ZEALOUSNESS
Numbers 25

After Jesus had used the whip of cords to send packing, those that had turned the temple into a place of trading and other business activities, “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house has eaten Me up””(John 2:17) What is it that could be better than being eaten up by a zeal for the business of God? Every true believer will like to be like Christ, but not all would want to pay the type of price that He paid. Also, nothing can be compared to the priceless blessings that could occur for you for becoming like Him. Will you, as a believer pray for the zeal for the business of God to eat you up? For every uncommon approach to the work or name of God that gives great glory to God there will always be an uncommon favorable response from God. Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, the priest, once demonstrated a great zeal tfr the glory of God and God blessed him with uncommon favor. The children of Israel committed harlotry with the women of Moab. While they were in the middle of judgment in the hand of God, “And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eliza, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand.” (Number 25:6-7) While judgment was going on, the sin continued, with the reaction of Phinehas, “…the plague was stopped among the children of Israel” (Numbers 25:8). The zeal that Phinehas was carrying saved the day. God that cannot overlook sin will not overlook good deeds. He will always respond with blessings just like He did to Phinehas, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”” (Numbers 25:11-14) Would you consider asking God to enable you by letting His zeal eat you up? The blessings of God are priceless and can never be compared to any kind of blessing. Phinehas’ zealousness brought forth a comprehensive blessing for him and his descendants. If you are sure of what you want, pray and ask God for yours.
Prayer for today: Lord let the Zeal for your Holy name eat me up.

REASONABLY UNREASONABLE
1 Samuel 15

In obeying the word of God as it is spoken, there is no way on earth that man can miss the favorable move, of the hand of God. Samuel received a message for Saul, the first king in Israel; “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:2-3) Saul received the message from God through Samuel. The message was a command not a suggestion, or an idea. Saul moved by his own direction not in the command of God. It is an act of disobedience not to fully carry out His command. Saul did not carry out the command just as God gave it. Saul attacked the Amalekites, “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” (1 Samuel 15:9) After carrying out part of the command, the word of God came back to him through Samuel condemning him for not carrying out God’s command as commanded, “…And Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” ( 1 Samuel 15:13) In Saul’s performance there was clear disobedience that is not reasonable before God. Saul’s excuse was to, “…Spared the best and Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”” (1 Samuel 15:15) Saul’s excuse does not go far before God, but it stopped him from going further in the hand of God and in all that the Lord had for Him. Performing can go on in the church or outside of the church; the bottom line is that God is not up there to be entertained by any dubious act or by active disobedience. Also, no excuse is a supplement that can complement any act, or performance, that is not in line with the word of God. The best excuse for disobedience ever was that of Adam when God approached him for having eaten from the tree of life. Adam responded to God, “Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) Adam’s excuse was a reasonable one because he did not ask for a woman it was God that made Eve for him. However, every reasonable excuse for sin of disobedience is an unreasonable sin. Before God, there is no reasonable sin.
Prayer for today: Have mercy Lord and let me not walk in the path of disobedience to your word.

DESIRE AND SEEK
Psalm 91

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 the Lord is in the Word of God and the Word of God is God. Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High does not happen by accident, it has to be a conscious and deliberate desire from the bottom of your heart and this is evident when David stated in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple” Coming and going out of the place of worship is not dwelling in the secret place, it is gaining entrance. It is not enough to gain entrance into the temple, but to dwell in what the Word of God is asking of every believer that enters the temple. Dwelling in the Word of God is doing and living in the Word of God, and that is what separates true believers from believing unbelievers (those that know the word, but do not live by His word). God spoke, and sent Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7:2-3, ““Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.” It is only you and God that know the ways that you have been taking He knows if your ways are in line with His ways. Pastors, priests or the officials in the temple can be deceived, but God cannot be deceived and He will not over look sin and sinning acts. God made it clear to His children that entering into the temple are not what keeps a believer in the secret place, but dwelling in the ways that are in line with the One and only true God. Many are entering into the place of worship regularly and, or, occasionally, but they have yet to start dwelling. Your ways will not make you dwell in the secret place of God, until there is an amendment of your ways. Dwelling in the secret place of God has so much to offer, and that makes it worth seeking it. In the secret place of the Most High, deliverance, preservation, and uncommon protection from the hands of the wicked forces will be the portion of any believer that dwells in the secret place of the Most High. Do you desire to dwell in His secret place like David?
 
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace that will enable you to desire, and to seek dwelling in His secret place.

SWITCH TO JOY
Acts 16

How are you serving Him? If, in your serving Him, the fullness of joy is not in place, then you are not accessible to Him. Regardless of how costly or painful your services are unto Him let joy be present, so you can be present in His presence. The Psalmist stated in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy…” Think of it, if you have missed His presence, how can you claim to have served Him? Many services are being rendered unto Him, but only the Lord knows how many are actually getting to Him in His court. Serving God can be looked at from different angles, but it has to be in the fullness of joy. Serving is not only when a celebration is going, or whereby praises are being rendered and emotions are high. Serving Him can be in a time of great challenges where all ways to having life is blocked. It could be where the only way out of a situation is death, but praise and worship is going on with joy. The apostle Paul and Silas demonstrated what serving in a time of challenges with joy could do in Acts 16:25-26, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ” What happened to Paul and Silas was not a make-believe story, it was a true life documentation, that is written for our learning. God is only accessible through joy. Do you want to gain access to Him? Praise Him with joy, not with the burden that brought you to the place of worship. Paul and Silas were at the point of death, but they did not let their situation interfere in serving God. They switched unto praising Him in joy, because without joy you cannot praise Him, and their service became an acceptable sacrifice that led to their breakthrough. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth…” (Psalm 48:1-2) By going through the pages of the Bible, it should not take forever to clearly identify that joy is the key for living a victorious life. Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” From experience, Paul, the apostle, also stated in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” It can be easier said than done, but the fact of the matter is, without joy, God is not accessible. Laughing or smiling is not an expression of rejoicing, before Him. Rejoicing goes deeper into the heart and it is about knowing and trusting that He is beautiful for all situations.
Prayer for today: Let your joy fill me up; o Lord let your joy overwhelm me in every area of life, in Jesus’ name.

INVITE HIM
John 2:1-10

Have you truly invited Him to your wedding occasion, or your marriage life? With an extended invitation to Him, yours will not suffer from lack; challenges will not be your garment, and nothing fashioned against you shall prosper. Inviting Jesus and having him present is not a guarantee that challenges will not come; it is also not evidence that weapons will not form against you. However, with Him invited, challenges will come, weapons will form against you, but you will overcome in all areas of challenging situations. With Jesus invited, enemies will have a say, but will not have the last say concerning you. Imagine Jesus at the wedding in Cana of Galilee and wine (the fuel of the celebration) running out? John 2:2-3, “Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Despite the truth that Jesus was invited, embarrassment showed up at the wedding and lack became a threat before Mary, the mother of Jesus, interceded on behalf of the celebrant. It is not too difficult to imagine what could have become of the wedding celebration without Jesus being invited. With Jesus in our life we will always have a need, to always take everything up to Him in prayer. The experience of Mary asking for Jesus an intervention is for our learning. When Mary asked for Jesus’ intervention, “Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) Mary did not delay, neither, was she discouraged when Jesus’ responded that it was not His hour. Instead of discouragement, she was settled in herself and encouraged the servants at the wedding to do what ever Jesus asked for. John 2:5, “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” All we can do is to obey His command and do whatever He asked for. Jesus responded by saying to the servants, “…Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.”With obedience, the life in the wedding celebration was restored, lost hope was regained, and nothing harmful was recorded. Ecclesiastes 8:5, “He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful”Have you extended your invitation to the king of Kings? Do you have a place for Him in your wedding program and married life? Consider making Jesus The Chairman of your wedding celebration, and likewise your married life. Allow Jesus to be the one and only Master of all during the ceremony, because challenges will come, but you will overcome.

Prayer for today: Father, have your way in every area of my life, reign and rule that your name be glorified.