Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

The success posted by Moses in his ministry couldn’t have been possible without his penchant for hearing and obeying God. Obedience is what attracts God’s presence and blessing, and Moses had that going for him. However, something else comes into the equation. It would not have been possible for Moses to obey if he never knew what constituted the mind or will of God at each given time. So, how did he know God’s mind? It was through prayer. His ministry was laced with prayer, as he took every matter to the Lord. When the people desired meat, he took it to the Lord. When God wanted to destroy the people and offered to make a new nation with him as the patriarch, he stood against it in prayer.

Obedience is what attracts God’s presence and blessing…The Bible reveals two sides to prayer. It has power both to restrain and attract…Those who know the two sided nature of prayer and engage it will experience great blessings in whatever they do.

We learn from Moses that it will be presumptuous to attempt the Lord’s work only with human strength. Beyond the Lord’s work, anything we set as task must be channeled to the Lord through prayer. Only then can we have the assurance of God leading us through. The Bible reveals two sides to prayer. It has power both to restrain and attract. The murmuring of the people attracted judgment by fire which destroyed some of them. In their desperation they cried to Moses. In turn, Moses prayed to the Lord; and that was the magic that restrained the fire of destruction. On a different occasion, the prayer of Solomon attracted the fire of God’s glory when the temple was dedicated. Those who know the two sided nature of prayer and engage it will experience great blessings in whatever they do.

In his pastoral epistle to Timothy, Paul listed the conditions that could make a widow enjoy official support from the church. These conditions are captured in these two verses – “Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.” I Timothy 5:9-10 NKJV. Prominent among these is hospitality. From our text, we discover that hospitality is not restricted to widows alone, it is what all the saints are admonished to do.

Hospitality has both temporal and eternal rewards…Whatever good deed is done in the name of the Lord goes into our account in heaven and multiplies our reward ultimately.

Hospitality has both temporal and eternal rewards. Abraham enjoyed a private disclosure of God’s plan in Sodom because of entertaining the heavenly visitors. Second Kings Chapter 4 records a woman’s display of hospitality towards the prophet, Elisha. She began by giving food to the prophet each time he passed by. She later prevailed on her husband to make a guest chamber for him. Elisha was so impressed that she wanted to give her a referral to the king or captain of the guard. Being a woman of means, she needed neither of the contacts. Her reward came where there had been a vacuum in her life. Her hospitality became her key to motherhood. It is needful to add that Bema judgment will largely be based on this. Christ will reward who, by proxy, has fed and sheltered Him. Whatever good deed is done in the name of the Lord goes into our account in heaven and multiplies our reward ultimately.

An unfortunate development was reported at the end of August this year. A pastor with Celestial Church of Christ was said to have been having problems with his wife since last year. Things came to a head in the dead of the night one day when their disagreement escalated into physical violence. The pastor hit his wife’s head against the wall and fled afterwards. Their son in the adjoining room called neighbours for help and they rushed her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead on arrival. The pastor on his part went and threw himself in front of a moving truck and also died in the process. There is no telling what level of destruction can result from untamed anger.

There is no telling what level of destruction can result from untamed anger…Great ruins are but a step from anger.

Without mincing words, the Bible condemns anger. The first display of anger was by Cain. He was angry at his brother whose offering was accepted by God. That was misplaced anger, to say the least. Abel in no way determined what Cain took to God as sacrifice; nor was he instrumental to God’s rejection of same. If he must be angry at all, it should have been towards God. His unwarranted anger led to the murder of his brother in cold blood. The Bible also recorded the anger of Moses. In anger he slew an Egyptian. Also in anger, he smote the rock when God asked him to speak to it. The first display of anger cost him precious 40 years in the wilderness. The second one kept him from entering Canaan’s fullness. It is not in vain that the Bible says anger rests in the bosom of fools. Great ruins are but a step from anger.

If one wants to reduce all success factors in life to one, what will it be? The obvious answer will be the presence of the Lord. This much can be derived from the life and ministry of Jesus. Acts 10:38 puts it clearly: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38 NKJV. Earlier, Nicodemus, despite his limited understanding of kingdom matters, demonstrated enough knowledge in what makes for success. “This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2 NKJV.

If one wants to reduce all success factors in life to one, what will it be? The obvious answer will be the presence of the Lord…If you have the covering presence of God with you everywhere, you can never fail.

Joseph had several odds stacked against him that could have hindered his ascendancy in life. Hated by his brothers because of his dreams and the audacity to tell them to their face, they thought to get rid of him. He narrowly escaped being killed. Being sold into slavery was the closest alternative. Our text clearly states that the presence of the Lord made the difference even in slavery. He excelled and was favoured by his boss. False charge levelled against him soon sent him to jail. Here is what happened again in prison: “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21 NKJV. Here is the point: If you have the covering presence of God with you everywhere, you can never fail.

John the Beloved was banished to the isle of Patmos. From there he had the heavens open and that was where he had incredible access to the mysteries of the ages, hence the book of Revelation was born. On his part, John Bunyan wrote his classic PILGRIM’S PROGRESS from jail as well. The Pilgrim’s Progress was first published in 1678. Ten years later, in 1688 John Bunyan died. The book has now been translated to about 200 languages and has been used as story line for film. Apart from the Bible, no other book has been more popular than this. It is one book that profoundly influenced the likes of C. S. Lewis and Mark Twain. These two works were produced in unlikely circumstances. Every time I read the genealogy presented by Matthew, I never stopped to consider that the people of God produced before captivity as well as in captivity. Nothing could stop their increase.

If believers truly understand the stuff they are made of, it will be easy to walk tall anywhere and under any circumstances…You have the word of God residing in you, and that makes you unstoppable.

If believers truly understand the stuff they are made of, it will be easy to walk tall anywhere and under any circumstances. From our text, the new birth experienced by every believer is by the word of God. The word has several attributes. From the text alone, we understand that it is incorruptible. Moreover, it says that the word lives and abides forever. Simply put, it is undying! Paul also had a description for the word; and it is the fact that it cannot be bound (2Timothy 2:9). The word can never be bound, yet it has the capacity to set the captives free. The prevailing nature of the word is the reason why Paul was still doing ministry when he was behind bars. He wrote several of his epistles from jail. You have the word of God residing in you, and that makes you unstoppable.