His Voice Devotional

Text : Psalms 119:11.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  *Prevention they say is better than cure. Sin will ultimately lead to death, yet sin can be prevented.*  Any wise man will do anything to prevent himself from any deadly disease, especially when such Prevention is in public domain. The Bible is full of the records of mere men like you and I who by the wisdom of God lived and prevented themselves from sin. Their stories were documented not so they could become tales by moonlight, but so we could be encouraged and learn how to live right. One of such men was the man Joseph. Obviously, his story was such a popular one but its inherent lessons are indeed ageless. As a young man who had been betrayed by his own blood brothers and sold into slavery, ordinarily,  he should be a bittered fellow.  When Mrs Potiphar, tried to seduce him, it shouldn't really take much work before he would succumb, considering the fact that he has a lot to enjoy. But

Text :  James 3:10.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. It should not be like this, my brothers! In his letter, Apostle James was addressing believers all over about basic conducts of life. One of these conducts boils down to the use of our tongues. In His sermon on the Mount,  Jesus Christ, our Master also gave a caution on this issue as regards to judgement day-  *But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.* (Matthew 12:36). This goes to show that as a child of God, you should be careful what you say because you will be held responsible for everything you say. Again, Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 that, by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. If your words are this powerful, wisdom demands that you should pick them carefully.  As a new believer in Christ, one of the cautions the Holy Spirit gives is in your utterances. But as you progress in your Christian journ

Text: Ecclesiastes  12:13   Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man . According to the book of the Kings  in first Kings chapter 3 verse 12, God said to King Solomon, "I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like you, before you, neither after you shall any arise like unto you". Solomon was greatly endowed with wisdom and understanding from the Lord to the point that his wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.1 Kings 4:30 & 31. After King Solomon had diligently studied and explored every aspect of life, he gave the conclusion of all that his wisdom and understanding had gotten as:  1. Fear of the Lord and  2.keeping of His commandments.  *If the wisest man that ever

Text: John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus emphatically told His disciples that He had gone to prepare a place for them. And that, He is coming back to take us with Him. You must always remind yourself on a constant basis about how prepared you are to live in the mansion Jesus Christ has gone to prepare for you. If Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you in His father's house, then you must also see to it that you daily prepare for His return. Please note that: Jesus shall only be taking prepared hearts to His father's prepared mansion.*  When the Isrealites were expecting Jesus' first advent on earth, they missed Him because they didn't prepare whole heartedly as they ought to. In the same vein, you must be eager and sober towards the coming of our Lord once again. Many are already tired of preparing. They will rather say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus i

Text: Proverbs 19:24. The lazy person buries his hand in his dish and doesn’t bother to bring it back to his mouth. While Jesus was addressing the one-talent man in the parable of the talent,  He referred to him as an evil and lazy person. Mathew 25: 26.( Read up the story from the Bible reading below). That is, whoever refuses to do his assignment in God's kingdom is not only lazy but also evil. Eventually, when verdict was passed on this man, I'm sure it was more than he bargained for- Jesus said "throw this useless servant into the darkness outside! In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:30 ISV. This is everlasting condemnation.  Laziness is not just a vice that can make life unpalatable for her host here on earth,  it's a sin that can lead one to hell. James  4:17  says *Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.*  A lazy person cannot inherit the promise of God. Hear this submission from Hebrews 6

Text :  Matthew  22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. If Jesus had said you shall love the Lord thy God with your heart, soul and mind, the statement would have been correct. But He said you shall love the Lord your God with *all* your heart, and with *all* your soul, and with *all* your mind. Note that the emphasis is on the *ALL.*This presupposes that your  heart, soul and mind can be compartmentalised.  You can actually love God with some portion of your heart and reserve the rest to love someone or something else. As a matter of fact, when people say they love God, what they are actually saying is "I want God to be in charge of some stuffs in my life, but definitely not all." In Isaiah 42:8 God said, I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. God wants to be Lord in every aspect of your life. He can't co-lord with

Text : 1 Corinthians 15:33.  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Have you ever wondered why negatives most times override positives. Well, that's how this world is wired. This explains why 1 Corinthians  15:33 says Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.Note that this verse didn't say good manners will influence evil people.  Don't be deceived, you are as good as the company you keep. Proverbs  13:20 says, He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. In mathematics,  we were taught that negative times plus will always give you negative. (+×-=-). That is, bad or negative people have more tendency to influence the good ones when put in the same box. An old adage says, show me your friends, and I'll tell you who you are. The people we associate with can reveal a lot about our character. To better influence them, you have to be separated from them. You are in a vantage position to save a ma

Text :  1 Timothy 6:6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. We learn very quickly in life that *humans' needs are insatiable. The more you get the more you want to get more, beware of covetousness.*  As a student in a class, you desire to move to the next class,  once you are in the next  you desire the next. As a fresh graduate,  you desire a juicy job, once you bagged this achievement, you start craving for promotion,  once gotten,  you crave for more and more. As a tenant,  you pray to have a house of your own, once you become a landlord, you want to have more and more. Basically, *there's is a void in man that no success or achievement in this world can satisfy. This void was created by God, and only God can fill it.*  The earlier you understood this truth, the easier life becomes for you. Man is wired to hunger and thirst. This is why people are struggling for survival in a rat race that seems never to end.  However,  Jesus said in John 6:35 that, *I am the bread

Text: Esther  4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.  *Quality decision taking is a major determinant of life's quality.* But you will not be able to always make quality decision without God's help and direction. Queen Esther took a very tough decision to go in to the King at the peril of her life. Though this decision looks dangerous, but it is a quality decision that would save all her lineage (the Jews) from being annihilated. Until Queen Esther decided to disregard her own life, the lives of the Jewish community would have been totally destroyed according to Haman's plan (Esther 3:8-11). Remember, before Queen Esther could say, "If I perish, I perish", she had already requested that her Jewish community in Shushan should fast

Text: Esther  4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. At no point in time did the word of God admonishes you to take risk or calculated risk. You will often hear people talk about taking a calculated risk. In contrary, God does not want you to be taking risk. This is because risk may or may not yield desired result. Hence, no word like risk can be found in God's vocabulary.   *FAITH, is the only currency with which you please God- No more, No less!*  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him._  (Hebrews 11:6). In view of the above, every child of God must be ' *taking their steps in Faith* ' and not in Risk. The people of th

Text: Esther  4:16   Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. Sometimes you know the right thing to do, but you are caught in  the web of indecision. The simple reason for this is because you don't want to take the hard decision.   *No single person has ever made a great landmark without taking a tough decision against indecisiveness.* Queen Esther was faced with a situation wherein she ought to stand in the gap for her people. Though this situation could claim her life, yet she swim against  the tide of indecision and fear, and took her stand for the sake of her people. Just like the common saying has it that *if you can not stand for something, you will fall for everything.* In the same vein, you must be courageous to always take the tough but needed d

Text :  Romans 8:2.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Everyone is operating under one law or the other. Ignorance of the law is no excuse anywhere, so be informed. Essentially, man is a spirit-being, and we know that the spiritual rules the physical. So, basically, everyone is operating under either of these two spiritial laws: 1.) The law of the Spirit of life. 2.) The law of sin and death.  This is well stipulated in Romans 8:2, _For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death._  Everyone who is not born again is operating under the law of sin and death. Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.  The "all" in this verse means every human being. When Adam, our first Parent fell, all of humanity fell. The power of sin was enacted in man the moment Adam disobeyed. By reason of this disobedience, death started reigning over man. Rom

Text: Romans 8:2.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.   *One thing the devil wants to achieve in man is lawlessness, because he is a lawless being.*  Man was not created to be lawless. From the very beginning, God gave man instructions as to how to live (Genesis 2:15-17). After the fall of man, God in His infinite mercy, gave His children (through His servant, Moses) laws to guide and lead them through the path of righteousness.  However, because of man's weakness by reason of the flesh, he couldn't truly obey the laws of God. This is why Romans 8:3 & 4 says: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So, it's clear that the reason God sent His son is so that the righteou

Text :  Matthew  16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? One big difference between Man and animal is the soul. The soul of man is eternal. When an animal dies, life has ended with it as it were, but when a man dies, his soul continues to live. After death, the soul of man will either live in eternal life or in eternal condemnation. Hebrews  9:27  says And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.  So it's clear that death is not the end of man, it is actually the beginning of a whole new journey.  Because the soul of man is eternal, it is the most treasured asset he possesses, hence, the need to guard your soul. Jesus asked, for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? That is, the soul of man is worth more than the whole world. Matthew 16:26. Your soul is worths

Text :  Matthew  16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We were taught at the elementary schools that humans are animals. According to Aristotle, man is a social animal. Another school of thought refers to humans as higher animals because of the presence of backbones which make man unique.  Whichever theory you believe, one thing that  is common to these theories is the fact that humans are regarded as animals. Well, there are some facts to this, as man (humans) and animals have a lot in common.  Both humans and animals breath, move from place to place, reproduce, have specialised sensory organs such as eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. However, God didn't create man to be like animals, He created man to be like Himself. In  Genesis 1:27 we saw God's handiwork. 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.'

TEXT: John 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Statistics has it that  over 30% of global food is lost or wasted each year. *Given the large number of the hungry people in the world, wasted food is not only a bad idea but it’s a social justice issue.*  Jesus instructed his disciples to gather the fragments that remain because he did not want to be socially unjust.  Now imagine If the very Son of God who produced bread by miracle did not encourage wastage, how much more you.  The amount of foods, clothes, money and other resources that are being wasted in our world today, can actually enrich the total population of the poor in the world.  In order to curb wastage of resources (no matter how small or little), you must come to the realisation that *your own wastage is another man's need, hence you must always take your time to look for those in need rather than wasting stuffs.*  Remember, Jesus commanded Hi

TEXT: John 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. An elderly man once told me a story of how he once asked his daughter who threw her remnant food into the bin to unpack it and eat. You may say this is cruel or too extreme. One major lesson however is that wastage should not be encouraged in any form. Jesus Christ demonstrated His disapproval towards wastage by asking His disciples when they were filled to  gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost (John 6:12). One of the ways to be like Jesus, is to start a war against all forms of  wastages in your life. You must ensure that nothing is wasted around you.  The scripture says that he that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. (Proverbs  18:9). Do not say it's just small money, small time or small remnant; if you waste little or small things, then you are considered as a great waster. Little is much, stop the wasta

TEXT: 1 Corinthians. 7:20  Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. John the Baptist knew how to stand in his calling. He knew perfectly well that he has been ordained to do just one thing- introduce Jesus to the Israelites. Do you know the one thing the Lord has committed into your hand? Then it will be great if you can stand in it. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem  to ask  John, "Who are you?" (John 1:19). The response He gave them revealed a lot about the humility of John, unlike many ministers and workers in the vineyard of God today. The scripture says, He.....confessed, "I am not the Christ." (John 1:20). You must learn to humbly accept and stand in your God's given place in the kingdom. If you have been called to serve, then serve wholeheartedly; if you have been called to lead; then lead responsibly, knowing that you would give account to God. Whatever duty, task or work you find yourself in, you must stay fait

TEXT.  Hebrews  3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin  . TODAY is the only day in your lifetime that you always have to make the right decision; yesterday is gone, and tommorrow is God's.*  God's word encourages us to exhort one another daily.  The reason for  daily exhortation is to prevent the hearers from being  hardened through the deceitfuness of sins. New Living Translation renders the text thus:  _*You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God Heb. 3-13*_ .  *Sin has the capacity to deceive you and harden your heart against God. Watch it!* Today always come with the opportuniy to hear God's Voice. "Today" is the time frame in which the Voice of God is being heard for a walk in obedience. Your "Today" comes with a  command (voice) for you to obey.  *To miss God's voice(command