Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. ~ James 5:11 REFERENCE James 5:7-11 To persevere simply means your ability to stay and finish the course in whatever you are doing, despite difficulties. Sometimes, things don’t happen at the time you anticipate they will and you can’t control the time when they will finally happen, so, you must learn to endure and not give up or give in to pressures. A lot can happen between the...
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits. – Psalm 103:2 REFERENCE Psalm 103:1-5 When you take a look at your life sometimes, you see someone who is committed to serving God but who doesn’t have the ‘commensurate results’ to show for it. Things have not worked out the way you planned; you’ve had setbacks and delays, and it seems like things are spiraling down. In this state, the devil tries to toy with your mind to think ‘nothing is happening in your life and ‘nothing good can happen for you. It is a...
And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. – II Kings 7:5 REFERENCE II Kings 7:3-8 The Israelites were experiencing a severe famine because their enemy besieged their land until it became empty. As a result, there was hunger, death, frustration and hopelessness all over the city. However, these four lepers did the unimaginable by rising up and going to the camp of the enemy. Little did they know that God will magnify...
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a branch of an almond tree.' ~ Jeremiah 1:11 REFERENCE Jeremiah 1:4-12 Seeing is everything – the only time Jesus ministered to someone twice was a case where He wanted the person to receive his sight (ability to see). When your sight is dim, you make wrong choices, your progress is impeded, and you become fearful and uncertain of the future. Sure enough, the devil will like you to grope about blindly, unable to make a headway in...
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ~ Matthew 6:27 REFERENCE Matthew 6:25-34 The fact that Jesus repeats over and again that believers should not worry in this passage, shows how important He considers the issue. So many of you reading this devotional would have heard this same message severally; however it is worth reiterating because many still labor under the influence of ‘worry’. Worry plagues your mind with questions you don’t have answers to. Asking you… HOW? WHEN? WHERE? WHAT? all in an attempt to put you in an uncomfortable position and...
Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind. ~ Proverbs 21:5 (MSG) REFERENCE Proverbs 21:5-6 Foresight is the ability to think ahead or to look ahead and make the necessary plans to survive the future. Any believer who wants to prosper must cultivate this wisdom. To succeed, you have to PLAN! PLAN!! PLAN!!! Success never happens by accident, it is deliberate and calculated efforts that birth it. Amidst other factors, financial planning is also a prerequisite to your prosperity; and if you don’t plan (budget) on how you spend whatever...
For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement) -Acts 4:36b (NLT) REFERENCE Acts 4: 32-37; 9:26-28 & 11:22-26 How does it feel to get an award or to be rewarded for something you have done well? How does it feel to be recognized for every effort you put into doing the right thing? How will you feel if every day, everybody around you said good things to you? Today, we live in a world where everybody tends to be harsh; finances are hard, everybody seems so stressed up and they...
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again! – I Kings 17:14 (NLT) REFERENCE I Kings 17: 8-16. Faith is the ability to take risks, based on God’s Word, being fully convinced that the outcome is positive, even when the facts don’t say so. It is taking a bet on God’s ability to make the impossible possible, the invisible visible, etc. Despite the fact that all that this widow had...
Which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. – Proverbs 6:7-8 REFERENCE Proverbs 6:6-11 Ants are endowed with relentlessness, – the ability to keep going despite the odds. Ants do not have overseers and captains but they are self-starters, self-disciplined, self-motivated and they get done what needs to be done. One of the most damaging traits that subverts and impedes the progress of people is dependency on others; it is a major problem when you can’t do what needs to be done without supervision. We live...
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, BUT he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. – Judges 11:1 REFERENCE Judges 11:1-11 Jephthah had a dysfunctional family. He was the son of a harlot which wasn’t his own doing, however, that put a ‘BUT’ in his life. His brothers rejected him and forced him out of his inheritance in their father’s house. Perhaps, angry and bitter, he set out to look for love, acceptance and significance. Jephthah left home and joined a gang of worthless men, who led a freebooting lifestyle. There,...