Topic: Blessed Are They That Mourn [Friday June 12, 2015]
Memorise: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. - 2 Corinthians 7:10
Read: Matthew 5:4 (KJV)
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Bible in One Year: 1 Kings 20:26-21:29; Luke 6:46-7:17
MESSAGE:
The word of God is full of mysteries. Our Bible reading today reveals one of such mysteries. How can mourning, which is an expression of deep sorrow, become a blessing? The answer lies in our memory verse which reveals two types of sorrow: godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world. There are lots of blessings associated with godly sorrow. One of these is that it produces repentance which brings about salvation. Godly sorrow can be experienced as a result of conviction of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:24-25) or through the Father’s chastening. The godly sorrow that results from the Father's chastening, blesses its recipient with the fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 says;
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
There are examples in the Bible of those who mourned for their sins, and for this, received pardon and justification. The city of Nineveh is an example of this (Jonah 3). After Jonah preached the message of doom to the inhabitants of Nineveh, the Bible reports that the king of that city abandoned his throne, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. He then commanded that everybody, including animals, should embark on a fast. The result of their mourning is evidence in Jonah 3:10:
“And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
The publican in the parable of Jesus in Luke 18:9-14 is another example. This man mourned by bowing his head down like a bulrush, beating on his breast and asking for God’s mercy. The result of his mourning can be seen in Luke 18:14a:
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:”
I prophesy to you that in the Name of Jesus Christ, your days of mourning are over. It shall be well with you because the Bible in Psalm 30:5 says:
“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Prayer point: Father, I confess my sins to You; have mercy on me and let my morning of joy come now
ABUJA
— As part of the strategy to fight the Boko Haram insurgency, President
Muhammadu Buhari will today host a meeting of Heads of State and
Presidents of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Abuja.
In a bid to perfect Nigerian position for today’s meeting, President Buhari yesterday held a closed door meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh and the Chief of Naval Staff, Usman Jubrin, at Defence House.
The Niger State Government has asked former Governor Babangida Aliyu to refund N2.9bn, which the state government alleged was embezzled.
Former Niger State Gov. Babangida Aliyu
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Dr. Ibrahim Dooba, indicated that the money was taken as loan on the eve of Aliyu’s departure.
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Thursday, 11 June 2015
Topic: Producing Children of God [Thursday June 11, 2015]
Memorise: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. - Romans 10:17
Read: 1 John 3:1-3 (KJV)
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Bibles in One Year: 1 Kings 18:41-20:25; Luke 6:24-45
MESSAGE:
Children of God are produced by the power in the Word of God. The reason why it seems genuine children of God are scarce nowadays despite the increase in the number of churches and increase in church attendance is because the Church is suffering from a famine of the genuine Word of God. It is by faith that we become genuine children of God. However, this faith does not come by the wisdom of man; neither does it come by the philosophical sayings of the learned or the motivational words of orators. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 says.
“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
The world, especially devotees of certain religious, still wonder up till now how it is possible for a human being to claim that he or she is a child of God. Such people look at divine paternity with the mind of the flesh, and so they cannot understand or accept the mystery of adoption which empowers us to become sons of God through Christ Jesus. Even to us who have been conferred this prestigious status of being children of God, it is still a mystery. John the beloved expressed this mystery with awe in 1 John 3:1:
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
The Word of God came to Mary and produced the Son of God, when she had not known any man (Luke 1:30-35). This is a template for us. The mystery of divine adoption lies in the Word of God. For us to produce children of God from children of disobedience, we need to expose them to the undiluted Word of God that will produce the required faith for their adoption. Romans 10:17 says;
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
We should therefore follow the pattern of the early apostles, who produced children of God through the Word of God. We see this manifested in Acts 4:4
“Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”
Key Point: There is power in numbers. For the kingdom of God to be firmly established on earth, there must be a tremendous increase in the number of God’s children
Some streets in Lagos state today turned into swimming pool after hours of non stop downpour.
A 23-year-old Lebanese national, Yve Awad, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine to Lebanon.
The suspect, who was arrested during outbound screening of passengers on Middle East Airline flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was caught with 260 grammes of cocaine.
A former National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has said that the political career of the National Leader, All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is over.
