FEAR NOT< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Jeremiah 42

Obey the word of God by receiving it and releasing it into your life. After releasing the word into your life, then you should be living in the word. The word can be pleasing or displeasing at the time you receive it, but it will not mistreat you in anyway. If you will allow the word, then the world will have no part of you. When the Jews who were left behind after the captivity began to seek for a means of avoiding the challenges from the Chaldeans opposition, Jeremiah was consulted for inquiring from God. ÒNow all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ÔPlease, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), 3 that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.Ó(Jeremiah 42:1-3) The Jews who were remaining were referred to as the remnant Jews. They wanted a word from God so they asked Jeremiah for help. One thing is to want to hear from Him and another is to be willing to receive whatever He says. God is willing to reveal His way to His children, but another thing is whether or not you are ready to accept what His word of direction is saying? The Jews promised Jeremiah before inquiring from God, ÒWhether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.Ó (Jeremiah 42:6) Jeremiah went before God and was able to receive a message for the Jews. The message for them was not to run and dwell in Egypt because they had set their faces to run to Egypt as a safe dwelling ground. God promised in Jeremiah 42:11-12, ÒDo not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,Ó says the LORD,Ó Ôfor I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.Ó The Jews did not listen to the message for them. The point here is that they were afraid and it is clear from their case that to be afraid is to lose the presence of God that will deliver and show mercy. The Jews could not remain in the land just as God had sent Jeremiah to them. They were afraid and they eventually moved to Egypt. The Jews lost their ground and they could not retain the presence of God and as a result, they could not retain life. The remnant Jews disobeyed the Word of God. Egypt could not prevent them from dying by sword, by famine and pestilence. Obey His word and you will live and not die. 

Feb 04-08< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>INTENTION AND INTEGRITYJob 2:1-10, Acts 19:11-20

Good intention without integrity is the same as spiritual emptiness. For every man who wants to be good without having integrity of backing up their good intention will have nothing move before God. The American Heritage College Dictionary as defined integrity: Òsteadfast adherence to a strict ethical code; the state of being unimpaired; soundness; the quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness. Can you imagine God declaring or testifying you as being a man of integrity? Job 2:3, ÒThen the LORD said to Satan, ÔHave you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.ÕÓ God, by Himself, qualified Job as a man of integrity. For God to have described Job as a man of integrity, Job must have walked the walk and lived the word. He earned it all before God, but yet the enemy found its way to touch him. Among all that should not have discouraged Job was his wife, but she used JobÕs strength as a slap on Job. The wife was supposed to be a helper to him, but in his situation she turned the other way of discouraging him. The wife did not spare him from rubbing it in. ÒThen his wife said to him, ÒDo you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!Ó (Job 2:9) Keep your head straight up and your eyes only unto God in your current situation. Whatever the situation is, it is not the measure of GodÕs blessing. It could be your way to be multiplied in the blessings of God. Good intention is what the itinerant Jewish exorcists had when they, ÒÉtook it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ÒWe exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.Ó (Acts 19:13) The itinerant Jewish exorcists had the intention of casting out evil spirits, but the level of integrity that would cause God to look in their direction was absent from their lives. Faulting in the line of integrity does not require a big or consistent case of lying, but even a very simple and what can be considered as a minor lie is enough to disrupt your testimony of integrity. Good intention and integrity will add up in making one a vessel of honor to the glory of God. The Lord will have mercy.

SURE MERCY< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Psalm 23

ÒPardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.Ó (Numbers 14:19) This is a prayer of intercession by Moses on behalf of the children of Israel after one of their rebellious acts that made God to react against them during their wilderness journey. At any point in time, have you complained against Him or have you found yourself in a situation that is not well with the experience in your wilderness journey? It is worth it to pray the kind of prayer that Moses prayed because it was all written for our learning. Great is the faithfulness of God and He is abundant in mercy. In His hand is His mercy and He can choose to have mercy on us and He can also choose not to have mercy. However, He said in His Word that we should ask and not faint. When we ask constantly and consistently according to the greatness of His mercy, He will no doubt hear us from Heaven and His mercy shall be given unto us. The Psalmist knew to ask for His mercy when he prayed, ÒHear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. (Psalm 4: 1) The phase Òhave mercy on meÓ should be an adopted signature tune for each and every believer in every area of life. In the absence of His mercy, there could be a merciless destruction by the liar and his agents of wickedness. Just for His mercy alone, the Lord is worthy of great and mighty praise and adoration. He is a good God and His mercy endures forever. The Psalmist considered it as very important to acknowledge this fact when he repeatedly testified in the first verse of Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 136:1, ÒÉOh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good For His mercy endures forever.Ó Indeed He is good and His mercy endures forever. It is His mercy that we need when all have rejected us as hopeless and condemned. The mercy of God is all that we need to consider us. ÒHave mercy on me, O Lord! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death.Ó (Psalm 9:13) He never runs out of mercy, however, we run out of His mercy. The Bible says His mercy endures forever. Can you trust in His mercy? Trusting in His mercy is trusting in His name because His name is merciful. Today, lift up your hand, pray and ask for His sure mercy. ÒSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.Ó (Psalm 23:6) Amen.

HIS TOUCH       < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Isaiah 6:1-10

If there is any thing to ask from Him in this season, it should be for His hand. The hand of God is mighty and cannot be reduced or denied in any area of life. His hand is deliverance and it will also bring forth healing. The operation of His hand cannot be separated from that of His word. When the Lord called Jeremiah, it was through the operation of His hand in combination with His word. Jeremiah 1:9-10, ÒThen the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ÔBehold, I have put My words in your mouth.10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.ÕÓ The word of God was there to be activated for Jeremiah to answer and live for the fulfillment of his calling. Without the touching of God, he would not have been able to see. The Lord put forth His hand to call his attention to what had been deposited in him. It was the touch of GodÕs hand in the life of Jeremiah and the grace for Jeremiah to hear that caused JeremiahÕs eyes to be opened up and see. Jeremiah truly saw that day and his life was never the same. Could it be that all you need is to be touched? Has the word located you, but you are yet to get a touch that will cause you to become on fire for Him? The hand of God and His word can be likened to matches that spark fire in the hand of one waiting for the spark from the ignition of fire. Isaiah also testified in Isaiah 6:6-7, ÒThen one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ÔBehold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.ÕÓ Isaiah could not hear until he had been touched. As a result of the touch that came into the life of Isaiah, his life became a flaming torch for the purpose of the Kingdom of God. The Book of Isaiah is referred to as the miniature Bible. Just like the Bible, his first thirty-nine chapters are compared to the first thirty-nine books of Old Testament while the last twenty-seven are compared to the last twentyÐseven books of the New Testament. By His touch, Jeremiah and Isaiah carried out great exploits to the glory of God. Ask and ask consistently for the mercy that will cause His hand to touch you for His name to be glorified in your life.

THE WORD IS POWER

1 Kings 17:1-6< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

ÒBut the Word is very near in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.Ó (Deuteronomy 30:14) Anyone who is having the word in their mouth and in their heart will do the word. The ones who know to do the Word will undoubtedly know how to call on the word for use whenever challenges are demanding. Psalm 107:20, He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.Ó The same word of God that was sent is the same that is near our mouths and we are to use it as a weapon for defense against all that the enemy brings in our direction. ÒIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.Ó (John 1:1-3) The word of God is God. The word has never stopped coming to us since the beginning. Jesus, the living word of God, also declared His availability in John 10:10 ÒÉI have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.Ó The word that has been made available will only be available if our hearts have been available for the word to reign and rule. The word of God is true and is power. The Word will work for those that walk in it while living in this world of wickedness. Hebrews 4:12-13, ÒFor the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.Ó This is the same word that Elijah operated with a consciousness when he called on rain to cease for three and half years. The word of God is not without power to those who know to walk and to stand in the Word of God. When Elijah encountered Ahab, the king of Israel, all that was in his power was the living word of God. 1 Kings 17:1, ÒAnd Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ÒAs the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.Ó What you eat is what you will become. If you will let the word of God be your daily bread and meditate on it day and night, the word will become of you and you will also be able to stand in declaring it when challenges demand it. Be a carrier of GodÕs word and His word will not fail in carrying you.