CONTIUNITY IS THE RULE OF THE RACE

“…Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it…?” (Romans 6:2)

It is written, “Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times! Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.” (Psalm 106:3-4) It can be concluded that to be remembered by God and to be visited by God is undoubtedly God’s blessing. As indicated in the above scriptural quotation, keeping justice and doing righteousness at all times (not at our convenient times) will trigger the blessing to be remembered and to be visited with God’s salvation. The requirement for righteousness at all times buttresses the notion that: consistency; persistency; continuity are the rules of the race. The apostle Paul in his illustration of what it takes to faithfully complete the Christian life (which is like running a race) stated, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day…” (2 Timothy 4:7-8) To run a race and be able to get a prize (blessing) is to continue running according to the rules and not give up. To run a race with continuity, consistency and persistency demands that one deny every form of distraction such as sin. Often when sin comes into play, getting back into the race can be challenging. One should always keep in mind that God is a good God who is ready to forgive. (Psalm 86:5) In His forgiveness there is the privilege to get back and continue in the race. It is always good to keep in mind that forgiveness from God is not a liberty to continue sinning and living in sin. The Apostle Paul elaborated further on not continuing in sin despite the forgiveness in place when he stated, “…Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it…?” Understand the need to stay focused in your race, allow God to bless you when you are able to continue in keeping justice and doing righteousness at all times. Have you fallen short in your race? It is time to get back in the race by asking for forgiveness from a good God who is ready to forgive. Throughout the Bible, many stories are documented of those who fell and were not able to continue because of lack of understanding to ask for forgiveness. Also, there are accounts of those who fell into sin, but by virtue of understanding, they regained continuity by asking for forgiveness and were able to complete the race.
The case of Adam:
After the violation of God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-18) Adam sinned. Adam did not ask for forgiveness when God confronted his doing but he reduced himself by giving an excuse (excuse is an agent of pride) Adam’s response states that, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) Ponder and consider Adam’s excuse if you are a man with the self-given gift of excuse before God. There will never be a better excuse in the history of man like that of Adam. However, the best excuse failed. Do you have any legitimate excuse before God? Who knows what would have happened if the man Adam had realized his sin and cried out for forgiveness? Many other cases like Adam’s are found all through  the pages of the Bible but all suffered physically or spiritually untimely death.
The case of David:
It is written about David, “…The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people…” (1 Samuel 13:14) David was a man after God’s own heart and it was evident in how he ran the race of faith. He committed a great act of sin when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. After finding out that Bathsheba was carrying a child from his affair with her, he set Uriah up to die at the warfront. When David was confronted for his sinful act, he gave no excuse but rescued himself with instant repentance. David’s blessing was retained but the consequence remained. God is a good God without an iota of doubt but it is good to know that with repentance, forgiveness will come our way and the consequence will stay in our way.
The Bible says, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”(Psalm 86:5) The word of God is true and cannot be broken. God is ready to forgive and bless. If one will understand and know to keep justice and do righteousness at all times the blessing of God will constantly be in place. God will remember with favor and visit with salvation. Remember, continuity is the rule of the race. Do not give up; disallow sin from having the last say.

Faith Capsule: The requirement for righteousness at all times buttresses the notion that: consistency; persistency; continuity are the rules of the race.
Tunde

                                             MIRACLE OF THE THIRD

     “…It happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes…” (Esther 5:1)

Something about the third has to do with redemption, breakthrough and resurrection. The life of Moses, Nehemiah, the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the deliverance of the children of Israel from the conspiracy of Harman through Esther testifies to the miracle of the third.
It is written, “And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7-8)
In the bondage of over four hundred years, the children of Israel reminded God when their crying got heaven’s attention and God attended to them. It does not matter how long you have been buried spiritually, emotionally or financially but it matters that your cry to God will trigger your resurrection in this third month. God encourages us to remind Him, “Put me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case that you may be acquitted.” (Isaiah 43:26)  The power of the third day resurrection is relevant to your resurrection this third month of the year if you will remember to remind God. The children of Israel reminded God of His covenant when their crying got to God.
At the time Moses was born, the death sentence of Pharaoh for every son born by Hebrew women was in effect. As a result Moses, mother decided to hide him. Moses mother, “…Hid him for three months.” (Exodus 2:2) On the third month of hiding Moses from the death sentence of king Pharaoh, Moses ended up in the compassionate care of the murderer’s palace when his mother, “… Took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.” (Exodus 2:3) On the third month, Pharaoh’s daughter saw the ark of bulrushes at the bank of river and when she opened it, “…She saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children” (Exodus 2:6) Moses came out of hiding, redeemed on the third month.
Nehemiah, heard about the great distress and reproach of his people; he also heard about the breakdown of the wall of Jerusalem. By virtue of the negativity of the news, he took it upon himself to enter into prayer and fasting. As the Lord will have it on his behalf, “…It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.” (Nehemiah 2:1). In the month of Nisan (March-April) the attention which Nehemiah gained from King Artaxerxes delivered into his hand all that was needed for him to move forward in the quest for rebuilding and redeeming the damages incurred at the hand of enemies over his land and his people. In the third month the motion to redemption was activated.
Among all the number of days, it was on the third day that Jesus our Lord and savior chose to stun the devil when He resurrected. The miracle of the third cannot be undermined, God does nothing by accident.
Jesus’ resurrection on the third day, Moses’ coming out of hiding and going directly into compassionate hand of one’s that made law to kill him was not magic or luck but miracle of the third.
When Harman’s conspiracy to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus was in place, it was the miracle of the third that answered for the deliverance of all the Jews. Queen Esther was alerted of the impending danger and she took it upon herself with three days fasting and prayer. After the fasting of three days, Queen Esther needed to go into the inner court of the king. Inner court of the king was described in Esther 4:11, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live…” Despite Esther’s understanding of what could happen by going to the inner court of the king without being called by the king, she made her way into the inner court after her three days fasting. Esther 5:2, “So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight…” On the third day Esther found favor where failure is the answer. Trust God for your own testimony in this third month.

FAITH CAPSULE: The power of the third day resurrection is relevant to your resurrection this third month of the year.
Tunde

 “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

The will of God in Christ Jesus for us is to live and have life abundantly. God is not an authoritarian nor a dictator but a creator. He is a creator whose word is perfect. He is the Commanding commander, Healing healer also an Unchanging changer. God is referred to and He has demonstrated many times, He is still demonstrating as a Longsuffering God and that testifies to the fact that the Almighty Creator is neither an authoritarian nor a dictator because no dictator can be identified as longsuffering. The Bible declares in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God is concerned for us having life but if you cannot concur with His concern you have condemned yourself unto losing life. God wants us to live as the year, month, week, and days rolls on He does want us to have life and to have it more abundantly. Jesus clearly stated when He declared to us, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) How are you living in order to have the life that He has come to give? It does matter that we live according to the will of the Lord of Host, the Ancient of days, the only God that inhabits eternity. To live according to His will is to fear Him. Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, in response to the Satan during the time of wilderness temptations, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”(Matthew 4:4) For us to live, we are to live by every word, not the word that is most convenient, not only the word that we chose to live but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Do you wonder why the word of God is so important to live? The word of God is the power of God and also is the power from God that is enough to navigate in the journey of life. The power that is in the word of God is the power that created the world, Jeremiah 51:15, “He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heaven by His understanding.” Remember, there was no record of Him using a bulldozer or caterpillar or hiring any contractor in creating the earth as recorded in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 but by the same word of His mouth that has been given to us. Why not take the word and embrace it with constant and consistent mediation then wait to see the result?
The word of God is power to create and to deliver. It is written, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Psalm 107:20) The word that comes out of His mouth is still answering just like it was at the beginning. God testifies to His word, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”(Isaiah 55:11) The word of God has to be constantly operated and not just to be quoted or interpreted. Also the word of God is not for decoration but declaration when any situation or confrontation demands. Apostle Paul could not keep to himself alone but recommended the word as the only Building builder when he stated, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”(Acts 20:32) Do not be reduced but be built up to posses your inheritance.
OPERATING THE WORD: Deuteronomy 30:14, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” All that makes the word to work is when you do the word; the word will do for you exceedingly and abundantly. Are you doing the word? Doing the word is to believe the word. Believing the word of God is behaving the word. Receive the word of God, believe it and behave it then you are set for exploit because the word of God will do for you in this world. God encourages us through Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8). The book of Law, which is the word of God and not of any man, is the will of God for us to have life. Until, we are able to live by every word of God, the world of wickedness continues in its exploits. Simon and his fellow fishermen, after overnight toiling with no single catch had an encounter with the word of God. The word of God sounded in their direction stating, “…launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4) At the sound of His word, a catch settled all night toiling with abundance. Ask for the grace of His word to sound in your direction and the grace to receive and live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. With His word you are bound to have a year, month, week, of celebration.

FAITH CAPSULE:
For us to live, we are to live by every word of God.
All that makes the word to work is when we do the word.
‘Tunde

                                       TWO DIFFRENT LIGHTS

“…But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (John 11:10)

 
Jesus, on His way to go and raise Lazarus from dead, responded to His disciples concern for His safety stating, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (John 11:9-10) Clearly, the response of Jesus identifies that there are two kinds of lights. The light of this world and the indwelling light that abides inside of a man. The two lights do have different assignments and they function differently.
The light of this world: This is a light that cannot enter into man to operate. It is on the outside and only operates on the outside. It is a light that operates on limited time. It can only help in the day time. It is a light that shares time with darkness for darkness to have its place. When its time for the light to pack up, navigating in the ark can be overwhelming and make one to become a dead package through stumbling. Evidently, the light of this world can only carry through on the wilderness journey at a very limited distance.
The indwelling light: This is the light of all lights. It is the unlimited light that cannot be displaced or denied from operating. The indwelling light does not have time limitation because it inhabits time. The indwelling light is a light that has life and also gives life. The indwelling light comes from the Word of God. It is written in Psalm 119:130. “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Do you wonder who the simple are? The book of Proverbs gave the answer where it stated, “The simple believes every word…” (Proverbs 14:15) When one becomes a believer the word of God that generates undeniable light will have its place. A believer is the one that after hearing the word behaves the word. The unbeliever is the one that knows about the word; quotes the word and never lives or behaves the word of God. The book of John talks about the light that is in the Word of God, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend.” (John 1:4-5)
This same light, Isaiah prophesied about it, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shinned.”(Isaiah 9:3)   Just as Isaiah made mention of the light, other scriptural verses could not overlook mentioning about the light that is the Word. Zechariah stated, “It shall be one day which is known to the LORD—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light.” (Zechariah 14:7) The book of Revelation also talks about the light, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).”(Revelation 21:23-25) Jesus is the light of God and the Lamb of God. In Him there will be a time it is all going to be about the light and not a seasonal light celebration.  
Jesus is the light that dwells in one; Jesus is the only reason for the season and not the light of decoration. Jesus also testifies, “…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”(John 8:12) It does not matter the magnitude of the darkness before you, that darkness will not stand but will give the right of way to the indwelling light. The light of God that inhabits the word of God has been from the beginning and it shall be forever. The light knows the end from the beginning – let the light have a place in you.  
By becoming one with the indwelling light, no darkness can make one to stumble because it is the light that darkness gives up ways unto. Why not take to the Word of God and turn darkness out of your way of life? Today, open the door of your heart for the Word to come in and dwell. Become a believer and not an unbeliever (mouth believer).
Pray and ask God for grace that opens up the door of the heart so that the Word may have its place in your life.  
 
FAITH CAPSULE:
A believer is the one that after hearing the word behaves the word.
Unbeliever is the one that knows about the word; quotes the word and never lives or behaves the word of God.
Take to the Word of God and turn darkness out of your way of life.
 
Tunde.

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6)

God will not thank God neither will He praise Himself. The Bible makes us to realize by stating, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6) He created us and gives us breath and that confirms that the purpose of our living is to praise God at all the time. As long as there is breath there should be non-stop praise worship. Praising God could be anywhere, anytime or in any situation. Psalmist testifies, “Seven times a day I will praise You…” Praising Him can never be too much. One can choose to praise Him loud or quiet as long as He is being praise with understanding. The understanding is that, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Praise God in spirit and it will provoke His presence to take over in every area of our challenge. Praise is where God inhabits. (Psalm 22:3) Why not praise rather than probe Him by act of complain or murmuring? Why not praise rather than provoke Him by act of discouragement and putting on the garment of depression? Let all your actions be rooted in the flow of praise because God is a God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3) There is power in praising God and praising God cannot be separated from thanking God. It is written, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (Psalm 100:4) The Bible talks about giving thanks always for all things, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20) Are you giving thanks for all things or only things that you get the way you want it to be? Are you getting what you want and turning back to the giver without thanksgiving? Could it be that you are forgetting to give thanks where it is appropriate? Are you one that will wait to get what you want before giving thanks? The book of Romans states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”(Romans 8:28) When there is love for God, there will be the understanding to thank God for all things. The one that thank God for all things will have all things work together for good. God always expecting our thanksgiving and this is evident in the documentation of Jesus and ten lepers that were healed. When ten lepers were healed, “…one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.” (Luke 17:15) One lepers return to give thanks with a loud voice prompted Jesus’ response, “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:18-19) Only God knows how long the returned leper has been trusting God for his healing before Jesus spoke healing into his life. The important point here is that he was able to go back and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Also, he was not thinking thanksgiving in his heart but gave thanks with a loud voice. Jesus’ response testifies to the fact that He was waiting for the lepers to return for thanksgiving. Just as He waited for the leper to return for thanks giving, so He is waiting for us to return and give thanks. Return and do not wait till the year is out. Give thanks for all year long prayer request manifestation. Have you been trusting God for any miracle that is yet in your hand? Provoke the hand of God by thanking Him expressively for the prayers that are not yet manifested. God performs in prayer and perfect in thanks giving. One leper went back for thanksgiving and Jesus added perfection to his healing deliverance. Consider this month your month of thanks giving and your coming month will become your month of manifestation. Thanking God before prayer manifestation is exercising faith to provoke God’s hand on your behalf. Give your all to God in praising and thanking God. Praising and giving thanks is attending to God. The antidote of jealousy is giving attention. Remember, God is a jealous God and getting Him to attend to you is inhabited in giving unto Him a ceaseless praise worship and consistent thanksgiving.

FAITH CAPSULE:
Why not praise rather than probe Him by act of complain or murmuring?
Are you giving thanks for all things or only things that you get the way you want it to be?
Tunde