Topic: Alone in Space [Wednesday May 3, 2017]

Read: Genesis 28:10–17, Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 14–15; Luke 22:21–46

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. Genesis 28:16

Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden knew what it felt like to be on the far side of the moon. For three days back in 1971, he flew alone in his command module, Endeavor, while two crewmates worked thousands of miles below on the surface of the moon. His only companions were the stars overhead that he remembers as being so thick they seemed to wrap him in a sheet of light.

As the sun went down on the Old Testament character Jacob’s first night away from home, he too was profoundly alone, but for a different reason. He was on the run from his older brother—who wanted to kill him for stealing the family blessing normally given to the firstborn son. Yet on falling asleep, Jacob had a dream of a staircase joining heaven and earth. As he watched angels ascending and descending, he heard the voice of God promising to be with him and to bless the whole earth through his children. When Jacob woke he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (Gen. 28:16).

Jacob had isolated himself because of his deceit. Yet as real as his failures, and as dark as the night, he was in the presence of the One whose plans are always better and more far-reaching than our own. Heaven is closer than we think, and the “God of Jacob” is with us.

Prayer: Father, thank You for using the story of Jacob to show us that the glory of Your unseen presence and goodness is far greater than we could imagine.

God is nearer than we think.

Insight:

The Scriptures teach us that saving faith must be a personal faith; the faith of our parents will not save us. But it is interesting that in today’s passage God introduces Himself to Jacob by pointing to his ancestors. It is not Jacob’s lineage that is important, but that the God he had heard about from his ancestors was the same God who would now be with him. Jacob could have confidence that God would be with him because He had been with Abraham and Isaac.

What stories of God’s faithfulness from your past or from the lives of your family bring encouragement that God does not change and will always be with you?

This message was written By Mart DeHaan [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Receive and Experience 3 [Wednesday, 3rd May 2017]

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Revelation of the things God has prepared for those that love Him is very crucial. And like we know now, the Holy Spirit plays an active role in the process. Jesus said in Mark 11:22 (BBE) “have God’s faith.” This is very important. God’s faith brings to real experience what God have seen (revelation). When God was creating the world, darkness was all over the place, but God saw light. And then, He called forth light, and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

So, when Jesus said we should have God’s faith, He was not just merely asking us to go get it somewhere, He knew we already have God’s faith. That was why He said in Mark 11:23 that “you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” Just as God had to say what He has seen (revelation), so also Christ is telling us to say what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us.

Because we already believe and have full conviction on the palpable reality of what has been revealed by God’s Spirit to us, we call them into living existence. It is only what has been revealed that can be called into being. This is because it is only what you know (revealed to you) you can really believe, and it is what you believe you can say. Just like God, you have to say the things you have believed and as it became a reality with God, so also you will experience whatever you believe and say.

Keep winning daily.

Prayer:

Take time to declare the things God has revealed to you. Speak them forth.

Topic: Can He Count on You? [Wednesday May 3, 2017]

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? – Luke 12:42

We often praise God for His faithfulness. We’re thankful that we can always count on Him to be there for us. But we rarely consider the fact that He needs us to be faithful too.

It’s true. God needs people He can count on. He needs faithful and wise stewards He can trust over His household. In this final hour, He needs faithful believers to team up with, so He can manifest Himself in the earth more than ever before.

“Oh Gloria, God doesn’t need me!”

Yes, He does. Ever since the Creation, when He gave man dominion over the earth, He’s needed people to work with Him to get His will done here. You can see that all through the Bible. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt and He wanted to lead them out, He teamed up with a man, Moses, to get the job done. Moses’ responsibility was to stretch out his hand in the earth and command the will of God to be done.

Why did He choose Moses? Because He needed someone who was faithful and would dare to act on His Word. He needed someone He could count on, and He knew Moses was that kind of man.

Psalm 103:7 says, “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.” If Moses hadn’t been faithful to know God’s ways, the children of Israel would never have seen God’s acts!

God needs you just as He needed Moses. He needs you to be faithful and alert to spiritual things. He needs you to be someone He can trust to know His Word and be obedient to it. He needs you to be a steward who will stretch out his hand like Moses did so that He can perform signs and wonders before the people.

Will you be faithful? It’s a decision you have to make. No one can do it for you. Right now, commit yourself to be that wise and faithful servant. Say in your heart and with your mouth, “God, You can count on me.”

Scripture Reading: Psalm 105:23-45

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.

A Promise For You From Bible Promises:

Topic: Divinely Woven In God’s Image [03/05/2017]

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26. Read: Gen 2:19

In Genesis 1, everything God created was spoken to being, but when it came to man, God Almighty consulted the Godhead and said, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion. Man was created from God’s image and his likeness. God made man the god of this world. He told man, just as I am ruling the heaven, you take charge of the earth and everything in it, rule over all I have created. Every power man needed to take charge was divinely embedded in him. All the wisdom and understanding were all inbuilt in man. He lacked nothing. Due to how God made him, he had direct access to God. He was never sick because the image and likeness he was made from knew no sickness.

The wisdom of God was woven into him. Because of this divinely woven wisdom in man, He singlehandedly named all the animals. Wow! What a wonderful thing. Man knew everything by wisdom, he understood all things without being taught. He was divinely fashioned by God Almighty. David caught this vision and said in Psalm 139:14, I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Beloved, everything you need to fulfill destiny is already in you, reach out to them and maximize them now. You are endowed by God.

#BiblePromisesPrayer

* Father, I thank you for your divine endowment in my life, I shall reach out to them and fulfill my destiny in Jesus name

Topic: Seeing Our Need [Wednesday May 3, 2017]

Only a fool would say to himself, ‘There is no God.’ And why does he say it? Because of his wicked heart, his dark and evil deeds. His life is corroded with sin. — Psalm 53:1 (TLB)

We live like a little ant on this little speck of dust out in space. We get a Ph.D. degree and we strut across the stage and say, “Well, I don’t know whether or not there is a God.” And we can’t even control ourselves. We can’t even keep from blowing ourselves apart. We can’t even keep from manufacturing nuclear weapons that could destroy the world. We can’t even keep from hating each other, and fighting with each other, and killing each other.

We can’t even keep from stealing from each other. We can’t even keep from dying, because all of us are going to die. No wonder the Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,” because a man that would deny the existence of God is a fool.

Prayer for the day: Almighty God, help me to live in such a way, that when I tell others of Your existence, they will be drawn to acknowledge and receive You.

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.

Financial independence means that you will never be broke. Whenever you need money, you can easily make it available. Even if this is not the case, you can take care of yourself and your family without any need to call on friends to lend you money. In a country like Nigeria, this is a bit difficult due to the trending economic downturn and the lack of a stable business environment. Regardless, you have no choice than to be financially independent. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares tips that will help to be financially independent.

Income is not wealth

This is one mistake many people make. They think the more they earn, the more they are financially independent. Yes, it is good to have a high-paying salary. However, the truth is that you are still working very hard to make the money and you are yet to invest it. Beyond your immediate salary, you do not have anything. What happens if you lose your job? Try to do something outside your job to earn more. Just ask yourself if you lose the job, will you be stable financially? If your answer is no, you have to take action.

Financial independence requires a disciplined spouse/bae

If you have a spouse that spends all your money on Indian hair, London bags, iPhones and the likes, you will never be independent. All your money will be going to the upkeep of your spouse and you will not have anything to invest. We are not saying you should not spend but be reasonable with spending and get someone who is not too demanding.

Fund your future

The future is very important. You have to prepare for it, You should always save money to enable you to deal with any unforeseen incident. Life is unpredictable. This unpredictability makes it essential to save.

Be an investor, not a trader

A trader is someone who wants to make a profit as soon as he/she can. They are never patient. If the business is not doing well, they abdicate it and venture into another one. But an investor’s plan is long term. They foresee a future of great profit and they are very patient as they work to position the business to attain profitability. So, be an investor, not a trader.

Diversify

A particular source of income will not bring financial independence until you diversify. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Distribute it into different basket and soon you will not rely on one income generator.

Live beneath or within your means

If you earn 20,000 as salary and you are living in an apartment worth 500,000 and eating food worth 2,000 daily, you will never be financially independent. The rule of thumb for financial independence is living within your means. Spend less even if you earn more and make sure you invest.

By Adeniyi OGUNFOWOKE
PR Associate at Jumia Travel
+2348090747241

Today’s Scripture: “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.” – (2 Corinthians 4:13, NIV)

Topic: Believe and Declare [Tuesday May 2, 2017]

I know a man who was believing to pay his house off. It was a standard 30-year mortgage, and he had 23 years left. In the natural, there was no way he could do it. But he was bold enough to say, “Father, I want to thank You that You are Jehovah Jireh; the Lord my provider. I know my job is not my source. You are my source. It may look impossible, but I know You can do the impossible.”

Several years ago, he received an inheritance from a family member that he had never met before. He didn’t even know they were related. He was able to not only pay his house off, but he paid a friend’s house off as well. What was that? Explosive blessings!

Friend, when you believe God, you position yourself for a miracle. When you obey His commands, you set yourself under the open windows of heaven. When you declare His Word, you activate His power. Keep standing, keep believing, keep speaking and see the victory and blessing He has in store for you!

A Prayer for Today: “Father, thank You for Your Word which is alive and powerful! I set my mind on Your promises and choose to declare what You say about me. Thank You for Your faithfulness as I move forward in the good plan You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.”