Life looks easy when you are under a covering. I would say it’s good because when you are under a covering let’s say under a multinational corporation that pays well and takes care of all medical, insurance, and travel expenses, etc. If care is not taken you begin to take it for granted. The feeling – “I can do it better on my own” starts if I you move to start a branch of your own without proper knowledge of the company’s blueprint on how to build, manage and grow their business as well as your clients. 

1) Placing  Demand on Things You are not Prepared For:-  It is an error for a man to have millions when he can’t manage thousands. The prodigal son was verbally ready but not mentally prepared. We live in a world were majority love the public image. Evil is being promoted as something good and acceptable while the media sells it daily and make it look good and true. Many will follow these evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers and the way media propagates it, the way of truth will be slandered (2 Peter 2:2). Before you make request ask yourself if you are capable to handle such a position or thing placed in your care.  

2) That which You are Prepared for You Don’t Struggle for:-  Sometimes we long and pray for things, and it seems it’s not coming forth. Check and see if you are really prepared for it or you are seeking for such a thing just to impress others (James 4: 1 – 4).  As Christians, we must not be the want conscious Christians rather the God-driven. No matter how much you love your child you will not give him or her your car keys to drive the car until he or she comes of age and “knows” how to drive (Galatians 4:1).  

3) To Live Life Without a Guide:- A Christian who believes he knows it all and doesn’t need the help of man or the teachings of men that God sends his way is bound to be limited and may end up in self-destruct (Proverbs 19:27). We all need a covering and most especially the covering of God. As Christians we should obey our parents and spiritual parents because we belong to the Lord, for this is the right and honourable thing to do. If we honour them, “things will go well for us, and we will enjoy long and fruitful life  (Proverbs 27:8).  

4) There’s no Completion without God:- No matter what we have or have been entrusted in our care, be sure you can lose it. I want to correct a notion that as Christians you can’t lose anything given to you…..this is a lie. We are still in the world and not in heaven, so we should be aware that as long as we are here you may lose our businesses due spiritual attacks or to natural disaster or the mistakes of others (Job 1: 13 – 19). If we trust in our abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us accountable every time we refuse to submit, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us. 

As children of God, let us keep our eyes on Jesus, stay on course, and not allow the good things of this life make us stray away from the right path. 
Prayer: May the Lord grant us the grace not to depart from the truth and never to stray away from the covering God has placed upon us for His glory in Jesus name…Amen!!

Excerpts: AJS Message

The Word of God does not come to make us high, entice or to make us just feel good.  God does not waste words, neither does He speak for the sake of speaking because He has something to say. So when we hear a specific instruction from the Lord on a particular matter, our response should be like that of Abraham in Genesis 22: 1 – 3.  When we choose to deliberately disobey God’s specific instructions or commands, we open the door for the enemy to strike us (Ecclesiastes 10:8b).  To be a child of God means living the life of Christ and submitting our will to God’s will.  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh by God to warn them of the danger coming because of their sin. But Jonah chose to do the opposite by disobeying God.  

My worry here is that some of us have become too familiar with God ; His mercies and miracle of healing and restoration the way Jonah did, and we fall into disobedience by our way of response to God’s Words and instructions. God “may” have revealed to Jonah that if these people repent He will forgive them and not bring the disaster again (Ezekiel 18:23), so what’s the need of going there.  I believe this is the same position some of us come to and we choose not to go because it looks like a waste of time. Beloved God does not waste words, and to every assignment He is sending us. It’s a privilege and an honour that you and I have been chosen. It is not to be taken lightly. Any matter brought to us by God is weighty no matter how insignificant we may think of it.  To every obedience not only is there a blessing, it is also for us to lead others back to Him at that point or in the future. We are letters from Christ read by others, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 

Prayer: O Lord help us not to become complacent when Your word comes and may we not become to acquainted with thy Voice that we take Your instructions for granted and become disobedient in Jesus name….Amen!!!

There are diverse kinds of assumptions. Some people assume to be students until it comes to the time of exams or paying their school fees. Some think they are ready for marriage until they get married they now know they are not ready. Some pray for a better job until they are into such a position then the job will teach them to be humble because they are not prepared. There’s one assumption that cannot be rectified, and that is when you assume you are heading to heaven until you see yourself in hell. And there’s no need for Christ as long as you do good you will go to heaven until you find yourself in hell – that cannot be rectified. Some Christians who started with God are no longer walking with God (1 Corinthians10:12).  

In Luke 2: 42 – 47 we see how Jesus’ parents assumed that He was with relations during their trip back home. Nothing changed until they reached home…lo and behold He was nowhere to be found. Many have lost good relationships that would’ve lifted them but because of what they think of the person(s) which may not be true have refused to accept them into their lives (Luke 10:16). God most times gives us long room to repent but most of us keep taking God’s mercies for granted until His patience runs out.  Beloved let us not become nonchalant about life, careless in the way we live, take things for granted, become distracted by the material things of this world. Don’t allow fame or riches make you arrogant, unrepentant, unteachable, and foolish in your decision making most especially when it comes to eternal view. We should be mindful of what we do and how we do things in these end times so that we don’t cry had I known (Luke 16: 19 – 31). 

O Lord help us to value your presence, take your Word as the standard guide for living, and refuse to play with sin in any form. May we honour You O Lord and consistently walk with You all the rest of our days here on earth in Jesus name…..Amen!!!

Battles may seem bigger the further we climb the ladder of life, the stakes higher but there are still others who need us. We must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder our communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people (standing in gap/mediating); but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, meaning struggling with God in agreeing to His will just like Balaam did, your foot may get crushed against the wall (Numbers 22) or you will be crippled for the rest of your life just like Jacob (Genesis 32: 24 – 25). Many at times we grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob and Balaam did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, we force His permissive will there by causing God to say yes to our plea when actually it is not His consent. The consequences of such permission are not good.

Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armour of God….” and making a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God things that need changes according to His will that way we become more victorious daily at the altar of prayer.

Excerpts from utmost.org 16/12/20