Topic: The Power of Hospitality (5)

Dear Reader,

You are welcome again to this column. So far, I have been discussing with you, The Power of Hospitality. I believe you have been blessed.

I need to refresh your memory on why you must be hospitable. Hospitality is a universal ministry essential to the Christian life, as walking and talking are to physical life.

However, hospitality is applied love. It is the practical application and expression of the biblical command to “love your neighbour as yourself.” Hospitality is the active environment in which spiritual truths become connected in relationship with both God and men. Hospitality is a matter of the heart. How large your heart is, will determine how many people you can accommodate.

Also, during the course of this teaching, I threw light on the motives behind hospitality. My husband, the Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church World-wide, often told the story of his late grandmother. This woman was so kind that she used to cook for the children of her tenants. The Bishop, who was young, then, could not hide his feelings. He asked his grandmother why she bothered herself feeding other children. This was her response, “I am sowing seeds for the future so that my children and generation will not lack help”. Today, this is practically speaking. You, too, can start sowing seeds for your unborn generations.

Thirdly, I taught on the power of hospitality to defend. Lot, Abraham’s nephew was delivered from the destruction in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). Job also escaped untimely death, because he was a righteous man given to hospitality (Job 31:32).

Last week, we saw how hospitality could be the next step to your desired miracle. The Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:12-17) got her miracle baby and Rebecca (Genesis 24:14) got a husband to marry, simply because they were hospitable.

Lastly, on this edition, I will be discussing the “Re-building Power of Hospitality.” What does it mean to re-build? This connotes that there was a building before, which has been destroyed and it is now put back in shape. Below are the things that hospitality has the power to effect. Hospitality can:

Rebuild community.

Restore relationship.

Reconcile races.

Revive families.

It is possible to say that your community or your race is different. Also, everybody minds their own business. Remember, in your community, you can begin this change. There is a way you can touch someone and the person will pass on such gestures on to others. If you have a broken relationship with someone, be kind to someone that is close to such a person. This will take revenge out of your mind. That relationship that you want to trash, may be the one that you will need, to get to your next level in life.

One of the reasons for racial conflict, is when one race or tribe refuses to accommodate the other. When Israel was moving into Canaan, all the nations that fought against them were destroyed by God. Why? They were not hospitable. This is what Jesus said about the righteous: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me (Matthew 25:34-36).

Hospitality, in addition to your salvation, will earn you the Kingdom of God. Also, things of the Spirit are not to be taken with levity. You must watch over them and make sure they produce fruits in your life.

A change of heart is all you need, in order to effect changes in others. Jesus Christ is the only one that can help you out.

However, being able to re-build the power of hospitality entails confessing your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour. Are you ready for this new birth experience? If you are ready, please say this prayer of faith with me: “Dear Lord Jesus, I come to You today acknowledging that I am a sinner who needs Your forgiveness. I believe You died for me and rose again on the third day. Forgive me of my sins, wash me with Your Blood and write my name in the Lamb’s Book of life. Thank You Lord for saving me.”

If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, congratulations, you are born again! You are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

Topic: How To Secure Your Seat In Life [Monday July 31, 2017]

Sitting around your work is what creates a seat for you among men.

Never seek after what to be, rather pursue after what to do.

It is what you do that determines what you will be.

Do not envy any man’s seat. Rather covet their works.

The approach to your seat is very clear:

Simply work the way others do and you’ll end on their kind of seat.

Your seat is vacant awaiting your arrival!

Topic: A “New Man” [Monday July 31, 2017]

Read: Colossians 1:3–14, Bible in a Year: Psalms 54–56; Romans 3

Continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Colossians 1:23

As a group of teenagers visited a home for the elderly in Montego Bay, Jamaica, one young woman noticed a lonely looking man at the end of the room. He appeared to have little left in this world but a bed to sleep on—a bed from which he could not move because of his disability.

The teen began right away to share the story of God’s love for us and read some Bible passages to him. “As I shared with him,” she would say later, “I started to feel his eagerness to hear more.” Responding to his interest, she explained the wonder of Jesus’s sacrificial death for us. “It was hard for this man, who had no hope and no family,” she recalled, “to understand that Someone he’s never met would love him enough to die on the cross for his sins.”

Lord, thank You for the new life we have in Jesus Christ.

She told him more about Jesus—and then about the promise of heaven (including a new body) for all who believe. He asked her, “Will you dance with me up there?” She saw him begin to imagine himself free of his worn-out body and crippling limitations.

When he said he wanted to trust Jesus as his Savior, she helped him pray a prayer of forgiveness and faith. When she asked him if she could get a picture with him, he replied, “If you help me sit up. I’m a new man.”

Praise God for the life-changing, hope-giving, available-to-all gospel of Jesus Christ! It offers new life for all who trust Him (Col. 1:5, 23).

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the new life we have in Jesus Christ. Help us to share the hope of that new life with others so they can be made new as well.

Jesus offers new life.

Insight:

Colossae, the destination of the letter to the Colossian church, was a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). It was a city of some significance commercially in the first century because of its location on a main trade route east from Ephesus. We are not told in the New Testament how this church was founded, but in this letter Paul writes to encourage and instruct the believers there as if it were one of the churches he himself had founded. Bill Crowder

This message was written By Dave Branon [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Don’t Serve the Problem [Monday July 31, 2017]

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. – Isaiah 55:7

You can’t win a victory as long as the problem is the biggest thing in your life!

The Lord woke me up to that fact a few years ago. At that time I was facing some difficulties in my ministry that seemed so big to me, I thought about them from morning till night. Even though I was standing against them, I was thinking more about those problems than about the scripture promises I was standing on.

Then I saw something in Matthew 6:24-25: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life….”

I’d read that scripture hundreds of times, but that day I saw something I’d never noticed before. I saw that immediately after Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters,” He said, “Take no thought.” Suddenly it hit me: We serve our thoughts!

That’s why Isaiah 55 says for us to forsake our thoughts, and by the Word, take God’s thoughts. That’s why 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to cast down thoughts that challenge the Word and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Do you want deliverance from your problems today?

Then quit serving them! Quit allowing them to consume your thought life. And don’t wait until circumstances change to do it. Instead, realize that circumstances won’t ever change until you switch from wrong to right thinking.

I know that’s not easy to do, especially in the midst of heavy darkness and trial. But you can do it if you’ll do these three things:

First, remember you aren’t alone. You have the Word (God’s thoughts). You have the Holy Spirit to strengthen you and you have the mind of Christ.

Second, get around people who are full of faith. Instead of rehearsing your problem, let them do the talking. Make yourself listen. Join in with their faith and resist darkness.

Third, praise God. Do whatever it takes to make yourself praise. When you begin to praise, God’s presence will turn back those worried thoughts and make them fall!

Your problems are not the biggest thing in your life. Jesus is. Serve Him with your thoughts and He will set you free!

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55

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: Build Them Also [Monday, 31st July 2017]

Ese Ehimare Dave

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2

What is leadership if it does not produce successive leaders. A leader who do not produce worthy and even better leader as successor cannot be said to have lead well. It is incumbent on every leader to produce a better version of himself amongst those he is leading. Jesus Christ understood this, that was why “He ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:11). And when they started preaching, people got to know they’ve been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). And, you see, Jesus reproduced greater versions of Himself in His disciples, that was why they could do greater things (John 14:12). This should be the aim of every leader.

Apostle Paul understood this, that was why he told Timothy to also produce leaders by committing what he has heard to them (2 Timothy 2:2). The Greek word for commit is “paratithemi”, which means to deposit by teaching. And these men will also go ahead to teach other people. This process will only birth generational leaders. Another meaning of “paratithemi” is to intrust and to commit to one’s charge. This was what Jesus did with His disciples. He committed sensitive information about the operation of the kingdom and sent them to practice what He has taught them (Luke 9:1-5, Luke 10:1-16). This act of delegating authority and duties was to them build them for what was ahead.

Another thing that Jesus did, was to pray for them. In John 17, we have the record of the Lord’s prayer for the disciples He has been preparing to take over the leadership of the church after He must have gone to the Father. Leaders must endeavor to toe this path, because the lesser is blessed by the greater. Every protege will always fall prey of one misdeed. It is therefore incumbent on the leader, who wants to build a greater version of himself, to patiently correct them and bring them back on track whenever they misstep. Jesus Christ did this with Peter in John 21:1-19. Building leaders that will take over from you is very essential. It’s the most important part of leadership, so that there can be progressive continuity after the leader has left the scene.

Keep winning daily.

Wise Action:

As a leader, consciously build the leadership capacity of your proteges. Equip them with all they need to do better than you will ever do. Make this a legacy to pursue rather than only using them to achieve your own targets.

Topic: The Right Righteousness [Monday July 31, 2017]

Luke 16:15 “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

LUKE 16:14-15

Justification is not something to be earned, but a gift to be received. Seeking to earn salvation is the only sin that will prevent a person from being saved, because you cannot submit yourself to the righteousness of God which comes as a gift through faith as long as you are seeking to establish your own righteousness.

Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of righteousness. Only one type of righteousness is acceptable to God. There is our righteousness, which is our compliance with the requirements of the law. This is an imperfect righteousness because human nature is imperfect and incapable of fulfilling the law. And there is God’s righteousness, which only comes as a gift and is received by faith. God’s righteousness is perfect. Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). A person who believes that he must earn God’s acceptance by his holy actions is not believing in God’s righteousness, which is a gift. It has to be one or the other; we cannot mix the two.

Righteousness is not what Jesus has done for us plus some minimum standard of holiness that we have to accomplish.

Right standing before a holy God is not to be achieved in the keeping of the law, but in humble trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. No one who is trusting in his own righteousness can have the benefit of Christ’s righteousness. The righteousness that gives men relationship with God is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, and it comes freely through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22). It is true that the way we obtained this righteousness is by putting faith IN what Christ has done for us. But when we place our faith in Christ, then the righteousness that Jesus obtained by His faith becomes ours. We are possessors of Christ’s righteousness, which His faith produced.

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net)

Topic: Your Words And Your Survival [Monday July 31, 2017]

Scripture: The sower soweth the word. Mark 4:14

Thought For The Day: Until you value your words, you do not value your life.

Our anchor scripture clearly reveals that words are seeds. What you sow determines what you reap. What you say determines what you see.

So, if you say, ‘It is well with my soul’, it implies that it must be well with you no matter what is happening. It may not be well right away but you are sowing seeds; keep talking, very soon the seed will germinate.

Many of us are reaping today what we said yesterday, and tomorrow’s harvest is being determined by what we are saying today. If you say, ‘I have ulcer’ for example, the question is: how much did you buy it?

Beloved, until you value your words, you do not value your life because life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).

It also important to understand that words are prophecies. In Numbers 14:28, God said to the children of Israel, Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

So, every time you are talking, you are prophesying into your future. When you speak death, you move the spirit of death into action and when you speak life, you move the quickening Spirit of God, the Spirit of life into action. Every word you speak will locate the equivalent spirit.

Beloved, whatever is not your intention, destination or expectation must never be your utterance. If you want to escape the trap of death, destruction and disease, avoid the seed of negative words.

Remember this: Until you value your words, you do not value your life.

Assignment (s):

1. Speak in accordance with the written Word of God, not according to what is happening around you.

2. Take out time and prophesy into your life according to what you want to see.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: ESCAPING THE FORCES OF DISEASE AND DESTRUCTION

Prayer: In the Name of Jesus, I speak life into my body, career and destiny. It is well with me. I cannot be limited or resisted. All things are working for my good. O LORD, my life is in Your Hands so I must end well, in Jesus’ Name.

Quote: What you say determines what you see. Your confession determines your destination… Culled from 15 KINGDOM STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL by Dr Paul Enenche.

Daily Reading: 2 Chronicles 29:1 to 36, Romans 14:1 to 23, Psalm 24:1 to 10, Proverbs 20:12.

Amazing Fact: A snail can sleep for 3 years.

Today In History: 31/07/1992 – The nation of Georgia joined the United Nations.

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: Believe the Word of God [Monday July 31, 2017]

“If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey” Numbers 14:8 (KJV)

From the account of the story of the 12 spies, you will discover that 10 out of the 12 spies saw themselves as grasshoppers, but there were 2 men who thought differently. These were 2 people who knew who they were in God. These were 2 people who dared to believe the word of God. These 2 people must have said to themselves, if God told us that the land was flowing with milk and honey and we saw that, then the fact that He has given us the land too must be true. They valued the word of God above their natural strength and capability.

Beloved, in like manner you cannot believe that God is good and fail to believe that He will be good to you. That would be selective thinking. Remember the scripture says as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. {Proverbs 23:7a} If you think and believe failure then you would naturally attract failure, but if you think increase and abundance then you will have it. You need to understand that what God has promised you, is not a function of your immediate circumstances or what you can do. When God said He will supply all {not some} of your needs, it was not dependent on the state of the economy; neither is it a function of what you have or who you know. That promise was based on the riches of His Glory by Christ Jesus. He is inexhaustible.

I come to challenge you to believe the word of God and begin to see things from God’s perspective and not from your own small perspective because your natural sight is limited. The God you serve can see the end of a matter from the very beginning. He knows how to work every situation out for your good. He knows what is best for you and the best way to bring it to pass. Believe Him for the impossible. Believe that He will hasten to perform His word in your life.

Further Reading: Numbers 13:30-33, 14:6-9, Philippians 4:19

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Psalms 54-56; Evening- Romans 3

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Topic: Believers’ Inheritance [Monday July 31, 2017]

Text: Genesis 25:1-11

Key Verse: “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac” (Genesis 25:5).

A rich man had only one child and many servants. He appointed a favoured servant among his numerous servants as the captain over all other servants, and put all his inheritance under the care of this servant. While on his dying bed, he invited his only child and asked him to pick just one thing out of all his inheritance.

The young man, after much reflection, decided to pick the favoured servant. He was convinced that once he chose the favoured servant, he had inherited all his father’s riches. From the text today, we see how Abraham wisely settled his house before he passed on to glory. While he gave gifts to other children, he gave all that he had unto Isaac, through whom the Abrahamic covenant was to be fulfilled. He knew that, “Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children…” (Proverbs 13:22). Jesus is the only Son of God and He is the sum-total of God’s riches.

We can now inherit the riches of God the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ, in whom we have obtained an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. Jesus is the only Gateway through which we can have unrestricted access to the riches of God. To be a partaker of God’s inheritance through Christ, a sinner needs to confess and forsake his sins and plead for forgiveness. Grace is offered commonly to all mankind regardless of race and status. GRACE is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

You need this grace to make your life here on earth worthwhile and in the life to come, everlasting joy. You can appropriate this grace into your life now and become a member of God’s family, heir of the Father and joint-heir with the Son.

Thought for the day: Family inheritance is meant for children of the family, not strangers.

Bible Reading in one Year: Philippians 1-4

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: Provision Before Need [Monday 31, July 2017]

Memorise: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  –  2 Peter 1:3

Read: 2 Peter 1:1-4 (KJV)

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Bible in One Year: 1 Kings 9-10; Ezekiel 18:1-18, Hymn: Sing hymn 10: There Shall be Showers of Blessing

MESSAGE:

“God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” – Psalm 46:5

From the above passage of Scripture, one great benefit available to those who have God as their Refuge is that the help or assistance they need will never be late. There are at least three different times an individual can receive assistance. It could be before, during or after one experiences a need. If a need or an emergency arises today and you already have the wherewithal to meet that need, maybe from your earnings from paid employment or a business venture, you have already received help before that need arose.  This is a great place to be in! Some families already have all they will never need to take care of their children and pay their way up to post-graduate degree programmes, even before this need arises. Such people will never panic for school fees. This is an example of provision before need, and it describes a state of living in abundance. You will experience such in Jesus’ Name!

Moreover, do you know that God follows this same pattern in dealing with His children? For example, before God created Adam and Eve, all they would ever need had been provided for in the Garden of Eden which God Himself planted. God knows exactly what you need even before you express or voice out your request (Matthew 6:32). Do you know that God has already provided all you would ever need to live a victorious Christian life and fulfil your God-given destiny? The Holy Spirit speaks about this to us in 2 Peter 1:3, where He says:

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

It is therefore possible for you to be a beneficiary of provision before need. However, one major challenge for most people with regards to this benefit is that when there is provision to meet their future needs, they become careless, frivolous and wasteful. When God provides ahead of time, it is possible to spend it on other things outside of God’s purpose. You therefore need divine guidance even in plenty. Having abundance does not justify wastefulness in God’s Kingdom. However, to partake of this great benefit, you need to increase your knowledge of the Provider, walk in obedience to Him, follow spiritual financial principles and wait on His directives always.

Prayer Point: What some people waste daily is more than enough to feed several needy, hungry people. To trigger blessings from the Lord, such excess should be spent on meeting the needs of others.

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