DON'T ALLOW OPPORTUNITIES TO PASS YOU BY

We should be prepared because God is ready to open the doors of opportunities to us when we do not expect it. He knows how, when and why He has to open that door to us. No matter the trails you are passing through, stay focus because you are more closer to that  great door more than you think.

• One of the criminals that was at the right hand of Jesus Christ when He was crucified never missed the opportunity he had to tell Jesus to remember him when He comes to His kingdom - Luke : 23 : 39 - 43.
• The woman with the issue of blood never missed out in the small opportunity she had to get her healing by touching the helm of the garment of Jesus Christ - Matthew 9 : 20 - 22.
• Zaccchaeus was prepared to meet with Jesus because it was the only opportunity he had and because his heart was ready to recieve Him, the Jesus told him that he is coming to his house -Luke 19:1 - 10.
• Elisha never missed his opportunity to recieve a double portion of the anointing of Elijah and because he was ready, he never allowed any distance between himself and Elijah and he recieved that which he has longed for - 2  Kings 2 : 1 - 14.
• Gehazi missed out the opportunity he had to recieve 2 times the anointing of Elisha because of greed and living for the moment - 2 Kings 5 : 20 - 27.
• Naaman nearly missed his miracle because it was not packed how he expected it to come. If not for his servant that advised him to succume to the instruction of Elisha - 2 Kings 5 : 1 - 19.
• Esau sold his birthright because of food. He was unable to endure hunger - Genesis 25 : 29 - 24.
• Joseph never allowed his imprisonment to take away his dream. Undermining the trials he went through, he stayed focus on his dream. He never missed the opportunity he had - Genesis 41:37 - 44.
• David never missed the opportunity he had to prove to the Philistines that there is a Great God in Israel by killing goliath - 1 Samuel 17 : 1 - 51.

When we obey God's command, He will send the angels to work behind the scene and the manifestation of that work will be seen.
Father Lord, I thank You for Your favor and protection upon our life, help us to know when Your time of divine intervention into our has come so that we cannot missed the opportunity in Jesus name.

DON'T OPEN THE DOOR FOR SATAN

Before satan can come and touch you, he needs your permission to allow him into your life. This permission will always come in two ways:

THROUGH SIN:  Sin is the greatest instrument which satan uses against mankind. When you sin against God and man you must confess it to God and plead for forgiveness. When someone offend you and you refuse to forgive him, you have sinned and thereby opening the door for satan to enter into your life.  The bible says ''For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'' - Romans 3 : 23. When you dwell in sin, you have place a gap between yourself and God. The scripture says that ''do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not of your own? For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God's'' - 1 Corinthians 6 : 19 - 20. Where the Holy Spirit dwells, satan cannot have his way there.

Sin can come from an act of wickedness. ''For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity'' -  Proverbs 24 :  16. Disobedience against the word of God is a sin that is why the bible says that '' If it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it - Jeremiah 18 : 10. ''You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you - John 15 : 14 - 15. When you obey God, you become His friend because you no more live in sin and His protection will be upon you. When you sin against God, the protection of God will depart from you which will make the door to be openned for satan and thereby making you vulnerable to him.

The bible says that, ''This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all'' - 1 John 1 : 5. Since God is light, and we are children of God, therefore, we are also light because He created us in His own image and where there is light, darkness vanishes away. When we dwell in sin, the light that is in us will not shine and  darkness is bound to appear. Because of the presence of darkness, the door is opened for satan to come in which is the permission he is looking for.

THROUGH IGNORANCE: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ......Hosea 4 : 6. God after creation, He gave us authority over everything He created - Genesis 1 : 28. After the fall of Adam, God sent Jesus Christ, His only Son to come and redeem us from our sin. After He has fulfilled that purpose, He said ''And these signs will follow those who believe. In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover'' - Mark 16 : 17 - 18.  Because we do not know the value of such authority, that is why satan is still controlling many people. This authority was not given to us based on merit but rather, because of the love God have for us from the begining.

Because we do not know or remember this redemptive price Jesus has paid, that is still why satan is holding many people to ransom. I believe it is high time we know whom we are in Christ Jesus so that satan cannot continue to terrorise us anymore. ''If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - John 14 : 15 - 16.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you - John 14 : 26. We should come out of our ignorance and always remember that our Helper is with us forever so that no more permission will be given to satan anymore.

OUR BACKGROUND DOES NOT DETERMINE WHO WE WILL BECOME

Our background does not determine where God is taking us to. If you are from a poor background, that does not mean that you are going to be a failure. God does not create us to be a failure but rather to be a winner. Change your mentality and always remember that God created you in His own image and since He is not a failure, therefore you will never fail no matter your situation.

Jesus was born in a manger, king Herod wanted to kill Him  and some people referred to Him as a carpentar's Son that does not make Him not to fulfill the purpose He came on earth. People can call you names because of your background, they can call you names because of your situation, that does not determine that you are going to be what they are calling you. Change your mind to what God say about you and not what people say about you.

You might have been given birth to with one problem or the other, don't think that is the end of you. You have more brighter days ahead of you because your life is in the hand of God and not in the hand of man. Due to some reasons, people might call you a failure, all you have to do is to switch on the light which God has placed in you and refuse to settle for such negative name. God has made you to be the head and not the tail  brethren.

GOD FORGAVE KING AHAB

Then the word of God came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in samaria.There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.        - 1 Kings 21 : 17 - 18.

Our God is not a parcial God, but rather a just God.He will always give anybody chance to repent of his wrong deeds so that He can forgive. He gave such opportunity to king Ahab but, he refuse because he thought that God is not seeing him. According to the scripture, Ahab committed many atrocities amongst  which involves disobedience.
When Naboth was killed, his blood cried out to God because the bible make us to understand that the blood of the innocent will always cry out to God that was why God said to Cain ''where is your brother? He said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? And He said, what have you done? The  voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground - Genesis 4 : 9 - 10''.  
   - 1 Kings 21 : 17 - 18.j
You shall speak to him, saying, thus says the Lord, have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, thus says the Lord. In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours - 1 Kings 21 : 19.
God proclaimed destruction over Ahab. And the scripture went further to say ''even yours'' meaning his children. The scripture makes us to understand that ''He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, and the rod of his anger will fail - Proverbs 22 : 8. Also it is clearly stated ''For he who sows to his flesh will reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life - Galatians 6 : 8.

So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about mourning - 1 Kings 21 : 27.
Here is Ahab who never thought that God saw all he has been doing. Even the closest person to him - his wife who was suppose to be a corrector to him, turned out to be the person aiding him to commit sin. When the word of God came to him, he now realised that God has seen all his deeds which make him to go on fasting and plead for forgiveness. Brethren, anything we are doing, God is seeing absolutly all because He cannot be mocked. 

And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his home - 1 Kings 21 : 28 - 29.

Despite the level of Ahab's sin, God forgave him because He loves humility and obedience. The word of God says ''If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.           - 2 Chronicles 7 : 14''. God will never do anything outside His word.

This action of humility Ahab displayed, is what God wants from us today. When he heard of God's word he swung into action without delay, without thinking of his kingship, without discussing it with his wife who might  tell him to ignore God's instruction. Humility will always draw us close to God so we should try and practice it. No matter how great our sins might be, we should take it to God who is waiting for us to come back to him as prodigal children because He did not create us for distruction but rather for eternity.

Everlasting Father, we thank You for the opportunity You give to us to know You. Give us the power to obey Your command because Your word says that if we obey Your command, we are no more servant but friends together. We appreciate You for the people You have surrounded us with. Give them the grace to correct us whenever we are making mistakes  in Jesus name.

WHOM WE ARE IN CHRIST

Then God said let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish over of the sea, over the birds of the air and over the cattle, over all the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them the bible said that God blessed them and He said to them be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth - Genesis 1 : 26 - 28. 

 If God created us in His own image therefore we are like God that is why in the book of Psalm 82 : 6 it says that ''we are gods and all of you are children of the Most High''. Brethren, lion will always give birth to a lion and goat will always give birth to a goat, so since we are the children of God so we are gods. Since we are gods, we are not supposed to think as the worldly people thinks, for those who has accepted Him, what move the world is not suppose to move us, what does not move God is not suppose to move us.

That is why in John 3 : 6  it says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit and therefore we are spirit as God is a Spirit. The big letter ''S'' represent God and small letter ''s'' represent you and me. God expect us to think like Him because He has planted that seed of greatness in us.

In John 4 : 24 it is stated very clear that ''God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth''. You are specially made. God is interested in everything that concerns you no matter how small it is. Therefore, anything you want to do present it to God first and look for the scripture that talks about such and use it.

In John 8 : 12 Jesus said  I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life and in Matt. 5 : 14 He said  ''you are the light of the world'' since we accept Him as our Lord and Personal Saviour He now put that same light in Him into us. In verse 16 He says '' let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven''.

The bible says in 1 peter 2 : 9 that ''we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you mayproclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light''. 

Brethren, we no more in darkness because He has called us out of it. No area of our life is in dark any more no matter what the devil might be placing in our mind, we are not suppose to succumb to that negative thought. The devil is a liar. Jesus Christ delt with him both in the cross and in the grave so he is a failure in every area.

Father Lord, I thank you for this knowledge you gave to us through which we know what You have done for us. You sent Your only Son Jesus Christ to come and redeem the world from the grip of slavery of sin. Help us to continue to remember the value of the sacrifice Jesus Christ has paid for us. Also give us the grace to walk in holiness, purity and sanity. Help us to serve You the way You want us to serve. Let the Holy Spirit continue to lead us so that we cannot go astray in Jesus name.