COMPLAINING IS COMPLICATING
Numbers 14

A journey that was supposed to last eleven days, turned out to last for forty years. Not forty hours or forty days, not forty weeks or forty months, but forty years. The children of Israel were to travel through the wilderness to their Promised Land for eleven days, but the journey lasted for forty years. Are you experiencing a wilderness or an in the valley situation? At times it is good to experience a wilderness journey, but not to stay in the wilderness for a prolonged period of time. The generation that came out of Egypt did not only live in the wilderness, they roamed and wandered about in the wilderness. Also, they did not get to see or enter into the Promised Land. It was because of their complaining against God that kept them in the wilderness. Acts of complaining are acts of self-destruction. Are you complaining about your situation? As a result of the children of Israel’s constant complaining against God, the Lord punished them for complaining against Him. 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. 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 saying 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, Psalm119: 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 worthy of meditation. 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 and complaining will take no place in your situation.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace that will cause you not to complain in times of challenging situations. 

BECOME HIS SHOWCASE
Luke 17:11-19

While Jesus was on earth, every journey He took had a specific purpose and assignment. Not one of his journeys was considered as a mistake or as an unintentional route. Jesus always knew what to do, and what would take place before it happened. “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.” (Luke 17:11). Going through Samaria was not an ideal route for a Jew. The Samaritans were a despised people. They were descendants of the Jews who were married to the Gentiles and that caused deep hostility between the Jews and Samaritans. For hundreds of years, Jews had been enemies of the Samaritans. It was this same Samaria that Jesus chose to pass through. Jesus knew why He chose to go through Samaria and what would happen when he passed through before He encountered the ten lepers. The lepers who were a despised and outcast group heard that Jesus was passing by. When they saw Jesus “they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ ” (Luke 17:13) Are you a believer in the name of Jesus? What is preventing you from lifting up your voice and calling on the name of Jesus just like the lepers did? Jesus wanted to teach us that He came to earth for all of us regardless of the nature of our sin. To Jesus, our race, gender, class was not an issue. He came to reach us despite our shortcomings. He also wanted us to know that He came to set the captives free and that His mercy endureth forever. When He saw them after they were healed, Jesus instructed the ten lepers to “…Go, show yourselves to the priests…” (Luke 17:14) Without any hesitation or doubt, the ten lepers hurried off in amazement and showed themselves to the priests. . They became Jesus’ showcase. Mockery ceased and miracle took is reign. Their leprosy was healed. They went from being an outcast group to being accepted back into their society. What is preventing you from lifting your voice and calling on the name of Jesus for His mercy today? Do you see yourself from a distance? There is no distance for the Spirit of God. Give your condition over to Him, lift up your voice and cry out to Him and He will command you to be His showcase for the glory of God.     

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from all that represents mockery in your life. Ask Him to fulfill that need as He passes by you today and He will grant your request and cause you to be His showcase for the glory of God.

JUDGE NOT
2 King 5

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2)Since man can only see the outside appearance and not the heart, it is often easier for man to judge each other. Every time we consider man as right or wrong in our own eyes we take a position of passing judgment. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2) Jesus commanded against judging others when we do not know their heart. God alone sees and knows our hearts and He alone is the righteous judge forever. The story of Naaman stated, “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.”(2 Kings 5:1) The leper, Naaman was a commander of the army and was considered a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master. How was he considered in the eyes of God his maker? Man can be considered as great and humble in the eyes of the ones that are around him. However, what matters most is how he stands in the eyes of God; and not in the eyes of his pastor or bishop. Naaman who was considered great and honorable in the eyes of his master was actually dying of leprosy on the outside and leprosy of the inside which is pride. Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” The pride in Naaman was exposed when he showed his anger against the prophet Elisha. Elisha sent him to wash in the Jordan river, “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.”” Rage and anger are evidence of pride (leprosy on the inside). Naaman’s pride could have caused him to die as a leper. He was judged and considered as a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master but in the end, it’s how we are measured or judged in the eyes of God that counts., 

Prayer for today: I ask O Lord that you deliver me from every representative of leprosy and let pride not have a place in my life.

JUST A REMINDER
Genesis 1

The Name of God and the Word of God is all that shall not fail whenever there is need for deliverance and a need to destroy the forces of the wicked. It is written in Psalm 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” The Word of God is a weapon as described in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” It is a weapon that is not visible but exceedingly powerful beyond any man’s imagination. The Word of God can also be used as a creative or a destructive weapon. At the time of creation, it was the power of the spoken word that God used to create the world. In Genesis 1:9, God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.”’ The Word of God is powerful and it cannot go back to Him null and void. In the same way that the Word is powerful, so is the name of God. The children of Israel, after being in bondage for over 400 years, when it came time for their deliverance it was the name of God that Moses needed to call on. “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations’ ” (Genesis 3:14-15) God gave power to Moses and the power was in His name. Jesus our Lord and Savior, His name is powerful and above all other names. It was testified of him in Philippians 2: 9-10, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.” It is never too much to hear and read the Word because it has power to deliver. Encounter your healing and deliverance from destruction in the living Word of God.

Prayer for today: Lord, I ask in the mighty name of Jesus for Your word to have its rightful place in my life.

KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD
Jeremiah 29

What you do not know will not work for you. Also, whatever it is that fail to work for you can work against you. How can a man with a loaded gun in his pocket run away from a man with an ordinary table-knife? Often time acclaimed believers operate as the one who lacks knowledge. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Clearly, the people of God are the ones being referred to as those that are destroyed or the perishable bunch, because they lack of knowledge. Do you lack knowledge? Knowledge is not scarce but, man has made himself scarce from finding knowledge. Knowledge is available for anyone who cares to find it. Essentially, the lack of knowledge is evidence of the absence of the fear of God. Proverbs 2:5, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Seek the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God and the fear of the Lord will not elude you. Based upon all the evil and wickedness that takes place in our world today, we can clearly see that people no longer have the fear of God dwelling on the inside of them. It is a testimony to the fact that knowledge is not common and it is hardly implemented in every area of life where the fear of God is missing. Do you handle the pressing challenges of your life with knowledge? God testified that He knows His goodness towards us when He spoke, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) The Apostle Paul, because of his understanding of what God said in Jeremiah 29:11, he took his stand and claimed it in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Regardless of how difficult and challenging the situation is, what you know about God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11 and other verses in the Bible will always give you the assurance that things will change and turn around for our good. What do you not know about the goodness of God? Believe that all things will work together for our good and hold on to God’s Word and always remember to give thanks to God in everything. (Ephesians 5:20) Exercising your knowledge of what God can do in your life will cause the favor of God to come into your life and to move on your behalf.

Prayer for today: Lord as You have promised that you will put your fear in the hearts of Your children so that they will not depart from You( Jeremiah 32:40) I ask O Lord let Your fear overtake my life that I may find Your knowledge.