RHEMA From Heaven

SEARCH GOD’S WORD DAILY

Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”
Acts 17:11 says “These (the Berean) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily…”

There is nothing precious and refreshing in the world except the word of God. That’s why it matters the time you spend with the word.
The bible teaches that the believers in Berea placed a premium on God’s word in that they searched the word daily. God’s word to them was a “daily bread” and not a “cake” for special occasions.

You see, how often you get into the scriptures reveals the value you give to the word of God. That’s the truth I believe the Bereans that Apostle Paul preached knew. They constantly received the word of God with a ready mind and always searched the scriptures.

This is the attitude that can make you fruitful in your walk with God. Don’t just hear the word that’s preached from the pulpit and go. Search the scriptures daily for yourself as well. As a Christian, you must be “word conscious”. The word of God must be part and parcel of your life. The Psalmist talks about meditating on the word day and night. Psalm 1:2 says, “…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night”.

Engaging God’s word daily or examining the scriptures daily is the only way to get the truth into your heart. This is how you can have a meaningful walk with God. Not only that, it will make you “deception proof”. You see, people who study the word can’t easily be taken by the falsity people proclaim.

As you walk with the Lord, many things will try to get your attention but never be distracted when it comes to daily studying and meditating on the word. The word is your life, it is the source of your health, healing, prosperity, promotion and deliverance. In fact, it is the SURE WORD of prophecy that you have today (2Peter 1:19).

Read: Psalm 119:105, Deuteronomy 8:3

SERVE GOD GENUINELY

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “because the nations approaches [Me only] with their words and honors Me [only] with their lip service but they remove their heart far from Me, and their reverence for me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning]”

God considers the kind of worship or reverence we give to Him. Sometimes what we call worship or “serving the Lord” is actually not one. On teaching on the kind of worship God expects from us, Jesus in the book of John said worship must be in spirit and in truth.

See John 4:23-24: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Thus, what characterizes true worship is the spirit and truth. God can’t be worshipped in the flesh. It is by our spirit that we are able to contact God and not with our senses. There are many things people do in the flesh today when it comes to worship. When it comes to worship, adoring and exalting the name of God, any means by which you want to express this must be from your heart (spirit). Don’t dance and just sing in the flesh. Let it be under the inspiration of the spirit.

Also, for our serving God to be genuine, it must also be within the context of God’s word. Thus, if you don’t know the word you are much likely to just do anything in the name of serving God.

When worship or serving God is genuine, it is inspired by the love for God and faith in God rather than the want for things. One hard truth is that God sees your heart and He knows the very motivation behind every action of yours. In fact, he sees it when you are living a lie or pretending to be serving or worshipping him. So if for the want of things you “falsify” worship or you are serving God, He knows it. Isaiah prophesied of such false worshippers. See Isaiah 29:13: The Lord says, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…”

For you not to walk in deception, know what is really behind your “worshipping or serving the Lord”. True worship is by the spirit. It is from a heart of love and faith. So only folks who are born again or have fully surrendered their lives to the Lord, are the ones who can genuinely serve or worship the Lord. Attending church does not necessarily mean that you are serving or worshipping God.

Be sure you are born again and living by the word. That’s the starting point of true worship.
Read: Isaiah 29:13

PUT YOUR BODY UNDER CONTROL

1 Corinthians 9:27 “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.”

Keeping your flesh or body under control is one of the greatest things you must do to get to your glorious destination in your walk with God. The Bible teaches that man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body. The bible calls the body as our earthly suit, jacket or tent that we live in (2 Corinthians 5:1). Thus, the real you is your spirit. One author calls it “the you in you”. You must understand that being born again only makes your spirit anew. This does not change your body in any way.

It is important to know that salvation does not and will not change your body, i.e., your skin colour, the shape of your body, the desires and the feelings in your body. What it does is to make your spirit man new and alive in God so as to lead the flesh to live in sync with the new nature of the regenerated human spirit.

Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 that, “…I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away”. Notice the word “I” referring to his spirit which he distinguished from his body. Meaning that living the life of the spirit involves bringing your body under subjection to the will of God. In other words, you must let your spirit master power over or dominate your flesh.
When you allow your body or flesh to do as it pleases you will “self -destruct”, not only that, you will be a castaway, disqualified and rejected.

You have to know this truth that since the flesh is not redeemed yet it will always want anything that gives it pleasure whether that is the will of God or not. Allowing yourself to be carried away into “pleasure-seeking ventures” of the flesh will let you miss the mark.
You see, after born again, you have to battle with the flesh to let it follow the ways of God. Know that bringing your body under control is a fight. Your spirit is one side and the flesh or the body also on the other side. But you have only one option that is to fight and win. This is a daily war that you must fight until the redemption of the body (Romans 8:23). Every one of us is into this battle. In fact, the rich, the poor, the pastors, church members, men, women, new believers and matured Christians are all in this battlefield. No one is exempted from this battle with the flesh.

Don’t get confused when you see this war in your life. Don’t wonder whether you are born again. Yes, sometimes the desires the flesh brings on board are strange, or seriously “out of order”. But the truth is, you are still a child of God. You only have to fight it off. Let the spirit in you master power over it.
Read: 1Corinthians 9:24-27

INVEST INTO YOUR LIFE

John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit”
Life is not all about having fun and life is also not a game. Life is business! In fact, life is a serious engagement. Until you understand life from this perspective you are bound to fail because you will leave out key principles that will ensure your success.

One principle that will make you succeed in life is “investing”. You must invest in your life. One fact of life that can’t be denied is that your level of investment in life will determine your level of ultimate attainment. This truth cuts across the two realms of life, that is, the natural and the spiritual.
For instance, people who devote their time to study in the area of their academics or career end up doing well in the natural world and people who spend time praying, fasting and studying the word of God, also become stalwarts in spiritual things.

You see, although investment is sacrificial and involves great discipline, its results outweigh the sacrifices made. This is why you must not take it lightly when investing in your life. This you can do in many ways. Constant study, determination, perseverance and self-control are but a few virtues that would enable an individual who wants to invest in his life.
Also, Jesus said in John 12:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” This verse gives us the principle of investment. It teaches that, to have something you must be willing to sow something. In other words, if you don’t give out something, you are surely going to receive nothing. You must invest. That is your corn of grain falling into the ground.
You must invest in your spiritual life and the things that also concern you naturally before you can have a place of prominence.
Don’t take life for a joke. Take actions that will lift you from one level to another.

Read: John 12:24

PROSPERITY BY HARD WORK

It is the will of God that all His children prosper. But this does not just happen. God has
ordained that we prosper by working as Christians. That is why the Bible teaches that the
diligent soul will be made fat and prosperous.

See Proverbs 13:4, “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of
the diligent shall be made fat” The New Living Translation of the Bible renders it more
clearly, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper”.
Thus, it is not only a fact that prosperity comes by diligence, but it is also the truth since
God’s word says so. Without diligence or hard work, many things won’t go well in your
life. Most things will work well if only people will be diligent in their endeavours. As a
Christian, you must know that God has blessed you with the ability to work things out.
Thus, anytime you deploy your strength to work hard at things it receives the blessings
of the Lord (Deuteronomy 28:11). Your input receives a supernatural touch to produce
tremendous results.

In Genesis 1 and 2, the Bible reveals the work to rest ratio of God. He worked six days
putting things in great order and rested only on one. The ratio was therefore six to one.
Genesis 2:2 says “And on the seventh God ended his work which he had made; and he
rested on the seventh from all his work which he had made”

Therefore after six days of hard work, the Bible described the results as “very good”.
Genesis 1:31 says “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth”
Things become “very good” when you work. Remember that, before then, the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep (Genesis 1:1). So
working on things to make them better is one attribute that the Bible revealed about God
in creation. That is one more reason why the hardworking person will be made fat,
increase, prosper and see something very good in life because that’s the divine order
from creation. Therefore anytime you practice laziness, you deny yourself of great
blessings in life.

Refuse to be lazy in life. Refuse to do little when it is possible to work harder to make
things better.
Remember that laziness can’t give you a beautiful destination. Work hard in all the
endeavours of your life and you will see “very good” things in your life.
Read: Proverbs 12:24

Force your way into the Kingdom of God.

Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it”
It is important to know that there are things worth getting or fighting for in life. One of such is making your way into God’s kingdom by taking hold of the gospel.

The gospel is God’s approved route to accessing the kingdom and all that it is. Thus, until you receive and believe the gospel you will miss out on what God has for you.

Our opening text, shows the attitude that a person must have to gain access into the Kingdom. Luke 16:16 says “…since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it”. Meaning that you need to be active and aggressive to take hold of the gospel for you to enter the kingdom.

You see, someone forcefully trying to occupy a space or to take a hold on something tells that, there are adversaries. Similarly, when it comes to you accessing God’s kingdom through the gospel, the presence of opposition – the devil, and the evils of the world, calls for some degree of seriousness.

You being forceful means that you are ready to ward off anything that wants to resist your flow in the kingdom.
Be zealous when it comes to making it into the kingdom. A causal approach to the things of God won’t produce any much benefit.

Read: Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”

Study: Galatians 4:18

Make choices with eternity in mind

Hebrews 11:24-25 says “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin”.
Choices are integral part of life. Your every day life comes with making several choices.

In making choices in life, you sometimes have to choose between good and evil, what seems “good” and what is actually godly or good. This is the more reason why you must make choices with eternity in mind. In other words, you must consider whether the choice(s) you are making will bring an eternal value or gain, or it will bring you eternal loss.

Our opening text talks about how Moses after he had come of age made a choice to suffer for the Lord and with the Lord’s people. The bible says that he had eternity in mind. See Hebrews 11:26 ” He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Making of choices is a great matter. It can ruin your life when you make a mistake about it. This is because every choice you make comes with consequences- good or bad.
Let God’s word and the Holy Spirit guide you when it comes to making choices.

Remember that, it pays to make a good choice.

Read: Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death”

Study: Hebrews 11:24-26

Followers

Hebrews 6:12 says “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises”
One key to success or fulfilling your God given purpose is in following someone who has preceded you and is graced, anointed, of a positive character and has the ability alongside the willingness to also help you make it.
Simple as you will think of it or see it, it has been the method that has brought many people to the lime light in life.

The call of the disciples who will later become apostles of the Lord was all because of following Jesus.
See Matthew 4:19 “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”

The Bible also reveals how by the art of following, Elisha, Ruth, Joshua, Lot, Paul, Timothy, Titus etc. made it in their days.

You see, following someone to be imparted characterwise, trained, guided, coached, mentored, is not an easy thing. It requires hardwork. That is why the bible says don’t be slothful.

It is undeniable that the art of following will cost you but pay off greatly. When it comes to following the people God brings your way to help you, you need to make time to follow, you need to be consistent, you need to sacrifice, you need to show great respect to them, you need to be zealous about their input into your life, and you need to live out what they impart.

Never take lightly this “art of following”.
Remember that, the less is always blessed by the greater. Thus, humble yourself enough and follow.

Read:1 Thessalonians 1:6 “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost” .

Study:1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”

Don’t draw back

Hebrews 10:39 says “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved”.
When it comes to following the Lord or being a Christian, you must know that it is a lifelong pursuit. It should not be something you start later to draw back.

You see, despite the glorious end that awaits every child of God, our walk here on earth comes with some challenges. These tough moments must not let you draw back.
James 1:12 says “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him”

Don’t draw back in loving and following the Lord. No matter what you will be faced with in life stay strong and keep serving the Lord.
It may seem like nothing is actually working, but still continue in the faith. Never make quitting an option or don’t put up an exit strategy.

Read: Matthew 10:22 “And you will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but it is the one who has patiently persevered and endured to the end who will be saved”

Study: 2 Timothy 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”

Don’t reward good with evil

Proverbs 17:13 says “Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good”.
It is an undeniable truth that as you journey through life God appoints other people to be a blessing to you. These people do you good and contribute greatly to your success story in life. As a recipient of this blessing, God wants you to also do good to these persons in return.

No matter what you think or the justification you may want to put forth, you are not permitted to do evil to those who have sown goodness in your life.
You see, if God even expects us to do good to those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), then more noble stuff will be required of us when it comes to people that have done us good.

Don’t forget that it is an act of ingratitude to reward good with evil. Instead of being ungrateful, you must be thankful or show appreciation in return for all the good things done for you.

You see, not returning evil for the good done for you means that you must be thoughtful. Thus, every action of yours must come with concern and honour for those that God used to help, guide and bless your life.

Do good to all men, especially those that God used to build you up and never give evil for good.

God is watching!
Read: Galatians 6:10 “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith”

Study: Genesis 39:4-9