NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN

"For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. Mark 12:25"

Devotion : A question was posed by the Sadducees about a woman who married seven times because every husband she married died without giving her children. Finally the woman also died, and the question was, whose wife will she be after the resurrection? Jesus Christ, who knew what was prevailing in heaven, answered the Sadducees that in heaven there is no marriage. God, in His own wisdom, restricted marriage to the earth. This insightful knowledge will aid people to plan toward their marriage since they can only enjoy it here on Earth. Furthermore, the answer from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ silences all false doctrines in certain religions that beautiful women and men await them in paradise for marriage. Dear beloved, do you have a desire to marry? May your desire be fulfilled right here on Earth, amen. Share your comments here!

YOU ARE WONDERFULLY MADE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2020.

SUBJECT: YOU ARE WONDERFULLY MADE!

Memory verse: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 vs 10.) 

READ: Psalm 139 vs 13 - 16:

139:13: For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.

139:14: I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. 

139:15: My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, 

139:16: Your eyes saw my substance, being yet formed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

INTIMATION:

We were all made and shaped to serve God’s predetermined purposes. God endowed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, some crawl, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play, based on the way they are made and the shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us is uniquely designed, or "shaped," to do certain things. God deliberately shaped and formed you to serve Him in a way that makes your ministry unique. The psalmist, David, in Psalm 139, praised God for this incredible personal attention to detail. God never makes mistake, and consequently He is perfect in all His doings. Therefore, do not shortchange yourself.

Everything about you is fashioned by God at creation for His purpose. They are all known to Him and recorded in His books. Before God created you, He decided what role He wanted you to play on earth. He planned exactly how He wanted you to serve Him. And then He shaped you for those tasks. You are the way you are because you were made for a specific ministry. You are God's handcrafted work of art. You are not an assembly-line product, mass produced without thought. You are a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece. Therefore, don’t try to change your looks nor wish you are another person for God made and shaped you the way you are for His special predetermined purposes. 

The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 1 vs 11, says, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance; being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will." Not only did God shape you before your birth, He planned every day of your life to support His shaping process. David, the psalmist, further said, "And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Every day of our lives are recorded in God's book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. This means that nothing that happens in your life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold you for your ministry to others and shape you for your service to Him. 

God never waste anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless He intended to use them for His glory. By identifying and understanding these factors you can discover God's will for your life. The Bible says you are "fearfully and wonderfully made," and acknowledged "how marvelous are the works." You are a combination of many different factors, all put together for God's purposes. The Bible, in Romans 8 vs 28, says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” 

God works in "all things," not just in isolated incidents, for our good. It is noteworthy that not all incidents that are good, but God turns every circumstance around for your long-range good. We often cannot see the good that comes from immediate shape, trials, suffering, style God has bestowed on us. The good God brings is within our lifetime, and also, He views things from eternal perspective. The final good of God will come with the reward of eternal heaven. Though there is good that comes from God in our lifetime, there is the final good of glory that will come after the end of this world when the final calling of Christians out of this world will occur. The finality of things, therefore, will end for good for the Christian when he or she is called out of this world into eternal glory.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for I am wonderfully made, and perfect in Your site, and is Your opinion that matters. Engrace me to serve earnestly and effectively in the shape and style You made me according to Your predetermined purposes, in Jesus’ Name I prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

THE BANE OF SELF-PITY!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY JUNE 29, 2020.

SUBJECT: THE BANE OF SELF-PITY!

Memory verse: “Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” (Psalm 69 vs 20.)

READ: John 5 vs 2 - 8:

5:2: Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in the Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
5:3: In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
5:4: For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool, and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
5:5: Now a certain man was there, who had an infirmity thirty eight years.

5:6: When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

5:7: The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

5:8: Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

5:9: And immediately the man was made well, took up His bed, and walked.

INTIMATION:

When you are trapped in a problem so long, the tendency is that you lose your faith in the promises of God. Some people become so stagnant in the problem that they forget the promises of God. They become so weary that they are acclimated to their problems. Such people will then fall into the pit of feeling sorry for themselves. That is 'SELF-PITY.' It's dangerously bad! It is no place for a child of God. Self-pity conquers faith, because it leads to negative confessions when you accept your position or consequences facing you as your fate. It makes you look for man's approval rather than God's direction. 

Self-pity is a death that has no resurrection, a pit that has no bottom. Self-pity is a destroying trap, because it has a multiplying effect on your problem. Once you indulge in it, you will develop what I call the 'wilderness complex.' Have you always counted yourself as poor? Have you always regretted your life? Have you always counted yourself as unlucky or felt unfairly treated by God? That God has failed you? Have you always wished you were another person, in another relationship, in another place, and so on? All these are what I called the 'pity-pots.' 

There are two common responses to hopelessness: despair and self-indulgence. But we need not act as if we had no hope. Self-pity is so damaging and dangerous that you resort to depending on man rather than God. Your problem becomes a tool for seeking or begging for help from people. That is what I mean by 'making you seek man’s approval instead of God's direction.’ You live your life at the mercy of others. At any opportunity, you want people to know how bad it is with you, or your family, or your partner, and so on.

In the passage we read today, we saw a man who had an infinitely 38years, and had abandoned himself in that hospital (Sheep Gate pool), had no hopes of ever getting out of there healed. The man had fallen so deep into the trap of self-pity that his problem had become a way of life. No one had ever helped him, and he had no hope of ever being helped nor healed. The man’s situation looked hopeless, and he had lost faith completely. But no matter how trapped you feel in your infirmities or troubles, God can minister to your deepest needs. As we face difficulties, our proper response should be to trust God and His promises.

One would wonder how Jesus came to that hospital and was interested in only one patient while there are so many patients lying there. Jesus had seen how the man has been self-defeated and lying completely hopeless in his ‘pity-pot.’ He knew the very dangerous situation the man was in and couldn’t help himself nor get help from anybody. The man was so downcast that he lost faith even in God, and Jesus saw that clearly. However, He came to give hope to the hopeless hence His ministered healing to the man. 

Don’t let a problem or hardship cause you to lose hope. What that means is your obvious denial of the promise of Christ who said to us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11 vs 28). A person may be carrying heavy burdens of sin, oppression, persecution, affliction, hardship, or even weariness in the search for God (The list is not all inclusive—not limited to these mentioned areas), but Jesus frees people from all these burdens. The rest promised in Him is love, healing, freedom, and peace with God. God may even have special work for you to do in spite of your condition, or even because of it. 

When you face problems, and people scoff at you, mock, insult, humiliate, and make you an object of citywide gossip, never fall into self-pity. If your situation seems hopeless, determine that no matter how bad things become you will continue to pray. God will hear your prayer, and He will rescue you. When others reject us, we need God most. Don’t ever turn from your most faithful Friend.

When we are completely beaten down, we are tempted to turn from God, give up, and quit trusting Him. Faith in God is justified even when our situations look hopeless. Faith based on rewards or prosperity is hollow. To be unshakable, faith must be built on the confidence that God’s ultimate purpose will come to pass. Circumstances are never so bad that they are beyond God’s help. We need never despair because we belong to a loving God. We don’t yet know what good He may bring out of a seemingly hopeless situation (Romans 8 vs 28). 

Prayer: Abba Father, if life seems hopeless, You are the reason I still have breath in me,  if I have lost something, You are the reason I have not lost everything. You are the reason I live and move and have my being. I know the thoughts You have for me, thoughts of good and not of evil, to give me a future and a hope. In You I put my trust, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

NEVER BE BITTER WITH GOD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY JUNE 28, 2020.

SUBJECT: NEVER BE BITTER WITH GOD!

Memory verse: “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me." (Matthew 11 vs 6.)

READ: Job 9 vs 4; Isaiah 45 vs 9 - 10:

Job 9:4: God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him, and prospered?

Isaiah 45:9: Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ 

Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

45:10: Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’

INTIMATION:

Some people are harboring hidden anger and resentment at God for certain areas of their lives where they have felt cheated or disappointed. While so many others harbor resentment toward God over their appearance, background, unanswered prayers, past hurts, and other things they would change if we were God. Even some others often blame God for hurts caused by others, and consequently create "their hidden rift with God." These people usually ask God, "Why me." Why not you? Until we mature enough to understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, we would be entangled in such bitterness toward God at our own detriment. We need to confess those hidden anger and resentment. 

When we are Bitter with God, we create the greatest barrier to friendship with Him. They will say, “Why would I want to be God's friend if He allowed this thing in my life?” The remedy, of course, is to realize that God always acts in your best interest, even when it is painful and you don't understand it. But releasing your resentment and revealing your feeling is the first step to healing. The wise and right thing to do when you are in doubt or bearing any resentments, because of happenings around you, is turn to Him in all honesty, and not turn away from Him.

Everything that moves you to question the integrity of God, or His love for you must be destroyed, so that the altar of your heart can be prepared for the fire from heaven. While preparing your heart to approach God in prayer, one of the things you must guard against is offenses. So many have their conscience ensnared with offenses toward God or man, and all they do in prayer is nothing but complain, and murmur. When you are offended in God, you turn Him against yourself; and if God is against you, who will save you? If you despise Him, who will lift you?

When you are offended in God or man, you bear iniquities in your heart that inhibits God from hearing you (Psalm 66 vs 18). Many are stranded because of offenses. When they stand in prayer, they justify themselves against God. They say, "Lord, II have done best my attitude, and have done everything that You commanded. Only You haven't done your part." In other words, they count themselves faithful and God unfaithful. But the Bible says, "...Let God be true but every man a liar..." (Romans 3 vs 4.) Anything that makes you to murmur against God is moving you against your destiny. You can't expect Him to answer your prayers when your heart is full of complains and offenses toward God or man. 

In our memory verse, Jesus said that those who do not take any offense in the Lord are fortunate and blessed. Jesus said that when John the Baptist that sat in prison, and began to have some doubts about whether Jesus really was the Messiah. John thought in his heart that if his purpose was to prepare people for the coming Messiah, then why was he in prison when he could have been preaching to the crowds, preparing their hearts. John expected that the coming Messiah should be able to save him from prison. 

When John the Baptist’s disciples came and put his question before Jesus; "Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Jesus knew that he was already offended in Him. He asked the disciples to go back to him with the good news of His exploits—the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Obviously, that would have offended John the more because he already had heard all those evidence that indicated the real identity of Jesus, and wondered why He didn't want to save Him from prison. 

It is noteworthy that it was in the same prison and the same Jailer that held Paul and Silas. They were doing the work of the Messiah when they were arrested and jailed. But they didn't get offended both toward God or the men, but instead sang and praised God while in there, and God came in His Might and saved them. But forJohn, he was eventually beheaded when the King's daughter, on the advice of the mother, asked for his head in a platter.

Romans 8 vs 28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." So, set your heart right before Him. Count Him faithful in all things. Refuse to complain, but rather let God know that you have no alternative beside Him, and that you are ready to hang on till your answer comes from Him. Any attempt to step away from God, is stepping into doom for you. Certainly, there is no unrighteous with God! (Romans 9 vs 14.)

Let your conscience be as that of the apostle Paul who said, "This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men." (Acts 24 vs 16.) Give your destiny motion by clearing off every offense from your heart, to establish a thoroughfare to heaven in prayers. This is the way to maintain a good communication line with God.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are the Lord, the Creator of all things. All that happens are already known to You, and You allow them for Your purposes. Engrace me with a conscience free from offenses toward You and men, that I may pray through to heaven, and be worthy of Your blessings accordingly, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

PROBLEMS ARE PURPOSEFUL!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JUNE 26, 2020.

SUBJECT: PROBLEMS ARE PURPOSEFUL!

Memory verse: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials," (James 1 vs 2.)

READ: Genesis 45 vs 4 - 8; 50 vs 20:

45:4: And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

45:5: But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

45:6: For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

45:7: And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and save your lives by a great deliverance. 

45:8: So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

50:20: But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

INTIMATION:

A problem is a matter or challenge difficult to settle or solve; a source of perplexity; an adversity. Problem is a constant variable in life's equation. They have no boundaries, it can confront anybody. Problems are God's training ground. They sometimes are part of God's plan for believers, therefore, don't allow them to separate you from God's divine destiny for your life. Don't run away from your problems, face them squarely, accept God's promise of help, correct your attitudes, and act as you should. Problems come in different magnitudes, some minor, and some big, and they don't make any appointments before coming. They usually show up when you least expect them, and may stay in your life much longer than you want them to.

Problems can be testing our faith in God. Therefore, it is necessary for God's children to discover the principle for transforming the problems of their lives into the provisions of God. We all detest problems, but they are the reason for every improvement we make. They quicken our wits, and force us to think outside the box, and above all draw us closer to God. A problem is an opportunity to step into a new dimension of accomplishment, usually routed in observance of supernatural principles of God.

God customizes some of our problems so that we can fulfill the purpose for which we are created. They are stepping stones, and ordained platform en-route our divine destiny. God knows you and your potentials. The psalmist says in Psalm 139 vs 16, "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the day's fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." The cross you carry was tailor-made by the carpenter's Son.

A case-study of Joseph the son of Jacob, makes the concept very clear. He was a favorite son to his father, and envied by his brothers, a favorite servant in Potiphar's house, a favorite prisoner to the warden and other prisoners, a favorite interpreter of dreams, and a favorite lieutenant to King Pharaoh. And after many years, he became the favorite even to his ten brothers who were envious of him. He was pre-ordained by God to be the savior of his people, and He was with him in all his travails. So many problems were lined up en-route his destined purpose; he was betrayed and deserted by his brothers; he was exposed to sexual temptation; suffered false accusation, and punished for doing the right thing; he endured a long imprisonment and was forgotten by those he helped. 

Joseph didn't plan to be in the bottom of a pit after he recounted his God-given dream to his loved ones, but he was. He did not foresee his brothers selling him into slavery, but they did. God had destined him for great things, but people and problems got in the way, apparently fashioned to get him his promise and provision. Joseph was faithful in the problems. He maintained his character and integrity while enduring the problem. He was patient throughout the duration of the problem. He did not complain while facing ridicule, rejection, envy, and jealousy. He held to his dream in the midst of lies, false accusations, and prison. Through it all, God showed favor to Joseph until the provision came.

Joseph had the vision, and interpreted the purpose of his problem. He said, “God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.... But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 45 vs 47 - 48 & 50 vs 20.)

Even though Joseph spent years in the problem, he never stopped listening to the voice of God. He remained faithful to God, and God remained faithful to him, leading him to the divine purpose for which he was created. Are you in the middle of a severe problem? Have you gone through your spiritual checklist to make sure that you are not the cause of the problem? Do you find it difficult to find the purpose of the predicament you are in? Look for the promise in God's Word. Hold to that promise. It is given to you by your Father in heaven, who is faithful to fulfill it. All of the provisions God offers in the pantry of heaven are available to the child of God who faithfully stands on His promises.

When God is at work, suffering, setbacks, and hardship may still occur. We are encouraged to face the problems or difficulties with happiness when they do come. Problems have a way of developing patience and character by teaching us to trust God to do what is best for us. Always look for ways to honor God in you present situation of problems, remembering that God will not abandon you. Also carefully watch out for His predetermined plan for you. His promise and provision awaits those who tarry to the end. Remember this always, "Blessed is the man that endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those  who love Him" (James 1 vs 12).

Prayer: Abba Father, my trust is in You, even though my fruit trees fail to produce, though my labor be in vain and my fields shall yield no food; though my flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, my personal bravery and my invincible army; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places in troubles, suffering, or responsibility, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

GOD'S AWESOMENESS TO US

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Corinthians 2:9"

Devotion : The Apostle Paul had worked with God for several years and had come to appreciate that God reserves certain things to His own prerogative. An example is that God tells you He will reward you but does not tell you the exact time when He will give you the reward. When you lose heart and do not press on with your walk with Him, you lose the reward. Apostle Paul was encouraging the church in Corinth not to give up on God for He has prepared something special for them which no eye, ear, or heart of man can apprehend. Apostle Paul quoted from Isaiah 64:4, and since the Word of God cannot be broken, that scripture is still relevant today. Dear beloved, do you feel like giving up on God? Be encouraged with this scripture, and keep pressing on. Praise the Lord! Share your thoughts here!

BE YE STEADFAST AND UNMOVABLE ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN. THE WORK OF THE LORD

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Corinthians 15:58"

Devotion : The Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of God, has given the believer another key to live a victorious Christian life. The key is to always abound in the work of the Lord. He admits that as a Christian, the race is not always rosy, hence we must be steadfast and unmovable. The enemy would always attack the children of God who are doing the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. His motive is to make you think your labor for the Lord is in vain so that you give up the Lord's work. The only key to nullify his attack is to be devoted and immovable and to enjoy the work of the Lord, knowing that surely your reward will come. Dear beloved, do you feel like giving up on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Don't give up but apply the key in the article, and you will definitely share your testimony. Share your thoughts here!