Wait For It - Devotional

Bible passage for sermon - 1Kings 18: 41-46
1Kings 18 - ⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, ⁴³ and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” ⁴⁴ Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” ⁴⁵ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

This passage is about when there was a drought in samaria, and Elijah, after showing the people of the land that the Lord is truly God, told Ahab that there is a sound of abundance of rain. He "heard" it first in his spirit and even reassured Ahab to "go up, eat and drink". He heard it and he believed that will certainly come to pass.

Elijah went to the top of carmel to pray by taking the position of bowing down on the ground and putting his head between his knees. This indicates that he was praying so much and didn't let anything distract him, but also he understood the importance of watching at the same time. So he got his servant to do the watching for him while he prayed. You need to learn to watch and pray at the same time...most believers either pray and pray without watching, while some just keep watching and hoping that thing will materialise because they have heard it.

Elijah sent his servant to go and look at the sea for any sign of rain while he prayed hard and held onto what he heard in his spirit. Even though he heard it, he still had to wait to see it materialise. The servant went back and forth 6 times bringing back news of no sign of the rain. This alone is enough to make you disappointed and probably lose faith at that which you have heard from God. The servant would probably have written off Elijah and doubted in his mind if he truly was a prophet from God. This happens to everyone of us when people will write you off because you are not where "they" think you should be. You have promised so much but you haven't delivered anything that "they" can see.

But on the 7th time the servant saw a rain cloud rising from the sea. This changed the whole complexity of things for both the servant and Elijah. The servant then realises that Elijah is once again the prophet of God that he has always been, and Elijah receives the confirmation of that which he had heard and believed in. Even though it is still not the rain which he expects, he knows that the cloud is the start of that which he heard. This applies to you in your daily life that that which you are expecting might not come immediately in the finished form you are expecting, but that which you see is a sign of the thing expected.

Once Elijah got the little confirmation, he acted upon it by sending message to Ahab to prepare the chariots so the rain will not stop him on his way to jezreel. At this time there was no rain yet when the message was sent, the clouds only became black with clouds and wind and thenwith heavy rain after the message was delivered. Elijah acted upon his faith that God will certainly bring to pass that which he had spoken to him in the spirit. Elijah started to put things in place in readiness for that which he knows will happen. You also need to start to put things in place and prepare yourself for the promises once you get little confirmations about them. Don't just spen all the time praying and praying, there is a time to pray and a time to get ready for when the prayers get answered. The keyword here is "prepare".

Ahab prepared his chariots and set off to jezreel but without Elijah, probably in his haste he forgot about him. But Elijah even though the rain had come, still waited behind until the hand of the Lord came upon him. Only then did Elijah gird up his loins and left on foot for jezreel and made it there, even before Ahab who was on the fast chariots. I said previously that the keyword is "prepare", even though Elijah saw the rain and could have gone with Ahab on the chariots, he intentionally waited upon the Lord to touch him, to confirm to him that all is well and that he can now go ahead. All this while Elijah was preparing himself for the appointed time when that which he heard would come to pass, and because he now saw the rain he didn't just jump without the full confirmation from God.

He chose Gods appointed time to embark on the trip to jezreel, and because he waited God accelerated his progress tremendously that he even got to the destination before the man on the fastest chariot. When your have waited upon the Lord for so long for a thing he has promised you, hold on to that till you get Gods full blessings to then go ahead.

In conclusion - When God gives you a word, you will not die waiting. The Lord will not break his word for you. He exalts his word over his priciples, therefore wait on the Lord and obey his instructions and he will elevate you at the appointed time.

Understanding Your Destiny - Devotional

Bible Passages: Psalms 139: 14-18, Ephesians 2: 10.
Psalms 139 - ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
Ephesians 2 - ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

What is Destiny?
This is your appointed or ordained future as determned by God. It is Gods will for your life. The greek word for destiny is 'Poema' which means your life is thought out by God.
All through the bible we can see different people whom God had destined and preordained their lives, but somehow missed it along the way. Lets look at the lives of a few of them.
Saul - 1Samuel 9 -¹⁷ When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.” God had already spoken to Samuel about Saul even before Samuel met Saul without Saul knowing anything. God had chosen Saul to lead his people, he was destined to be a deliverer just like Moses. We all know what happened to Saul eventually as he fell out of favor with God. He lost his focus and took his eye off his destiny. 

Samson - Angels spoke about him to his parents and gave them his blueprint. He went about doing exploits for about 20yrs, but he didn't work on his character and eventually gave in to his lusts. Even in his death he still didn't understand his destiny as he asked God to avenge him against the people who gouged his eyes out.

Solomon - The richest man that ever lived according to the bible. He was destined by God to restore Israels faith in God. Solomon had purposed in his heart to rid Israel of its idolatry and sodomism. As we all know Sheeba knew the glory he had and she ensured he got entangled with her. He also ended many women of whom were priestesses of idols and he himself started worshipping idols. The very thing he was against was what he ended up practicing.

Demas - Philemon 1: 24, Colossians 4: 14, 2Timothy 4: 10. Demas was an aposle that was focussed on God and was with Timothy all through their journeys. But in 2Timothy 4: 10 it is said that he was no more in the company of Timothy.

The truth is God has pre-destined us even before we were born. In the new dispensation God changed the rules and he has one destiny for all of us believers. We can see from the following scriptures what truly our destinies should be:-
Colossians 1: 15-18 - This in summary says you are created by God and for him alon. You consist of Christ and he is pre-eminent in your life.
Romans 14: 7 - We are of God
1Corinthians 6: 20 - You belong to God
Psalms 22: 9-10 - You were cast to God froyour mothers womb
Ephesians 1: 10 - Gathering all in Christ

To sum up what our true destinies are, lets look at Ephesians 1: 4-6, 11
⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

Our destiny is to 'live blameless and to be to his praise and glory unto his name'. You need to realize that you are an adopted child of the most high God. Be a soul winner by reason of your conduct. Any other agenda that we might have like building a massive church, or gathering the best choir, or starting a big christian charity - these are the burden of the Lord, and he drops them in our laps as we go along in his will for our lives.

It Was Always In His Plan - Devotional.

Scripture Passages - Numbers 27: 1-11, Luke 1: 30-38.
Numbers 27- ¹ Then came the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: ³ “Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.” ⁵ So Moses brought their case before the LORD. ⁶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁷ “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. ⁸ And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Sometimes you feel you have been bypassed and forgotten by God. Events happen in your life that isn't in your favor, and you think "why me?". King David well before he was made king, but God had revealed to him he will be king, was almost killed 17 times by out of favor king saul. He must have been thinking 'how come i'm going through all this', but God was with him all along. Most times when God puts you in a position where it seems there is no breakthrough, it's God wanting you to trust in him alone to see you out of it.

From the main text, Zelophehad died leaving 5 daughters behind and no son. They had not yet entered into the promised land. Reading previous chapters we see that God made a promise through Moses that those that enter into the promised land will have land, treasures and inheritance shared among each family.
The girls had faith that what has been said regarding the land will come to pass, they believed. Their modesty in asking without murmuring was very evident. As we read there was no precedence for the thing they were asking for as inheritance was never given to women.
They took their case to the elders and people in authority and they cascaded it upwards as everyone of the elders rejected their case. They eventually requested Moses take their case to God as a last resort.

There are certain things God permits but doesn't back. 2Kings 1:14. Gods mind on this issue can be seen when Jesus' disciples came back to Jesus, asking him to rain down fire on the people who refused Jesus come to their city. Jesus' response was to reject their request stating that our God is now a God that saves souls (God of the new testament).

When Moses asked God regarding these 5 sisters issues, God spake to Moses commanding their possessions be given to them. And because of these 5 sisters, God commanded the rules be re-written.
3 answers that God will give when you ask:-

Yes - To bring glory unto his name. 2Corinthians 1:20
No - Not his will or plan for your life. Psalms 106: 14-15
Wait - Time has not come or you're not mature enough to handle the things. Galatians 4:1, Habakkuk 2:3
God has tied certain blessings to our Faith, you just need to ASK.

In conclusion:- God had the desire and placed it into the heart of the 5 sisters, that he may rewrite the rules for you and others. You need to have a relationship with the Father that he will give you his desire.

I Didn't Wait For Nothing.

Bible passages for the sermon Mark 11: 1-11, 2 Timothy 2: 20-21
Mark 11- ¹ Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; ² and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. ³ And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.” ⁴ So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. ⁵ But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?” ⁶ And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. ⁸ And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
      “ Hosanna!
      ‘ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’
       ¹⁰ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
      That comes in the name of the Lord!
      Hosanna in the highest!”
 ¹¹ And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.

This life is a cycle. There is a process that defines your purpose. The trainings you get determines what you will be used for. We are vessels, carriers of Gods word and works.
2 Tim 2 - ²⁰ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. ²¹ Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

According to the text in Mark 11, the colt that Jesus asked the disciples to get had been tied at one spot for a long time. The colt was at a place where it couldn't go anywhere apart from round in circles. Other colts came and went by and this colt was always at the same spot. A colts normal lifespan is about 25yrs and this particular colt has not been used for anything or for what it's purpose is. This can be likened to our lives, our gifts sometimes need to be tamed in preparation for it's maturation, so as to fulfil it's full purpose.

Proverbs 22 - ²⁹ Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.
For Jesus who is the King of Kings to enter into Jerusalem, he had a enter in a unique way. He ordered the disciples to go and get the colt which everyone else had looked down upon as useless. Jesus stated the colts exact position, it's location, and it's exact coordinates.

Even though it seemed that the colt was good for nothing and tied down for years, when it's purpose was at hand, the cycle it had been known to was broken. It was used to transfer the King of all Kings into Jerusalem. Whichever way you look at it, the colt was in the picture with Jesus. The colt was not tied there for nothing.


In conclusion, for God to place his glory upon you, you need to go through the process to achieve your purpose. Delays is not denial.

How To Define True Christianity.

To all created by God in his image, were created to have dominion over all things of the earth, just like God is the ruler and has dominion over the heavenly things.


What God wants us to do as true Christians.
Lets look at Mathew 5:-

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

verse 44 says to love your enemies, bless those who curse you, to do good to those who hate you, and to pray for those who use and persecute you. It further goes on to say that our heavenly Father makes his sun rise on both the evil and the good. He also sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

God expects you as a Christian to be the absolute best you can to those who are against you and your ways. It seems a very difficult thing to do, but this is what the word commands you to do at every situation so that you may be son of your Father in heaven. Luke 6: 27-36 also further buttresses this point:-

²⁷“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. ³² But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Instances of the God kind of mercy that has no parallel

1Kings 21: 19-29  - In this passage God had made judgement over Ahab because of his wicked way and how he sold himself to do evil. When Elijah told Ahab about Gods judgement over him, he humbled himself before God and God promised to avert the judgement to the days of his son. This passage how us that God only judges us only in the new dispensation after repentance.

Genesis 4: 1-16 - Cain brought an offering to God which was not accepted unlike Abels offering which was accepted. Cain became angry and ended up killing his brother Abel. God pronounced judgement on Cain but Cain asked that his punishment be reduced. Cain could have averted his punishment by confessing sin. Cain drew on the mercy of God but he didn't want to submit to his mercy way. God yet still reduced his punishment due to his merciful nature.

In conclusion, you should show mercy unto others even in all situations good or bad.