What’s the best way to end a month? This is crucial because ending something well may have impact on starting something else well. First, I believe it should be with gratitude. The Psalmist says, “Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, who keeps our soul among the living, And does not allow our feet to be moved.” (Psalm 66:8-9, NKJV). Being alive today has been by the grace of God. Celebrate life! Much more, celebrate the giver of life.

Second, it is good to end the month with what I call the “big question”. This is derived from the story of the young, devout man who came to Jesus. He wanted to know the way of salvation. He had explored the avenue of the rigid, legalistic path of the Pharisees to no avail. That’s when he asked “what do I still lack?”. This is a sincere question. It is a question from someone who wanted his lot to change. This is a question for every one who wants to make progress.

We are already one-third through in the year 2009. All things being equal we should also be one-third through our things-to-do list for the year. If peradventure you have done what you know but still do not come any near your goal, you may need to ask the Maker, “what do I still lack?” this should not be done with a despondent heart, because God can make for the lost time and fast-forward your life in the remaining segment of this year. But go to the Lord with sincere question. And be ready to take grace to act in every area He would point to you.

FURTHER STUDY: ACTS 9:1-6

PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, for bringing safe far; make me fit for all You have for me the rest of the year.

2 Samuel 5:24 (NKJV)
“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

Things on earth are often correlated with things in the heavenly. In the fight of the children of Israel with the Amalekites, Moses was on the mountain with the rod of God while Joshua wielded the sword in the valley below. Every time the hand of Moses was lifted up Joshua prevailed. And whenever he drooped because of weariness, Amalek prevailed. That was why Aaron and Hur had to arrange to stabilize his hand until Israel fought to victory. Happenings in the spirit realm can determine the course of events here on earth.

This point can be further explained in our passage today. David fought the Philistines first immediately he was made king over the whole realm. But the philistines did not succumb. They came up again. When David enquired if he was to go up as the first time, God cautioned him. This time he had to wait for the sound of the marching troop in the tops of the trees. That would be the signal that God would go ahead of him to fight his battle. He followed instruction, and roundly defeated the Philistines the second time.

It’s good to wait for “the sound of marching” before we venture out. There has to be movement in the spirit realm before any major result can be recorded here on earth. When there is momentum in the spirit there is energy released for accomplishment.

FURTHER STUDY: PSALM 89:1-15

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, make sensitive to the goings in the spirit.

James 1:19 (NCV)
“My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily”.

Reading through the Book of Proverbs the fool is cast in a pitiable frame. But there are two instances where the foolish have an edge. The foolish have an edge over self-conceited people. “The most stupid fool is better off than someone who thinks he is wise when he is not.” (Proverbs 26:12, GNT). The other edge is shown in Proverbs 29:20; and this is the focus here. “Do you see people who speak too quickly? There is more hope for a foolish person than for them.” (NCV).

It is in the light of this that the admonition of James comes to the fore. We are encouraged to listen eagerly, speak sparingly and slowly, and use anger with utmost discretion. The scripture is clear on this: whenever words are many, transgressions are not lacking.

It is discretion not to speak to quickly when we have heard some things. Reason? It is because more often than not, there is the hidden part to most things you hear. And answering a matter before it is fully heard is adjudged to be foolishness. David failed in this at least twice. Ziba the servant of Saul who tended to Mephibosheth joined the sympathy train after David ran from the plot of Absalom. On sighting him David naturally asked for the disabled prince. The servant lied against his boss. In a fit of anger David converted all the estate of Saul to this lying servant. He did not get to know the hidden part of the story until days later at which point he tried to undo the wrong. On hearing Nathan, David in anger passed judgment on the man who cheated a hapless person before he realized he actually judged himself.

Before you speak or get angry, beware of “the hidden part”.

FURTHER STUDY: PROVERBS 19:1-11

PRAYER
Dear Lord, don’t let me self-destruct through indiscretion.

I have witnessed this at least on two or three occasions. One was in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria. We packed our luggage out of the hotel into the vehicle. But the driver could not locate the gate pass. Frantically, he went back into the room to search without success. He searched through his pockets without success either. Strangely he lifted his Bible in the front seat of the car and the blue disc fell out! It was in the Bible.

The second occasion directly involved me. This happened when my family and I lived in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. I drove to the office in the morning. And as I busied myself with one task after another, so grew the piles of materials on my table. With files, books, and Bible open I didn’t know when I buried the car key within the pages of the Bible. When the day’s job was done I couldn’t trace the key. All efforts were directed to everywhere but the Bible. In frustration I zipped up my Bible in its cover and abandoned the car in the church premises. Of course, I trekked some distance before get a public transport home that night. It was not until I opened my Bible mid-way into the second day that I discovered the key.

These stories illustrate the point of Proverbs 17:24. Most times the answer to our questions is right within the pages of the Bible. But we have been deceived to think it is elsewhere. That is why many believers would consult sources other than the Bible. In real truth, the Bible should be the first port of call, not the last that we make it.

FURTHER STUDY: JOHN 5:24-39

PRAYER
Give me grace, Lord of Heaven, to make your word my first focus.

The Lord knows how to cut short the skeptics in their track. Imagine if the water pots at Cana of Galilee had water it before the wedding feast ran into shortage of wine. The world would not believe that water was turned to wine. But the pots were empty; and servants were engaged in filling them up. No one could gainsay that miracle of the wine.

The same thing is what we can make of the passage today. When Jesus yielded up the ghost the curtain of the temple was torn into two, from top to bottom. If it had been from bottom up it could be read as a product of man’s manipulation. Given the fact that the curtain was massive, and that it was torn from top to down, there is only one conclusion: it was the finger of God at work. What God will do in your life will go beyond debate. When the lame man was healed in Acts 3 the face of the establishment wanted to rubbish it; but they could not. They said, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.” (Acts 4:16, ESV). There is going to be a repeat of this kind of testimony concerning you.

On another note, some things can only be handle from top to bottom. Think of reforms in a nation. The best place to begin is the top. If the leaders would not change, then the followers will have no good example to follow. And on a personal level, think of those things that you have tried to tear off from your life but have seemed like hand in glove. Look up above. The supernatural hand of God can work out deliverance for you.

FURTHER STUDY: DANIEL 2:1-11, 46-47

PRAYER
Dear God, do for me what neither me nor other man can do.

The big lesson of our meditation today is this, don’t agree it is over until God declares it so. This is lesson is born from the ruler who approached Jesus on behalf of his dying daughter. Before the Master could create the time to go with him report came that the child had died. On this people of the ruler’s household asked him to desist from bringing Jesus over to his house. They thought there was no need to begin to look for cure after death.

Jesus knew what adverse effect a negative news would have on the man’s faith. He therefore swung into action immediately. “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” (Mark 5:36, NKJV). He later went with the man and raised his daughter back to life.

We will be prone to wrong action if we close the chapter on an issue when God has not closed it. Sarah closed the chapter on bringing forth a child. That was after God had given a personal promise to her. She devised a means to nurse a child through her maid. That produced result that blew right back on her face. Her maid began to look down on her after she conceived. The son from that arrangement also mocked her. And that is not to talk of the eternal feud that has been between Jews and the Arabs till today.

God sometimes delight Himself in doing what people have written off, because that is what shows that He is the God of all flesh and there is nothing impossible unto Him. Perhaps it is time for you to roll back the stone of unbelief and give access to the Master to do what He alone can do.

FURTHER STUDY: LUKE 11:32-45

PRAYER
Come in, dear Lord, to all previously locked areas of my life.

After a gruesome teaching for the most part of a day Jesus gave order to His disciples to go over to the other side. They were in the middle of the sea when the storm rose fiercely against them. Something is in need of being stressed here; and that is, every word of God generates reaction from the devil. Going to the other side is like making progress. And the devil won’t fold hands and watch that happen without resistance. Most times when people go through storms it is because there is a contest over the word of God.

The disciples did the right thing when the storm started; they went to the Master. This is why it is important to go only where He sends; if anything goes wrong we have the confidence to return to Him for help. Whereas they went to the right place, they asked the wrong question. “Teacher, do you not care?, they asked. God cares about every details of our life. Of course, He cares about our reactions to issues as well.
Jesus did not provide a direct answer to their question. He simply stood up to rebuke the wind and the storm, and restored peace. This is a case of action speaking louder than voice. The real proof of care is positive, corresponding action. If you care about your health, act. If you care about your family do things that show you care. It is not enough to belong to a congregation and complain about everything that is going wrong. Take redemptive steps. The same thing goes for the nation. Those who truly care about the nation must be involved, doing things that will change the lot of the land.

FURTHER STUDY: LUKE 10:25-37

PRAYER
Lord, make me a point of contact to distribute your care to the world.

In a sense your stand with the poor defines your stand with the Lord. Even though God did not design nor create any group of people to be poor, it is an undeniable fact that poor people abound every where in the world, only being more pronounced in some parts than others. It is also true from the Bible that God takes special interest in the plight of the poor; and He expects those who are strong in terms of worldly goods to bear the infirmities of the weak. Where this is not done but rather the poor are taken advantage of and are oppressed, God sees it as a personal affront on His person. To oppress the poor is to reproach the Lord. The question is, can one reproach the Lord and not reap reproach some way or the other?

The other side of the coin is this: when mercy is shown to the poor the Lord is honoured. In consequence the harvest of honour is to be expected. Actually, giving to the poor is reckoned as granting a loan to the Lord. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Mercy to the needy is a loan to GOD, and GOD pays back those loans in full.” (MSG). Not only does God pay back in full He pays back with interest. When Hannah loaned Samuel to the Lord Eli prayed for her. “And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD.” (NKJV). That loan came with interest. Hannah eventually had three sons and two daughters. That number signifies grace.

Grace is the interest we receive from giving loan to God. This grace translates into several things. It does what money cannot do, it surmounts seemingly intractable problems, and it eventually delivers victory. By improving the lot of the poor you indirectly your lot. Good enough, you don’t have to stretch too long to find someone to shower mercy upon. And of course, you don’t have to wait till you have the millions. There is someone who hasn’t got what you have. Reach out!

FURTHER STUDY: DEUTERONOMY 15:1-11

PRAYER
Lord, make my heart soft towards the poor in the land.

We left off yesterday with Jeremiah 49: 4 which says, “Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?”. The emphasis then was, priding in our possessions or positions is a sign of turning back from the Lord. The other bit of that verse is a sense of invincibility as portrayed by the question “who shall come unto me?”. The people felt they were secure by the multitudes of mountains that walled them round. Again here we can see that making anything our source of security, other than God, is evil and a pointer to departing from the Lord. If one may ask, what is the source of your confidence?

Perhaps a more subtle sign of backsliding is pointed out here in Proverbs 14:14. This verse describes a form of backsliding that occurs in the heart. Like we observed before, backsliding may not take the form of cutting off from church. One may be a front bencher in church and still be far from God. This is more dangerous. Believers can easily follow up those who drop out of church, not those who are in but have dropped from their heart. The symptom of this kind of backsliding is taking to one’s ways. The moment we take steps without taking counsel from the mouth of God it is a sign of backsliding. Don’t be self-conceited to think only your ways are right. Neither should you go on in your own devices until you receive green light from God. Remember, the way that seems right to a man may lead to certain destruction.

FURTHER STUDY: MATTHEW 15:1-8

PRAYER
Lord, heal my backsliding.

Backsliding means apostasy, turning back from the Lord. Instance of this could be seen in the ministry of Jesus. As He began to teach core truths of the Kingdom many of the disciples turned back from following Him. Backsliding will characterize the last days. The Bible already predicted that the love that many people have for the Lord will wax cold, because of the multiplying effect of sin.

Backsliding can set in rather deceptively. In other words, not all form of backsliding manifest in wholesale departure from religious activities, at least not at the onset. People can actively participate in church programs but still be far from God. It is therefore important to know the symptoms of this spiritual disease that can damn the soul.

“Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley,” the verse says. To glory here means to take pride in. Here you have a people who seem to be well endowed naturally. They occupied a fruitful place because of the rains of heaven. That has also resulted in abundance of treasures. But instead of glorying in God the giver of all things, they take pride in their possession. God describes this as backsliding.

Whenever you begin to pride yourself in anything other than God, you are already on a course to backsliding. The scripture is clear, there is nothing you have or have become that has not been made possible by God’s grace. To behave as if those things have been because of smartness is sin.

FURTHER STUDY: JEREMIAH 9:23-24; 1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-7

PRAYER
Keep in my imagination always, dear God, to remember that it is Your grace at work in me.