. This was why the Lord emphatically told Moses to encourage Joshua. The enemy that is already seated in Moses terminated his appointment with God on Mount Pisgah. Discouragement had worked in several ways against Moses until it manifested in form of provocation. Beloved, you need to press on. At the border of your breakthrough lies the fiercest battles but God had won the battle for you, Deuteronomy 3:22 “Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.”

Our reading for today is Deut4-6. Keep the fire burning and alive. JESUS IS THE LORD.

Prayer: Enemy of my next level in my life, die! in the name of Jesus

Bible In One Year-Day 76 (Monday, March 17, 2014)

Commentary: Mk13-16. Many times we ponder over what we hear on the news; we get so disturbed because the world is in troubles. Only a good bible student will understand what is going on now through bible studies. There is a great deal of strength and confidence one could get from prophecies, revelations and visions, because all these come from the all knowing God. If we are able to listen to what God is saying, we shall have peace in a troubled world. There is nothing we could do to stop the troubles of the world, but there is a way we could have peace within it. Even Jesus prayed for us to be kept in the world and not to be taken out of it.

John 17:14-17 “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

This, invariably, means that you cannot relocate out of this world but could only find peace in a troubled world through the unfailing Word of God. How rich is the word of God in you? It is not a matter of how much you memorize but to what extent has the word worked in you. Has the word delivered you from that unholy anger, cheating, malice, bitterness, pride, lying, etc. these are anchors for the troubles of this world.

In Mk13, we could see that there is a battle between two kingdoms in the spirit realm. The result is manifested as “no peace anywhere”; in the house, outside the house, on the field or at work, even in the church or synagogue. And these are happening now. Hitherto, the church used to be a place of refuge, but it is the most dangerous place now as it could be bombed at anytime. Anything could happen at any time. All that Jesus advised is that you get prepared. How do we get prepared? Mk13:18 is so simple to read but loaded; you must be proactive in prayers, i.e. your prayer should be before it happened and not after.

Mark 13:18 “And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.”

The escape that would be possible will be to flee, but it shouldn’t be at winter, harsh weather. This invariably signifies an uncovered life that is exposed to bad environment. A prayerless life is a life exposed to harsh spiritual weather. Many Christians find it difficult to pray before going out in the morning and even before bed at night. The failure of an average Christian in the place of prayer is because they don’t really know how to pray, i.e. short of words and faith. Before anything could happen, God always make it known. What is going on now in the world had been predicted by Jesus as we read in Mk13;

Mark 13:23 “But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.”

The economic downturn and nations rising against each other that are in the news now were predicted by Jesus in this chapter. They are not marking the end but the beginnings of sorrows. We may blame one president or the other, the truth remains that the prophecy of our Lord Jesus is coming to pass. Talking about praying, let us read John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus hereby tells us that there are two sides from which you could make your choice; the world and His side. From His statement, we could see that He had already won the battle “I have overcome the world”. i.e. victory had been won. As a child of God, you need to fight from this victory and not to victory. Fighting to victory is trusting in self, in other words, you are still on the world’s side. However, fighting from victory means you take the word of Jesus, i.e. assurance in what Christ said, to confront the battles of life; again, here comes faith in the spoken word. Victory is only available and given to a genuine child of FAITH.

Luke 18:1 “And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”

Beloved, the victory won by Jesus is always in revelation, prophecies and visions. When you go through some difficult times, prayer should be your walking stick and the strength to your feeble knees. A proactive prayer life receives tremendous revelations, which is power.  The prayers you pray will bring out some revelations, either through the simplest means which is your dream. These revelations form the package of the victory Jesus had won for you. You now use the revealed victory to do the fighting; this is what we mean by fighting from victory. But whoever faints, surely is fighting to victory in his or her limited strength;

1 Samuel 2:9 “He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, praying in the name of Jesus on the platform of faith (confidence in the revealed truth) enforces the victory of Jesus (as revealed to you) in every situation and also provides the needed safety;

Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

I lift up my rod of faith towards you and declare that you shall witness the sinking of your Pharaoh in the name of Jesus. There is a song for you to sing at the other side of your Red Sea and you shall sing it for as long as the Lord lives and His Spirit is alive. Here we conclude the book of Mark and we could see grace at work to heal, to deliver and to safe. We are going back to the books of the law. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive. Spread the Word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Bible In One Year-Day 75 (Sunday, March 16, 2014)

Commentary: Mark 10-12. Jesus used the heart of a little child to let us know the criteria for entering the kingdom. To see the kingdom is different from entering into it. To enter, we need the nature and the heart of a little child. The little child is innocent, no record of offenses in the heart and always believing. The little child trusts the parents, depends on them to meet the need, waits on their promises and loves them. The little child is easily forgiving and holds no bitterness against anyone. If two little ones fought, give them 5 minutes, they are back playing together again, completely forgotten the fight and the cause of the fight. And if the cause appears again, they manage it in such a way that they avoid any further fight. The greatest attribute to the heart of a little child which Jesus cherishes most is that they have no place of bitterness and malice in them;

1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men”.

Also we have a clue in Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”; the state of the heart matters a lot when standing before God. Blessings are so immeasurable when one stands as a little child before God. The state of your heart determines your entry into God’s kingdom, rest, presence and favor. Imagine the rich man who asked Jesus what to do to enter into the kingdom of God, Mk10:17-19. Obviously, this man was comfortable and quite religious. To him, a good man is somebody who observes religious activities or the principles of the law, not minding the state of the heart; that was his definition of a good man. God relates with the heart and not religious activities. Being in the church or holding a position in the church isn’t a breakthrough before the Lord but a purged heart and a renewed spirit;

Psalms 51:10-11 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me”.

The position you hold in the church could be what is standing between you and God. Your aspiration for a position could be a path of distraction from the journey to the kingdom. For Jesus to say “no one is good” does not mean Jesus was saying He was not good Himself as many ponder over this issue. Jesus knew the state of the heart of this man and for Him to bring quality correction into the life of the man, He had to come to the man’s level of thinking. He first asked Him, “why do you call me good?” In order to address the error in the man’s concept, Jesus talked about the principles of the law, the Ten Commandment. To the man, his observation of these religious activities qualified him as a “GOOD CHRISTIAN” even though he had idolized his possession within his heart. Going by his response to Jesus, he was inconsiderate in his relationship with people. The poor may die, it never mattered to him. Anything done without God’s love towards others in your heart and the leading of the Spirit is to yourself and not to God; this is what Jesus meant by no one is good. Goodness comes only when the deed is in good faith and for God alone without you desiring any acceptance, encomium or expecting appraisal from men. When you get involved in the activities of the church in order to be known, it is an error. You don’t need a position to carry out any spiritual responsibility. Any position or opportunity offered you should be used with God’s love in your heart. If the love of God isn’t in your heart, there is no way you could use such opportunity judiciously. In essence, God’s love leads any action or religious activity that could be considered as “GOOD” before God; it may be considered good in the sight of men, but God’s approval is what matters and His approval is based on the motive behind the action you take. Man can give you position but God gives the power and grace. He gives you power to get done what He has given you to do. To be rich is not a sin or the problem, but according to Jesus in Mk10:24, “… trust in riches …”

In essence, there are two problems the man had; being good in the flesh (i.e. living by the principles of the law and not by yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit, His help and direction) and trust in riches. These two things still mark the life of a failing and falling Christian till today. Beloved, to enter the kingdom of heaven is not by works of righteousness but by the special grace. Grace, as we defined it before now, is the presence and leading of God, i.e. the Holy Spirit in our sinful body so that the righteousness of God could be evident. What are we saying? Our righteousness or self effort cannot by any means take us anywhere, only the righteousness of God which is the nature of the Holy Spirit, is able to take us into God’s kingdom. And whoever has the Holy Spirit is born of God;

1 John 5:18 “We know that whoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not”.

Also in 1 John 3:6 “Whoever abideth in him sinneth not: whoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him”.

The nature of God does not sin and this is what it means to be born again. Living by the principles of the law amounts to trusting in self righteousness rather than allowing the Remedy (Promise) of God that helps to fulfill the law to dwell in us, i.e. the Holy Spirit. Therefore, any good that comes from the flesh, like the one the rich man was talking about, is not accepted by God because the flesh profits nothing;

Romans 3:20-21 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;”

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.

Jesus is saying, in essence, that those who believe in the concept of that man in terms of being good are not good as far as God is concerned; and that “no one is good but One, that is God” means the goodness born of God. What is this goodness born of God? Jesus made us to know it in Mk10:21.

Mark 10:21 “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said to him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”

The man found it hard to do that, we are made to understand that the man was very sad at this word and he left the presence of Jesus sorrowfully. Whatever you find difficult to do away with for the word of God has become the god you trust, and it will only bring sadness and sorrow with time. It could be habit, position, material possessions, money, fame etc. You may pretend to be good to men, only God knows and weighs the heart;

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

The state of the heart of the widow in Mk12:41-44, justified her giving before the Lord. How good it will be for us to consider our ways like the Psalmist did and cry for help; Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”

A good Christian is not the one who receives revelations (because it could be warnings) but that Christian who nurtures and conserves his or her relationship with God in the heart and in love towards others to the glory of God. He is not the one with the gifts of the Spirit but that with the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit (LOVE) must lead any gift of the Spirit. For instance, if someone has the gift of healing but full of pride, such is just like the man we have just discussed. But if love leads you to use the gift without waiting for recognition, but leads the recipient to Christ Jesus, you are the one Jesus intended to bring out of that man. Take the pain to read 1 Corinthians 13. The “GOOD” in the flesh cannot last and always end in wounded heart. That which is to the glory of God will last and it is always done in cheerfulness of the heart. To see the kingdom of heaven is not the same as to enter; STRIVE TO ENTER!!! Our next reading is to round up the book of Mark, by reading Mk13-16. Keep the fire burning and alive.