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

2 Chronicles 20

Multitudes do not win battles but praise worship wins battle. Praising God in truth and indeed will deliver victory regardless of numbers that are working against any believer that knows how to praise God. Once King Jehoshaphat of Judah was confronted by a battle that was bigger than what he could handle. ÒThen some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, ÒA great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon TamarÓ (which is En Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.Ó (2 Chronicles 20:2-3) You do not need any announcement to understand that your battles are waiting out there for you everyday and every moment you step out. If you will seek God and trust Him enough as the Mighty warrior He will fight the battle for you. In seeking God, a message came for Jehoshaphat saying, ÒYou will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.Ó (2 Chronicles 20:17) At every time sincere and hearty praise worship is rendered unto God, His presence will take over and victory becomes undeniable. Jehoshaphat received the news with faith and he began to prepare his people for the battle by putting things into order. Praising God is the weapon while putting plans in order is the vehicle that will carry you to your battlefield. Where there is no orderliness disorder will rule and untimely death will reign. 2 Chronicles 20:21, ÒAnd when he had consulted with people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: Praise the LORD For His mercy endures forever. 22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. In addition to praising the Lord, Jehoshphat put plans in order by his preparation and victory answered on their behalf.  In your everyday journey, be prepared for multitudes and mountains of challenges with your praise worship because it carries the presence of God. Psalm 22:3, ÒBut you are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.Ó He is now enthroned in the praises of all that have accepted

TURN ASIDEExodus 3:1-11< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

God invested in the life of Moses and He placed a calling upon his life. Despite MosesÕ running and turning God caught up with Him on a ground where he had to Òturn asideÓ. Moses, having committed murder, he ran out of the palace of Pharaoh and turned to the priest of Midian. Despite all, God led him to a ground where he could not run but turn. Moses turned and gave God the attention that is required to listen to God.  ÒAnd the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ÒI will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.Ó(Exodus 3:2-3) Can you tell if, by the virtue of His investment in your life, He is still waiting for you to listen? If you will keep on running and turning, be rest assured that you will not escape His calling and when it is time, He will create a scene that will get you trapped for His attention. A burning bush with fire without been consumed is enough to get Moses trapped. Anytime we are able to run, it is because He wants us to run. It is not possible to run or hide from Him. After getting MosesÕ attention, it was then that He called Moses, ÒSo when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ÒMoses, Moses!Ó And he said, ÒHere I am.ÓÓ To all that He called, He did not speak until they have answered ÒHere I am or speak LordÓ Just like Moses, there was also His investment on Samuel. When the Lord called on Samuel. He was running back and forth to Eli at his bedtime, ÒAnd before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, ÒHere I am!Ó 5 So when he ran to Eli and said, ÒHere I am, for you called me.Ó And he said, I did not call: lie down again.Ó And he went and lay down.ÓÓ Samuel received the calling but was answering to the wrong person. As God will have it, Samuel was redirected unto how to respond to the calling of God. Have you received His calling and missed out, some are still struggling to find out who is calling or whether He is calling. God is still in the business of calling any of His investments that will answer. Ask God to guide you in turning aside so you can listen and hear. Moses turned aside, Samuel lay in position to hear and listen from Him. Whenever His call comes for you to hear and listen, God will make the provision for you to answer in the name of Jesus. 

MORNING HOUR
2 Samuel 11

As a result of your position, taking a rightful possession of what does not belong to you, will rightfully cost you at a rightful time. King David displaced himself from where he supposed to be and he paid the price at a rightful time. It is recorded in 2 Samuel 11:1, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”(2 Samuel 11:1) A misplaced priority and a displaced position are equal to a disrupted life. At every time you are to be at the battlefront instead of being at home you have invited the battle to your home. David invited battle to his home and he also used all is rightful power to unrightfully take possession of Uriah’s wife. Having pregnant Uriah’s wife, he did all that was within the power that God has given him to terminate Uriah at the battlefront. David was supposed to be at the battlefront, but chose to be at home. David’s absence from the battlefront generated devises that are outside of God and it allowed the evil devises to take control. He committed adultery and extended it to murder instead of finding away out of adultery. Sin is a disease that will not stop itself when there is a failure in stopping it. Whatever wickedness you have engaged yourself into; it is always good to go back to God before the enemies use it for a ground to expand your sin. Whenever a believer becomes empty, the devil will not delay in taking over every vacuum in the life of such believer. In the morning hour, when David was to be in the presence of God he took time out because he was trying to kill Uriah, “In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.”(2 Samuel 11:14-15) David had misplaced himself; he was not in the right location as a result he used his morning hour to plan evil against Uriah after taking his one and only wife. What are you doing with your morning hours? It is crucial to stay away from every form of evil devises that will take away your morning hours, and take them into committing sin and iniquities, that can take away God’s blessing. If you will study the story of David’s adultery, you will find out that by the grace of God, his sin could have been stopped but he went from adultery to murder. Thank God for His mercy that endures forever.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take over your morning hours for the glory of His name.

WAITING NOT WASTE1 Samuel 26< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Waiting on the Lord is not sitting down in one spot and wasting away. David, having been anointed to be the king refused to do anything in controlling the clock to affect the timing of God. As a matter of fact, he waited to the point that the prophet of God, Samuel did not live to see him ascended to the throne. Are you thinking that time is running against you? Whatever positive prophecy you have received keep praying on it and God will make it to come to pass. Do not count yourself out because of time or age. You never say never until when God declares it as never. David was anointed to be the king after Saul. Saul must have pursued David for most of his reign as king. Ever since the time that David killed Goliath, Saul developed insecurity because of David. Saul was going after David to terminate GodÕs divine schedule in the life of David. Saul went after David from plain to plain, mountain to mountain, cave to cave and from valley to valley. In his pursuit of David, he constantly exposed himself to be killed by David, but David refused to kill him. David had every reasonable reason to kill Saul, but he respected the anointing upon his life. David was in the position to wonder if he would ever become the king but never made a move to turn and interfere with the timing of God for his life. Once in one of SaulÕs pursuits of David, he made himself vulnerable but David declared, ÒThe LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORDÕs anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.Ó(1 Samuel 26:11)  In DavidÕs waiting for GodÕs timing he was running from one ground to another. He refused not to move ahead of GodÕs timing. Remember to remind yourself that yours is not of fear it is of faith, and waiting for His timing by running will not hurt nor take away from you if you have the understanding of how God moves. There was no indication of David getting tired or weary in his running from Saul. Remember, ÒBut those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.Ó Isaiah 40:31 If your waiting calls for running or walking God will be there for you and He will not abandon you, if you do not abandon what it requires of you.

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

Acts 3, 4:1-31

ÒNow when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.Ó (Acts 4:13) Peter and John were on fire right after Jesus had departed the face of earth. They had been empowered by Jesus. All through their journey with Jesus, Peter and John were not passengers, but they were receiving all that Jesus was passing unto them. Some have been claiming to be a Christ-follower for so many years, but there is lack of boldness or the character it takes to represent Him. Boldness is what is needed to stand and preach the Word where the Spirit of God directs. Peter and John did not just preach, but they demonstrated the character of Jesus when they approached the Òcertain lame man from his motherÕs wombÓ and spoke healing to him in the Name of Jesus. After the miracle at the gate, it would have been expected of Peter and John to turn back at the entrance of the temple knowing that the Sadducees were in the temple (their opposition). The boldness and the character that had become of Peter and John could not be interrupted. It is not how long you have been coming and going to the place of worship where the teaching of the Word has been pouring unto you with no character to show for it. However, how much you have increased operating with boldness and character is what matters. Have you examined yourself lately by comparing where you are years back to where you are lately? It is always good to be able to identify if there is a growth in your walking in the Word of God. Peter and JohnÕs miracle became a concern to the opposition and they were, ÒSaying what shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.Ó (Acts 4:16) What is your evidence as a follower of Christ? Peter and John, through the Name of Jesus, had a notable miracle. The miracle shook the camp of the opposition and it caused confusion because they wanted to prevent the truth from spreading further. It was recorded in Acts 4:17, ÒBut so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man.Ó The grace to be increased in boldness and character that will enable believers to step up in the work of the kingdom is what needs to be prayed for. Peter and John followed Jesus and they were able to remain at the center of their divine assignment. Believers that are following the Lord do have need to enter into the center of divine assignment. Not by might, but by the grace of the Lord.