Bible In One Year-Day 69 (Monday, March 10, 2014)

Commentary Num28-30. Chapter28 is about God’s demand for the type of food He preferred and that it should be presented at the appointed time. God demands us to give Him an offering with sweet aroma. Summarily, God demands from us praises as food and should be offered in the morning and at evening (as a matter of fact, all the time); Psalms 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

There is power in praising the Lord. When you praise God in songs, you soar above your problems. Praising God brings down His glory and angels join you, i.e. the atmosphere of His presence is experienced in praising Him. David prayed to God three times a day but he praised God seven times a day; no wonder God loved him even though he was a sinner. Psalms 119:164 “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.”

If you could break the record of David in praising God, you will be amazed how God would multiply His blessings on you. Praising God multiplies the sorrows of the devil and that is why the devil does not want you to have joy; he hates it because through your praises, the hand of God moves with an awesome power. Praising God invokes prophecies, 2 Samuel 23:2 “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”

When you see a person who praises God all the time, the aura around such person carries heavenly presence, demons flee (Psalm149). By praising God, you unleash judgment on the powers of darkness. There is no place for sorrows in heaven, just praises. That is where I want to be, beloved, when the roll is called. I pray that you will not miss that place also. Psalm42 reveals that the Psalmist went through difficult times also but he refused to drop praising God for sorrowing,

Psalms 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

David was good in encouraging himself in the Lord. You can give the devil difficult times only through praising God. David is known for encouraging himself if no one cares and in most cases, he sings praises to God. The best way to win a good countenance of God is that in all situations, praise Him. The book of Psalm started with blessing God and ended with praising God. Your praises are the food of God and the best way to draw Him to you. Where you see sin offering, it is for forgiveness, where you see burnt offering, it is for you to offer yourself totally to God, the whole of you without any bitterness (blemish) of heart and where drink offering is mentioned, you need to praise God, i.e. be drunk with the Spirit and not strong drink. Amongst all the kings of Israel there was no king that praised God as much as King David; Jesus was referred to as Son of David. Learn to thank God by praising Him. Num30 warns us greatly about making vows; making vows binds the soul. Many had made vows in the past and may not be aware that the violation could be the root of some problems in their lives. You need to ask God for deep revelations; this brings out some things you had ignored in the past but is binding. May He, in His infinite mercies, shine His light in your darkness, in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is Num31-33. Keep the fire burning and alive. Psalms 150:6 “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”

Bible In One Year-Day 68 (Sunday, March 9, 2014)

Commentary: Num25-27. The Israelites were in transit from bondage to liberty. Unfortunately, at a point, they took the liberty for granted and used it to commit sin which angered the Lord. The devil, knowing their weaknesses waited for them at a bus stop called Acacia Grove. This is spiritually known as SATANIC BUS STOP. At this bus stop, the spirit of acacia grove was employed by the devil to mess up their relationship with God to violate His instruction which He gave to them in  Exodus 22:31 “And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.” (also Lev11:44/ Ex28:36). They were deceived by the women in that land and through immorality they were joined with Baal of Peor. This is a message about sexual sin. Sex outside of marriage which we take for granted destroys a lot of things in our lives (present and future). One of the remarkable things which we are ignorant of is that it joins us with the sorrows and predicaments of the sin partner, even after breaking off, unless proper deliverance is done to break the curse and destroy the soul ties. In addition, if the sin partner is possessed, the moment you have sex with such person, some of the demons in that person’s life enters into yours just because you have decided (whether ignorantly or not) to enter into a covenant with it. By that deed, an agreement has been formed with the dark world. These are one of the things that make one’s life miserable and to face a great deal of frustrations. Even if you give your life to Christ, you still need to go through deliverance to break this evil agreement; salvation only empowers you to break free if you took action against it, it has not exempted you from facing the repercussions of what you did before you got saved. Therefore, after you give your life to Christ, you have to use that grace to declare to the devil that you are no more for Him. Now, how quickly deliverance is obtained differs from person to person and it depends on so many factors which include how deep you were in the bondage and what level of anointing (i.e. revelations by the Spirit, to give insight to the real problem) available at that point. Plagues invaded the camp of the Israelites, not because the enemy had the power, but because they broke their relationship with God. This is the dilemma of a lot of the children of God nowadays. Everyone, at one point or the other in life, will get to this satanic bus stop, where the devil will want to take advantage of our weaknesses. We need to be watchful and prayerful. Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called to liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

2 Samuel 12:14 “Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.” Our actions matter a lot. Howbeit, let us make sure that the rod of prayer is not broken out of our lives. Prayer is one of the greatest means of keeping a close contact with God. Once you realize that you are not comfortable where prayers are made at higher temperature, i.e. violently, then the enemy is present within and that is what is not comfortable; you need deliverance. I had seen many people a times walk out of our prayer meeting and the excuse is that we are too loud. They couldn’t stand the fire. If there are plagues of discomfort and lack of peace, only the zeal of the Lord could stop it. This was what Phinehas demonstrated in Num26:8-11; he first destroyed the root of the plague which is sin and this stopped the plague. Through deliverance, the root of unclear issues is destroyed. Please take time to read Psalm106:28-31 and see the encomium that was poured out on his zeal for God. People get into the trouble of the devil not because God isn’t there (Isaiah59:1-3) but because they have rejected God by taking to their own ways of life; they are deceived by satanic messages which says “get it done and don’t feel guilty about it” (Romans 7:11 “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me”). The devil entered the body and became the power of sin (called the flesh or the law of sin and death). To be free from this evil law in our body that urges us to commit sins and transgress against the Lord, we need another law called the law of the Spirit of life; this is explained in Romans7&8 and we will expound on this by the time we shall be reading the book of Romans if the Lord tarry. The second census conducted was in Num26 at the Plain of Moab. The revealing thing about it is that only two men, apart from Moses, were left out of those who left Egypt. All others died in the wilderness, Num26:64-65, in fulfillment of Num14:26-35. And this was 39years after they left, just a year to enter the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Moses was not left out in chapter27. Joshua was chosen in his place. Joshua and Caleb became the chosen because of the right SPIRIT in them. Many were called but few were chosen. Only those with the Spirit of life shall be raptured (CHOSEN). Search your life and yield to Jesus for the Spirit of life to lead and guide you into all truth. The grace of our Lord Jesus is that instead of dying like the Israelites for their sins, Jesus came to take care of the death we would have died; 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.” Our next mile on the trip is Num28-30. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 67 (Saturday, March 08, 2014)

Commentary: Num22-24. The fear of the Israelites was the problem of Balak because of what he heard their God did for them. This led into witchcraft. What Balak did is just the way witchcraft is practiced; spells, jinxes and curses are first cast upon somebody before the physical attack. That is, their victim would have been dealt with in the spirit realm before taking physical action on them. Jesus gave a clue to this action in Matthew 13:25 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and departed.”

Curse is uttered statement that carries spiritual power to enforce bad omen under the supervision of evil spirits. It is the opposite of blessing. Therefore, Balak’s action was witchcraft practice. For the mere fact that he went to Balaam, we could deduct the character of Balaam; a prophet who got his calling corrupted for money and fame, greedy for money (i.e. he used spiritual gift to perverse), and ritualistic (makes sacrifices to change things). It would surprise us that God was angry with him after He gave him the permission to go, Num22:20-22. But Num22:32 tells why God’s anger was aroused. God had told him at one time not to go, but he still went to ask God the second time just because of the money and gift involved. The angel of the Lord revealed his problem to him; perversion. The complete description of Balaam’s way is in 2 Pet 2: 14-16

2Pet2:14-16 “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: a heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.”

The Bible called his actions “madness of the prophet”. The ministry of Balaam is expanding nowadays; easily influenced with material gifts and its acquisitions. In such ministry, prayer is made more for whoever has the money to give out, and fasting done on behalf of the influential rather than for the dying souls and the poor at heart. Birthdays seats are for the rich and not as stated in Luke 14:12 “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

This is God’s standard, beloved.

The message from the mouth of the donkey was the message of rebuke. Despite the fact that the donkey spoke with man’s voice, Balaam was not shocked as to repent but still justified himself. It is shameful that the donkey could see vision while the prophet was blind to it initially and because he did not see the angel of God, madness came into it. Madness is always manifested in people who lack revelation but in ministry. Balaam could not change God’s word these three times because it was conditional for him to speak only what God told him to speak. The prophecy he gave in Num24:17 suits Matt2:2; star symbolizes a King while a scepter is a symbol of power. Since Num24:2 says that the Spirit of God came upon him which made him to speak, we could agree with 2 Peter 1:19-21 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

We need to be moved by the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is written that where there is no vision the people perish. The Holy Spirit is the light that shines in darkness and darkness is not able to hold it. When the Spirit enters you, light enters and consequently, you get understanding, Isaiah11:2. It is quite difficult to understand the spiritual things without the Holy Spirit. 1Cor2:10-16 made us to understand that we receive revelation by the Holy Spirit, knowledge of the things of God, wisdom and the wealth in God only by the Holy Spirit. The Israelites, though were in transit, were not poor but quite rich in God. The hardship you might be going through now does not mean you are poor but just a transit. A natural man will always look at spiritual things as foolishness, i.e. makes no sense to him or her because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. To have a better understanding of Jesus, you need the fullness of the Holy Spirit; the comforter who guides into all truth. You can’t use human or intellectual logics to address spiritual things; the flesh and the spirit are always at loggerhead. When the Holy Spirit enters into you, God’s kingdom has entered into you and according to Ezek2:2, He sets you on your feet, i.e. you find your bearing and direction. Through Him you know what next you get involve with in life, the type of friend to keep, the secret of the enemy is fully revealed to you and, of course, you become an untraceable wind, 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.”

To receive Him, you must hunger and thirst for Him. Prayer: Lord Jesus, release the breathe of the Holy Spirit in me afresh. Next mile on the trip is Num25-27. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 66 (Friday, March 07, 2014)

Commentary: Num19-21. In the last commentary, we talked of how God stands in defense of a child of God whose life is according to 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.”

Chapter20 is about three important personalities; Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Without any contradictions, each has a measure of the grace of God upon their lives. However, we need to know that the levels of the graces are different for each of them. In addition, the responsibilities and purposes are different. 1 Corinthians 12

^4-7 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

Miriam was referred to as a Prophetess, this was a gift without an office. But Aaron, as a priest, had the grace to occupy an office. Moses was different, in that he carried God in a mission, i.e. he had the vision. Vision is God’s goal and we treated this aspect while we read through the book of Luke. Vision is a higher level to revelation. There are revelations in realizing a vision. Revelations gives directions while vision is the goal. It is vision you write down and use to run, while you use revelation to move from one level to another, i.e. more or less instructions. Revelation is like each page of a book (Vision). Vision is God’s purpose, while revelation is an instrument in realizing the purpose so that you don’t miss the road. You use revelation to fight the war or solve the problem at hand, while vision is the focus, the power of determination. You can’t be defeated if you don’t lose the vision. Revelations are signboards to destination, while vision is the real destination. Moses carried the vision. In Ex3&4, you could see the negotiation over the vision; God said He was in it. The level of God’s grace on Moses is in Num12:6-9/Jer23:28-29. One thing you need to know is that, human being might try to change the vision but God remains the same; instead of God changing the vision, He will rather change persons because His vision or goal is perfect; it reflects God’s faithfulness. This was what happened in chapter20. The three of them erred. Miriam was humbled with leprosy when she thought because she had the gift of prophecy, she could confront Moses, the vision carrier. From that moment (Num12) we didn’t read anything about her until her death in chapter20. Gift is not the ministry (Vision) but for the work of ministry. Aaron was stripped off his garment and his son was decorated in his stead. As for Moses, his appointment was terminated in verse12. His action in carrying out God’s instruction violates James1:19-21 on one side. In addition, he counted himself along with God by uttering the word “must we”. God is the Supreme and He will never share His glory with anyone. It was disrespectful on the person of God for Moses to say “must we” and it amounts to dishonor for him to strike rather than speak to the rock. This is a demonstration of the fact that God is not a respecter of persons. Many got it wrong with little explosion in ministry; the language changes, dressing code changes, morale revised, attitude takes another dimension. A lot who started very well got the vision re-written after sometimes to suit their mind and not God’s goal. They allow anything in the vision just to move forward; revelation and patience does not play important role anymore, rather programs upon programs replaces prayer for deeper revelations. Gradually, God is being pushed aside and human logic takes over the ministry. Moses took over with that statement which terminated his appointment; “must we”. If you noticed all along, Moses was always going to God even with the smallest case and he acted exactly on instruction but in this case, he mixed the flesh with it. The flesh is in display now in Christendom. Man of God is the center of any message, Jesus has been thrown out. I have had a lot say “I prayed for him, I prophesied to his life etc” Where is God’s mercy in answered prayers? If not for his mercy which the Bible describes as that which endures forever, no prayer would be answered. Let God be glorified in all we do; according to  Jeremiah 9:24 “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD”. In Luke4:18-21, we could see that Jesus owns the ministry but we, human beings, have pushed Him aside and taken over and allowed it to become Den of thieves. Check your actions, beloved, how are you contributing to the ministry; as a subservient servant or subduing servant (Matt23). You need to give the key of your ministry back to Jesus; according to  Isaiah 9:7 “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this”. Just as Eleazar replaced his father (Moses), God could raise the unlearned, crude and un-polished to accomplish His vision. I pray that your bishopric shall not be replaced in the name of Jesus Christ. Next mile on the trip is Num22-24. Keep the fire burning and alive. JESUS MUST BE HONORED EVERYDAY, AMEN!!!

Bible In One Year-Day 65 (Thursday, March 06, 2014)

Commentary16-18. The devastation rebellion could bring to a camp or group is enormous. God does not take it lightly when it comes to rebellion. In chapter14:4, the Israelites decided to select leaders and return to Egypt. Which means that God was totally rejected; rebellion brings about rejection of God’s order. Going by the number of days in which they spied the land, it would have taken them less days to journey into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, rebellion caused them to journey it in 40years, Num14:34.

³⁴After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Though the men who brought bad report of the land died of plagues, the spirit of rebellion still lingers. That was the spirit that worked in Korah, Dathan and Abiram. They confronted Moses saying that he was too much of himself. These were renowned men amongst them. By church history, these were the men who acted as intermediary between the Egyptian task masters and the Israelites; so they really enjoyed finding favor with the task masters against their fellow tribe’s men. They were informants to the task masters. So when Moses came to tell them they had to leave Egypt, they thought of what will befall them if they lost the position of foremen over the Israelites. These were the people who wanted to go back to Egypt. In Num16:13, they accused Moses of acting like a prince over them. You need to know that Korah was a Levite. In this wise did Moses made him to realize that it was true that God had chosen you to do the work of the tabernacle, i.e. be of help in some activities in the temple, but that was not a privilege to take the place of a priest as to talk against Aaron and himself, Num16:8-12. He even sent for Dathan and Abiram, but because of over familiarity, they refused to answer him. The insult on Moses was too much that God wanted to destroy them all, but the meek Moses pleaded for them. God now asked the congregation to make a choice either to be in the rebellious tent or on the side of the Lord. He even went to meet Dathan and co, yet they despised him. They thought they could carry the censer at the altar without God instructing them. The story was not too sweet for their families. God hates rebellion; it was the sin of Lucifer. His wrath is grievous on the rebellious, Eph2:2/5:6/Col3:6.

Miriam, Moses’ sister, also paid dearly for her slander against the calling of Moses. Do you know we never heard of Miriam again until her death in Num20? Rebellion against God’s authority can make a person’s name to be forgotten totally. Many men of God had faced this dilemma at one time or the other. The head of prayer warriors, head usher or other key post holders became their Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Their acts shrunk the congregation and almost make the church go astray. This is why I always say that if you are not called and commissioned by the Spirit of God, don’t go into ministry because you loved the way your pastor is being respected. Moses would have been finished if he had answered God’s call in the flesh. Ezekiel said in Ez2:2, that the Spirit entered into him and set him on his feet. If you don’t have the commissioning of the Spirit one cannot be set on the feet when the troubles of ministries come. But with genuine calling and you are doing the work with one heart, God will defend His interest; 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”.

A man of God that operates in the fullness of the Holy Spirit need not defend himself; he will rather call on the God who called and chose him, Num16:28-30. Just as God declared in Num17:5, He will show who He has chosen. Every officer in the household of God could be holding a rod each, there is only one rod that will blossom; the chosen. This is not for the men of God alone but every child of God with the fullness of the Holy Spirit and abiding by the word of God will enjoy the benefits of divine protection. God fought for Joseph in a mysterious way, He stood by the three Hebrew children in an unimaginable manner; He is standing by you to fight your course. According to Num17:10, God knows how to silence the rebels with testimonies.

¹⁰ And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

That God shall be your God in this new month of March in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This is the month of unusual encounter with the Holy Spirit; He will increase in you and you shall be increased on every side. The next mile on the trip is Num19-21. Keep the fire burning and alive. GOD IS A MAN OF WAR!!!