THE TONGUE

READ: PROVERBS 18:4-13

The tongue can be described as the greatest part of the human body. Your life rises or falls on the type of tongue you have. If your tongue is wholesome, your life will be wholesome. If your tongue is sick your life will be sickly, disorderly, fragmented and confused. To get to heaven you need a sanctified tongue. Whatever you say with your tongue is part of what will determine whether you will make heaven or not. To become an overcomer, you have to take care of your tongue. In James 1:26, the Bible says, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” If you cannot bridle your tongue, no matter how spiritual you may be, you may end up in hell. In so many ways, Satan uses the human tongue to lead people to hell. We shall look at some of these ways.
(a) Talkativeness. Talkativeness is a sin. The Bible says: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19). Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, “For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.” A fool is discerned by a multitude of words. Whoever God calls a fool will surely fail to make heaven, as there is no place for fools in heaven. Those who are foolish by the virtue of the wrong use of the tongue will be barred from the pearly gates. A talkativeness has no place but in hell. A true child of God should know how to bridle his or her tongue;
(b) Jests/Idle talks. Generally, we do not regard these as sins. To many, they are just jovial talks. Through jesting, Satan can lead many to hell. Matthew 5:37 says: “But let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Something you consider trivial may be evil. Comedians are helping Satan to ensure that their own lives are filled with sorrow. In Matthew 12:36, the Bible says: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”
(c) Backbiting. This is another bait used by Satan to lure people to hell. The Bible tells us clearly that people can be killed through backbiting. Let us look at Proverbs 18:8, “The words of the talebearer are like tasty trifles and they go down into the inmost body.”  Jeremiah 18:18 also talks about backbiting: “Then they said, Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” Many people, today, are guilty of attacking their neighbours with their tongue. A backbiter is a first class candidate for hell. If you do not get rid of these sins you will miss heaven. If you can solve the problem of the misuse of the tongue, you will be free from the common sins which hinder many from making heaven.

MEMORIZE: ECCLESIASTES 5:3 –For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

HYPOCRISY CONDEMNED

READ: 1 KINGS 18:2-29

Miracles have been counterfeit or bastardised by many. A lot of people have equated sham with the real. Shortcuts may appear easy but the will not lead you to the realm of genuine miracles. God is always ready to manifest His power in the life of upright people. If your ways are crooked, your worship of the Lord will be in vain. According to our text, the cries of the prophets of Baal went unheeded. The Bible says: “So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And it was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. ” (1 Kings 18:28-29). There was a frenzy of activities. They began to rip their bodies open with knives. They even prophesied. Today, many who prophesy live in sin. Some people who come up with prophetic utterances are the same ones who visit brothels. Some attend vigils only to fornicate. To quieten their conscience, they engage in all manner of activities in the name of God. When you walk straight with God He will surprise you. But the moment you cut corners, He will leave you. Having one leg in the church and the other in the world takes one nowhere. Those who live hypocritical lives will be disappointed in eternity. Perhaps you have been very much engaged in an enterprise from which you get little or no reward. If you have a demon besetting your efforts it will be very easy for the Lord to deal with it. But if your problem lies in disobedience to God, your case may be helpless. But once you amend your ways, the Lord will hear you when you call upon Him.

MEMORIZE: 2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 –Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES

READ: HEBREWS 11:1-13

We hear conflicting reports everyday. If we base our live on these reports, we shall end up in confusion and failure. However, there are reports that go beyond the human realm; the realm of limitation. These reports are of the lord. They are reports of promotions, all-round blessings, all-round prosperity, all-round fruitfulness, and victory against your enemies, becoming a favourite of God and gaining access to God’s treasury. All these reports are so beautiful that if you begin to use your brain to imagine how they can be, you will lose them. If you try to reason them out, a voice may tell you that you will see them but not partake of them. When God sends a report to you, just grab it and say “Amen”. Do not try to figure it out. If you receive the report of the Lord, it shall be so unto you. This was exactly what Elisha said to the counsellor. God merely works on what is already inside of you when He wants to perform miracle. In Matthew 9:27-30, Jesus Christ performed the miracles on two blind men because they believed that He could heal them. Jesus said it should be unto them according to their faith and their eyes were opened. What you believe will come out of your mouth. The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You can have whatsoever you say (Mark 11:23). When you speak according to your faith, that which you say is what you will have. The power of life and death is in the tongue. You are the one to determine whether you will have miracles or just keep on watching those who get their miracles. Those who are not yet born again have to believe the report of the Lord, which says that if you shall call on the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. Many of those who are not born again remain so because they do not believe that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sins. If you believe on the lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Everyone who comes to Him will not be cast out. With Christ, you have limitless possibilities.

MEMORIZE: PROVERBS 15:2 –The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

A BORROWED LIFE

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:16-20

Your life is a sacred trust bestowed on you by God. Your intellect, assets, money, gifts, talents and opportunities emanate from God-the giver of all good things. Ensure what you are endowed with are not abused and wasted; they constitute a loan, which you must retire at the end of your life. If God were to withdraw all His benefits and gifts from you, you would be empty. Malachi 3:6 tells us: “For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” The position of God does not change. You must recognise His help and support. If He was able to you yesterday, He is able to help you today and He will be available to help you tomorrow. As you continue t recognise His help, you must never lose sight of the fact that everything that is good in you is borrowed. Whatever is borrowed should be treated with special care. Many of the things that you have are borrowed, including your talents. One day, the One who gave you the talents will make you account for them (Matthew 25:14-29). Our children are borrowed, too. Psalm 127:3 says: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is His reward.” Many of us do not care whether we follow the way of the Lord or not. The One who gave us the children will ask us to account for them, one day. What about your money? In Haggai 2:8, the Bible says: “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts.” whatever money you have is a loan from the One who owns silver and gold. One day, He will ask you to account for how you spent the money. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, the Bible states that God owns your body. Some of us use our bodies as if we do not know that they were borrowed. The owner of the body will query you when the time comes. Your body belongs to the Holy Spirit, so you cannot commit adultery and fornication with it and get away free. Your body must be used correctly. In Ecclesiastes 12:7, the Bible teaches that your spirit belongs to God. You cannot do whatever you like with your spirit. Your soul belongs to the Almighty God and, one day, you shall surely give an account for it. You do not have the liberty to spend your life and make use of your resources the way you like. Remember, the day of reckoning is at hand. Prepare to meet your Lord.

MEMORIZE: HEBREWS 13:8 –Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

DIVINE SURPRISES

READ: 2 KINGS 1:1-9

God specialises in springing surprises. He is pleasantly unpredictable in His method. He does wondrous things and surprises His enemies in such a baffling manner that gets everyone confused. A cursory study of the Scriptures reveals that one of the weapons of the Almighty is divine surprise. He does the unexpected in order to confuse the devil and his agents. Today’s devotional study centres on Elisha, the man who received the double portion of Elijah’s anointing. Elisha removed the curse of Jericho and decided to move on in his journey. All of a sudden, some children emerged from nowhere out of the city and began t deride him. Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord and, before he finished speaking, two bears came out of the bush and killed forty-two of them. He was so highly anointed that it was dangerous to offend him. There was something special about Elisha’s baldhead. The Almighty God played a trick on the devil in this regard. Samson lost his power when he lost his hair. This led Satan into thinking that a bald-headed man could not be powerful, particularly as Elijah was a very hairy man. 2 Kings 1:7-8 confirms this about Elijah: “Then he said to them, What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words? So they answered him, He was a hairy man, and wore a leather belt around his waist. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.” Elijah was such a hairy man that he was instantly recognised wherever he went. But Elisha was bald-headed. This made Satan think that anyone who must have the power of God in him must be hairy, forgetting that the Lord that we serve does as He pleases in heaven. Psalm 115:3 says: “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” The devil needs to think twice to be able to understand the way of the Lord. The Lord can come in any form, and this means trouble for the enemy as he will always get confused, in Jesus’ name.

MEMORIZE: PSALM 115:3 –But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.