Topic: Refuse To Be Discouraged [Wednesday August 9, 2017]

Scripture: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9

Thought For The Day: It does not matter what the devil has done against you, if he has not touched your prayer life, he has done nothing.

The devotional life of a Christian is key to his or her success and victory in time and in eternity. That is why the greatest conspiracy of the enemy is the conspiracy against a person’s devotional life – prayer life, the study of the word, praise and worship.

That was the conspiracy against Daniel. The conspiracy was to stop him from praying; a decree was made in that regard (Daniel 6:6-9).

Sometimes the devil would draw your attention to certain things that seem not to be working in order to discourage you from praying, worshipping or studying the Word. What he is trying to do is to tamper with your relationship with God so you can refuse to pray, worship and study the Bible; but he will not succeed.

Beloved, there is no wasted prayer or labour with God (2 Chronicles 15:7); your answer will come and your story will change. It does not matter what the devil has done against you, if he has not touched your prayer life, he has done nothing. But if the enemy succeeds in ruining your devotional life, then your destiny is at stake.

Also, note that any contact or job that reduces your devotional life and commitment in church or hardens your conscience is a satanic orchestration to decapitate your destiny. Do all you can to protect your prayer life.

Remember this: It does not matter what the devil has done against you, if he has not touched your prayer life, he has done nothing.

Assignment (s):

1. Determine to pray, worship and study the Word of God despite confrontations.

2. Determine to pray until something happens; do not give up.

3. Start your day with prayer and the study of the Word before any other thing.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: FROM CONFRONTATION TO PROMOTION.

Prayer: O LORD, I have made up my mind to love, worship and serve You till the end of time. Let me experience Your wonders in my life, LORD, in Jesus’ Name.

Daily Reading: Ezra 8:21 to 9:15, 1 Corinthians 5:1 to 13, Psalm 31:1 to 8, Proverbs 21:1 to 2

Quote: Your life of today is a product of your prayer of yesterday and your life of tomorrow is being determined by your prayer today. Culled PRINCIPLES AND POWER OF PRAYER by Dr Paul Enenche.

Amazing Fact: The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea of the eye. It receives oxygen directly from the air.

Today In History: 9/8/1892 – Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

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: The Heart of Christ — Wednesday August 9, 2017

Read: Exodus 32:21–32, Bible in a Year: Psalms 77–78; Romans 10

Please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.  Exodus 32:32

An Australian journalist who spent 400 days in an Egyptian jail expressed mixed emotions when he was released. While admitting his relief, he said he accepted his freedom with incredible concern for the friends he was leaving behind. He said he found it extremely hard to say goodbye to fellow reporters who had been arrested and jailed with him—not knowing how much longer they were going to be held.

Moses also expressed great anxiety at the thought of leaving friends behind. When faced with the thought of losing the brother, sister, and nation that had worshiped a golden calf while he was meeting with God on Mount Sinai (Ex. 32:11–14), he interceded for them. Showing how deeply he cared, he pled, “But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written” (v. 32).

The apostle Paul later expressed a similar concern for family, friends, and nation. Grieving their unbelief in Jesus, Paul said he would be willing to give up his own relationship with Christ if by such love he could save his brothers and sisters (Rom. 9:3).

Looking back, we see that Moses and Paul both expressed the heart of Christ. Yet, the love they could only feel, and the sacrifice they could only offer, Jesus fulfilled—to be with us forever.

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank You for reminding us how much it is like You to be willing to live—and die—for those who have not yet seen how much You love them.

Caring for others honors Jesus’s love for us.

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

In today’s economy, having a passive income seems to becoming more of a necessity than something of convenience. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 great passive income ideas to consider.

Consider Rental Income

A passive income idea to consider is real estate rental income, where you can rent out homes, apartments and office spaces that you own to generate a healthy monthly or annual revenue. If you don’t have property to rent out, you can consider renting out other things you own for some rental income. Your car is an example, if you have two cars or a car you don’t use so often, you can rent it out for use as a taxi, you only need to ensure the agency or driver is a trusted one and your car is safe with them. If you happen to have a film camera, you can also rent that out and make some income from that. Basically, anything you have that can be rented out to earn some rental income, should be considered.

Consider Doing Voice Overs

If you have the voice for it and your diction is very good, you can consider going into the studio to do voice overs for jingles etc. and earn an income from that. This doesn’t take much of your time and works according to schedules, so this is another passive income idea you can consider.

Sell Professional Photos Online

If you’re into photography and things like Photoshop, you don’t have to abandon the skill because you’re working a 9-5 job. You can leverage photo-selling websites like iStockPhoto and Shutter Stock to sell your photos and earn money while you sleep. However, there is a lot of competition in this business, but if you have a knack for photography and believe your pictures are good and able to compete, then why not? Get a very good photo-editing software, find your niche, and in your spare time work on your photos and put them up on these photo-selling websites.

Consider Becoming an Uber Driver

Depending on how flexible your main job is, if you have a car that meets the necessary requirements you can consider becoming an Uber driver and earning a reasonable amount of daily passive income. You can make your own schedule with Uber and get some extra income driving others around when you’re already driving out and about anyway. Taxify, Smart Cab and other taxi services also offer you this option.

Become a Business Silent Partner

Over time, one or two people will come to you asking for a loan to start their business. If you believe that a business has prospects and is likely to become profitable over time if managed well, rather than just giving the person a loan, you can consider becoming something like a small-time angel investor, treat it as a business opportunity and give the person the needed capital with the request of taking an equity position in the business, in return. This way, the business owner will handle the day-to-day operations of the business, while you act as a silent partner that participates in the profits of the business. The only thing is that you will need to keep track of how your business partner handles the business to avoid being cheated, but then you shouldn’t go into business with someone you can’t trust in the first place.

By Damilola Ojo
PR Associate Jumia Travel
+2348101556883

Topic: Fearless As Sons [Tuesday, 8th August 2017]

And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, “Father, Father.” Romans 8:15 TLB

There was a spectacular event that took place in Luke 13:32-35: Jesus was in Jerusalem, healing and casting devils while also preaching about the kingdom when some Pharisees came to Him, telling Him to leave Jerusalem, if not He will be killed by King Herod. This was supposed to put fear in the heart of Jesus, and make cringe into hiding. Herod was king, and earthly kings are supposed to be feared. But not Jesus! Jesus is the Son of the heavenly King, Creator of the earth where Herod presides over. Jesus cannot be cowed by such king.

Jesus answered in spectacular fashion: “go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected” (Luke 13:32). Jesus called him a fox with all boldness, and the death He was threatened with, He was ready to face. But He won’t let a threat from a mere earthly king stop Him from doing the will of God and establishing His Kingdom. He said further, “nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). Wow! What a fearless man Jesus is!

We must take this cue from Jesus and be fearless like Him. Nothing must stop us from fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives. We are sons and daughters of the Heavenly King, Who rules in the affairs of men. Only slaves can be afraid. We are not slaves, we are God’s very own children, and we must behave as such. Live everyday with the boldness that the Spirit of adoption brings, for God has not given you the Spirit of fear, but of boldness (2 Timothy 1:7). Hallelujah!

Keep winning daily.

Prayer:

Dear Father, thank You for adopting into Your family as Your son. I live face each day fearless, knowing that I am Your son. Nothing can cow me from doing Your will and living out the purpose You have created me for, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Today’s Scripture: “For I know the thoughts and plans I have for you…to give you hope in your final outcome.” – (Jeremiah 29:11, AMPC)

Topic: Flourishing Finish [Tuesday August 8, 2017]

God desires to see you flourish in this life. He wants to see you come out of setbacks stronger, wiser, increased and promoted. He wants to give you hope in your final outcome and see you come to a flourishing finish.

When my father died unexpectedly, all in our family was not well. We didn’t know how everything was going to turn out. We didn’t have all the answers, but we understood the principle that God never ends on a negative. Instead of getting stuck on that page, we just kept moving forward little by little, doing our best, being faithful, being good to people. When I look out today, I can see the faithfulness of God. I can say like David, “Look what the Lord has done!”

Remember, when you encounter adversity, know that God isn’t finished yet. He never ends on a negative. He has more in store for you if you will keep pressing forward. Don’t let your thoughts get stuck on the circumstances. Instead, lift up your eyes to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Trust that He is working behind the scenes on your behalf, and He will lead you into a flourishing finish!

A Prayer for Today: “Father, today I humbly come to You ready to receive Your favor, grace and mercy. I cast my cares on You. I cast my questions on You. I put my hope in You, knowing that You will bring me to a flourishing finish in Jesus’ name! Amen.”

Topic: Key To Rest [Tuesday August 8, 2017]

The key to rest in life is rest in the Word.

Rest of mind proceeds from rest in the Word.

So, to access absolute rest in life, rest absolutely on the Word of God.

God’s Word is tested and proven, those who rest upon it cannot be shaken.

Men are troubled because they haven’t found the Word to rest upon.

Rest upon the Word to find rest in the world.

“…And the people rested upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

2 Chr 32:8

Topic: Keep Alert [Tuesday August 8, 2017]

Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are those servants whom the master finds awake and alert and watching when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will gird himself and have them recline at table and will come and serve them! – Luke 12:37

In Ephesians 6:10 God’s word teaches, Be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. We are to put on God’s armor so we won’t be deceived by the devil. Verse 16 says, Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

In verse 18 we are also told to pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people) (emphasis mine).

Topic: Don’t Just Talk, Communicate!

Dear Reader,

I want to specially welcome you to this edition of your usual column. It is my prayer that as you take practical steps to apply the Word of God that is coming your way, your home shall be heaven on earth indeed, in Jesus’ Name!

This month, via God’s Word, I will be looking at a topic titled “Don’t Just Talk, Communicate!”

Today, many marriages break down as a result of faulty communication. Couples talk and nag until they become weary of each other. Why?  Because there is no effective communication.

Communication is very vital in marriage. You may not enjoy your marriage, if you and your spouse don’t know how to communicate effectively. It is like having gold in a garden, but not knowing how to dig it out. The gold is there, but as long as it is not dug out, you cannot be enriched by it.

That is why the basis of any fruitful and lasting relationship is effective communication. God, our Father and our ultimate example, proved this to us by communicating His plans and intentions to those whom He trusted. He spoke clearly to Moses, Samuel, David, right through to Jesus and beyond Him, to those of us who love and serve Him.

Marriage without effective communication can never work! In times past, particularly in African societies, women were regarded as mere objects and a part of a man’s possessions. They were not consulted on major issues, neither were their views regarded as important.

In those days, women stayed married because they had no choice; but that has never been God’s plan. He made marriage as an avenue for both husband and wife to find fulfillment, and this comes when there is effective communication.

Remember, it takes deliberate efforts to build an enviable home.  Thus, effective communication is one of the requirements for building a successful marriage and family. Note that the need to constantly improve your communication skills and strategy cannot be over-emphasized.

However, no matter how effectively you communicate with your spouse and family members right now, it can still be improved upon;  because, there is always a better way of doing things.  As someone rightly said ‘the largest room in the world is the room for improvement.’

Don’t ever believe that you are communicating the best way.  The truth is: You can communicate better than you have been doing before, if you care to constantly improve on the strategies you engage.

Communication is the key to success in marriage. A wise man said, “If you talk together, you stay together,” and I believe it is very true. Marriage is about living lives together!

Adam’s family, for example, will help you appreciate the importance of effective communication. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam, I suppose, believed, but failed to effectively communicate the seriousness of this command to Eve; and she took it lightly.  If you read the account carefully, you will find that in Eve’s dialogue with the serpent, she mentioned that God “said”, not “commanded” (Genesis 3:3). But God did not just say, He commanded.

So, communication must first be one-on-one, between the man and his wife, and then other members of the family. That responsibility cannot be shifted to God. He will not leave heaven to come to your home and speak to your wife or your children on your behalf. It is a non-transferable responsibility.

However, until you are born again, you cannot successfully communicate with God, which is the basis of effective communication with spouse and family members. Being born again entails confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour. If you are set for this awesome experience, please say this prayer of faith with me: “Dear Lord Jesus, I come to You today acknowledging that I am a sinner who needs Your forgiveness. I believe You died for me and rose again on the third day. Forgive me my sins, wash me with Your Blood and write my name in the Lamb’s Book of life. Thank You Lord for saving me.”

Congratulations, you are now born again! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

Topic: Keep Paddling Upstream — Tuesday August 8, 2017

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. – Psalm 141:3

Do you really believe that you need to watch over your mouth? Most believers don’t. You can tell that just by listening to their conversations. They profess, for example, to be trusting God concerning their health. But you’re likely to hear them say something like this: “I’m just sure I’m going to get the flu. I get it every year. I’ll be sicker than a dog too, you’ll see….”

Do people like that have what they say?

Oh yes! Check with them a few weeks later and they’ll be quick to tell you that they got just as sick as they said they’d be. But, odds are, if you try to tell them there’s any connection between the words they spoke and the illness they suffered, they’ll look at you as if you were out of your mind.

Of course, if they’d dig in to the Word of God and find out what it has to say about the subject, they’d realize that the words they speak have a tremendous impact on their lives. They’d see that words quite literally determine their future. If you’re a born-again believer, you’ve already experienced the most powerful example of that. You believed with your heart and confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you changed the eternal course of your life. You know firsthand just how powerful your words can be.

Yet, even so, if you’re like me, you still find that speaking faith-filled words consistently is tough to do. I’ve been at it myself for many years now and, despite all the time I’ve spent on it and all the experiences I’ve had, it’s still something I have to watch all the time.

You see, the world around you is in negative flow. Like a rushing river, it’s always pulling at you, trying to get you to flow with it. Living by faith and speaking words of faith is like trying to paddle upstream. You can do it—but it’s a great deal of work. And there’s never a time you can afford to take a vacation from it. All you have to do is relax a little bit and you’ll just start drifting right back down the river.

Make the decision right now to set a watch over your lips. Determine to consistently fill your mouth with the Word of God. “Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings” (Proverbs 4:20). Let God’s Word be your watch and everything you say will take you a little farther upstream!

Scripture Reading: Romans 10:8-17

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: The Right Knowledge and Deliverance Power [Tuesday August 8, 2017]

Scripture: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32.

Thought For The Day: The absence of the right knowledge is the reason for bondage.

It has been confirmed that knowledge, whether the right or the wrong knowledge, is one of the most powerful forces on earth. The difference is that the wrong knowledge destroys while the right knowledge stabilises, strengthens and delivers.

We have some kind of knowledge creeping into the Body of Christ today, a kind of knowledge that is being preached on the subject of GRACE. It is true that the grace of God exists but some people who preach on this subject have over-stretched it. Some have even gone as far as preaching that the sins a person is yet to commit have been forgiven in advance. This implies that a person can decide to live in any type of sin since his or her sins are forgiven ahead of time. What a damnable heresy!

Kenneth Hagin said that when truth is over stretched to an extreme, it becomes an error.

Imagine the number of people who had been damned to hellfire already by the explosion of this heresy or wrong kind of knowledge. Many are in different bondages of addiction today because of the wrong knowledge they came in contact with.

Beloved, it is the right knowledge that delivers both in time and in eternity (Proverbs 11:9). The absence of the right knowledge is the reason for bondage. Where people do not know what they are meant to know, bondage abounds. If you know the truth in God’s Word, your freedom in life is guaranteed (John 8:32); if you acquire knowledge in your career, finance, etc., your freedom is established in those areas. What you know determines what you can show.

Remember this: The absence of the right knowledge is the reason for bondage.

Assignment (s):
1. Search the scripture and pull out light (Revelation) that will guarantee your freedom in any area of your life.

2. Use the revelations from scripture as weapons against every form of bondage in your life and demand for your freedom at the place of prayer.

3. Avoid being enslaved by the wrong doctrine.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Prayer: LORD, thank You for giving me access to Your bondage-destroying Word. Let every form of bondage around my life be terminated by the Power of Your Word, in Jesus’ Name.

Quote: Nothing disarms darkness like light. Culled from 15 KINGDOM STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL by Dr Paul Enenche.

Daily Reading: Ezra 7:1 to 8: 20, 1 Corinthians 4:1 to 21, Psalm 30:1 to 12, Proverbs 20:28 to 30

Amazing Fact: A new born child can breathe and swallow at the same time for up to seven months.

Today In History: 8/8/1974 – President Richard Nixon, in a nationwide television address, announced his resignation from the office of the President of the United States effective noon the next day.

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.