PROVOCATION
Isaiah 1

This is what is written in Isaiah 1:4, “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned backward.” The Lord was provoked to anger. He is a living God who can be provoked to anger. Provoking the anger of God can be destructive for the one who provokes Him by virtue of their wicked way. If God can be provoked to anger by a wicked way, He can also be provoked to respond in delivering His children who walk away by taking any step from any wicked way. Whenever God is provoked to do good, He will respond graciously by converting any destructive manifestation to a deliverance manifestation. What kind of experience do you want to experience with God? Preferably, would anyone prefer destruction rather than His deliverance? Without any doubt, when God’s deliverance is in place, being in His rest will reign. Once during the journey of the children of Israel from bondage to the Promise Land, Moses needed direction in the way. Exodus 33:13-14, “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” “14 And He said, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” The point here is that the presence of God generates rest. When He is provoked by virtue of one doing what is good in His sight, having His rest will be activated. Having rest in the Lord is to be obedient in His Word because the Word of God is the presence of God. God’s presence will give and lead in the right direction. Do you think of provoking His hands for good? Isaiah prescribed what it takes to provoke Him for good. Isaiah 1:16-17, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor: defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” It is always good to be on God’s side. There is no need in provoking Him unto anger. God cannot be deceived and no man can hide from Him. Above all, in as much as He will not overlook sin so He will not overlook that which is right. Encourage yourself in the Lord today. Let all of your way be of positive provocation of the hands of God in your favor.

Prayer for today: Have Your way O Lord in my life and let me not be a vessel of negative pro vocation in Jesus name.

GOING BACKWARD
Job 34:21-30, Isaiah 5:11-17

Going backward is a way to captivity. There is no accidental entrance in stepping into captivity, but gradual backward steps from the way of God will undoubtedly lead one into captivity. The way that the children of Israel took in entering into captivity was a clear demonstration to all who want to end up in captivity. Isaiah 5:12-13, “The harp and the strings, the tambourine and the flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands. 13 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” When there is a failure in regarding the work of God, there will be no regret for doing what does not glorify His Name. Also, not to have affection for what God has done will deny respect to what He is doing or what He can do. Furthering journey into the backward is a failure to constantly consider how the hands of God operate. Without a mindset or constant consideration on the operation of His hands, there will be a smooth journey into the backward. Going backward is a way of captivity and it was the same way that led the children of Israel into Babylon. Can you as a living creation of the mighty hand of God take a brief moment to search yourself and see if there is any trait of backward journey having its place in your walk of life? The children of Israel failed to regard the work of God nor did they consider the operations of His hand. They therefore ended in captivity. It is iniquity not to regard His work or consider the operation of His hands because He is a Jealous God. It is a demonstration of not paying Him attention and being occupied by what goes on around us. Whatever it is that is taking away your attention will not be enough to attend to you in your captivity. Avoid whatever is actually taking you into a backward journey; backward journeys are away from God. Job 34:22, “There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” The act of not paying God attention is iniquity. The attempt to hide iniquity is a failed attempt; it is impossible to hide from Him. Take a step into the forward going. Give God all the attention for He is the Almighty Creator and there is no turning from Him.

Prayer for today: Enable me O Lord in giving You all the attention that sets man up to end up in Your presence.

COLD LOVE
Matthew 24:1-13

Developing cold love is dieing silently. In walking in the way of the Lord, there is no cold love and there is no justification for cold love. In the conversation of Jesus with His disciples, He mentioned in Matthew 24:12-13, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Lawlessness is the major generator of cold love. Lawlessness has its root when there is inconsistency in the Word of God. It is written in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” How is your hearing in the Lord? Hearing and hearing is not a Sunday only engagement but rather is a regular and consistent engagement. Spending time studying the living Word of God is the main medication for not entering into cold love. Have you as a believer been drifting from your time of studying the Word of God? The time we are now living is a time that the deceiver has taken a strong stand against the children of God. Lawlessness is increasing while love is growing colder and colder. Love is a ticket to Heaven and when there is no ticket, there will be no way for entrance. All that the Lord has put in place for His children to endure has been turned around by the enemy to end them all and cause them to miss salvation. The same evil one who was in the old is the same that is today. He confirmed his movement schedule to God, “…As going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 2:2) The only protective ground from the evil one is to dwell in the shadow of the Lord God. Racing to the expected end is not only in the beginning but also in the end. Every believer does have a need for the grace to endure because only the ones who endure to the end shall be saved. Is your love getting cold by virtue of what you see and what surrounds you? If what you are seeing or all that surrounds you are the effects of developing cold love, enter into the Word of God and let the Word have its way in your life. Knowing the Word of God is not enough but also requires knowing to live in His Word. Pray to God for consistency in faith. Knowing God and remaining in Him is the greatest miracle. It is written in Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like a fire? says the LORD and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

Prayer for today: Ask God for the fire nature of His Word to keep burning in you so you will never run cold. 

KNOW IT
Haggai 2

Do you know that He is with you? Do you know it clearly that He is always with you and He will never forsake you? When you lack the understanding that God is with you, the power of Him being there for you will not be activated. There has to be a conscious and deliberate tapping into what He has available for you. It is written in Hosea 4:6 that the lack of knowledge is what destroyed the people of God. It is important to constantly keep in mind that He is with us just as we walk in line with His word. Do you know that He can always be with His children?  The completion of the latter temple was nothing to be compared with the one that was built by Solomon. For those who lived to witness both temples that could be enough to create in them a sense of discouragement. There was a need for them to be encouraged and move forward and not dwell on the past but to continue in their work for the Lord. God spoke the word of encouragement through Haggai in Haggai 2:4, “Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work; for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts”. Are you experiencing any form of slowing down or discouragement? Take to the living Word of God that was and that will always be. The Word is speaking encouragement and power to you. Disallow the past from counting you out but continue to count on Him that is abundantly able to accept you from where you stand in Him. God’s words, “I am with you” (Exodus 3:12) was the same that was spoken to encourage Moses in the assignment for bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. God has not ceased from being in the position of backing His children up with His word. Above all, are you living the word of God? This is what it takes to have the word answer on our behalf, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”(Hebrews 13:5) To be living according to His command and to know that He is true to His word is encouraging. With our knowing, “…we can boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6) Know that the Lord is with you. Live with this understanding and you shall have the edge over the challenges in your way. Be encouraged by the Word of God today and He will see you through in all your confrontations.

Prayer for today: Ask Him to help and keep you not to depart from all His ways in every step of life.

SEARCH YOURSELF
1 Samuel 15

The spirit of rebellion and disobedience can be likened to bread and butter. Wherever rebellion lodges in, disobedience will also come aboard. After Saul had taken a step of rejection by God as a result of his disobedience, Samuel approached Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “So Samuel said: ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king’”. It is clear in the words of Samuel that rebellion and disobeying the Word of God lines up together. It is a way of destruction that causes man to be rejected by God. As a believer who fears the wrath of God, are you paying attention to yourself? Will you be willing to search your heart and see if any of the two are actually having its way in your life? To be rejected by God is a termination in the line of salvation and not living up to the final destination. The children of Israel were rebellious in their journey of life. God rejected all the population from ages twenty and above and they could not get to their final destination in the journey of life. Rebellion and disobedience are bonafide partners and if there is a trace of one in you, there must be a line of the other one in you as well. In reference to Jerusalem, it was written in Zephaniah 3:1-2 “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! 2 She has not obeyed His voice, She has not received correction; She has not trusted in the LORD, She has not drawn near to her God.” Rebellion is a demonstration of not obeying His voice (word of God). To be disobedient to the word of God is a way of not receiving correction. Constant denial of correction is a connection with disability in listening to what God has to say or what God is saying. A believer who refuses to be corrected is showing lack of trust in God and such believer is not considering God in the making of his decisions. To be rebellious, disobedient, not taken to correction and not trusting God are all in the same line. The bottom line of it is drawing away from God and being far from God. Search yourself and seek Him for readjustment in your journey of life. To be far from God should be exceedingly avoided by all man.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take your days and your moments and be concentrated onto Him.