TASKMASTER
Exodus 3:1-10

Taskmaster was a representative of the horrible pit. The Horrible pit is not a pleasant place to be; it is a place of pain, oppression, sorrow and agony. At a point in time, the children of Israel spent time in the horrible pit while they were in bondage in Egypt. Exodus 3:7-9, “And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” At this point in your life are you experiencing a though time, a challenging time under any taskmaster? Inside of what represents taskmaster you can lift up your voice and cry to Him. While the children of Israel were spending time under their taskmasters in Egypt, they lifted up their voice and cried to the Lord. The cry of the children of Israel did not find a deaf ear because the Lord responded to their cry and extended His hand of deliverance through His servant Moses. Just as the children of Israel were in the horrible pit and were able to receive deliverance, so was King David was in the horrible pit. Like the children of Israel, King David also cried to the Lord God for his deliverance. King David testified, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.” (Psalm 40:1-2) Crying is not a sign of weakness and tears running down are not always a demonstration of crying. God heard King David’s cry and he was brought out of the miry clay. Miry clay is an indication that the horrible pit could also be a place of stagnation or a place of set back from moving at a speed that is acceptable or appropriate for the journey of life. Is there any of the above mentioned representatives of taskmaster’s have its way in your life? It is time to get on your knees in waiting and God in His goodness and mercy will not deny your deliverance. He is a faithful God.
 
Prayer for today: Ask the Lord God for His hand that was the same yesterday today and tomorrow for deliverance from every taskmaster that you know and the ones you do not know in your life.  

RISE TO POSSESS
Luke 15:11-31

The ability to rise in response to God’s calling is the only way to possess an exceedingly great blessing from God. The key to shinning for the glory of God is rising and responding to His calling. Isaiah 60:1-2, “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. ” The call to rise does not have a condition or any reason for compromise but to rise in response to God. The word does not ask if we will rise but asked us to rise. Indeed, deep darkness will show its face in attempt to discourage or deny us from rising but the Lord is always at work. He said that He will rise over us and His glory would not be denied. Rising in response to the word of God is all that made Abraham. Abraham could not possess all that was promised to him by God until he rose to God’s direction. Genesis 22:1-2, “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham! “And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Abraham did himself a great favor when he was right with God. In his response to God, the Bible stated, “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” (Genesis 22:3) Abraham rose up to God’s calling and that led him into possessing all of the promises of God. Rising up to God’s command is the only way to shinning for God’s glory. Can you think of what is keeping you grounded? In all of your walk and work on the face of the earth, is there any area you have remained grounded? The lost son (Prodigal son) was lost and down after he had moved to get his portion of goods from his father. Having received his portion he ended up falling. In his lack he came to himself and he made a decision by stating, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” The prodigal son knew to rise and he was able to shine when the father delivered a hearty welcome and reception for him. It is all about rising before shinning can take place. The rising of Abraham continues to generate blessings of God’s promise from generation to generation.

Prayer for today: Ask God to intervene and terminate all the forces that are denying or delaying your rising in the journey of life.  

SEEKING GOD
Jeremiah 10

Jeremiah 10:21, “For the shepherds have become dull-hearted, And have not sought the LORD;
Therefore they shall not prosper, And all their flocks shall be scattered.” A heart that does not meditate on the word of God will become a dull heart. When meditation is in place the heart will seek after God and not become a dull heart. Prosperity is the evidence of a heart that mediates and it was clearly pointed out when the Lord was talking to Joshua. Joshua 1:7-8, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” It is a serious business to take constant meditation as a serious business. Evidently, meditation is what will make a heart not become dull and when dullness does not have a place in the heart of man; seeking God will take its place. The heart that is constantly active in meditation will become active in experiencing prosperity. The kind of prosperity that the Lord mentioned to Joshua was an all round prosperity. An all round prosperity is the one that gives good success. The ability to observe and to do according to the word of God comes only from constant and consistent meditation on the word of God. Doing and observing the word of God is being obedient to God. It is only in obeying the word of God that seeking God inhabits. As a believer, where do you stand in seeking God? Seeking God starts from the heart and when the heart is dull, nothing becomes bright in walking before God.  The Psalmist stated that, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). The secret place of God is no longer a secret to those that know to seek Him in the pages of His word that never fails. Spending time and holding on to the word of God in meditation brings about prosperity that leads to good success. This is a secret to those that are yet to discover it in the pages of the Bible. God cannot be mocked and neither can He be manipulated and whatever is sowed is what you will reap. Sow by investing time in meditation and your heart will be active and not dull.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God and my King I ask for the grace of enablement to be constant and consistent meditating on your word.

ACT OF DOUBLE EVIL
Jeremiah 2

When you go far from God you will not remember to acknowledge Him for all He has done, there will be a failure to identify with what He is doing and as a result, failure to do what is right will be in place. God spoke through Jeremiah to the children of Israel, “What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters? 6 Neither did they say, ‘Where is the LORD, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?’” (Jeremiah 2:4-6) Knowing God to be a jealous God, giving Him constant and consistent attention and identifying Him as He who saw you through in the past and acknowledging Him for the present is important. At the time He was speaking through Jeremiah, the children of Israel had failed to do what is right by not identifying Him for the past and not acknowledging Him for the present. In your new beginning, in your new position, it is worthy to identify Him for what He has done and what He is doing. The children of Israel at that time failed to serve God but turned to gods. Jeremiah 2:11, “Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But my people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.” God is the God that does not overlook sin and He did not overlook the failure of the children of Israel. Are you in any way taking the kind of steps that were taken by the children of Israel as mentioned above? As a believer, it is required to constantly acknowledge God for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do. When there is a failure to acknowledge Him, there will be knowledge of turning away to another god. Some turn to money, profession or sport as their god. God responded to the children of Israel’s act as “two evils”. Jeremiah 2:13, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. ” Children of Israel committed two evils and God lay down the consequences of their evil deed. The word went further for the children of Israel, “…Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you says the LORD of hosts.” (Jeremiah2:19)  It is never too late to stand up where there is evidence of falling short. However, not to rise and stand but to remain on the ground is self destruction.
 
Prayer for today:O Lord my God, search me, help me and redirect me from every wrong step that I have taken away from You.

RUTHLESS PRAISE
2 Samuel 6

What do you have in your possession to offer Him in your sacrifice? What has He blessed you with that is worthy to be rendered to praise Him? As much as the Bible is written for our learning, hearing and living, the Word will no doubt produce notable result just as it did in the Bible days. King David was an example of one that demonstrated ruthless praise during the transportation of the Ark of God to the city of David. The Ark of God represented the presence of God. Having been in the presence of God many times, how many times have you given unto Him a ruthless praise? If you will learn to know and engage yourself in ruthless praise in His presence, every agent of mockery in your life will be ruthlessly rendered marred. How King David offered unto God ruthless praise is evident in the process of transporting the ark of God. “…So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. ” (2 Samuel 6:12-15) Identifying David’s Ruthless praise: Gladness was in the beginning of his praise and worship, sacrificing the material wealth that the Lord had blessed him with (the oxen and fatted sheep) was an addition. Above all, during his praise and worship, he forgot himself by dancing with all his might and not paying attention to his garment and all that surrounded him. David declared the title of his praise and worship as: undignified and humble in the sight of God. During his undignified and humble praise before God, his wife Micah the daughter of Saul mocked him and despised him in her heart. The end result of Micah’s mockery of King David was not farfetched when King David responded, “So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.” (2 Samuel 6:21-22) It was documented that Micah remained barren all the days of her life. Could Micah’s barrenness be the result of her mocking king David’s praise and worship? Are you being mocked because of your faith and praise?
 
Prayer for today: Lord I ask today, that you cause every situation that is mocking my waiting on you to cease from having life.