Enhance Your Relationship With God!

One way to overcome spiritual dryness is by enhancing our relationship with God. And our relationship with Him is basically that of love, we are called into a love relationship. Jesus made us understand in Matthew 22:37-39 that loving God is the greatest commandment of all, and next to it is love for your neighbour. He also said that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. That means, love is the foundation for all that we do in the Kingdom of God.

You know, when Jesus sent to the seven churches in the book of Revelations, one of the things He had against the church of Laodicea was their lukewarm-ness. He said, "...Thou art neither cold nor hot...So then because thou art lukewarm...I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev 3:15-16). Lukewarm-ness and compromise are the reasons so many believers have been over taken by evil today; their love for God has gone cold. Apostle Paul praying for the church in Thessalonica said, "And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God..." (2 Thess. 3:5). You need to pray that prayer for yourself: "Lord, direct my heart to love you! Make me hot in my love for you!"

Also in Revelations 2:4-5 Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, "...Thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent..." So, when we talk about fighting spiritual dryness, we are not talking about struggling with sin, it's all about generating hot love for God in your heart. Repent and return to your first love! When you are filled with the love of God, it becomes natural for you to hate sin because love for God produces godly fear, which is also respect for God. Let your soul keep longing for God on a daily basis, when you are confronted or tempted with evil, let the love of God in your heart prevail.

Loving God also means loving your neghbour. 1 John 4:20 says, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" In my view, anybody who can't relate well with humans that he can see, can't relate well with God. Love your neighbour as yourself! You can't love your neigbhour and plan evil against him or go about castigating and pulling him down!

Apart from his love for God, I believe that Joseph also loved Potiphar his mater. He said to the wife who was trying to lure him into immorality, "...My master has committed all that he has into my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back any thing from me but you, because you are his wife..." (Gen 39:8-9). Joseph considered the fact that Potiphar trusted him enough to leave all his possessions and wealth in his hands and for that reason he preferred to go to prison than to lie down with his wife. The way you relate with people is a reflection of the way you relate with God. If you truly love God, it will show in your relationship with men. May God's love fill your heart today.

Meditate on these: Matt. 24:12-13, Psalm 18:1

God Has Answered Your Prayer

By Winners Chapel International Nairobi

Your understanding determines your benefits in life. The reason many are weary in prayer is because they lack understanding of what happens in prayer or what to expect when they pray. Understanding is what sustains interest and excitement in prayer.

It instills faith in the heart and you know with faith nothing is impossible. One thing that will enhance your participation and results in prayer is the understanding that God is committed to answering your prayers.

We know God hears us when we pray according to His will (1 John 5:14). But, it is one thing for somebody to hear you and another thing for him to answer or grant your request. Many Christians lack assurance in this aspect. But Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you…” (Matthew 7:7). Not “It may be given you” but “it shall be given.” And in verse 8 He said, “For every one that asketh receiveth…”So, answer to prayer is not reserved for a selected few, God will answer all that care to call. He is that committed.

Nobody gives his telephone number to somebody he doesn’t want disturbance from. So the reason God said you should call upon Him is because He is ready to hear you and give you your heart’s desires. And Ephesians 3:20 assures us that when God answers He does beyond what we can ask or think. There is no request you will ever make that can threaten or intimidate God. He is more than able to meet your need, because in Him consist the fullness of all things. Ever before you make your request, He has an answer ready. For “…Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt 6:8).

And why will God answers your prayer? Hebrews 4:15 says, “…We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” During His earthly life, Jesus was attacked, opposed, and tempted as we are today. So He feels for us and identifies with our pains when we face challenges in life. God is compassionate towards you, and it is on this basis that verse 16 of Hebrews chapter 4 says,

God wants you to approach the throne of grace with the understanding that you are not alone in that battle, you have a God who cares about you and will not leave you to suffer. That is the mentality that will make you a full partaker of the grace you require for your help in the time of need.

God brought the Israelites out of bondage in response to their prayer because He saw their afflictions and was moved with compassion towards them (Exodus 3:7-8). I see that compassion flowing towards you today.

Meditate on these: Matt. 7:11, Psalm 50:15

God's Faithfulness

By Margaret D. Mitchell

"God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord."  -1 Corinthians 1:9

Recently, I’ve watched firey sunrises blaze up over mountaintops, burning off the low haze that tries to settle in on the placid river below my glass chapel in rural Tennessee.

Yes, a glass chapel that is pitched on a craggy riverbank, surrounded by decking and trees that stand around and hang over what I have lovingly dubbed The Son Room.

"But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory."  -Hebrews 3:6

God led me to a cabin in the woods on the river’s edge to come away and finish my book and watch—in the stillness of the early mornings—His faithfulness shine upon me and His creations on earth.

And I sit silently. And I whisper praises.

To Him.

Of gratitude.

And birds sing in the glory of His new day—rejoicing over His fire of light, His strength of mountains, His peaceful waters, amid His provision. They are assured.

And I take it in. And I am thankful. For Him.

And I am assured, even more, that God is faithful in the simple and in the important, that…

·         Every morning brings an invitation for joy and new mercies.

·         No matter how small or large my faith, His faithfulness is certain.

·         He patiently and faithfully endures with me, even when I know I don’t.

·         His faithfulness never tires.

·         I can do nothing to earn it.

·         I can extend my faith to believe Him at His word to produce through me what He said He would by His grace.

·         I can trust Him consistently…in all things as I persist and as I rest. In all things.

And the sun rises and sets on another day of His glory. And I know that I am His beloved and that He is mine and that we will finish this assignment together because He is the author and the finisher of my faith (Heb. 12:2). Amen.

God’s Promises

In addition to salvation through Jesus, what has God promised you? What assignment is He helping you fulfill?

Hebrews 10:23 assures us that “…He who promised is faithful,” regardless of whether we are.

Do you realize that the fulfillment of God’s promise to you has an appointed time, that even if you waffle in your faith along your journey or you feel impatient at times, God will still faithfully lead you to receive the deliverance of His promise to you? You don’t have to fear that you will miss it. You don’t have to try to force it or forge out ahead unbridled or give up because you know you are not perfect. No, just follow The Holy Spirit’s promptings, and He will bring it to pass. He may lead you to speed up or slow down or to simply wait at times. But He is always on time.

And He is faithful. In all things. All things, even when we are not.

Just trust Him. Simply trust and obey and you will see the fulfillment of His promises.

Pray…

Dear Lord, Thank You that Your mercies are new every morning. Thank You that You took my sorrow at the cross and that You continue to faithfully turn my mourning into joy. Thank You that You will use everything I endure for good. Thank You for the reminder that You endured much more than I ever will, for which I am grateful. And thank You that your faithfulness meets my faith as I believe You at Your Word to fulfill all of Your promises in my life, according to Your righteousness. You are God, and I am not. I repent of all rebellion and arrogance. And I choose to yield my will to Yours, trusting in Your timing and strategies for Your purposes in my life and in others’ lives. Please open the eyes of my heart and mind to see life from Your perspective and to know You more and more along the way. I invite You to deliver me where You desire I be in this season and forevermore. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

How to Retain Your Blessing

“And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings…”- Malachi 2:1-2

“And now, O ye priests…” According to Revelation 1:6, God has made us kings and priests, so this passage refers to every believer, not only to pastors or preachers. “… Now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart…” It's one thing to hear, it's another thing to lay it to heart. You may forget what you hear but you can't forget what you lay to heart. God is telling us here that thanksgiving is a thing we must lay to heart; we must impress it upon our hearts.

When you lay something to heart it means you have made a decision to do it, your circumstances notwithstanding. Perhaps, the reason you are not consistent in some pursuits of your life is because you have not decided. The strength to carry out any duty or assignment is decision based.

God said, “…If ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you…” When you don't glorify God what looks like glory around you turns into shame. The absence of thanksgiving attracts curses. So, thanksgiving sustains blessings, it protects and shields your blessing from corruption.

We don't only thank God for what He has done we are also thank Him to retain what He has done. We thank Him to fulfill Eccl 3:14, “Whatsoever the Lord doeth it shall be forever.” Your blessings will endure only as long as your thanksgiving remains.

Thanksgiving will never leave you where it met you. Paul and Silas were in prison but as soon as they began to sing praises and give thanks to God, their chains gave way (Acts 16:25-26). No matter the pit you are in, when you start thanking God you start going up. Start thanking God in your low estate; you will soon end up in your high estate. I see you going up today!

Meditate On These: - Psalm 100:1-4