SEE AS IF IT IS THERE
Exodus 14
 
In an attempt to avoid strife between Abraham and Lot, there was a need for separation of land. Lot looked in the physical when he made the best choice of the land. Thinking he made the right choice, God responded to Abraham. “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; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17) Abraham saw the land that was not there as being there because the Lord said so. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Abraham’s non-questioning of God is the evidence of his faith. God wants His children to be exercising creative faith by seeing what is not in place as being in place. The children of Israel in their coming out of bondage needed to break through a confronting roadblock to their promise land. The children of Israel allowed fear to rise and faith to sink. As a result of their state of mind, Moses had to make a move to encourage them in Exodus 14:13, “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today you shall see again no more forever. God gave His Word to the children of Israel through Moses. The Word was with power and it will only work on condition. The condition that will allow The Word to work and bring forth results is in the ability to see what is not there as being there. Seeing will only be in place when a believer is able to stand still. Fear, distraction, inconsistency and lack of commitment in serving the Lord are among the forces that will always deny a believer from standing still. What is that blessing the Lord created to be running after you, but you have changed position and began to run after such blessing? Where they have told you there is no way, begin to see as if there is a way and the way will be there. God has never gone to sleep and He will not fall asleep concerning your situation. Take the advice of Moses in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” See well; see through faith that your miracle is at hand.
 
Prayer for today: Father I ask for the grace that will keep my faith from failing.

HIDDEN AGENDA
Daniel 1

In these days of wickedness, self-centeredness is the key that many carry around in life. Oftentimes, hidden agenda is inhabited in self-centeredness regardless if it is a believer or a non believer. Self-centeredness is not of God and it is not a character of God required love. Young Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among the sons of Judah that were taken as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. They were young enough to defile God and define themselves as victim of parental or generational sin. They were young enough to forsake their understanding and knowledge of God with the excuse of being taken captive. However, in their captivity they did not turn away from their God. Also, it was in their captivity they were considered young in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. Having been considered, the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: “…he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.” (Daniel 1:7) When your heart is set for God your name can be changed and those that do not know your God can choose to call you what they want but your heart must remain intact with no compromise. As if name change was not enough, what they fed on was set for a change. In an attempt of changing their diet as required by the King, the Bible recorded that, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel and his friends were in position to forget where they were coming from and respond to the momentary good life that was before them and live like captain but not as captive. Daniel and his three friends loved their God and there was no self-centeredness or any hidden agenda but to give their all to God. Whenever we choose not to defile God in our ways He will not diminish us. With Daniel’s response against defiling His God, the Bible stated that, “Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.” (Daniel 1:9) From the moment Daniel responded with no hidden agenda, favor did not depart Daniel and his three friends all the days of their life. Every man’s heart demands a very careful and most diligent guidance. Proverbs could not state it better when it says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Prayer for today: Father, I ask in Jesus name for increase in the grace to keep my heart with all diligence.

WISE AND SIMPLE
1 Samuel 25:39

The Devil is not just the father of all lies, but craftiness is his personality. Above all, he is persistent in getting wickedness done and unrelenting when it comes to inflicting pain. Every man’s pain is the devil’s gain. All this identify him as one that is violent and not wanting to give his wicked agenda. Obviously, after his failure in tempting Jesus, he did not leave Jesus alone without a desire for a return agenda. The Bible pointed it out, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) Unmistakably, seeking an opportune time is the evidence of his persistency in being violent. To cut the long story short, he is the violent one. The word of God made it clear that, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12) The wicked one’s understanding is violent and it will take violence to deal with him. The weapon of violence in the hand of believer should be anything but being wise and simple. Paul the apostle pointed it out in Romans16:19-20, “…but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly…” In the life of King David, demonstration of using wisdom and simplicity of heart to crush the devil is clear. When David was anointed, it became clear that he was going to become the next king after King Saul. However, for so many years, David was running from mountain to mountain and cave to cave avoiding the evil that was operating inside of King Saul. He was relentlessly pursued in an attempt to be killed by King Saul but to no avail. David had many chances to kill Saul but, he respected the anointing upon the life of Saul. With David’s demonstration, there was no way he could fail. David’s simple approach to Nabal the husband of Abigail delivered David from causing bloodshed through self revenge. David, after having been helpful to Nabal’s servant in the wilderness, Nabal declined and denied David his reward. As a result, David was set to terminate Nabal but Abigail appealed to David. He took to Abigail’s appeal and acted wisely and simple when he withdrew from his violent plan towards Nabal. It was after David’s wisdom approach that Nabal eventually died a sudden death. David responded to Nabal’s death, “…Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head…” (1 Samuel 25:39) David with wisdom and simple approach crushed the enemy.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, let your Word have its way in my life for Your name to be glorified.

DENY DENIAL
1 Samuel 12

Knowing your God and knowing what He wants is always the best way to live life for a believer. Seeing what is good for others is not a liberty to covet. God knows the best for all of His creation and He is willing to give the best. However, when God’s creation makes a choice outside of God’s line of choice, then they line up for self destruction. The 5th commandment of God reveals that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). He meant what He said and He will do all that He has spoken. When God says that He is a jealous God, He does not mean that He is a slave master, but rather that He is a saving Master. This explains the reason why God will not force Himself on you in every decision or move that you take outside of His word. Are you presently moving in your own direction or in His direction? Taking steps to move in God’s direction is a sure and certain way that will give you life. However, taking step out of His direction into your own way of life is a way of death. During the terrible wilderness journey, the children of Israel experienced the hand of God and all that represented need was constantly provided far beyond and above the need (not want) of the children of Israel. After entering the Promised Land, they began to look for a king outside of the King of kings and the Lord God of deliverance and preservation. The children of Israel could not deny the denying agents, but rather they embraced it. They entered an unconscious way of provoking God into jealousy. Knowing God for who He is…a saving master not a slave master. He granted them their request. Samuel reminded the children of Israel what they were about to get into in 1Samuel 12:12, “And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired…”” At every juncture that you take your eyes away from God, you will be taken away. The children of Israel unconsciously turned their eyes away from God by looking at what Nahash king of the Ammonites represented for his people. As a result, God’s jealousy was provoked. Our God is able and He will supply all our needs if we will refuse to meet our needs outside of His hand. Ask Him for the grace to constantly deny the denying agents in your direction.

Prayer for today: Ask God to help you maintain focus only on what He wants for you to remain in the center of His divine assignment for your life.

ENTER NO MORE
Mark 9:14-29

The devil’s assignment is to take an opposite stand against every stand that is established in your life by God. Jesus came to give life and to give it more abundantly, but the devil is here on earth to take away that life given by Jesus. He is here to take it by robbery, forgery and all means of larceny. He is the chief among stubborn and he will not give up concerning his assignments on earth. The devil will always be around until the time comes for him to be bound. As a result, he never stops striking at his targets. When Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, he came up with his temptation but labored. Yet in his laboring, he did not give up and the Bible testifies to it in Luke 4:13, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” The devil is always coming back because there is no giving up in his dictionary. His constant aim is to get the people of God. Jesus who was here in person in the days of the Bible is still here in His word. The Word of God is God. The same way he was using His word has been given to us but it has to be operated with understanding and knowledge. The book of Proverbs gives a clear understanding that the righteous have a need for knowledge to be delivered. It stated, “… But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:9) As a believer, you have to master the chosen words of God for there to be a permanent termination of any kind of affliction. Jesus demonstrated such when He commanded the unclean spirit out of the son that his disciples could not help. Knowing how the devil operates, Jesus’ command did not leave room for the second coming or the return of the unclean spirit. Mark 9:25, “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” If you have gain a clear understanding of Jesus’ command in this verse, do not keep it to yourself when you take a stand against any form of affliction. Jesus commanded that unclean spirit by ordering it to come out of him and enter him no more. It is not enough for you to command the stubborn devil by just saying “come out of him”. You must back up your command by saying that he should not enter anymore. Do not operate in half understanding or else the devil will overcome you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His word and spiritual understanding.