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

  So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat! Genesis 39:6 Shine Joseph’s brothers so despised him that they sold him to Midianite merchants who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave to a man named Potiphar. Joseph’s whole world was turned upside down. He went from being his father’s favorite son with dreams of leadership to being a slave in a foreign country. He didn’t speak the language, and his freedom was gone. You would think he would be bitter, but you never read that Joseph complained. He kept being his best even though everything was going wrong. So much so that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of all his household. Joseph wasn’t just goingthrough it, he was growing through it. His attitude was: “God, this is where You have me, so I’m going to shine. It’s unfair, but I know You’re here with me.” When you do the right thing when the wrong thing is h...

  Don’t Park Here! Scripture: Philippians 3:13–14 “.. . But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ” (Philippians 3:13-14) I entered a parking lot and spotted a sign in front of a couple of parking spaces that said, “DON’T PARK HERE! I got the message. I moved on. This is what God wants us to do in our everyday life. We are to learn from the past, move on, and strain to meet the goals and objectives he has for us. Many people make the mistake of parking in front of their failures and/or disappointments. To do so is crippling. Instead of parking in front of our failures, we must accept the fact that our circumstances and relationships are always in a state of flux, and we must respond to the changes and challenges that come our way. To overcome challenges, we need the power of the cross to operate in our life. The best antidote for depression and...

  My troubles turned out all for the best—they forced me to learn from your textbook. Psalm 119:71 Why the Closed Door? One of the hardest things for us is to let things go. We fight closed doors, get discouraged over who walked away, bitter over the dream that didn’t work out. You have to realize that God stopped it, not to make your life miserable, but to take you into something bigger, better, more fulfilling. The trouble, the disappointment, the loss, or the rejection may not make sense right now, but later on you’ll see what God was up to. If He hadn’t closed that door, you wouldn’t have stepped into the new level. If He hadn’t caused that person to move on, you wouldn’t have met that divine connection. If that opportunity didn’t dry up, you wouldn’t have discovered the potential in you. Trust Him when you don’t understand. It’s not random. It’s a necessary ending. God is your doorkeeper. He opens and closes doors to push us in our purpose and to learn lessons we wouldn’t lear...

  God Working in Your Life? Scripture: Philippians 2:12–13 “… —continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. ” (Philippians 2:12-13) Have you ever tried to push a car by yourself when the engine was not working? For most of us it is not possible to do so in our own strength. The key to living the Christian life is trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to live through us, and not trusting in ourselves to do so. The flesh in itself does not have the power to live the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is like the engine in a car. The car will not move without the engine working. The Holy Spirit is like the battery in a flashlight. Unless the battery is working, there is no light. For the car to move and serve its purpose, the engine must be turned on. For the flashlight to shine a light beam, the battery must be engaged. For us to live the Christian life, we must be filled with the ...

  RISE TO THE LEVEL OF FAITH I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. —2 Timothy 4:7 The “good fight” Paul speaks of is the war of faith. Every day, we can either respond to life’s challenges in faith, or in fear and doubt. The choice is ours. We must warfare to rise to the level of faith by reminding ourselves of God’s goodness and the integrity of His Word. We must not yield to the powerful forces of darkness, disregarding the promises of the Scriptures. If we do, we will find ourselves in a state of doubt and confusion, leading to depression and destruction. So our challenge is to approach every day waging the good fight of faith. You see, every time I’m faced with a problem, I can either panic, complain, and speak words of bitterness, or I can say, “Thank You, Father God, for using everything in my life to bring me to the next level in You. Thank You for this difficulty.” James and Peter taught us that we should rejoice when we encounter ...

  The WOW Factor of God’s Word Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10 “ For thus says the Lord: … I will visit you and perform My good word toward you…. ” (Jeremiah 29:10) If we could only grasp these truths, truly trusting in the promises that God performs for those who cultivate a close relationship with him, we surely would have a greater impact on our world! God’s Word is living and powerful. It works in those who receive it and trust in it. Jesus promised he would not leave us as orphans. He also promised that He and the Father would make their home with us if we love him by obeying his commandments. These verses and others indicate that he will visit us, and perform his good word toward us as we cultivate our relationship with him. These are great passages for our Spiritual M & Ms (Memorize & Meditate). We can  soak  our heart in them,  sow them to the Spirit in our prayer life, and  flow with the Spiri t as he imparts his life to our mortal body. I wonder what...

  Then he built an altar there and named it El-Elohe-Israel (Mighty Is the God of Israel). Genesis 33:20 The Mighty God After Jacob spent twenty years estranged from his brother, Esau, he decided to return home with his family. Jacob had deceived his father into giving him the family blessing that belonged to Esau, and Esau had threatened to kill him. Jacob didn’t know how Esau would react to his return, but when he saw Esau coming with four hundred men, I’m sure Jacob thought he was a dead man. But Esau hugged and kissed him. Both men had tears running down their cheeks, and Esau welcomed Jacob’s wives and children. This was something greater than Jacob ever imagined, and his response was to build an altar and name it El-Elohe-Israel, “the mighty God of Israel.” You have had times when you knew that what happened was the mighty God at work. It might have been freeing you from an addiction or a broken relationship. Build your altars of thankfulness for what He’s done, and be encour...

The Masks Money Wears Scripture: Mark 4:19 “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ” (Mark 4:19) In  Kingdom  of God, we discuss money because Jesus had a lot to say about money and the dangers associated with it. And money is dangerous, like a rattlesnake. It can be so deceitful. Jesus tells us that our excessive concern for money can choke the Word, keeping us from bearing fruit. This happens when we think so much about money that we fail to allow the Word of God to take root. Money can wear many “masks.” Excessive worrying about money is one mask that can hinder us from developing our relationship with God. Another mask might be an unhealthy desire for money—an assumption that we’ll be satisfied if we have a lot of money. The mask of desiring the things money may provide can also choke the Word from being effective in our life. If we allow money to control us in this fashio...

  A Needy World The people of Sodom were very evil and sinful to G-d.(Genesis 13:13.) They were souls of Tohu, desiring complete independence from one another. (Rabbi Shalom Dovber of Lubavitch) From a letter of the Rebbe to an Israeli professor: You write that the  geulah  cannot be complete until “there will no longer be needy people upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 15:11) and all people will work collectively with shared responsibility so that there will be no distinctions of poor and rich. I do not agree. Human nature is such that we only feel fully satisfied when we are able to help someone else. And that is only possible when one person is rich and another is poor. Yet there is no contradiction here, and you are correct when you say that it really is unjust for society to be divided into those who have and those who have not.  You see, as explained in the teachings of Chassidut, every created being, as long as it behaves the way it was created to behave, not only r...

  Make a Habit of Expressing Gratitude Scripture: Psalm 50:23 “ He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”  (Psalm 50:23) We live in a world where gratitude is a rare commodity. Most people spend their time asserting their rights or demanding more and more for doing less and less. The focus of the  Kingdom  of God  thinker is sharply different. The Kingdom of God thinker works to be an effective instrument of God. The focus is on  making an impact for the advancement of the kingdom of God , not on asserting personal rights and ambitions. This passage from Psalm 50 tells us we honor God when we express gratefulness. Not only does a grateful heart honor God, but it prepares the way for God to move in the life of the believer. When we express gratitude to God, we are also expressing faith in him and in his provision for us. This causes God, subject to his sovereign will, to prepare th...

  2 Chronicles 5:1–14 Introduction 2 Chronicles 5:1–14: King Solomon celebrates God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel by bringing the Covenant Box to the newly built Temple in Jerusalem. The priests carry it into the Most Holy Place, and God’s glory fills the Temple. You may wish to read 2 Chronicles 2:1—3:17 for a description of the building of the Temple in fulfillment of God’s promise to David (see 2 Samuel 7:12–13). Today’s Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 5:13b GNT They praised the LORD singing, “Praise the LORD, because he is good, And his love is eternal.” Reflect The Covenant Box was sacred to the people of Israel. What treasures did it hold? Are there objects in your community of faith that you consider sacred? How did God reveal his presence when the priests were leaving the Temple? You may wish to compare this description with Exodus 40:34–38. In what ways do you experience God’s presence in your life? Pray Lord God, I offer my heart as a dwelling place for your Spirit and a...

  Plug in to the Power Generator Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:5 “… that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. ”   (1 Corinthians 2:5) Faith operates only when it is placed in the right object. Power flows through a power line only when it is plugged into a proper power source. There is no power in faith itself. Faith is the power line that transmits the power flowing from the power generator:  God . Believers must place our faith in God, the source of power that sparks us to do his work in our world. We have no power in and of ourselves. For it is God himself who is at work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. According to Isaiah 26:12, it is God who does our works in us. This is a core  Kingdom  of God  principle: unless God operates in our lives, our efforts will fail to stand the test of fire in the future. A foundation built on self will burn up. But when we build our lives on the foundation of Jesus...

  Psalm 8 Introduction Psalm 8: This psalm of praise describes the role of human beings in relation to all of creation. The psalm begins and ends with the same verse, celebrating God’s greatness in all the world. Today’s Key Verse: Psalm 8:1a GNT O LORD, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! Reflect Reread verses 5–8. What do these verses say about humanity? Regarding human beings, according to verses 5 and 6, God has “crowned them with glory and honor” and “appointed them rulers over everything [God] made” and “placed them over all creation.” What responsibilities do such glory and honor bring? What are your thoughts? Pray Sovereign God, your greatness is seen in all the world. Teach me to be a faithful steward of your creation. With a humble heart, I sing praises to you and glorify your holy name. Amen.

  Will You Forfeit Your Future for Today? Scripture: Jonah 2:8 “ Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. ” (Jonah 2:8) When we decide to cling to worthless idols instead of following God-given directives, our lives can be shortened or destroyed. A self-driven life forfeits what possibly could have been a great future for the rubble of temporary pleasures. This principle is demonstrated over and over in the Bible: Esau  traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. Cain  failed to conquer sin crouching at his door, killing Abel, and was “marked” for life. Achan  and his entire family were stoned to death because Achan disobeyed the Lord by taking and hiding silver in his tent when the Hebrews attacked the city of Ai as they entered the Promised Land. Absalom  shortened his life by rebelling against his father, King David, when he attempted to usurp the kingdom from David. King Belshazzar , the last king of Babylon, had an untimely e...