THE WARRIOR NEEDED THE MAID

 Our scripture for today is the story of a "Great" man, a captain, a mighty man, yet a leper. He had all the necessary accolades, but he was a leper. I am sure he had concluded that he would die in his leprosy, until he came across a little maid. 

(2 Kings 5:4) (KJV)"And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel."

The Bible did not just call her a maid, but qualified her as "little". I am sure this maid was treated well in the house of Naaman. Though a maid, she could talk to Naaman's wife and give an opinion. That goes to some people whose subordinates cannot talk to them. 

Beloved, no matter how high you get in life, never get to a position where no one can talk with you or give counsel. She realized that what she was talking about is a no-go area - A challenge in the life of the Mighty man that ordinarily she should be afraid of ever talking about but the niceness of the mistress to her must have compelled her to offer the advice. She realized that no matter what she said, the mistress would look beyond her size to read her heart. Because of the way she had been treated, she felt compelled to also give back and that led to the restoration of Naaman's health.

Even Naaman, when he got to Elisha and was told to dip 7 times in Jordan, was vexed and refused. But his servants compelled him and he obeyed. That speaks volume about this mighty man.

Stop and think; those around you, will they look for opportunities to help you or to destroy you? The maid in your house, the subordinates in your office, the younger people in your locality, how are you treating them? It is food for thought. If you are wanting in this area, ask the Lord to help you and consciously work on it, remember, we all need each other. Life is all about inter-dependency. We all need one another.

Further Reading: 2 Kings 5: 1-14 Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Gen 31, 32 / Evening- Matthew 9:18-38

CREDITS: Daily Devotional from The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM)

NEVER DESPISE ANYONE

Don't look down on anyone. Be open to all, ready to help, for you never know who you will need tomorrow.

"And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water" 1 Samuel 30:11 (KJV)

In the journey of life, God is so humorous, he can put the answer you are looking for in the hand of a servant.

 Remember the story of David being robbed by the Amalekites. He had an assurance from God to pursue the enemy that he will overtake and recover all, but God never told him of the Egyptian on the way. Put on your imagination for a second: what would have happened if David had killed the Egyptian or even ignored him? Did God assure him that he would recover all? Yes, He did; but I doubt if David would have realized that promise if he had despised the Egyptian.

Child of God, no one is an island. You need people if you must succeed in your journey of life; so make it a habit to be nice. Be courteous, whether you know the person or not. There are times that riches actually come dressed in rags. The cleaner today might be the answer to a major challenge tomorrow. The child you help through school today, might be the doctor that will save your life tomorrow.

David picked up the Egyptian, gave him food and water and he became the compass to find the enemy. Let us flip the coin, can you imagine if the Amalekite did not abandon the Egyptian? They thought he was useless, they left him to die, but he became the link David had to find them. Learn from this story, never leave a wounded soldier to die. Your brother or sister may have missed it and appear wounded, lend them a helping hand, you never know what life will throw your way tomorrow. 

Don't despise anyone, everyone God has brought your way is for a purpose. Be sensitive and don't throw away your helper unknowingly.

Further Reading: 1 Samuel 30:10-20
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Gen. 29, 30 / Evening- Matt: 9:1-17

WHERE IS YOUR POSITION?

Position: Is a place where someone or something is located or has been put.

WHERE IS YOUR RIGHTFUL POSITION AND WHERE ARE 
YOU SITUATED PRESENTLY?  
  
You might be located in Lagos but might not be positioned to be in Lagos, to everyone there is a position assigned but when you don't know your position you will remain frustrated in your location.

 As Christian's/believers our position is in Christ Jesus no matter our physical Location.

"When you understand your position in Christ, then you will learn the art of resting in His grace. The work has been concluded in eternity, your part is to enforce it in the now. Don't let the devil hoodwink and deceive you. The symptom is not the sickness, it is a MIRAGE to make you drop your healing. The lack of money is not the challenge, it is a SETUP by the devil to make you change your confession and embrace lack. When you understand the trick of the devil, you can put him where he belongs and enforce your right."

Consequently, why not cast all your cares on Him (God) because He loves you affectionately, it's not your duty to think of how you can make welfare and provision for yourself rather, shift and cast them all on GOD because that's His duty and not yours!

Credits: Bishop. Mike .C. Okonkwo (MFR)

THE WORD OF GOD

Season Greetings;

" Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)To succeed this year, the first thing you must do is to study the word of God. The word of God has in it all the ingredients you need to succeed. There is absolutely no success outside the word.

Please don't follow the people that trivialize the word of God. If you must experience lasting success, the word of God must be the foundation.There are many people that take pride in the number of chapters of the Bible they have read. It is not enough to read the Bible like a story book.

Yes, it is great to read the Bible in 90 days, 180 days etc. but beyond a casual reading of the word, give attention to studying the word. Don't gloss over the word, study it. You can get other easy to read translations, don't just stick to the King James Version, you have other versions you can read. Take any version you are comfortable with and in the language that you understand most and study the word.

Remember the word is the lamp to your feet and light to your path (Psalm 119:105). Think of it, how far can you go in the dark without the lamp that gives light? Clearly you cannot go far without stumbling.

In the same way, as a child of God, you cannot go far in life without the word of God. Everything you need is in the word of God and that is why we say whatever the word cannot give you: 1. You do not need it and 2. It does not exist."
In like manner, hold steadfastly to God's word this year and expect all round new Things in your life.

Courtesy: Bishop. Mike .C. Okonkwo 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A "FAKE" AND A "REAL RELATIONSHIP

Have you ever wondered if you are on the right track with the kind of relationship you are in now? Just read on to discover what a real relationship is and how to identify and end fake relationships.
                           

Relationship:

Relationship is a connection between two or more individuals, groups, objects, concepts, even countries. It is also a behavioral attitude of two or more people or organizations towards each other. 

It could also be a connection by blood or marriage; A sexual or emotional association between individuals. Relationships might also require time and effort as well as willingness to study and understand the other parties involved to make it work. Life is all about relationships.

Real Relationship: This is relationship between compatible individuals who within a certain course of time worked towards and realized they can complement each other with their lifestyles, aspirations and Personalities.

 

Fake Relationship:

Is putting up an act of being in a relationship for certain reasons, this could happen between strangers who may due to certain purposes choose to portray an act of being in a relationship. It could also occur out of deceit whereby one of the parties involved is ignorant and feels to be in a real serious relationship and might later feel betrayed upon finding out the truth.

How to Identify a Fake Relationship

o   When the relationship is all about sex or just sexual

o   Bad changes in individual characters and attitude

o   Bad or no communication

o   Choice of self-comfort instead of love

o   Public show off or display of love

o   Ignorance or lack of knowledge of the partner you are involved with.

o   Lack of tolerance to each others Career or Profession.

If the above are your experience in your relationship then;

  Ending a Fake Relationship

o Have time to ponder and plan carefully your next actions

o Don’t approach the situation aggressively.

o Believe that someday there are real people who are ready for real relationships.

o Have a calm discussion with your relationship partner and call off the relationship.

o Take care of yourself don’t take let the break up weigh you down.

o Let your past experience only make you wiser but not a bad person.

I hope this was helpful; i will also love to read more ideas from you on how best to handle fake relationships.

   

FRUSTRATED AS A SINGLE LADY; DESPERATE FOR A HUSBAND WHAT CAN I DO?

Are you a single lady? Are you so frustrated that another year is going and no 
proposal yet? Do you feel time is no more on your side? Are you being pressured from parents, siblings and probably friends? Are all your childhood friends married? Do you attend weddings often hoping to be a bride soon? Well if your answer to any of the above question is yes, then read further:

marriage: God’s original purpose for every man and woman on earth was to be married (Genesis 2:18- 24) but God did not mean it will happen in the same day, time, year, season. For we were not born equal including identical, to every one there was an assigned purpose and destiny, to accomplish those destinies there was a specific time allocated to us individuals.

Anger is not the Solution to Frustration, God is.

Your Time Vs. God’s Time: You might have set targets, goals and limited time to accomplish those Set targets but no matter what we do as humans if its not God's timing it would not work. 
God also has an ordained time to bring all he wants for you to reality but mostly he needs a little bit of patience from you. 
Many times we become so impatient and try to do things on our own like forcing a man to propose to you, by becoming pregnant, giving financial support, influence of our family and background, but at the end we still end up being hurt and many become single mothers, divorcees which was never God’s plans for us.

Instead of trying to do things on your own and hurting yourself, let us try and be patient with God believing his word in (Isaiah 34:16), God can never lie it may only delay. Being single is no curse; see it as an opportunity to do all you have ever loved to do because marriage can be demanding.

Believe it you have times in your life to fulfill all that you were assigned to be on earth including marriage but you should not sit arm and legs crossed waiting for you prince charming, Make yourself useful by realizing and pursuing your ordained destiny purposes, Strive to be a better person, one whom someday your husband will be proud of.

Also while being single prepare yourself to be a married woman by learning all it takes to have a home and be a good wife, so eventually when it's your time and your own Prince charming comes your way, you will not miss him or even when married you will not have problems that will lead to divorce or an unhealthy Marriage.

As you wait patiently I know God will connect you to your husband, he did it for me he will do for you too, Amen!