BE POSITIVE
Luke 1:39-56

As a child of the Most High God, allow positive thinking to take over your mind set. Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.”  As a high priest, the work of Zacharias was committed to God. However, when it was time to have his thoughts established, he could not get it right. Having been barren for long, the angel visited him while he was standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (Luke 1:11) The angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13)  Zacharias could not receive his prophecy and questioned the angel when he responded, “And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.’”(Luke 1:18) Zacharias’ thought was not in line with his prayer request at the time of his visitation. Zacharias’ response prompted the angel’s statement, “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (Luke 1:20) Having positive thoughts can make a whole lot of a difference in how the journey on earth is propagated. As a child of God whose work is committed unto God, it is important not to think and see our request as being there when it is yet there to be seen. Just as Zacharias was visited, so Mary received her visitation when the angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.” (Luke 1:31-32) Mary did not dispute the message, but asked an appropriate question of how that could be. As a virgin, it could be considered as an appropriate question; unlike Priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who served God in the highest ground and yet could not place God in a higher area of trust in his thinking. Zacharias was mute through the pregnancy of John the Baptist. Have you been placed on a higher ground of service in the Lord? If yes, much is expected of you and any less can bring forth painful consequence. Mary did not dispute, but rather received the message of the angel stating, “…’behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”(Luke 1:38) Mary heard the message and she received it by seeing when it was not yet there.

Prayer for the day: Open the eyes of my heart Lord and cause me to constantly receive Your message.

REPENT AND BE RESTORED
Luke 15:11-31

A parable is an everyday truth that has spiritual application. It is an earthly truth with a heavenly meaning. Jesus spoke many times using parables. Among His many parables is the parable of the lost son. This parable clearly connotes the mind of God concerning repentance and restoration of man from sin. Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.” (Luke 15:11-14) Jesus’ coming is like our portion of good from God. The younger had his portion of good and went far from his father. We cannot afford to have Jesus and go far from the presence of God in this wicked world. Going far is choosing our way which will always be a way of death. Going far from Him will lead to a debased extravagant life and it is a wasted life. A waste life will always provoke a life of want and relegation from what God wants for us to be. Going far from Him will expose us to every trouble in the land; such as famine. Are you consciously living within the presence of God? Have you gone far from Him like the prodigal son? “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,  and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’” (Luke 15:17-19) It is time to come back to yourself just like the prodigal son. The prodigal son arose and came to his father. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’”(Luke 15:20-21)Repentance from the heart will bring forth restoration. He repented and his father gave him full restoration. God is a merciful God waiting for us to repent and wait on Him. Despite all, the father received his son back. “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.’” (Luke 15:31)All that He has for us is Jesus. Accept Him and have life. 

Prayer for today: Take my days and moments and let them be concentrated unto You.

LIFT UP EYES TO HIM
Exodus 14

At every confronting challenge that is beyond our understanding or capacity, dealing with such challenge, requires help. How and where we seek help will define how we come out of any of our challenges. As a child of the Most High God our help is always there when we choose to take it up to Him. The psalmist testifies, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:1-4) The psalmist must have been in a position or situation that called for help when he made his choice to look up to the hills for help. God is above all the hills and He is the loving Father who will not neglect any of His creation that takes time to call on Him. He does not sleep nor slumber; God was awake before the creation and He will be awake forever. Who do you look up to during your confronting challenges? The children of Israel were encountered with grave challenge when Pharaoh, his chariots, his horse men and his army overtook them as they were camping at the sea side. Under every challenge, fear will show just as it did for the children of Israel. However, it was in the capacity of the children of Israel to know how to respond. Exodus 14:10-12“And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.’” The children of Israel saw wrongly when they lifted their eyes onto their grave challenge when they rather should have lifted up their eyes onto the Lord who had never failed them. In lifting their eyes to the challenge, they saw death and their thought was negative. By their negative seeing, they also confessed negatively. When you wrongly behold, negativity will hold you down and fear will ride over you. Lift your eyes to God! His testimonies are sure to make the wise simple. It is wisdom and simple deliverance when we look up to Him. Behold God and hold on in faith.

Prayer for today: Lord I thank You because You have always been on my side. Take all the glory.

LET ME NOT DEPART FROM YOU LORD
Proverbs 9

Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” Indeed, the identity of an evil one is to have no fear of God. How much of His fear do you carry in your life? The fear of God is way of life. “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge.” (Proverb 14:26) Confidence: to have a full trust; belief in the power of God or reliability on what God can do. Confidence is rooted in how we fear God. God is indeed a refuge; a strong and might tower for the ones who believe in Him. To fear God is to believe in God and to fear God is to serve Him. Search your heart and identify if the fear of God is actually in you. “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” (Proverb 14:27) Evidently, not having the fear of the Lord is to be a living dead. How can a creature not fear His Creator? How often have you been in a creative position, but not having the needed patience, destroyed your creation to re-create because it did not come out the way you intended for it to come out? God is a good and exceedingly patient God who put everything in place for us not to die, but rather to have life in Jesus Christ. It is good to actually consider the way that leads to life. Proverbs 19:23, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” There are different ways of living life but the way of God is to abide in satisfaction where lack is strange and the evil one is constantly being denied. Jesus Christ made us to realize that He is the only way to life when He stated in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The only way is Jesus because inhabited in Him and to the ones that accept Him is the good way, truth and life. By this virtue, it can be concluded that it is wisdom to fear God and it is not enough to celebrate Him when there is no fear of Him. Proverbs 9: 10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Only conscious foolish ones and unconscious foolish ones will want to leave life while living outside of the fear of God.
Prayer for today: Do not turn away from doing me good O Lord. I ask that You plant Your fear in my life so that I will not depart from You.

NO COMPLAIN 
Psalm 119:1-48

It is written, “We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” (Psalm 75:1) Testimonies of God are everywhere and the works of His hands are His testimonies. Looking around is evidently enough to be giving Him thanks and adoration. It is not the time of the year for rendering complain unto the name of God. Also, there is no time in time to be rendering unto Him complain. Acts of complaining are acts of self-destruction, and termination. Can you make sure that nothing is testifying against you before God? The children of Israel, due to their incessant complaining against what God was doing in their life, God responded in Numbers 14:22-23, “Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,  they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” God promised to take them to the Promised Land. He showed them great and mighty signs in Egypt, and on their way out of Egypt. The signs and wonders of God are His testimonies. “The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:8) His testimonies are more than enough to transport believers to the Promised Land. Are you constantly meditating on His testimonies? The Psalmist knew what he was doing by virtue of his confessions in Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Psalm 119:14, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, As much as in all riches, Psalm 119:24, “Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors, Psalm 119:46, I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. The testimonies of God are all the things that He has done, and the things that He is doing, and the ones He will do. His testimonies are worthy of mediation. What are the testimonies that you are carrying? What are the testimonies of your heart? The testimonies of God provoke faith. Hebrew 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Let today be your day of meditating on the testimonies of God. How can we explain it? A journey of 11 days went for 40 years. Fear God and you will not fail.

Prayer for today: Return, O Lord my God, deliver me! Save me Lord for your mercies’ sake!