WORK NOT JUST TALK
Ephesians 5:1-21

“Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:28-29)With Jesus, in every question there is always the right answer. Working the works of God requires believing in Jesus. To believe in Him is to be taking the steps that He took when He was here on the face the earth like us. Taking steps like Him will require walking the walks that he walked. The apostle Paul also confirmed the word of Jesus by stating, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) Walking the walk is a labor which neither determination nor strength can bring to pass. Walking the walk will only prevail by the grace of God in the life of the one that desires it. Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 5:15-17, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Walking circumspectly is walking carefully and being watchful in every step of life. Being watchful is to know and to be consistently conscious of the fact that the days are evil and the evil one is ready to devour any careless walker. Walking as a fool is taking steps out of God’s line. Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God…”” As a believer, knowing to walk and not walking as the word calls for is the same as saying there is no God. Walking in wisdom is a way of saying there is God and it is also the evidence of indwelling of the Spirit of God. What does it take to be filled with the Spirit of God? Ephesians 5:18-20, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” There is no need for further interpretation of what it takes to be filled by the Spirit instead of wine. Do you want to walk the walk? Get into singing Psalms and spiritual hymns to the Lord, giving thanks to the Lord and submitting to one another. Work the works of God by walking the walk then you will get to where He is taking you.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, teach me and lead me in walking the walk in all of the days you have given me.

DRY PIT
Genesis 37

For your dream to come through you have to pass through. Your dream is not accidental neither does it come to be without you having passed through the ups and downs of life challenges. For a man to know how to climb through and be able to come out of a dry pit, a life consuming pit, pit of no hope, a pit of destruction, the man must have passed through a life terminating pit. Joseph was loved by his father; he was a young man with bright future. Genesis 37:3, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.” He was blessed with a garment of many colors and destined to be great for the glory of God. For Joseph not to get to where God was taking him in life, hate, envy took a stand against him. The agents of hate and envy that stood against Joseph were from inside of his house and not from outside of his family. They were not a distant relative. Are you facing challenges despite the positives that were present in your dream? Does it look like life is presenting itself to you in the opposite direction of the revelation in your dream or wonderful prophecy that you have received? Think of this, the same devices that the agents of hate and envy put in place in an attempt to alter or deny the dream of Joseph were not accidental before God who sees tomorrow from today. Joseph had to pass through every pit, valley, or mountain on the way to his dream manifestation. Unknowingly, the agents of hate and evil that were set to destroy or deny Joseph were also the ones that were set to bring his dream to manifestation. When man proposes, God disposes. God is the Almighty One and there is none besides Him. As a believer of the living word of God, know this day that God sees all and you have to cease from not looking up to Him. It is written in Genesis 41:46, “Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.” The journey that began at a young age of seventeen for Joseph did not get him to the top until he was thirty years old. God’s timing is different from man’s timing. God does not keep to man’s time but keeps man in His own time. It does not matter how long you have been trying to crawl out of your pit but it does make the difference when He, the I Am that I Am calls you out of the pit of no hope. You can jump, scream, push, pull or be dragged it will not bring you out. He, and only He, will bring you out. 

Prayer for today: Help me O Lord that I may not miss the mark of your calling for my life. 

BUILDING BUILDER
Matthew 16:18-23

Jesus gave the revelation of the church when He stated in Matthew 16: 18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is an authoritative statement. It is a living statement that no weapon formed under heaven or under the earth could possibly prevail against it. Jesus said He will build His church and nothing, not even the gates of Hades, shall prevail against His church. Believers are the church and not just the four cornered building where gatherings in fellowship frequent. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Jesus knew that different gates are set up by the chief of the wicked ones; the one whose only inheritance is in hell, when He made the statement that the gates of Hades will not prevail. Which of the gates are manifesting against your being built up by Jesus? Is there any financial gate that the enemy is using against your being built? Could it be your marriage that the enemy is using as a gate to disrupt your being built? What kind of gate is the enemy using against you being constructed for His glory? The enemy has so many different gates in his possession that he has been using and he continues to use it. Jesus, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, is very much aware of the enemy’s devices when He said you will be built and the gates of Hades shall not prevail. However, let it be known, to you, that there is no building that has been constructed that rises up as a complete one without frequent challenges. Gates of Hades are swinging constantly; they are swinging back and forth in an attempt to shut you down. As believer, be rest assured that as long as you keep eyes on Jesus, none of the gates will trap you from becoming the building that Jesus wants for Himself.  All in all, take it to your mind that the materials and instrument of you being built is in the Word, and that is why the apostle Paul stated in Acts 20:32, ““So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” The Word Himself will build you just as He has promised.
Prayer for today: I ask today, my Lord and my God, my Father, build me up just as it pleases You and let Your name be glorified in my life.

WARNING SIGNAL
Genesis 37

Joseph, meaning increaser, was indeed a vessel of increase for his family when his journey of life helped preserved his family to be increased, rather than being decreased by famine. Famine brought Joseph’s family to Egypt where Joseph had been established. The warning signals were written all over for Joseph to have to go through the painful journey. If Joseph had paid attention to the warning signs that were directly in his way, he would have avoided getting into a journey that took him to Egypt as a slave. God had promised to establish the children of Israel, but not to terminate them. In every journey to God’s promise there is a process. Joseph was the agent of the process, and when his life was going deep down into what looked like no hope, the world could have assumed that he had problems, and God could not have possibly been in his journey. Are you in a process for God’s promise? Be rest assured and focus on the fact that God has a plan and purpose in your journey. As a believer, know who you believe and what He can do with your life, and not what is assumed to be your situation. Joseph had the warning signals yet he ended up in the wailing storm of life. Joseph’s dreams and his whole family’s reaction was enough for Joseph not to go the extra mile to look out for his brothers. After the revelation of his first and second dream, the whole family had a negative response towards him. Having been rebuked because of the first dream, he went ahead and told his father the second dream; “So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”” (Genesis 37:10-11) Joseph, having been rebuked, Jacob sent him to check for his brother’s well being. In his journey to his brothers, he was founded wandering, “Now a certain man found him, and where there he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”” (Genesis 37:15) Does it appear to you that where you are now is your warning signal? Is it enough for you to back out and not give your best? Obedience calls for giving your all. In your journey of challenges, the multitude that surrounds you will call it a warning signal that you should have avoided. Joseph did not call it anything but a journey in obedience to his father. In every journey of obedience you cannot fail. Inside of Joseph’s warning signal, was his family’s deliverance and salvation from death by famine
Prayer for today: Father I ask that you keep me in every journey that you have ordained for my life. O Lord my God and my King keep me and let your name be glorified in all things.

THINK AND THANK
Job 1, 2

As an acclaimed believer of the Word of God, if you think or reflect on the story of Job you will begin to thank the Lord. Calling God a good God is an understatement. God is greatly awesomely good for who He is. If you as a believer will think of Job, asking God for forgiveness for not being appreciative enough should be flooding heaven on your behalf. If Job, a man that was described as blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil, passed through such adversity without cursing out God, we all need to look back at months behind and ask God for forgiveness. At every visitation of the oppositional one, man’s position, or positions, crumbles. At the visitation of the adversary the one that opposes God, all of Job’s position crumbled. Job’s financial wealth crumbled, his household crumbled, his marriage crumbled, and every other position in his life crumbled. Above all, his wife, supposedly his better half, the one in position to give him support renounced him. “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) Job’s friend also came to support, “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.” (Job 2:11) Job’s situation could not get any worse than it was when his friends that came with good intentions to encourage and support him also became subject of discouragement. Can whatever has kept you down be compared to that of Job? In most of believer’s challenges God is yet to step in, until all that man can give in support steps out. Only God, and God alone, will see you through and take the glory. In the course of challenges, there is no giving up, but looking up to God will deliver. Always remember, “…Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity…?”(Job 2:10) The breaking down of your positions can be very painful, and aggravating, but know that nothing can terminate the purpose and plan of God for your tomorrow. Job confessed it, “I know that You do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.” (Job 42:2) In all of his broken down positions, he ended up living many years and seeing his children and grandchildren for four generations.

Prayer for today: In every area of my isolation, develop me to become a dedicated worshipper, and become more obedient to your word.