FOUR DAYS LATE
John 11:1- 44

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”(John 11:25-26) Jesus’ statement is a known truth and not just a truth to only know about. Whatever truth you know is the one you have received. What you receive is what you will believe. What you believe will determine what you become. Jesus made the above statement when he found out that Lazarus was dead and had been in the tomb for four days. Martha approached Jesus trying to remind Jesus that the power of resurrection is limited to only the last day when she said, “…I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”(John 11:24) It does not matter when and what has been pronounced dead in your life because resurrection is not limited to the last day. Jesus paid it all on the Cross of Calvary! All that Jesus asks for is to believe what He has come to offer us. After Martha had listened to hear what Jesus had to say, she received, believed and acted on the Word and the Bible says, “…she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, ’The Teacher has come and is calling for you.’ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.” (John 11:28-29) Today Jesus is still in the business of resurrecting what the enemy has interrupted with death. Jesus is still in the business of reversing all that the enemy turned to be irreversible in your life. Jesus will uproot and terminate all that the enemy has planted to terminate and destroy your life. Jesus said that He is the resurrection and life because resurrection and life is a combination of the purpose of His agenda. Without His resurrection, there would have been no life. Also, the life He came to give is life with abundance. Jesus approached the tomb and commanded the stone to be taken away not because He could not have commanded the stone to roll, but He wanted them to do their part which was to believe. Right after giving the command, “Jesus said to her, ’Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying…” (John 11:40-41) Do you have any stumbling stone that is denying your resurrection? If you will raise your faith, you will resurrect from the grip of the wicked. Faith is the cause: works are the effect. Work the Word by believing and you will come forth like Lazarus did when Mary and Martha worked the Word.

Prayer for today: Deliver me in Your righteousness and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me and save me in Jesus name.

ARE YOU HIS PEOPLE?
Exodus 8

When it was time for God to bring the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years, His acts of protecting His people were profoundly glaring. In the whole land of Egypt, Goshen, the place where His people were inhabited, was protected from ever destruction of plague. Exodus 3:22-24, “And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be. And the Lord did so…” God alone is God and He will do what He says He will do. All through the time of plague, His people did not suffer because He made a difference between them and Egyptians just like He promised. The same God then is still the same God today and He is still making difference between His people and the people of hard heart. You need to sincerely ask yourself if you are one of His people. Are you His people? That been said, you might be interested to know if your church going or your knowledge about the Bible is enough to qualify you as one of His people. Who are His people? Psalm 149:4, “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Evidently, taking pleasure in His people is separating them from eminent danger or destruction like He did for the children of Israel during the plagues that forced Pharaoh to let them go and serve. Psalm 147:11, “For the LORD takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy...” Without any iota of doubt, His people who He separates are His people and they are the ones He takes pleasure in. Clearly, the psalmist has now made us realize that the ones who God takes pleasure in are the ones who fear Him; they are the ones who are qualified as His people. Do you have the fear of God? Having the fear of God is not attainable through determination because determination will fail. It failed Peter when he denied Jesus three times. (Matthew 26:69-75) Do you desire to fear God? When you desire to fear God, He will deposit it in you. He is a good God and will not force Himself on us. God promised in Jeremiah 32:40, “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.” God wants to make a difference between us and the ones who are not for Him.

Prayer for today: Lord, deposit Your fear in me and let me not depart from You. Let Your fear overtake my life. 

LORD HAS THE FINAL SAY
Exodus 1, 2

Whatever the enemy has put in place to break you, God is not limited from using it to make you. The Bible records that a new king came to power in Egypt who did not know Joseph. The king not knowing Joseph inculcated inside of him the fear of the growth of the children of Israel’s population. As a result of fear, he devised and passed a law that put the children of Israel under the affliction of taskmasters. What God builds, no man can put it down. Pharaoh’s effort to terminate the growth of the children of Israel by increasing their affliction resulted in their multiplication. The appointed taskmasters’ effort failed and the direction to midwives to kill every male son did not reduce nor deny what God had in plan for the children of Israel. Indeed, God is true to preserve and deliver His own. Are you one of God’s own? How you live the life that He has given you is a determinant to your preservation and deliverance. Pharaoh, having tried what he knew to reduce where God is increasing made a new command, “So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.’” (Exodus 1:22) It was after this new command to terminate the growth of the children of Israel that Moses was born. Despite the wicked agenda of Pharaoh, the birth of Moses was not accidental and it was in due season. Instead of Moses being turned in to the law for execution through drowning in the river as commanded by Pharaoh, his parents chose the same river as his deliverance route. At a certain time after he was born, “…when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.” (Exodus 2:3) It was in the same water that Moses was picked up by the daughter of the chief commander Pharaoh. Evidently, it was God at work that delivered and preserved Moses for his divine assignment. The command to die in the river could not touch Moses in the river. Pharaoh did not only fail to kill Moses but rather passed to raise him up and make him ready for God’s glory. Moses, who was to be dead by water, was saved through the water and the one that passed the law also named him saying, “Because I drawn him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:10) All that the enemy has set to use in breaking you will rather make you. Every hand that has gone out to destroy you will rather deliver you for the glory of God. God alone will always have the final say.

Prayer for today: In every area of my life Father, cause Your will to have its way in my life.

UNCHANGING CHANGER
Exodus 9

A knowing about a truth and not being known to be living in such truth or not having the evidence of such truth is an empty knowledge. Unarguably, a knowing and constant meditation on the truth that the same God yesterday is the same God today will make the difference in the life of every believer. It will always energize the journey of faith everyday in the life of a believer. That being said, among the most interesting characteristic of God that should always be a resounding guide is the fact that God will always use foolish things to put to shame the wise. It is a very interesting character trait that calls for a sincere humility in the walk of life. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.” This is exactly the operation of the same God yesterday, today and tomorrow. God has not changed and He will not change. There is nothing like one getting humbled to the ground where pride, arrogance and pomposity had become one’s identity. As a believer, whatever power is in your possession and no matter what you have become today, let the fear and the operation of His hand never elude your thought on a regular basis. Pharaoh was exposed to multiple signs and wonders that were enough for him to lower his pride, but he failed. God indeed hardened his heart, but it is also for our learning to understand that when a call for change constantly knocks on the door of our heart, we should not be foolish to not answer. Can you imagine what scattering handfuls of ashes from a furnace towards heaven would mean to a powerful king like Pharaoh? Surely it must have been a joke. God’s operation was not a joke when He said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 9:8-9) Great is our God and He is greatly to be feared. God is beautiful for situations. God alone is the Unchanging Changer. Our God is the same God yesterday, today and tomorrow. God is worthy to be feared.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, let not the foot of pride come against me and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

UNIQUE ENCOUNTER
Exodus 3: 1-10

It is the uniqueness of how God turns your attention unto Him that will determine the kind of passage that will lead you into the center of your divine assignment. When God was set to turn Moses’ life around from inside out, it was without any prior notice. Moses, having fled for the murder he committed in Egypt, ended up with the priest of Midian. While in Midian, he led his father-in-law’s flock to the back of the desert. When Moses got to Horeb, the mountain of God, “…the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush: So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’” (Exodus 3:2-3) The burning fire that did not burn the bush caused Moses to look and behold. Having been able to look and behold, Moses then decided to turn aside to the extraordinary sight. Many have been privileged to get to the ground, look and behold but have remained as on-lookers. It is not enough to look and behold without turning aside to give God the attention that is required to get the calling to the center of divine assignment. The Bible testifies that after Moses had turned aside, God decided to turn on to him. “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) God is not a slave master but rather is the saving Master. God, the Almighty Creator, will not force any of His creation but will wait to see and use anyone who is available for His assignment. Although Moses attempted to run from the assignment, he could not hide. Moses answered God’s calling that set him up into an experience of unique journey to the center of his divine assignment. The same God who was yesterday, is today and will be tomorrow is still in the business of leading people to a ground of making the choice to look and behold before turning aside unto Him. Are you on the ground of receiving your call or not? God’s calling to the center of divine assignment is a calling to attainment. Do not let the privilege of your calling to your center of divine assignment pass by without you turning aside unto God.    

Prayer for today: O Lord my God when I am set for the center of divine assignment that you have for me, cause me not to miss out in Jesus name.