THE EYE OF GOD
Ezra 5

Enemy can delay, but will never be able to deny the move of God in our life. When the children of Israel began to face stiff opposition at all levels, their rebuilding project of the temple ceased. However, it did not take forever before construction resumed. The attempt of their adversaries to terminate the effort to rebuild could not prevail forever, but only delayed for a period of time. The children of Israel could not be denied because their God was over them. Indeed and in truth, He that is above is above all and none of His will can be terminated. The Word of God testified the reason why the children of Israel could not be interrupted, “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius…” (Ezra 5:5) When the eye of God is upon you, then you become unstoppable to any force under heaven. Can you tell if the eye of God is upon you? Are you taking a conscious step that calls for God’s eye to be upon you? Gaining understanding of what it takes to have God’s eye upon you would be a help. It is written in the Book of Psalm, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:18-19) God does nothing by accident because He is a perfect God. It is clear that provoking His eye to be upon us is directly rooted in fearing Him. To fear God is to love Him; to love God is to serve Him. How much of His fear do you have in you? We do not fear God by mouth, but by the way we live in the Word of His mouth. Fearing God will not happen by determination, but by the Spirit of God. Determination failed Peter after promising not to deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Peter eventually went ahead to deny Jesus three times. The Word of God states, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40) God is the one who will put His fear in our heart. Do you desire His fear? Ask for it and He will deposit His fear in your life. With the fear God in your life, His eye will always be upon you.

Prayer for today: Lord I ask for Your fear to reign and rule my life.

ADVERSARIES
Ezra 4

The Word of God commands us, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Every Word of God is to be approached with seriousness. None of His Word is more serious than another, but all is to be approached with the same level of seriousness. Violating His Word of command will undoubtedly violate our world. The children of Israel while in captivity were to go back and rebuild the temple when the Lord stirred the heart of Cyrus King of Persia. The Bible records that, “when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’” (Ezra 4:1-3) Let it be known that the adversaries did not present themselves as adversaries; it was their intention to later on be revealed as adversaries. Those adversaries wanted to join with the children of Israel in helping to build not because they loved them, but rather to tear down their attempt to build. After having been denied joining in helping to build, they began to discourage the children of Israel. It is recorded that, “…they troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5) The people of the land (the adversaries) had no good plan in their attempt to join with the children of Israel that were coming out of captivity. The point here is that if the children of Israel had agreed and became unequally yoked together with them, the building would not have been completed. In every attempt of your build up for the glory of God, your adversaries will pretend and persist, but you will respond and resist just like the children of Israel. Some adversaries persist for long, but we are to resist as long as it demands. As a believer, in your building process pay attention and be not unequally yoke just as the Word of God commands. Imagine the children of Israel coming out of captivity and ending up in an unequal yoke? Are you experiencing any agent of adversaries in your building process? Pay close attention in your building process; adversaries will pretend and persist. Be encouraged in the Word of God, resist and you shall prevail at the end.

Prayer for today: Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me.

FOREVER HE IS GOD
1 Samuel 3

God is the God who returns. He is the God that remembers and also the God that visits. King David stated, “Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for your mercies’ sake!” (Psalm 6:4) Meditating on these words of David will lead to different questions with answers in the Word of God. One question to ponder on is the request of David, “Return O Lord”. Could it have been a cry at a time when God had departed from him? It is clear that when God departs all that is of God and from God ceases to manifest itself. It is a dangerous ground to be where revelation from God desists. At a point in time in Shiloh when Eli was the priest, we are made to understand that, “…the word of Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” (1 Samuel 3:1) God’s communication is His revelation and where there is no revelation, transformation ceases. The journey of life without transformation will lead to termination. David’s asking for the Lord to return for him to be delivered is evidence to the testimony that without revelation every struggle of life reigns. It is only the one who has the understanding for the need of God’s revelation which will always not want for His revelation to cease. How is your revelation experience? Just like David said, revelation from God will bring forth deliverance and salvation will reign. The situation of no revelation in Shiloh called for the return of God. The Lord’s return is His appearance and it took the coming to life of Samuel for revelation to come back to Shiloh. 1 Samuel 3:21, “Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.”God, who appeared again in Shiloh, will also appear again (return) to visit you if you have lost contact with Him or if you have limited His appearance. He is the same yesterday and today. Evidently, where His Word becomes rare, widespread revelation will cease. Psalm 106:4, “Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.” What are you looking up to Him for? Is it for Him to return, to remember or to visit? He is a faithful God! Call on Him and state your request to Him. The Psalmist wanted Him to remember and to visit him because when God remembers or visits, you will be enabled to see the benefit of His chosen ones. You will be able to rejoice in the gladness of His nation and will be able to glory with His inheritance. (Psalm 106:5) God is forever consistent. He is God that returns to reveal. He is the God that remembers to favor and God that visits with salvation.

Prayer for today: Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

KORAH AND COMPANY
Numbers 16

Those who are called unto God, which are separated unto Him are not for you to disparage or demean in any form or approach. When God places His call on His children by separating them for His assignment, they are regarded as anointed. God takes His Word serious and His word will not fail. Psalm 105: 15 testifies to the Word of God, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” God meant what He said and He will do what is right. Have you been part of a disparaging group that takes a stand against whom the Lord has placed upon their life? The Bible talked about how Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben led a rebellious act against Moses the anointed of God. Numbers 16:2-3, “…they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?’” In any form or approach, avoid being a part of group like that of Korah and his company. Such company is a rebellious company and they are partners positioned for self destruction. God is serious about His word then, now and forever. In the case of Moses, he did not fight back for himself and there is no need for any anointed to fight back; rather let the Lord fight the fight. Moses took his case up to God. Certainly, without any doubt at every confrontation, allowing God to fight on our behalf will bring a total victory and a permanent termination against agents of the wicked. However, fighting our battle cannot bring forth the same result like when He fights for us. In the case of Moses, the Bible records, “So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.” (Numbers 16:4-5)  Have you been chosen by God? It is time to let the Lord do the battle on your behalf. Are you one of the disparaging groups? It is time you stay away from operating with such group. To Korah and his company, they all went down alive into the pit. The earth closed over them and they perished from among the assembly.

Prayer for today: Deliver me O Lord from taking a part in any conscious and unconscious rebellious act.

EXPOSING FEAR
Genesis 13

At anytime a mentally, maladjusted man knows and understands the state of his condition, such a man is bound and set to come out of his situation. When there is understanding, knowledge, which is the application of wisdom, will be found. Understanding and knowing that fear is the only weapon that the devil relies on calls for a need to actually want to understand and know how to put it into subjection by the grace of God. First of all, fear can be defined as: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, pain, and all sort of confronting challenges. In the case of fear, whether the threat is real or imagined, the feeling or condition of being afraid often takes over. The devil has been very successful in this department ever since. He knows to always choose the opposite of God to fight the children of God. He knows quite well that the opposite of fear is faith. The devil knows that every where faith is steadfast and well grounded is a no-go area for him. By this virtue, it is important for us to now turn to the source of faith and begin to make it our day and night dwelling place. When the source of faith becomes our dwelling place, fear will not have a place in us. So where does faith come from? The Bible states, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) To just hear the Word is not adequate. Walking out of Sunday service and waiting until the following Sunday service is like hearing but not hearing and hearing. Hearing and hearing is taking the extra mile by studying and finding multiple ways of listening. Evidently, fear is an evidence of not hearing and hearing adequately enough. The Word of God is God. At every time man is able to hear from God, doubt cannot have its place because no man can clearly hear from God and doubt Him. When God speaks, He wants us to see what He says with the eyes of our heart. God promised Abraham when there was nothing on the ground. “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’” (Genesis 13:14-15)  God’s command is His Word. He gave it to Abraham to lift his eyes to see and Abraham heard God because he saw the Word of God as being there when it was not actually there yet. Seeing the Word that he heard from God made it impossible for him to doubt and he could not yield to fear. By the grace of God, put the devil where it belongs. Meditate daily on the Word both day and night.

Prayer for today: Teach me Your way O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.