KEY SCRIPTURE: John 13:14. “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

 The Lord washed all the disciples’ feet, and then He asked them if they had seen what He had done to them. He made sure that everyone’s feet were washed. He then instructed them that if I your lord and master have washed your feet, then you must likewise wash one another’s feet. This was a very profound act and a corresponding statement he made in addition.

 He is the Lord. He is their creator and king, yet He humbled himself and washed their feet and cleaned it as well. The first lesson is that none of them must see himself too big to serve the rest. It was an instruction to be selfless. This is one condition that makes a team great. Teams are never divided but carry one main agenda. Phil 2:2 “fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

 To wash one another’s feet is to love one another. No individualism. Apostle Paul states it so clearly in Phil 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

 Washing your brother or sister’s feet means you esteem him better than yourself.

 One may ask, if I esteem my brother better than myself, would that not give him an advantage over me? Please get the whole idea well or clearly. It is not about who gains the advantage but rather how much Christ is revealed in us. Many are busily seeking to show what they can do and how great they are. This is the deception of the enemy. It is a trap that many have fallen into. He saved us not to make us great but to reveal Christ in us.

 He saved us to make Christ great in us. It is all about Christ. Gal 1:15 “ But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.” He saved you to reveal Jesus in you and not to reveal you.

Stop the struggle to reveal yourself. If in your life Christ is magnified and daily revealed through you, then you are fulfilling your mission.

 When God uses us in any way, it is to reveal Jesus. Healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, and even feeding the hungry should not in any way make us feel proud. We should be full of praise to the master who has made use of us to glorify His name.

 All that we have been called to do is to wash men’s feet. Teaching, healing, and delivering the oppressed is all washing other’s feet. We do not get offended if they fail to acknowledge what we have done because we only sort to please the master in washing His children’s feet.

THOUGHT:  LET IT BE YOUR JOY TO RENDER SERVICE THAN TO RECEIVE PRAISE.

FURTHER STUDIES

Phi 1:20 KJV” According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”

Acts 20:35 “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 13:10. “Jesus said to him, Anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is clean all over. And you [My disciples] are clean, but not all of you.”

  In our key scripture, the Lord gave a proverbial statement. He said to Peter, the one who has bathed only, needs to wash his feet because he is already clean, and you are all clean but not every one of you. The one who he referred to as not clean was Judas. Judas was with his team of disciples, yet he was not clean. From the Lord’s analogy, one could say Judas had not washed himself.

What made Judas not to be clean?

 Judas was in the team, yet his language and desires were very different. He was very covetous. He had a strong lust for money.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love(lust) of money is the root of all evils;

Which some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows”.

 Judas had erred from the faith. He was in the Lord’s ’s service but never served the Lord. Judas had a different motive for following Jesus. His motive disqualified him. Jesus said he was not clean.

  Dear servant of God, are you clean? Are you serving Jesus because of the money you wish to get? Are you after souls or after savings? There are some men of God who organize programs with certain financial targets on their minds. The whole program is not about the transformation of lives but to obtain certain amounts to obtain certain material gains. Such a mind is unfortunately defiled. Dear child or servant of God, motive is everything.

  Financial gain is not the only wrong motive people may have. Any other worldly or carnal longings other than seeking the glory of God and the continual transformation of lives makes that servant of God unclean. The Lord said at the last day, he would say to some, get away from me , ye workers of iniquity, I do not know you. What criteria does the Lord consider to claim knowledge of His servants? When the person loves Him Jesus. In 1 Corinth 8:3, the Lord said If one loves the Lord, then the Lord knows him.” This implies that if one does not love the Lord, then He does not know such a person. In the case of Judas, he did not love the Lord. He loved the money that he would be stealing from the money bag he carried along. Love for Jesus is the underlying criteria for acceptance before Him.

 If your actions are of no benefit to the love of God, then you are unclean and have seriously missed God’s mark or standards. Love for God is God’s marking scheme for eternal qualification or disapproval.

 THOUGHT: MAKE SURE YOU LOVE GOD IN SINCERITY, AND YOU WOULD NEVER MISS GOD’S APPROVAL

FURTHER STUDIES:

Philippians 3:18 “For there are many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, who walk (live) as enemies of the cross of Christ (the Anointed One)”.

1 John 2:15” Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him”.

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 13:6-7 “Then comes he to Simon Peter: and Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do, you know not now; but you shall know hereafter.”

The Lord Jesus started washing the feet of the disciples, and He cleaned their feet with His towel. As He got to Peter, he asked, “Lord, are you coming to wash my feet?” The Lord quickly said to him,” You do not understand what I am doing now. You may not understand, but you will do it later on.”

Peter felt disgraced for seeing the glorious master bow to his feet and wash the dirt from his feet. He felt I should rather wash your feet. He was quite apprehensive about allowing the Lord wash his feet. When the Lord went further to explain the reason for doing so, he quickly said not only my feet but my hands and my head.

There are many acts or instructions from the Lord that may sound ridiculous and not reasonable. There are certain moments the Lord can ask you to stop a particular work and serve Him totally. One servant of God who worked at the United Nations was instructed to leave the United Nations establishment and come to Africa to serve the Lord. This man was not in his old age, ready to go to pension, but just in his prime time.

He gladly obliged following the spirit’s instruction. Now God is making him a blessing unto the Nations of the world. Bishop Dag Heward Mills, who left his medical profession at a rather prime age, is now a blessing unto the entire Christian world. He might not have understood the spirit’s prompting to forsake his profession and take on pastoring souls. His parents and friends were equally bewilded at his decision to follow the heavenly call.

The whole world now attests to the wisdom in God’s instructions.

A word of caution is that whatever you are deciding to do must indeed be from the Lord. It was the master himself who came to the disciples ready to wash their feet. Be certain fully that it is the Lord asking you to do whatever he is asking you to do.

God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not normally our thoughts. God, on many occasions, chooses the weak things of this world to shame the strong of the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Do not allow man’s natural persuasions to dictate to you when dealing with the Lord. What the Lord requires is to respond to Him in faith.

CONFESSION

Thank you, heavenly father, for the leading of your spirit, which is always right. I trust you with all my heart to do whatever you ask of me.

FURTHER STUDIES

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the LORD.”

1 Corinth. 1:27-28. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yes, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are:

KEY SCRIPTURE: JOHN 13:4. he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

The Lord Jesus knew who He was. He had every authority in His hands. Every power was under His control. In the light of such power and authority, He put down His clothes, took a towel, and got water to wash the disciples’ feet. This was the act and duty of slaves.

During the days of Jesus, roads were very dusty, and so there were servants who washed the feet of all those who came into the house.

Jesus acted in meekness. To be meek is to have strength under control. It comes with an attitude to humble yourself. Humility is a decision to accept what God says about you. True humility is first our attitude towards God and His word. It is then reflected in our relationship to men. It is out of our submission to God that enables us to relate rightly towards men. There is no humble man who does not honour God sincerely in his heart, but claims to be humble is a big liar. Most politicians have no regard for God, yet they portray themselves as humble men. These are acts to deceive the uninformed.

Our Lord Jesus showed throughout His life of ministry days that God honour and accepts the humble. He showed that unless one becomes humble as a little child, he has no place before the father. He said the leader must be the servant of the people. This was the very example He tried to show His disciples.

Leadership is not about dominating. Leadership is about bringing people into their destiny. It is about showing people the way to greatness. True leaders produce people after their kind. It takes humility to do this. It is the humble that will make themselves examples or escape goats for the rest. Leadership is not about enjoying privileges and having fun. Leaders show the way. They literally carry the people on their backs to bring them to the heights, the place that the people must be. The word is leader, that is one carrying or leading the followers to a particular destination. It is His humble attitude that makes him take steps and actions that become lessons for the rest to follow. Any leader who lives fat on the people and takes advantage of them is a disappointment. He is a failure. Leadership is sacrifice, and that is what humility demonstrates.

PRAYER:

Lord grant all those who aspire to leadership to understand the call to humility.

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 18:3-4. and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 13:3 KJV “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;”

Our key scripture informs us about certain things that the Lord Jesus knew. He knew that the father had put all things in His hands. He also knew He came from the father and will be going back to the father.

To know the truth is to be free. John 8:32. The strength of the enemy is to place men in darkness. Darkness is basically ignorance. The three points of insight the Lord Jesus had were very important matters that really make a man free.

First, He knew that the father had put all things in His hands. One major shortcoming of men is the thought of being helpless in the face of the challenges of life. It also becomes worse when one does not know what to do when evil strikes. We thank God that the power and authority our Lord Jesus received were handed over to us children of God through his name. Matt 28:18

 In Mark 16:15-17, He instructed His disciples that in His name, we would cast out devils, speak in new tongues, lay hands on the sick, and they would be healed, and if they are to take in deadly things it will not harm them. This is a real superiority in life.  knowing this. and believing it , gives you an  edge over the basic difficulties  of men.

Secondly, He knew He came from the father. Where do you hail from? The scripture teaches, we are from God. 1st John 4:4 says, “we proceed from God…” If we are God’s children, then our life should be that of our father.

We should be children of the light. Knowing you proceed from the father should convince you that it is very natural to live the godly life. The child of God reflects the image of His father.

Finally, the Lord knew He would be going back to His father. Every child of God must know that when He departs from this life. He is going back to His heavenly father. Phil. 1:28 “I feel torn between the two because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ.” Apostle Paul knew that if he departed from this life, He would go to be with the Lord. Dear child of God, we have full assurance from the word of God concerning our destiny in this life.

Dear reader, can you say with such certainty about the authority you wield in this life? Do you know where you come from? Are you sure about where you would be going if you depart this life? You can make your destiny sure by first coming to the Lord.

You must be born again from above. John 3:3

This is your moment to end that life of uncertainty.

CONFESSION

I am born from above. God is my father; I have His authority in this life over every work of the devil. I will be with my Lord at the last day. I am filled with His perfect peace

FURTHER STUDIES

Joh 8:32 KJV” And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

2Co 5:1 KJV” For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 13:2 KJV” And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;”

Our key scripture said Satan had succeeded in depositing his desire, in the heart of Judas Iscariot. He had fully established in Judas’ heart the plan to destroy Jesus.

To betray one’s master and Lord is a very serious act, yet Satan would make use of anyone who makes himself available to be used. The Bible had earlier described Judas as a thief. John 12:6. He used to steal some of the monies he kept for the Lord. Judas’ love for money allowed the devil to make inroads into his heart.

Judas’ fall came as a result of allowing the devil to plant his seed in his heart. The heart is the seat of decisions and the general control of the individual. All matters of life proceed from the heart. If you allow a strange woman to enter your heart, you would go after her. Addictions, wrong habits and what have you? All these tendencies mean they are calmly seated in that individual’s heart. To be free, you must plug it out of your heart.

Satan seeks to use areas of people that may be very weak. The Bible said the following about the devil “So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Him until a more opportune time.” Easy English (Luke 4:13). What is an opportune time? It is a time when one is weak. If you used to fall for ladies, that is what the devil would use to trap you. If it is about alcohol, that is what Satan would use to bait you.

Satan is a master schemer and does not care to wait for many years to entrap you. Moses was a mighty man of God who was used so much to deliver the Israelites from bondage.  Moses’ problem was a bad temper. That is what the enemy worked on to get him to sin against God so that after all his victories, he did not get to the promised land. Deut. 3:26

David, the great lover of God, songwriter, amazing king, and mighty warrior fell because of his lust for women and softness towards his children. Satan had the opportunity to attack his kingdom and almost dethroned him and destroyed his family, because of these shortcomings.

Samson was a very mighty man of great physical strength. He could single-handedly destroy over a thousand Philistine soldiers, and not a scratch would be found on him. Satan worked on his weakness to bring him to become like a piece of bread that his enemies ridiculed and mocked him. All these happened because of a personal weakness.

John 14:30 said Satan came but had nothing in Jesus. What does the devil have in you?

Satan does not have power over your heart but has the ability to deceive. He cannot conquer you until he has succeeded in planting his desires in you. Prov. 4:23 “Guard your heart with all diligence…”

CONFESSION

I guard my heart with all diligence. I do not allow any careless thought or desire to have a place in me. I kick out every wrong desire, thought, or image from my heart. Satan has no part in me.

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov 4:23 KJV “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life”.

Song 2:15 KJV “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 13:1 NET “Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.”

The Passover, which was the time for the Lord’s crucifixion, was nigh. The Bible says he loved his own, that is, His disciples. He loved them unto the very end.

Be mindful of the fact that He perfectly knew about the ordeal He would be going through. Naturally, He should have been occupied with sorrow, anxiety, and maybe self-analysis of the challenges that was before Him. These were not the issues that filled His heart. He was rather occupied with love for His disciples.

I believe He really appreciated the fellowship and relationship He had with them. I also think He considered the dangers that laid ahead of them. The attacks or persecutions that the Pharisees would be raising against them. He also did not want to lose any of them.

 His love for the disciples was expressed in the prayer He made in John 17, in which He prayed that they might be delivered from the evil one. Above all was His desire that none of them would be lost into the world or the deceptions of the evil one.

All Christians must have the continual commitment of seeing new Christians standing strong in the Lord. 2nd Peter 1:12 “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things though you know them and be established in the present truth.” In this event, Peter was about to depart the earth into glory and so wanted to make sure that the brethren he would be leaving behind, would be able to stay through.

What is your love for younger Christians in the faith? How much are you seeking for their stability in the Lord? What can one do to help these young brothers and sisters in the faith? I do not necessarily mean those who are young in age. I mean anyone who has come into Christ irrespective of his or her age. Such a one is young in the faith and needs to be loved in sincerity.

1. They must be loved in truth.

2. They ought to be prayed for always. Eph. 1:14-15, 2nd Corinth. 1:3

3. They must be encouraged with the word of God. 2nd Peter 2:2

4. They should be encouraged to practice the disciplines of the Christian faith, like personal prayer times, fasting, quiet time, fellowshipping with other brethren. They must also be taught the importance of giving to the work of God. If these things are diligently taught, they would surely grow in the Lord and become effective disciples.

CONFESSION:

The soul of every child of God is very precious unto the Lord Jesus. Our Lord died that all who believe in Him should not perish, but live forever. I express true love and do whatever I must to help them stand strong in the faith.

FURTHER STUDIES

Gal 4:19 NET My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you!

John 17:19 NET” And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:49 KJV” For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”

The Lord Jesus, in the above key scripture reveals to us, what made Him, so effective. He spoke what the father asked him to say. We can know the meaning of what He was talking about by considering how he went about doing the work of God. The Lord Jesus knowing the father was in Him, talking through Him, always spoke Just as God would speak. I believe this is a truth the church of God is yet to grasp very well. Jesus never stood before a sick person and asked the Father to heal that person. He took the place of the Father, who resided in Him to act. He commanded the lame to rise up and walk. The man who laid by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years was asked to take his bed and walk home.

The church of God has had very little impact in revealing the mighty power of God in her, because, the church has not come to the understanding that, it is God who is at work in her, both to will and to do of His good pleasure Philippians 2 :13. Dearly beloved child of God, to have God work through, you. You must understand how God intends to function through you. Like Jesus we must act for the Lord. Praying for the sick is good, but you function from a higher level when you act in God’s stead as our Lord did. He spoke like God would have spoken.

In Acts 9:34 Apostle Peter was taken to a disciple called Aeneas, who had been bed ridden for so many years. Peter announced to him, Jesus makes you well. That was the end of the affliction. In that moment it was the Lord who did the whole thing. Peter took the Lord’s place and allowed Him to work through him. If the Lord is in you, then you have the perfect anointing for every condition. Act and speak for Him.

CONFESSION

God is present in me. I speak His words and act in His stead, knowing that He would always go into operation to honour His name. There is no condition too great or difficult, for if God is the one working through me, then every condition is very simple.

FURTHER STUDIES

Phi 2:13 KJV “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Joh 14:13 KJV” And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:48 KJV” He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

Every good examiner, examines his students by the very lessons he gave them. To test them, outside what he taught them would be unfair. Our LORD Jesus states clearly that there would be a day of reckoning for all men.2Co 5:10 KJV” For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” The Lord teaches He would not judge anyone by any standard or scope that may be strange or alien to us. The very words we read, heard and have been taught from our childhood till date, would be the very yardstick by which we would be judged.

I can easily predict many would fail that day. One may ask why do you predict many would fail that day. I say this on three main counts.

1. Jesus taught that broad is the way that leads to death, and many are presently on that way. Matt 7:13 KJV” Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”

• The present evil that prevails around show many men do not subscribe to the teachings of the Lord. 3.

• There is so much failure of many lives all around us these days. Many marriages are breaking up. Many hearts are failing because of fear.

All the above states show that many people are not living. According to His word. Now what is the state of affairs with you? Are you living according to the word of our Lord Jesus? Do you have the peace He gave to those who are living for Him? Joh 14:27 KJV “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Are you expanding the kingdom of God, by winning souls for Christ? How much do you love God, and your fellow man? Above all, are you born again?

Dear one, choose not to be among the many going into misery failure, and eternal damnation. Jesus has opened His arms to give you the best of experience. Today is the acceptable time today is the day of salvation. Do not delay for one more day?

CONFESSION

Thank you, dear heavenly father, for your gracious love and kindness to me.  I live by your word. My life is moving upward and forward always because I am giving to doing what you said.

FURTHER STUDIES

2Co 6:2 KJV” (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

Mat 11:28 KJV Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:46 KJV” I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”

Our Lord Jesus was very bold about who He was, as well as His mission on the earth. The world has seen a number of people who came on the world scene with various moral doctrines, teaching men about the way of God. There were some of them who taught about these upright ways, and never claimed they were the way. An example of such was Mohammed, the leader of the Islamic faith. There were a few who taught moral uprightness and even claimed, they were the way to life, yet there was very little they demonstrated to prove they were indeed the way to life.

Our Lord Jesus stated without any doubt that He was the way.  John 14:6 KJV “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Jesus did not show us the way, He is the way. In our key scripture, He stated that He came as the light of the world and anyone who believes in Him would not abide in darkness. Did He prove in any way that He could save those that believed on Him? He proved it by overcoming the greatest challenge to human life, that is death. He was killed under Pontius Pilate and on the third day, He resurrected from the grave. Throughout the period of His resurrection to date, there are countless evidences of varying kinds of solutions that men have encountered, as they called on Him. Rom 10:11 KJV “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”  He said He is the light of the world and any man who comes to Him, would no longer walk in darkness, that is, he or she would be free from the authority of evil.

Up till tomorrow men under the torments of incurable diseases have been set free in His name. People who called on Him for deliverance from, kidnappers have received unexplainable freedom. Clinically proven dead people have been brought back to life, because, people called on Him on behalf of such people. Communities that were under the spell of witch doctors have been freed through diverse demonstrations of the power of God, as the powers of these witch doctors or fetish priests, were overpowered by the power in the name of Jesus. These are documented facts of all time.

What kind of darkness is overwhelming you? Is it a sinful lifestyle? Are you under the bondage of evil demonic spirits or actions that has deprived you of wisdom, and so you find yourself at the receiving end of trouble and difficulties of life? Jesus remains the light out of whatever darkness you might find yourself.

What must you do to experience that light that comes from Him?

1. Believe that He is the Saviour, who died and was resurrected from death
2.  Call upon Him, declaring that He is the Lord of your life and that He should set you free from whatever is holding you in darkness.
3.  Thank Him for answering your request
4.  Accept you are truly free and refuse to allow the thought or any persuasion of that bondage.

PRAYER

Thank you, heavenly father, for all the mercies shown to me. Thank you for giving Jesus, who took my place and suffered for me. I declare Him Lord of my life. I refuse to permit any other power to Lord itself over me, in Jesus’ name. Thank you, Lord.

FURTHER STUDIES

Rom 10:13 KJV” For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Acts 10:38 KJV “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”