Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight! - 1 Samuel 4:9 REFERENCE 1 Samuel 4:2-11 Yesterday, we concluded with the thought that life may have many odds against you, but you can win with the right attitude. We see this play out as we continue our story from the passage. I believe, one of the Philistine soldiers’ who was tired of going through the same pattern of defeat and hopelessness rose up and told them to...
Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight! - 1 Samuel 4:9 REFERENCE 1 Samuel 4:2-11 The passage we read narrates a story of how the children of Israel had been in battle with the Philistines and it had first turned against them. Then they realized they had a joker – the ark of Covenant, which they brought to the battlefield. The moment the ark entered the battlefield, the Israelites shouted with a loud shout because the...
Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight! - 1 Samuel 4:9 REFERENCE 1 Samuel 4:2-11 You may have heard it said countless times, ‘life is a battle,’ and rightly so. Even when you don’t want to fight, life brings the fight to your doorstep, leaving you with no choice but to engage. This year, like others before it, is going to have its own share of battles; you cannot run from it, but you can adequately...
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17 REFERENCE 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 The first man, Adam, was the peak and the crowning beauty of God’s creation. He was given dominion and he was the god of the then created world. But he lost it all to satan through the sin of disobedience and that affected the rest of mankind; however, Christ came to restore what he lost and even much more than that to mankind. Thus, your redemption in Christ...
My word is like…the rain that come down…to water the earth. They make the crops grow…So also will be the word that I speak… it will do everything I send it to do. - Isaiah 55:10&11 (GNT). REFERENCE Isaiah 55:10-13 From today’s passage we deduced that the word of God is like the rains that come down to transform the earth and doesn’t leave the earth the same way it met it; which means anytime the word goes out, it must change whatever it comes in contact with. After God made man, He breathed into his nostrils, and...
For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them. - Psalm 44:3. REFERENCE Psalm 44:1-8 To be favored means, you have been given preferential treatment or shown a special privilege in getting something you didn’t struggle or qualify for. The psalmist here talks about the favor of God upon his ancestors which upgraded them to “landowners’ status” even when they didn’t work for it. A careful study of the...
Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God. - Joshua 14:8 REFERENCE Joshua 14:6-12 The things you say can either kill or make (faith) alive. Your mouth and the words you speak hold the keys to the door of your future, prosperity, experience, etc. the earlier you start speaking the right words i.e. God’s words even when nothing around you points to that, the faster the manifestation of those things you have been saying. As leaders in one capacity or the other (e.g. children’s...
Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing,… For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman… ~ Isaiah 54:1 REFERENCE Isaiah 54:1-10 It takes real faith and sacrifice to sing when things are not adding up and you are not seeing fruits from your labor. It seems almost unfair to tell someone who is experiencing a drought to rejoice, because the person doesn’t have any reason to be joyful. However, God who knows the end from the beginning gave the directive for the barren to rejoice in this...
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! ~ 1 John 3:1 REFERENCE 1 John 3:1-12 The world celebrates today (February 14th) as Valentine’s Day – a day of love, set aside for people to both receive and show love to others. Love connotes different things to different people, but in its pure form, it is the nature of God. God showed us His nature by giving us His unconditional love although we were undeserving of it. Because of this love, we are now called ‘Children of God.’...
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands… and they did not repent of their murders… or their thefts. - Revelation 9:20-21 REFERENCE Revelation 9:13-21 One wonders why, in spite of all the calamities that befall thousands around us daily; the famine, earthquakes, untold hardships, landslides & mudslides, etc, mankind never pauses to consider his Maker. Systems are failing, money is failing, otherwise strong nations are being shaken, uprising and protests everywhere, religious fanaticism and persecution…and so on. The times we are in and the events...