KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:20 KJV” And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:”

The Pharisees did their worst, yet the Lord kept thriving in His ministry. He gave no attention to the negativity of His detractors. Multitudes kept following Him because He kept blessing mankind. In our key scripture, some Greek citizens came looking for Jesus. His ministry had become so impactful that the Greeks who were supposed to be the elites of their time came looking for Jesus. 1Cor 1:22 KJV” For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:” These were people who always wanted to hear philosophical thoughts. The impact of the Lord had travelled so far to their lands such that, they came looking for Jesus.

What was the secret of the Lord’s great impact. He was focused on doing the will of the Father. He was not attracted by what people said about Him, or the kind of people that would want to see Him. The activities of the Pharisees, was not His concern. He kept on His heavenly given assignment. Whether people praised or cursed Him was not His business. His number one concern was to please the Father who had commissioned Him.

In the past week, Ghana had the visitation from one of the world’s renown servants of God, Ps W. F. Kumuyi the founder of the Deeper Christian life Ministry, an 82-year-old man, who because of his love for Jesus, has mapped up a series of evangelistic programs across the globe dabbed, ‘Global Crusades with Kumuyi’. He travels to a nation every month to hold open air crusades and ministers and professional conferences. At his age, he stands preaching for about one to two hours. He does all this because of His passion for the master. On the last day of the ministers’ conference, he distributed books to all non-deeper life pastors, worth thousands of dollars, yet there was no offering taken at any of the meetings. His example is a path for the Church of God to learn from. Dear young man in Christ, what is your commitment to Jesus?

PRAYER

Father, I pray for all Christians, to be filled with such love as to be totally given to your course. Let the power of self-centredness be broken from the church, such that Christians would focus on pleasing, you and you alone.

FURTHER STUDIES

Luke 14:26 KJV” If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

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.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:19 KJV” The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.’

Envy in any form makes you a fighter of progress, and more still an enemy of God. Prov 27:4 KJV” Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” Envy goes beyond being selfish, but seeks to destroy the very one who is making an impact to bless others. Envy is therefore a cancer to the social systems.

The envious Pharisees sat and made a mockery of each other, by admitting that, their envious activities had made them losers” They implied, they have been trying to stop Jesus from having multitudes thronging His meeting, yet they failed. Please note, it is a very big mistake to envy an anointed man. In actual fact, it is foolishness to do so. The anointing is God’s seal of approval of His works in that individual’s life. To envy him, makes you come against God, who anointed him. Unfortunately, many men, especially some Christians and some pastors are caught up in that web. The anointing is never the private benefit of an individual. God anoints a man, with multitudes of people on His mind. People get envious because of the affluence, benefits, and the social honour that goes with the anointing. Such people have no idea of the pressure for help that society places on the anointed man.

Stop that evil desire for the failure of those who may be making great headway in life. It is true that some people are treading in deceit, as they seem to be prospering in whatever endeavour they are. To envy them is to desire their error. God has blessed everyone with special abilities: appreciate God for who you are, and put your best into whatever you are doing, with a desire to bless your world to the best of your abilities. Success is being a ray of sunshine to the many God ordained for you to bless. Just give your best and happily admire those who seem to be better than you. At the end of the day, it is not how big your output was but how much you sacrificed to produce what you did.

CONFESSION

I am grateful to God for how wonderful he made me. I thank Him for my unique gifts and abilities. I have no evil feelings towards any. I wish and pray for the success of all. Even to the froward, I pray they walk in truth. No room in my life for the refuse of envy.

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov 14:30 KJV “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”

Job 5:2 KJV “For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:13 KJV’ Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

In Zechariah 9:9, the prophet Zechariah prophesied as follows,” Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” This prophecy is evidently confirmed by the Lord Jesus in our key scripture. The events leading to this were that the high priest and the Pharisees had, decreed that anyone who sees the Lord must report Him to them, so that, He would be arrested. This meant the Lord could not come into the public domain. In the midst of this, the Lord would either have to continue hiding, or act on the word of God He chose to do what had been written about Him, caring less about the threats of the religious leaders None of the proposals of the Pharisees could be established. They were all set aside.

It takes faith in God to bring to pass what God has said. Remember that, there are always giants in every man’s promised Land. These giants are not there to stop you, but for you to overcome them, in order to make you strong to face later battles that would be coming your way. Acting on the word of God is what sets God into action, to bring to pass what He has said concerning you. If God has spoken, whatever the devil says does not matter, no matter how fearful it may seem.

When the twelve spies were sent by Moses to inspect the promised land; ten of them came with the ‘words’ of the people of the Land. They said, they were giants, and they the people of God, were like grasshoppers. Num 13:33 ” And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”. Caleb and Joshua said to the people to stop considering the ‘words’ of the people, they are bread for us, and our God would deliver them, into our hands (Num 13:30). To bring God’s word to pass, you must never give attention to the word of the enemy, go ahead with what God has instructed and follow through to the end. The enemy may show up with dangerous threats, yet give no attention to any of these because they can never materialise, for God has put their words aside.

Whatever God has said concerning your health, business, marriage, and future, believe it and act on it

CONFESSION

Thank you, Father for your word. Standing on your word or doing as you have said gives me the edge over the devil, and makes me bring your purposes to pass. I enjoy a stream of blessings because I act on what God says.

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov 4:20 KJV” My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee’.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:10 KJV” But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;”

When evil fills a man’s heart, his actions are not reasonable. The scripture says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. Prov. 9:10. In my life journey so far, I have witnessed the life story of many who acted against the way of righteousness, and how they ended up. How reasonable were the actions of King Saul, who left his Palace and ran through caves and bushes, looking for David to kill? David was the very man who saved Saul and his kingdom, from being wiped away by Goliath, and his Philistine’s army. David was the same person who could play the harp that drove away the tormenting devils that came to torment his mind. There was no wisdom for King Saul to seek  David’s life, yet he pursued him, till he died himself.

In our key scripture, the high priest and the religious leaders decided to eliminate Lazarus because many people were believing in Jesus because of him. What was the offense of Lazarus? Certain people have become the concern and are evilly spoken of because they are in a pole position in some aspect of life. Some good students suddenly became hated by a group in their class, all because they stood out among the lot. In certain towns or villages, it becomes an offense to be doing well. Anybody who builds a good house would soon be eliminated. Well, no child of God, who truly walks in the light can be stopped by such people. All these are unreasonable wickedness.

Dear reader I wish to get home to you that, the only path of wisdom, is to tread on the path of honouring God. Jesus asked, how reasonable is the man who forsakes God, to pursue the things of this life, only to eternally lose his soul in hell? Now who is the wicked according to the word of God? The wicked is anyone who gives no regard to the word of God. 2 Samuel 22:22 KJV” For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.” According to Prov 4:18, the path of the just is as a shining light and shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness and he stumbles without knowing Prov 4:19.

Dear one, I have shown you the extreme unreasonable ways of the wicked, yet the whole error begins with neglecting God and His word. If you have not humbly submitted your life to the Lordship of Jesus, then the Lord calls you the wicked and your end is definitely going to be miserable. Come to Jesus today.

CONFESSION

True wisdom is a function of submission to God. I walk in the light, and my path keeps shining until the perfect day. I have humbled myself before God and have His peace in my heart. Glory be to God.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Co 1:21 KJV” For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

Isa 48:22 KJV” There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:  John 12:9 KJV” Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

Derrick Prince, a British teacher of the scriptures said He met an evangelist from Kenya, who testified that he does not need to advertise his outreach programs. He gets to a market or any place, looks around for one blind man or someone with a physical deformity, and in the full glare of the people he opens the eyes, of the blind man or restores that deformity, and in less than thirty minutes, the whole place is packed with people. Our Lord Jesus, always had multitudes thronging His meetings, because His presence everywhere was characterised by diverse kinds of miracles. Miracles are the number one advertisers of the gospel. Men, whether, enlightened or not, whether poor or rich, whether black or white would always be attracted by miracles.

Our key scripture says multitudes did not only come because of Jesus but to see Lazarus who was raised to life, after four days in the grave. Although men are not necessarily saved by seeing a miracle; miracles act as catalyst to cause their hearts to gravitate towards believing the gospel. Miracles bring glory to God and blessing to men. Miracles are the normal activities of God. The difficulty of seeing miracles in our everyday life is not a doing of God. God desires to consistently manifest His glory in the midst of men, but on many occasions, He is limited by men.

What limits God from manifesting a consistent stream of miracles? In a world where men authenticate science more than God’s word, God will be limited. In a world where human traditions are the normal world view of most people, then the power of the word of God would not be seen.

To see miracles happening always, men must cast their lives on the word of God. Miracles are always a response from the Spirit of God, when men sincerely believe the word of God, enough to act on it. That positive act of faith, compels the faithfulness of God to go into operation. Miracles are therefore a collaboration between God and man. Believe God’s word wholeheartedly, act on what God has said, and God will surely do His part by working out a miracle.

CONFESSION

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your love, that makes your power available to work miracles. I cast my confidence on Him, doing all that His word commands me. As I obey He honours His word with miracles.

FURTHER STUDIES

Mar 7:13 KJV” Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”

Heb 11:33 KJV “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:8 KJV “For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”

We continue with the discourse between Jesus and Judas after Mary Magdalene had anointed Jesus with the ointment. The Lord said she did that to prepare His body for burial. He also added that, as for the poor people, they will always be around., yet, He the Lord would not always be with them. The Lord in a way was telling Judas to discern events in the order of their importance. Judas was also prejudiced about his views since he wanted to get some monies to be stealing.

Knowing the proper order of events is very paramount to having a successful life. Our story shows us some of the reasons people are not able to assess the importance of events in their proper order. In the first place, Judas should have asked the Lord, why did the woman pour the ointment on Him? Asking questions would help you discover many things you do not know. The next reason why Judas erred was his desire to gratify his lust. Some people take decisions based on their lust for certain things. Such people almost always end up with regrets.

A man complained to me about how terrible his wife was treating him. I asked him, what on earth made him marry such a lady? He said he was moved by her fair colour, hips, and general body shape. Note; You do not marry beauty, rather you marry a character. Young men, do not make such a mistake. For a wife, ask the Lord for the green light. She must also have a good character based on her fear of the Lord. Thirdly, look for her ability to get along with others, before beauty will follow. For a husband, you also need assurance from the Spirit of God, and then you consider, a good character based on his fear for God. The next is his industriousness before the handsomeness comes. Certain people have it in a reversed order. These people normally regret it in the long run.

CONFESSION

Thank you, heavenly Father, for your wisdom. I seek proper counsel on every matter. These godly counsel saves me from making very dangerous mistakes. I have a peaceful and fulfilled life.

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov 24:6 KJV” For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

Prov 3:7 KJV” Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. “

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:7 KJV “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.”

Judas ignorantly and carnally accused Mary Magdalene of wasting a very costly ointment. He claimed the ointment could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. The Lord quickly corrected him that, he was wrong. He revealed to him, the hidden reason for which God led her to do it. She was selfless about the whole thing. She loved much and so wanted to give her best. Her sincere heart placed her in the center of the will of God to anoint the body of Jesus for His burial.

True love is not selfish. It does not seek her own way, but joyfully, gives. Love does not give to take advantage of the receiver. Love does not make mistakes. Love functions on sincere motives, with no selfish intentions. God always sees the heart condition and weighs every intention from that position. Love is the basic essence of life. It gives meaning to life.1Jn 3:14 KJV “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”. Decide never to give place to selfishness and the taking advantage of others. To live that way is to live in death.

Judas set himself on the path of destruction by choosing to be selfish.  He lived with his personal interest and expressed false positive concerns. All were intended to gain an advantage to steal In the long run he ended up betraying the Lord, which complicated matters for him to commit suicide. The path of love is a sure path to avoid errors and ultimate regrets. Creation was designed to sustain itself by freely giving whatever the creator adorned it with. When man decided to be selfish, then creation went on the path of self-destruction. Get back to love and become truly free.

CONFESSION

God, my Father is love, and so love is my nature. I joyfully express my love for all people. Hatred and selfishness are poison to the human soul and kills all who live by them. I refuse to be selfish or hate my neighbour. I am forever alive because I abide in love.

THOUGHT: A LOVING HEART IS GOD’S INSTRUMENT, BRINGING ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS OF OTHERS.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Jn 3:18 KJV “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.’

1Co 13:3 KJV “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not  love, it profiteth me nothing.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 12:5 KJV: Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

When Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus’ feet with the very costly ointment, Judas commented as follows, Joh 12:5 KJV” Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” He said it was a waste of money for that ointment to be poured on Jesus. What he said appeared to be a good thought, yet the bible explained further that, he said so, because he kept the money bag of the group, and used to steal some of it. Besides his intention being wrong, it was an inditement on the wisdom of Jesus for allowing such a ‘wastage’ on Him. It further exposes the level of spirituality he was. Judas was carnal in many respects.

In the first place, how could he accuse the Lord of allowing a misuse of something, that could be of benefit to the poor? The position and carnality of Judas are, unfortunately, the condition of many Christians who have not allowed the scriptures to rule their hearts. These are the people who consider it a wastage to invest money to hold crusades, for the salvation of souls. Such people see everything wrong, with their church, organising continuous fasting programs. The worse of it is when they raise their voice against the church organising, continuously witnessing outreaches. They see nothing wrong with holding picnics, and other social activities. I do not say, these social activities are wrong, my point is, such people will quickly oppose spiritual activities, but are ready to participate in party sessions and other social programs of the church.

Sadly, these kinds of brethren, never join in general church, or group fasting, and are mostly absent from church activities. Dear one, if you find yourself in such a condition, then you are backsliding, and carnality is eating you up. Check yourself, you would find out that, your desire to read the bible is gone. Your desire to pray is also dying. Nothing urges you to win others for Jesus. Dear one if these descriptions fit your state, then be humble and call on the Lord to forgive you, and also repent from that state.

PRAYER

Thank you, heavenly Father, for your love and the truth of your word. I submit myself to whatever you say. I choose to live according to your word and abstain from every form of carnality. I allow the word to rule my life

THOUGHT: CARNAL PEOPLE DESTROY CHURCHES IF NOT DETECTED

FURTHER STUDIES

Rom 8:7 KJV” Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Phi 3:18 KJV “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:3 KJV” Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”

Gratitude highly pleases God, for it appreciates God for who He truly is; a good God. Many men are filled with sorrow, bitterness, and anger because they are constantly filled with the negatives and the unfulfilled issues in their lives. Most men even see God as the cause of their woes. They never sing a song of gratitude to God. These people are sadly blinded to the amazing and abundant blessings that surround them. Such people may have a loving family around them, yet they feel depressed because they fail to appreciate God for it. Another may have good health, but another thing he lacks becomes an unbearable weight. This should not make you moody. He should rather thank God for the great health provisions. If men would count God’s blessings and name them one by one, the so many stresses, afflicting them, would dry up into oblivion.

Mary Magdalene, was one who showed great appreciation, for all that the Lord had done for her. This was a woman, who had been delivered from seven evil spirits. Her dead brother who has been in the grave for four days was brought back to life. She could not hide her gratitude but had to get a very expensive perfume and pour it on the master’s feet. She also used her hair, a symbol of her glory to wipe His feet. Luke 7:38 KJV” And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment”. Mary was overwhelmed with gratitude.

This was an example of true gratitude. How did she go about it?

She wept as she washed His feet with the tears and her hair. She was very emotional. This was an act of worship as well. Worship or true gratitude must be emotional. She also acted out of knowledge, in considering all the benefits gained from the master. Worship should not only be emotional, but must also be out of knowledge. She also did it out of a willing heart. True worship must be willing. These three aspects of the human faculties, made her worship, an act of her total person. This teaches us that, worship is not just words of praise, but an expression of one’s being in total humility and love. How grateful have you being to the master in the great and wonderful blessings that the Lord has shown you?

CONFESSION

Thank you, beloved Father, for all the kindness you show me. Your angels watch over me each day. Every created thing you made was set up to be a blessing to men. I thank you most glorious Lord for all the many blessings you bestow on me.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Ch 16:34 KJV “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Psalms 103:2 KJV” Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 12:1 KJV “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.”

In our previous study we started looking at how to know and hear God’s voice. We realized in that study that, the Lord Jesus, had a consistent flowing ministry, because in the midst of the threats from the religious leaders, He could still move around, because He did so by the counsel of the Spirit. In today’s study, we would take an elaborate discussion on knowing and hearing God’s voice.

Let’s look at Romans 12:1,2

Rom 12:1 KJV” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The above instructions are the two major ways that place an individual in the frequency of the Spirit of God, to be able to know and also hear the voice of God.

To present your body as a living sacrifice, implies, God should have total control of all that you do. It also means to offer yourself to the Lord and turn away from sinful ways. The man who is living to please himself is not subjected to the ways of God, and cannot even receive or hear God speak to him. (Rom 8:7) After presenting yourself unto God, you seek for a renewal of the way you view life as a whole. You do this through a study of His word and meditation. A renewed mind would result in a changed nature that makes you sensitive to God. The scripture also added that, this makes you prove that which is God acceptable, and perfect will of God. The voice of God is a function of the will of God. You would then, freely know whether it is God speaking, the devil   or your own mind. As you keep doing what God says, your spiritual senses would grow to naturally know what the Lord may want you to know.

In what form, does God’s voice come to us?

1. It may come to you through the preaching of God’s word. 1 Thess 2:13

2. It can come as a dream, a vision, Genesis 40:5, Matt 2:12

3. Through certain circumstances, 1 Sam 9:5

4.   A still small voice 1st King’s 19:12

5. An audible voice as a friend speaks to you. Acts 9:2-4

The Christian who has obeyed the instructions of Rom 12:1 and 2, would have his or her senses trained to know that, this is God speaking to me.

The child of God, who hears God’s voice and decides to obey would have peace in himself. Col 3:15

CONFESSION

I commit my whole being unto God, as a living sacrifice in holiness and I give place to God’s word to   align my thinking with God’s way. This helps me to know God’s voice in whatever means it comes to me. The joy is in doing what it says.

FURTHER STUDIES

Heb 5:14 KJV” But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Joh 10:27 KJV “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”