PRIME TARGET
Luke 22:1-23

Betrayal, rebellion, and every other wicked act, operates from the heart, because the heart has always been the prime target for the devil. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Ecclesiastes 9:3, “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after they go to dead.” Throughout the Bible it is clearly demonstrated that the heart is where the rise and fall of man begins. Most of the time, what flows through the heart of a believer is what makes the believer, or breaks the believer. The heart is the prime target for the devil to bring down the children of God. Judas Iscariot ate and drank with Jesus, and saw all, or most, of the miracles that Jesus did. Judas spent time with Jesus and went to places with Him. Despite all of his exposure to Christ his heart could not held up against the devises of the devil. Luke 22:3-4, “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. 4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.” Satan went after the heart of Judas, and he was able to establish his plan and purpose of betraying Jesus. Faith fails when the enemy attacks the heart. Peter, as close as he was to Jesus, could also have been a victim of the devil on a number of occasions. Once Jesus said to him, “…Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32) The only proven target for the enemy to strike is the heart. Ananias and Sapphira, his wife, were not forced to voluntarily sell their possession to buttress the fellowship of others, but they came up lying about the proceedings, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep part of the price of the land for yourself? (Acts 5:3). Hearts need to be constantly prayed for, because determination to keep focus from letting Satan have its way, will fail. Determination failed Peter when he was determined not to deny Christ, but eventually denied Him three times. Thank God that Jesus had already prayed for Peter’s faith not to fail. King David prayed in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” It is only the grace of God that can keep hearts from the Satan operation. What is the state of your heart? It is always good to be sensitive to the move of the Spirit of God, for the avoidance of Satan’s manifestation in the heart.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take over your days and your moments, so your heart will be consecrated unto Him.

PRAISE HIM
Psalm 150

“Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:164) The Psalmist’s declaration of praising Him seven times a day is enough to appropriate it, to declaring your seventh month to be a month of “praise”. In your new month, you should praise God with an understanding, “For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.” (Psalm 47:7) There is power when praising Him with understanding is rooted in the truth that God is the king of all the earth, and the Lord sits as king forever. King David declared in 2 Samuel 22:4, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” To king David, it became an understanding of what praise could do, and that made David declare that, there is none that is worthy to be praised as God. In times of challenges, in times that enemies are mounting their offense from all avenues of life such as financial and health, praising Him in this new month, like never before, will provoke the hand of God for your deliverance and progress. Praise Him constantly and consistently and see what the Lord will do. What, or who else, deserves more praise than God? The Psalmist also declared in Psalm 48:1, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain.2 Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King.” In this new month let praising Him be continually found in your whole being. Understanding praise is not the “mouthful praise”, but praising Him with a whole heart. Also, it is not possible to praise Him without joy, or to have joy in Him without praising Him. Praising God always in joy, will always lead to the path of life. Praising God will bring us to the presence of God, because joy is what give access to God just as the psalmist testified in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Can you think of any name for your seventh month of the year that is worth more, than naming it the month of “praise”? This month, be in constant praise and that will bring consistency in His presence. It is more important to praise Him with understanding, than shouting with no understanding. In this month, praise Him with new songs, praise Him with what you have, praise Him where you are. Praise how you are, praise Him for where He has brought you, praise Him for where He is taking you. Do you have the breath? Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”.

Prayer for today: Father enable me to remain in constant and consistent praise worship all the days, weeks, months, and years ahead, because it is good to praise your gracious and Holy name.

OPENING OPENER
John 11:32-44

And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37) What prompted this statement was the death of Lazarus. Right before Jesus was called up for the death of Lazarus, Jesus opened a blind man’s eyes. The opening of the blind man’s eyes was huge to the people by virtue of this testimony, “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.” (John 9:32) The people did not know what Jesus could do, the blind man that received his sight did not know who opened his eyes either. The bottom line of it was that: the blind man received his sight and no longer had to submit to the restriction that has clouded him from birth. Also, the blind man began to go to places because of the miracle of opening in his life. Openings will always bring breakthroughs in every area of life. He became testimony of his world because the Lord of lords, and the King of kings opened his eyes. He was blind from birth meaning he had been blind from the mother’s womb. The testimony of the of the blind man’s eyes opening became the point of reference for the expectation for Lazarus to rise from death unto life. When Jesus got to the tomb of Lazarus, there was a need for an open entrance whereby Jesus could speak to the situation on the ground. John 11:39, “Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”” Martha’s response was a demonstration of doubt. She was reluctant in letting the tomb open while Jesus was waiting with faith that would bring manifestation. Martha positioned herself in the place of hindrance before Jesus responded, “Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) Most times we choose to delay or not to let the Opening opener, the One that will allow breakthrough to flow and do what He wants to do in our life. Have you shut down on Him while He is waiting on you? His command led to the opening of the tomb and the result could not be denied. “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying…” (John 11:41) His command for the open tomb, brought to life an undeniable proof that Jesus is, “…He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” (Revelation 3:7)
Prayer for today: Father let your command open up all that has shut me down in the area of my breakthrough.

COMMUNICATION
Genesis 11:1-9

Communication is the key to the continuation in every area of life. When there is communication, every barrier to moving forward will fail to stand. When there is communication in any group or relationship, understanding will not take forever to prevail. Communication is a demonstration of understanding and oneness in any group of fellowship. How communication is used will determine how God responds. If communication is used as means of rebellion, it will lead to the death of such groups or fellowship. And if it is used to foster the kingdom of God, God will not overlook it, but back it up with power for His glory. Once in the early times, the people were having the kind of communication that could not be stopped, “And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4) The people wanted to build unto where God sits so they can thumb Him in the eye. They wanted to make names so they would not have to call on His name. “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 11:5-6) Whatever plan they had would not have been withheld because of their communication. The evil proposal brought down evil construction as a result, “…The LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” (Genesis 11:8) An act of rebellion is an attempt to build outside of God. After the ascension of the Lord Jesus, the Apostles demonstrated a healthy communication by evidence that they were together. Acts 2:44, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” Effective communication that is positive and kingdom minded will no doubt bring about common goals and great results. Effective communication is the enigma to working together, and building up an accord that cannot be disrupted because God will always be in it and where God is, increases and multiplication will reign. What is communication doing to your group or fellowship? Are you part of a group with strong communication whose attempt is to build where and when God has not ordained? There is a need for you to understand what group you are into, because, “…The Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3) Avoid an untimely and sudden death due to communication outside of God.
Prayer for today: Deliver me O Lord from being a part of any evil agenda. Let me not build where you do not call me to build.

ALL HAVE SINNED
John 8:1-11

Condemning an act is arriving at judgment. Condemning one’s self, or another is passing judgment on one’s self or others. Jesus specifically stated in Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Nothing qualifies any believer to be a judge. The Bible declared it in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God alone is the perfect judge because He alone is holy and sinless. Condemning others by our judgment is looking into other’s shortcomings while we are yet to take the step to look closely into ours. Jesus said in, Matthew 7:3-4, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? As a believer, proper care needs to be constantly placed so as to eliminate our arriving quickly at condemning others, especially outside of what we believe. With the understanding of the fact that no one is perfect but God, forgiving others should be a knowledgeable way of approaching the world of sin and iniquity. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in he act of adultery to Jesus, and they wanted to know why she should not be stoned. You have been greatly offended, and you want to know why your offender should be let go without you executing your judgment. This is what Jesus said to the scribes and the Pharisees, which also speak to us, “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7) To let go and let God take over can be very challenging when looking for an instant judgment that fits best for act of sin or offence against one. The fact that there is none that is perfect is enough to hold back, rather than carrying out judgment. This was Jesus’ response to the woman caught in the act of adultery, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” (John 8:9). Are you on the verge of stoning someone that has violated your command? Think of it, restrain from your way, and let the Lord have His way. He sees it all and you shall be justified for letting God take over.
Prayer for today: Deliver me, O Lord, from any conscious or unconscious way that I have been struggling in letting your word have its way in my life.