TRUTH IS THREATENING
2 Chronicles 18

The truth is threatening, and it will always face opposition and rejection, especially for those that do not want to receive it. The truth is the way out to be triumphant. It is the way to overcome. It is the way that cannot be stopped, and it leads to every avenue of great exploitation. King Ahab of Israel was set for a war against Ramoth Gilead, and he needed the help of King Jehoshaphat. The first truth about King Ahab’s case was that he was redirected by King Jehoshaphat to go, and inquire for the word of God. In every confronting situation it is worthy to pray before planning. To plan without praying will not prevail. But praying before planning is the way of prevailing. Are you someone that always put plans up before sending prayer up? King Ahab responded to King Jehoshaphat’s advice, “Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.” (2 Chronicles 18:5) The response of four hundred men was not pleasing to Jehoshaphat; he needed the full assurance from God before making his move. When Jehoshaphat requested for anyone that could inquire more from God, King Ahab responded in 2 Chronicles 18:7, “…There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla, “And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!” King Ahab was looking for people that would say what he likes to hear. In most cases, the kind of people that you have chosen to surround you, will only tell you what you want to hear. Micah was sent for as requested by King Jehoshaphat, “Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.” (2 Chronicles 18:12) Ahab’s messenger attempted to silence Micaiah by encouraging Micaiah to speak encouragement to Ahab’s hearing, but Micah did not digress from what he had inquired from the Lord, “Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’” (2 Chronicles 18:16) King Ahab turned a deaf ear to Micah’s advice of not going to war and went to war. Ahab went to the war and he did not return from the war while Jehoshaphat came back safely. Standing on the true word of God will give a result that stands out like that of having to hear the truth from one out of four hundred. As much as the truth can be threatening, do not despise the truth in every area of life.

Prayer Matters
Exodus 3:13-22

“So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.” (Joshua 5:1) Today, pray that God will do a new thing in your life. Ask Him for a new thing, ask God that every representation of an enemy in your life will hear about this new thing that He has done for you. When the agent of hindrance in the way of the children of Israel heard about the new thing (that the Lord had dried water to make a way for the children of Israel) their hearts were melted. A melted heart is a  failing heart; a heart that fails is a terminated heart, and that shall be the portion of the wicked ones that have taken a position to hinder you in life. Pray to God that every area of delay in your life will encounter deliverance and you will run ahead and not behind in every area of pursuit of life. 1 Kings 18:46, “Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” The same hand that answered for Elijah, and made him go ahead Ahab, will locate you this day, and every agent of opposition will fail to catch up with you. Ask for the hand of God that is favor, to move in your direction. Ezra 7:6, “this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.” What are your requests on your land? Do you have any requests that are just coming up or ones that are pending? Ask God for the same hand that answered for Ezra, to answer on your behalf so that governments of the land will make a favorable move on your behalf. The children of Israel were in bondage for over four hundred years. In their bondage they could not envisage a way out, except by crying out to the Lord God of their fathers. The hand of God answered on their behalf, when God gave His word, “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” In His hand there is deliverance and favor. As you have set eyes on these prayer points, the hand of God will answer on your behalf in Jesus’ name.  

COMMITMENT
1 Kings 19: 15-21

Commitment to the work and word of God is not in convenience, but in following Him fully. Commitment often results in challenging situation. Caleb and Joshua knew whom they believed when they were committed to the word of God enough to be able to declare, “…Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30) Caleb was speaking from the root of what he believed, he knew that following God would never fail him or disappoints him. The entire group of spies that went to check out the Promised Land came back with news and reports of discouragement, but Caleb and Joshua came back with news and reports of encouragement. The word of God needs your commitment because it is a demonstration of your faith in God. At every sound of the word of God in the direction of the called, there will be the grace to follow. Elisha was founded by the word of God that was delivered through Elijah, “…And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.”(1Kings 19:16) Elijah found Elisha just as the word was released to him. At the time Elisha was founded, there was a need to follow fully and it was a calling of commitment by God through Elijah.1 Kings 19:20, “And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”” Elisha could not follow right away, he needed to part with the past and present to be able to move on into the center of God’s assignment for his life. To follow Him is not to flow with the crowd; it was to be distinguished for the glory of God. In order for Elisha to turn himself on for the Lord, he had to get past the past and present. 1kings 19:21, “So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.” Elisha settled with his past and present when he rose to follow the calling for his life. To be committed to Him will require relinquishing all and responding fully to what God has put in place to be done. In your answering to follow Him, have you relinquished all that can delay or disrupt your calling? Determination and your might will not be enough for you to relinquish everything, but by the Spirit of the Lord. To be committed is to have concluded that there will no longer be looking back. 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” He will back you up when you give up everything for Him.

CUT OFF
1 Corinthians 10:1-13

To have been there and not get there does not add anything, but only represents failure of the highest order. One thing about races is that, it is not enough to get started and not race through to the end. Also, rewards are not in the beginning, it is only for those that get to the end of the journey. I’’s good to be motivated but don’t celebrate in the beginning because to get to the end result is all that should be celebrated. Here is an ugly account of getting started and not following through, “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.”(1 Corinthians 10:1-5) With this statement, it will never be a surprise if the rapture takes place during a Sunday service and the whole worship went on without noticing that one or two members had been raptured. Thousands and thousands started the journey, went, and passed through different grounds together, enjoyed an equal and very balanced provision with no discrimination or separation by hierarchy, but not all saw the end of the journey. This is true to the word of Jesus about the wheat and tare growing together. Matthew 13:30, “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” The God that knows in the beginning, what the end is holding has the power to reroute every man that walking in deception or that are set for destruction. Do you know where you stand in this journey of life? God is not asleep, nor is He too busy, but there is time for situation and all that transpire under heaven. Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” The word of God is true and all we come to pass, it will catch up with all in every way, on every path that every man under heaven has passed. Jesus said, “Let them grow together until the harvest time.” He did not separate them or stop them from growing. Indeed your growth in all areas that you have turned to is not the measure of your stand in the Lord. Man can be deceived, but God cannot. Where are you in the hand of God? “With most of them God was not well pleased.” Are you taking a step that pleases God? That is, are you walking in the word of God? Do not be cut off.

DULLNESS OF HEART
Matthew 13:13-17 

It is written in Psalm 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” The word of God is power and it is not for decoration, but for declaration against sickness and disease and for deliverance and restoration physically or spiritually. Why is it that the word that was sent to heal and deliver is not being manifested on so many grounds of worship today? Why is it that the word while being preached in most churches, the sick are being carried from the church to the hospital? It is not supposed to be that way because the word of God that is for healing, and should be bringing the sick from hospital to the church and not from the church to the hospital. The word of God that was in the beginning is still the same word that is alive and active today. The word of God is power to those that have made the choice to place the word above all that the world has to offer. When God sent His word, He sent it out for the purpose of getting results, not to return to Him void. Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to me void.” Looking around and seeing the work of God and the testimonies in the pages of the Bible, it is evident that the word of God cannot and will not fail, but man is the one failing in the word of God. In Matthew 13:15, Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:10 to point out the reason why man is not getting the necessary healing that the word was purposely sent to them to perform. Matthew 13:15, “For the heart of the people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” Without any need for interpretation of the words of Jesus, as quoted from the book of Isaiah is clear enough to understand the problem of “not turning” so the word could heal is rooted in the dullness of the heart of man. From Jesus’ message, when the dullness of heart is operational, every other part that could bring forth a turning to getting healed would not be active. With a dullness of heart, ears are hard to hear, eyes are closed from seeing, and understanding with the hearts will not be operational. “Dullness of heart” is the root of the problem for not taking a turn that will allow the word of God to perform that which it was sent to perform. Dullness of heart is not written on any man’s face, but it can be seen clearly in most of the worshiping grounds or in the life of every acclaimed believer of the word of God where the work of the word is not evident. Are you operating with a dull heart in any area of your life where God is expected to show up? Ask God to deliver you from every representation of a dull heart in your life.