ELIMINATE YOUR ELYMAS
Acts 13:6-13

It is not how long that you have been in the church or how much you are doing in the church that will determine how grounded you are in the faith. Some come to know the Lord as their personal Savior within a reasonable short period but the level of faith that is generated through them cannot be compared to some that have been in the church for years uncountable. Faith is what determines what you can do or what you cannot do when it comes to entering into the territory of the wicked and coming out. Faith does not happen by accident. It happens through its source as declared in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hearing the word of God can be done by individually spending times of no distraction in the Bible. Listening to ministers or teachers of the word is another source of hearing and hearing the word of God. What is turning you away from the faith? Are any of your loved ones being constantly turned away from the faith? Paul, the Apostle, in one of his journeys brought to light what could be a source of turning people away from the faith. Acts 13:6-8, “Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.” Elymas, the sorcerer, was on a mission to turn away the proconsul that sought Barnabas and Saul from hearing the word that could activate his faith. It is recorded for an understanding what the sorcerer stood for when it comes to propagating the word. Paul stated in Acts 13:9-10, Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’” It is clear from the above statement that any agent of deceit, son of devil or the enemies of righteousness are always part and parcel of faith obstruction in the life of a believer or anyone that desires growth in Him. Are you having challenges spending time in the word for growth? It is the word that will bring forth growth. As a result, it is worth it to eliminate all and every force of deceit that could be having its way in our life. Pray that the Lord in His goodness and mercy will terminate every representation of Elymas, the sorcerer; in your life and that you may continue to grow to the glory of His name.

 A SET DAY
Acts 12:20-25

Pomposity, arrogance, stupidity against the name of God will not excuse anyone who carries it from facing destruction in the hand of God. It does not matter if ignorance is the source of any demonstration of pomposity, arrogance, and stupidity before the name of God since no excuse will prevail because ignorance is what will make a destitute of a believer. Are you in any way attempting to take away the glory of God from God? Have you been lifting up yourself before the name of God where you are to be rather humbling yourself? Could it be that people are lifting you to be what you are not to be in the presence of God? Ignorant or not, God should not and will not be limited. Herod, pumped up by his power and position, failed to recognize God for whom God is. He was also a major agent attempting to terminate the Body of Christ. He ordered the killing of James, the brother of John, and attempted to claim the life of Peter, but God moved on behalf of Peter. Whatever it is that is taking away the glory of God through you, ask God today for His divine intervention to move so that only He takes all glory and honor. Acts 12:21, “So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.” Ask God the following: let there be no set day for me to rise in attempt of self-glorification against your great everlasting Name. Any situation that will cause man to see you or hear you before they see and hear God should not be your portion in the Name Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Herod’s set day was the last of his set days because the people were hearing him before they could hear God. Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated when he began to take glory away from God. Daniel 4:30, “The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’” It does not matter how you or the people around you are saying it, self-glorification is what has to be seriously avoided. Nebuchadnezzar was withdrawn to eat grass. He moved from grace to grass for seven years. After all, nevertheless, he came out to know God as the only God who alone is God when he stated in Daniel 4:37, “…And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” Avoid self-glorification! Ask God to help you that His name will be constantly glorified in your life.

CAPACITY
Psalm 126

In all kinds of captivity, God has the capacity to deliver. It does not matter how ugly the situation because with God, ugliness will be converted into beauty. How long the captivity does not excuse or cannot stop the hand of God from cutting it short and take over for His name to be glorified. God’s intervention will not announce itself, but will renounce every plan and purpose of the enemy. Peter, in his captivity, was at the point of death. All doors had been shut on him; chains were holding him down and he probably had given up by sleeping instead of waiting on God. At the time of his deliverance, he was not aware of what was going on around him and that testifies to the fact that God’s intervention is not for the enemy to know neither the soon-to-be delivered one to have an idea. The situation calls for only trust and the ability and patience to wait. While deliverance was taking place in Peter’s life, he was not with himself. “And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.’” (Acts 12:11) The Lord’s delivering power is most definite and most reliable because by strength no man has the capacity to prevail except God. Are you looking for a way out of the way you have put yourself or out of the way that is not of God? Repent and ask Him to move on your behalf because He is a faithful God and will never let His own down. God alone has the capacity to deliver from captivity that which is holding any man down. When God brings you out of your captivity, it will be just like it was for Peter and it will be just like a dream. Psalm 126, “When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.” God will not only deliver from captivity, but will lay down every mark of destruction on every agent of your captivity. When Peter was led unto freedom by the hand of God: “… there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 19 But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.”(Acts 12:18-19) God is capable by virtue of His capacity to deliver from captivity. Hold on to Him for your story will soon change for good and it will be like a dream.

LOCATEABLE
Acts 12:7-19

Acts 12:7, “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands.” Peter was in a pit of darkness and was set up by the enemy to be terminated. Peter needed a divine intervention because he was in the same pit that took away the life of his fellow disciple, James. When the angel took a stand concerning the darkness that overshadowed Peter, deliverance was inevitable. God knows how to deliver His children from every pit of darkness. With God’s angel standing by him, the light that shone terminated every activities of darkness. Ask God to send His light to terminate every activity of darkness that has marked you for a sudden and untimely death and the ones that are refusing to give up in your life’s well being. Peter, having been located by the light, needed a strike that would get him to be awake. Many times deliverance is available but a need to understand and know that the deliverance is there rises up as an issue. As a result, the angel struck Peter on the side. It could be that all you need to be awaked is a strike on your side. Go and ask God for a waking strike. A strike that is necessary to get you awake from sorrowful sleep; a strike that is enough to keep you going; a strike that will not hurt or damage you but will restore you into responding to God’s deliverance plan for your life. When Peter received his strike, he was raised up. In times of challenges, some lose every possible spirit of deliverance such as courage or strength that could lift them up and they rather end up giving up. Paul and Silas when they were in the same kind of pit like that of Peter, the Bible says in Acts 16:25-26, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” Just like Peter, a strike on the side might be all that you need if taking the kind of Paul and Silas’s stand is not coming forth. It is one thing to rise and it is another to rise and hear. Peter, having been raised from sleep, needed to hear the word that would carry him out of his pit of darkness and of death. The angel sounded, “Arise quickly”. The sound of the word broke all the chains and direction followed through and deliverance was undeniable in Peter’s life. Ask God to locate you just as the prayers of the brethren located Peter.

TERMINATING MOVE
Genesis 25:19-24

 
When a man is moved by what he wants and not by what the Lord wants for him, that man will be removed from where God wants him to be. There is place of God for each and in order to avoid eternal termination, every creation of God and no man should remove himself from that place of God. God has put all that it takes for man to be saved in place for any man that will remain in God’s place while the enemy is unfolding every plan to stop man from remaining in God’s place. What is it that you want that is moving you to do what is not of God or is causing you to make decisions that could permanently terminate God’s plan for your life? Esau, the brother of Jacob and  the son of Isaac and Rebekah came home one day hungry. Esau wanted to have stew so bad that he decided to sell his birthright to his brother Jacob. Genesis 25:29-31, “Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’” Under no circumstances should any man be moved by their want nor by their emotions. Esau was so hungry that he agreed to exchange his birth right for food. Esau responded to Jacob’s request of his birthright when he said to Jacob, “…Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” 33 “Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of his day.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.” (Genesis 25:32-33) For a bowl of stew and bread, Esau’s life plan was replaced by a move to temporarily satisfy his stomach. Concerning the grace to gain understanding, physically and spiritually, there is so much to learn from Jacob and Esau so that there should be no reason to get to the level of eternal termination of God’s plan for any of His creations. Esau’s life was never the same because he was moved by what he wanted and as a result of his move; he was terminated in the business of God. Esau would not have died as he claimed and his birthright would not have been tampered with. All that could have happened was Jacob denying him stew. What is moving you consciously or unconsciously that could cause you to make a decision or exchange a valuable gift that could cause you a lost that would forever be a painful and regretful life experience? God is still in the business of answering prayer. He has never failed and He will not fail in attending to every area of our need. Do not plan to make your move before you pray to make your move and God will be in your move.