MERCY AND TRUTH
Genesis 32

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8) When Abraham obeyed the call to get out of his country, family, and the house of his father, there was nothing documented about Abraham doubting or questioning God. It is written in Genesis 12:4, “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” At the moment of his departure from his familiar ground, it is evident that there was grace that went with him, and for him. The only way that grace can be identified is through someone that was close to him in his journey of faith. As God will have it, Abraham designated the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, to go and take a wife for Isaac in his country (Genesis 24:2). The servant went, and all went well as desired. As a result of the success, “Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. 27 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” (Genesis 24:26-27) In this confession of the oldest servant of Abraham, the one that knew him in all of his walk of life the one that had witnessed how the Lord had dealt with Abraham, there was a testimony of what had been in place for Abraham through the journey of faith, and that was the mercy and truth of God. Without a doubt, the mercy and truth of God is all that made Abraham go as far as he could for the glory of God. Later, it was evident in the testimony of Jacob when he went away from home into his journey, he testified, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.” (Genesis 32:10) Evidently, the mercy and truth of God is what preserves His children, and makes His children prevail in the journey of life. The Psalmist recorded in Psalm 25:9-10, “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” Father Abraham was taught in the way of God, and that led him through the paths of mercy and truth.
Prayer for today: O Lord God, let your mercy and truth not be forsaken in my life. Lead me in your paths for your name to be glorified.

WHAT’S HAVING YOU?
2 Kings 4:8-38

When a man is having any situation such as sickness, or disease, there will be a difference from when a situation is “having” the believer. “Having a situation” should not be able to take control of one’s life, no matter how the situation is. However, if a situation is “having someone”, that situation will be in control of that person’s life. When sudden and untimely death had Lazarus, it took him away and he was terminated. Lazarus was tied up and rolled up in a tomb. Death had Lazarus and nothing could be done until Jesus showed up to release him from sudden and untimely death. As a believer or non-believer, what is it that is having you? “Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:35-38) Blindness was having the man by the roadside, and he could go nowhere as desired. Also, he could not see what was going on around him because the blindness had taken him over and he was under the control of blindness. Is there any condition that is dictating or directing the traffic of your life? A Shunammite woman whose husband was at old age, had no children encountered the Prophet Elisha who prayed for her to have a child. The child fell sick, and died a sudden and untimely death. The sudden death that took the child could not have the child because the mother refused to allow the death to take control of her demeanor. The mother did not grieve or sorrow, but she put herself together and set out to go and see Prophet Elisha. The Shunammite woman refused death over her son and did not let it have her by virtue of her positive confession. She refused to confess negatively by claiming it was well, when actuality it was not well in the physical. “…So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, the Shunammite woman! 26 Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.” (2 King 4: 26-27) The Shunammite woman disallowed death from taking her son. Whatever keeps a man from moving or from seeing where there is a need to see is evidently having the man’s life.
Prayer for today: O Lord have mercy and let me not be in any situation whereby I could no longer have control over the life that you have given me.

CRY TO HIM
2 Chronicles 32:1-22

King Hezekiah was faced by an insurmountable challenge in the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. “…Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. 2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him.” (2 Chronicles 32:1-3) As a result of a war starting against Jerusalem, Hezekiah began to put up all the possibilities that could help in defeating the king of Assyria. Hezekiah built a wall of defense, raised up towers, and he put in position his military force. He also encouraged his force to be strong and courageous. In Sennacherib’s confrontation against Hezekiah, he blasphemed against the name of God by saying, “Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?” (2chronicles 32:14) How much worse can it be when the enemy remained in the face of a believer that had done all to fight against the enemy, without a sign of victory over the enemy? In your case, you have done all that could be done to get out from where the enemy has positioned himself. God is the only Changing changer with the power, and might in His hand to change situations. He alone is enough to fight battles without anyone lifting a hand against the enemy. Isaiah 58:9, “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am…’” The Word of God is true to anyone that takes it and mixes it with faith. As confrontation continues to grow “Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. 21 Then the LORD sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.” (2 Chronicles 32: 20-21) God has never failed and His word cannot fail. Just as it has been said that ‘You shall cry, and He will say, ‘here I am’”, The Lord showed up for Hezekiah and Isaiah when He heard their cry. God will hear your cry, the enemy will cry, and there shall be no help coming forth for him.
Prayer for today:Father, in every area that you have positioned me for my victory over the forces of the enemy, let me not fail, but be a winner.

STANDOUT
Numbers 14

When there is a failure to believe and trust in the delivering power that is in the Word of God, there will be a pass onto complaining and entering into the opposite of His blessing. It is clear that the opposite of a blessing, is a curse. God promised to take the children of Israel to the Promised Land, but they could not hold onto the promise of God when they received a negative report and responded with negativity. Ten out of the twelve that went to spy on the Promised Land delivered a negative report. It was Joshua and Caleb that stood out, to give a positive report. The negative report made the whole population of the children of Israel to respond by complaining and confessing negatively against the good plan and promise of God. As a result of their complaints, God responded, “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” (Joshua 14:29-30) Complaining before God is a serious case that can terminate any journey of any blessing. Complaining is an act of rebellion and if it failed the children of Israel in getting to their Promised Land, it can also fail any man by becoming terminated in the journey of life and not live up to the fullness of God’s promise. The children of Israel that responded negatively could have escaped if they had responded with positive attitude, knowing that God had never failed them. Have you been exposed to a group, or fellowship, that are consciously or unconsciously complaining against what God will do, or what God has done? Let no man be deceived, God does not operate by number, but by His power. If among tens of thousands only one could be found standing and trusting in the promise of God, it would not take anything away from God to see only that one through. Numbers 14:37-38, “Those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.” The act of complaining is an act to rebel, it is worthy to pay attention to all that often causes man to complain, or join, the multitude of complainers. God has promised that He will never fail, why not hold on to the promise and the evidences that He has never failed? Ignore situations pay attention to the truth and remember that God is beautiful for situations.
Prayer for today: Enable me to stand out in every force, or agents, of the wicked that causes man to complain against your name.

TRUSTING HIM
1 Samuel 1

It does not matter how long waiting for a breakthrough, or deliverance, takes God, He will not fail to deliver to anyone that trusts in His name for any situation under heaven. Waiting on the Lord, is resting in the Lord. Resting in the Lord is trusting in the Lord. Years, months, weeks or days can pass, and God will not forget His own: the ones that have taken a position of trust in His name. Is your waiting in the Lord seem to be taking forever? The book of 2 Peter encouraged, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) God will never run out of time, and there is never a “late” in His timing, because the timing of God is different from the timing of man. During the time of waiting on God for a breakthrough, how God is being called on will always make the difference. Isaiah 58:9, “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am…’” Calling on the name of God by asking, is what Jesus recommended in Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Have you actually been begging, when you have been told to ask? In your asking have you been asking amiss? James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” God is not a partial God, but He is a faithful God. He is a God of order that demands walking according to His Word before the Word can work for anyone that walks in His Word. Receiving from God is in line with His plan and purpose for His children. King David is an example of someone that did not hesitate to ask when need called for it. David did not go to war without asking from God, twice in 1 Samuel 23, inverses 2 and 4, he repeatedly went and inquired from God before going to war against the Philistines. David knew to ask, rather than assume and not ask for God’s word before encountering his enemies. Hannah was going to Shiloh every year, but the year that was recorded of her weeping was her last year of her bareness in Shiloh. 1 Samuel 1:7, “So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” Hannah’s weeping got to God and God moved on her behalf. When you ask by calling on God, He will answer. When you cry to Him, He will show up on your behalf. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower…” (Proverbs 18:10) Trust in the name of the Lord God, call on His name and He will answer.
Prayer for today: Father, enable me to know how to wait and trust on you constantly and consistently.