Oluwafemi .The Word of God is a light to my Path.

  Lord God, thank you for the gift of faith. Strengthen my faith day by day as I grow in knowledge of you and your love. Amen.

   The King’s Service “ For everyone who asksreceives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  (Matthew 7:8) There is nothing like being in the King’s service. When we realize what we are designed for and the particular works he wants us to do, we experience a fulfilling and abundant life. Our lives will truly echo into eternity as we experience the favor and blessing of God when we are in harmony with his will. How do we know this? “For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them” (Ephesians 2:10). We are God’s handiwork, special vessels made for the purpose of being productive. Our heavenly Father wants us to be engaged in the good works he has prepared for us. When we are spiritually born into his family, we become a new creation with renewed purposes and works to do for his kingdom. How do we find these works he wants us to do? We need to ask, seek, and knock,

  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 The Tree of Life One definition of hope is “the happy anticipation of something good.” If you’re anticipating something good, for a dream to be fulfilled, it brings you joy and gives you passion. When you believe that God is arranging blessings in your favor, you’re going to be excited about life. It will affect your attitudes, your relationships, and your productivity. But if you’re not anticipating anything good, if you think you’re stuck, that a problem is permanent, that you’ve reached your limits, that mind-set will drain your energy, stifle your creativity, and take your joy. You’ll just drag through the day as you endure life. God created you to have something to look forward to. Faith is all about believing that God has good plans for you, that He’s taking you where you’ve never gone, and that the best days of your health, finances, and relationships are still in front of you. That’s n

  Living Water “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”  (Jeremiah 2:13) From an eternal perspective, it is critical we depend on the right source for life. And that source is Jesus Christ. Because we live in a deceptive world, it is possible try and receive our strength and life from the wrong source. This passage from Jeremiah reminds us that only God is the true spring of living water. He is the source of life that sustains and endures. Just as in the days of Jeremiah, many people today have abandoned the spring of living water. Instead, they seek satisfaction from the perishable values of this world. The love of this world is the lure that can lead to destruction and the loss of eternal reward. Families get sacrificed for careers. At the end of a career, retirees do not know what to do with themselves. Some invest their time, talent, and treasure in the temporary

  “Now bring me someone who can play the harp.” While the harp was being played, the power of the LORD came upon Elisha. 2 Kings 3:15 Turn Up the Praise In 2 Kings 3, the armies of Judah, Israel, and Edom traveled through the desert for seven days to attack the Moabites when they completely ran out of water. They didn’t know what to do and were desperate, so they went to ask the prophet Elisha what God wanted them to do. However, Elisha didn’t want to have anything to do with the evil king of Israel. He was annoyed and angered, but because of his friend King Jehoshaphat, he agreed to do it. Elisha knew that being irritated and upset, he couldn’t hear from God in that setting, so he asked for a harpist to play. He had to change the atmosphere, and when the harp was played, God’s power came on Elisha, and he began to prophesy the answer. It’s amazing what God will do if you create the right atmosphere. When there’s worry, doubt, and frustration, that keeps us from seeing the goodness of

  Receive God’s Favor Listen to my instructionso that you may be wise, and do not neglect it.Blessed is the onewho listens to me, watchingat my doors day by day, waiting beside my doorway.  For the one who finds me has foundlife and received favor from the Lord . (Proverbs 8:33–35) What does it mean to you to experience life and receive favor? The world around you is looking for life in all the wrong places. In this incredible passage of Scripture, we learn what it means to find life from God’s perspective, and how to experience the promise of receiving favor from God. In order to receive God’s favor, we need to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are declared righteous when we trust in Jesus alone for our salvation: “For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousnessand with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” (Romans 10:10). The psalmist recognized that his success happened because of God’s favor: Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal moun

  But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. Genesis 48:14 From the Back to the Front When Israel blessed the sons of Joseph, he purposefully crossed his hands and gave Ephraim the firstborn blessing. The tradition was that the right hand always gave the greatest blessing to the firstborn son. Israel was saying, “Ephraim may have been in the back and is not next in line, but I’m shifting him to a new position. I’m taking him from the back to the front. I will give him what he doesn’t deserve.” That’s the way our God is. He has shifts in your future that will put you in positions you didn’t earn and didn’t qualify for. You may not have the seniority, but God will cross His hands and say, “I’m moving you from the back to the front, from not being qualified to suddenly being qualified, from being looked down on or disrespected to being

  Trust God! “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:9) Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the  Lord  his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.”  (2 Kings 5:11) Namaan, the Syrian general, was furious! When he came to see Elisha to heal his leprosy, he never imagined Elisha would send a messenger. He assumed Elisha himself would come out, call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over his leprosy and cure him. How mistaken he was! God had a different plan. Perhaps he wanted to break Namaan’s pride. Namaan was told to go dunk himself in the Jordan River seven times. This made no sense to him, and he almost missed the blessing of God’s healing by refusing at first to do as he was commanded. He mistakenly thought he could have dunked himself in a river back home that was, in his opinion, cleaner than th

  A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22 A Merry Heart Oluwafemi, not all sickness is from a lack of emotional well-being, but anytime you are weighed down with stress, burdens, disappointments, hurts, and worry, those negative emotions get into your soul and spill over to the physical. If you go around discouraged, defeated, and saying, “Look at this medical report. I’m never going to get well,” you’re helping that sickness. You’re giving it life, and you’re making yourself sicker. Today’s Scripture says that when you’re cheerful because you know God is in control, you get free from the bitterness, the guilt, the stress, the worry, and the anger that tries to dominate your soul. When you’re thanking Him when you could be complaining, when you’re laughing when you could be crying, that’s sending healing to your body. That’s when healing is released. How many diseases will go away—headaches, high blood pressure, digestive problems—whe

   God’s Peace May the Lord of peacehimself give you peace at all times and in every way.  (2 Thessalonians 3:16) Peace is a rare commodity in our tumultuous world. Many people would give almost anything in order to experience it. But so often, people look in the wrong places for peace. As Christians, we know the source of true peace is God. Colossians 3:15–17 tells us, “Let the  peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace . And be thankful.  Let the message of Christdwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdomthrough psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit,  singing to God with gratitude in your hearts . And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,  do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (emphasis added). Experiencing God’s peace is a choice. We are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. This is accomplished by being thankful and storing up the Word of G

  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth. Psalm 149:6 Highest Praise Too often instead of taking our praise to God, we’re taking our problems to Him. “God, I’ve had this addiction for twenty-seven years. I don’t think I’ll ever break it.” “God, these children are getting on my nerves. You’d better keep me sane.” “God, I’m working two jobs and still don’t have enough. I don’t understand it.” It’s easy to turn prayer into a complaining session, but remember, God already knows your needs. You don’t have to tell God everything that’s wrong, what you don’t like, and how long it’s been that way. It’s much better to take your praise to God rather than your problems. Your financial situation may not look good, but turn it around. “Lord, thank You that You are supplying all my needs. Thank You that You are Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my Provider.” You may not feel well, but instead of complaining, say, “Lord, thank You that I’m getting healthier, stronger, better every day.” Your child is of

  A New Way of Living “The  Lord  has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”   (Deuteronomy 17:16) Things change when Jesus Christ assumes control of our lives. We become new creations and are transformed into instruments for service to God. We abandon the old ways of doing things. We no longer try to earn our way to God through works. Instead of living the law of the flesh, we live by the law of faith. We become ambassadors for Christ. As we practice the concepts of S oak, Sow,  and F low,  our attitudes, thinking, and behavioral patterns change. The love of Christ compels us to live in harmony with the will of God. We don’t go back to our old way of living. We now live in relationship with Christ. But, it’s a battle, isn’t it? The old self doesn’t want to let us go. But as we begin to have God’s Word operating in our lives, we are transformed into living a new way.  Christ  in us progressively overcomes the self-life of our sinful nature. Today, ask yourself: What steps d

  PRAY Lord God, open my heart to hear your voice and to discern your will. Teach me to listen and to be guided in the way of your truth. Amen.

  A New Way of Living “The  Lord  has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”   (Deuteronomy 17:16) Things change when Jesus Christ assumes control of our lives. We become new creations and are transformed into instruments for service to God. We abandon the old ways of doing things. We no longer try to earn our way to God through works. Instead of living the law of the flesh, we live by the law of faith. We become ambassadors for Christ. As we practice the concepts of S oak, Sow,  and F low,  our attitudes, thinking, and behavioral patterns change. The love of Christ compels us to live in harmony with the will of God. We don’t go back to our old way of living. We now live in relationship with Christ. But, it’s a battle, isn’t it? The old self doesn’t want to let us go. But as we begin to have God’s Word operating in our lives, we are transformed into living a new way.  Christ  in us progressively overcomes the self-life of our sinful nature. Today, ask yourself: What steps d

  Lord God, you fill my heart with joy. How happy I am because of your presence in my life. You alone are God and I thank and praise you for your steadfast love and care. Amen.

  Echo into Eternity “Enterthrough the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. Hownarrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it!”  (Matthew 7:13–14) You and I have a decision to make. Do we want to choose the narrow gate and become a strategic kingdom investor, developing a life that will echo into eternity? Or will we choose the wide road that leads to destruction? If we choose the narrow gate, we will need to abandon the way of the crowd, and the multiple voices of the world that compete for our attention every day. We will need to walk close to Jesus. Jesus said that few in the world would choose the narrow way of salvation, but would prefer the broad way to destruction. When it comes to making strategic investments of time, talent, and treasure for the advancement of God’s kingdom, only a few choose the narrow way. It requires discipline to join the

  Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 2 Samuel 6:14–15 Keep Celebrating In 2Samuel 6, David and his men had just recovered the ark of the covenant. There was a huge celebration, with shouts of joy, trumpets blowing, cymbals crashing. David was so excited that he danced with all of his might. He was the distinguished king, but he didn’t hold back from celebrating the goodness of God. When his wife Michal saw him dancing and leaping, it says she was filled with contempt and criticized him for acting like a vulgar person. David responded, “I was celebrating before the Lord, not you. What you think of me is not going to keep me from being who I am.” David wasn’t controlled by what other people thought. When you’re honoring God, when you’re being your best, some people are going to find fault with you. They won’t give you their approval unless you lowe