HELPERS OF JOY

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 1:20-24

I gave my life to Christ the evening of Sunday 29^th July, 1973. As I came to my office the following morning, the first person I saw was my professor – Professor Chike obi. He looked at me with surprise and said I was radiating. Then he asked if it was my birthday. A colleague in my office saw me and asked if I attended a wedding over the weekend. I replied I did not but that I had just received an invitation to attend the wedding of the Lamb. A professor in University of Ibadan gave his life to Christ several years ago. I used to visit there monthly to conduct Bible study. He said, “I just want to know if it is not dangerous to be full of joy every time.” He confessed that since he gave his life to Christ, he has been full of joy.
Are you in search of joy, receive Jesus into your heart and follow Him and true joy will enter into you. Attaining the peak of your career or academics cannot give you joy. But Jesus can. On the other hand, some believers who were initially full of joy are now running on an empty tank of joy. If care is not taken, they might even lose it. Why? Joy is like a well. The depth of a well will determine the quantity of water that can come out. Shallow wells dry up easily. Similarly, under a very hot climate, the water level of a well ebbs. Like the sun, if the heat of life mounts pressure on you, it will gradually dry up the volume of joy in your well. But whether you like it or not, the heat must come in its season.
If you do not dig your well further, you will lose your joy to the storms of this world. How can you dig this well so as to have an overflow of joy? Afterall, Jesus wants your joy to be full (John 15:11). Being in God’s presence helps to dig your well and flood it with joy (Psalm 16:11). The more you stay in His presence, the deeper your well becomes. Trials of faith equally fill your well of joy (James 1:2). Also, sowing sacrificial seeds into God’s kingdom will generate a harvest of joy (Psalm 126:5-6). In addition, the salvation of sinners further deepens and fills your well joy (Luke 15:7). This is why evangelists are bubbling with joy. The possession of meekness in your life also helps to increase your joy (Isaiah 29:19). Hiding God’s Word in your heart further deepens and fills your well of joy (Jeremiah 15:16). All the above are helpers of your joy. The more of them you have, the deeper and fuller your well of joy. Embrace these helpers of joy today!

MEMORIZE: 2 CORINTHIANS 1:24 –Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith you stand.

THE LAW OF KINDS

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-18

In Genesis 12:1-3 when the Lord called Abraham, He gave him three conditions for him to receive seven blessings. The conditions were: Come out of your country, come out from among your kindred and come out of your father’s house. Why did God ask Abraham to leave his father’s house? It was because Abraham was living amongst and fellowshipping with idol worshippers; and God is not going to share his blessings among those who hate Him. This is the same reason god forbids believers from unequally yoke with unbelievers, be it in marriage and business.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). To belong to Jesus, you must first separate yourself from the world. Some Christians believe they can marry anyone irrespective of their faith and afterward convert the fellow. If you are wise, you will never try it. Quite a number of those who tried it – particularly women, are now in bondage of a life time. Some church- going women who married liberal Muslims are today regretting their step especially after they received Christ. Many become workers but to save their homes, end up unable to serve God, while the family is divided into different faiths.
“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25). If you take a cue from the beginning, everything God created had to mix with their kind. Every animal has its kind: that is why a dog does not mate with a goat. A goat goes with a goat, sheep with sheep. And the result is good. A church goer is a kind, a born again Christian is another kind. If a born again marries a church-goer, he has broken the divine rule of follow your kind. It is a taboo for a believer to marry an unbeliever or somebody from another faith. The result will be terrible! Are you courting an unbeliever or ordinary church-goer? You are breaking ranks and violating the law of kinds. Repent and return to the Lord now.

MEMORIZE: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:16 –And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

UNPEGGING THANKSGIVING

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:6-7

“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it has no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up” (Hosea 8:7).
Another characteristic of the ground is found in its ability to multiply. When you sow something into the soil, what you get in return is many times more than what was sown. This shows that the ground is a good place to invest because you are sure of a good harvest. Can the same be said for your life? Are you a good for heaven’s investments? Is God assured He will get more than He has sown in your life? Many of us have failed God in this respect. Even other people’s blessings that He channeled through us have ended up in our store houses while the owners starve and continue to pester His for what He has already released.
One thing that constrains you from doing good to people is their lack of appreciation for the one you have already done. When we were still using the old auditorium several years ago, I came to the camp one day and told God, “I am going to prepare a sermon that will really make the congregation to thank you, even when you have done enough for me this year”. He was not angry with me but on the 1^st of January the following year, He woke me up and asked me to multiply it by 365 days. Thereafter, He asked me if I kept myself throughout the year. Do you know there are many people languishing in prison without the faintest idea of the crime they are accused of? Not long after, I was on my knees weeping and thanking Him.
“O give thanks to the LORD; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people” (Psalm 105:1). Sometime between 1977 and 1978, a brother visited us. During prayer time, he was thanking God for bringing an end to the civil war some 10 years before. I learnt a great lesson from that. Some of us only thank God for what He did recently. Some hardly thank Him for previous deeds. The writer of Psalm 105 was thanking God for delivering Israel from Egypt and even for God’s covenant with Abraham – which took place about 1000 years before. Dust your book of records and thank God for what He has done for you since you were born. Thank Him for your ancestry and for your family. Never peg your thanksgiving again!

MEMORIZE: PSALM 105:5 –Remember His marvelous works that He has done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.

HE IS ALSO MY GOD

READ: EXODUS 3:14-16 

“And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is My name forever and this is My memorial to all generations” (Exodus 3:15).
One name by which God wants to be remembered is that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When you look at God’s blessing upon Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you will immediately be confronted with the fact that God is extremely rich as he owns the earth and its fullness (Psalm 24:1). An adage says it is the rich who befriends the rich. It automatically follows that since God is the Source of true wealth, anyone who is linked with Him must equally be wealthy. Are you linked with God? If yes, true wealth is yours in Jesus name. The Lord will prosper you so that you do not bring shame to Him.
Abraham was very rich in cattle, silver and gold (Genesis 13:2). When his nephew was taken captive, Abraham armed his trained male servants who were born in his own house numbering 318 to go and recover him and all that was his. How many rich men have as many servants taking care of their household? God blessed Abraham greatly (Genesis 24:34-35) and turned his greatest source of sorrow (barrenness) into his greatest source of joy. He became a father of several nations. If you are a seed of Abraham you cannot afford to be poor.
Shortly before his death, Abraham transferred all his wealth to Isaac thereby giving him a good start. In Genesis 26:12-14, we are told that Isaac became so great to the extent that his personal budget was equivalent to that of a whole nation. That stirred up the envy of the Philistines. God promises that you shall lend to nations. Unfortunately, many of us are satisfied with a river instead of an ocean of God’s blessings. If you are not tired of your river, the ocean will not come. God kept multiplying Jacob exceedingly. His multiplication was in excess. The Lord will multiply you in excess. Whatever level of prosperity you are enjoying now is just the beginning. In any case, be faithful in your tithes. Sow seeds into God’s house. The God of Abraham is also mine.

MEMORIZE: EXODUS 3:6 –Moreover He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

A WORTHWHILE SACRIFICE

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:6-7

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” (Romans 12:10)
It takes a death flesh to put somebody else above oneself. If we are to strictly apply this method in a meeting of God’s people, during meal time, the General Overseer should eat last followed by the A.G.O., etc. in that order. Your flesh is your number one enemy standing on your way to a breakthrough. It stands to hinder God’s plan for your life. As long as it lives, it will reveal your weaknesses to the enemies outside so that they can know where to strike you. Your flesh must die.
As a younger Christian, one story I heard that kept me going was about some Christians who were locked up in prison in a communist enclave. They were fed with two slices of bread. Among the prisoners was a young boy and an elderly man. Each time the young got his ration, he was in so much pain. It was barely enough. Whenever the elderly man got his, he broke one slice into two and gave half to the boy. The young boy could not understand the old man’s sacrifice even though it was glaring that he suffered more than the boy. So one day, the boy asked why he always gave him from his two slices and the man said he was paying his tithe. He knew the value of divine friendship. That is a worthwhile sacrifice.
Although it is not good to be physically alone, it is far worse to be abandoned by God. It does not matter how many friends you have, if you are separated from God, you will still fail. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 says no increase comes on labour until God is involved, hence Jesus says we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). God is the Lord of the harvest and if He does not turn the harvest in your direction, you are wasting your time. God made Joseph to prosper even in prison because there is no desert ground with Him. If He sends you to a dry, desert ground, He will back you with increase as long as He is with you. How are you building today? Is His divine presence still there? When last did you hear Him speak to you? If it has been long, check out your relationship with Him. If there is sin in your life, His presence will keep you at some distance. Cry to Him for His divine presence in all you do.

MEMORIZE: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:6 –I have planted, Appolos watered but God gave the increase.