GOD REMEMBERS
1Samuel 1

God testifies in His word, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”(Jeremiah 29:11) Undoubtedly, our God that is of good thoughts is definitely a good God with no iota of evil towards His creation. He is a good God that will always remember with favor and visit with salvation. “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.” (Genesis 8:1) It was God’s remembrance of Noah that set him back on a dry ground. When God remembers it is always with favor. Are you looking for God’s remembrance? The only thing God cannot do is to fail. Do not fail yourself by failing to ask Him for His remembrance. When He remembered Noah, the water of affliction and destruction subsided. Today with God’s remembrance of you, every representative of water of affliction will subside in your life and you will walk again on a dry ground. Wherever your world has been turned upside down because of stagnation, God will grant you motion and every agent of stagnation will subside in your life. God that remembered Noah will remember you. Hannah, despite her bareness she did not have any record of rebellion or complain, rather she was consistent in going to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts. When her time to be remembered by God was at hand, “… they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. (1 Samuel 1:19) It does not matter how long you have been waiting for Him to remember you but it does matter that in your waiting, in your going back and forth to the ground of worship and sacrifice, do not shift your focus away from God. He is not a forgetful God neither will He be too busy to hear your cry. He is God that moves at His own time. Hannah kept focus and shut out complain, bitterness and anger against God. As a result, miracle located Hannah and her Samuel came to be. You have waited long enough, it is not time for you to quit or get quiet in your calling on Him. Ask God to remember you and He will remember you because He is God that remembers with favor.

Prayer for today: God will not fail He will remember you and bareness will cease in every area of your life in the name of Jesus.

STORM WILL COME
Luke 8:22-25

“Now it happened, on a certain day that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out.” (Luke 8:22)  Crossing over does not come by accident but for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in the life His creation. In any crossing over that is meant to settle man for the glory of God, faith has to play a direct role. Jesus, the One that knows the end from the beginning, and the beginning from the end, wanted to take His disciples on a journey of crossing over. Every crossing over requires faith that will allow launching out. Without launching out there will be no crossing over. And in launching out, challenges will always show up with the attempt to delay and deny the one that it is set to cross over. However, with the living Word of God on board, it will not matter what comes to delay or deny getting to the other side is certain. How will you respond in a journey where Jesus is Lord? When the disciples were exposed to the challenges that were embedded in crossing, they lost their sleep and were awake because of the fear of the storm. Could it be that the disciples’ faith was growing slowly while Jesus was with them? The Bible mentioned, “But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.”(Luke 8:23-24) Do you have Jesus in your vessel? It does not matter if you are asleep or awake, the storm will come, but the bottom line for you is that having Jesus in your vessel is a guarantee that victory is certain. Why not be still, trust in Him and He will not sleep over when the storm rises to a challenging level. The journey to other side, the journey to cross over is a challenging one, but it will require unswerving demonstration of faith. Jesus responded to the storm and reacted to His disciples, “But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”(Luke 8:25) Jesus calmed down the storm and reacted by questioning the faith of His disciples. Is there any storm rising in attempt to drown you? Jesus is asking you, where is your faith?

Prayer for today:Deliver me O Lord from the forces that cause man’s faith to fail. Let my faith not fail.

STANDING ON GROUND
Genesis 40, 41

Absolutely, evidently, when God opens a door no man can shut it. Also, when He purpose no force can dispose it. He is the one and only Almighty God and no force can disrupt whatever He construct for His glory. “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.”(Genesis 41:46)  God has a ground for you to stand and without getting there you will not stand. Elijah was never mentioned nor referred to in any page of the scripture until he took his stand. 1 Kings 17:1, “ And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, as the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” Elijah took his stand, he made a declaration that was backed in heaven and manifested on earth. Joseph started his journey at age seventeen and not until he was thirty years of age, he could not take a stand on the ground where God had put in place for him. At the time that Joseph stepped on his ground and took a stand, his story was changed forever. It was a transformation of the journey that started in a pit of lack, a pit of destruction, a pit of termination and a pit of no hope to the Peak of Power in a foreign ground. Your case has not be written over yet and when it appears to be over and no way out, God in His goodness and mercy will make a way for you out of no way if you will consistently remember that you cannot commit great and wicked sin against the Lord. To Joseph, it was a dream journey and it went on and on as if there will not be an end to affliction. However, Joseph got to the ground where he took a stand before the king of the land, Pharaoh of Egypt. As a believer, there will be times of ups and downs but never let the “keeping people down” agent keeps you down and stranded. The story of Joseph’s journey is not fiction, it is a reality and it can be lifting when you’re down by the punches of this world. Before Joseph’s first appearance to Pharaoh he was an overseer in the prison. His authority was to oversee his fellow prisoners. When Joseph took his stand, and after taking his stand, he became the deputy general overseer of the whole land of Egypt. Until you stand on the ground where the Lord has put in place for you, the journey continues in face of challenges.

Prayer for today: Ask God to bring you up to stand on the ground he has put in place for your breakthrough. 

MERCY THAT ENDUERS
Genesis 19:1-19

God is a good God that never runs out of mercy except His creation run out of His mercy by wrongful self reposition. The mercy of God endures forever. When Sodom and Gomorrah was set for destruction God had settled the deliverance of Lot. God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for all the works of wickedness that have prevailed in the land. Out of the whole land, God decided to bring only Lot and his household out of destruction. As a result of God’s mercy for Lot’s salvation, God sent two angels for Lot’s deliverance. During the visitation of salvation by the angels, the angels were exposed to the wickedness that has been reigning in the land when the wicked attempted to “know the angels carnally” (Genesis 19:5). The angels announced to Lot the purpose of their visitation was to deliver him and his household. It was requested of Lot to move his household before the destruction. Lot went out and spoke to his sons- in-law who had married his daughters but they took him for a joke. Lot’s sons-in-law did not run into the mercy of God that was made available but ran out of God’s mercy. While the angels were waiting for Lot to make his move, Lot was dragging his feet and delaying the timing of destruction. The Bible recorded in Genesis 19:16, “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful and they brought him out and set him outside the city. Many times we have dragged our feet where God wanted us to move our feet; many situations we have been in place where God wants to move concerning a situation in our life but we positioned ourselves not to be moved. The Bible declared that Lot lingered in a place where destruction had been ordained for manifestation. Are you lingering against God’s mercy? Despite his lingering God decided not to run out of mercy concerning the case of Lot. Lot testified in Genesis 19:19, “Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.”Is there any area of your life where God wants to move you to a ground of favor but by virtue of ignorance you are not moving? God does not and will never run out of mercy. God is a merciful God and His mercy endures forever.

Prayer for today: Ask God today for the grace that will keep you from running out of God’s mercy. Lot lingered but God increased His mercy to have him saved from destruction.

GOOD PART IS GOOD
Luke 10:38-42

Where are you located in the Lord? Which part have you chosen? It is a great thing to be working in the house of the Lord, for the glory of God. However, when your work begins to take you away from the feet of the Lord then your priority has been misplaced. Where are you? What is your place in the house of God? Martha was in a good location when she welcomed the Lord into her place. Luke 10:38, “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.” There is no blessing like welcoming Jesus into our place. To have Jesus come into our place and not being in the right place could be a great loss. Have you let Jesus into your place (your heart)? If you have done so avoid replacing Him by placing yourself in a wrong position. While Jesus was at Martha’s place, Mary the sister of Martha was positioned in the good place. Martha was busy working, serving and scrambling instead of serving and being served by the Bread of Life. By this virtue, Martha became distracted. Absolutely, there is nothing wrong in getting busy and serving in the Lord. However, when a server begins to feel distracted and not gaining in the Word of God, readjustment should be called for. In the case of Martha, much distraction took the place of receiving from the Word of God. As a result, Martha approached Jesus requesting for Mary’s help in serving. Luke 10:40, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” Jesus’ responded to Martha in Luke 10:41-42, “And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Serving Him in the house should not take away from being served by Him. Martha was doing a good thing but Mary had chosen a good part. Every believer should understand that there is a place and time for everything (including work) in the house of God where His presence reigns and rule. Is your work in the house of God taking away the time to sit at His feet while He is in the house. It could also be a misplacement of priority when distraction is caused by work. It is good to serve Him, but there is a need to choose a good part and that good part is serving in Him. Do not just serve Him, but also serve in Him.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God and my father, I ask that you deny every agent of distraction in my service unto you.