NO FOOLISHNESS
JOSHUA 6

During the coming out of the bondage of over four hundred years, the children of Israel were bewildered by the land and were also closed in by the wilderness. As they looked back, Pharaoh drew near with his men of war. Clearly their life was in danger of dying or being taken back to bondage. At that juncture, going forward was not foreseeable and turning back could end up worst more than living. By virtue of the fear generated, they could not see deliverance in any way. It was a grave situation that demanded divine intervention of God. Moses received an order for deliverance: “But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (Exodus 14:16) The order appeared too ordinary and probably sounded foolish in the ears of the children of Israel. Have you been in any predicament whereby the way of escape did not sound legit but rather sounded foolish? Among other challenges that confronted the children of Israel on their way to their Promised Land was the wall of Jericho. Having gone far in a number of years, Jericho needed to fall for their crossing over. The Bible records, “…Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.” (Joshua 6:1) Just as divine intervention was needed at the Red Sea, so it was needed in crossing over Jericho. Joshua, the new leader, received the order of command from the Lord. “You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:3-5) The command to victory at the crossing of the Red Sea and the wall of Jericho may have sounded foolish, but the Commander who gave out the command is the only Commander of commanders. It is written in 1 Corinthians 1:25, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Have you received any word of command that seems foolish or too easy to deliver you into your breakthrough? Stop being wise in your own eyes; take a dive into the word of God and your world will become victorious.

Prayer for today: O Lord, cause me not to despise the word of victory, deliverance and preservation when it sounds in my direction.

TERMINATION IN ENTERTAINMENT
Acts 5:1-11

Lying, deception, and manipulation are some of the means and ways that lead one to entertain the devil. However, anytime you entertain the devil you are set to be terminated. A man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, did the right thing in a wrong way. The couple entertained the devil and they were terminated in their journey of life. It is recorded in Acts 5:1-2, “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Ananias and Sapphira were not forced to sell their possession; it was a voluntary act. It was a good act but was done wrongly when they backed it up with lie. Everywhere there is light, darkness will not comprehend but fail. Where there is light, the activity of darkness will have no other choice but to be exposed. Telling lies is not of God; it is of the devil and it is an activity of darkness. Ananias and Sapphira lying to Peter, a disciple of Jesus, can be compared to darkness playing around where there is light. In their lying, it did not take forever neither did it require an inside informant for Peter to respond when he said, “…Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” (Acts 5:3-4) Could it be that Ananias and Sapphira had been lying long before it finally caught up with them or was it just their first time? One thing is certain, telling lies can go for a long period or a short period of time but it only takes just one day for truth to overcome. How have you been entertaining the devil among the body of believers? Ananias and Sapphira’s story can be likened to a believer who is paying less of their ten percent income in the name of paying tithes. Before God, there is no small or big lie. A lie is a lie and the end therefore is sin. Sin offers nothing but death. Peter did not place any curse on Ananias but all that Peter did was exposed the lie of Ananias. “Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.” (Acts 5:5) Lying does not have a place in the presence of God and if you are one that has been conversant doing the right wrongly, it is time to begin to do all that is right.         
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from every spirit of lie, deception and manipulation.

BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE
Esther 5, 6

To be blessed with being honored is directly rooted in God’s kindness. Mordecai was a Jewish man whose frequent spot was at the king’s gate. He did the right thing when he uncovered a plot against King Ahasuerus. Esther 2:21-22, “In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22 So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.” At the same king’s gate, Mordecai was marked for evil by the evil agent named Haman. After Haman had spotted Mordecai for not bowing and paying homage to him, he went further in his plot to destroy all the Jews just because of Mordecai. As Haman’s position becomes more favorable with King Ahasuerus so his pride and ego grew and he could not resist his bitterness against Mordecai. Haman elevated his plot against Mordecai. “…When Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai.” (Esther 5:9) With suggestion from his wife, Haman then came  to the king requesting, ”…Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.’ And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.” (Esther 5:14) At the approval of Haman’s plot, Mordecai became marked with an untimely death and there was no way out for him except by God’s intervention. A night before his death sentence, “…The king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 Then the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this…?’” (Esther 6:1-3) Earlier in life, the good act of Mordecai that prevented the king from being terminated by an evil plot was not in vain but rather was in a book of remembrance. God, in His kindness, never slept nor slumbered and could not have allowed King Ahasuerus to sleep over a plan of wickedness against His own. Just as God could not sleep nor slumber in delivering Mordecai, so He will do unto you against every area of life that you have been marked with an untimely death. As God will have it, with delights to honor, King Ahasuerus promoted Mordecai in the presence of Haman. Haman, the agent of wickedness, ended up becoming the victim of his wicked plan for Mordecai. Do you have a book of remembrance? 

Prayer for today: Ask God, to answer on your behalf just as He did for Mordecai.

WAY TO GO
Proverbs 16

Hannah, in her prophetic prayer, mentioned that the Lord is the God of knowledge and by Him actions are weighed (1Samuel 2:3). This is also to say that God cannot be deceived. He cannot be mocked and He sees where we are coming from and to where we are going. Which way are you taking? Any way outside the way of God is a way into self- destruction. God has His way and His ways are in His word. Moses, in His leadership of the children of Israel to the Promised Land, needed to know the way to go when he called on God. “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” (Exodus 33:13) The way of God is deliverance and it is preservation. The way of God always carries the presence of God. It has not been documented of anyone who has taken to the way of God and ended up in destruction. It has, however, been documented and it is evident that all who have taken to their own way ended up in destruction. When there is a will or desire to walk in His way, He will guide your feet to walk in His way. I Samuel 2:9, “He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength no man shall prevail.” Walking in His way is not by determination; it is only by His grace. Have you considered which way you have been taking recently? The ways you have taken in the past will not matter compared to the ways you are taking now. Take to the way of God and God will take you beyond your expectation. He is a faithful God. A time of self- examination is not a time of self-deception. If you are as a believer deceiving all that surrounds you, God cannot be deceived and such a believer knows that he cannot deceive self. Proverbs 16:2, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits.” Will you be sincere with yourself and let God redirect your steps into His way? God wants to be pleased with how we walk in His way. Proverbs 16:7, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” The Lord God has given us His word and it is left for us to encourage ourselves in the word of God. Encouragement is a take-able force. God will grant the grace to take it. Go in the way of God.

Prayer for the day: Lead me O Lord in Your way and let Your presence takeover in every move that I make.

RIGHT CHOICE
John 16

In all His messages, there is life and power to anyone who makes his or her choice in the word of Jesus. All through His ministry on the face of this earth, there was no better way for Him to communicate His message of peace and hope than to continue to say it the ways He did. When you begin to hear, hearing will then bring forth faith. Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Jesus said it in plain word and He also said it in parables. Above all, He said it in demonstration of power: undeniable miracles after miracles. Despite all His means of communication, not all received His message. This is why peace and hope is having no proper place in the life of man including most who claim to have received and accepted Him as the Lord and Savior. You do not, however, go by what the world goes by, but you go by what the word says to you. In John 16:33, Jesus says “these things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” What He said to one, He has said it to all. How have you received His word? As an individual, you do have the choice of peace in Him if your choice is in the name of Jesus. That is why He said you may have peace. Tribulation is a certainty and that is why He said you will have tribulation in this world. In this world, tribulation will come not only to unbelievers but to all. There is a way out of tribulation and the way is to choose Him and encounter that tribulation with peace or you can rather please yourself and the enemy in tribulation without Him. If you have confessed Christ but your lifestyle does not demonstrate Christ, you are living in self-denial. Is there any doubt about your relationship with Christ? Today is the day of your reckoning; make adjustments where there is a need. Proverbs 12:21, “No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.” The days we are now living are days of trouble. Trouble and tribulation will come, but because you have chosen Him, you are bound to overcome because our righteousness is in Christ Jesus.

Prayer for today: Ask the Lord to uphold you in every area of your confession, that you may live a life that is centered in the word of God.