STATE OF THE HEART
Numbers 14

How are you keeping your heart? The word of God commands, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverb 4:23) Just as the issue of life springs out of heart, so the issue of death springs out of heart. How are you keeping your heart? Heart operates as the manufacturer and whatever it manufactures the mouth delivers. This is indicated in the statement of Jesus “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) Keeping the heart with all diligence is directly important to your deliverance unto your breakthrough in the journey of life. The children of Israel came out of the bondage of over four hundred years, they had miracle upon miracles in their journey but yet, they completely forgot in their heart. Despite the promise of God to take them to a land that flows with milk and honey, they allowed their mouth to terminate their promised land. After the spying of the land that the Lord had planned for them, they spoke from their heart, “…We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” (Numbers 13:31) How can the people that have overcome a giant task be speaking forth with such negativity? Out of the abundance of their heart they spoke out and God responded through Moses, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.” (Numbers 14:28) What is your heart manufacturing for you mouth to produce before the perfect Creator? Determination will not help you in keeping you heart with all diligence because determination failed Peter. However, the Spirit of God is what will help to keep your heart with all diligent. How can the Spirit of God keep your heart for you? The word of God encourages us in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” The word of God which is life will give you life and not death in the journey of life. Here is what the book of Proverbs commanded if you desire to keep your heart with all diligent, “…Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands and live” (Proverbs 4:4) Can your heart retain the word of God? Whatever is your desire is what the Lord God will deposit in your life and it will give you life. Get into thinking positive and confessing positive because as you think in your heart so you are (Proverbs 23:7).
It is a new month, depart from confessing negative and adapt to confessing positive.
 
Prayer for today: My Lord and my God, I ask today, circumcise my heart to love you with my entire all so that I may live.        

ALL ABOUT DOING GOOD
Genesis 24

It is not good enough to know about doing good. It only becomes good to know and to do good when situation demands doing good. If doing good brings blessing, knowing to do good and not do it could possibly generate a curse. Abraham, in his attempt to get Isaac a wife said, “…To the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” (Genesis 24:2-4) Abraham’s servant held to the command of Abraham. Having got to Abraham’s country, the servant said, “…O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”(Genesis 24:12-14) Just as the oldest servant had finished in his request, Rebekah showed up and the servant approached Rebekah asking her for a drink. Out of the goodness of her heart, she responded, “…Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.” (Genesis 24:18-20) Rebekah’s delivery of good beyond the request of the servant was a demonstration of an abundance of a good heart. Rebekah gave beyond the imagination of the servant and that left the servant in a wondering position, “And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.” (Genesis 24:21) Rebekah’s doing good was out of a good heart and it was beyond the imagination of the servant. Rebekah’s doing of good tied her to a family with generational blessing from God. Pay attention to doing good with no excuse. Doing good can be very challenging while its blessing can be unimaginably great and rewarding.

Prayer for today: Father, I pray this day for the grace of enablement to do good where the situation demands. 

BE SPECIFIC
Matthew 6:5-14

Through all the pages of scripture, every of God’s command came with specificity, orderliness and with details. When He was going to bring the earth to end with a flood, in the days of Noah He gave the command, “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.” (Genesis 6:14-16) Just as details and specificity are evident in His command to Noah, so it is when He gives command. God constantly and consistently expects full compliance to every detail of His command. Also, when God sends a message through His messenger, He wants the details of His message to be delivered and not more or less than what He requests from His messenger. After giving Jeremiah the message for His people, He commanded him, “Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you.” (Jeremiah 1:17) God that is consistent in giving commands in details will expect His children to respond and comply obediently in detail. The point here is, God that gives command with specificity and details will also expect us to ask Him with specificity and in details so He can respond to us in full. He is a God of order and He does not settle for disorder. Evidently, this must be one of the reasons why the word of God encourages us that, when we ask in prayer, we should avoid repetition. Jesus specifically said in Matthew 6:7, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. ” At every time there is addition to His word, the one that adds to His words becomes exposed to the devil. God gave instruction in the Garden of Eden, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) When the serpent approached Eve, Eve responded by adding to the command of God, “…Nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” (Genesis 3:3) The word of God cannot be reduced neither should it be added to. God is a God of order and you shall approach Him or respond to Him with specificity or orderliness.
 
Prayer for Today: Ask Him to help you in responding to all of His instruction and teaching in the way you should go.

SEE IT AS IS THERE
Proverbs 4

“My son, give attention to my words; Incline you ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22) In regard to the scriptural verse above, it is thoughtful to say that the word of God that one hears with ears and not able to see with eyes will not stay in the midst of one’s heart. The Bible makes us realize that the words of God are life and not just letters. John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6, “…For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” How much does it require of you to begin to receive the word of God as life and not just letter? It is how you receive it that determines how it will answer for you. If the word is received as life just as you receive a direction to navigate your way to a destination, life will be straight forward at every juncture of direction and redirection from getting lost. This is an example of how you receive the word with your ear and see it with your eyes: If in getting to point “A” direction is being laid down for you by the one directing you and you are able to hear with your ear when and where to turn before getting to point “A”. Having heard with your ear, you begin to see in the midst of your heart where and when to turn. Your response to the one giving you direction will be “oh yes I see, I see” When you begin to see before getting there, then it means that the word of direction has entered your ear, your eyes have seen it (before getting there) and it is already programmed in the midst of your heart. What makes it difficult to receive the word of God the same? A film director or producer that presented the movie, Passion of Christ was not alive when Jesus went to Calvary. However, he was able to receive the word with his ear and it became a picture which could be seen as if he was there. The picture that he produced was fitting and almost true to life. After the separation of Abraham from Lot, when God told Abraham to see, Abraham must have seen it for it to become for Him. “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants for ever.” (Genesis 13:15) The word that you receive and are able to see as being there will determine what you become. Give attention to the word you receive, let your heart retain it and you will keep His command and have life abundantly.

Prayer for today: Ask God to feed you with the knowledge of His word in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

LAND OF NOD
Genesis 4:1-16

The place of sin in the life of every man should be outside of every man and not inside. Sin is always waiting for the opportune time to pounce in to the inside. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, experienced the threat of the devil after His forty days wilderness period, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) Devil that sought for an opportune time with Jesus will seek for a place in every man’s inside. Sin is always at the door of people with angry and deceptive spirits. When Cain failed in his offering before God, an angry spirit rose in him and God responded to him, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6) God could not have said it wrongly. Sin is always at the door waiting for its opportunity to enter. When Cain killed his brother Abel, sin entered and the presence of God departed from him. The Bible said as a result of Cain’s sin, “…Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.” (Genesis 4:16) Cain ended in the land of Nod, the east of Eden. Are you in any way that leads to land of Nod? It is possible to be a regular church going believer and be on the way to the land of Nod. Manifestly, it is not all that enter into the house of God that actually dwell in the presence of God. If you have departed from His presence, it is possible to be entering into the house of God and not be in His presence. It is not the ground of worship that matters but how you are grounded in the Lord. Have you let sin into your house lately? When there is life there is hope, do not take yourself out of His presence but take your place in His presence by amending your ways. God spoke to Jeremiah, “…Hear the word “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.’” (Jeremiah 7:2-3) In God’s warning to Cain, He made to us know that we have the power to rule over sin. The warning of God is the evidence that the key to the door is in our hand to use in denying sin from gaining entrance. Jesus is our key to victory over sin.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from every force that leads to sin gaining entrance through your door.