Thoughts of Our Fathers (TOF)

Memorise: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

Read: Isaiah 55:8-13 (KJV)

55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.



55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.


55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:


55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.


55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


Bible in one year: 2nd Thessalonians 1-3, 1st Timothy 1-2, Daniel 11:20-35, Hymn: Sing hymn 4

MESSAGE:
The Almighty God has special and specific promises for His children. These promises are great and their operation is not dependent on the condition of the economy of the nations where His children are located. When the Lord says, “It is well with you”, He is not saying this because of the things around you. He is saying so because of the things He is capable of doing. Open Heaven 23 October 2017: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –His thoughts towards you. You can therefore rest assured, because there is no impossibility with Him. His thoughts and promises towards you are great and perfect, but there are keys required to unlock them. One of such keys is found in Psalm 37:37:


“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”


Righteousness is the key that ensures the enjoyment of God’s blessings in this world. The economy may be hard against other people of the land, but in the midst of the instability, God is saying it shall be well with the righteous. Isaiah 3:10 says,


“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”

The Almighty God knows how to make you experience peace in the midst of crisis. He knows how to lift you up when others are being cast down. He knows how to settle you while others are lamenting. This is because His thoughts towards you are not a function of the economic indices of your country. In hard times, there are lots of compromises made in business and also in practical Christian living, but the eyes of the Lord are fixed on us all the time, and He is waiting to reward us according to our works. We must ensure that our stand for God does not change even in hard economic times. We must remain righteous in season and out of season. Others may compromise righteousness for the sake of gain, but you must remember the promises of God concerning your life. If Joseph had compromised his stand when the wife of his boss seductively approached him, he would not have emerged a deliverer in Egypt. There are those who put their trust in men and connections, but those who understand the greatness of God will follow God’s rules for their lives, because they know they cannot get anything better than what God has in store for them. No matter what and who they have access to, the righteous do not trust in themselves or man. Their trust is in the Name of the Lord. Everything that the branch needs is supplied by the Vine. The Vine has the roots that bring all the water and nourishment that the branch needs. This is why Philippians 4:19 says,


“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”


Therefore, trust in God’s promise and hold on to Him tenaciously. He will not fail.

Memorise: And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 

Luke 19:8

Read: Luke 19:1-10 (KJV)

19:1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.



19:2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.


19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.


19:4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.


19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.


19:6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.


19:7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.


19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.


19:9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.


19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.


Bible in one year: 2nd Chronicles 24-25, Ezekiel 39:21-40:4, Hymn: Sing hymn 14

MESSAGE:
When you are genuinely saved, you will desire to find out what you can do for the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be a strong desire in your heart to reciprocate the Saviour’s gesture of love. Is it so with you? When I newly got born again, there were quite a few people around me who got saved at about the same time also. We all had certain characteristics in common, one of which was: anytime there was work to be done for God, we volunteered. We did it joyfully, spending our money, time and energy. Unfortunately, when you ask some people who claim to be born again to do some work in the house of God today, they will charge you double the job’s worth, while some unbelievers would just give you a normal bill. Such people need to seek genuine salvation!


Moreover, another sign to genuine conversion is the desire to right your wrongs. True salvation yearns for restitution. Nobody will experience genuine salvation without asking questions such as these: How much of my past iniquity can I correct? How much can I salvage of the damage I have done? These questions will come from your heart even without being taught the doctrine of restitution. This happened to Zacchaeus in today’s Bible reading. Immediately Jesus entered his house, Zacchaeus responded to His love with these words in Luke 19:8:


“…. Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from my man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Zacchaeus, even without being instructed, decided to give 50% of his wealth to the poor, and offered to return four times whatever he had taken from any man by false accusations. This pleased the Lord. Indeed, restitution pleases God. When you restore whatever you have stolen, and whenever you right your wrongs, it becomes a testimony to be genuineness of your repentance. When you make restitution to people you offended or cheated, it softens the ground for you to eventually present the message of the gospel to them. If you hold back what you stole, even after you claim to have been saved, you will retain the enmity of those you defrauded, and because of you, they may never respond to the message of salvation. Is there any pending restitution you need to make? Go ahead and right your wrongs. For controversial and very weighty cases, please seek counselling before going ahead.

Memorise: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 

Matthew 11:12

Read: Mark 2:1-5 (King James Version)

1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.


2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.


3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.


4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.


5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.




Bible in one year: Joshua 3-5, Jeremiah 42:18-43:7, Hymn: Sing hymn 4
MESSAGE:
While some people encounter God and ask Him for nothing, some others ask for crumbs while some few ask big. Also, while some people are ready to wait until their desires are granted, some others are desperate. Even though God has the ability to do all things, how fast your desires will be granted is often determined by your level of desperation. Desperate people do desperate things to get results, and so, the attitude of their prayer is usually different from that of those who can wait. In our Bible reading for today, when four men brought their friend who was paralysed and bedridden down to Jesus, they did not like what they saw: all the doors and windows were blocked and a big crowd surrounded the house. So what did they do? After studying the situation, these four friends observed that only the roof was free, and an idea struck their minds. They wiggled their way to the roof, tore it open, and lowered their friends into the place where Jesus was. The Lord Jesus Christ had to suspend everything else He was doing to attend to their friend. How desperate are you to receive your miracle? If you say you are desperate, where are the signs of your desperation? Desperate people break protocol! They refuse to wait where others would, and try out new measures that others may never think of. Desperate people refuse to be limited by what limits others, and they will do everything possible to get the result they desire.


When God sees desperate faith in action, He is most unlikely to turn it down. If fact, God allows such. Hence, Matthew 11:12 says

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”


If you are not desperate, you would be placed at the end of the line. If you are a bit violent, you can end up in the middle of the queue, but if you are truly desperate, you will be moved to the front, irrespective of how long others have waited to get there. Desperate people are persistent. They draw up the attention of other people in their bid to get what they desire. Although desperate people can really be a “nuisance”, they don’t care about who they inconvenience as long as they get what they want. How desperate are you for divine intervention over your situation? Cry out to God today and let Him hear the desperation in your voice and see it in your actions, and He will surely answer you.