AVERTING JUDGEMENT

READ: MATTHEW 6:20-21

God is very balanced. Just as He releases a flood of blessings, so also does He release a flood of destruction. Showers of blessings and floods of judgement both emanate from God. If you miss out on God’s blessings, you will end up with the rain of destruction. What you receive from God at the end of the day is determined by your attitude and approach to the conditions laid down in His word. Remember, God can turn a blessing into a curse. The same God, who sends rain as a blessing, also sends flood through rain as a weapon of judgement. What you will receive as a believer depends on which side you are. If you are located on the same side with obedience, you will earn God’s favour, which will release the blessings. If you are on the opposite side, you will earn God’s wrath. Where are you presently located?
Rain is required to sustain life in plants, animals and human beings. But the same rain, when allowed to flow in excess causes a flood. A flood is a disaster that cannot easily be controlled. Imagine a street flooded with all the houses submerged. All the electrical gadgets will spoil. All the furniture will be soaked. All the books too. Even the certificates and other precious documents that are tucked away will not be spared. May you never experience God’s flood of judgement in Jesus name.
If you are not born again, you do not qualify for God’s flood of blessings but the flood of judgement. To avert this judgement, repent of your sinful lifestyle and ask God for forgiveness. Receive Jesus Christ into your life. He is the Ark (Hebrews: 6:18-19). As long as you remain in Him, you will be safe. Live a daily life of obedience. In Deuteronomy 11:26, God sets death and life and before you: Your choice is what determines whether you will be blessed or not. Choose life today.
How are you managing God’s resources in your care? May your blessings never turn against you in Jesus name. Use the blessings as the Holy Spirit directs. The One who gave the blessing has reasons for them. Find out what God wants you to do with the blessings and comply completely. That way, the blessings will never run dry.

MEMORIZE: DEUTERONOMY 29:9 –Keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

ENTERING THE SECRET PLACE

READ: PSALM 15:1-5

Peter was a product of dust yet his shadow healed the sick and cast out demons. How much more will the shadow of the Almighty accomplish in your life? Psalm 17:8-9 says God can hide His children under the shadow of His wings. The Lord will preserve you from your deadly enemies in Jesus name.
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:3-4).
The secret place of the Most High is not accessible to all. Not every Christian can gain entry there. It is the holiest place in the universe hence only those who are holy can enter and dwell there. Your hands must be clean. This means you must engage them actively in legitimate business and projects. Your hands must not be laid on anything that would evoke God’s wrath. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.” (Ephesians 4:28).
If you are idle both secularly and in the house of God, you cannot access the secret place. Your hands must be engaged. There are lots of jobs you can do. You may not require much capital to start some types of business. If you can depend on the Holy Spirit and look around you, the Lord will open your eyes to several opportunities. Your hands shall not shed blood. Those who are always sowing seeds of discord among believers or have the habit of pulling down others, cannot access the secret place.
Liars cannot access the secret place. All those who occupy their hearts with immoral and lascivious thoughts cannot access the secret place. Those that cannot fulfil their vows to God will be excluded from this holiest place. The covetous cannot access it. Yet that is where God wants you to be. The secret place is the place of joy, health and power. As long as you dwell there, it does not matter wherever you go, God’s shadow hides you from every evil. Even if all the hosts of hell come against you, they cannot touch you. Put off the things hindering you today and enter in. Make the secret place your permanent adobe.

Memorize: Ephesians 4:28 –Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.

SATISFYING GOD’S CONDITIONS

READ: 1 KINGS 9:1-9

“Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10).
The Lord promises His faithful children the flood rain. Most of God’s blessings are conditional. Promises made by God to His children do not automatically compel fulfillment. It is compliance with, and obedience to the accompanying conditions that trigger and guarantee their fulfillment. To what extent have you satisfied Heaven’s conditions attached to the promises you have been claiming? Praying and fasting, as good as they are, have their limits. Prayer without obedience will produce disappointment. According to 2 Corinthians 10:6 your prayers can only work when your obedience is complete. This means, it is your level of obedience that puts your prayer working machinery into action and dictates the pace and mode of operation.
A brother who was battling with a particular besetting sin sat for the final stage of a professional examination and passed all but one subject. The Lord promised to see him through the outstanding paper, at the next examination period, on the condition that he kept away from that besetting sin. He did not take the instruction to heart. Within three months he flouted the instruction and then sat for the remaining paper. He failed again. His colleagues left him behind. As he wondered why he failed that single subject where he had comparative advantage, the Spirit reminded him of the condition he failed to meet.
Your promotion and blessings come from God. Your boss may be set certain standards or conditions for you to satisfy. This is okay as long as they do not contradict God’s word. More important are the conditions God has set. Do you know for every uplift, success, breakthrough, etc. God has conditions? We only focus on conditions set by man. Have you ever cared to know the conditions God has set for you? If He says, ‘to get that promotion, win ten souls within a week,’ it may sound foolish. But by the time you satisfy God’s conditions, you make man’s conditions irrelevant to obtaining your promotion.  

MEMORIZE: 1 TIMOTHY 4:16 –Take heed to yourself, and to the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you.

WHAT WILL BE SAID?

READ: JOB 29:11-16

A day is coming when your story will be told. That day, you will not be opportune to be there to hear all that will be said. You would have passed on to glory. It will not be a day of pretence. It will be a day people will freely speak of their encounters with you and how you influenced their lives for good or bad. You would have gone but you will be remembered by what you have done. What will people remember you for on that day?
If you did evil things, you will be remembered for them. When we read 1 Samuel 22:11-19, we recall Doeg the wicked man who out of zeal for the satanic kingdom spilled the blood of innocent priests and their families just to earn cheap promotion from king Saul. In John 13:21-30, we also recall Judas Iscariot who loved money so much and calculated everything in monetary terms to the extent of selling his Master for money. Gehazi would be remembered as a man who was destined to have a double portion of the anointing on Elisha but because of covetousness ended up as a leper.
On the other side of the divide, we read about Dorcas in Acts 9:36-41. She ministered to all the widows in the church at Joppa. She was full of good works and giving of alms. She touched so many lives positively to the point that when she died, her good works began to protest her untimely death and God heard and raised her up again. Your works have mouths. If they are good, they will speak for you. If they are bad they will speak against you. How are you touching lives around you?
According to our reading, as Job laid in critical condition, his life began to pass before him. He recalled how he had lived. He must have been joyful recounting how many lives he had positively affected for which he would be remembered. Should you pass on today, what will be said about you? What will you be remembered for? Would it be said you started well but ended up as a drunkard, fornicator, or backslider? Would it be said you were self-centered and stingy? Or would it be said that you brought joy into the lives of many?  Or that you won several souls to the Lord? If people have cause to rejoice and celebrate your death or transfer from your present position, it could be evidence of failure.

MEMORIZE: 1 TIMOTHY 3:7 –Moreover he must have a good report of them which are outside; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

THE HIGHEST

READ: PSALM 9:1-5

Besides the secret place, the Psalmist says there is a shadow of the Almighty under which His privileged children can hide. The height of a shadow is proportional to the object casting it. There are many things we do not yet know about God, but we know for sure that the Most High is high enough to do wonders Psalm 77:11-14. He is high enough to heal, save and deliver from death. According to Ecclesiastes 5:8, there are high people, higher people and the highest person. This means there is someone higher than the highest. That person is the Most High. His name is Jesus Christ.
“Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
According to Psalm 95:3, He is greater than all other gods. He is the living God. The implication of having Jesus, the Higher than the highest, on your side, is that He can whip all earthly greats into order. Is there anyone highly placed in society making your life a nightmare? You can take the case to the Most High God. Is your boss becoming impossible? Take him to the highest. Is your pastor becoming a law to himself? Take him before the Chief Shepherd. Is your political leader’s conduct unbecoming? Take him to the Highest.
In His court, justice and truth prevail. Have judges of the earth perverted justice in your case? Have you tried to appeal against the ruling and were told the case is closed? If you cannot reopen it in the earthly courts, take it to the heavenly court. That court is never closed. Any decision that the Highest takes in the court is final. Whatever verdict the doctors have passed on your health can be reversed. That negative verdict the economy has passed on your finances and prosperity can be reversed in Jesus name. Arise today and plead your case before the Highest of all. If it means sacking that wicked boss He will do it. If it means dethroning that Nebuchadnezzar for seven years, so that you can possess your possessions, He will do it.

MEMORIZE: ECCLESIASTES 5:8B –…for he that is higher than the highest regards; and there be higher than they.