Today’s Scripture: “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.” – (Luke 5:37, ESV)

Topic: Get Ready for the “New” [Friday May 5, 2017]

Are you ready for a new chapter in your life? In order to move forward into the blessings God has for you, you have to be willing to let go of the old. The things that are behind you are not nearly as important as what is out in front of you. It’s time to get ready for the “new”!

You may have had some unfair things happen, things that you don’t understand. But let me tell you, you have come too far to stop now. Instead of allowing those things to hold you back, why don’t you let go and take a step of faith into the new? It’s time to get a new, bigger vision; it’s time to get a new, fresher outlook; it’s time to rise up with a new attitude! Instead of settling where you are, pick up and move forward. Have the attitude that says, “I may not understand it; it may not have been fair, but I am not getting stuck on this page. I know God has a new chapter for me—a chapter filled with blessings, favor and victory!

A Prayer for Today: “Father God, thank You for Your faithfulness in my life. Today, I choose to trust You with my past, present and future. Give me wisdom to discern the seasons of my life and teach me to embrace the new things You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Topic: The Power of Questions [Friday May 5, 2017]

… Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. – Matthew 7:7

Answers are provoked through questions.

You don’t have a right to know if you don’t have a desire to ask.

Questioning is simply an expression of desire to know.

It is not a crime to ask questions.

It is rather wisdom to do so.

Wise men ask questions.

Jesus did. Luke. 2.46-49

It is the practice of thinkers.

He who asks questions may be a fool once but he who doesn’t ask at all is a fool for life.

Question simply means a quest to know about a subject matter, it usually comes with a desire, longing, interest and curiosity.

The questions we ask limit the level of answer we assess. Matthew.7.7

Ask and ye shall receive.

Ask God for revelation.

Ask people for counsel.

Ask yourself for self examination.

Asking question is an expression of curiosity.

From questions you move into exploration which leads you into discoveries and eventually to recovery of yourself and hidden treasures around you.

Topic: Live One Day at a Time [Friday May 5, 2017]

So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. — Matthew 6:34

Most of us have enough to handle today without worrying about tomorrow. God will give you grace for today, but He will not give you grace for tomorrow until tomorrow arrives.

So often people worry about something that never happens. When you begin to think about the “what ifs,” the door opens for fear and worry. Some people worry so much that their worries become fear, and often the things people fear manifest in their life.

Do not allow yourself to dread tomorrow. Just know that God is faithful. It is comforting to know that whatever tomorrow may hold, He holds tomorrow. His grace is sufficient to meet the need. Do not waste today’s grace by worrying about tomorrow. Live one day at a time and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish for Christ.

Topic: Any Pending Vows? [Friday 5, May 2017]

Memorise: When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. – Ecclesiastes 5:4

Read: Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 (KJV)

4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

Bible in One Year: Deuteronomy 2-3, Jeremiah 25:34-26:11, Hymn: Sing hymn 14

MESSAGE:

Our God is a God of faithfulness and He takes vows seriously (Deuteronomy 7:9). In Genesis 28:20-22, Jacob made a vow to the Lord at a time of distress and uncertainty in his life. Twenty years later, after the Lord had prospered Him, the Lord reminded him of the vow he had made unto Him (Genesis 31:13). Later, the Lord reminded him yet again of his vow and instructed him to move on from where he was to the place where he would fulfil his vow (Genesis 35:1-6). It does not matter how long ago you made a vow, God doesn’t forget!

“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” – Ecclesiastes 5:4

One of the lessons from the above passage is that you are not compelled to make a vow to God. However, if you do, don’t delay in redeeming it, or else God will regard you as a fool. It is important to know that in life; what comes or doesn’t come to you will be largely determined by your spiritual standing or status before God. If God sees you as righteous, He will release all the blessings reserved for the righteous upon you, as long as you ask Him. In other words, if your status before God is that of a righteous fellow, God will treat you with respect. He will treat you like he would treat His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who accorded you that righteous standing. However, if you violate His words and that lingers, it can definitely affect your spiritual status and change the way God relates with you. For instance, if you fail to pay your vow after so long a time, your status is changed from that of a righteous person to that of a fool. Eventually, you lose the honour, respect and royal treatment God accords to the righteous. Why? It is because a fool denies the existence of God (Psalms 14:1). In other words, if you believe God exists and is aware of your vow, you would hurriedly redeem it. When you do not pay your vow to Him, you are saying that God does not exist, and this puts you into the same category as King Nebuchadnezzar, who in Daniel 3:15 pompously asked, “Who is that God that can deliver you from my hands?” When God is thrown such a challenge, whether verbally, in thought or through actions, He is forced to accept the challenge and to prove His existence. Vow defaulters call for God’s divine hammer to fall on them. Some people make a vow or pledge to God, yet one or two months after God has kept part, they are still dilly-dallying on fulfilling their vow. Are you defaulting in your vows to the Lords? Ask God for forgiveness and immediately set out to redeem them.

Action Point: Take stock of all your pending vows and take steps to redeem them today!

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.

Topic: Resurrected As Angels [Friday May 5, 2017]

Text: Mark 12:18-27

Key Verse: “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven” (Mark 12:25).

The resurrection of the dead is a cardinal doctrine of the Bible. In fact, there will be a physical resurrection of all who died in this world, whether as sinners or as believers. Resurrection is the coming together of the body and soul of those who would have died before the rapture. Jesus exemplified the resurrection when He rose from the dead, thus, becoming the pioneer and setting the stage for this glorious experience. All resurrected bodies will be immortal like those of angels.

The question of the Sadducees about whose wife the dead woman will be at the resurrection came out of ignorance or non-acceptance of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. At resurrection, the saints will be like angels in Heaven, who neither marry nor are given in marriage. Jesus told them they erred because they knew not the Scriptures, neither the power of God to raise the dead. God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. In the intervening period between death and the resurrection, the soul of the believer goes to Paradise.

This fact is exemplified by Christ’s statement to the repentant thief on the cross: “Today shall thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43). It is interesting to know that it is from Paradise that Christ later rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. On the other hand, when a sinner dies, his/her soul goes immediately to hell, where he is conscious of ensuring and engulfing pains and anguish. The doubt and unbelief of scoffers will not prevent the complete resurrection programme of God for both the saved and the unsaved in the same way it did not prevent the resurrection of our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ.

The only way to partake in the First resurrection, which will take place at the rapture and avoid the shame and sorrow of the second resurrection, is to totally surrender to Christ today by repenting, confessing and forsaking all sins. If saved already, the need to continue to live in peace and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord and prepare to be a resurrected angel is of paramount importance. Beyond that, an entire consecration of every life for God’s use is an absolute necessity for all heaven-bound saints.

Thought for the day: Salvation: key to be a resurrected angel.

Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Chronicles 16-20

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

Topic: Activating the Hidden Greatness [Friday May 5, 2017]

Scripture: And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Matthew 25:15.

Thought For The Day: Everyone is wired by God with unique potentials and abilities.

In life, I have realized that the discovery of one’s potentials, abilities and talents is critical to the maximization and fulfilment of one’s destiny.

Everyone is endowed by God with unique set of potentials and talents according to our anchor scripture.

Now, what is potential?

The word potential connotes latent qualities, abilities or capacities of a person that may be developed for current and future usefulness or impact. It can also be seen as the hidden gifts, talents or endowments that one is born with which when properly developed can make one great in life.

However, it is important to know that just having potential is not enough for the maximization of destiny. Rather, it is the discovery and deployment of potential that is a major factor behind the fulfilment of destiny.

Many people who are destined to be great remain less than what they were created to be because of their ignorance of the potentials they carry. It is your duty to activate your potentials by deploying them.

Beloved, discover and deploy your potentials for the maximization of destiny.

Remember this: Everyone is wired by God with unique potentials and abilities.

Assignment (s):

1.     Discover the hidden potentials in you at the place of prayer.

2.     Deploy your potentials in order to maximize your destiny.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: MAXIMIZING YOUR LIFE.

Prayer: Help me LORD, to discover the hidden potentials in me. Give me the grace to deploy them in Jesus’ Name.

Daily Reading: Judges 15:1 to 16:31, John 2:1 to 25, Psalm  103:1 to 22, Proverbs14:17 to 19.

Quote: Your relevance is a function of your learning. Culled from ‘21 UNCOMMON KEYS TO FINANCIAL OVERFLOW’ by Dr Paul Enenche.

Amazing Fact: The tongue is the only muscle in the human body that works without any support from the skeleton.

Today In History: 05/05/1961
From Cape Canaveral, Florida, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel into space.

Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), is a powerfully anointed church, headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Dr Paul and Dr Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities.

Topic: The Ministry of Memory [Friday May 5, 2017]

Read: Jeremiah 29:4–14, Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 19–20; Luke 23:1–25

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Our experiences of loss and disappointment may leave us feeling angry, guilty, and confused. Whether our choices have closed some doors that will never reopen or, through no fault of our own, tragedy has invaded our lives, the result is often what Oswald Chambers called “the unfathomable sadness of ‘the might have been.’ ” We may try to suppress the painful memory, but discover we can’t.

Chambers reminds us that the Lord is still active in our lives. “Never be afraid when God brings back the past,” he said. “Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God with its rebuke and chastisement and sorrow. God will turn the ‘might have been’ into a wonderful [place of growth] for the future.”

In Old Testament days when God sent the people of Israel into exile in Babylon, He told them to serve Him in that foreign land and grow in faith until He brought them back to their home. “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ ” (Jer. 29:11).

God urged them not to ignore or be trapped by events of the past but instead to focus on Him and look ahead. The Lord’s forgiveness can transform the memory of our sorrow into confidence in His everlasting love.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your plans for us, and for the future that awaits us in Your love.

God can use our deepest disappointments to nurture our faith in Him.

Insight:

What is one past sorrow that you find great difficulty in letting go? How does God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11–14 comfort and encourage you as you turn your pain over to the Lord?

This message was written By David C. McCasland [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Take Time to Listen [Friday May 5, 2017]

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. – James 1:5

When you’re facing a problem, the very first thing you should ask God for is wisdom. Not money. Not power. Not even healing. But wisdom.

God’s wisdom is the key that will unlock every door in your life. It will turn your every failure into success. So, stop wasting your prayer power begging God for things you think you need and spend some time instead listening to what He has to say about your situation.

If you’ve never tried that before, practically speaking, here’s what you need to do:

First: Lay out the entire problem before the Lord, not because He doesn’t know what you’re going through, but because laying it out helps you. It helps you see things from a more objective point of view.

I remember when I used to take my problems to my father, A.W. Copeland. Somehow, when I was explaining them to him, they began to look different to me. I’d get a new perspective, and as I talked, he’d point out areas I hadn’t considered yet. Explaining your problems to God, point by point, will help you accomplish the same thing.

Second: Listen for the Spirit of God to advise you. Pay particular attention to what He says through the written Word. Most likely, the care of your problem has choked the Word of God right out of your heart (Mark 4:18-19). If so, you need to get the Bible and begin to put that Word back in again. Then the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you through it.

As you’re listening, be sure to remain teachable. Be ready to accept rebuke if necessary. Be very honest with God. Look for ways in which you’ve been wrong and confess them to Him. It’s all right. Those sins won’t come as any surprise to Him. He already knows about them. Confession just gives you the opportunity to get rid of them.

Third: Act on the wisdom God gives you. Let go of your own methods and put His methods into operation. Be obedient. If you don’t, that glorious wisdom won’t do you any good at all.

As you pray today, set aside your own ideas and start seeking the wisdom of God. It’s the only thing that can permanently solve the problems you’ve been facing. It’s truly the most precious gift God has to give.

Seek wisdom.

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 8:10-36

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Topic: The Need For Love [Friday May 5, 2017]

Keep yourselves in the love of God . . . — Jude 1:21

A husband and wife visited an orphanage where they hoped to adopt a child. In an interview with the boy they wanted, they told him in glowing terms about the many things they could give him. To their amazement the little fellow said, “If you have nothing to offer except a good home, clothes, toys, and the other things that most kids have-why, I would just as soon stay here.” “What on earth could you want besides those things?” the woman asked. “I just want someone to love me,” replied the little boy.

There you have it! Even a little boy knows that “man shall not live by bread alone.” Our deeper yearnings and longings can be met only by a renewed fellowship with the One in whose image we were created, God.

Prayer for the day: Thank You for loving me, God. This knowledge never ceases to amaze me. I praise and love You, my heavenly Father

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.