AVOID STAGNATION
Genesis 11:31, 12:1-9

The land that God called Abraham to go to was the original destination of Terah, the father of Abraham. Genesis 11:31-32, “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.” The same land of Canaan was the one that God eventually called Abraham to go. One could wonder what it was that caused Terah to start a journey and not get to the end of his journey. Terah did not plan to dwell in Haran but to get to Canaan. Could it have been that the comfort in Haran got Terah stagnated? Terah lived for two hundred and fifty years. With so many years on his side, he must have had enough wake-up calls to get him on track towards his original destination, but comfort (convenience) must have held him hostage in Haran. It was in the same Haran that God called Abraham to go out from there to the land of Canaan. In every promising journey of life, there is always a clear indication that multitude or comfort (convenience) will show up with the attempt cause distraction or denial from getting to the expected end. When Abraham was called, he was not to take with himself the entire multitude that Terah took with himself. God instructed Abraham, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3) Abraham left just as he was commanded by God. Have you entered into a journey where stagnation is beginning to show its face by way of convenience or multitude at your stop over? Stop over in your journey is not a final destination, do not dwell in stop over, put a stop to convenience, avoid multitude and move forward. Do not let your stop over overtake your final destination. God is a faithful God and He will see you through if you are willing to go through.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you in getting to your expected end in the journey that you have embarked on.

END IN SIGHT?
Exodus 13:17-22

To those that went on the journey of the wilderness, it must have been as if the journey would never come to an end. Are you feeling the same on your journey of life? Do you question when all the confronting challenges will be over? On the journey of life, challenges will not be over neither shall they go, but the grace that is available is more than enough to make you grow over challenges. The issue of challenges can not be spelled out better than in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” God always honors His word and He will not fail to perform it. Interesting enough for the children of Israel, the Lord led them through the safest route. It was a route that avoided war with the forces of the enemy when they were not yet ready; a route that would prevent them from becoming captive at the hands of enemy. It was a route that took them from going back for the worst. Does that speak of your present route? Above all, God led them through a route where there would have been no reason for them to go back into the captivity of Egypt. Exodus 13: 17-18, “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt. 18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.” In their deliverance from entering a war route, they turned on to war of complaint and disobedience against the One that led them from bondage. The children of Israel could have taken the worst route, but they did not recognize it. As a result, they were unable to acknowledge what God had done as they turned to complaining and disobedience. Your situation could be much worse right now, consider yourself blessed and keep on trusting God. He knows the plans that He is having for you. His plan is not evil because He is not an evil God. It is written in Jeremiah 29:11, “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.” Today, encourage yourself in the Lord; let it be clear to you that God will get you to where He is taking you if you do not step out of His command.

Prayer for today: Let God know that you do not know the way and have Him take over your wilderness journey.

BURNING WORD
Luke 24:13-32

The word of God stated in Jeremiah 23:29, “Is My word not like a fire “Says the Lord…”” Do you have the word in you? Does the word ever burn in you? Ask God to deliver you from whatever it is that is withholding you from having the burning word of God to be burning in you. The Bible recorded in Luke 24 about two who were no strangers to the Living Word of God, but could not catch the fire nature of His burning word when the word located them on their journey. The two on the way to Emmaus were located by Jesus when Jesus appeared to them. Jesus had a long conversation until it was time for Jesus to depart and they testified, “…Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)  You have given your life to our Lord Jesus Christ and you are no longer a stranger to almost every word of Jesus. Is the word burning in you? It is not good to know about the word and not have the word burning in you on a consistent basis. If the word is not burning, there will be no opened eye and it will constantly make Him vanish from the sight of a believer. Luke 24:31-32, “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Jesus walked with the two long enough for them to enter into a breakthrough miracle, but they only recognized Him at His vanishing point. The problem of the two was that the word that was spoken to them, the word that they were receiving all through their walk with Jesus, did not catch fire in them and as a result, their hearts failed to burn within them while He talked with them on the way. The Word of God is not scarce today and it is constantly in your face if you are a believer that spends time in the Bible regularly. Catching on to the word should not only be a Sunday–Sunday medicine. Whatever it is that is quenching the burning of the word in your life has a need to give up on you. If you are indeed willing to move forward with Him and also to maintain a constant communication for your transformation, your heart has to be in a place where the word is burning in it at all times.

Prayer for today: Ask Him for the grace to make your heart a place where His Word is not getting quenched when it comes into you.

HEALING TOUCH
Matthew 8:1-17

Only God sees and hears about all that is humiliating you; all which is causing pain; all which is grieving you and all that is making you shed secret tears. 2Chronicles16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” and Zechariah 4:10 also confirms it, “…The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.” Absolutely, evidently and most definitely, the One that gives eyes surely sees and He knows about all that we go through in every step of our life. Keep on calling and asking because he also hears when we call and never gets tired of our calling. He is a faithful God. The children of Israel in their bondage of over four hundred years did not stop crying until God heard their cry. It is testified in Exodus 2:23-25, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”  At the process of time, He heard the children of Israel. He is not a partial God and He will hear your cry. He alone sees all and hears all at the same time. If you will look up to Him with expectation for a manifestation, God will not look away from you. He will touch you just as He touched the leper that came to Him. Matthew 8:2-3, “And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”In His touch, there is healing and there is restoration. Today is your day of receiving His touch. Come to Him in your heart knowing fully well that there is no limitation as to how He works. In the same chapter, it is written that through touching, Peter’s mother-in-law was free from the sickness of fever. Matthew 8:14-15, “Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.”Wherever you remind Him concerning the miracle that is inhabited in His touch and make yourself available to be touched by Him you will be touched. God is a faithful God.

Prayer for today: Ask for His healing touch that will release you from all that has remained a problem in your life. 

ONE WORD
Luke 19:28-37

Just one word of God is enough to terminate every struggle in the life of a believer or non-believer. Whenever the word of God finds an entrance into the life of the hearer, it will not leave without putting its mark of deliverance on the receiver. Luke 19: 30-31, “Saying, ‘Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone asks you, Why are you loosing it? Thus you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it.’” All that the Lord Jesus gave His disciples who went to get the colt was His word. The word of Jesus was received by the disciples without doubt or questioning. There was faith in place and in faith there is no alternative but to focus on God. Have you received any word of direction where there is no way out? The disciples went with the word of direction, word of command to where the colt was tied down. The colt owner responded by questioning why the colt was being loose. In response to the colt owner, the word of Jesus went out in Luke 19:34, “And they said, ‘The Lord has need of him.’” The colt owner responded to the word without any questioning or investigation of the word by allowing the colt to go. Often times, in the life of a believer, when the word of direction sounds, the contrast between the premise that we know too much and the truth of our not knowing enough hinders us getting enough from what the word of God wants to offer us. Indeed the word of wisdom states, ignorance makes a destitute of a believer and it can be evident in a situation of acting like we know more when knowing less is actually being demonstrated. In responding to the word of God, asking too many questions or attempting to investigate the dependability in the word will lead to stagnation. With stagnation in place, the miracle for breakthrough will cease from having its place. Which word has been sounding in your direction with no response coming forth from you? If you will choose to take to the word of God, your release or your breakthrough will be manifested. The word of Jesus that answered for the disciples delivered the colt into the hand of the disciples. How long will you continue to delay your breakthrough? As you enter into a new day, week, or season, let the word of God and not your world, have its way. If you are wiling and obedient, allow the word that sounds in your direction to release you into your service for the One that has created you for His glory and service.

Prayer for today: Let the simplicity of heart that allows the entrance of Your word that gives light have its place in my life.