MAD OF ALL MAD< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Mark 5:1-20

The mad man of Gadarenes was a mad man among the mad; the father of all the mad ones during his time. He was described as one, ÒWho had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.Ó (Mark 5:3-5) By all the evidence as presented in the Bible, it is justifiable for him to be called the father of all mad. There is no case mentioned in the Scriptures that can measure up to this mad man of Gardarenes. Evidently, he was not bound-able since he could pull chains apart as described. The mad manÕs case presented untouchable challenges. Do you have a case that is exceedingly untouchable and very complicated with no hope at sight? Does your case present a no way out situation? The mad man was on a no-way out level. However, when the mad man of Gadarenes encountered the true Way of God, the One and only One, his situation changed from that of a mad man to one with a right mind. Despite his madness, ÒWhen he saw Jesus afar, he ran and worshiped Him.Ó (Mark 5:6) The same Jesus is nearer to you than you can imagine. He is the Omnipresent and Omnipotent One. Today, begin to worship Him. Stop looking at your situation through natural eyes and begin to look up to Jesus. In your worship, know that He is more than capable to loose all unloose-able, and to bind all the unbound-able that are causing you pain and torment. He is the living God and He will speak to your situation if you will listen to receive His word of deliverance. Jesus spoke to the unbound-able and the unloose-able in the life of the mad man, ÒFor He said to him, ÒCome out of the man, unclean spirit!Ó(Mark 5:8) At the word of Jesus, the mad man regained his right mind. Jesus will speak to your situation; He will not let you be wasted in this journey of life. He will cause all of your torment to be converted to enjoyment. You will no longer be a vessel of pain, agony or regret in the precious name of Jesus. If the mad man could run to Him and worship Him despite his madness, you too can also run and not walk to Him. This means you can make haste and leave behind what is taking your time away from Him and worship Him and He will set you free. To have a right mind is your portion in Jesus Name.

FACING THE SEA< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Mark 4

In every one of JesusÕ undertakings, there is a purpose and message. Mark 4 begins by stating, ÒAnd He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got in the boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.Ó At that sea, He taught the parable of the soils, parable of the Lamp, parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed. All of the parables were centered on the word and the need for the word to grow and not be hidden just as light cannot be hidden All the people who were present had received teaching while facing the sea that would have to be crossed over. Having exposed the people to His teaching, the Bible states that, ÒOn the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, ÔLet us cross over to the other side.ÕÓ (Mark 4:35) Jesus knew all things and He could have called for crossing-over during the daytime before it was evening. Are you receiving your teaching that will carry you through a sea that needs to be crossed-over before advancing to your next ground of assignment? They were all seated facing the sea not knowing that their next call was going to be to cross the sea that was before them. It is important to pay attention and listen for the word to enter at every gathering of teaching and learning. Also, it is the entrance of the word that will fuel your faith to crossover to the other side. Will you begin to listen every time you are receiving the word of God? It makes a difference if in any gathering understand is acquired. During the journey to the other side, a storm took over while Jesus was asleep and the disciples were awake in fear. Fear sinks and they were all headed in the direction of sinking. Fear is what sinks the believer, but faith is what keeps believers from sleeping in the word.  Wherever storms are threatening you from crossing-over to the next level of assignment, with the word and by the word of God, you will be able to crossover to the next level God has assigned for you. How are you doing in your journey? The word of His teaching that you have been receiving for so many years is there and alive. If you will take to the word, the word will carry you to the next level of assignment. After Jesus had called for peace, ÒÉHe said to them, ÔWhy are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?ÕÓ(Mark 4:40) Does this sound like Jesus talking to you too? If not for the word that He spoke to the storm, the disciples would have failed getting to the other side. Keep yourself alive by keeping the living word as it comes in your direction.

GODÕS HAND< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Exodus 3:13-22

If there is anything to desire, it should be for the hand of God because many testimonies that are generated and the ones that are being generated are because of the extension of GodÕs hand. The hand of the Lord is mighty. The hand of the Lord is great in recovery and restoration and the hand of the Lord is encouraging and the hand of the Lord is result proven. It was the hand of God that brought the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years. God that knows the end from the beginning knew that words would not be enough for Moses to get Pharaoh committed to the deliverance of over four hundred years. Exodus 3:19-20, ÒBut I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. 20 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.Ó  Deliverance was manifested through the hand of God. Without the hand of God in operation, it would have been a no go for the children of Israel. 1Kings 18:46, ÒThen the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.Ó Elijah did not have to be behind but ahead. As a result of the LordÕs hand, Elijah moved from behind to being ahead of the king Ahab who was riding on the chariot. Whatever government law or any development from law that has been put in place to keep you behind, the hand of God will locate you and put you ahead in every area in Jesus Name. At the process of building the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, discouragement was among the forces that Ezra needed to overcome. Ezra stated, ÒÉso I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with meÓ (Ezra 7:28) There is no area of life that the hand of God should be neglected in asking for if there is to be a way out of every agent of failure in life. It is the same hand of God that Nehemiah could not stop testifying about as the reason for getting the project of reconstruction through in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 2:18, ÒAnd I told them of the hand of my God which had been upon me, and also of the kingÕs word that he had spoken unto meÉÓ The hand of God is clearly encouraging, delivers and is good upon all whom He stretches His hand toward. What is stopping you from crying out unto Him and asking for His mighty and everlasting hand to have its way in your life? It is convincing enough that the hand of God has to be overwhelming in every undertaking of a believer. Absolutely nothing moves the way it should be if the hand of God is absent. Having increase in the fellowship members requires the hand of God. Acts 11:21, And the hand of the  Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Pray for His hand to reign and rule in your life so His Name will be glorified.

STEP FORWARD        < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Mark 3:1-5

GodÕs ways are higher than our ways. ÒHe has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.Ó (Jeremiah 10:12) Waiting to see Jesus move the same way He moved in your neighborÕs miracle will take forever in you receiving your healing breakthrough. Jesus does not move by manÕs calculation, but by His compassion. Also, He will not operate in mathematical form, but rather by miracle. Who can calculate how or what the next move is going to be? In His healing of the man with leprosy in Mark 1:41, ÒThen Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ÔI am willing: be cleansed.ÕÓ It was Jesus who stretched out to heal the man with leprosy. The same Jesus approached a man with a withered hand and commanded him to stretch out his hand in Mark 3:5, ÒAnd when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ÔStretch out your hand.Õ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as a whole as the other.Ó Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God. In miracles, you do not know how your expectation is going to be manifested. All you can do is to take a step forward in faith towards whenever the word of healing sounds in your direction. Before the man with the withered hand encountered his miracle, there was a need for him to step forward. Mark 3:3-4, ÒAnd He said to the man who had the withered hand, ÔStep forward.Õ 4 Then He said to them, ÔIs it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or kill.ÕÓ  The man took a step of faith and all that could deny his miracle were silent. He ignored the religious leaders that could limit him only by law. What are the issues that are holding you from stepping forward when you need to step forward in your breakthrough and everyone around are receiving their miracles? Are you calculating how your miracle is going to happen? Jesus is not a mathematician or a magician, but He will move on your behalf if you will take a step of faith. Taking note of how He did it for your neighbor will not help you because to one He stretched while to another He requested him to stretch. With understanding in the word and work of His hand, gain the knowledge that He will not fail you and He is not a partial God. The man with the withered hand stepped forward; he did not wait for Jesus to stretch unto Him. Your miracle will come in Jesus name.

WORD POWER< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Mark 2:1-12

ÒAnd again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.Ó (Mark 2:1-2) There was no need for any publications, news coverage or telemarketing before it was known that Jesus was in town. His testimony was the announcer and His work followed Him everywhere He went. It was immediate and there was no delay before the whole ground was covered by the needy. Bishop Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel once said, ÒIf the grass is green, the sheep will comeÓ As an acclaimed carrier of the word of God, how is the word declaring your presence everywhere you go? The people gathered because Jesus was preaching the word and also reaching the people by His word. It is not enough to preach and not reach the people. The preaching that reaches the people is the one that brings forth healing, deliverance, provision and above all, it provokes undeniable miracles like the ones that Jesus did. In that trip to Capernaum because of the word that He preached and that reached the people, some sick were not able to reach Him where He was. ÒAnd when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ÒSon, your sins are forgiven you.Ó(Mark 2:4-5) What Jesus saw was faith in operation. Jesus did not ask what the sin was, but rather He pronounced forgiveness upon the paralytic man. Ask Him for the kind of forgiveness that delivers man from every ground of stagnation just like that of paralytic man. After forgiveness, the word of authority and healing followed through when He said, ÒI say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.Ó 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ÒWe never saw anything like this!Ó(Mark 2:11-12) As a carrier of the word, what do you desire in the business of the Lord? Is it carrying the word around with no proof or nothing to account for? It does not matter how long you have been born again, but it does matter for you to become His agent; that is His ambassador in deed and in truth. A word says, ÒWhat is worth doing is worth doing wellÓ Are you not tired of being His ambassador without His identity? Do you not know that is identity is power? God is willing to use us mightily for His name to be glorified and for the unbelievers to know to believe Him.