CONVERTED AND BLINDED
Acts 9:1-9

This is how the Bible described the man that was used by God to write most of the New Testament, “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2) Saul was a serious minded persecutor and did not take chances persecuting Jesus either on the way or out of the way. Saul would go outside of his area looking for followers of Christ to persecute. Saul was on a mission to Damascus to carry out his business, before he encountered the power that converted him to be on a mission for the propagation of the business kingdom. Indeed, the hand of God is not limited to redirect, deliver or deny all that has been persecuting you physically, spiritually or emotionally. Saul, during his journey, “… He came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.” (Acts 9:3) It was in this light that he encountered Jesus, with no choice for him but to respond with trembling and a request from the Lord of what to do for the Lord. Saul, during the time of this conversion, he lost his eyesight. The Bible described that, “Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” (Acts 9:8-9) A man that was full of threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, a man with the permission from the high priest to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether man or woman, he might bring them, bound to Jerusalem, could not see at his entering into Damascus. He wanted to harass the disciples, but heaven harassed him, and threatened him with a lack of sight for three days. Saul lost the sight of his world to gain a sight for the Word of God. So many have converted, but retained the sight of this world. It is not possible to grow with any new encounter when there is a reluctance to part with the old. To Saul, there was no struggle of moving forward with the calling of his life. Saul never turned his back into his old world of persecuting believers directly or indirectly. A new name, from Saul to Paul, likewise a new sight was all that made the difference in the calling of Paul the apostle. God has not stopped in touching life if you will ask, “Lord what do you want me to do” like Paul asked.
Prayer for today: Lord, I ask that You enable me to answer you in every area of my calling, in Jesus name Amen.

INEVITABLE STORM
Mark 6:45-52

Jesus knows the beginning from the end, and the end from the beginning, before He commanded the disciples and made them go before Him. In their going then evening came, “Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.” (Mark 6:47) The boat was at the point of no return. It was the evening hour and that made it impossible for the disciples not to attempt turning around because turning around might be worse than to keep moving on. Time and position in a journey that Jesus has called a man into will bring its own challenges, just like the one of the disciples. But misrepresenting Him for what He stands for or who He is could definitely lead to the termination of a journey. The disciples were in an evening journey at the middle of the sea and they failed by misrepresenting the One that sent them to go to the other side. Mark 6:49, “And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out.” How could it be that the disciples failed to recognize the One that could deliver them? Concerning the storm of your life, are you having challenges in recognizing your savior? Jesus is the only one that can speak and the storm will listen. By virtue of their misrepresentation of the Lord and Savior, they could not call for help when they needed to, “For they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”” (Mark 6:50). When He made the disciples go on the other side, it was not on the basis of mocking them, but on the basis of making them move to the next level of their assignment. Jesus that called the disciples did not call them to enter into stagnation, but to gain motion that will enable them to advance the business of the Kingdom. It is certain that in every area of calling by Jesus there will be a storm because it is a step in a direction for a greater purpose. He is not a stagnant God; He is always passing from one area to another. The Word is written for our learning. Learn today in the Word of God that storms are inevitable, but Jesus will always come into the boat like He did for the disciples, “Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.” (Mark 6:51)

Prayer for today: O Lord, my God, open my understanding that I will know how to rest on the promises of your Word in Jesus’ name. 

IS THIS YOU?
John 20:19-29

When the Lord appeared to Gideon, He promised that Gideon was going to be used as the vessel of deliverance for his people from the oppression of the enemy. Gideon wanted to test God if he was actually going to be used for such an assignment. “So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.” (Judges 6:36-38) God responded to the request of Gideon as a confirmation of the assignment He bestowed to Gideon. One would expect that was all that Gideon needed for a confirmation, but Gideon asked for more from the Lord when he said, “…Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground. (Judges 6:39-40) Gideon called his approach, ‘testing God’. Are you desperately in need of a confirmation of what the Lord has called you to do? Gideon was not testing God based on doubt of what the Lord can do, and it is clear that it was based on the intention to obey God. The word of God declared in 1 Samuel 1:3, “For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.” God knows the heart of who wants to test Him in order to reinforce doubt in their heart. Testing God to reinforce doubt is a sin, and it will not produce the intended result, but the attainment of God’s anger. Thomas a disciple of Jesus, having missed the visitation of Christ after His resurrection, needed a test to confirm when he stated, “The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) Man has not changed from what they have been made to be, but man’s situations continue to change and affect the world. Gideon and Thomas, do they sound like you? Learn from the written word of God to address your situation.

Prayer for today: In your goodness and mercy O Lord, let me not operate the spirit of doubt in every area of Your visitation in my life

GIDEON TO JERUBBAAL
Judges 6:17-40

The first statement that was released into the life Gideon, by the angel of the Lord that appeared to him was, “…The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor1” (Judges 6:11) It was an encounter that brought a package of deliverance for the children of Israel, that had been suffering oppression in the hand of the Midianites. Gideon wanted a confirmation of the assignment that had been delivered unto him, that was the salvation of his people, “Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.” (Judges 6:17-18) Gideon’s offering was accepted, and it gave Gideon the encouragement to go and destroy the altar of Baal that belonged to his father. Gideon had an encounter, encouragement, before he destroyed the altar of a foreign god that belonged to his father. With the encouragement to destroy the altar in his father’s house, “Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”” (Judges 6:32) Having been able to destroy a foreign God that belong to his father, Jerubbaal set out to carry out the package of deliverance for his people from the oppression of seven painful years. God is not a God of accidents; He is a God that brings every situation to pass by way of an orderly manner. After the encounter Gideon had with the Angel of the Lord, he was set with encouragement that carried him into the center of his assignment. Jerubbaal (Gideon) successively went even further by the enablement of God to destroy the enemies that had successively raided, destroyed, stole, and oppressed the children of Israel for seven years. Offering to the Lord at the beginning of the encounter was a major provocation of the move of God’s enablement in the calling of Gideon. Do you have a need for deliverance in any area of life? By virtue of the word that you have encountered, with understanding, go and give unto Him an offering that is reasonable, take courage in the Lord. The same God that responded to Gideon will not fail on your behalf. Destroy the altar of foreign God in your life and you will be restored.
Prayer for today: Everlasting God, the One that was, the One that is, and the One that will always be, have mercy on me. Let every force that stands against me be permanently terminated.

SELF-CONTAINED
Judges 6:1-16

A man in the Bible identified himself as the least among his clan, and coming from the weakest clan. The man did not consider himself to be anybody. Above all, he dwelt among a group of people that had been suffering oppression from the enemy. His group of people was greatly impoverished because of continuous raids by the enemy. While the man continued to live in a self-contained box, “…The Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.” (Judges 6:1) Gideon did  not know who he was, and he was in the process to continue hiding, just like his people. The Angel of the Lord that appeared to Gideon was on a mission that would allow Gideon to know who he was, and not what his environment called him to be. Often times, having dwelt too long in an environment, the environment will begin to define the dweller, instead of the dweller defining himself to the environment. Gideon had been where the people had been hiding in the caves and strongholds that were in the mountains. (Judges 15:2) The Angel of the Lord that appeared to Gideon, identified Gideon, “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 16:12) Having dwelt for a long time among the oppressed, the mighty man of valor could not see himself as a mighty man of valor, because he became a part of them and began to think like them. Despite all the testimonies of God, despite all that have been revealed through the pages of scripture, there are believers of the Word of God that continue to live and suffer like the believers of the word of the world. In the process of getting a self realization, the Angel of the Lord eventually spoke power into the life of Gideon, “Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 16:14) The word that was released into Gideon’s life, could not sink into Gideon immediately because he had been in self-contained box for too long. Gideon wanted to questioned the validity of the word that came into his life, but the Lord assured him, “And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16) When He sends His own, He always backs His own up. With the current world order, victory is certain when there is boldness and character.
Prayer for today: My God and my Father, I ask for your deliverance that will bring me out of every self-contained box.