TROUBLED LAND?< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Judges 6:1-10

The fear of God causes a departure from evil while the lack of fearing Him causes one to enter into evil. Being evil or doing that which is evil does not offer anything but rather takes away all things and destroys. Do you really fear Him? Fearing Him in the mouth and not also in the heart is not true fear of Him. When there is a failure to fear Him in the land where He has positioned you to be, you will eventually lose that land. The children of IsraelÕs failure to fear Him passed them into the evil hand in the very land God gave them. ÒThen the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds, which are in the mountains.Ó (Judges 6:1-2) The children of Israel departed from fearing God and entered into evil. The children of Israel left behind a God-given land and made for themselves a hiding place in dens, caves, and strongholds. This was not supposed to be for the children of Israel. They had a God-given land and could not retain it because they had attended and attained what is not of God. When God gives, He does not give sparingly so do not spare yourself from serving Him indeed and in truth. Anytime there is a move from God-made to self-made because of evil accommodation, there will be a lost of control because of GodÕs withdrawal from sin and a sinning land. Judges 6:3-4, ÒSo it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.Ó They suffered greatly because they withdrew from the One who is great and greatly to be praised. Are you experiencing a sudden attack that will not stop on any of your land? Any situation could have been the cause of your looking for a place in the cave, hideouts or strongholds. Will you search and see if there is any wicked way in you? No man is perfect except God and He alone knows every manÕs heart. David stated in Psalm 139:23-24, ÒSearch me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and see my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me the way everlastingÓ. Just as David asked, will you ask yourself the same? Ask God to search you, try you, fix you, and lead you from all kinds of wicked ways into the way everlasting. He is faithful and He answers prayer.

FEAR GOD< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Psalm 34

To fear God is to hate evil. Evil is wickedness and wickedness is evil. The Bible repeatedly points out that fearing God is to hate evil. Proverbs 3:7 ÒDo not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.Ó Proverbs 8:13, ÒThe fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.Ó This page will not permit pointing out the fact that the lack of fearing God is the demonstration of every identifiable act of evil under heaven. To fear God is to trust in Him; trusting God is to seek Him and seeking Him is the demonstration of having faith in Him. Having faith, fearing God and trusting Him are all in all. Faith is all that generates fear. The source of faith is in the Word of God. We know God by His Word and through His Word in the pages of the Bible. God is also known through the power inhabited in His Word and that is where fearing Him is generated. Fearing God is not because we see Him in the physical, but rather because He can be seen in the might of His Word that is power. When there is no faith, you will fear in this world and when there is faith, you will live in the fear of His Word. What is the fear of the Lord? Who can teach His fear well than David who saw it all in his lifetime? David stated in Psalm 34:11, ÒCome you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.Ó David wanted to teach only some kinds of people as mentioned by him in Psalm 34:12, ÒWho is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?Ó  Does DavidÕs question sound in your direction? If the question is of any interest to you, then the fear of God is all that you need and David thought of it in Psalm 34:13-14, ÒKeep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.Ó Fear of God comes down to having hatred for every evil act that comes our way. Evil is all kinds of wickedness; it is living or acting contrary to what God has specifically commanded for us to live by. Evil is wickedness and wickedness is evil. Evil includes: lying, stealing, fornication, adultery, divorce, malice, manipulation, etc. It can take pages upon pages to identify all that is evil. The fearing of God will not survive in you just by determination, but it will survive by your desire to fear Him. The Lord will deposit what it takes to fear Him into your life. As you go in this new beginning of the day, pray for the fear of God to overtake you. Meditate in the desire for the fear of God in your life and it will become of you. Jeremiah 32:40, ÒAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.Ó  God said it! The response is now for you stretch for it and He will do it. Ask, seek, knock and it shall become yours in Jesus name.

CRY OF BARTIMAEUSMark 10:46-52

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If anyone will close their eyes and see what it takes to be blind then there will be a clear understanding of what blindness is. Blindness is a grueling and painful situation; it can also be morally and emotionally agonizing. Can you imagine what it means to be spiritually blind? To be spiritually blind is a special stagnation where a believer does not know where and when to make a move. It can also be compared to sitting in the dark while surrounded by light. The light that is on can be for direction, preservation and all that it takes to move forward while the blind has taken a seat in all that it takes to remain stagnant. Looking into the picture of the blind Bartimaeus as recorded in the Bible relates to what it is to be spiritually blinded and not just physically blind. Mark 10:46, ÒNow they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.Ó Bartimaeus remained seated and could not move outside of his location while the multitudes were following Jesus around. Bartimaeus could not see so he could not move. As a believer, when there is a lost of spiritual sight, there will also be a lost of spiritual gain. When God is moving before you or on your behalf but you are spiritually blind, you remain seated. Any believer who suffers from spiritual blindness does not have a choice to make but to accept every offering that comes their way. An old time adage says, ÒA beggar has no choice.Ó Indeed the privilege of choice will be reduced to almost none when spiritual blindness prevails like in physical blindness. Bartimaeus was stranded and did not know from where he was going nor did he know from where he was coming. He lived a life of no choice. One day, however, he decided to come out of blindness, ÒAnd when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ÔJesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!ÕÓ (Mark 10:47) There was attempt to stop him from crying for His miracle, but he persisted and he received his miracle. Jesus is always passing by and you never know when He will be passing by your location. Are you in a position to cry out onto Him for deliverance and restoration of your spiritual eyesight? Many do not know of their blindness and as a result, it makes it difficult for them to cry out for help when help is passing by. Do you have a need for deliverance from any kind of blindness? It is time to cry the cry of Bartimaeus and the Lord Jesus will answer you. You will regain your sight and His direction will have its way in your life in Jesus Name.

WHY WORRY?< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Mark 8:1-10

ÒIn those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 ÔI have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.ÕÓ (Mark 8:1-3) It is not possible to continue with Jesus and be condemned unto lack. The multitude continued with Jesus and nothing possible could have left them uncared for. It is true that continuity is the rule of every race while a purposeful heart is the official in the race of life. Jesus cannot and will not look away from every kind of need in the life of those who follow Him. He is a God of provision and preservation and no matter how small your concern or need may be, just trust Him that He is there. Time will not determine how or when He will respond in meeting your need, but trusting in Him for your need will always provoke His hand in meeting your need. Are you having any reason for concern in Him meeting certain needs in your life? What is it that you are worrying yourself about? This is what Jesus has to say in Matthew 6:25: ÒTherefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?Ó Does this proclamation serve as an encouragement to you? As He was, so He is today. Jesus is alive and still doing what He did when He was on the face of this earth as a man. Jesus knows exactly what you need and all that you are asking for. From the smallest to the biggest, He is aware of all your concerns.  Jesus knows how soon you need it and what purpose it will serve in your life. When Jesus requested for the feeding of those who were with Him for days, His disciples had a few concerns among which were presented to Him in the question of, ÒÉHow can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?Ó (Mark 8:4) Jesus will not only meet your need to satisfaction, but He will meet you at the point of your need with abundance. He never gives less except to give more. Jesus, having provided seven loaves for four thousand, still had a leftover of seven large baskets of loaves of bread. These leftovers were not small baskets. He asked in Matthew 6:27, ÒWhich of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?Ó  He was talking about just 18 inches addition to where you are now in terms of growth. Can you add to yours? You cannot add and you cannot take away so why donÕt you take all to Him in prayer? He knows what you need, but He will only move by your prayer. Today if you will turn from worrying into praying, heaven will no doubt respond on your behalf. He is a compassionate God who will always be faithful to all of His followers.

TRANSFORMATION OF ZEAL< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Acts 9:1-9

Saul went and sought for power and authority to make him an unrestricted agent with permission to persecute any believer on his way. As a result, he went and he received letters that granted him the permission to bind any believer whether man or woman. In his evil desire, he encountered the power that elevated him to a higher ground of operating for the glory of God. In his encounter, he had a zeal transformation. SaulÕs zeal for persecuting believers was transformed to presenting and promoting the kingdom of God. It is worth it to pray that every trace of unrighteous zeal be transformed to righteous zeal. Before Saul entered into his journey of encounter, he had routed himself through the route of darkness that would have enabled him to persecute believers. This was a route that was rooted in an evil mindset. As God would have it, the shining light arrested Saul. ÒAs he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.Ó (Acts 9:3) The light that shone around Saul brought him down and opened up his ears and he heard the Word. ÒAnd he said, ÔWho are You, Lord?Õ Then the Lord said, ÔI am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.ÕÓ 6 So he trembling and astonished said, ÔLord, what do you want me to do?Õ Then the Lord said to him, ÔArise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.ÕÓ  (Acts 9:5-6) At that juncture, SaulÕs lifetime journey was rerouted and he had his name changed from Saul to Paul. Above all, Paul never experienced any lights out all the days of his life. With the light on him, he never had a misstep in the calling that was laid upon his life and no darkness could harass or threaten him without him overcoming them. Any force or agent of evil could not put out the light that brought out Saul from darkness. Also, the light that shone up on Saul blinded all that did not represent God in the life of Saul and it gave him new spiritual eyesight. Paul did not walk with Jesus like the disciples did, but he was privileged of God to walk on every ground that Jesus walked. The light became PaulÕs road map and he operated heaven on earth. By virtue of all that was recorded in the pages of the New Testament of the Bible, it can be said of Paul that he was more sensitive to the Holy Spirit than all who actually walked with Jesus. God is still in the business of miracles and as long as you still have breath in your being, it can never be too late or too early to ask for the same light that shone on Paul to shine on you. It was a transformation of zeal for Paul the apostle.