Topic: The Burden of Waiting [Monday May 8, 2017]

Read: Psalm 90, Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 4–6; Luke 24:36–53

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Over the last few years, two members of my family have faced life-threatening diagnoses. For me, the hardest part of supporting them through their treatments has been the constant uncertainty. I am always desperate for a definitive word from a doctor, but things are rarely that straightforward. Instead of being given clarity, we are often asked to wait.

It’s hard to bear the burden of uncertainty, always wondering what the next test will reveal. Will we have weeks, months, years, or decades before death separates us? But regardless of disease and diagnosis, each of us will die one day—things like cancer just bring our mortality to the forefront instead of letting it hide in the recesses of our minds.

Faced with sobering reminders of our mortality, I find myself praying words that Moses once prayed. Psalm 90 tells us that though our lives are like grass that withers and fades (vv. 5–6), we have an eternal home with God (v. 1). Like Moses, we can ask God to teach us to number our days so we can make wise decisions (v. 12), and to make our brief lives fruitful by making what we do for Him count (v. 17). Ultimately, the psalm reminds us that our hope is not in a doctor’s diagnosis, but in a God who is “from everlasting to everlasting.”

How can we best spend the time we’ve been given?

We can face the reality of our own mortality because we trust in God.

This message was written By Amy Peterson [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: The Influence of a Mother [Monday May 8, 2017]

Her children arise up, and call her blessed…  —  Proverbs 31:28

Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children. Someone has said, “Like mother, like children.” Most of the noble characters and fine leaders of history have had good, God-fearing mothers. We are told that George Washington’s mother was pious, and that Sir Walter Scott’s mother was a lover of poetry and music. On the other hand, we are told that Nero’s mother was a murderess and that the dissolute Lord Byron’s mother was a proud and violent woman.

The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.

Prayer for the day: Thank You, Lord, for mothers who love You. Their influence is felt around the world.

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.

A Promise For You From Bible Promises:

Topic: Each One For Himself [07/05/2017]

For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. Romans 15:3. Read: Gal 6:1-10

As the world gets tougher each passing day, many begin to harden their hearts against the needs of others  and even the needs of their family members. They try to move into the shell of protecting their own lives and that of their immediate family members. Many people want to solve all the problems in their family before they attend to others but they fail to understand that as long as life exist, solving problems continues. From the experience of Job, he has this advice for such people. “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble”. Job 14:1. And the preacher said, those who are excluded from the troubles of this world are those who are dead and more than them are those who are  not yet even born into this world . Ecc 4:2-3. We now live in a world where every man is for himself, everyone wants to be full before attending to others. We must as christians be good examples of Jesus to this world. If Jesus had pleased Himself, He wouldn’t have gone to the cross but He (in the midst of the pain) said, not my will, thine, be done. Lk 22:42

Therefore, it takes wisdom to care for your family and others who may be in need of your help. Don’t forget, whatever help you give to others is actually given to God and in the time of your own needs, God Himself will help you. Pro 19:17, Matt 25:31-40.

#BiblePromisesThought

* Pleasing Christ through helping others attract eternal reward. Be zealous for good works

Topic: Responding To Challenges [Sunday May 7, 2017]

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. –Proverbs 24:16

In the journey of life challenges will certainly come.

They don’t require your opinion or invitation.

They will come without prior notice. Therefore, live ready for them.

They come as waves on their own not necessarily to hurt, damage or destroy.

While some are swept off and fizzle out with challenges some others glide over them as if nothing ever happened or ever came their way.

It’s all a matter of attitude, the mind set, mentality and expectations.

You can glide over the waves while some others are swept away by it.

Even if you are ever swept off your feet by the floods of life, you can come over the waters again by the scriptural provision that you will rise again, even after seven times of fall if you ever fell up to seven times.

Topic: No “Ifs” [Sunday May 7, 2017]

For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening…nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:38-39

To fully understand all the different facets of love, we must talk about the two kinds of love: the God-kind of love and man’s love. Man’s love fails, gives up; but God’s love does not. Man’s love is finite, comes to an end; but God’s love is infinite and eternal. Man’s love is dependent on favorable behavior and circumstances; God’s love is not. People place conditions on their love, but God’s love is unconditional.

According to God’s Word, He loved us before the world was formed, before we loved Him or believed in Him, or had ever done anything either good or evil. God does not require us to earn His love, and we must not require others to earn ours. As believers in Jesus Christ, the love we are to manifest to the world is the unconditional love of God flowing through us to them.

Loving people unconditionally is a very big challenge. I would be tempted to say it’s impossible, but since God tells us to do it, surely He must have a way for us to do it. Sometimes we pray to be able to love the unlovely and then do our best to avoid every unlovely person God sends our way. Learning to walk in love with unlovely people and learning to be patient in trials are probably the two most important tools God uses to develop our spiritual maturity. Believe it or not, difficult people in our lives help us. They sharpen and refine us for God’s use.

Love Others Today: “Lord, help me to love others today without imposing ‘ifs’ or conditions. Let me remember that as I do it, I’m being refined by You.”

Topic: Be A Perpetual Worshipper! [Sunday 7, May 2017]

Memorise: Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! – Psalm 107:15

Read: 2 Kings 5:8-17 (KJV)

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.

Bible in One Year: Deuteronomy 5-6, Jeremiah 27:1-15, Hymn: Sing hymn 14

MESSAGE:

If you try to fathom the vastness of the universe and the precision with which all things work together to maintain a balance, you will appreciate the greatness of our God who created it all. When you then contemplate on the micro details of your place in this universe, and how God is still concerned about “little you”, showering you with His love, goodness, faithfulness, mercy and grace, you will be left with no other option than to forever worship Him. God deserves our worship. Worship should not be something you do for a period and then take a break; it should be something you do for the rest of your life. How consistently have you worshipped God? One Bible character who understood this principle of worship is Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-17). Naaman had a physical burden that defiled all medication until he met with the man of God, Elisha. He was asked to go to the River Jordan and dip in it seven times. He did this, and was cleansed. Thereafter, He returned to thank God with a lot of money, but the man of God turned down his gifts saying, “freely I received, and freely I give to you.” Naaman than requested for some of the soil of the land, so that he could take it back to his homeland and build an altar where he would worship God perpetually. He plainly said to the man of God, “For what your God has done for me, I will serve no other god but your God for the rest of my life.”

For a good number of people, God has done several big things for them, and yet they do not have an altar dedicated to worshipping His majesty in their homes. I am not referring to a physical building, but rather a place consecrated to worshipping God and God alone. Some people say that if only they had several rooms, they would dedicate a corner of your room to worshipping Him. Sometime ago, the only place I could worship God without distraction was in my bathroom. There I could sing and dance to God without anybody watching. I could jump and do whatever I wanted in my bid to worship Him. With the door locked, it would just be God and I. if you desire to worship God in spirit and in truth, start by getting a place where you can do that in your home. Also, fix a time or times when you will do this, so that the manifest presence of God will always come down at such a time. Get your Bible, hymn book, notebook and anything else that can aid your worship and get on with it. Be a perpetual worshipper of God!

Action Point: Worshipping God is one of the few activities we will continue to do in eternity. Ask God for grace to worship Him continuously and acceptably.

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: The Grace of Giving [Sunday May 7, 2017]

Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. – 2 Corinthians 8:7

How do you give to the Lord?

Do you just drop some money in the plate at church without much thought? Or do you just write a check to God at the first of every month and pay Him like you pay all your other bills?

You need to think about that because how you give is a matter of deep concern to God. He’s particular about how offerings are given. He won’t receive just any old thing however you feel like giving it.

In Malachi, for example, God refused to receive Israel’s offerings. They were bringing Him their defective animals, their blind calves and the injured ones they couldn’t do anything else with—and God said it offended Him. He told them, “You don’t have any reverence or honor for Me, and I’m not going to accept your offering.”

That kind of thing didn’t die out after the book of Malachi. Many today don’t have any reverence for God at offering time. People wait for the preacher to beat them over the head until they feel so guilty they have to reach down in their pocketbooks and get some money out.

But I want you to know, that’s offensive to God. In fact, He spoke directly to a friend of mine about it. The statement He made to her so impressed me, I wrote it down word for word.

It grieves Me when the Church takes offerings, He told her. I said to worship Me. Don’t take from the people, but let them bring their gifts and worship Me. Then they will see the fruits of their giving.

If you and I want God to be pleased with our offerings, we’re going to have to do what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 8:7. We’re going to have to learn to “excel in this grace of giving” (New International Version). We’re going to have to quit being casual about it and to learn to give with faith and reverence in worship.

Next time the offering plate is passed, don’t just drop your gift carelessly in the plate. Get serious. Determine to obey God. Worship Him with your money and be thankful. He’ll do more than simply receive it, He’ll open the windows of blessing for you.

Scripture Reading: Malachi 1:1-14

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: Start Early [Sunday May 7, 2017]

Text: Deuteronomy 21:18-23

Key Verse: “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them” (Deuteronomy 21:18).

A Christian woman narrated an unpleasant scene she witnessed at a supermarket. She said, “A woman was shopping with her son, who was about 10 years old. The child could be heard all over the store, demanding to leave. The mother continued to shop while the child’s demands became louder and more insistent.

Finally, with his hands on his hips, the boy screamed, “I want to go and I want to go NOW!” When his mother quietly told him that she still needed to get some wares, the boy hit her. The mother laughed apologetically and said “Now, Jason, that wasn’t nice”.” The Christian lady was clearly seeing the mother’s ‘acquittal’ of her son’s unruly behavior. In the present rapidly changing world, where the positive values of yesteryear are crashing out, owing to the destructive impact of television, movies, Internet, pornography, music and drugs, caring parents’ influence over their children is inalienable. One major reasons for waywardness in children is that parents begin child training too late.

They do not pay much attention to their children until they become wayward and difficult to control. This is contrary to the injunction in the Scripture which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). God expects that we begin training, moulding and nurturing our children while they are still very young. He expects us to teach them little by little while they are still growing. But if we neglect this important duty in their formative years, when they grow older, it will be difficult, if not impossible to train them.

Our children will consider us incompetent parents, which will encourage them to perpetrate evils without remorse. Unfortunately, it is when children get to this worrisome stage, that parents wake up to reality and thereafter nervously struggle to change the children overnight by compulsion. Let us prayerfully bring all our children, biological and spiritual to godly and parental authority NOW!

Thought for the day: A child without godly and parental dictates easily lacks the control of his impulses and no better than a vagabond.

Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Chronicles 25-29

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.