Topic: Find a Happy Medium [Joyce Meyer’s Devotional Monday September 10, 2018]

I remember sitting in my home looking up the word gentle in Strong’s concordance and saying, “Lord, You’ve got to help me!” I thought I could never be gentle. Finally, the Lord began to do a work in me in the area of gentleness. The only problem was that, like so many other people in the body of Christ, I was such an extremist that I couldn’t “strike a happy medium.”

Once I saw that I was overbalanced in one area, I thought I had to go totally in the other direction. I “adjusted” and “adapted” far too much. I became so “gentle” and “kind” and “patient” that I wouldn’t exercise any discipline over my youngest son, who was born after my other children were grown. I also went overboard in my relationship with others. I let things get out of hand in my marriage, my home, and my ministry. I learned from my experiences that one extreme is just as bad as the other. What we must learn in all this is balance.

On one hand, we must not be harsh and hard. But on the other hand, we must not be weak and excessively soft. We must not be irritable and impatient, flying off the handle and acting out of emotion. On the other hand, we must not be so mild mannered that we become doormats and whipping posts for those who will take advantage of us if we give them a chance. There is a time to be patient and forbearing, and there is a time to be firm and decisive. There is a time to “not be angry,” and there is a time to display righteous indignation. It is wisdom to know when to do which.

Prayer Starter: Lord, help me to live a balanced life in every area. Please show me any areas where I have gone to an unhealthy extreme. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional HERE’’

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

Understanding the Covenant of Success! By David Oyedepo

Topic: Understanding the Covenant of Success!

Welcome to another impactful week! I hope you were blessed by last week teaching. Today, we shall focus on: Understanding the Covenant of Success!

Every one craves and celebrates success because it is the innate desire of every human being. However, from scriptures, we understand that the journey to the land of success is a covenant walk and a lack of understanding of the covenant of success will get us frustrated in the process.

First, let us recognise that no Christian can walk in outstanding success without engaging its demands. This is because God has His way and they are the highways of life. A strict and consistent compliance with His ways on our part will take us to our covenant dreamland of success. Joshua 1:8 is God’s formula for success: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. From the scripture above, God is saying that there are things we must do, if we want to make our ways prosperous. It is not what God will do for us, but what He is asking us to do in order to establish our desires. As we all know, success is not arriving at the peak overnight; it is making continuous progress. Success is not a destination, but an adventure, which is accessible to all who dare to venture. So, when everyday is a plus on the previous, we can be termed successful.

What is a Covenant? A covenant is a deal enacted by God based on well-defined terms and sealed with an oath. We recognise that the Bible is a book of covenants and engaging with every biblical covenant that is of interest to us, differentiates us from the world (Deuteronomy 28:1-13; Psalm 89:34; Matthew 6:33; Hebrews 6:13-18). Moreover, no one can stop a covenant man from arriving at his ultimate. All he needs do is to know the covenant details and to comply with them. The covenant is superior to the climate; nothing can stop the covenant from prevailing. Wherever the sun prevails, there the covenant prevails (Jeremiah 33:19-26).

How, then can we access the Covenant of Success?

Through Wisdom: It is important to recognise that in the school of success, wisdom is the principal (Proverbs 4:7). Thus, it is the baseline for a successful life! Please understand that the quality of wisdom applied determines the quality of results attained. In other words, success in life, business, family, ministry, etc, is a function of the wisdom available and the wisdom applied. Wisdom is what makes stars in any field of endeavours (Daniel 12:3). Also, we must understand that wisdom can be applied in three major ways:

Wisdom for direction (Ecclesiastes 10:9-10; Proverbs 3:13-16).

Wisdom for the use of our mouths (Ecclesiastes 10:11-13, Proverbs 12:14).

A working knowledge of our task (Ecclesiastes 10:15; Proverbs 24:3-4).

Through Discipline: Indiscipline is an enemy of success. Discipline is operating as demanded and not as convenient. It is giving our assignment all it takes to deliver it (Daniel 1:8). Outstanding success is a product of high-level discipline (1 Corinthians 10:23; 1 Corinthians 9:24-26). It takes discipline to go up and stay up. Discipline is the ladder of destiny. Thus, no unruly man ever ends up distinguished. We need to do the right thing at the right time. To wake up at anytime we wish, sleep anytime, receive visitors and talk to friends at will is not the path to success. The Bible says: Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness (Ecclesiastes 10:16-17)! In addition, direction plus instruction is what equals distinction. Instructions are the highways of distinction. To be a success, we must walk in instructions also. For instance, God made Jacob to ride upon the high places of the earth by instructions, not by inspiration (Deutero-nomy 32:9-14). Until we do what we are expected to do, God will never do a thing in our direction. Every act of God is initiated by man through compliance with His instructions.

Through Diligence: It is true that success is our birthright; but no lazy man has a future in the Kingdom. Living without working is like dying without knowing. It is written: By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through (Ecclesiastes 10:18). We can never find a successful man who is not a hard worker. If we go through the story of successful men in the world and even through Scriptures, we would find out that no man ever rose to the top who was not a proven hard worker. Every man of height and dignity in the world today and in scriptures is a notable hard worker. Also, note that it is impossible to see success without diligence. The Bible says: Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men (Proverbs 22:29).

In summary, only working hands are blessed hands. Rise up and react violently against failure! When we fulfil our covenant obligation for success, God will back us up. Jesus, the Saviour of the whole earth said, ‘I must work.’ In another place, He said, ‘The Father worketh hitherto, and I work’ (John 9:4, 5:17). If God the Father is working and Jesus too, who are we going to resemble by being idle? Thus, you can only benefit from the covenant of success when you are born again. Are you born again? If you are not, this is an opportunity to do so. Simply say the following prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and personal Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: Ruling your World, Exploring the Secrets of Success, Success Strategies and Success Systems. I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. respectively. I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 01-4548070, 01-4548280; or E-mail: [email protected]; Face book: www.facebook.com/davidoyedepoministries/; Twitter: @DavidOyedepoMin

Please click HERE to read other inspiring MESSAGES by Bishop David Oyedepo

David O. Oyedepo is a Nigerian Christian author, architect, preacher, and the founder and presiding bishop of the mega church, Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel

Topic: You Can Only Produce What You Have [TREM 10 September 2018 Daily Devotional]

“And God blessed them and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion…” Genesis 1:28 (KJV)

I always say to people, you cannot give birth to a child when you are not a woman. The fact remains that you have to have the nature of a woman in order to give birth to a child. Men don’t give birth to babies because they are not naturally endowed to do so.

That word “blessed” in the above passage signifies an empowerment; it is the release of the nature that makes it possible for you to be fruitful. Therefore, fruitfulness for any child of God is not supposed to be a struggle. This is the mentality that you must always be conscious of. You rest in the knowledge of the fact that you have the ability to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish the earth, to subdue it and to have dominion. They are all part of your package. In order words, it must work. Even if it’s not working for others, you believe and declare that it will work for you. That is true rest!

Do you know where God put Adam? He put him in the garden. A garden is not a bush, it’s an organized arrangement of trees, plants, flowers etc. God put him inside a place already organized. He put him there to dress it. Therefore, you can be working and still be resting because you already know how the story will turn out. That is the difference between a person that is toiling and another is resting.

Resting doesn’t mean resign from your job and sleep. It doesn’t mean that you should do nothing and get lazy. It simply means, in the midst of the efforts you are making, don’t ever think failure. Think success! Just know it will work; not because of your intelligence or your strategy, but because you are in Christ. Your marriage will work and your womb will have babies. All your desires, irrespective of what the enemy is saying, will materialize. No power will stop your progress. Simply rest in Him.

Further reading: Genesis 1:26-31; Galatians 3:13-14

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Proverbs 8-9; Evening- 2 Corinthians 3

“If you missed yesterday devotional click HERE to read TREM Daily Devotional by Dr. Mike Okonkwo’’

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: How to Stand Firm [Our Daily Bread 10 September 2018 Devotional]

Read: Jude 1:24–25, Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8–9; 2 Corinthians 3

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Jude 1:24

It was a cold, icy winter’s day, and my mind was focused on getting from my warm vehicle to a warm building. The next thing I knew I was on the ground, my knees turned inward and my lower legs turned outward. Nothing was broken, but I was in pain. The pain would get worse as time went by and it would be weeks before I was whole again.

Who among us hasn’t taken a spill of some sort? Wouldn’t it be nice to have something or someone to keep us on our feet all the time? While there are no guarantees of surefootedness in the physical sense, there is One who stands ready to assist us in our quest to honor Christ in this life and prepare us to stand joyfully before Him in the next.

Every day we face temptations (and even false teachings) that seek to divert us, confuse us, and entangle us. Yet, it’s not ultimately through our own efforts that we remain on our feet as we walk in this world. How assuring to know that when we hold our peace when tempted to speak angrily, to opt for honesty over deceit, to choose love over hate, or to select truth over error—we experience God’s power to keep us standing (Jude 1:24). And when we appear approved before God when Christ returns, the praise that we offer now for His sustaining grace will echo throughout eternity (v. 25).

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your constant care for our souls.

Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. Edward Mote

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Our Daily Bread Devotionals HERE”

This message was written By Arthur Jackson [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]