Monthly Archives: December 2020

MEMORISE:

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31

READ: Acts 4:23-31

23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

MESSAGE:

There are certain prayers that cause the earth to shake. Not prayers of “God give me this, God give me that”, though. I am talking about prayers of dedication, prayers like “Lord, my life is at Your disposal, do whatever You want with it. I lay my life on the altar and I become a living sacrifice to You today; Lord, use me for Your glory”. When God begins to hear these kinds of prayers, He will come down. Acts 4:23-31 tell us that the disciples were praying and thereafter, some people told them not to preach the gospel again. They gathered themselves together and said “Father, You hear what they are saying; over to You. All we ask in that You give us boldness, give us miracles, give us signs, so that we can preach more”. The Bible says the house shook.

In 1979, my Father-in-the-Lord called me and four others to his room high up in mayor Hotel in Tulsa, USA, saying” My children, I am going soon; the one who will be taking over from me is Pastor Adeboye”. I collapsed on the floor and everybody began to pray. You can be sure that the prayers offered were not the gentlemanly kind; they were serious prayers. Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door. On opening the door, we saw the maintenance manager of the hotel who asked what kind of musical instrument we were playing. We explained that we were not playing any instrument, but he insisted that we had been playing one as the hotel was shaking and the source of the shaking had been traced to our room. We insisted that we were only praying, but he didn’t believe us, so he checked under the bed, the wardrobe and looked everywhere in the room then left when he didn’t find anything. The hotel was locked down because they could not find the source of the shaking and they didn’t want to believe that it was just prayers. Recently, I went back there and as I looked at the hotel, I felt compassion for the owners, so I laid my hands on the wall and prayed a simple prayer. It was reopened six months later.

It is very clear that the great things happening in the RCCG today are a result of the prayers that fateful day in our hotel room in Tulsa. If you want the glory of God to come down into your life and transform everything for good, you need to start praying earth-shaking prayers. Pray for power to do God’s work, pray for boldness to preach in any situation, pray for a national revival in your country.

ACTION POINT:

Go ahead and pray some earth-shaking prayers now.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 20:4-23:35

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 26: STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS.

1. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry, His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

2. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! The trumpet call obey:
Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day;
Ye that are men now serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! Stand in His strength alone,
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own;
Put on the gospel armor, and watching unto prayer,
Where calls the voice of duty, be never wanting there.

4. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! the strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory shall reign eternally.

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MEMORISE:

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22

READ: Matthew 21:18-22

18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

MESSAGE:

There is tremendous power in faith. In Mark 9:23, Jesus Christ Himself said:
“… if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

When Jesus says “All things”, He really means all things. In Mark 5:36, when Jairus was told that his daughter had died, the Bible says:
“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”

And before that day was over, the one who had died came back to life.

In Matthew 15:21-28, a woman came to Jesus praying. It appeared as though God was not even paying attention to her, but by the end of the day, Jesus said “Woman, great is thy faith”. In other words, he was saying that even if He had not wanted to grant her request, He would because of her great faith. There is so much power in faith that time and time again, Jesus told people “Thy faith has made thee whole” and they were whole. So it was not so much of His power healing them, but the power of their faith in God.

My Father-in-the-Lord once went to conduct a revival in our Church in Ilorin, and the Spirit of God moved him to say “If there is anyone here who is trusting God for the fruit of the womb, go and buy the appropriate clothes for the gender of the baby you want”. A woman heard and decide that she would do just that. When she got home, she bought a cot and baby boy clothes and displayed them where everybody could see. A lot of people began to laugh at her, saying she had gone mad out of her desperation to have a child. She ignored them, held on to the word of the man of God and nine months later, when the baby boy arrived, it was her turn to laugh. I want you to make your own move of faith now. Whatever it is you are trusting God for, make the move as if you have gotten it like that woman did. Since the Lord was gracious enough to hand over the anointing of my Father-in-the Lord to me when he was leaving the world, I call on that anointing now to work on your faith and make your desires come true according to the will of God, in the mighty name of Jesus.

KEY POINT:

Faith is so powerful that it can move a mountain and throw it into the sea.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 14-16

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 18: MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE.

1. My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
Oh, let me from this day
Be wholly Thine!

2. May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!

3. While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.

4. When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold, sullen stream
Shall o’er me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love,
Fear and distrust remove;
Oh, bear me safe above,
A ransomed soul!

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MEMORISE:
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelation 21:8

READ: Revelation 20:14-15

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

MESSAGE:
The second death is mentioned on multiple occasions in the book of Revelation and it is synonymous with the Lake of fire. It is a ‘death’ in that it is an eternal separation from God, the Giver of life. It is called the ‘second’ death because it follows the physical one. Our memory verse (Revelation 21:8) explains the second death in the most detail.

From this Bible verse, we see a detailed list of those who will experience the second death. Check to be sure that you don’t fit into this list, because the second death is an experience you should not want to be part of at all. Check carefully, and if there is any one of these qualities present in your life, repent immediately.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Revelation 2:11

The good news according to Revelation 2:11 is that no true believer will experience the second death. While the unbelievers are burning in the lake of fire, we will be in the presence of God rejoicing and praising Him forever. On which side do you want to be? If you want to be rejoicing in the presence of God forever, then you must overcome. You must overcome the devil and all his tricks; you must overcome the lusts of the flesh. The Bible tells us that no one will ever be tempted beyond what he or she can bear and that God will always make a way of escape for us (1 Corinthians 10:13). If you however say you cannot overcome the temptations facing you right now, then you are asking for the second death which comes with eternal sorrow, anguish and no way of escape. It is your choice.

PRAYER POINT:
If you don’t overcome and your name is not found in the book of life, you will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity. Are you ready to give all it takes to overcome?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 11-13

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MEMORISE:

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Philippians 2:9

READ: Philippians 2:9-11

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

MESSAGE:

When we talk about greatness, we are talking about influence. You cannot call a man great if he has all the money in the world but nobody likes to obey him. My mother used to pray for me thus: “You will call one person and many people will respond”. She did not need to literarily say that I would be great even though that was what the prayer meant; all she had to say was that I would be a man of influence and the greatness was sure, when the Bible was talking about the great woman of Shunem, it records that when the Prophet asked if she would want a recommendation to the king or the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, she replied that she did not need assistance in that regard (2 Kings 4:13). She was a woman of influence.

Since greatness is influence, then I’m sure you know that the one who is greater than the greatest is the Most Influential One. So, how great is our God? According to Philippians 2:9-11, our God has influence on earth and influence underneath the earth. He also has influence over the wind and sea. Mark 4:41 says the wind and the sea obey Him. He has influence over fire; He can turn the fiery furnace to an air-conditionalroom.

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. Proverbs 21:1

The above passage says that God is so influential that He has complete control over the most influential people in the world. There is no area or person over whom our God does not have influence-none!

Now, when God wants to make someone great, what He does is to give the fellow some of His influence. We see that very well in the case of Jesus Christ. After Jesus had paid the price for the redemption of man, God’s reward to Him was influence. This tells us one thing: the way to true greatness is to please God. I can confidently say by God’s grace that I am a great man because I strive to please Him every day of my life. Do you want to be great? Surrender all to Jesus and He will endow you with His glory (John 17:20-22).

KEY POINT:

Seek true greatness.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 8-10

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 12: I AM THINE OH LORD.

1. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
o Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

2. Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

3. Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

4. There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

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MEMORISE:

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. Deuteronomy 28:1

READ: Genesis 1:26-30

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

MESSAGE:

When God created the earth, He looked at it and saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Afterwards, He gave mankind dominion over all the resources. As a result, prosperity became the inheritance of every man. Unfortunately, man lost these benefits after falling into sin. Thankfully, God raised a second Adam to reconcile man to Himself.

Beloved, as soon as you are reconciled to God by connecting to the second Adam- Jesus Christ, whatever God has will become yours. What does God have? He owns the cattle upon a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), so you should not lack food. Among other things, gold and silver also belong to Him (Haggai 2:8).

Being God’s child means you have a mansion in the most beautiful estate ever, where the grounds is paved with gold. Isn’t that wonderful.

“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.” Deuteronomy 8:18

If we would enjoy divine prosperity, we must not forget God because it is only through His power, we can get wealth. This means if someone does not have enough power to get wealth, most likely, such a person has forgotten God.

Have you forgotten God? How is your relationship with Him? When last did you praise and worship Him alone without making requests? When last did you study your Bible all by yourself?

Those who have not forgotten God obey His every word, so He gives them everything they ask for. Job 36:11 says:
“If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.”

Seek God first. Prosperity will follow (Matthew 6:33). God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

REFLECTION:

If you want to prosper, stay close to God.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 4-7

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 28: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.

1. There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.

o Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

2. There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

3. There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

4. There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!

5. There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.

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MEMORISE:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Philippians 2:9

READ: Philippians 2:9-11

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

MESSAGE:
Oh, I love the name of Jesus. it is the most powerful name in all the universe. I recall the story of a young man called Samuel who gave his life to Jesus Christ while his mother was the leader of idol worshipers in their village. Samuel was filled with a zeal to win his mother and village for Christ so he decided to start off by burning all the idols and charms in their house. His mother was furious at his actions so she invited the members of her secret society to kill her son as she would not be able to kill him by herself.

The night they decided to attack Samuel, the mother ensured the boy was alone in the house. Around midnight, Samuel knelt to pray after having shut all windows and doors. It was then a huge dog, with charms tied all over its body came in through the locked door and headed straight for him. There was no time to pray; however, there was enough time to shout “JESUS”. something like a thunderbolt came into the room through the walls and struck the dog dead on the spot.

Philippians 2:10 says:
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

The phrase “things in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth“ already covers everything possible. This means that nothing can withstand or resist the name of Jesus. there is no problem, demon or situation that will not bow once they hear the name of Jesus. This is why our mouth must always call on the name of Jesus. we must note however, that the name of Jesus is only potent in the mouth of His children. It says in Isaiah 59:1-2:
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

No matter how loud you shout the name of Jesus, if you are a sinner, He will not even hear, not to talk of answering. If you want the name to work for you, you must accept Him into your life as your Lord and Savior, then stay away from sin.

REFLECTION:
If you call the name of Jesus now, would He answer? If the answer is no, then make amend immediately.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 20:1-3
Romans 1-3

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

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MEMORISE:

The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. Deuteronomy 28:12

READ: Genesis 27:27-29

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

MESSAGE:

Our topic for today is the best prayer anyone can say for you. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand the full meaning of the prayer. What is a blessing? A blessing is an addition of good things after basic needs have been met. For example, Matthew 5:45 says our God causes the sun to rise over the good as well as the evil, and He causes the rain to fall on the wicked and on the righteous. In other words, there are certain basic needs that God will supply whether you are good or bad. But when God wants to bless, He does not bless the wicked. He adds good things to those that He wants to bless. A blessing can also be likened to a benefit. People in paid employment typically get a ‘basic salary’, but in addition, some get ‘fridge benefits’; these fridge benefits are actually the blessings. It is these benefits that David was talking of in Psalm 68:19:
“ Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.”
The Lord will load you with fridge benefits today in the mighty name of Jesus.

To bless is also to summon all the good forces- angels, heavens, earth, rain, soil and so on, together for an individual’s assistance. When you bless someone, you are telling all the forces to come together and assist the fellow to succeed, Isaac’s blessing to Jacob in Genesis 27:28-29 is a good example to explain this with. It says:
“Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.”
So, when someone says “God bless you”, it means that whatever you decide to do, everything in heaven and on earth will work to ensure that you succeed. It means that every force, both in heaven and on earth will cooperate with you to ensure that you reach your goal. Now, I use the authority vested in me by the Almighty God to pray for anyone reading this today: God bless you!

ACTION POINT:

Obey the commandments and will of God at all times and His blessings shall abound upon you (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Corinthians 10-13

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 4: BLESSED ASSURANCE, JESUS IS MINE.

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
o Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

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MEMORISE:
Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. Judges 14:3

READ: Genesis 29:20-28

20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.

Genesis 30:30-35

30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.

32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

MESSAGE:
So many people are having problems in their marriages today because they were so desperate for marriage that they ended up marrying a devil, Jacob was so desperate to marry Rachel that he did not study her character well enough to see her strong commitment to idols, and more importantly, he did not ask God to choose for him as had been the custom in his family (Genesis 24:12-14). I am writing this today because I don’t want you to fall victim of the same error if you are still single. You need God to enable you to find the right partner. In Proverbs 18:22, the Bible says:
“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”

The Bible verse above implies that not just any woman would make a wife. For every one of our single brothers: may you find a wife- one who would move you forward and be a help meet indeed, in the mighty name of Jesus.

I know a case of two people who were both desperate to get married. They came across each other and soon got married. From the first week of their marriage they became like cats and dogs. I pray for anyone trusting God for a future partner that you will find favor with God and know His will. A sister should not agree to a marriage proposal just because she feels age is no longer on her side. Only a man who is God-fearing and can love her as Christ loves the Church is worthy of a sister’s hand in marriage.

The thing about marriage is that once you are in it, you cannot change your mind as God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Brother/Sister, you need to be very sure that God is leading you into that marriage before you exchange those marital vows. Do not marry someone for the sake of getting married. It is better to wait on God for the right person than to settle for just anyone because of societal pressures. A lot of Christians who committed that error would tell you it is a grievous mistake to make. An error in selecting a life partner could ruin a destiny. The Bible says if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). A word is enough for the wise.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, whatever You must do, do it so that I don’t get into the wrong marriage in the mighty name of Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Corinthians 5-9

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

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MEMORISE:
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. Exodus 23:22

READ: Psalm 7:1-11

1O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

3 O LORD my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)

5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

MESSAGE:
It is always funny to me when I meet people who think they do not have enemies. As long as you are alive, you have enemies. If you think because you have nothing for anyone to envy, you don’t have enemies, it means you have not yet read Proverbs 14:20 which says that the poor is hated by his own neighbor. If because you are rich and successful, you think that you have no enemies, you must be joking. Many years ago, one first-class chief invited me to his palace and he said “I don’t know why I have so many enemies; can you help me?” I responded “Your majesty, everybody wants to be number one”. Only a few people pray for the person who is in the number one position. Thank God because while the enemies are plotting at night, you have a God who never sleeps nor slumbers watching over you.

Even though you have enemies, I don’t want you to worry about them because your God is bigger than them all put together. Psalm 23:5, David said:
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

God prepares your table not behind, but in the presence, of your enemies. The enemies were there, they were alive, but God paralyzed them. They could not come near David. This is because David knew how to use the most potent weapon against enemies- praise to God. The Bible says in Psalm 68:1:
“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.”

How do you make God arise? Through praise and worship. Psalm 22:3 says He inhabits the praises of His people. In other words, when one of His children is praising Him, He will get up to stay with the fellow. As He is rising, all the enemies of that fellow will scatter. That is why I don’t lead people in prayers to bind demons before every service. Instead, I say “Let somebody shout Halleluyah”. The moment God hears us shouting Halleluyah, He arises to come to our midst and all our enemies scatter. In 2 Chronicles 20:21-22, when three great enemies came against Jehoshaphat, all he and his people had to do was to praise God and the enemies helped kill one another.

KEY POINT:
Everyone has enemies, but the enemies of those who praise God are powerless.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Corinthians 1-4

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

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MEMORISE:

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Numbers 6:25

READ: Numbers 6:22-26

22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

MESSAGE:

What is favor? The Yorubas describe it aptly as ‘a good face’. That means there are two kinds of faces- a bad face and a good one. I am sure you know that when a person is angry, no matter how beautiful or handsome, he/she will begin to look like an angry lion. Everything changes- the nostrils flare, the lips thin out and the whole face generally turns bad. But when people who are ordinarily not considered good-looking smile, somehow their beauty will come out. In Numbers 6:24-26, the Almighty God said that whenever His priests want to bless the people, they should speak thus:
“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

When God lifts His eyes in your community, sees you and smiles, that is what is called favor. The Almighty God is going to smile on you today in the mighty name of Jesus.

Now, if you find favor with God, what can you expect? Somebody once said that a single encounter with divine favor is worth more than a lifetime of labor. In Luke 5:1-7, Peter fished all night and caught nothing, but just one sentence from God changed everything. You may have been struggling for so long with nothing to show for it; you will find favor with God today in the mighty name of Jesus. Romans 9:16 says:
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”

This passage tells us that the height you get to in life is only determined by the favor of God. Nobody can go higher than the favor of God permits.

God’s favor gives life. Psalm 30:5 says:
“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

Favor singles you out for special attention. The man at the pool of Bethesda was singled out for a miracle (John 5:5-8). I pray God will favor you today and single you out for great miracles in the mighty name of Jesus.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, smile on me today!

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Corinthians 15-16

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 24: PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE SAVIOR.

1. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

o Refrain:
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

2. Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.

3. Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

4. Thou the spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee,
Whom in Heav’n but Thee.

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