LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW
1 Corinthians 13

Among the gift of God, love is the greatest gift. Love is like an anchor that every other gift holds on to and when love is not there fulfilling the command of God is absolutely impossible. Paul the apostle clearly drew out the importance of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” It is clear in Paul’s word that though a believer can demonstrate the gifts of God such: as speaking in tongues, prophesying, reaching out to the needy and making oneself available when or where there is need, without love, all is empty and it carries no weight. Jesus meant what He was saying when He stated in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” In regard to this statement, every believer needs to examine and search themselves. Have you been demonstrating any of the gifts while you entertain hate, bitterness, and any other opposite of love? Man can always be deceived, your pastor can be deceived, brethren can be deceived, but God cannot be deceived. The apostle Paul went further to describe what love is about in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” If every believer will consider the description of what love is about just as stated by the apostle Paul, there will be a need for grace and not a determination to love because determination will fail. To love in truth and in deed seems impossible but God will not require of us what is not possible. Love and be saved, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(Galatians 5:14)
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you with grace to love the way the word requires and not in your own way of loving.

HIS HOLDING
Isaiah 45: 1-13

When God anoints you He will hold your right hand and He will go before you. What a blessing to be anointed by God for His assignment? God is God and He can choose to anoint anyone regardless of their background. Once He anointed Cyrus the king of Persia a pagan, to accomplish the deliverance of the children of Israel. Isaiah 45:1, “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ” When God holds your right hand, victory is certainly certain. When He holds your right hand, you are no longer the one doing the battle but a vessel being used by God. As it was when He held the right hand of Cyrus, so it will be for you and you will subdue and loose the weapons of your enemy; undeniable doors will be opened for your breakthrough. God holding your right hand is God doing the battle while you are just on the battlefield. Isaiah 45:2 also pointed out that when He anoints, He will go before you. Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before you  And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.” When God goes before you, every impenetrable ground will yield for your penetration and the rough places that have been troubling you in your passage will be made smooth. When He goes before you, highly invested gates that are specially and specifically constructed to stop and deny your breakthrough will be shattered; they will not stand but fall down flat before you. Above all, every treasured and hidden activity of the wicked will be exposed to you. When the Lord goes before you, the riches that the enemy cherishes will be exposed and the enemy will be naked. God going before you is you stepping in His footsteps. You follow and you cannot fail when walking in His steps. God is still in the business of holding the right hand of His anointed and He is sill going before them. Do you need Him to hold your right hand and go before you just like He did unto Cyrus the king of Persia? There is no God besides the Lord God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is the Holy One of Israel; He alone is the Lord that does all things and nothing is impossible for Him to do.

Prayer for today: As you go in a new day, week, month or year, ask God to hold your right hand and go before you just like He did Cyrus the king of Persia.

GOOD ATTRACTS EVIL
Genesis 6:1-7

Be conscious in your mind that every good thing will pass through challenges at certain times in life. The author of evil will always take a position in your opposite direction to delay or deny the good that is to come your way. Whenever God is operating in His goodness the devil will operate in his ugliness and that is why he is being referred to as the accuser of brethren. God in His goodness created all to be good. Genesis 1:31, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good…” Whatever that was made to be good is also beautiful and there is no ugliness in it. Also, whatever is beautiful will always multiply. The first blessing that was uttered by God after His good work in creating man was the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28)  Beauty and multiplication cannot be separated and it will always draw the attention of wickedness. Evidently, with multiplication and beauty taking its place on the earth, “Then the LORD] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6) Just as beauty and multiplication draws the attention of the wicked, possession of good will also draw the attention of the evil one. The evil one will want to present itself wherever the good ones gather just like it happened in Job 1:6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” As one that loves God and walks in His commands bumping into challenges in your opposite direction is not always an evidence of wrong doing but could be an evidence of the enemy’s attempt to derail and deny your blessing. In your journey to posses all that is good, rest assured that walking in the opposite direction of the evil one is a clear indication of being in the right direction. However, walking side by side with the evil one could be the evidence of being in the same direction with him. Walking side by side is heading in the same direction with evil. Definitely, you do not want to end up in the same place with the evil one. God is good, He made us to be good, beauty and multiplication is our portion. The evil one will be attracted but termination shall be the portion of the evil one.
 
Prayer for today: Ask the Good Lord God to deliver you and preserve you from every evil so that His name can be glorified in your life.

DOUBT
Matthew 11:1-15

Among the definitions of doubt are: to be uncertain; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe and a feeling of uncertainty about the truth. As a believer, dwelling in doubt is destructive to standing in the Lord. Also, the ability to be able to see and hear the truth and turn away from doubt can be productive for a believer in the journey of life. Having heard and seen so much of the power that is in the name of the Jesus, are you still in doubt? John the Baptist doubted Jesus, “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3) Is there any representative of prison in your life that is causing doubt of what Jesus can do? John the Baptist, while spending time in prison doubted Jesus. It was John that baptized Jesus, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13) John the Baptist bears witness of Jesus, “…Behold The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ (John 1:29-30) John also exalted Jesus when he stated that, “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31) Despite all that John the Baptist knew about Jesus, when he was in the prison of his life, he doubted Jesus. John wanted to know what he already knew. Remember you have heard it all and you have seen it all; if you will hold on to all that you have known you will depart from doubt and not dwell in it. Jesus’ response to John’s doubt is the same response that is speaking to you, “…Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mathew 11:4-6) Where there is doubt faith has a tendency not to stand. Hebrew 11:6, “…But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” Do not allow your present situation to dictate to you what your God can do or what he cannot do. Take your stand and declare to your situation that Jesus is Lord and there is nothing He cannot do.
 
Prayer for today: Ask the Lord God to deliver you from every spirit of doubt

TOILING?
Luke 5:1-11

How long have you been toiling without anything to show for your toiling? Once a group of fishermen toiled all night and had nothing to show for it until they had an encounter with Jesus. Are you toiling in any area of life without anything to show for it? In the case of the group of fishermen that toiled with nothing to show for it, there were two things they did that triggered their breakthrough miracle. Is there any area of life where your toiling has not been productive? Are you toiling with no result coming forth? The two things that the fishermen did that triggered their miracle are in Luke 5:1-5, “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” The first thing was: The fishermen had no idea of who Jesus was when He requested to use their boats as the podium for communicating His message. Despite lack of productivity in their toiling all night they did not reject the request of Jesus. Is your situation dictating how you respond to strangers coming your way? You never know who God is going to use to touch your life in your present situation and it is not an excuse not to reach out to anyone that crosses your way. Secondly, the fishermen did not reject the command of Jesus when He commanded them to launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch. The fishermen could have complained to Jesus’ command that called for doing what had not worked all night. The fishermen listened and did as they were directed to do. In your non productive toiling, is there any voice sounding in your direction that you have been ignoring? Take some time out and identify if the voice is meant for your breakthrough. The Fishermen were able to give and they were also able to listen and respond. What is the Lord saying to you that you are yet to obey? He will not ignore you in your toiling if you do not turn away from Him in your time of toiling.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to open you up so that you will be able see and hear what will bring forth your breakthrough.