WEEPING FOR SORROW OR JOY

READ: REVELATION 21:2-5

At the judgement seat of Christ, after the fire and others have done their work, those whose works endured the fire, who constitute the brides to be decorated will boldly walk forward, beaming with joy and be publicly decorated. Have you watched when somebody was selected out of the world for a particular award and was publicly decorated? How do you feel?If it was somebody from your town or village, you will feel elated. How then will you feel if you were the one receiving the award as the whole world cheers? But this heavenly decoration is a million times greater than any earthly award. I will not miss my day of decoration in heaven. What about you?
In that day, everybody will weep. While those who will not be decorated will weep when they see what they lost, recipients will weep irrespective of the stars in their crowns when they discover that they could have obtained 1000 fold reward than they got. They will realize they have not done enough. Some years ago, while in the midst of spending quality time in God’s presence at the camp, I had an encounter; I was singing and dancing in the moonlight enjoying my fellowship with the Almighty God. Sometime around 4:00 am, the Lord began to ask me some questions.
Initially, I was thanking Him because I felt I was doing mighty exploits for Him. By the time He finished asking about 20 questions, I realized that by His standards, I had done nothing; I got next to zero level. Over there God will not only show us what we have done but also what we ought to have done. When yousee the reward for the little you have done, then you would imagine and calculate what could have been yours if you had met all His expectations. You will weep at such realization but God will wipe all tears from our eyes. You are privileged to know these things now so that you can adjust fast and conform to His perfect plan for your life. Ask Him what He wants you to do and go all out to do it. You can increase your weeping for joy and reduce your weeping for sorrow. Either wayyou will weep. You can determine the type of weeping you want over there from today. Take a decision that will enhance your good fortunes and stick with it.

MEMORIZE: REVELATION 21:4 –And God shall wipe all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

ENTERING YOUR REST

READ: HEBREWS 4:1-11

“There remains therefore a rest of the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).
Have you been laboring so hard and wondering when you will enter into your rest?  Are the trials, temptations and difficulties you often encounter along the pilgrim’s way getting at you? Are you asking God: when will it all be over so that I can truly heave a sigh of relief? Rejoice, it will soon be over. You will soon enter into your rest. You will soon arrive at your promised land. Do not waste your years of labour. One of these days, it could even be sooner than you thought, you will arise into a glorious dawn. All your worries and struggles will be over. You shall not die before entering into your rest. All the plans of the gates of hell to derail you from making it to heaven will fail. You will reach your goal.
“Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Hebrews 4:11). God is encouraging you to continue the fight. Every move you make in righteousness, faith, service to god is taking you closer to your rest. However, if there was a time to be very careful it is now. You may have gone more than one-quarter, one-third, half or even three-quarters of your journey into the city of rest. You may just have a very short time left hence you need to be more careful now than when you first believed.
Why do you have to be extra careful? Some believers were careless and slipped away when they were very close to their promised land. Some could not enter because of being mentally attached to the Egypt they left years ago (Numbers 11:4-6). Some became offended and began to murmur and complain over every slight problem (Exodus 15:24); some engaged in negative confessions to their destruction (Numbers 14:27-30); others were swept off their feet by lust of the flesh (Numbers 11:4, 18-20, 31-34). It was unbelief that sank the faith of some (Hebrews 4:11), etc. remember Moses could not enter into the promised land he was called to take the Israelites into because of anger. This is the time to check those little, little things in your life capable of hindering your entry. Prayerfully expunge them and yield totally to God. Keep on working for the Lord. Keep on your fight of faith. It will soon be over. You will finish strong!

MEMORIZE: HEBREWS 4:11 – Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

WITHDRAWING FROM YOUR PRAYER BANK

READ: REVELATION 5:6-8

In 1 Samuel 1:7, right in the midst of deep sorrow, Hannah declared a fast. Some Christians cannot fast at all because their stomach has become their god. The day they do not praise and worship it with food, it will appear the whole world is coming to an end. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”. There is a time to eat and a time to fast. If youeat when you should be fasting, you may panic when you should be at rest. Some people have their fears about fasting – that they will become ill or have ulcer or even die. Every Christian should fast. Do not let anybody deceive you. Fasting does not kill. If fasting kills, I would have been dead a long time ago. On the contrary, fasting makes you younger, burns off excessive fat and makes you stronger and healthier. Many people experience healing of different bodily ailments including ulcer during a fast. Fasting draws you closer to God and makes you live the life of the Spirit. Fast regularly at least once or twice a week.
For some people fasting is only abstinence from food. They do not have time to pray. This type of fasting is more of dieting. The body still benefits from it but the spirit man hardly profits from it. For greater results, combine fasting with prayer, praise worship, Bible study, etc. Today’s reading talks about prayers entering containers. One thing about fasting and prayer is that if done properly, the effect is never wasted. The more you pray and fast, the more your heavenly container is filled. Just as you can go to the bank to make withdrawals from your savings in time of financial need so also can you make a withdrawal in prayer. Some believers pray too little everyday hence they have nothing to store for future use. But those who pray big daily utilize their daily need of prayer, while the balance goes into their reserves. Have you experienced a period where you always prayed and spent quality time in God’s presence, then for a day or two, due to some reasons, you find yourself not in God’s presence, yet, after a brief spiritual dryness, you began to feel God’s presence for a period? You were only withdrawing from your prayer bank! Hours spent in His presence are not lost. They are reserved for tomorrow.

MEMORIZE: MATTHEW 17:21 –However this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.

WHAT IS GODLY FEAR?

READ: DEUTERONOMY 10:12-21  

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul”(Deuteronomy 10:12).
Godly fear is a great treasure for every born again Christian. When we talk of the fear of God, we do not mean the type of fear you experience when you sight a snake nearby. But it is the fear that is mixed with love. The love of God is the foundation for true fear of God. You cannot fear God if you do not love Him. Also, you cannot love God beyond the level of fear you have for Him. The extent of your love is the extent of your fear of God. Do you love God?
In Deuteronomy 13:4, we are told to cleave to God as a result of our love for Him. When some Christians sin, the fear of punishment drives them away from God? How can you run away from your Father? If you have offended Him, return to Him and plead for mercy. If He decides to give you a knock to prevent a reoccurrence, take the knock in humility and joy. If you run from God, you could end up in the camp of your enemies. You can be sure they will not spare you. I choose to be punished by God than to become a friend of Satan. If the devil tells you how much he loves you, be informed that is the extent he is planning your destruction.
In Acts 5, because the Holy Ghost moved in the early church, judgement fell on sinning believers. Anytime the Holy Spirit is moving, occasionally He may expose sinners. He will also judge and put fear into the hearts of all, while pretenders will, rather than repent, become afraid and take to their heels. No pretender will want to join a church where the Holy Spirit is moving. It is because they are afraid their deeds would be uncovered. Yet earnest seekers will come into such an assembly and receive the benefit of being motivated to do right always. Do you fear God? How much do you love Him? To what extent do you abide by His Word? Ask for a greater fear of God today.

MEMORIZE: DEUTERONOMY 10:12 –And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

CITY OF REVELATION

READ: PSALMS 119:11-18

What you see is crucial, but how you see what you see is very important because, it will determine what you can make out of a given situation. Human beings are used to selective perception – that in a given situation they will only focus on a particular area of interest while they blank out the rest. When people have divergent interests, even when exposed to the same incident, they will give different interpretations to it. How do you see? How broad is your perspective when you see? Your horizon will be determined by your location, the power of your sight and how careful or watchful you are. The man who is on a mountain top will have a broader view than the fellow in a valley. You will see better and be exposed to the issues behind the scenes if you see through God’s eyes than when you use your limited eyes. Also, you will be able to access more details if you are very observant than when you are not so meticulous. May the Lord broaden your horizon.
“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” (John 1:14). David knew the importance of having the appropriate view of God’s Word which his ordinary eyes could not afford him, so he cried in Psalms 119:18, “Open You my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.” He was crying for a revelation of God’s Word which was beyond mere letters. How do you see God’s Word? There are five major ways of receiving God’s Word:  Hearing, reading, studying, memorizing and meditating. Each of thesemethods help to view the same passage from different perspectives, and give you different result. For the hearing believer, a good portion of what you hear is lost. The reading believer barely scratches the surface and can hardly access the hidden treasures. The studying believer is able to dig out the hidden treasures and also retain a great percentage of his discoveries from the scriptures. The memorizing believers is able to load his spiritual storehouse with the uncarnal weapons with which to fight the enemy in the evil day. The meditating believer hops on the Word and goes on a ride into the city of revelation. When he returns, everyone will know he has just arrived. There is a city of revelation. Anyone who goes there will from a wider perspective. When last did you go there?

MEMORIZE: PSALMS 119:11 –Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.