Topic: When God Loses a Battle [Friday 10, March 2017]

Memorise: Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. – Psalm 24:8

Read: Acts 7:57-8:4 (KJV)

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Bible in One Year: Genesis 44-45, Isaiah 56

MESSAGE:

For quite a long while in times past, I usually said that the Lord of Host never loses a battle, but quite recently, the Lord corrected me and said, “Son, I can lose a battle to win a war. I never lose a war.” According to His divine wisdom, when it pleases the Lord, He can choose to lose a battle in order to win a war. He can give up a battle, but He has never lost a war. We need to tap into this divine wisdom and apply its principle in our lives. It’s all about looking at the bigger picture. You will gain more from winning a war than from winning a battle. You will also lose more when you lose a war than when you lose a battle. Some people are not ready to lose any battle, and as a result, they lose the war that is more crucial. Take for instance, evangelism. If you go to preach to an individual about Christ and an argument ensues, you are faced with the choice of winning a battle (the argument) or winning the soul of the sinner (a war). If you choose to win the argument, you will most likely lose that soul. This is why you should not get involved in arguments when preaching the gospel to unbelievers. Time to evangelise is not a time to argue about whose religion is more superior. Faith in Christ Jesus is more than just a religion. Simply tell the sinner about Jesus and God’s love towards him or her. Share your salvation experience with him or her. Stir up his or her interest in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will do the necessary work of conviction. After playing your part, you can then invite the person to surrender his or her life to Christ.

When you observe that God is seemingly losing a battle or battles, it is because there is a bigger war He wants to win. For instance, in the midst of intense persecution of the early Church, God allowed His beloved Stephen to be martyred. Why did He allow this? It’s because He wanted to win the war of saving the ring leader of Stephen’s murderers, Saul. Through Saul, He planned to convert whole cities and to virtually turn the world upside down, and He succeeded in this (Acts 17:6). At the end, it became a double gain for the Lord as Stephen had a triumphant entry into Heaven while Paul, who supervised his martyrdom, became a mightier instrument in the hand of God for the salvation of souls on a massive scale across the globe. This testimony about Paul in Acts 19:26 show the awesomeness of God’s wisdom:

“Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:”

Anytime you follow God’s wisdom, you will know when to lose a battle in order to win a war.

Prayer Point: Father, teach me to give up the battle that will enable me to win the most crucial wars.

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: Integrity of Word – A Booster of Faith [Friday March 10, 2017]

Scripture: This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us]. Hebrews 6:18 (AMP)

Thought For The Day: The integrity of your word is a seed for your faith in God.

There was the story of a child who was fond of shouting, ‘Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!’ By so doing, he was raising alarm for people to come and rescue him from attack by the wolf. When the people came, they would discover that he was joking. Then one day, he shouted again, ‘Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!’ And the people assumed that he was joking as usual but unfortunately, this time, a wolf was truly coming. He ended up being killed by the wolf because his words were not reliable.

Now, faith is taking advantage of the unchangeability of God’s Word (Hebrews 6:17-18). It is expecting God to keep His Word. But the truth is, if you do not keep your word, it will be difficult for you to expect others, even God, to keep their word. A man who does not trust himself with money for instance hardly believes that anyone can be trusted with money.

Beloved, have you ever said something and people said, ‘Do not mind him?’ The meaning is that you were not considered trustworthy. That is terrible! Your Word was ‘discounted.’ The fact is, the integrity of your word is a seed for your faith in God. How reliable is your word? It determines how much you would be able to rely on the Word of God.

Remember this: The integrity of your word is a seed for your faith in God.

Assignment(S):

1. Determine to make your words count.

2. Do not make a promise that you cannot and are not ready to fulfil.

3. No matter how persistent your situation is, believe in God for a change because as God cannot die, He cannot lie.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: BOOSTERS AND ENEMIES OF FAITH (PART 2).

Prayer: O LORD, I receive the grace to make my words count. My trust is in You LORD. I believe that You will perform Your counsel in my life and destiny, Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

Daily Reading: Numbers 14:1 to 15:16, Mark 14:53 to 72, Psalm 53:1 to 6, Proverbs 11:4.

Quote: Your integrity is your access to authority and royalty. Culled from 365 WISDOM CAPSULES by Dr Paul Enenche.

Amazing Fact: Sometimes half a brain is as good as a whole one. When surgeons perform a hemispherectomy, they remove or disable half of the brain to stop seizures. Shockingly, patients experience no effect on personality or memory.

Today In History: 10/03/1977 – Rings of Uranus: Astronomers discovered rings around Uranus.

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: Home [Friday March 10, 2017]

Read: Ephesians 2:11–22, Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 11–13; Mark 12:1–27

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people. Ephesians 2:19

A young African refugee who goes by the name of Steven is a man without a country. He thinks he may have been born in Mozambique or Zimbabwe. But he never knew his father and lost his mother. She fled civil war, traveling country to country as a street vendor. Without ID and unable to prove his place of birth, Steven walked into a British police station, asking to be arrested. Jail seemed better to Steven than trying to exist on the streets without the rights and benefits of citizenship.

The plight of living without a country was on Paul’s mind as he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. His non-Jewish readers knew what it was like to live as aliens and outsiders (2:12). Only since finding life and hope in Christ (1:13) had they discovered what it meant to belong to the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). In Jesus, they learned what it means to be known and cared for by the Father He came to reveal (Matt. 6:31–33).

Paul realized, however, that as the past fades from view, a short memory can cause us to forget that, while hope is the new norm, despair was the old reality.

May our God help us to live in security—to know each day the belonging that we have as members of His family is by faith in Jesus Christ and to understand the rights and benefits of having our home in Him.

Prayer: Lord, as we remember how hopeless we were before You found us, please help us not to forget those who are still on the street.

Hope means the most to those who have lived without it.

Insight:

It’s easy to feel lost. The apostle Paul knew some of his readers felt that way. In his letter to the Ephesians, he wrote to them about being part of God’s family. They were no longer “foreigners” and “excluded” (2:12) but were “fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (v. 19). How does knowing you are part of God’s family help when you feel lost and alone?

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

Topic: Watch Your Language [Friday March 10, 2017]

In a multitude of words transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent. – Proverbs 10:19, The Amplified Bible

We believers need to start watching our language! We need to quit throwing words around like they weren’t important and start using them like our lives depended on it–because, according to the Word of God, they do! (Proverbs 18:21).

Too many of us have what Proverbs 19:1 calls a perverted mouth. Having a perverted mouth means more than lying and using profanity. It means having a disobedient mouth. It means saying things that are out of line with the Word of God.

All of us have done that at one time or another. We’ll say, for instance, that we’re believing God for our healing and then we’ll turn right around to someone and make a statement like, “This pain is about to kill me!”

That’s perverted! It’s backwards from what God’s Word says.

“Oh well, Brother Copeland, I know I said that, but it’s not really what I meant.”

Listen, the world of the spirit doesn’t operate on what you mean. It operates on what you say. Mark 11:23 tells us that “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Take note. That verse didn’t say you shall have whatsoever you mean. It says you’ll have what you say. It’s what you say that counts.

Now, I’m not suggesting you should be tied up in knots all the time worrying about what your next phrase might be. Just use the wisdom God has given you. Train your mouth to be obedient to His Word. Then, when you need it most, you’ll find that Word dwelling richly in you.

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 10:11-21

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: Arise, He Calleth Thee [Friday March 10, 2017]

Text: Mark 10:46-52

Key Verse: “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee” (Mark 10:49).

Imagine that the whole world was a contiguous, federated country and one man is called to lead such a unitary country. He would be considered highly honoured. The call from Christ, who has a Name above every other name, is higher, better and mightier than such a call. Suppose that all the treasures in the world were amassed together, and one man is so honoured to be the account officer; the world would consider this man as indeed privileged. Yet, the answer to the divine call is incomparably greater than possessing all the treasures of the world put together.

Blind Bartimeaus had a life-transforming call. Answering the call changed him physically, spiritually and socially. The answer prepared him to be a follower of Christ and reserved him a place in heaven. He sought the Lord under a discouraging circumstance, but encouragement came when Jesus commanded that he be brought. Bartimeaus’ response to Christ’s call is the prayer and desire of every soul-winner; he arose, cast away his blind man’s garment and brushed aside every discouragement and opposition to come to Christ. He received salvation and healing. Now seeing, he followed Christ. Today, the Lord is calling everyone to salvation, sanctification and service.

He is calling all to come and be healed of the blindness that has kept mankind from the grace, mercy and favour that heaven offers. Have you responded to this threefold call? Would you not come and be healed? Would you not whisper ‘I yield?’ Submit completely to the One who still calls from heaven and avail yourself of the covenant blessings and redemption benefits which He provides for those who diligently seek Him.

Thought for the day: In Christ alone dwelleth the fulness of temporal and eternal blessings.

Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Samuel 23-24

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: Not Good Enough [Friday March 10, 2017]

. . . not having mine own righteousness . . . — Philippians 3:9

People go through many doors which do not lead to the Kingdom of God. Some try the door of good works. They say, “I can get to heaven if I only do enough good things, because God will honor all the good things I do.” It’s wonderful to do good things, but we cannot do enough good things to satisfy God.

God demands perfection, and we’re not perfect. If we’re going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to be absolutely perfect. You ask, “Well, how will I ever be perfect?” We need to be clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. There is one door to the Kingdom and it’s Jesus. And we will never get to heaven unless we go His way.

Prayer for the day: Almighty God, there is nothing I can do to be worthy of Your love, and yet You have given me Jesus—my Savior and Lord!

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.