MOUTH KILLETH< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Numbers 14

God is not a man that He will tell lies and He has never failed to deliver what He promises to do. At the time He was taking the children of Israel out of Egypt, His plan was to fulfill His promise by taking them to the Promised Land. When it was time for spying, ÒAnd the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ÔSend men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.ÕÓ (Numbers 13:1-2) God emphasized His promise again by asking the children to go and spy the Land which He was giving them. God did not talk about the land as the land, which He will, or he might give them. This testifies that the Land was set for sure and they just had to go and possess it. In the course of their journey, however, they encountered all kinds of challenges that could not overtake them. The Red Sea was not able to stop them and their enemies failed to stop them from going in the direction of the Promised Land. If there was anything to make the children of Israel to be happy, it should have been the calling of God on them to go and check the land. Having checked the land just as the Lord commanded, they saw negativity in GodÕs promise. God has never failed neither does He oversleep when it is time for Him to act on behalf of His children. The children of Israel failed to remember GodÕs promise and all that He is capable of doing in time of deliverance. The people that could not fall into the hand of enemies terminated their journey just by the negative confession of their mouth. When the report of spying of the land came back it was not encouraging but was rather discouraging. The people that went to spy came back with all kinds of negativity. ÒSo all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, ÔIf only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?Õ 4 So they said to one another, ÔLet us select a leader and return to Egypt.ÕÓ (Number 14:1-4) Acts of complaint is an act of rebellion against God. Are you complaining in regard to any confrontation in your life? Give up complaining and do not give into it. If you will ask God to endue you with praising Him always, your mouth of praise will take you up and not down.

QUESTION AND ANSWER   < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Mark 8:1-10

Every time the Lord asks you a question is not because He does not have an answer. Most of the time when He asks you a question, He wants to show you the greatness of His power. He is the Almighty God and He alone haves an answer for every situation that persists in your life and on the face of earth. God sees everything and nothing is too far for Him that He cannot reach. Moses when called by God to lead the children of Israel out of bondage of over four hundred years, exhausted every reasonable excuse not to answer the calling of God, but God invested all that it takes for him to answer. God made it clear that whatever is in our hand can carry His presence for power demonstration. He asked Moses in Exodus 4:2, ÒSo the LORD said to him, ÔWhat is that in your hand?Õ He said, ÔA rod.ÕÓ When God pointed out the rod in MosesÕ hand, it became a power in the hand of Moses. Despite the power demonstration of the rod in his hand, he returned to give more excuses and God stated to Moses, ÒAnd you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.Ó (Exodus 4:17) God asked Moses a question and He backed His question with an answer that was enough to carry Moses in leading the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years. What is in your hand that God can use for the manifestation of His glory in your life? Just as it was in the Old Testament so it was in the New Testament when Jesus needed to make provision for thousands that had followed Him for three days with nothing to eat. Jesus wanted to know what was in the hand of His disciples that could feed the multitude that had followed Him. Jesus did not want to send the multitudes away in hunger. ÒHe asked them, ÔHow many loaves do you have?Õ And they said Ôseven.ÕÓ (Mark 8:5) The Lord is ready to work with what is in our hand if we will know to hear and understand what He is telling us. Do you know what is in your hand or what you have that is enough to carry you through in the calling of your life? Let God know your situation and He will respond to you with a question that will bring the best out of you. Just a rod in the hand of Moses was enough to answer for him in all areas of life. Also, seven loaves in possession of the disciples was enough to feed four thousand and there was even leftovers. Out of nothing, God will bring out surplus. Are you ready to answer His question? Answering His question will answer all the questions in your life.

UNSEARCHABLE GREATNESS< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Psalm 145

A praise of David in Psalm 145:1-3, ÒI will extol You, my God, O king; and I will bless Your name forever and ever 2Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.Ó Indeed and in truth, the greatness of God is unsearchable. If there is anyone that is the most qualified to demonstrate and appreciate the goodness and mercy of God, David is the one. By virtue of different encounters that he had while he was alive, it could be said of him that he had it all with God, in God and for God. From shepherd boy to the killing of Goliath; from the killing of Goliath to the throne as king; from king to the killing of UriahÕs wife and eventually getting married to UriahÕs wife. From his sin and sinning, he lost it before God. God being a God that is merciful he forgave David, but the consequences were there for David to deal with all the days of His life. DavidÕs life is a testimony of GodÕs goodness and mercy. How can it be explained better when a shepherd boy woke up in the morning and before the day was over he became a giant killer and the whole nation lifted him high? Also when he became anointed through Samuel, the way to the throne was opened up for him. 1 Samuel 16:13-16, ÒThen Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And SaulÕs servants said to him, ÒSurely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.Ó  David was the skillful player that was available to provide skillful music for Saul. When He anoints you He will back you up and grant you motion to get to the center of your calling. Without any struggle or thoughts of how it would be for David getting to the throne, the Lord opened up His avenue for the shepherd boy to get to the throne. How can David not know how to be constant and continual in praising Him? Begin and continue to praise Him, He will raise you for His glory and He will get you to the expected end.

DRESS CODE< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>1 Samuel 17

The journey of life is a battleground, it is full of ups and downs and how you choose to fight your battle daily will determine how the journey goes for you. In the journey of life you do not know when, where, how and who the next Goliath will be. . In the journey of life you fight and progress or you fail to fight and be defeated. As long as your desire is getting to the end, battle is inevitable.  By the grace of God, if you have placed your journey under the canopy of God, then you will have to pay attention of the type of weapon that will be needed in carrying you through. David a shepherd boy encountered his day of breakthrough one day when he rose early in the morning. Jesse, the father of David, sent him to the battlefield to go and check their well being. ÒSo David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle.Ó (1 Samuel 17:20) There was no indication or sign that David would become an agent of deliverance for the whole nation that day. Can you tell what the day has in store for you? It was that same day the David killed Goliath, that his story became an everlasting testimony for the glory of God. You can be ready for God to move on your behalf if you will take to your dress code. DavidÕs exploit on the day of early rising was rooted in his dress code. When he decided to count on God and go against Goliath there was every opposition to deny him from going against Goliath. Among the oppositions was the attempt to have his dress code changed. Your dress code is your identity, it is your limitation and it does not mean your weakness neither does it suggest a sign of failure. When you change your dress code you will enter into deception and an attempt to answer what you are not called to do will loom high on you. King Saul offered to change DavidÕs dressÕ code, ÒSo Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, ÒI cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. So David took them off.ÓÓ(1 Samuel 17:38-39) When you dress wrongly you will be wrong in all areas. Your dress code is your identity and you will not be mistaken for more where you are less and where you are less provision will be available for your increase. With your dress code you will not be weary or faint when you walk or run and your identity will not put the wrong weapon in your hand. Your dress code is telling God what you are  and that will commit God on your behalf. Thank God that David refused to accept a change of his dress code on his day of breakthrough. God will not fail you and do not fail yourself.

UNCALCULATEABLE< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>1 Samuel 16:1-13, 1 Kings 19:1-15

When God sent Samuel to Jesse the Bethlehemite to go and anoint a king among his sons, God did not tell Samuel which of the sons the king would be. Samuel saw the first child of Jesse and he considered him as the one to be anointed. 1 Samuel 16:7, ÒBut the LORD said to Samuel, ÒDo not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.Ó Samuel was looking at the physical appearance, and attempted to go ahead of God, by seeing the wrong person as the right one, before God intervened. Looking at the physical will develop into giving into deception. Where there is deception there will be distraction. Distraction is a weapon of the devil to delay, deny and eventually destroy. Have you been giving unconsciously or ignorantly into deception by wrongfully assuming? Evidently, Samuel, a giant in the hand of God assumed wrongly and that shows that any man can do the same. Samuel was referred to as, ÒÉan honorable man; all that he says surely comes to passÉÓ (1 Samuel 9:6) Man cannot calculate the move of God, but can operate in the hand of God if waiting on God is consciously and consistently activated. Elijah fled from Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab after he had executed all the prophets of Baal with swords. During his fleeing, he got to a cave in Mount Horeb where the word of God had directed him to stand outside the mountain before the Lord. While he was waiting for the Lord a great and strong wind passed, and then an earthquake passed, and after the earthquake, fire passed, but the Lord was not in them. Knowing God, it could have been easily assumed that since God had not shown up in any of the three that has always been the process of His showing, He must have passed or He was no longer passing. Elijah waited and did not assume, neither did he calculate GodÕs move. God eventually passed for Elijah, ÒAnd after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, ÒWhat are you doing here, Elijah?Ó ( 1 Kings 19:12-13) For Elijah, He came in a still small voice. Samuel or Elijah could have missed the mark of the calling by simply missing Him when He was passing. At all points in the journey of life, you cannot calculate or assumed God. He is not a stagnant God. Your case or assignment is different from every other case regardless of how relative your story could be, do your waiting on Him and He will show up for you differently.