His Voice Devotional

Text : 2Kings 4:2.   *Elisha responded, “What shall I do for you? Tell me what you have in your house.” She replied, “Your servant has nothing in the entire house except for a flask of oil.”*  The story was told of a woman who was just bereaved of her husband. She was a poor widow with two other lives (her sons) to cater for. As if her predicament was not grave enough, her late husband left loans for her to service. It turned out that her creditor was the impatient type. Since she couldn't pay up, her children were to be taken into indentured servitude. At this point, God gave this woman enough wisdom to run to the right place and person for help.  *Every challenge should  push you closer to God and not otherwise.*  The man of God demanded to know what the woman had. *Naturally, man is quick to remember and recount what he does not have than  what he has.*  The woman replied that,  “Your servant has nothing in the entire house except for a flask of oil.” The truth is, God did not c

Text : John 6:9 ISV  “ *There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are these among so many people?”*  We shall start a series on the theme "insignificant" using different bible characters as our case  study. Today, we shall be looking at the boy with the five loaves of bread. When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. (John 6:5 & 6).  *Jesus always know what to do about your situations, He is never stranded* . If He is asking you a question or a favour, He's only looking for an occasion to bless you. Jesus wanted to feed the crowd that had come to Him, and He posed a question at Philip.  It turned out that nobody had a solution. *The only one that has solution to all of man's problems is Jesus Christ,  as a matter of fact, He Himself is the solution.* Now,

Text : John 21:16    *He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.*  A large crowd kept following Jesus because they had seen the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. John 6:2. Here, Jesus gave us an example of what should be done to large gatherings. Instead of taking advantage of them by merchandising the gift of God by selling oil, handkerchiefs and all sorts to them in exchange for miracles. He wants us  to feed them.  Hear the mind of Jesus concerning this crowd - When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “ _Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”_John 6:5. Jesus obviously had fed the people spiritually and now, He's concerned about feeding them physically. A true servant of God will follow this pattern.   *A true messenger of God will be more concerned about your total well-being, he w

Text :Matthew 7:6  *Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.*  Yesterday, we saw that your behaviour is a product of your attitude, while attitude is a product of  your nature. You will notice that there are certain traits in you that you inherited from your parents. Attitude is described as a state or disposition of the mind. The formation of your mind is not just limited to what you see, hear or read, it is essentially determined by the nature you carry. (Rom 8:5-7). You can't simply get rid of certain attitudes because it has been passed down to you by your lineage. This attitude has now become a stronghold that cannot just be broken by mere decisions. You need a change of nature. And it is only God that can do this for you. Hence, the first step is being born again.  So many stopped at this first step. This is just the first step, it is not the entire thing you need

Text :Mathew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Each day has its own evil(worries), so when you are anxious about tomorrow's evil, you are drawing the evil of the future into today, thereby giving yourself double load of worries(evil) for a day. No man is capable of bearing today's evil(worries), needless to talk of adding tomorrow's. This is the reason Jesus is asking you to come and lay your burdens and worries at His feet. (Mathew 11:28). He also taught us to ask the Father to deliver us from evil. I realised this is a very important prayer that must be said on daily basis in a very serious manner.  The enemy daily throws several assaults at you so that you can loose your focus on God. Hence, it is wisdom for you to always ensure that you heartily pray before you step out of your house that the Lord deliver you from evil. For you to be delivered from the r

Text :Mathew 6:34  *Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.*  Though Jesus is not against you planning for tomorrow, but He sternly warned against you being anxious.  It is normal with average man to be full of thoughts about what tomorrow will bring or look like. People take thought about the future of their children's, financial security, retirement age, fear of  death, fear of losing loved ones, fear of what the future holds, fear of failure, fear of not succeeding in life. All these and more are the reasons for man's labour, struggles and confusion. Though these thoughts has held men in bondage, but Jesus wouldn't want you to be part of the list.  Jesus wanted his disciples (followers) to be free from Mammon. *Anyone who has been overcome by taking thought of tomorrow (anxiety)will certainly serve Mammon.*      *Jesus wants you to see your tomorrow only in God, for

Text : Luke 1:30.  *And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.*  Hundreds of years before Mary was born, prophecy had gone forth that a virgin shall bear a son.  _Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel._ Isaiah  7:14. In essence, God needed a virgin in order to fulfil His long standing promise. The other side of the coin is that this Son of God has to come through the tribe of Judah. Now, Mary was espoused to a man called Joseph who is from the tribe of Judah, Luke 1:27. All these made Mary a qualified maiden for this glorious assignment.  Though the heavens were set to release Jesus for the  redemption of mankind, but if Mary had defiled herself she would have been disqualified.   *God doesn't have problem blessing you, the problem is your readiness to receive.*  When God is set to use you to carry out His plan and you make yourself unavailable,  God

Text : Luke 1:30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  In the beginning, the serpent spoke to the first woman, Eve, and the result was the fall of man as we have it in Gen.3. However, God in His mercy decided to save mankind, and by divine providence, He also chose to use woman. When the devil wanted to get the attention of the woman, he spoke through the serpent, when God wanted to save mankind through the woman, He spoke through His angel, Luke 1:26-28. The bottom line here is that, to get a woman's attention,  you must master the art of words. Some guys who have mastered this art had used it to the hurt of the unsuspecting, naive ladies. This is why a girl child should be well trained to desist from gullibility. Please note that it is not only a woman that can be lured by words, men are equally susceptible, so let he who thinks he stands take heed, lest he falls.1 Cor 10;12. As a parent, practice giving endearing words to your childr

Text : John 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. We know the meaning of the word 'except': it expresses some indispensable conditions, some inevitable laws. Jesus said we are the branch and that the branch cannot bear fruit in itself except it abides in the Vine. There is but one way for the branch to bear fruit,  there is no other possibilities, it MUST abide in the Vine. For you to bear fruit as a child of God, you must abide in Christ.  To abide in Christ is to draw your strength, inspiration and vitality from Him. In fact, abiding in Christ means that all of your life is dependent on His life. It is pertinent for you to ask yourself at this time- where do you draw inspiration from? What or who is the source of your life? Inability to bear fruit as a branch in the heavenly Vine, doesn't just make you barren, it opens you up to grave punishment. The penalty for fruit

Text : James 5:16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. _The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]._ If the scripture talks about the kind of prayer that makes power available, it means that there is a pattern to praying effectively.  It also means that when we pray, power should be made available to accomplish a particular task.  The one who Prays must possess power within in order to make power available in the place of prayer.   _Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,_ Ephesians  3:20 From the above, you can see that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than what you ask or think; but the measure of His manifestation is commensurate to the

Text : Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Prayerlessness is one major problem amongst many Christians today.  While so many find it easier to spend more time with their phones than praying, some others pray, but they pray amiss. If Jesus said that men ought always to pray, then we must take the matter of prayer more serious. From Jesus' statement, it is obvious that if you are not praying, you are fainting. So, you are either a praying Christian or a fainting Christian. Sometimes, praying can appear to be a tedious work. Some even say that prayer is a work. Yes it is a tiring work for many who are carnal. It is a scary work for carnal christians as well. But, for people who always want to experience victory in their walk with the Lord, it is a sweet work of Faith. See the testimony of Epaphras:  _“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you,

Text : Zechariah  3:4   _And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment._ Yesterday, we saw how the Lord rebuked satan and ordered that filthy garments be removed from Joshua the high priest. Today, we shall be looking closely at various filthy garments the Lord wants you to put offs. The first thing you must know is that the Lord is committed to taking off your filthy garments just as He did for Joshua. But you must however know that  responsibility is laid on you to cooperate with Him in order to take off your filthy garments. The filthy garments actually represents the body of sin which you have to take off (mortify). ".....In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, _in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ_ : col. 2:11. The put

Text : Mathew 11:28 ISV  “ Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.  Yesterday, we established that in Matthew 11:28, Jesus offers to give whoever comes to Him rest, and in verse 29, He offered those who  come to Him a path leading to a rested life. Some years back, my brother gave me a palm-top. I was not just grateful for this gift, I was beside myself with excitement. However, reality soon dawn on  me as I  realised that I  don't have a clue as to how to operate this gadget. In no time, the excitement fizzled away and I eventually had to dump  the gift. Now, the problem was never with the palm-top, but wirh my lack of knowledge as to how to operate it. It's one thing to have a gift, it's another thing to be able to use it. When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse they say is inevitable. Jesus knew that man does not have the wherewithal to live a restful life except through His tutelage. This is why He said, "

Text : Mat 11:28 ISV  “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. The invitation to rest that Jesus Christ gave in Matthew 11 was in two folds. First He said,  “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. Mathew. 11:28.  This call is to everybody. Whoever goes to Him, will be given rest. This is the kind of rest that will flood your heart and life the moment you accept Christ into your life as your personal Lord and  Saviour.  If you have never experienced this kind of rest which is expressed in inexplicable joy and calmness, then you sincerely need to come to Jesus now for the cleansing flood. And He will give you a new life. There's a kind of peace and joy that only comes with a new birth in Jesus. Have you experienced this Joy?  Just like in natural birth, when a new baby is born, everyone is happy. People Rejoiced with the mother and father. Even the baby is treated with love and

Text : Mathew 11:28 ISV  “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.  Everybody wants rest. Or should I say everyone needs rest. After creation of the heavens and earth, God rested on the seventh day, not from exhaustion or weariness, but because He has completed His work. And secondly because He wants to show man that rest is part of life. The reason many are slaving morning till night is because they desire rest for themselves at later years. The desire for rest is an inbuilt nature in man. However, not many are finding this much needed Rest. Psalm 127:2 says It is useless to get up early and to stay up late, eating the food of exhausting labor—truly he gives sleep to those he loves. This verse is the true definition of some people's lives. They are the first to wake, the last to sleep and yet with almost nothing to show for it. This is not the plan of God for man, God's enemy has done this. God wants you to rest. He gives sle

Text: Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. The testimony of Adam and Eve was that they were both naked; and the man and his wife were not ashamed. Gen. 2:25. This simply show that they had no physical clothes on. But that does not mean they were not clothed in some other way. They were actually clothed with God's glory. That was the reason they could see their nakedness(which they did not see earlier) immediately after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 3:7. Before they ate from the forbidden tree, they did not see nakedness and there was no shame. After the fall, all they got was nakedness and shame. This is simply because God's glory had departed. When God's glory is taken off a man, no matter the cost of the attire he is putting on, such a man is prone to nakedness and shame. Such one is naked of God's coverings. Adam and Eve's clothes which was God's glory was taken away the very momen

Text :Daniel 3:18. _But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue  you set up_ . Let me give a bit of background information about the characters in our text.  This is the popular story of the three Hebrew boys -Shadrach, Meschack,  and Abednego. It will interest you to know that these are not their original names, but the names given to them as slaves who will be serving within the palace of the King of Babylon. Daniel. 3:7. Prior to their being taken captives,  these young men were  royalties from Israel. The sharp contrast in their status (i.e, moving from nobility to captivity) is enough reason for them to be bittered against God. One additional torture that their new status carried was that they were made Eunuchs. That is, they were castrated; as this is one of the criteria that qualifies whoever will serve in the King's palace. Daniel.1:3. Though these young men had a great commitment and unwavering

Text : Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. If you are told to trust God with all your heart, it means that you can trust God partially. It means that man's heart can be splitted and divided into many parts. A man can partly trust God, and also trust in many other alternatives.  For a typical man, there are varied options. If option A does not work, option B will work, and if B does not work, option C will work. This is how man's heart works since the fall in the garden.   A heart that is not fully settled on God, will surely lean on his own understanding. God wants the whole of our heart settled on Him. God wants the whole of you. Everything or nothing. We often find it difficult to focus on God and wholly trust Him because we lean on our understanding and not on Him.  To trust God with all your heart is to settle on only one option-God.  When you cannot trust the Lord with all your heart, you will certainly resolve to

Text : Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. One major thing that happened in the  garden of Eden was that man became aware of another option outside God. The opening of Eve and Adam's eyes was simply a gain of another understanding(sight). This sight made man to start running his own affairs without God. For instance, Adam and Eve became a fashion designer because they gained sight. They sew leaves(from fig tree).  Can you imagine! Man who should have dominion over fig leaves now had to ask for coverings from the tree.  The initial plan of God for man was to be eternally clothed with  God's glory. If I may ask you, what type of designer clothes do you think the angels are wearing in heaven? Of course, you know the answer. They wear God's glory.  Adam could not even clothe himself appropriately, God had to make him a better alternative(animal skin). Even the alternative God gave them was still low compared to their

Text : Mark  12:30. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. A lawyer of the Pharisees came to Jesus with the big question- what is the greatest commandment in the law? In response to his question, Jesus gave what I refer to as the love triangle.  Without mincing words,  Jesus said “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ’Mathew 22:37. This is the first arm of the triangle.  Here,God is demanding for your 100% love.  Can you honestly say you love the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH? This is the kind of love God is demanding of you. Love is all-encompassing. when you are truly in love, you trust easily and you can go to any length for your lover. You can gauge your love for God by how much you trust Him with your life. While the lawyer asked for just one commandment,  Jesus  aptly gave two. Th

TEXT: John  16:33   Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus promised us Rest and Peace, not in death but while we are still alive in this turbulent world. It is however unfortunate  how the enemy has deceived man to believe that his much needed Rest and Peace are only available in death.  You will often see the  description- RIP (Rest In Peace) on obituary. Another saying in a particular cultural settings says that "The day of  death is the day of rest". No! It's a big lie. Jesus promised us. He said in John  14:27  _Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid._  He also promised us His rest in Mathew 11:28. He gave an open invitation of Rest to all.   _Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest._  So you can truly Rest in Peace before you die. It is God's desire to see

 TEXT :  Gen. 15:1   After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward God told Abraham He is his exceeding great reward. Abraham got this response because he was expecting a child from the Lord. Every child of God must learn this important thing that God is your reward. *When you learn to see God as your reward in all that you do, you will hardly see or receive dissapointment from any man.  Often than not, we get frustrated and dissapointed when we do not receive "weldone" from man. This is because we focus on wrong person.  If you start doing all things as unto the Lord, then all your reward shall also come from the Lord.  *And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Colossians 3:23* It may take time, but when your focus is in God for your reward  you will always have cause to Rejoice in the Lord.  *Wether you are duly rewarded or not, always discharge you

TEXT :  Heb 2:1 For this reason we must pay closer attention to the things we have heard, or we may drift away, The  chapter one of the book of Hebrews 1:1-2 stated that:  _God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the the worlds_  The word spoken by the Father(God) unto us in these last days is Salvation.  God has spoken. salvation unto ALL mankind through the death and resurrection of His son- Jesus Christ.  Hence Jesus is still speaking(salvation) over everyone till date. He said in _Hebrews 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation_  From the above, we see once again that Jesus is still speaking even now. He, however will save only those who hear him, do His commands and abide in His will. Two things we must do in order to be to saved to the utter