November 1: Actions Motivated by Fear

He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses.  But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field. (Exodus 9:20, 21 NKJV)


The word "fear" is used in a couple of senses in the word of God. First, there is the type of fear precipitated by the terror of something ominous and frightening such as been bitten by a snake or being in a plane crash. There is the fear of attempting something because of a possibility of failure. etc. These types of fear are negative emotions which the bible encourages us in many places not to entertain. Someone did the count and found 365 places in the bible where a form of the phrase "Do not fear" or "do not be afraid is used." That's equivalent to one per day of the year. 

However, there is another sense in which fear is used, which is a positive command - the fear of the Lord. In many passages of scriptures, reference is made to the fear of the Lord, often as a command or a statement of the benefits of having it. for example,

The fear of the Lord  is  the beginning of knowledge... (Proverbs 1:7)

The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, 
In those who hope in His mercy. (Psalm 147:11)

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! 
 There is  no want to those who fear Him. (Psalm 34:9)

These are great promises but what does it mean to fear the Lord? This is where our text today comes in. It is an accurate illustration of what fearing the Lord entails. Moses had warned Egypt of  an impending judgment. There were two categories of people who heard him. Those who feared God acted in response to God's word but those who didn't disregarded it. From this and other evidence of scripture, the fear of the Lord is a deep reverence for God and his word that shows up in obeying or acting on it. So to fear the Lord is to respect his words enough to consistently act on it, refusing to ever violate its injunctions. 

Do you practice the fear of the Lord? How do you treat the things of God, especially his words?  Is it just another book you have in the house? Do you esteem his word enough to place it above your opinion or every other view? Are you a doer of the word? Your level of respect for the word of God is a gauge of how much you fear him. Determine today to begin to practice the fear of the Lord by  deliberately conforming your walk with his word. Do what he says to do regardless of your feelings and opinions. Exalt his word above everything. Chose holiness instead of sin, love over hate.  Follow the Spirit instead of your flesh.  Honor the Lord with your consistent fear. He has promised to look with favorable  respect on those who fear him.

For all those  things  My hand has made, And all those  things  exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this  one  will I look: On  him who is  poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2 NKJV)


Decision of the Day

I will choose the fear of the Lord by respecting his word, esteeming it above my opinions and any other opinion. I will honor him with my unquestioning compliance to his commands, guidance and instructions. I will show deep respect for the things of God, esteeming them above all natural things. I let none of his word to me fall to the ground. In my fear of him, I am a practitioner of his word - a person of action. 

October 7: One More Night with Frogs

And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses,  that  they may remain in the river only.”  So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “ Let it be  according to your word, that you may know that  there is  no one like the Lord our God.  And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.” (Exodus 8:8-11 NKJV)

People exhibit differing reactions to frogs. Some are irritated by them. Some are afraid of the poison they could carry and some like them enough to keep them as pets. However, though many could tolerate a frog or two, few wants their whole house overrun with frogs to the extent that they have nowhere to step, sit or sleep without squashing a couple of frogs and being baptized in slimy fluids. But look at Pharaoh. As a result of his refusal to let the people of God go, the judgment of God came upon his nation. The whole nation was teeming with frogs. 

Now the puzzling thing is this: when Pharaoh in his frustration ran to Moses to ask him to pray for the frogs to go, and Moses asked him when he wanted the frogs to go, Pharaoh replied- tomorrow. Tomorrow? Why not today? Why not immediately? It is puzzling why Pharaoh chose to spend one more night with the frogs. One more night with frogs crawling over your feet. One more night of sharing your bed with frogs. One more night of being spattered with froggy fluids and enduring the irritating sound of thousands of hopping and croaking frogs all over your house and nation. I am convinced that if Pharaoh had said "now" instead of tomorrow Moses would have obliged. The frogs would have gone. However Pharaoh's obstinate heart postponed his deliverance.

There is a lesson here. Are you also proposing one more night with frogs in your life when you can get rid of them today in prayer? Are you postponing your deliverance or salvation? Do you want another night with the mess that surrounds you as a result of past misdeeds? Are you procrastinating repentance and the reordering of your life till another day? Do you really want to go to bed again angry, jealous and with the slimy poisonous fluids of unforgiveness in bed with you? Are you going to put off once again resolving your alienation from God or his people? Are you going to go to bed again with chaos in your soul? Will you put off reconciling with God and charting a new course for another day? 

Remember the admonition of scripture: 

"...Behold, now  is  the accepted time; behold, now  is  the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV)

And again He designates a certain day, saying in David,  “Today,”  after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice,  Do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7 NKJV)

Remember, Pharaoh may have had another day but for you, another day is not guaranteed. Do not put off what you need to do today till another time. Get rid of the frogs right now. Don't spend another night with their poisonous fluids. God is waiting for you.

Decision of the Day

I will not postpone getting right with God. I will not wait for another day to get rid of the frogs in my life. I will spend no extra day in disobedience, pride, strife and sin. I will make decisions I need to make today and sleep frog free. 

October 5th: It's Lunch Time!

But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.  For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods...(Exodus 7:11-13 NKJV)

In many parts of the world, such as in Africa, unsaved men often display supernatural powers that try to mirror the real power of God. They use occult inspired satanic abilities to perform certain feats, often deceiving people and striking fear in the minds of some. To anyone who has been in those places or have experiences along these lines, you will know without a doubt that negative supernatural powers are neither just stories in Harry Porter books nor fantasies to entertain children. There truly exist men and women  who have tapped into superhuman abilities through occult practices. 

Similarly, in some other parts of the world where the supernatural is not so prevalent, we also see manifestations of things that try to prove exalted themselves to the level of God. There are atheistic arguments trying to prove they are superior to the truth of the word of God. There are humanistic ideologies born with the aim of relegating the truth of God and Christ to the background and banishing it from the mainstream. The Bible has always faced opposition through the ages and we know of many who have predicted its demise.

You too  will sometimes  come in contact with certain counterfeit manifestations, the rod of men,  that will try to disprove the power of God in your life.  There are also situations in your life that try to contest the place of God: a habit that says I'm as powerful as your God. A situation that says even your God is incapable of delivering you from its jaws. It might even be a person who has inspired fear in you holding you down with cult-like grip, trying to take the place of your true God.  

However, the simple truth of our text today is this: whenever the true power of God gets on the scene all counterfeit powers have to bow. When the word of God, the name of Jesus and the holy Spirit are at work, every  other thing will have to bow. When the original and the counterfeit compete, the counterfeit becomes lunch. It will be swallowed up. 

God's power is superior to all. In Acts 8, we see a great example. Phillip arrived in Samaria and proclaimed Christ, healing many diseases and performing signs. However, before Philip came with the original, Simon the sorcerer was ruling the people with his counterfeit power. That reign ended when Christ's power was revealed.

How should you respond to this? Determine today that you will develop a healthy reverence for the power of God. Do not discount it. Do not accept that its expression in the practical issue of your life, such as overcoming diseases, sicknesses and limitations, are for the past. Refuse to allow any other counterfeit power to continue to reign in your life. Through prayer, let the power of God make delicious lunch out of the devil-inspired manifestations in your life and situations. It's lunch time!

Decision of the Day

I know God's power is supreme. Every attempt by human, situations and the devil to mimic it in other to contest His place will have to fail. I will learn to be aware of His presence and power in my life through the Holy Spirit. I will confront these counterfeits  with the truth of His word and they will end up as lunch, swallowed by God's power. 

October 2: Proclaiming His Lordship

Proclaiming His Lordship 

And the Egyptians shall know that I  am  the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5 NKJV)


Even though God created all, many of His creatures still don't recognize him as Lord. Some deny that He even exists. A percentage of His creatures even pledge their allegiances to other god's formed from things He created. It is therefore no surprise that one of the chief motivations of the loving God is to convince all that He is the Lord of all. One of the ways He does this is by stretching out His hand to perform miraculous acts of deliverance that will catch the attention of the unbelieving. 

This statement in our text today is repeated several times in the book of Exodus. It is also not just an Old Testament thing. In the book of Acts, the early disciples prayed for the same outstretching of God's hand to perform signs and wonders among the people.

"Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,  by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:29-31 NKJV)

The result of this  prayer was recorded in the next chapter. 

"And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.  Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.  And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,  so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid  them  on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.  Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed." (Acts 5:12-16 NKJV)

As God stretched His hand in signs wonders and miraculous deliverances, multitudes began to recognize Him as Lord and they were added to Him. 

God wants to do the same in our time and through your life. Instead of trying to use worldly method to confront the issues you face in your health, marriage, finance, family or ministry, reach out to God in prayer like the early disciples and ask Him to stretch out His hand, performing divine acts of deliverance that will cause everyone who knows you and the situations to acknowledge Him as the Lord. Pray to Him to do things in your life, family, ministry, city or nation that only Him can take credit for. Things that it will be obvious no man could do. Things that will cause fingers to point at Him as the cause,  glory to go to Him and people to be added to Him. He is eager to show His strength on your behalf. Just ask in faith. 

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of  those  whose heart  is  loyal to Him..." (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV)

Decision of the Day

I understand that God wants to show His power in the world so they can acknowledge Him as Lord. Lord, I pray today that you will stretch out your hand in my situations, family, ministry, city and nation and perform your mighty acts that will draw people's attention and cause them to acknowledge you as Lord. It is my decision that from this day every situation of my life will be an opportunity to proclaim your Lordship. 

October 1: Grace Spectacles: Wear Them and Check Yourself Out!

But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I  am  of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you  as  God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.  You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. (Exodus 6:30, 7:1, 2 NKJV)

Have you ever been in a position where an impediment, weakness or imperfection you have  looms bigger in your sight and consciousness than every other thing? It might be something in your background, history, experience, family, body or mind. Something that makes you think you do not measure up with others . Something that has conditioned your mind to think of yourself in a particular way- less capable or viable than others. Something you have grown up knowing about yourself. 

Moses was in that position. He had some impediment in his speech. As a result of this, he had accepted the label of someone with uncircumcised lips. Uncircumcision in those days portrayed an image of imperfection or deformity. This was how Moses saw himself. He was imperfect in speech. He was inferior to others and didn't expect any result from speaking to Pharaoh. He concluded that Pharaoh could hardly hear him speak because of this speech impediment. Someone else would be better for the job. In fact, his first experience at attempting to speak to Pharaoh didn't turn out well. He had an experience of seeming failure that to him confirmed his incapability.

However, God doesn't look at us the way we look at ourselves. Our weaknesses and incapabilities  do not faze him or deter him from calling us to His ordained assignments for us. This is because He sees us differently. He looks at us with different spectacles than we use.  He told Moses, in essence: "You see yourself with uncircumcised lips, but I see you as I have made you, a god, with your brother as your prophet. Now see yourself correctly and go and do what I sent you to do- speak to Pharaoh!" 

A god! Moses saw himself incapable but God saw him capable. He saw himself limited, but God saw him without limitations.  Isn't this the way it is with us. 

God sees us righteous in Him, but we persist in seeing ourselves as sinners
He see us as accepted in Him, but we see ourselves as outcasts
He sees us endued with His strength, but we see ourselves clothed in weaknesses
He sees us blessed, but we see ourselves generationally cursed
He sees us as more than conquerors but we hold on to our images of defeat
He sees us abundantly supplied, but we see ourselves in lack
He sees us healed by His stripes, but we are sure we are sick- our symptoms confirming it.

God does not ask you to deny the physical realities of your life. That would be lying. However He wants you to look beyond them and see yourself as He sees you. He wants you to take on a new image within you of His sufficiency and grace which is more than enough for your weaknesses. He want you to put on His glasses and see yourself the way He sees you. 

"And He said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me". (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)

If God commanded the stammerer, Moses, to speak, then He is commanding you also to rise above you weaknesses, depending on His grace, to do what He's summoned you to. He's telling you to see yourself through His own spectacles. When you wear the spectacles of God, you see yourself and everything differently because His spectacles are grace spectacles.

Decision of the Day:

I choose to look at myself and other things not through my own eyes but through God's looking glasses. His word reveals to me His view of things. This will be my view. I will rise about very limitation by factoring in His grace which is more than enough for me.

September 1: When It Starts to Get Better, It Gets Worse

Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness....And Pharaoh said, “Who  is  the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”... So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,  “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.  And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go  and  sacrifice to our God.’  Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”... So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why  is  it You have sent me?  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.” (Exodus 5:1-3, 6-9, 20-23 NKJV)


"It gets worse before it gets better" is a popular saying. Meteorologists use it when speaking of storms. Economists use it when analyzing the financial markets. Politician use it when describing the state of the nation. Nature confirms it by scheduling the darkest period of the night just before the crack of dawn. 

This saying can summarize the events in our text today. Israel had just been informed that the God of their fathers had not forgotten them but had come down to save them. He had raised a deliverer,  Moses, and given him the power to perform signs with his rod. Moses was to go to Pharaoh, demand that he let Israel go from slavery, Pharaoh would have no choice but to comply and then things would start going north from there. This was at least what the children of Israel anticipated would happen. 

However, things didn't go that way. Rather than go north, things went south. Events went downhill. Pharaoh refused to comply. In fact, he increased the burden on the Israelites. Things became tougher. To their dismay, they were treated harsher by the taskmasters.

When the Israelites met Moses, they were disappointed. Even Moses was disappointed. He complained to God, saying in essence, "Lord, you have made things worse. Things were negative before, but you have made it worse. You have not even lifted a hand to deliver your people." 

God must have laughed in heaven because they was something He knew that the children of Israel did not know. Once the first word was spoken to Pharaoh, his demise had began. In fact, it was sealed. 

Isn't this the way it is in our lives. We pray about a disease, then things get worse. We confront a thorny issue in a relationship, then things go south. We muster up faith to believe a promise from God, then things turn worse after we begin to apply our faith in God than they did prior. Hope is deferred and the heart feels sick. Disappointment sets in. We may begin to  accuse God. "You never kept your word" we say to Him. "You have left me stranded."  To you it seems He hasn't acted because circumstances seem worse. You feel you are not healed because the symptoms got worse or He hasn't provided because the need became greater. 

But God cannot be unfaithful to His words. As the angel informed Daniel who had been praying for a long time before He got an answer "From the moment you set yourself to pray, your words were heard..." your own words have been heard on high. The demolition of your opposition is underway. The process and the sequence of God's plan for your deliverance has begun. The root of the tree is dried up, it is only a matter of time before the whole tree falls. Sometimes, God is allowing things to get worse to evaluate the preciousness of your faith and the breadth of your patience. So don't give up at the first try because it got worse.  Stick to God. Cling to His word. Ride out the storm on the wings of His promises. Never forget that when things start to get better, they often begin by looking worse.

Decision of the Day

I understand that declining physical circumstances are not proofs that God isn't working. They can be proof that He is working. Afflictions and persecutions come for the very sake of the word that I have received. I will not quit. I will not relent. I will trust God to the end. things will turn around. Light will shine at dawn. 

August 10: The God of the Payback

And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:21, 22 NKJV).

One of the names of God is Jehovah Gmolah, the God of recompense or retribution. He is also called the judge of the universe. As a judge, He balances the equation of life. Harvests are linked to seed, compensation is appropriate for the investment, demand for restoration of what is stolen will follow the extortion, secret sin will be found out and exposed. It may take a long time but every action will meet its reward or punishment. 

Such is the case in our text today. Egypt had oppressed the people of Israel for over 400 years, utilizing their labor without compensation. Now God had come to demand their freedom and along with that, their payback for those years of unpaid labors. It was time for justice. The Egyptians were to be plundered by the Israelites and the spoil would be silver, gold, and clothing. They would not go empty-handed. God  would ensure that by His majestic power. He is the God of compensation. He will repay the oppressor and restore to the oppressed. 

If God did this for His people Israel, He will do more for you, His child, when you trust Him. He will be the faithful judge in your affairs. He will maintain your cause and your lot.  You wouldn't have to take matters into your own hands. He will ensure payback and justice in every area of injustice in your life. It is written, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19 NKJV). 

 He wants to give you double for your troubles. He will ensure the pay for your labor. He will fill your empty hands. For some time,  it may look as if injustice is reigning, that you are losing out or that you have been forgotten. However, in due season, things will balance out. The oppressive person will pay. Every earthly master, will have to account to the Heavenly Master of all. The overbearing boss will be fired. Your secret seeds will come into the open. Your compensation will come from God.

So trust today that the God of recompense is maintaining your lot. Your troubles will be compensated. Restoration will come for what was forcefully taken from you. Your service and sacrifice in the kingdom, unseen by men's eyes or unappreciated by men has not escaped the eyes of God. Your payday is coming, accompanied by payback. 


Decision of the Day

I understand that God is the righteous judge of the earth. He balances the equation of life. He repays. He will maintain my rights. Everything that was wrongfully taken from me will be restored by Him. Today, I decide to put my faith in the God of recompense. He will deal to me my deserved  wages in life. 

August 5: A Message from I AM

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14 NKJV)

I AM. Not I Was. 
I AM the the God of the now. I dwell in the ever now
I AM not bound by time. I made it
The clock does not tick on me.
Age does not creep on me.
The sun does not set on me. I set it.
I am never late. 
I AM the one who is ever there. 

I AM the Ancient of Days. 
From eons to eons I AM, everlasting, eternal, with no beginning and no end. 
Yesterday, today and forever are one and now to me. 
I see the end, the beginning and the middle all at once.
I AM the alpha and the omega,  the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the one who was, who is and who is to come. 

I AM eternal. Before all was, I AM
When all is done and gone, I AM

Some say, does God exist?
But I AM existence itself
By me all exist and consist

Some say, it is reasonable that there must be a God
For everything must have a cause.
But I AM Reason itself
I AM not just a cause. I AM Cause. The First Cause

I AM the Rhyme of Nature
The Rhythm of Creation
The Order of the Universe
Woven in creation are my invisible attributes

The thunder speaks of my power
The mountains talk of my majesty
The winds blow like my Spirit 
The conscience relate my laws
The order and the complexity of nature speak of my wisdom
Your quest for something higher, sublime and ethereal is the reaching out of your heart for me
For I put eternity in you.

I AM Everything
I fill all in all with my fulness
Yet I AM separate from all
I AM somewhere and everywhere
In you and in with you 
I AM Compassion and Justice
Provider and Provision
Sender and Goer
Savior and Salvation
 
I AM all you will ever need me to be 
Because I AM, you are!

So, today, rejoice that I AM
For those that come to me must believe I AM
And a Rewarder of those who diligently seek me
Who know that I AM who I say I AM
And that I AM all they will ever need.


Decision of the Day

I believe He is the I AM. He is the God not bound by time, the eternal one.  He is everything and all I would ever want or need. Because He is I am. I will worship Him and seek Him diligently.

August 3: The Seven "I AMs of Jesus"

"Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you." (Exodus 3:13-14 NKJV)

God introduces Himself  to Moses by another name here, YHWH. The meaning of this Hebrew is commonly rendered as, "I AM", "I AM THAT I AM", "I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE", "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE", "I SHALL PROVE TO BE", “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE” or “I WILL BECOME WHATSOEVER I PLEASE”

The name reveals the self-existence of God. He is "Being", without any cause. He is existence itself. The name is a sentence containing a promise, "I will be whoever or whatever I please." That is why in scripture we see the name used as a prefix to many of God's covenant names. For example, Yeshua (Jesus), is YHWH as our savior, YHWH Nissi is Him as our banner and so on.

What is the significance of this name to you? It is a revelation of God to you as the self-existent being who causes everything to be and can reveal Himself or act as whatever He chooses. In other words, in relation to us, He is whatever you need Him to be in His covenant promises. If you need healing, He becomes your physician. If you need provisions, He is your provider. If you need wisdom, He is your wisdom. If you need strength, He becomes the strength of your life. He is your shepherd, righteousness, sanctifier and peace- your all in all. He can be your success in that examination. He can be your marriage strengthener. He can be your business partner. To the widow He is a husband and to the Fatherless a Father. There is no limit to His revelation of Himself. He can be anything He pleases.

Jesus is also the I Am. Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58 NKJV). Check out the following statements from His mouth about who He is to us. 

1. And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:35 NKJV)

2. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NKJV)

3. Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7 NKJV)

4. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. (John 10:11 NKJV)

5. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. (John 11:25 NKJV)

6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6 NKJV)

7. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser...“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:1,5 NKJV)

You should meditate on these seven statements of Jesus today. They speak of his nourishment, care, commitment protection, provisions and empowerment in your life.  Recognize that God is your source. There is nothing in or that will come up in your life that He lacks. He is all you will ever need. He is more than enough. Therefore seek Him only and cast all your cares on Him today.

Decision of the Day

I believe and declare that God is the Great I AM. He is everything to me. I will seek Him only. I will have no other pursuit but Him. Everything needed for my destiny is in Him. He is my sufficiency. 

August 1: Your True Identity

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?  ...Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:11, 13 NKJV) 

There is a great deal of identity crisis going on in many lives today. 

The term identity crisis was coined by the late psychologist, Erik Erikson. He defined identity crisis as a time when one goes through intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. It is a time of conflict and psychological distress when one seeks a clearer sense of self and an acceptable role in society. A person going through an identity crisis asks himself questions like, “Who am I?”, “What is my role in life?” and “What direction is my life headed?”  And because he is unable to settle on an answer, he goes through consistent unhappiness and experimentations with different definitions of self and sometimes settling with the wrong one.

Moses asks two questions in our text today. The first question was "Who am I?" The second was in essence "Who are you Lord?   These two are questions of identity. The first was about his own identity and the second about God's identity. These two questions are significant because they are questions everyone asks. From the staunch atheist to the fanatically religious, there are raging questions within everyone of what their true identity is. 

Today, we will focus on Moses' first question on his own identity, " Who am I...?

Despite the fact that the answer to who we are is clearly spelt out in the Bible, many believers are uncertain of their identities, roles and places in God’s plan. They usually respond to this crisis in by centering their identities on the wrong things. Here are some false identity centers you may have used or be using:

1. You define ourselves by where you’ve been: To many believers, the sense of identity comes from their natural backgrounds.  They define themselves based on their family backgrounds, racial identities, painful experiences or past sinful lifestyles. 

2. You define ourselves by what you’ve done. This manifests partially as the works syndrome. Many believers believe their identities are based on their records of good deeds and charitable endeavors. Good deeds and involvement in worthwhile causes are good indeed but they are not who we are.

3. You define ourselves by what you have. First, I refer to material possessions here. Many value themselves by their financial net worth. They make the size of their bank accounts or investments the yardstick for measuring their inner worth. Secondly, I refer to physical beauty and physique. Many center their identity on how they look. They feel worthy or unworthy based on their physical looks.

4. You define ourselves by who you know. Another false center of identity is human relationships. Many derive their sense of worth from who they know. A single person may feel the solution to his identity crisis is to hook up with someone in a relationship. Young people in urban communities hook up with gangs to enhance their sense of worth. For others, self-worth is based on the number of friends they have on Facebook, their following on Twitter or the latest stars or idols they’ve met, gotten their autographs or taken pictures with. Marriages and business relationships are entered into with a desire for identity.

5. You let others define you. Nature abhors a vacuum. When you fail to define ourselves, others will define you. Society will take advantage of the identity crisis you face to give you its own identity.

Here's a solution to the crisis.  Cease centering your identity on any of these false centers.  You have to take our eyes of yourself, circumstances, backgrounds or possessions. Instead you should turn your attention to the word of God where God has accurately described you. James likened the word of God to a mirror where you behold yourselves and see the kind of person you are. The word contains the most accurate description of you. God, your maker and the source of your true identity has recorded His thoughts and plans concerning you in His word. 

You must diligently search the word and find yourself in it, believing and boldly proclaiming what you see, like John the Baptist did when he declared boldly to the Pharisees “ I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness” quoting Isaiah 40:3 as his identity in response to their wrong labels of him. Or as Christ did in Luke 4:68 when he opened Isaiah 61 and located himself there. Much is written about you in the word. You should not have an identity crisis. Find yourself in the word.

Decision of the Day

I understand that my identity is in God, not in where I have been, what I have done, what I have, who I know or what others say about me. Christ is my identity. I can find and know myself in the word. I can locate who I am in Christ as I search the bible. I will find myself. I refuse to live by a false identity. I will find my true worth in the word. 

July 28: Learning to be a Nobody

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 NKJV)

Who am I? This was not the question of someone who had that much confidence in himself. It was that of someone who had been drained of his pride. 40 years earlier Moses would have been  the first one to beat his chest in confidence and sign up for the latest assignment. After all, he was the adopted son of pharaoh's daughter, probably educated in the Egyptian Ivy League institutions, a royal prince of Egypt, heir to some high official position, enjoying all the privileges. He was cocky, impulsive and full of himself.  He displayed this when he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He was the self-appointed deliverer whose job was to tell everyone what to do.

However, the Moses we see in our text today is a different one. It was a subdued Moses, one who had been emptied of his pride. The bible would later call him the meekest man on the earth. Something had happened to Moses that changed his view of himself.  Here it is: Moses spent the first 40 years of his life thinking he was somebody, then after he became a fugitive, he spent the next 40 years learning he was a nobody. The encounter in our text today is the beginning of how he learned during the last 40 years of his life what God could do with a nobody.

40 years ago, he thought God needed somebodies. Here he would learn that God wants nobodies that he could make somebodies out of. God wants people who have enough space within themselves that he could pour Himself into because they had been emptied of self. He wants people with weaknesses  enough to depend on His strength and inadequacies enough to cling to His sufficiency. 

Your call in God can only be accomplished through dependence on Him. You can only bear fruits when you abide and stay hooked to the vine. Every effort in self-sufficiency even with the loftiest of aims results in a curse because woe it is to the man who trusts in man and makes the arms of flesh his trust. This is the reason why God's use for those who seek independence is limited. God is looking for those who have come to the end of themselves; those who are at the point where their identities are no where else but in Him. Those who ask Him, " Who am I" like Moses did. It is those humble souls who have come to terms with their "nobodyness" who He takes on the journey of being somebody. 


Decision of the Day

I understand that independence and pride will hinder me from being used of God, but a recognition of my  helplessness and inadequacies in my self leading me to dependence on Him is the path to my destiny. I decide today to pursue that path of dependence

July 25: To Whose Cry Are You an Answer?

"Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9,10 ) 

The people cried. God heard their cries. His response? Find a person to send, in this case, Moses.  This pattern is not just isolated to today's text, but repeats all though scriptures and history. God raises men and women and sends them to be the answers to cries reaching His ears from the mass of humanity.  The pattern of God for carrying out His purposes on earth is for persons summoned and empowered by Him to be sent into areas of pain and hurt to bring His will. God uses people to help people. He uses those who heed His call to respond to humanity's calls. 

God uses people to carry out His will on the earth. He calls, empowers and sends them as answers to the tears and burdens of other men. For the Gentile's cries, He calls and sends a Paul. For the people of Nineveh, a Jonah.  For an ark to be built, it was a Noah. For the covenant nation to be formed, it was Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For it to be preserved from the famine  that would sweep the world, He found and prepared a Joseph and summoned him to the palace. In fact, the ultimate example is Jesus Christ becoming a man in response to the cries of humanity for deliverance from sin and its consequences. 

You are also an answer from God to the cry of someone. The passions He's given you, the experiences you've had, the trainings you've received, your weaknesses, your testimony, your failures, your story, your talents and your pains all intersect at some point with the predicament and desperate aspirations of someone or some persons. You are the answer from God to their desperate prayers to God. You are the cold water they seek for their thirsty souls and the bearer of glad tidings whose feet are beautiful on the mountains of their lives. . 

Pray today for God to show you those people. Ask the Lord to know the question you were made to answer, the need you were created to meet and the void He sent you here to fill. Then take a look around you, because these ones are as near as the next person who asks you for a helping hand, the helpless child around the corner or the things around you that unlock your compassion and infuriate you with holy anger. Heed the call and begin the exciting life of being a co-laborer with God.  

Decision of the Day

I understand that God answers the cries of humanity by sending other humans to help. I know there is a cry I am sent to answer. There is someone crying to God and I am the answer to that cry. I will respond as God call me and be willing to lend a hand to hurting people around me. 

July 23: God Knows

And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. (Exodus 3:7 NKJV)

Our text today is one of those verses of scripture that require no other illustration to communicate its message. In itself, it is a graphic illustration of the great truth of God's concern and care for His people. It speaks of the extent of God's awareness.

Care and concern begins with awareness. You can not be concerned with what you are unaware of. Whatever is below your radar doesn't move your bowel of compassion. The popular adage says, "Out of sight is out of mind." That is why often when people pass through difficult times, the questions on their minds are often about awareness. Does anyone know? Does someone see? Does someone care? Does anyone care to ask? Am I alone in this? Where is God in all these?

God answers these questions in our text. He tells us, sees, hears and knows our situations. There is nothing going on in your life right now that God is unaware of. Jesus said, "not even a sparrow can fall down without the Father's notice, that even the very hairs of your head are numbered." Each little one. He knows and cares about what we feel and the little details of our lives.

Someone once asked a pastor if God cares about the little and trivial things of life. The Pastor replied, "Lady, can you think of anything that is big for God? In other words, everything in our lives is small when compared with God yet He sees all, hears all and feels all. He is touched with the feelings of your infirmity. He is concerned about you.

As you go about your day today, retain an awareness that no matter what life looks like for you now. No matter what you are going through right now, God is very well acquainted with it all. He has tread the path you now tread when Christ came and identified with our humanity. He knows every weakness and understands everything. God loves you and cares for you. Relax in His care. Cast your burdens on Him. He will see you through this season of life.

Decision of the Day

I understand that God is aware of everything I face. That He cares for me. Nothing is too little for His concern. I roll my cares on Him today, knowing that He has a plan for every situation in my life and He will see me through.

July 22: The God of Transformation

Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6 NKJV)

For God to call himself the God of Abraham or Isaac is easily accepted. Abraham is a name from God Himself and Isaac is a name of joy, it means laughter. But to call Himself the God of Jacob, which means "swindler", "cheater" or "supplanter" should make us pause a little. Didn't He Himself change Jacob's name to Israel. Why not call Himself, the God of Israel here instead?

Translate the names and our text would read, " I am the God of the father of nations. I am the God of laughter and I am the God of the swindler and the cheat. It is then the message jumps out from the pages of scripture.

God retains the name of Jacob to leave hope for everyone. He wants the thief, the adulterer, the liar, the criminal, the murderer and the chiefest of sinners to know that no matter how far they've gone in their vices, there is still a place of acceptance for them with Him if they would turn to Him. He is here calling Himself, the God of Transformation., the God of Change, the one who can turn the shaky reed, Peter into a rock, and the one who can make the murderer of saints, Saul into His choice apostle, Paul.

How far do you think you may have fallen? How bad do you think things are in your life? Is there a trait that you feel has become your permanent badge. Turn to the God of transformation today and see what He can make out of you. God doesn't consult your past to determine your future. He doesn't look at your pedigree or lack of one to qualify you for His best. If your thinking is stinking, take it to Him and let Him change you. If your strength is feeble, let Him infuse you with His strength. He is the Unchanging Changer and the Master Potter. He can remold whatever has been broken, if placed in His hands. Trust Him for transformation today. He is the God of the Swindler.


Decision of the Day

I will praise God today because He is the God of Transformation. He is not just the God of the great and perfect but also the God of the broken and tarnished. I trust you Lord for increasing transformation of my life into your image day by day.

July 21: When God calls Himself by Your Name

Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6 NKJV)

The natural order of things is for the creator to name his invention as he wills, sometimes giving it his own name. So the Ford company is named after its founder and the George Foreman grill after its popular inventor. However, it is not often seen for a creator to name himself after his creation.

That was why it was first a puzzle to me when I would read God’s introduction about Himself in our text today. The great God of the universe chose to permanently tag Himself with the names of fallen men, and wears the tag proudly, it reads," I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

It is like a great king appending his name with that of his subjects and using it proudly, or a father calling himself by his children's names. It is sure a sign of total identification and acceptance.

Then a little study of scripture also shows that not only did He take on their names, He also gave them His own name. So as He was the God of Abraham, Abraham was also Abraham of God Most high.

It is then obvious that this name was a demonstration of God's covenant keeping nature. Through the blood covenant, He had willingly bound Himself forever with Abraham and His descendants to be their God forever. God had stooped low to meet with fallen humanity at his level and offered a hand of loving commitment to lift humanity up to His level.

This brings to mind what Jesus did with us. He left the glories of heaven and came to sinful earth to live with us. He took on your nature so that you could have access to His righteousness. He felt what you feel and lived where you live. He took on the name of a man and has offered to you His own name and privileges. And it is written, He did it all without a hint of shame,

But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16 NKJV)

Take this as a great encouragement for today. It is a message of your acceptance before Him. Despite your weaknesses and shortcomings, He doesn’t blush when He mentions your name. He has no intention of issuing a disclaimer about you. He is putting no distance between Himself and you. In fact, He wears your tag on His sleeve proudly. He fully identifies with you. He is like that father who displays the sticker proudly on his car, proclaiming to all that He is the father of an honor student at Riverdale High.

Yes, you sometimes fall short. Yes, you sometimes stumble, but think of this. If God can call Himself the God of a Swindler, which is what "Jacob" means, He surely can call Himself your God.

Decision of the Day

I praise God today and always because He is not ashamed of me. He fully identifies with my weaknesses and shortcomings and proudly accepts me as I am in His son. He calls me by His own name. He sees His righteousness in me. Forever by His blood He has bound Himself to me, never to leave me or forsake me.

July 20: When God Whispers Your Name

So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4 NKJV)

Growing up, whenever my parents called my name more than once in succession, I knew something was in the offing. Either a word of praise or a time of correction, a new errand to run, or probably a dose of wisdom words. Something always followed the repeated calling of my name.

God called Moses' name in our text today, repeating it twice. He did the same some other times in Scriptures. It was the same voice that called Samuel as a little boy, repeating His name. The one that called Simon Peter, repeating his name, telling him to tend His flock. He called Saul's name on the road to Damascus, in the same tone, giving him a mission. When God whispers your name, you can be assured that something more would follow.

Moses needed to hear that something more. Over the years, his confidence had waned. The zeal that burned in him with passion in His youthful day had all but been extinguished by the monotony of life. In the first half of his life, he was one who was important, being raised in the palace, in the second half, he was a fugitive, but little did he know, that the third phase was about to begin where He would become the deliverer of a nation. And it would begin through that whisper of His name. He answered and his story changed.

God still knows the names of His creation. He is still calling people by name. He is still dealing with people on a first-name basis. He knows your name too and He is calling it today. If you will answer, there is more waiting for you.

Decision of the Day

I will answer Him today as I hear Him calling me.

July 19: The Sacred and the Secular

"Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 NKJV)

There are certain places you visit on earth where you are overwhelmed with a sense of awe and of God's presence. For example, many  visitors to Israel who walk  through the various places mentioned in scriptures testify of a sense of awe and sacredness that come with such places. Also church grounds, worship services and gathering of believers are seen as symbols of the sacred. 

However, there are certain other places no one easily associates with sacredness. Few go to work and burst out in worship at the awesome holiness of God saturating their work facilities and offices. No one visits the penitentiary, the pubs or bars and ever think in terms of how holy such places are. 

As a result of this, we have created neat labels of distinction. We call one the sacred and the other, secular. We see the sacred as the home of spirituality and the secular, the place of sensuality. We view the sacred as the abode of faith and the secular is the arena of facts; the sacred as the place of worship and the secular as the place of workmanship. The former is seen as the abode of religion and the latter, the topography of reason.  

But these distinctions are man-made. Very often in Scriptures we see God blurring the line between the "sacred" and the "secular." Really to Him, there is no line. Every place on earth can become Holy Ground. That was His original intention before the fall. That is why He made appearances and visited men and women in many ordinary places such as in our text today. Moses received a visitation of God at work, in exile, in the wilderness.

 In other places, God met people at the well, He inspired many portions of the Holy scriptures in prisons. He chose to be born in a manger, to be friends with sinners and crucified in a place no one identified with sacredness, Golgotha the place of skulls.

We should also stop the distinction and remove the dividing line. Because you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, everywhere you go and everything you do irrespective of their natures become sacred. As a living stone of spiritual worship, your presence should turn ordinary places into holy spots where God should be honored. 

So as you go about doing your work today, no matter how unspiritual it may seem and as you visit certain places today in your line of duty, no matter how devoid of God they may feel, remember that, just as all it takes to make a thing wet is the presence of water,  all it takes to make a spot sacred is the presence of God and that great God calls you His temple.


Decision of the Day

I understand that with God there is no division between the secular and the sacred. He wants to fill the whole earth with His presence. He wants everywhere to become Holy Spots and that is why He has granted me access to the places I frequent and do the things I do. I will remain aware of this today. I will put the touch of sacredness on everything I do and everyone I meet. As His temple, I will extend the perimeters of His holy presence wherever I find myself. 

July 18: Protocols of His Presence

Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 NKJV)


The word "protocol" is a combination of two Greek words: "Proto," meaning first, and "colon," meaning glued. The "glued" part of the word comes from Greek tradition, mandating diplomatic correspondences  to have a summary of the message inside glued to the outside of their packages so that the receiver can quickly read that first.

Since those early days, the concept of protocols has become pervasive. Every important place has certain protocols that must be observed for entrance and passage. There are specific titles that must be used to address certain individuals and particular ways one must conduct oneself in their presence. For example, the following is a list of protocols when meeting with the queen of England according to about.com.

1. When spoken to or addressing her for the first time, use “Your Majesty' and afterwards use ma'am.
2. Women should curtsy and men should nod their heads.
3. If the Queen offers a hand, the handshake should be short and not hard.
4. Allow the Queen to leave the room first; backs should never be turned toward the Queen, unless it absolutely cannot be helped.
5. During meals, the Queen eats first and when she stops, the others at the table stop. Eat what is served and do not request anything more or less.
6. Do not go to the restroom during a meal unless it is an absolute, have-to-go situation. Discreetly ask where the lavatory or loo is located and make it fast. It is best to cross the legs and suffer through if possible.
7. An important to do when meeting royalty is to exchange gifts.

God's holy presence also demands certain protocols.  God told Moses to take his sandals off. This was and still is a sign of humility and reverence in the East.  The soles of shoes represent the dirt of the world. To insult someone in that culture, all you need to do is to show them the soles of your shoes.

You are not required to remove your shoes, but you are required to observe the protocol of reverence in God's presence. You are to show Him respect by separating yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit( 2 Cor 7:1,2). You are to approach Him with humility, worship, thanksgiving and the offerings of your precious treasures. As you make this your practice, you will begin to enjoy the reward of abiding by protocols, which is favor and access to the deeper manifestations of God.


Decision of the Day

I understand that the Holy Presence of God has certain protocols. I choose to honor God by respecting these protocols. I will separate from myself every filth, practicing holiness in the fear of God.

July 8: The Power of Curiosity

"So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up." (Exodus 3:3 NIV)

Curiosity may have "killed a cat" but  it has also changed the world and delivered the more developed world we live in right now to us. Can you imagine how the world will be if no one had been curious enough to explore the unknown world, tap into the secrets of electricity, study birds in flight to get men in the air, or study the anatomy of humans and the essence of diseases in order to promote health. Progress has always come riding on the bent back of the question mark. It is those who ask questions and listen who learn, not those who do all the talking.

Curiosity, though it sometimes gets some in trouble, is a divine gift God has put into the heart of His creations. One of the signs of healthy babies is the exercise of their curiosity. They are innocent investigators, pure inquirers and scientists without having gone through any prior training. They respond to an innate urge to know just for the sake of knowing. 

In our text today, Moses' curiosity got the best of him and landed him at a holy spot where God was waiting and where his great ministry was born.

How about you? Are you asking questions or accepting your world as it is? Are you spiritually curious? Do you accept the situations in your life as fixtures or do you seek to find what the will of God is concerning them? If a bush was burning around you like Moses saw, would you ignore it? Would you denounce it as fanaticism or sensationalism or investigate to see if God is really behind it like Moses did? Do you denounce happenings in order churches or denominations that do not fit your mold or do you seek the truth out? Has it ever come to your mind that maybe that healing evangelist you so despise might have God in the background fueling the fire? Or that that church with the seeming emotionalism may be exhibiting God's combustive act?

Curiosity is a gift from God. It should be properly used. Develop the habit of investigating. Obey the injunction of scripture to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." ( 1 Thess 5:21).

Become a man or woman on a quest. Look deeper into things. Think deeper about things. Ask questions. Challenge conventions and norms. Investigate claims. Open your mind wide. There is a whole lot you do not know yet that God wants to show you and sometimes it is what you feel you know already that becomes your greatest hindrance. God has created a lot in nature and put a lot in His word and  other people that your whole life will not be enough to explore them.  So remain like a little child. Not gullible but curious. Retain your fascination about the things God has done and is doing. Then just like Moses, you may just meet God and your calling at the end of the trail of one of your quests.


Decision of the Day 

I understand that curiosity is a gift of God. It is inborn in me. It is how change and growth is born. I will not lose my curiosity. I will not be afraid of learning, exploring and  investigating. I will not live with a closed mind. Just like Moses, I will turn around to see the why's behind the strange sights around me. 

July 6: Attention Grabbers

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up." When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:2-4 NIV)

Billboards and signs are designed to be attention getters. They use catchy words and slick images that cause passersby to turn and look, pointing them to patronize a product, service, person or entity.  The inspire the willingness to try something new. They expose to things that otherwise might be beyond our radar. 

God also has His attention getters. In many instances, in both the New and Old Testament and even in our days, He has used signs and wonders to cause people to turn. He grabs people's attention by the display of His supernatural power. In our text today, God broke Moses' forty year shepherd monotony by creating a sight that compelled him to turn around, look and investigate, thus bringing him to a place where he heard the voice and the call of God. 

Jesus did the same things in His earthly days. He performed signs that moved people to seek some more. Nicodemus is an example of this, 

"He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." (John 3:2 NIV)

The Samaritan woman at the well ran to her city proclaiming the sign she had seen Christ performed in telling her things about herself and won many to Him.

Phillip grabbed the attention of a whole city and compelled them to hear of Christ though the signs  he performed. 

"When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said." (Acts 8:6 NIV)

Signs work because God knows the nature of man. Man was born in the miraculous. His origin, God, is miraculous and he responds to the miraculous. This explains the constant fascination of the world with witchcraft, the paranormal and the supernatural. Some of the bestselling books and most watched movies are in this genre. The reason is because the supernatural speaks to the heart of man. It calls Him to where he originally belonged.

Since we are called to be witnesses in the world for Him, we need the attention of the world too. We need something that will break their fixation on the negative supernatural. We need to show that Moses' rod produces the stronger serpent that swallows the world's magicians'. We need to show the world that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit trump the psychic hotlines and new-age  meditations. 

We are already equipped with the authority to do this in His Mighty Name. Jesus said, 

 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation...And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;  they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:15-18 NIV)(

Expect signs today. Pray for the sick. Be bold like the early disciples.  The power in not yours but His. It is in His name. It is part of your witnessing tool. He delegated the use of His name to you. It grabs the world's attention like no other thing can. Use it.


Decision of the Day

I know one of the purposes of the supernatural signs of God is to grab the world's attention. I also understand that faith in the Name of Jesus releases signs. I am a witness for Him.  This is a tool in my arsenal of evangelism. I will not neglect or discount it. I will put it to use.

July 1: God Calls Busy People

"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. (Exodus 3:1,2 NIV)


It is fascinating to read stories of divine encounters of men in the Bible. From the Old to the New Testament, one thing threads through all the incidents, the people God appeared to in order to give an assignment or call for a unique purpose were all busy doing something before their calls. Let's look at a few of them. 

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers...Joseph had a dream (Genesis 37:2,5 NIV). 

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:11,12 NIV) 

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide:  "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. (Joshua 1:1,2 NIV) 

Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.   (1 Sam 17:17-23 NIV)

So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah...He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (1 kings 19:19-21 NIV) 

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 418-:22 NIV)

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28 NIV)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest. and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:1-6 NIV)

Saul also met Samuel while looking for his father's donkey. All these passages including our text today about Moses encountering God as he tended his fathers flock, testify to the fact that God places value on diligence. He doesn't recruit lazy people for his special assignments. He calls those who have their hands full trying out something, working on some natural endeavor. This is pretty logical because anyone who is faithful in natural things will transfer that same attitude to spiritual things and anyone who is lazy and tardy regarding natural things will be the same when it comes to spiritual things. 

The question for you then is. Is your attitude toward your job, care for your natural possessions, and seemingly little assignments delegated to you  qualifying you or disqualifying you for God's call on your life? Remember, if you are faithful in little, you will be committed over much.


Decision of the Day

I understand that God uses diligent people. I renounce laziness and procrastination. I will get busy doing what is available. I will go to school, get a job or volunteer if need be. I will not run away from little assignments. I will take care of my private affairs, being orderly. I know God uses all these to decide on those He'll use for His assignments.

June 30: S.O.S to Heaven

"During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them." (Exodus 2:23-25 NIV)


A cry for help is inhuman to ignore. From antiquity, in the most primitive of societies, whenever a cry for help rings out from one quarter, it mobilizes people from all around to come to the aid of the person crying, even if the reason for the cry is yet unknown. When people hear the cry for help coming from a location, they leave everything they are doing and rush to the scene of the cry to offer help. It was an obligation everyone owed to help someone in trouble reaching out in an emergency. This age-old unwritten rule of humanity has saved not a few from situations they are helpless to handle by themselves. Later S.O.S signals with flashing lights, sounds or Morse codes were utilized. Nowadays a cry for help comes in form of dialing an emergency number. 

However, these have only to do with beseeching humans to help in desperate situations. There are however many situations in which humans are unable to help.  There are even situations in which the cry cannot be heard by humans because it is a cry of the heart, an inner groaning, indiscernible by humans but nonetheless amplified in our hearts. There are things we cannot even share with any human because of their sacredness or privacy or just because no one would understand. They are private cries, hurts and desperate longings that not even a spouse, a parent or the closest friends can grasp which lodge within our hearts.

Take heart. Israel was at such a place in our text. The suffering they were going through was so great and the help of humans was incapable and unavailable that their heavy heart groaned and cried until it reached the hears of the One who can discern the unuttered cries of the heart. Their groaning was a plea, a prayer, probably not uttered in articulate speech, but in the inaudible cries of the heart. 

God heard and was concerned about their plight. He remembered His covenant with their fathers and began to bring to light His ongoing preordained plans for deliverance though the man Moses who had been in the desert for forty years.

Here is our lesson. God hears the cries others cannot hear. God responds to desperate faith-filled cries for assistance and He already has a plan for helping you. When you get into such situations when your heart is overwhelmed, when you are unsure which way to go and how to proceed, when it looks as if you are going down and there is no earthly way you could ever win, when you are faced with the impossible, when suffering weighs you down, always remember that there is a God who cares for you. He is concerned about you and He's as near as a cry for help. Look to Him. Dial the heavenly 911. He will uphold you and deliver you!


Decision of the Day

I understand that God hears my cry for help. He even hears the groaning of my heart. I will always turn to Him for help. He is willing to help and deliver in every situation. When my heart is overwhelmed, I will climb on the rock higher than myself.  I will cry to Him with all my heart and I will be helped. 

June 27: God's Strength Vs Human Strength

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (Exodus 2:11-12 NIV)  

There are two ways things can be done- God's way or your way. Two seasons things gets done- God's time or your time and two means of getting things done- God's ability or yours. 
In our text today, Moses chose in every instance to depend on himself. Despite the nobility of his purpose to help his people, he acted out of God's timing, used is own method which involved murder, and relied solely on his physical strength.

This points to Moses' state then. Raised in the palace, a prince of Egypt, he probably had confidence in his ability to bring deliverance to his people, God's assistance notwithstanding. He was angry, proud and self-dependent. It wasn't until forty years afterward, after becoming a  fugitive, serving as a shepherd in the back of the desert, that he eventually had the right image of himself, a man who has to  fully depend on God, totally untrusting of his own ability to get the work done. It took all those years for Moses' pride, anger and self- dependence to wear away. 

He was taught—not to depend on human strength, but on God. He had to learn patience, self-control and faith. Through this work of God, Moses eventually became the meekest man on the earth according to bible testimony( Numbers 12:3). This he lacked during the events of our text  today.

We also face the temptation to depend on ourselves. We want to do things based on our timing, using our methods and depending on our personal capabilities. This is folly, and it  only leaves us frustrated and relegated because of delays. You are not called to carry out God's plans for you by your intelligence, connections or strength. You are called instead to a life of trust and total dependence on God. You are called to to a spirit-controlled and empowered life. "So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6).

No matter how strong you feel about a task and how noble your purpose is, you are to accomplish it with God's strength. His strength is perfect and when you rely on it, seemingly impossible things get done. God's work done His way and in His strength will never lack His supplies and backing. 

So examine what you are doing today. Is it an exercise in self-reliance or an adventure with God? 
The answer is crucial to whether it will be a success or not or whether you destroy or wear out yourself in the process of getting it done or you get it done empowered by the Spirit. Make up your mind today to live in total God-dependence.

Decision of the Day

I refuse to do God's work relying only on my wisdom, strength or capabilities. I will walk in God's timing and seek to know and adopt His ways of doing things. I will depend fully on God. 

June 24: Hiding in Plain Sight

Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" "Yes, go," she answered. So the girl went and got the baby's mother.Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:7-10 NIV)   

Sometimes the ways of God amuse me. His wisdom is both amazing and amusing. Who would want to raise a deliverer destined to topple an oppressive king and rather than hide and raise him in a secret location, but would choose to raise him right in the home of the oppressor with the daycare fees,  school fees and upkeep being paid by the same oppressor he would dethrone.

It reminds of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 of God using Satan to accomplish his plans of redemption by allowing him to crucify the Christ unknowingly to him that that very act would be his undoing. It's amusing how God uses the enemy to pay the bills for his own defeat. 

This is what God did in Moses' case. Moses was the deliverer Israel had been waiting for. He was to free them from Pharaoh's oppression, yet God planned it in such a way that Pharaoh's would be the one to pay the bills for the upbringing of Moses. While Pharaoh hosts were going about enforcing the killing of the sons of Israel, right in his own house, he was feeding, training and raising the deliverer. God hid Moses in plain sight so to speak! O, the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

What do we take from this? Is it possible that God is still using the same method? That is not a far-fetched thought because He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Is it possible that some situations in your life or in your world that appear as if Satan is winning are actually being used by God to hide some precious jewels that will be revealed at the end? Could a Samuel be hiding in your present barrenness like it was for Hannah, or maybe a John the Baptist, like Elizabeth's case?  Could a governor be hiding in in Pharaoh's prison like Joseph? Could that wayward and troublesome child of yours  be a preacher In disguise? Could some of those inmates in our nations prisons be apostles in waiting? Could that delay or disappointment  you are going through be a precursor to the most important turning point in your life? could satan's laughter today contain his tears tomorrow and your tears today be hiding your laughter tomorrow? 

The possibilities and questions are endless but one thing we can be sure of is that God is very good at playing hide- and- seek. He hides the best things in places few would choose to look. He hides diamonds in the dust, preachers in prisoners, movements in murderers, feats and futures in failures, the foundations of the church in fishermen, helpers in the helpless, triumphs in tragedy and testimonies in tests.  Pray to see what He's hidden in and around you.


Decision of the Day

God hid Moses in Pharaoh's court. I understand God still hides things in places we don't often look for them. Lord I choose to look with your eyes. Help me to see every person, place and situation the way you see them.  Show me the things that are hidden in me and around me that I might walk in the fulness of your plans

June 23: The Couple We Hardly Talk About

"Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile." (Exodus 2:1-3)


All through world history, we see great leaders who changed the course of history in various fields. We know of military leaders who wrought great conquests to keep peace, preachers who brought reformation, statesmen who founded great nations and business leaders who spawned great enterprises. We have hundreds and thousands of biographies and autobiographies of these individuals. There are also those we often don't read of.  Fathers who led their families well. Mothers who gave the world these great leaders who are leaders in themselves. 

Susanna Wesley comes to mind when I think of such unsung heroes of leadership. She was the wife of a poor and  very difficult 18th century clergyman in a small parish. She had no formal education, had 19 kids, educated her kids, and through her personal influence, she gave the world two great sons in the persons of Charles Wesley and John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church and one of the greatest spiritual leaders the world has ever known. It can be said that the Methodist movement  began in the lap of Susanna Wesley.

In our text today, we see two of such heroes, the parents of Moses. It is safe to say that without their sensitivity to God and their daring faith, Moses would have gone the way of the other children- killed in infancy. Though faith, they did not only birth the deliverer of a people, they preserved and nurtured him. In addition, this couple produced two other leaders of Israel, Aaron and Miriam, Moses' brother and sister. What a power couple. 

The writer of Hebrews points to their faith, listing them in the same company as Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Joseph: 

"By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict." (Hebrews 11:23 NIV).

Moses, the deliverer, didn't just appear on the scene. He was the offspring of people of daring and fearless faith. People who chose to believe God's prophecy to Abraham about a coming deliverance. Preceded by centuries of slavery and oppression, they saw their child and perceived that God had a plan for him. They knew he wasn't ordinary and they dared all to preserve him.

The lessons here are many but we will look at one. It is important for you to properly see what God has put in your hand. Could it be that that little ministry you are entrusted with is not ordinary? Yes it looks like other babies but could it be the beginning of a great movement of God? Could it be that that child you have is not just any other child? Could that new relationship possess the seed that will deliver a people?  Could that dream you have be the change a nation has been crying for? Don't judge that opportunity ordinary. Ask God to open your eyes to see its potential. Then no matter what it takes. Dare to nurture and preserve it. Hide it if you have to. Put it on a river where Pharaoh's daughter would swim if you have to but keep a watchful eyes on it. What you have been given is not ordinary. Dare to preserve and nurture it. That's what heroes of faith do.


Decision of the Day

Just as Moses' parents perceived that the little child they had was not ordinary. Lord I ask for correct perception of the little things in my life: the opportunities, gifts, talents, children, ministry etc. Help me to preserve and nurture them until they are sting enough to accomplish your purpose. 

June 22: Don't Let Him Have Your Boys

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." (Exodus 1:22)

When it comes to biological fruitfulness, boys represent the future life-seed carriers while girls represent the future life-seed growers. In order to produce children, both the life-seed carrier and grower are essential. Both must be present for fruitfulness to occur.

In our text today, we see Pharaoh's strategy to halt the fruitfulness of Israel- eliminate the seed carriers of the next generation and population decline will begin. He didn't have to kill both the boys and the girls, he only needed the boys to die and his plan would be assured.

Isn't that the enemy's strategy in our days. He may not attack your progress but he may attempt to take out your character. He may not attack your current result, but he will target your prayer life. He may not attack some of your relationships but he will attack the most vital ones to cut you off from them. He may not attack the worship and fellowship in a church but he may attempt to take out their zeal for evangelism. He may not stop you from having professional success, but while you are it, he may be wrecking havoc in your family.

He may not need to attack every institution in the society, just taking out marriage and family will be enough to bringing down the community. Just conquering and destroying a portion of the population, the young men, is enough to fulfill his agenda. Isn't this what is happening in America today as more and more young men are subjected to attacks of gangs, drugs, imprisonment and fatherlessness. It is the age-old strategy of the enemy.

The enemy doesn't need to target the whole of your life, he is only interested in a portion of it. He is not looking for the whole ground, he only wants a part of the territory, a foothold from which he can operate and stop your fruitfulness. So don't get carried away if a part of your life still looks healthy and growing. It is that part that is rotten, decaying and dying that you should pay attention to because if nothing his done, in the future, that part under his control might be your undoing.

That is why, the bible says, "give not place to the devil" (Eph 4:27). Give him no ground. Don't let him have any room in you life. Using Pharaoh-speak, don't let him have neither your boys or your girls. They will both be needed for your fruitfulness.

So check your life today, is there a part you have surrendered to the enemy: your character, your health, your prayer life, your covenant relationships, your family, your marriage, your self- improvement, your discipline. Remember that just as it would have had to take boys and girls for Israel to keep reproducing, it would also take a combination of what you have left and that area you surrendered to the enemy for you to be fruitful. So, reclaim back your what the enemy stole. Don't let the enemy have your boys.

Decision of the Day

I understand that fruitfulness takes all parts of my life. I will not surrender a part of it to the enemy. God will have the whole of me to use. Nothing will be held back from the Lord. Every part of my life is working together for his purpose for me.

June 21: When Disobedience is A Virtue

"The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,"When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live...So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own." (Exodus 1: 15-21)


Rosa Louise Parks, who is recognized as the "mother of the modern day civil rights movement" in America, due to an act of  disobedience,  in refusing to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, as required by the unjust laws of her time,  set in motion a wave of protest December 5, 1955 that impacted the whole of the United States. Her courage to disobey began the transformation of America, the destiny of black people and changed history. Her disobedience was courageous and virtuous.

As in our text today regarding the Hebrew midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh's wicked instruction, all through Scriptures, we also see various individuals who through acts of disobedience demonstrated courage. Some examples are that of Daniel who refused to obey the decree not to pray, the Hebrew boys who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's idols, Esther who broke protocol to approach the king and the apostles who defied the instruction not to preach Jesus again, saying they "ought to obey God rather than men."

All these examples show that there are times when disobedience is the virtuous way to go. How do you recognize such instances. From all the examples, it can be seen that what warranted the disobedience of the actors was that the instruction or law goes crosswise with the laws of God. God is the highest authority. His laws are the highest laws and in the scheme of things, you are to submit to the higher authority. When the instructions of a lower authority contradicts the higher one, you must opt for the higher one at the expense of the lower. This implies that disobedience in these cases are actually obedience to a higher authority, God's.

Are you going through a conflict now in which you are being forced to do something that contradicts God's instruction by someone in authority over you? Maybe a parent is pressurizing you to marry an unbeliever, a spouse is asking you to compromise,  a boss is threatening you with losing your job if you don't heed his sexual advances or compromise your ethics, or you live under an oppressive government subverting your values and faith. In all these cases and similar ones, you have God's backing to say no. He will defend you for standing for what is right just as he did for these Hebrew midwives. So be courageous and stand your ground. If you don't bow, you won't burn.

Decision of the Day

My highest allegiance is to God and His laws. All other laws are subsidiary. I obey these laws if they align with God's but if they violate His laws I have the liberty and the backing of God to disobey. I will not compromise and I will not burn. 

June 20: Children Everywhere!

"We’ve got to do something: Let’s devise a plan to contain them, lest if there’s a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us.” So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn’t stand the Israelites" ( Exodus 1:10-12. MSG)


A popular video on YouTube (see it here) which has had over 12 million views at the time of this writing focuses on the demographic change Europe is experiencing due to the influx of people from Islamic nations and the high fertility rate of this immigrant population compared to the low fertility rate of the indigenous people with Christian roots.
  
It warns that in order for a culture to maintain itself for over 25 years, it must have a fertility rate of 2.11 children per family, otherwise, it will decline. It says that, historically, no culture has ever reversed a low fertility rate of 1.9. A rate of 1.3 can never be reversed because it would take 80 to 100 years to correct itself which is impossible because no economic model can sustain this. The video goes on to say that the fertility rate in the 31 nations of the European Union was only 1.38 while that of the Islamic population was at least in the 8.0  range. This imply that, irreversibly in about 30 years, Europe will be an Islamic continent. The continent will be conquered not by swords      or wars  but by the sheer number of children being born to muslim households who will become citizens with rights.

Our goal today is not to focus or comment on the European situation, but to use it to illustrate how potent fruitfulness is. Fruitfulness has the power to make the fruitful person dominate and rule a territory. Pharaoh recognized this potency in our text today. He was so afraid of the fruitfulness of the Israelites that he resorted to oppressive methods to stop it. This was wrong. Pharaoh could have chosen another route. Rather than focus on stopping the fruitfulness of Israel, he could have worked on the fruitfulness of his own people. After all, the whole human race was blessed and commissioned by God to be fruitful in Genesis 1:28.

There is power in fruitfulness. Fruitfulness brings dominion. God wants you to be fruitful in everything you do and through that extend His influence over your territory on the earth. He wants your talents to grow and touch more lives, your ministry to expand and touch more people and places, your spiritual children to multiply as you reach out and lead people to Christ. He wants your ministry, business and ideas to grow and fill your territory with the nature, power, influence and principles of the kingdom. He needs you to have more offspring; more  children, until your children and fruits are everywhere, metaphorically speaking! 

This fruitfulness comes as you submit to the plan of God and aggressively plant seeds. Step out of your comfort zones and start sharing the gospel with people regularly. Begin working on that business idea diligently. Put your talent to work even if the opportunity is little. The more seeds you sow, the more fruits you are likely to have and the greater the possibility of being an influence for the kingdom. So, sow bountifully. 

Finally, don't let the intimidations of Pharaoh stop you. Keep on. He can't stop your fruitfulness if you don't let him. 

Decision of the Day

I understand that fruitfulness is God's desire for me. It is also God's tool for advancing His kingdom and plan on earth.  I will be fruitful spiritually, materially, mentally, relationally and physically. I will not be barren in good works. I will sow bountifully and diligently into my vision and dream. I will have spiritual children everywhere!    

June 2: The Strategy of Containment

"Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites..." ( Exodus 1: 8-14)

A vision from God. A fervent believer. A growing company of God's people. A prospering saint. A kingdom- focused  business. The increase, multiplication and expansion of a church. All these are threats to the enemy. Whenever God's people begin to increase and prosper, fear strikes the kingdom of darkness. Satan and his cohorts get into panic mode. Motivated by this fear they begin to plot how to contain the increase of God's people. The devil hates momentum on the part of God's people. He hates a vibrant Christian, a growing and passionate church, a cutting-edge mission from God. He hates a prospering vision and an advancing and increasing army of God. His greatest fear is that God's people will arise and oppose his reign and rule in the world.

This was the same fear that struck Pharaoh in our text today. Israel, the people of God was experiencing God's increase. They were prospering and multiplying. They had momentum. Pharaoh was threatened, so he devised a strategy to break their momentum and stop their increase. It was a strategy of containment. 

Containment is the age-long strategy of the enemy against the people of God. Satan's reasoning is, "if we can't handle them, let's keep them limited or isolated. Let's devise ways to marginalize them from the mainstream. Let's limit them to their churches. No matter what it takes, they must not go beyond their current bounds"  We see this strategy worked out practically in various ways. We will examine them in the next few days.

One of the ways this is done is through oppression, difficulties and persecution. Pharaoh began to oppress Israel, putting heavy burdens on them, forcing them to labor. The intention was to break their spirits and stop their momentum by oppression. It however did not work. Israel's momentum increased. 

If you are a believer with a vision from God. Satan too will try his best to contain you. He is afraid of you growing and becoming a force against his kingdom. This might explain the temptations you have been facing lately or the discouragement that has been trying to to overwhelm you. This may be the reason why you are going through that financial pressure or the disappointments at work. Recognize satan's strategy. Don't become discouraged and lose your passion and commitment. Keep moving. Double up on whatever you are doing. Don't quit praying and advancing with your vision. Opposition is a sign that you are a threat to the enemy.  Hang on to God and the more pressure he puts on you, the greater your momentum becomes. The waters he throws  will become fuel for your fire. What Satan meant for evil will turn out for your good.

Decision of the Day

I understand that Satan wants to contain me. He wants to limit my growth and increase. He has devised strategies to do this, one of which is oppression. I will not be stopped by all his machinations. I will keep growing and multiplying despite the pressures. I will not be discouraged. I am breaking every bound and limitation the enemy is trying to erect. My  momentum Is maintained.