Topic: Gladness on Sunday [Friday June 9, 2017]

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. — Psalm 122:1

A lot of people get what I call “Sunday-itis” on Sunday mornings. Do you know what Sunday-itis is? It attacks the victim shortly before breakfast on Sunday morning. It is accompanied by a feeling of weakness and lethargy. Sometimes the victim has a slight headache which is aggravated by the ringing of the church bells in the community. But the disease is of short duration, usually disappearing about noon, when the victim is able to eat a full dinner and play golf in the afternoon. But the symptoms usually appear again about 7:30 Sunday evening, and then disappear until the next Sunday morning.

Prayer for the day: May I always have the gladness that David had, as each Sunday I prepare to worship You in Your house, 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.

Topic: Live Pressure Free [Thursday June 8, 2017]

One very outstanding trait that I discovered in the life of Jesus is that He always created a light environment around Himself; He lived a pressure free life. He approached every issue with such calmness and simplicity. For instance, when He taught about Holy Ghost baptism, He said, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:11-13). He made everything so easy.

Talking about divine provisions, He presented a very powerful teaching on faith. He said, “Who among you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature? Don’t you see how your heavenly Father cares for the birds of the air and the flowers that fade away over night? Even Solomon in his glory was never arrayed as the grass of the field.” (Matt. 6:27-30). That was why when the time came in His ministry that 5,000 people needed to be fed, He simply told His disciples, “Make them sit down first.” You must learn to address every issue of your life with such calmness because you need a relaxed environment to enjoy supernatural manifestations.

Meditate on these: Psalm 46:10, John 16:33

Topic: Loving the Life of Simplicity [Thursday June 8, 2017]

Key Scripture: Luke 10: 41,42

“And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed…”

I had to come to a place in my life where God had me focus on the idea of simplicity, and I suspect it may be the same for you. During this time, I was very complicated in most everything I did. I could not even entertain friends without complicating it.

Not only were my actions complicated but also my thought processes. I complicated my relationship with God because I had a legalistic approach to righteousness. To me, life itself was complicated. I felt that I had a lot of complex problems, and I didn’t realize they were that way only because my approach to life was complicated. And when we are complicated inside, then everything else in life seems that way.

James 1:6 says, “The double-minded (complicated, bewildered) man is unstable in all his ways…”

For years, I sought for many things—answers to my situations, healing, success in my ministry, changes in my family, etc. Finally, I learned about the “one thing” I was supposed to be seeking. And what was that one thing?

Psalm 27:4 gives us the answer. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.”

We make it overly complex, but it really is simple. The “one thing” is spending time with God and to look to Him for everything we need. It is the “seek first the kingdom of God” strategy that leads to the rest of fulfillment in our lives.

No matter what you face, if you ask God what the simple approach would be, I believe you will be amazed at the ideas you’ll get from Him to help solve them. The Holy One lives in you and although He is awesomely powerful, He is also awesomely simple. The Holy Spirit will teach you simplicity if you truly want to learn.

Final Thoughts and Action Items

I think it’s important to end with this. On the road to making decisions, whether that’s to refuse to regret or dread, or even to choose simplicity, you will make mistakes along the way—you’ll not always get it right. But here is the beautiful thing about that: no one learns to hear from God without making those mistakes. Don’t be overly concerned about errors. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Learn from your mistakes, correct the ones you can and move forward.

Action Items

What are a couple areas in your life (in relationships, decisions or career) that you are over-complicating?

Make the calculated decision to choose simplicity. Today, as you encounter various circumstances, ask God to help you locate the simplest route to fix it.

Topic: Why God Sometimes Delays [Thursday 8, June 2017]

Memorise: And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; – Genesis 2:21

Read: Genesis 2:21-22 (KJV)

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 10-11, Jeremiah 44:20-30, Hymn: Sing hymn 1

MESSAGE:

From experience, we know of a truth that God answers prayers. It is also common knowledge among those who walk with God that on several occasions, despite consistent prayers, God may take His time before intervening in a given situation. In fact, in some cases, He may allow the situation to deteriorate to its extreme limits before He steps in.  This was the experience of Mary and Martha, sisters to Lazarus (John 11:1-6). Why would God wait until you are completely helpless before He turns things around? It could be because He does not want you to tamper with what He is about to do. When a doctor wants to perform an operation, he puts his patient to sleep. When God was about to form Eve out of Adam, He put him into a deep sleep. Genesis 2:21 says,

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;”

Do you know that God still likes to do some great things without any contribution or interference from us? Sometimes, He may allow us to get to a point of helplessness before He moves in to begin His work. He wants you to be absolutely surrendered to Him so that when He begins to do what He wants to do, you will not consider your own ideas. If you are ever so self-willed, you may need to visit the bus stop of helplessness repeatedly, but if you are completely yielded to Him, this may not occur too often in your life. How submissive are you to God?

Similarly, God may take His time before coming to your aid because it is in those extreme moments that prayers are said from the depth of the soul (1 Samuel 1:15). When you are totally helpless, you will pray from your heart and not from your head. In Matthew 15:21-28, when the woman whose daughter was grievously tormented of the devil came to Jesus asking for help, the Lord ignored her, and the disciples asked that she be sent away because she was too noisy. The woman simply said, “You haven’t heard any noise yet. Whether you like it or not, I am not leaving here without my miracle.” Then the Lord said to her, “I cannot give the children’s bread to dogs.” She said, “Fine, I agree I am a dog, but this dog is going to get her miracle today.” Since she had no alternative, she knew she had reached her last bus stop, and she refused to give up. People who are totally helpless pray a different kind of prayer compared to those who have alternatives. Whatever you needs maybe today, as you ask God, He will answer you in Jesus’ Name. Have you reached your final bus stop? Is Jesus Christ your last hope, or do you have other alternatives?

Action Point: Some delays are in your best interest. Ask God to make every delay to work in your favour.

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.

Building relationships in the workplace can sometimes be tricky; however there are some mistakes you might be making in the process that you should try to avoid. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 biggest mistakes you’re making with work relationships.

Seeing Relationship Building as Unnecessary and as Playing Office Politics

Some people have a negative perception of the art of building work relationships. They believe that they’re above it all and that their knowledge and skills are all they need to excel in the workplace. However, what they fail to understand is that collaboration and large-scale group projects contributes significantly to an organization’s success. That’s why most organizations are largely ‘team-centric’.

Limiting Your Work Circle

Try not to build work relationships with only people in your peer group or people you are similar to. This can be very limiting to you on your career path. Try to develop relationships with people who are not like you – like those in another department, those in different peer groups or those with a skill set different from yours. It doesn’t have to be such a deep relationship, but just something cordial and light-hearted enough to secure yourself a place in their conscious mind.

Forgetting the Place of Performance

Avoid using the relationship card to justify laziness and low performance at work. The point of cultivating good relationships is to better accomplish your goals, not to abandon them all together. A good work relationship can’t make up for a lack of knowledge or skills, and can hardly protect you from being let go if your work performance is disappointingly low. Good work relationships shouldn’t undermine performance.

Making Your Self-Interest Obvious

If in a work relationship, the other person senses you keep doing things because you want something in return, that can end the relationship. Though, self-interest might ultimately be the goal of most work relationships, the point is not to be so blatant with it that it becomes offensive. Keep the needs of the other person in mind and try to give as much as you can with no immediate expectation of return in mind. Make deposits in the person’s emotional bank account so you can draw from it during the inevitable rough times.

Being Opportunistic in Your Relationships

Avoid being too status conscious when building work relationships. Try to build good relationships with your subordinates and people you consider to be ‘low on the food chain’, avoid doing so with only your peers and superiors. Consider the example of a head of department in a business organization, who only got along with his peers and superiors. All his direct reports either feared or genuinely disliked him. The management noticed this and this limited his effectiveness and growth in the organization, because a leader is only as good as the people he’s leading.

By Damilola Ojo
PR Associate Jumia Travel
+2348101556883

Topic: Is Your Back Turned To God? [Thursday June 8, 2017]

Text: Jeremiah 32:26-35

Key Verse: “And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction” (Jeremiah 32:33).

There is nothing that best demonstrates and indicates defiance, impudence, irreverence and rebellion as when a child turns his back to the parents while he is being corrected. The act indicates but one thing: that the child does not appreciate the correction of the parents and so is not willing and ready to change.

When this becomes the case, such child is usually left to himself to suffer and bear the consequences of his stubborn and impudent action. Prophet Jeremiah in our text talks about the certainty of the judgment of God upon Judah because of their repeated rebellions and sins against Him. This was in spite of His repeated warnings and pleadings with them. God here assures them of His omnipotence and power to bring His predicted judgment upon them to pass.

The fact that they turned their back and not their face to God shows their unwillingness to accept the rebuke of God and amend their ways. It is sad that there are many people today who still behave like the people in Jeremiah’s days. In spite of all the warnings of God and His teachings through His servants and ministers, they still choose to go their own way.

The very things that God warns them against are the things they take delight in. Instead of repenting, they remain adamant in their sins and rebellion. Such people will certainly be visited with severe punishment and judgment. Where is your face turned? Do you accept the rebuke of God and go ahead to make your ways right or do you stubbornly turn your back to God in defiance and rebellion? Remember, it is futile to fight against God. Nobody does that and wins. Submit to Him this moment and let Him cuddle you in His love.

Thought for the day: Nobody resists God and wins.

Bible Reading in one Year: Job 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: Courage to Stand [Thursday June 8, 2017]

It is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being in Christ’s family and being called by his wonderful name! — 1 Peter 4:16 (TLB)

A great problem in America is that we have an anemic and watered-down Christianity that has produced an anemic, watered-down, and spineless Christian who is not willing to stand up and be counted on every issue. We must have a virile, dynamic, aggressive Christian who lives Christ seven days a week, who is ready to die, if necessary, for his faith. We need Christians who are ethical, honest, gracious, bold, strong, and devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer for the day: I realize how spineless and pampered my Christian walk is. Give me Your courage, Lord Jesus, to follow You more devotedly.

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.

Topic: Dogged and Rugged Faith in Action [Thursday June 8, 2017]

Scripture: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Hebrews 11:1-2

Thought For The Day: The dogged and rugged faith is the faith that does not shift its grounds.

Yesterday, we saw another identifiable feature of the mustard-seed faith, as doggedness and ruggedness. That is faith that does not shift its grounds.

Today, we want to look at a practical example of the dogged and rugged faith. That is, an example of the practical demonstration of dogged and rugged faith.

Lester Sumrall was a man who operated the dogged and rugged faith. He once went to a village in a southern American country which was dominated by terrible idols to preach. Upon his arrival, he met a voodoo priest who was performing a demonic sacrifice. Without wasting time, he went straight and laid hands on the priest and cast the demon out of him. Consequently, the priest lost his demonic power.

When Lester Sumrall got home that night, his room began to vibrate. He got up and said ‘devil, I cast you out of the priest in the day time, I have not changed my mind.’ Suddenly, the vibrations stopped and the devil disappeared.

Thereafter, he realised that his bed was shifted as a result of the vibration. So, he said ‘devil, come back and put the bed in order’. The vibrations started again and the bed was rearranged to its original position.

Beloved, I decree the impartation of the dogged and rugged faith on you so you can bring back what the devil has stolen from your life and family in Jesus’ Name.

Remember this: The dogged and rugged faith is the faith that does not shift its grounds.

Assignment (s):

1. Ask God for the impartation of the spirit of faith.

2. Act on every revealed word of God.

Prayer: O LORD, I ask for the impartation of rugged faith in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH.

Daily Reading: 1 Kings 3:3 to 4:34, Acts 6: 1 to 15, Psalm 126:1 to 6, Proverbs 16:26 to 27.

Quote: As long as your faith is alive, your change must come. Culled from ‘30 Secrets to the Top’ by Dr Paul Enenche.

Amazing Fact: The tongue is not the only place where taste buds are found. They can also be found on the inside of our cheeks, on lips, on the roof of our mouth and even under the tongue.

Today In History: 8/6/1783 – Laki, a volcano in Iceland, began an eight-month eruption which killed over 9,000 people and started a seven-year famine.

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.