Bible In One Year-Day 64 (Wednesday, March 05, 2014)

Commentary: Num13-15. We could see how Moses operated his prophetic ministry with an unrivalled humility, dignity and integrity. He was in no way carried off by this great grace but he exhibited a servant-leader spirit. The Spirit of God is looking for such persons to use for the end time work. Pride has stolen the ministry of many. Moses was reluctant in yielding to God’s work in the first place and we could see that he probably was the shy type. Unlike now, people want to be the focus instead of making God the focus. The preaching on the pulpit is to exploit people for the purpose of self glorification. Most preachers want to be on the air while souls are wasting away on the streets. The word of life is scarce on the pulpit, but the messages that inculcate pride and prejudice in people is what we hear nowadays. I don’t personally believe people should be psyched before they bring money out of their pockets; you can’t tell people that if they sow $1000, they will get back $50,000. In Ex25:2, God asked Moses to take the offering that comes from a WILLING heart.

Exodus25:2 ^“Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.”

When anointing breaks a yoke, the delivered will appreciate it. Zachaeus changed when Jesus entered his house and our Lord said, salvation has entered the house; this is revival. Moses was very humble and quite submissive. The spirit in a leader matters a lot in the life of the followers. The loyalty and faithfulness of Moses to God was the saving grace for the Israelites. He even stood to advice God and God respected his advice because Moses had no selfish motive, Num14:20. He would have accepted the offer of God to raise his descendants in place of the Israelites. He was selfless, hardworking and caring. He was a leader who encouraged and taught his followers. God told him to send spies; he did that, but with the word of encouragement, Num13:20.

Numbers 13:20 “And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.”

Faith and Courage is the power that plucks the fruit of the future. When you look at the future, it could be very bright but the path to it is absolutely very rough, fearful and discouraging. This was the problem of the sent spies. They agreed that the land was good but the occupiers, physically, were threats. The spirit of fear steals the land of the future; it is courage and determination that breaks the backbone of that evil spirit. Courage will make you to see the nakedness of the boasting powers against your future just as David saw Goliath dead before the fight. Joshua and Caleb came to light in this reading because of courage and God Himself recognized it in them. God sealed their future with His word. Joshua looked at the giants with the eyes of courage and determination, believing God for His ability and saw that the powers of the giants have been stripped off and their protection removed, Num14:9. Fear is a horrible thing. The person who has it might not know he or she has this demon but will be thinking that he or she is taking some precautionary measures. Fear is the most common demon. God will not use the fearful because such is a good instrument in the hand of the devil. You could imagine the way the devil came into the camp of the people of God; fear and this fear was being supervised by the leaders. God commended the spirit in Caleb as a different spirit. The spirit of fear is not a gift from God but from the devil, 2Tim1:7. Fear breeds discouragement, discouragement breeds murmurings, and murmuring angers God which consequently causes setback. God said upon all I had done for these people, they still did not believe in me, you could imagine the pronouncements that followed in Num14:11-12, 21-23. Let fear die, beloved and let faith be. Your faith honors God and God honors your faith. Prayer: spirit of error in my life, jump out in the name of Jesus. Next mile on the trip is Num16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive. Tell somebody about Jesus’ love today.

Bible In One Year-Day 63 (Tuesday, March 04, 2014)

Commentary: Numbers10-12. When you walk with God in the journey of life, it eventually becomes an awesome adventure. The Israelites started the 39 years journey towards the Promised Land in chapter10. God, being the Master planner was with them in the pillar of cloud above them, Num10:34. Their setting out was standardized and strategized by God Himself. It was just for them to follow simple instructions. Two silver trumpets were made for the purpose of military awareness; the trumpet of GATHERING and the trumpet of LEADING. All these point to the Holy Spirit; He gathers and He leads. There is always a lesson to learn from the man Moses. He was called by God but he never took over from God; i.e. he did not carry out the work of God in the flesh, He made sure that every step was an instruction from God. How many of us are under the signal of the Holy Spirit now, especially in the churches? The sounds we hear nowadays are more of men for pride and show off. And since the trumpet blowing are more of worldliness and ministry competitions, the pillar of cloud is not available for leading. The trumpet of programs upon programs without God in it is blowing all over. Mixed multitudes are being ordained as pastors thereby bringing and multiplying problems to Christendom. The struggle for acquisition of material things are becoming symbols of anointing. Struggle to gather memberships in every creek and corner of the world is unimaginable; not for the kingdom of God but for ministry, hence quality is exempted.  Pastors and ministers conferences are in serious fashion show with celebrated flashy cars. Plate numbers carry “clergy”. Eloquence has replaced breathe of the Holy Spirit contrary to John6:63. God’s Spirit has been silenced by man’s spirit. God has been chased out of His own work. Bill boards carry the big picture of the man of God and the wife. Hardly will you see the name of Jesus on bill boards again. The spirit of Egypt is been carried into ministry.  Unfortunately, the Israelites left Egypt but the spirit of Egypt was still in their blood making them to be asking for garlic and cucumber, free fish and other stuffs. The vision carrier is being burdened the more with fight amongst the leaders and followers. Even Mariam and Aaron were not left out in adding to the problem of Moses. Moses cried to God for help.

Psalm56:4-9  “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.”

God rose on behalf of Moses to proof that He sent him.

God took from the Spirit that was upon Moses and put on the leaders. But, unfortunately, and very unfortunate, the leaders could not retain the wonderful gift (grace) of the Spirit for a long time because of the flesh (Egyptian garlic and cucumber), Number11:17&25.

Numbers 11:17 “And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.”

Numbers 11:25 “And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.”

Beloved, to be called is different from to be chosen. They are not the same. It is true that many were called but along the line they got their calling corrupted and the spirit of Ichabod had taken over. Instead of seeking for help from God, they shifted blame to another man. If the Spirit of God is still there, you cannot be put aside. We need to know a secret in this portion of the scripture. The Spirit taken from Moses for the elders is the same with that Spirit working through him but with different assignment. The Spirit that came upon the elders was for them to bear the burden of the people with him and not to take the position of the vision carrier. This is the misunderstanding many give to ministry which lead them to fight their General Overseers and Pastors; thinking they could prophecy as the vision carrier. Mariam and Aaron are good examples of this situation. God eventually exposed them with leprosy in chapter12. They said “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?” Ability to cast out demons or preach powerfully whilst under a ministry does not mean you have been chosen as a vision carrier; you could be carrying a relieving Spirit from the vision carrier and if you allow the flesh to lead you astray, demons will ask you questions after you have far from the source of power and grace just like the children of Sceva.

Acts 19:14-15 “And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”

If God has another assignment for you different from the ministry you are in, He will call for a separation as He did for Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:2 “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” The assignment will be totally different from the one you are doing now but by the same Spirit. In essence, the ‘spirit of the called’ is different from the ‘spirit of the chosen’. There is only one vision carrier in a ministry; God is not an author of confusion. However, if you are faithful in your calling, you could be chosen for a mission;

Luke 16:10 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

Let us, therefore, stand in a position where God could run a commentary on us as He did on Moses in Num12:6-8.

Num12:6-8 ^“And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

For us to be able to sustain the Spirit of God in us, Egyptian garlic and cucumber should be purged out of our blood. The enemy will not succeed in changing the glory of our calling to Ichabod in the name of Jesus. The miles to cover today on this trip is Num13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive. SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Bible In One Year-DAY 62 (Monday, March 03, 2014)

Commentary: Num7-9. These chapters reveal activities marking the final preparations of the Israelites for the long journey through the wilderness whilst they were still in the Wilderness of Sinai. It was a ceremonial thing according to God’s instruction. Chapter7 is about how each tribe brought their dedication offering by the leaders of each tribe. One remarkable thing about it is the manner it was brought. The offerings are of the same measures but it was brought in order and respect. God is a God of orderliness. After the dedication offering, the lamp was prepared, and then the Levites dedication was made ceremonially. God gave a strict instruction about the Passover. This instruction and another existing law now clashed, posing a very difficult situation; defilement by a corpse and the Passover. It would be good for us to borrow from Moses’ wisdom. He never took the grace of God upon his life as pride or opportunity to take decision on behalf of God; he still respected God for His ordinances and supremacy. He did not say anything by virtue of his position. He humbled himself by realizing that he lacked the wisdom to judge right or wrong when it comes to God’s ordinances. In most cases, the present day Christian will trivialize important things of life rather than seeking the face of God for solution. Moses inquired the mind of God in this difficult case. What a great lesson to learn. God is always there in such cases in our lives. It is only the voice of the devil that will tell you that you are running out of time and therefore hasten you into taking fatal decision. If the problem of impatience is solved or overcome, we shall undoubtedly give the devil defeating blows each time he comes around. Impatience had removed the garment of peace from many people’s lives. The unfavorable situations a lot are into now are just because of this horrible disease of impatience. To make things more difficult, in trying to solve the self created problem, they hastily take another frustrating decision. The decisions being taken are not wrong particularly but if it was taken out of impatience and without the Holy Spirit’s counsel, then it makes the right thing become wrong. Anything that is not of the Spirit is not true. For instance, if there is an evil family pattern in a person’s life, without breaking off that evil pattern, there could be serious problems in taking decisions. Such evil family pattern (spiritual disease) could arrange a spouse for such person just to make sure the evil pattern is maintained or sustained. However, if the person knew this and took action to break the pattern in the name of Jesus, he or she would not be part of such pattern because Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, 1John3:8. Jesus is the yoke breaker, the deliverer, life, Truth and the Way. A name has been given to us for our deliverance from evil family pattern; Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. That name is JESUS. We need to learn to hear from God especially in difficult cases or situations. How long does not matter, how well and clear you heard the voice is the most important thing. Revelations and visions are the most needful in times of difficulties otherwise, life could be quite frustrating. Beloved, we could read Joseph’s story but experiencing what he went through will make us appreciate God’s intervention better. What am I saying? Stories aren’t as deeply engraving in the heart as the experience of that story would give. However, through patience, the stories could serve as guides to help through. Just as Moses told those guys who came to him to wait until he hears from God, we learn to prayerfully wait on God; Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”.

Today’s commentary is to help us in taking decisions in difficult times and situations. Jesus gave us a promise of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth in John16:13-14.

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. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you.”

Prayer: O Lord, reverse every satanic re-arrangement in my life in the name of Jesus. Next mile on the trip is Num10-12. Keep the fire burning and alive. JESUS IS THE ANSWER!!!

Bible In One Year-Day 61 (Sunday, March 02, 2014)

Commentary: Number4-6. Exodus 15:3 “The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.” We could see in our readings so far that God is also ORDERLY. He is the one who gave the Israelites military strategies and plans that could give them victory through their journey in the wilderness. The segmentations are for division of labor for the purpose of realizing a common goal. Each segment had specific assignment and with warnings attached to the specific assignment. Numbers4 made us to see that the priests and workers of the tabernacle were not left out in receiving specific assignments. Each segment was detailed concerning the assignment. For instance, Num4:15 & 20, are warnings for the Kohathites and any violation would result into death. God has not changed His manner of division of labor in the body of Christ. Each ministry is established for an assignment to realizing a common goal of Christ commission. No ministry is better than the other. If a man of God is called into evangelism and at a point decides on his own volition to change in to deliverance ministry, He is bound to make errors and perhaps, face attacks in that field because the special grace for that self acquired ministry is not given to him. However, if he stays in that evangelism, the grace given him will conduct deliverance with ease. This is fully explained in 1Cor12; spiritual gifts. Unfortunately, men of God, instead of focusing on the gift given to them to profit all, they go about assessing each other and forming cliques or approving bodies. Ranks are being placed on men of God now. There is a truth we need to know; we cannot stop people rating and clapping for men of God, but men of God should know how not to be praised into hell fire. Men of God should not be boastful to slight one another but must respect grace as the Lord has ordained on another. God should be given the glory all the time. Chapter5 reveals something deep in verses 19-24. And that is spiritual cause of gynecological cancers; curse due to secret sexual sin. I pray that every curse of any incurable disease upon your life be broken in the name of Jesus Christ. As we move to our next reading, I pray that the spirit of the blessing of Num6:24-26 rest on you as you start a new month in the name of Jesus. Our next reading is Num7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive. You are blessed.

1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”

1 Corinthians 7:20 “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.”

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Bible In One Year-Day 60 (Saturday, March 01, 2014)

Commentary: Numbers1-3. The Book of Numbers is mostly referred to as the ‘Book of Wanderings’. It gives an account of 39 years journey from Mount Sinai (where the first census was taken, a year after leaving Egypt) to the Plain of Moab (where the second census was taken just before launching into Canaan). Through this journey, the Israelites experienced a lot in the hand of God. Whoever wants to understand the huddles of life and how to handle it should just prayerfully read along with us through this book. Everybody, at one time or the other, will go through the wilderness experience; in ministry, career, marriage, business etc. These are what make up the spices of life. The first four chapters are the basis for the name of the book, NUMBERS. We could see that God is a God of numbers, i.e. STATISTICS and ACCOUNTABILITY. Statistics was taken before the journey at Mount Sinai and accountability at the plain of Moab after 39 years, just before entering Canaan. You must have this in mind. Every stage you go through in life, God is aware and these two entities (statistics and accountability) are very important. By the time you go through 39 years of the mid-point of life, you will look back and glorify God with testimonies. These huddles make up the testimonies with time. The Psalmist expressed it as “my tears into thy bottle”, Ps56:8. Through this journey, two generations were seen; those who left Egypt but never entered the Promised Land and the new ones the Lord refined for the Promised Land. The wilderness experience is not to kill you but to make you, it is not to destroy you but to refine you and not to put you to shame but to put you to fame. This is the work of God. The only thing is that the bad things that came out with you from Egypt should not enter the Promised Land with you; jealousy, anger, lying, murmuring, immorality, envy, rivalry, self-centeredness, gluttony, drunkenness etc have no landing place in the Promised Land. Egyptian anger ruined Moses’ career and his appointment was terminated, i.e. he was fired. The manner you lived and left Egypt should not be (and it isn’t) the same manner you will enter the Promised Land; there must be transformation. When I look into my past and present, I consider the Lord’s goodness; unimaginable and I thank Him for taking me through the refining furnace (though not a sweet memory). It was in the transition that they received the word of God through the mouth of His servant, Moses; the word is supposed to work, change and transform your life after your salvation; a process of SANCTIFICATION (which makes you acceptable to God).

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

A new heart and a new spirit is the best for that Promised Land. The mere fact that the situation is so severe does not mean that God is not walking with you. It is not to damage you but to manage and pattern you for that wonderful end, Jer29:11. There is a day called the day of gladness, Num10:10, a trumpet shall be blown that day and all creation shall cooperate with your testimony. That day, the tears that will come out of your eyes will be different from the ones you shed during the wilderness experience; that is what we call the tears of joy. The simple message that tears of joy will pass is “why did I ever worry?”, i.e. you will regret ever worrying because of the unusual thing the Lord will do for you. Another simple message is that your wanderings are turned to wonders. Do you know the prophecy behind those tears of joy? Read Isa61:3.

Isaiah 61:3 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”

Because the Spirit that provoked that prophecy is not dead, the prophecy is still alive and working just for the glory of God. That Spirit can’t miss you and you will not miss Him either in the name of Jesus. However, let Jesus reign supreme in your heart. Instead of murmuring, pray; instead of crying, sing; instead of worrying, meditate on God’s testimonies and His words. Rather than being fearful, let faith take root. LOOK AT YOUR SITUATION FROM GOD’S VIEW POINT. Jesus has never failed and will not. When God decorates you with His testimony, even if you wear a T-Shirt (which I love so much because of the comfort), it will become a style of fashion that the man in 3-piece suit will be regarded as too common and too official. I am leaving you with this 3-worded statement ‘DON’T GIVE UP’ but keep the fire burning and alive. Next mile on the trip is Num4-6. JESUS IS THE ANSWER!!!