KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 4:24 ” And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given”.

The Lord Jesus warned us to be careful and selective about what we hear.

God works with words. (Isaiah 55:11) Satan also works with words(John 8:44). The principle of sowing and reaping is what both God and Satan use. We learnt that words are seeds. (Mark 4:14) God’s words are seeds of life yielding faith (Rom 10:17). The words of Satan are words of death yielding fear. Be careful. Satan does not succeed in planting his word in you.

What are the sources of the words of the devil? Satan’s words come through two main ways: They are:

1 Negative imagination. 2nd Corinthians 10:4. The bible speaks of thoughts and imagination that exalt itself against the knowledge of God. These are mainly of demonic origin.

2 The next means of satanic words that come to men are traditions of men. Mark 7:13. Traditions are the practices and experiences of people that have been believed and passed on from one generation to the other. The bible cautions us in Colossians 2:8 ” Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”.
These traditions may come through the airwaves, advice from friends, personal experiences, and even through the pulpits. There are a number of teachings taught on various pulpits that have no biblical foundation or proper interpretation of the scriptures. These are ideas of men passed on from one generation to the other.

In 1st Samuel 17. It was the tradition of men that kept the armies of Israel paralyzed before Goliath, but David came with the word of God and conquered.

Every spiritual failure comes from a positive response to some human tradition of some sort. (That is, to disobey the word of God.)

Now take this advice: any thought, imagination, teaching, information, experience or counsel that does not FULLY agree with the word of God is the word of the enemy and you must refuse and reject it.

Decide to give attention to the word of God.

Faith in God remains the main answer to the impossibilities of life. Faith always comes by hearing the word of God. (Rom 10:17)

CONFESSION

God’s word is the tonic of life that gives birth to faith. I am not ignorant of the devices of the devil as he deceives men through deception, I would continually attend to God’s word and see my faith overcome life challenges.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Proverbs 4:23-24 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.

Mark 7:8, 13 “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 4:24 ” And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”

Our Lord Jesus, after explaining the parable of the sower, went on to make some very weighty statements about life. “He said unto them, take heed what you hear; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you, and unto you that hear shall more be given”. These words are very loaded.

The whole verse is divided into three parts.

1 Take heed of what you hear.

2 With what measure you mete, it shall be measured back to you.

3 Unto you that hear shall more be given.

He started by saying, take heed what you hear. In simple terms, he is saying to be selective about what you hear.

Before I proceed to explain further what the Lord said, please understand the makeup of every man. Every man is like an empty barrel or a plain field. Whatever you fill the barrel with, that is what will fill it. What you plant into a particular ground is what it will produce. Why are some people persuaded by a particular line of thinking? Why would some people decide to take up explosives on their bodies and die with others? Those people have been filled with a kind of information that has fully taken over their thinking faculties to act that way.

Words are like seeds. (Mark 4:14). They always bear fruit after their kind. Words of hatred will always breed anger, bitterness, war, and death. Words of love will breed concern, forgiveness, support, unity, and life. Why are you happy? You are so happy because you have heard words that excite your emotions to have positive expectations, praise, and inner satisfaction. Your world is made up of the words you hear.

In the beginning, God said some words to our first parents, Adam and Eve. The devil came and gave them his words. They listened, believed, and acted on those words of Satan, and so humanity began to be dominated by death yet thank God who allowed Jesus to pay for our sins.

Please take heed of what you hear. What you don’t want, you don’t give it any attention. What you watch would also have the same effect on you as the things you hear would do.

Please note that what possesses the mind is who you are.

CONFESSION

Every seed will produce its kind of fruit, such are the kind of words that I receive. I would only listen, read, and watch that which would develop that which I want to be and experience.

FURTHER STUDIES.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 1:14 ” And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

E.W. Kenyon once wrote in his book the new kind of love that ‘selfishness is the mother of all sorrows’. To be carnally minded or to be dominated by self, is death according to Romans 8:6a. On the vice versa a spiritually minded person is life and peace. Romans 8:6b. The man who is yielded to loving God wholly is spiritual. Spirituality is the acceptable way to relate to God John 4:23.Now Spirituality means living by the scriptures.

Peace of mind has eluded most people because they have fallen in love with other things, other than the heavenly father. It is amazing to find a lot of Christians who are so passionate about football. These brethren cannot tell you verses of the scriptures, but they know the names of every star player. They are ready to stay away from fellowship time to watch a football match. Ask such brethren how many minutes they spend worshipping the Lord in their devotional moments, and it may be nonexistent, yet they adore all the soccer stars. Their love for God is nonexistent. When crises arise, such brethren are found wanting.

Football is just but one of the many things that dominate the hearts and minds of people. Love for any other thing above God is idolatry. Take it or leave it, these things are like chasing the wind. The simple principle is do not keep idols in your heart. An idol is anything that takes the place of God or the love of God from your heart.1 John 5:21 ” Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen”.

Anything that competes with God for a place in your heart robs you of your peace. Peace of mind is always a function of our good relationship with God. Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God”. Peace with God is that access we gain into God at salvation and also by believing the word of God. There is also the ‘peace of God’. This is the peace that God has and enjoys, and he can share it with us. This peace of God comes as a result of our fellowship, participation, and focus on Him. Philippians 4:6,7 ” Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus “.

This peace of God comes when we are in true love with the Lord. When we are ready to leave problems to Him. Loving God is by faith, that is we choose to love Him based on the revelation He has given us through His word.

CONFESSION

True satisfaction in life is a heart that exhorts the Lord. The Lord is all I have, and He is my life and everything.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Psalms 119:165 “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them”.

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment”.

Our love for God is strengthened as we get to know more about God’s love. The scriptures say in 1st John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us”: Our love for God is always a response to an encounter with His love.

Sir Isaac Watts after being gripped by the great love of our Lord Jesus, demonstrated on the cross, wrote in the last stanza of the hymn titled “When I surveyed the wondrous cross”. He wrote:

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That’s an offering far too small.

Love so amazing, so demands my soul, my life, my all”.

After coming to terms with such a love, he said, that if the whole of creation was his, it would be an offering far too small. This love demands his soul, his life, his all. What are you giving to the Lord?

On the cross, God revealed the consummation of His love for mankind. The scripture said He became sin for us, Him who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2nd Corinthians 5:21). The righteous one who had no business with sin. He never desired to sin and would never sin. Because of us, he became a sin. This is not just an act, but the very nature of sin, so that sin would be slain on our behalf. Romans 8:3 added that “what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit”. A knowledge of this must send waves of joy and appreciation, for the power of sin is destroyed even in our flesh. (this can be realized by faith)

On the cross, the menacing effect of disease was also dealt with. 1st Peter 2:24 “…. By whose stripes ye were healed”. There are so many things that our Lord Jesus’ death has made available for us. Knowing all these, we say with Sir Isaac Watts. “Were the whole realm of nature mine. That’s an offering far too small, Love so amazing, so demands my soul, my life, my all”.

Take time to consider the depth of God’s love and reciprocate with a corresponding love.

CONFESSION

We love Him because he first loved us. God has shown an amazing love’ where the immortal died’, I offer my whole life in response to such a love for Him.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”,

Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:19 ” Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.

Our Lord Jesus received reports from His disciples about their exploits in evangelism. He remarked by saying, “I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven.” He then added the statement of our key scripture.

Whatever the Lord said to His disciples, then He says the same to you and I today. The Lord said, “Behold I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. This statement is an assurance of perfect security over the enemy.

He first said ” …behold I give you power…”. The Lord gives us this ability by speaking forth words. *Every spiritual virtue is given by speaking words, and it is accepted by faith. Anyone who hears this statement and accepts it personally actually has it.

Fellow child of God, Jesus says, he has given you power. You receive it by responding positively to him. You do this by believing what He said and then thanking Him verbally. You may say thank you, Lord, for giving me the power to trample upon serpents and scorpions.

The word translated power from the Greek language, is the word “exousia”. This word in the Greek language is properly translated as authority. Authority is the right or liberty to use power. We have therefore been given the right or authority over these devils.

Behold I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions….” You have the divine mandate to tread or trample underfoot every power of the devil. Satan and his demons come against us in all sorts of challenges. Don’t feel victimized any time the enemy comes knocking at your door. (That is, bring a challenge to you)Prepare your mind with this understanding that, no matter the opposition Satan brings, you have been given the right to rule over that devil. Tell yourself I will surely overcome this condition.

CONFESSION

I have been given the right to trample under my foot all satanic spirits in Jesus’ name, and they cannot in any way hurt me. I indeed tread on all of them now in Jesus’ name.

FURTHER STUDIES.

2 Samuel 22:30 “For by thee I have run through a troop: by my, God have I leaped over a wall”.

Romans 16:20 “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen”.

Prayer Point: I pray O Lord that my eyes of understanding be enlightened in Jesus’ name.

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

From our key scripture, our Lord Jesus says God demands total love. He wants your complete love and not part of it.

In the story of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, King Pharaoh requested in Exodus 10:24 that “… go ye serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you”. Dear brother or sister, Satan, who is a symbol of Pharaoh, does the same. He tells you to serve the Lord, go to church but don’t commit your whole being unto Him. Give your time but don’t give your money. The devil is always requesting that something be left for him. Please listen well, give no place to the devil. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (1st Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9). Many Christians do not pay their whole tithe. (Malachi 3:10)God our Father, always asks for the whole of everything. If you give only a part, in God’s sight, you have given nothing.

When Pharaoh made that request for them to leave their flocks behind, the following was what Moses said to Him ” Our cattle shall go with us, there shall not an hoof be left behind……” Moses was not going to enter into any bargaining pact with the devil. The Lord said you shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. He always wants everything.

God is perfect good. He can be trusted with your everything. His word has sustained the universe and has kept it intact in all these years. The scripture says that he spared not His son but delivered Him up for us all. How shall he not with Him also freely give us all things(Romans 8:32)

It is not safe to leave any portion of your love for other things. God sanctifies and multiplies whatever he receives. Let Him have your everything. (Matthew 14:19). This is the only way to true liberty or a meaningful life.

CONFESSION

I love the Lord with my whole being. Every aspect of my life is to please Him. My way is made perfect as I live to honor Him with my whole being.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Ephesians 4:26-27. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 “Because thou served not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he has destroyed thee.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30” And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Lovers of God are high flyers in this life. King David was one man who excelled so much in his life. He was the only king who handed over to his successor in his lifetime. The Lord described him as a man after His own heart. In Acts 13:22, the Lord added that David would fulfill all his will. Love for God is doing the will of God in earnest. It places the Lord above self, family, and ambitions.

Lovers of God are men and women of great faith. Love is a commitment. It is a commitment of your life to the one you love. The scripture says greater love has no man than this and that a man should lay his life down for his friends. (John 15:13). Great faith is expressed by one’s readiness to count on God and trust in God even if it would mean losing his life. It was David’s love for God, which had developed into absolute trust that made him engage Goliath in that open battle. He knew his lover would not let him down. 1st John 4:18 reads “There is no fear in love, perfect love casteth out fear because fear has torment. He that fear is not made perfect in love”. Indeed, there is no fear in love. True love will always be trusted.

The foundation of love is not to please oneself but to please the object of love. Love always goes out of its way to bring satisfaction to the one he loves. The Lord remarked about this in John 14:20. The one who loves Him would keep His commandments, and He and the Father will manifest themselves to him. When the Lord talks about manifesting Himself to us, He is talking about showing His power in our life engagements. His manifested presence would always be seen. Miracles become the order of the day for the man who loves the Lord.

It is a great life to lead by loving the Lord in sincerity.

CONFESSION

I have set the Lord before me always. I live only to please Him. I honor Him in all I do. My greatest desire is to please Him. O, what a life of encountering God daily in my affairs.

FURTHER STUDIES.

John 14:21” He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

During a public discourse with the multitudes, one of the scribes asked the Lord Jesus, “What are the first commandments of all?” The Lord responded with our key scripture. He said you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the highest law for true freedom. Loving God is what gives real meaning to life. The Bible is called the perfect law of liberty. Every commandment of the scripture liberates men from all bondage. Idolatry is simply slavery to anything that takes our hearts from the Father God.

Love is always an act of commitment. A man is controlled by what he truly loves. You always adore what you love. You will seek to please what you love. You are either a free man or a slave controlled by what you love.

The scriptures reveal that the last days would be marked by terrible times because men would reject God, to love themselves.
2 Timothy 3:1-2 “This knows also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,”

• 
  Men would produce all those negative natures because they are controlled by what they love. Here, they reject the love they ought to give to God to love themselves.

In the scriptures, the Lord instructs all his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him (Matt 16:24). For he that will love himself will lose it. To love God with all your being is the best way to preserve yourself. In Joshua 23:11–13, Joshua tells the Israelites to take heed to love the Lord, yet if they choose to love these nations and marry their women, it would become snares and thorns in their flesh and their eyes till they die.

The sure test that you truly love God is the presence of peace in your heart, even in the face of adversity. Dear child of God, if there is no peace in your heart, then you have other things there, repent, and cast those things out for your true comfort and peace of mind.

CONFESSION

I love the Lord with all my being. My life is an expression of Himself in me. I live a very fulfilled life because I live for God.

THOUGHT: TRUE LOVE FOR GOD IS THE REAL THING. LOVE FOR ANY OTHER THING BEFORE GOD IS A MISTAKE FOR THAT THING WOULD SURELY ENSLAVE YOU

FURTHER STUDIES

Matthew 16:24-25 ” Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it”.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 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.”

The Lord Jesus made an unambiguous statement that, he is the way, the truth, and the life, no one gets to the Father but through Him. This statement has drawn so many arguments and many have even used certain events in the scriptures to say it is not true.

Some claim the early fathers lived at a time when Jesus was not physically on the earth and also had not died, yet they went to heaven. If this was so then it would not be right to claim that Jesus is the only way to God. This is one school of teaching. They conclude that other faiths can also go to God, not necessarily through Jesus.

Please listen or read carefully the revelation of the word. Our Lord Jesus taught about where the righteous dead before His appearing on the scene go. He called it Abraham’s bosom. Luk 16:22 KJV” And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;” The Lord did not say the poor man was taken to heaven but to Abraham’s bosom. Where was this Abraham’s bosom? In that story, it was revealed that Abraham’s bosom was not far from hell but was separated by a gulf fixed. Luk 16:26 KJV And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
Other portions of the recording in the bible about those who left the earth used the word heaven as in the case of Elijah, yet the Lord gave the real place as Abraham’s bosom. What other revelations of the scriptures justify this teaching or understanding? When the Lord died and resurrected Matthew recorded that the graves of the saints were opened who went to the temple and appeared unto many. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matt 27:52-53 “And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose”, Please note these saints, which included most of the righteous saints who had passed on into glory, came up.

What was really happening here? The Book of Peter reveals the mystery of these appearances. Peter revealed that when the Lord died He went to the region of the dead, precisely Abraham’s bosom, and preached to them of which they came to life with Him, and automatically ascended to the Father with Him.1Pe 3:19 KJV “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;”
Please note also in the write-up in Hebrews 11 concerning the many who conquered by faith, the scripture said all these people did not obtain the promise. What was that promise? They did not end up at their final destination which was heaven. The scripture then concluded that these people were not made perfect without us. That is, when Jesus had completed His task of dying and resurrection which brought us to salvation, that was when they were also justified fitted for heaven. Heb 11:39 – 40 KJV And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Dear one, indeed, no one is saved without believing in Jesus.All the saints, including Abraham, David Samuel Moses, and many more. These had to believe in Jesus to finally go to the presence of the Father.
Do not deceive yourself, religion cannot save you,

THOUGHT: INDEED JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY

FURTHER STUDIES:

Act 4:12 KJV “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Act 16:31 KJV” And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.

In our key scripture, the Lord answered Nicodemus that unless a man is born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.

The scripture has concluded that all men are sinners (Rom 3:23): Psalm 51:5 says “In sin did my mother conceive me” Please I want you to be sincere with yourself. There are so many things people do that they can not stop. Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart”. This is just one of the many areas that most people fall short. Men sin because they have a sinful nature. Romans 7:15 ” For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I”. Men are slaves to sin. The answer is a new nature free from the power of sin.

To be born again is to receive a new life or new nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation old things have passed away, behold all things have become new”.

When a man is born again, he becomes a son of God. A son of man means, born by man, and a son of God means born by God. John 1:12, 13 “But as many as received Him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believed on His name. Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, but were born of God”.

As a son of God with the life and nature of God, you now live a life of the sons of God. If you used to tell lies, you are no longer a liar and must always tell the truth. You cease to become the man or woman who is morally weak. You can now say no to the dictates of the flesh.

To be born again means you have received the ability or grace to do what is right. Titus 2:11, 12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all man. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

Receive Jesus today as your savior and Lord so you will be saved from the power of sin.

CONFESSION

Lord Jesus, by receiving you into my life, I receive your nature to live above sin. I believe you died for my sins, and I confess you as the savior and Lord of my soul. Come into my life. Thank you for saving my soul.

FURTHER STUDIES

Romans 7:19-20 “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me”.

Romans 6:14 ” For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace”.