HORM Devotional

46:1-2 ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea’

DAILY READING; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ezekiel 12-13; Isaiah 43

After Hurricane Katrina hit Long Beach, Mississippi, one of the amazing sights that was left behind was the Gulfport Church of God.  In the midst of the tragedy and chaos where most other buildings were destroyed, this Church building remained standing, unscathed.  Its miraculous survival is indeed a testimony of God’s divine protection. .

When the winds of the hurricane first began to blow, the pastor of the Church, and another pastor, together with their wives had walked around the sanctuary, praying fervently and asking for God’s divine protection. While they prayed the ferocious winds of the hurricane only kept growing stronger. As they watched the winds tear the big sign outside the Church to pieces, they still kept praying for God’s special protection over the church. At the height of the Hurricane’s fury, they prayed even harder.

As the waters started to pour in from the fierce rain, they did what they could to keep the water from coming into the sanctuary and kept mopping it up. When the storm finally passed, they didn’t grasp the extent of its devastation until they stepped outside. Seeing what had happened astounded them! Surrounding buildings had been ripped apart and many destroyed. But the church? Not a scratch. Miraculously God had sheltered the  church from the hurricane!  And in the aftermath of the devastation, the Church building now became a shelter and center for  distributing food to the victims of the hurricane.

46:1-2 says ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea’

We should always remember that the presence of the storm does not indicate the absence of God.  Right in the midst of the hurricane that leveled stronger structures, God sheltered this Church building.

Often in the midst of a storm, the tendency  is to wonder, “Where is God”?  But the Bible says God is an ever present help in the time of trouble. In other words, He is present right there in the storm. When you are a covenant child of God, you can be sure that He is always with you in every situation. He said in Isaiah 43:2 ” When thou pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:..’

Even those times the storm seems toughest and the night appears darkest, Jesus is still right there in your boat. Therefore don’t become  so aware of the storm that you lose awareness of God’s presence. .

You may not see Him, you may not feel Him, you may not sense Him, but He is always there. And when you cannot trace Him, then you simply trust Him. Despite the lightning flashes, the thunder rolls,  the dark clouds, He will shelter you and cause you to survive it all.

Indeed survival can be summed up in three words, ‘never give up’. That’s the heart of it really. No matter what comes against you, hold on to God’s Word and keep your focus on Jesus.  Indeed to overcome you must be rooted in The Word.

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” This means you soak up the Word just as a dry sponge soaks up water. It is The Word within you that births the faith that will cause you to triumph. Therefore, always remain  strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Choose to rejoice, knowing that God is bringing out the best in you.  The storm has only come to make you stronger. There is no success without a test, no victory without a battle and no miracle without a problem. But after  you have been tried , surely you shall come forth as gold.

Indeed God will see you through. His grace that has brought you thus far, will keep you. Fear not. Do not be troubled, let not your heart be shaken. Your God is faithful. He that keeps Israel never slumbers nor sleeps. He has not brought you this far to leave you. And no matter how the storm blows, God will preserve you, surely, the battle is not yours, but the Lord’s.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for always sheltering me from every storm of life. Thank You for granting me strength from Your Word in every situation. No matter what I may pass through, I know I am coming out stronger and better in Jesus Name.

QUOTE

There is something that God has placed within you that the world is eagerly awaiting to see. WORDBITE 222.

Ephesians 1:19–20 says: “I pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead…” (NLT)

DAILY READING;  Ephesians 4:1-16; Ezekiel 10-11; Isaiah 42

One of the most amazing stories of a transformed life is that of John Adams. He was part of the crew of a ship, HMS Bounty, which left England in 1787, to Tahiti in the South Pacific. However on the way, the crew revolted against their captain and took over the ship. They then put the captain and his supporters into a smaller boat and sent them sailing across the ocean, back to England, while the mutineers took the ship to Tahiti, where some of the men  married Tahitian women.

However, fearing arrest by the British Navy, they left Tahiti and sailed across the ocean to the small uninhabited  island of Pitcairn where they settled and began a new life. However, the men began to drink heavily and soon became embroiled in a lot of fighting. They began killing each other, until eventually a few years after, only one man, John Adams was left alive, among 9 women and about 23 children on the island.

John Adams was at a loss on how to lead the small community of women and children. One day while rummaging through a chest from their ship, he found a Bible and began to read it. The more he studied the more a strange and marvelous change began to come over him until his life was completely transformed.  The amazing thing was that, with no human guide to show him the way of righteousness, in a remarkable move of God, this  former drunkard and murderer  came to himself in a far country and learned to follow Christ. Adams lost no time in implementing God’s Word as the way of life on the island, until eventually everyone became a Christian.. The community held prayers day and night and fasted at least one day in the week.

In 1825, the British Navy did eventually find John Adams, but from the transformation they saw, he was formally granted amnesty. He continued to serve as patriarch of the Pitcairn community until his death in 1829.

It is truly amazing how God transformed the life of this former criminal, simply through the power of His Word. Indeed God’s Word is life-changing, with the ability to transform anyone that encounters it. Through His Word, God can invade chaotic situations and change things by His Spirit.

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void”. The earth was a chaotic mess, but when God released His Word, His Spirit moved in that confusing situation, and brought forth order and structure.

Today, the world indeed is in a chaotic situation. But while we hear negative reports about the current economic or social conditions, we must understand that we are not waiting for it to change or get  better, rather we are to change things through the transformative power of  God’s Word.

In the confusing and dark situation, it is time to say, “Let there be light”. It is time for us to begin to call those things that be not as if they were. It is time to declare the invisible. The power is in your mouth. You shall have whatever you say.  The truth is that while the world has been preoccupied with the pandemic, time did not stop running, as a matter of fact the year is almost rounding up. Therefore you can’t afford to continue waiting. While the world may be in a lockdown, our minds are not locked down. We have the mind of Christ. And instead of being conformed to the ways of the world, it is time to begin to transform situations by the power God has given us.

Ephesians 1:19–20 says: “I pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead…” (NLT)

Think about it! The Bible says that God has given us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Indeed God’s incredible power is available to us, to change contrary situations. Let us therefore begin to engage this power by releasing God’s Word into dead situations around us. It is our year to see glory. Indeed God is getting ready to turn things completely around for us. He’s getting ready to do something so new and amazing  that we will be a wonder to our world.  Suddenly His right hand and His holy arm is going to move in every chaotic situation and give us the victory. He is going to turn every mourning into dancing and put a new song in our mouths.

PRAYER: Lord, please enable me to meditate constantly on Your Word so that my heart can be filled with the faith I need to change situations around me. Through the power of Your Word, I know indeed that I have the victory in every battle in Jesus Name.

QUOTE:

Your heart needs to be filled with The Word of God to the point of overflow. – WORDBITE 22

Joshua 1:9 [NIV] ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

DAILY READING Ephesians 3, Ezekiel 8, Isaiah 41

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn was one of Russian’s greatest writers and historian.
After serving in the Soviet Army during WW2, he was sentenced to spend eight years in a labour camp for criticizing the Nation’s leader, Josef Stalin. He was  imprisoned at the infamous Gulag labor camp where he had to work day after day, in rain and snow, throughout summer and winter.  Backbreaking labor and slow starvation filled his days.  After suffering many days of despair in the death camp,  Aleksander  fell  into despair and discouragement and decided he wanted to die. However, a fellow prisoner encouraged him to focus on the cross of Jesus. Drawing strength from Christ’s sacrifice, Aleksander was again filled with the hope to go on. Later, when he was released from prison, he committed himself to writing books that would encourage others in their times of despair, to give them the faith and hope to persevere.
His books were often in high demand, and he sold tens of millions of copies.
In 1970 he was awarded the Noble Prize for literature, for the great impact his writing has made..

Joshua 1:9 (NIV) says ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

People often give up on the great destiny ahead of them simply through momentary discouragement. For instance, there were many who started this year with great zeal and passion and vision, but with the many unexpected challenges and obstacles encountered so far, dispair has set in and they now feel deflated. Discouragement is a stopper of men’s progress. It is what the enemy uses to distort reality and try to keep people from moving forward. Today, many people instead of progressing with their dreams, are now stuck with their fears. But the truth is that, when you are filled with strength from God’s Word, you can always overcome.
Whenever you face intimidating situations, learn to look up to God. The study of God’s Word and persistent prayers will always impart into your heart the faith that you need to excell and triumph.
The force of God’s Word gives you an inner acceleration that pushes you forward, no matter the challenges you may face. God’s Word is like fire and hammer, and when it resides in you it crushes problems to powder. Power from the Word causes you to run like a bulldozer over the obstacles on your path.
So if you are feeling any form of despair or discouragement today, just go for an encounter with God’s Word.
Whatever is trying to hold you back from moving into the fullness of God’s plan for you this year, can be overcome.
The truth is that there will always be a Goliath between you and your throne. However, your conquest will be a function of your boldness, based on strong faith in God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 7:16 says “Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh…”

Remembeing the mighty acts of God through meditation in His Word, causes faith to arise in your heart. And as you begin to make bold declarations through prayers, claiming the promises of God over your life, your victory will always be sure.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for granting me the victory over despair and discouragement. By Your grace I shall surely arrive at the glorious throne You have ordained for me this year in Jesus Name.

Quote
God protects and shields us when we are being led by Him. – WORDBITE 222

Isaiah 25:8 ‘God will swallow up death in victory; And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces;

DAILY READING             Ephesians 2; Ezekiel 6-7; Isaiah 40’

F. F Bosworth was a frontier evangelist, a pioneer Christian radio broadcaster and  one of the most successful healing evangelists of the 1920s. He was a man who greatly demonstrated the healing power of God’s Word.

However, years earlier while he was a youth, F.F Bosworth almost died due to his lack of knowledge of the power in God’s Word. As a young man, he was a jack of all trades and one day while he was working at one of his many “trades” something very serious happened to him.  At that time he was assisting a doctor in an operation on a young boy.  The room was so warm that when Bosworth went out into the cold winter air, he caught a severe cold that later developed into serious lung problems. His cough grew worse, and he lived in this condition for eight years. Finally, doctors told Bosworth that his was a hopeless case, and he would not recover. After receiving this report, he “pulled himself together” enough to make a visit home and see his parents once more before he died. However, the Lord had other plans. On the way, he wandered into a Methodist church where a meeting was being held. In this church, a lady told Bosworth that he did not have to die. She told him it was God’s will to heal him. She prayed for him and God’s power healed him. This experience revolutionized Bosworth’s life and set him on the path of the great ministry God used him to accomplish.

Isaiah 25:8 says ‘God will swallow up death in victory; And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces;’

It is indeed God’s plan to wipe away tears and bring healing and deliverance to His people.  However many people are being destroyed because they simply lack the knowledge of what God has made available through the Blood of Jesus. Many people are perishing due to lack of knowledge of the power of God.

Spiritual ignorance  can be likened to darkness, which is only destroyed by the light of God’s Word.  The density of your light will determine the intensity of your victory. When your Light is intense, it swallows up every darkness around you.  And the source of light is The Word of God. It is the entrance of His Word that gives light.

Hosea 4:6 says ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:’

Indeed many people today are victims because  they don’t even know that divine healing, provision, deliverance and protection are real. However, when you know the truth, you are set free.  God wants by His Word to swallow up death, sickness, poverty and everything that represents the rod of the wicked anywhere in our lives.

The word of God, just like by the rod of Moses will always swallow up every rod of the Egyptian in our lives.[Exodus 7:10 &12]

Psalm 125:3 says ‘For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of righteous.’

Indeed the Word of God will always locate and swallow everything contrary to the will of God for us. However, for us to appropriate this power and benefits, knowledge is the key.  One discovered truth from God’s Word can change your life forever. This is why we must diligently renew our mind through in-depth study of the Word. We truly have to become lifelong students of the Bible and addict to God’s Word  so as to enjoy continual victory. That indeed is the path to freedom.

PRAYER: Father please help me to always walk in the light of Your Word, so that I can continually enjoy the redemptive benefits of Calvary. Indeed without You I can do nothing, but through You I can do all things  in Jesus Name.

QUOTE :

In law ignorance is no excuse , as a child of God, failure is simply inexcusable. WORDBITE 222.

Isaiah 43:2 ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you’

DAILY READING; • Ephesians 1; Ezekiel 4-5; Psalm 150

In 1966, standing before the U.S Senate Internal Security subcommittee, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, shocked the gathering, when he removed his shirt to show his scars from years of torture. He pointed to 18 deep scars in his neck and the numerous cuttings and carvings all over his back and body. These were the marks he had received as punishment for preaching the Gospel. As an evangelical minister, he had publicly preached against Communism and as a result, he was imprisoned for nearly fifteen years by the then Communist regime of Romania. He was subjected to severe brutality and horrors, yet, despite all these, he continued  to preach even in the prison.  Sometimes Pastor Wurmbrand would be beaten till he lost consciousness. Many died in these prisons, but somehow his strength always managed to return. In the ensuing years, in several different prisons, they broke four vertebrae in his back, and many other bones. They carved him in a dozen places and cut eighteen holes in his body.

However what is amazing was that even in the midst of all these suffering, Pastor Wurmbrand  and the other Christian prisoners, would sing praises to God. They  turned the chains that bound their hands and feet into musical instruments, banging it on the floor joyfully as they sang songs of praise. Finally in 1965, Christians paid a $10,000 ransom to the Romanian government to purchase the freedom of Wurmbrand and his family. When they were flown out of Romania and brought to Norway, doctors seeing all his wounds and the scars in his lungs from tuberculosis, declared that his being alive was a miracle…. he should have been dead years ago, yet God kept him. He lived to be 91 years and died on Feb. 17 2000.

Pastor Richard was so persecuted simply because he refused to bow to the evil of communism. The truth is that everyone’s faith will be tested. Though we may not pass through torture or imprisonment, but situations will come that will surely try our faith. However, whatever we pass through, our resolve should be that God will be continually glorified in all things. When we continue to give God glory inspite of the trials, He will surely deliver us from every fiery furnace.

In Daniel 3,  the three Hebrew boys refused to bow down to the gods of Babylon.  As a result of their defiance of the king’s order, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  However, right there in the fire, the fourth man, the Son of God, showed up and delivered them from the furnace.

Today many things are trying to get believers to bow and conform to the ways of the world. There is pressure to adjust and to adapt to the culture and the dictates of the world. The world wants us to be ‘normal’, and act like everyone else, They want us to indulge in lusts, to manipulate facts,  to be immoral, indulge in sinful acts etc.

Non conformity to the world’s ways, and continuing to stand for righteousness often times attract persecutions. However no matter what you may face, always be assured that the son of God is able to pull you out of any fiery furnace.

In Isaiah 43:2 God says, ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you’

No matter what is trying to force you to bow today, refuse to conform. Rather continue to obey God and follow His Word. Even when you face trials, always know you are never alone. God is there with you and He will never allow you to burn. He will not allow you to be put to shame or be tempted more than you are able to handle.

In case you are already facing any trial today, strengthen your heart through in-depth study of God’s Word. Continue to stand strong in faith and continue to praise God in every situation. As you do, the fourth man will certainly show up in the fire. Jesus, the son of God,  will surely deliver you from every trial of affliction.

PRAYER: Lord, please strengthen me through Your Word and grant me the grace not to bow or conform to the ways of the world.  Rather through faith I shall continue to stand strong and obey Your Word at all times in Jesus Name..

QUOTE

True success is not verifiable in the fact a man has never fallen before but rather in the fact that he did not only fall but also got up- WORDBITE 222.

Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

DAILY READING; Galatians 6; Ezekiel 2-3; Psalm 149

Many historians believe that Abraham Lincoln is America’s greatest President by every measure applied. One of the most notable things about Abraham Lincoln was that he never drank alcohol or smoked throughout his lifetime. This is quite remarkable because he grew up during the early 1800s, when American experienced the greatest explosion of alcohol consumption in its history. It was a period that has been described as one of sad debauchery, because drunkenness became the order of the day among the American populace.

At that time, there was general acceptance of the idea, that alcoholic liquor was a necessity and it was called ‘aqua vitoz’, the water of life. People drank so much that all classes and professions were affected by drunkenness. The judge was overcome on the bench , workmen drank as they worked, and servants could hardly keep sober for twenty-four hours. When a house had to be built, the cost of the rum needed would be greater than that of the lumber or the labor employed..

In the cities it was widely understood that common workers would fail to come to work on Mondays, because they had to stay home to wrestle with the aftershocks of a weekend binge. By 1830, the tolling of a town bell at 11 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. marked ‘grog time.’”

However, although Lincoln was born and grew to manhood in this environment, he was a lifelong total abstainer. As a very young man he wrote an essay on the evils of drink which was so impressive that a copy of it was printed in an Ohio newspaper. His self-discipline was one of the outstanding characteristics that helped him to eventually become America’s 16th president.

Romans 12:2 says “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

Today, it sometimes feel as we live in a drunken world where the moral standards are swiftly being lowered. Daily there’s a constant pressure from the society to squeeze us into its mold and conform us to its standard. However, as believers, God wants us to stand out and live a life of excellence and live by a higher standard.

When we study the heroes of faith, one common ingredient we find in all of them is that they were uncommon in their generations. Daniel, David, Joshua, etc all lived uncommon lives and they were rewarded with uncommon blessings. The truth is that God’s anointing and favor are not common and are reserved for those who refuse to compromise, but rather are willing to pay the price to live different.

However, the decision to be separate from the world and live in obedience to God’s Word requires more than just mental assent. It takes courage to be uncommon. This is why we need to constantly renew our minds through the Word. Through the Word, we are strengthened with might in our inner man to say ‘No’ to temptations. We must understand that sin is a force, and it takes the power of God’s Word to break its hold. But as we constantly fill our heart with the Word, we will have the power to always resist and overcome the temptations that come our way.

Psalm 119:11 says ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.’

Indeed the more we hide God’s Word in our heart, the more our minds will be renewed, and rather than conform, we will be transformed to live exceptional and uncommon lives, different from the world around us.

PRAYER:

Lord, please help me not to conform to the world, but rather through Your Word, let my life be transformed so that I can live an excellent and exceptional life and stand out in my generation in Jesus Name. .

QUOTE

When you obey God’s instruction you are delivered from destruction. WORDBITE 222

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”

DAILY READING;   Galatians 5:16-26; Ezekiel 1; Psalm 148

Dr. Lester Sumrall was a pastor, evangelist, and missionary, considered to be one of the greatest  20th century ministers of the Gospel. In his book titled,  ‘Alien Entities. A look behind the door to the spirit realm’ printed by Whitaker House, is a very remarkable story. Pages  141-148 tells the story of a young boy named Cornelio who became a terror to his family after he became demon possessed.  The boy’s father, a retired U. S. Navy officer, became distressed when the behavior of his 13 years old son drastically changed. This boy began to fight, steal, and constantly cause havoc. Thinking he was keeping bad company at school, his father decided to practically imprison him at home. That was when Cornelio  then began to manifest a totally strange behavior.

One evening, with the doors and windows locked in the house, right before the eyes of his horrified parents, Cornelio suddenly vanished into thin air!. He was gone for a while and then suddenly reappeared. His parents almost lost their mind by what was happening. The boy then began to disappear regularly, even in the school. One day, when he disappeared right in front of his class teacher, she suffered a nervous breakdown and resigned from the school.

His distraught father, took him to a mental hospital and then to a correctional institution for juvenile delinquents, but all to no avail. Then as a last resort, his parents who were not Christians decided to bring him to the Church. Lester Sumrall who was the minister at the Church, prayed for the boy, taking authority over every demonic  activity in his life by the power in the Blood of Jesus. Immediately the boy was delivered and all his strange behaviors, including his disappearing act, stopped. Seeing this miracle, his parents gave their lives to Christ and became committed members of the Church. Their home now became a place where Christ was constantly glorified. The transformed  boy continued to fill his life with the knowledge of the Scriptures, and grew up to become a Christian who served God committedly.

Revelation 12:11 says “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”

Indeed where all else fails, the Blood always prevails. The  power in the Blood of Jesus supersedes every other power. No force in hell can resist the Blood and every bondage terminates at the invocation of the Blood of Jesus!

The  Blood holds the key to freedom from every yoke of bondage. Every time we plead the Blood, God takes over the battle and stretches forth His hand to deliver. And when God’s hand is stretched forth who can turn it back?

The Blood is the singular devastating weapon against the enemy  and he absolutely has no answer to it. The Blood contains the life of God and whatever cannot overcome God cannot overcome His Blood.

The Blood of Jesus is Heaven’s ultimate strategy against all demonic oppressions. By the Blood of the covenant, we overcome those invisible battles that seem to have no answer. Those afflictions that defy solutions can easily be dissolved by the power in the Blood. Unseen forces behind mysterious bondages are easily silenced by the power in the Blood of Jesus. The truth is that most of our battles in life are essentially spiritual and we need the mysteries of scriptures, to overcome life’s miseries. In these end times, we need to plead the Blood of Jesus, all the time. The mystery of iniquity is already at work in the world and we need the greater mystery of the Blood to overcome it. Every morning, plead the Blood over yourself and your family. As you do, it makes your home a ‘no trespass’ zone and ‘no fly zone’ to the forces of wickedness.

Indeed to live a victorious life in this end-time,  the Blood must be a major weapon in our spiritual armory. There is fierce spiritual war going on and we must be adequately armed to prevail. The weapon of the Blood of Jesus is an unbeatable weapon in battle, and by it we shall always overcome.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for the power in the blood of Jesus. Today I plead the precious blood of Jesus over my life, my family and all that concerns me.  Indeed by the power in the blood, I  have overcome in every area of my life in Jesus Name. …

QUOTE

The battle you are faced with today is a good warfare because God has already foreordained  victorious end for you. WORDBITE 222

Psalm 119:130  “The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple”

DAILY READING – Galatians 5:1-15; Lamentations 5; Psalm 147

There has been stories of humans brought up by wild animals. One of these is that of Marcos Rodriguez who was found in the company of wolves in 1965 in Madrid, Spain, by the Civil Guard.  Marcos who was 19 years at the time, had lived eleven years in complete isolation from human beings.

Marcos who was born in Añora Spain, was only three years old when his mother died during childbirth. After his father remarried, his step mother subjected him to cruel abuse and in 1954, when Marcos was aged seven, his father delivered him to serve an aged goatherd who lived in the forest. However the old goatherd died soon afterwards. Afraid to return to his cruel step mother, Marcos decided to continue to live alone in the forest. He lived among animals for 11 years in complete isolation from human beings before he was found by the Civil Guards. The Civil Guard removed him from the forest by force, bound and gagged, as he howled and bit like a wolf.

After the government identified his family, Marcos refused to return back to his father. He was later helped by some nuns and a priest, who taught him, again, the use of speech, how to dress, walk upright, and eat with cutlery until he could be  reintroduced into human society.  It took a while for Marcos to adapt to living again as a human being. He did serve in the military and eventually took up a regular job, but it has been hard to shake off the desire to be with animals. And very recently in 2018, in an interview with some major News tabloids, Marcos was quoted as saying he had been disappointed with human behavior and would have preferred to return back to living in the jungle among the animals.

We can take a lesson from the story of Marcos and realize that the company we keep ultimately affects our behavior. This is why as believers we have to be especially careful about the environment and people we are constantly exposed to. No communication ever leaves us the same and evil communication  eventually corrupts good manners. Whether we like it or not, somehow the character of the people we constantly interact with rub off on us and shape  our thoughts  and actions.

Today, spiritually, the world is like a wilderness with all manner of beastly behaviors going on right now. It is a place where sin is celebrated and many wild characters have become  the norm. And if we are not careful, through constant exposure, we could find ourselves beginning to  accept as normal some of these animalistic tendencies. Being constantly exposed to the wrong behaviors  on Television, social media or even in people around us, can negatively affect us.

We have to always remind ourselves that though we are in the world we are not of the world. This is why we have to constantly renew our minds through the Word of God.  When we keep company with God through fellowship in His Word, His divine nature  will be imparted into us, causing us to live as sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

The  hiding of God’s Word in our heart is what insulates us from the sin in the world. The entrance of His Word gives us the light we need to shine as sons of light  in the midst of the darkness.  Indeed when His Word dominates  our heart, our lives will become beacons of light drawing men out of the darkness, to embrace Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, please enable me to meditate constantly on Your Word so that my mind can be insulated from being negatively affected by the world around me. Thank You Lord for the grace to live as a shining example to people around me in Jesus Name.

QUOTE:

Your heart needs to be filled with The Word of God to the point of overflow. – WORDBITE 222

Romans 12:2 ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’

DAILY READING Galatians 4:21-31; Lamentations 3-4; Psalm 146

Dr. Lilian B. Yeomans was a well-known surgeon in the late 19th century who practiced in one of New York City’s largest hospitals. Due to her heavy work schedule at the hospital, she began to take small amounts of dope to steady her nerves and to help her sleep when she felt exhausted from overwork. Eventually she became so dependent on drugs— especially morphine—that she became an addict. She daily took 50 times the dose of morphine normally prescribed for an adult male.

Although Dr. Yeomans desperately tried to stop her addiction, she steadily grew worse. If she managed to go twenty-four hours without the drugs, she would go into withdrawal where she had heart palpitations, mental delusions and an inability to even stand. She made at least 57 attempts to break free of her addiction, but to no avail. She sought medical help and attempted medical cures but none of these made any difference. Dr. Yeomans came to the point where she was bedridden. Her doctors would not take away the drugs for fear that she would just die.

She had been born again and backslid, but now at death’s door, she began to seek God earnestly and began to read the Bible. As God began to speak to her through the pages of the Bible, her mind began to be renewed. Soon she came to the understanding that the Word of God had power to heal her. And indeed through God’s Word, she got healed of the terrible drug habit that had almost claimed her life. Her craving for drugs suddenly disappeared and her health returned. She never again took those drugs. Dr. Yeomans spent the rest of her life spreading the Gospel and teaching and writing about the transforming power of God’s Word.

There is indeed power in God’s Word to break any addiction and deliver from every affliction. But for that to happen our minds must be renewed. The truth is that our life is going to go in the direction of our most prominent and dominant thoughts. The Scriptures tell us “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Whatever we want to experience we must first see it in God’s Word and align our thoughts to it, before it can become our reality. When you begin to think divine healing, you will experience divine healing. When you begin to think prosperity , you will experience prosperity.

To experience the redemptive benefits of the new life in Christ, our minds must be renewed and our thinking needs to change. All things indeed are possible, but our minds need to be upgraded to be able to grasp them. It is only as far as your eyes can see that will be given to you. We can’t keep thinking the old way and have the new and mighty things God has in store for us.

If we want to experience God’s yoke-breaking power, then we must start filling our hearts with God’s Word. God has given us His Word and the power to break every stronghold and live victorious lives.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says ‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord’

There is transformational power in God’s Word. Renewing our minds through God’s Word will revolutionize our lives and destroy every yoke of addiction and affliction. Indeed the more we look into the Word, the more our lives will keep going from glory to greater levels of glory.

PRAYER: Lord, by the power from Your Word let there be a forceful turnaround in my life. Let every affliction be destroyed. Today, let Your Word bring about a definite, positive change of story in my life in Jesus Name.

QUOTE

It is only when you can see God in the light of who He truly is that you can begin to walk in the overflow of His blessings. – WORDBITE 222.

Romans 12:2 ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’

DAILY READING; Galatians 3:19-4:20; Lamentations 1-2; Psalm 145.

Rising above their nation’s past, Rwanda’s genocide survivors are teaching the world the secret to forgiveness and healing. Years after Hutu extremists killed about one million people in a devastating genocide, the Rwandan nation has continued on the path of reconciliation, mostly due to the willingness of its people to be transformed through accepting the teachings of Christ.

Denise Uwimana is a survivor of the genocide, who went through a horrendous experience during the crisis. She has written a book to tell her story and the power of forgiveness.

In August 1994, soon after the war, she had gone back to her ransacked home from where she had fled during the killings. She found her house emptied of its furniture, and many of her property stolen, even the crops had been torn out of her garden. The final straw came when she saw a woman outside her house wearing a dress that had been a gift from her husband to celebrate the birth of their third child.

Seeing the stolen dress, it was a struggle for Uwimana to forgive what the Hutus had done. However, she made the decision to conform to God’s Word and forgive the Hutu neighbors who had deeply hurt her, including killing members of her family.

The next day, at a gathering of the villagers, Uwimana was able to reconcile with some of these Hutu neighbors who had asked for her forgiveness. She told the gathered crowd that she had forgiven them. As a result of her decision some of the other Tutsi survivors, who were unwilling to forgive had called her a traitor. But Uwimana felt it was important to obey God, rather than follow her own sentiments, knowing she had only survived in the first place by God’s grace.

As difficult and as impossible as it seemed, despite all that had happened, she learned to co-exist with her former killer neighbors. By God’s grace she has been able to let go of the past and embrace a new life based on the Biblical teachings of forgiveness.

Romans 12:2 says ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’

It has been said to err is human, but to forgive is divine. Indeed there are times we can feel so deeply hurt that it becomes quite difficult to think of forgiving those who so maltreated us. Learning to forgive is one of the hardest, but yet most important lessons one must learn in life. As Christians, forgiveness is the basis of our faith. We learn to forgive because we are instructed by God to do so. Jesus says clearly offenses will come. No matter who you are, the one guarantee you have about life is that you will be offended at one time or the other. We must therefore always remember that it does not really matter why someone has chosen to hurt us, what really matters is that we recognize that forgiveness is a necessity.

Ephesians 4:32 encourages us to be tender hearted, not adamant, ready to forgive even as God has forgiven us.

We need to forgive others because we also need to be forgiven. We are not perfect and we often make mistakes. Everyone has offended God at one time or the other. Despite this, He did not cast us away, but allowed us to confess our sins and return to Him. Therefore as we have received mercy, let us also learn to show mercy

Forgiveness has less to do with the guilty person’s reaction to it. It’s about obeying God’s instruction. It is also a decision not to allow yourself to be victimized twice by giving the pain room to continue to operate in your life and affect you. Forgiveness liberates your heart from the anger and pain. It means you have moved on with your life and no longer in chains, nor continually victimized by rehearsing that issue or incident. The truth is that unforgiveness is life-destroying. It is the root of many terminal illnesses and in medical books it is listed as a ‘disease’.

While it sometimes seems easier to follow our human inclinations and hold people in unforgiveness, it is always better to conform to God’s Word and let them go. On this journey of destiny we must let go of the weights that try to trip us up. The lighter our hearts the faster we can move. Indeed when our hearts are dominated by God’s Word we will always conform to His will, elevate His Word above everything else, and obey Him at all costs.

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to always conform to Your Word no matter how difficult it may seem sometimes. I trust you are in control of my life, and I know that even now, You are working all things together for my good in Jesus Name. .

QUOTE

When God places His hand upon a man in life nothing can come against him, this is because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. WORDBITE 222