SLEEPING?
Matthew 25:1-13

There is only one way to heaven. It is not possible to walk two ways at the same time. No one can walk as a sinner and be righteous; or walk as righteous and be a sinner. As a believer who wants to stand on the ground of calling, it is impossible to be asleep and be alive at the same time. Whenever a believer is spiritually asleep, there is great tendency to be spiritually at risk. To be spiritually asleep will cause prayer to cease and entering into failure will become active. The ten virgins were all purposeful in their agenda. They all went out to meet the bridegroom. Matthew 25:3-5, “Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”Having gone that far in their pursuit to see the bridegroom, sleeping should have been avoided by getting busy in their waiting. They fell asleep and foolishness became their identity. How are you waiting? Can you tell if and when your oil is running out? You have come too far in this journey to begin to entertain foolishness. How would you have known that your oil is running out when you are asleep and not awake? A believer that goes down and away from prayer is having a sorrow sleep. At Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray, “When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”(Luke 22:40) They all slept and could not hold on in prayer as requested by Jesus. He came back and questioned them, Luke. 22:46, “…Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” Are you awake? The only way for you to avoid temptation is to be awake in the Lord. The life of Peter reveals how sleeping can be dangerous for a believer. Peter slept on when he was with Jesus on Gethsemane and he slept in the prison when his life was at stake in the hands of Herod. Acts 12:5-6, “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.”It does not matter how long you have been walking in the Lord, you need to stay awake and alive.
Prayer for today: Deliver me O Lord from sleeping my life away.

 KING UZZIAH TO DIE?
Isaiah 6:1-8

Something must die before something else gets life. As a new believer old-self must die before the new birth in the Lord. Until the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah could not see, hear or receive God’s call of duty. What could the reigning time of King Uzziah represent in the timing of the calling in the life of Isaiah? Could it be have a time of hindrance? Hindrance is a possible weapon of the devil. The devil has no limitation in his attempt to deny the purpose of God but there is a limitation as to how much he can do to delay or deny whom his victim is. Before Isaiah heard the voice that sent him out as a representative of God, a number of things happened. The first of all was the death of King Uzziah. It wasn’t until King Uzziah died that Isaiah could see what he saw. It was his seeing that set him up for God’s calling. This is why it is important to ask God to destroy whatever represents King Uzziah in our life. The Bible declared in Isaiah 6:1, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” Isaiah went further to describe what he saw after the death of King Uzziah. Does this relate to your situation? Do you know if your hindrance is still well, alive, and active? Prayer unto God will definitely move your hindrance; the one that represents King Uzziah will die a permanent death. After Isaiah had been able to see, he recognized himself as one that needed a cleansing touch. He said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the king, The LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah cried out in repentance when he saw all that was in the presence of the LORD of host. Isaiah cried for the Lord’s cleansing in his life. Isaiah’s cry sent for a needed refinement. Isaiah 6:6, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” With the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah began to see, he was able to repent and he received cleansing. Isaiah also heard from the Lord. With repentance, cleansing and seeing, Isaiah got to the position of hearing. Isaiah 6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.”’
Prayer for today: Ask God to sentence every representative of King Uzziah in your life to a permanent death.

TURNING ASIDE
1 Samuel 15:1-23

Turning aside from the Lord is an evidence of covenant laziness; it is convenience and lack of commitment. Turning aside is an indicator of not serving Him with all the heart, with all the strength, and with all the soul. It is not possible to serve God reasonably when you turn aside from Him. Serving God demands a reasonable service. Turning aside is also a lack of responsibilities toward God. Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” When a man is conformed to this world, it is not possible to be in good or right form with the Word of God. The love of the world has quietly sneaked in, taking over the place of the Word of God. Can you actually tell if you love the world or the things of the world? The word of God warned against loving the world or the things of this world.1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world, If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.” Indeed and in truth, if the love of the Father is in every acclaimed believer, loving Him with all heart, all strength and all soul should be in place. When you love Him so much, no sacrifice will be too difficult for you to give unto God. Talking about sacrifice now is talking about obedience. As a believer, are you obedient to the Word of the Lord? Are you the same when you are inside or outside a group of believers? Man can be deceived, but God cannot be deceived. Have you turned aside or are you in the process or turning aside? Obedience to the word of God is what makes one to be qualified as giving reasonable service or sacrifice. Saul’s incomplete obedience was a turning aside from God. God directed him to one side; he went to the other side from God’s direction. God directed Saul to go and attack the Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they had. Saul went as God directed and he made selection of what to spare (when God told him not to spare) in the name of sacrificing unto God. Saul played God. Whenever God calls for a stop, and disobedience takes the place of stop, it is right to call it playing God. Have you been playing God in any area of your life? Playing God is turning aside from Him. Turning aside from Him will is returning to the way that seems right to a man. Remember, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
Prayer for today: O Lord my God, have mercy Lord and direct my heart to the true love of your holy name.

HEALING WORD
Acts 14:1-10
 
There are number of powerful ways that the living Word of God is described through the scripture. In every way that the Word is described, the Word has been consistent in answering the description. Psalm 119:32, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Many in darkness have been exposed to light, so many are still being exposed to light, and have had there darkness terminated. The Word of God is true to giving light just as mentioned. Acts 20:32, ““So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” There is absolutely nothing that builds up man, or can build up man in the things of God, like the Word of God will do. To whom the Word of God builds up there is no end to the blessing of God in life. The Word of God is power to deliver its promise. Psalm 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” Whenever the Word sent is able to fill any vacuum in the life of a needy person, it will bring out, or deliver, all that represents need. A certain lame man encountered the preaching of the Gospel, the Word of God while Paul and Silas were going about preaching the Gospel. Acts 14:7-8, “And they were preaching the gospel there. 8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.” Preaching the Gospel is power because it is the Word inhabited, and it has no limitation, or barrier, under heaven, that can deny its move. The certain lame man had been lame from his mother’s womb, and nothing could move him until he encountered the Word. The Bible testified that the lame man, “…Heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.” (Acts 14:9-10) All that transpired in the life of the lame man was that while listening to the Word being preached, he gave his attention. In his attention, Paul realized that the Word that was going into him was [and is] powerful enough to get him out of the darkness of stagnation. The miracle of deliverance, and healing, starts when the healing power of God is able to contact every stagnation and limitation that reduces anyone. The lame man was opened to the Word while Paul connected him to his healing by, taking authority over his lameness. Paul, having connected with him, sounded the Word in his direction by saying, “…With a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.” The Word of God is power.
Prayer for today: Father, I ask in Jesus’ name, let the healing and delivering power of your Word sound in my direction.

SEEING JESUS
Luke 19:1-10
 
Expectation is a choice. Man can choose to expect great things, or expect less. However, the choice of great expectations over any limitation that denies you, demands coming out of a self-made, or any man made box. Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was, but had limitations that were binding him from seeing Jesus. Luke 19:3, “And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.” Zacchaeus’ stature, and the crowd, were the binding factors for him not to be able to see who Jesus was. Seeing Jesus is getting to know Jesus for who He is, and what He can do. Knowing about Jesus is not enough to bring Him into the house. What is limiting you from getting to see who Jesus is? Zacchaeus ignored all limitations that were binding him from seeing Jesus, and went with all the expectations that enabled Him to see who Jesus was. Luke 19: 4, “So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.” A short man running is an effort to get ahead, while a short man climbing is a great effort to stand tall. Zacchaeus ran, and climbed the tree, in the name of seeing who Jesus was. What are you doing to see who Jesus is? Seeing who Jesus is will not happen just because of Sunday service. Seeing who Jesus is seeking Him with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Seeking Him is by the grace of God, and it will add much more to the one that seeks Him. Matthew 6:12, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Zacchaeus did not relent, neither was he discouraged by his limitations. He sought out Jesus with all that he had, “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” (Luke 19:5) What could it be like having a visitation from Jesus? Zacchaeus, in his effort to deny his limitations, in order to see Jesus, ended up receiving Jesus into his house. That day that Zacchaeus made up his mind to see who Jesus was, “…Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”” (Luke 19:9) Do you desire to have Jesus come into your house? The same God that visited Zacchaeus will not deny your expectation, but deposit it in your life.

Prayer for today: Father, I ask for the grace of enablement to seek you with all that You have given me.