₦airaland Forum

saint047:
Jürgen Klopp cannot believe it after Man Utd cross the ball into Fellaini's pass and take the lead. Obviously, it's against the rules.

macjireh:
.
oooooooo why manU win ds match seff....chaiii....
.
anyways Chelsea to win both EPL and FA cup....manU can look for any other trophy to win....dats their headache

Its actually ur headache

LESSON 9 29/1/2017

THE PARABLE OF TALENTS

Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 68, 69

Devotional Reading: 1 Cor. 12:1-11

Topic for Adult: You Will Be Held Accountable.

Topic for Youth: Use Your Talents To Glorify God

Topic for Intermediates: Don’t Bury Your Talents

Scripture Lesson: Matt. 25:14-30; Ps. 8:3-6; Prov. 10:4-5

Memory Verse: For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them – Matt. 25:14 (NKJV)



DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sun. 29/1/2017

Don’t Bury Your Talents

Matt. 25:14-20

Will the Lord say to you: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”? Or will he say: “You wicked and lazy servant”, and consign you to the place of torment? The men with five and two talents respectively didn’t consider the value of what they had to be too small to begin a particular kind of trading. They both look for businesses they could do with the money as soon as possible and began trading with their talents. As at the time of the return of their master, they have multiplied their talents. The man with one talent probably concluded in his mind that such amount was too small for any form of business, and was afraid of losing it, so he decided to bury it, knowing that whether he likes it or not, he must give account to his master when he returns. It is so unfortunate that his decision was a foolish one. We must know that there is no perfect time for anything, and no amount of money is too small to begin the journey. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” You don’t know what tomorrow will bring. By all means plan ahead, but don’t procrastinate. If you can get it done now, then get it done!

Point of Emphasis: We must know that there is no perfect time for anything, and no amount of money is too small to begin the journey.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus help me to take meaningful risk for you and the Kingdom in the name of Jesus.

BACKGROUND
Now Jesus told many of His parables as a way to explain what the kingdom of God is like. The parable of the talents is another one of those. And so the characters in the story represent various types of people in the kingdom. Who is this rich master who went away to a far country? He is the Master —Our Lord Jesus Christ. When He told this parable, Jesus was well aware that within weeks He too would go on a long journey. He would depart from the crest of the Mount of Olives and ascend up, up and away to a far land—to the distant heavens—and there take up His due place at the right hand of the Father. And in the same way that verse 19 tells us that the rich man would be away for a long time, Jesus knew that His return would not be as soon as some people might imagine. Yet Jesus also knew that He, like the rich man, would return to receive back His property and obtain a careful accounting from each servant. Now who are these three servants in the parable? They represent you and me, and every other person who is called to serve Jesus. They symbolise every servant of God who is born into His house, bought with His blood, and employed for His praise and profit.

NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: GOD HAS ENTRUSTED MUCH RESPONSIBILITY TO HIS SERVANTS (MATT. 25:14-15; PS. 8: 3-6)

Verse 14 says that the man “called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” This is an indication that God has entrusted much responsibility to His servants. While the rich man called his servants to manage his financial empire, the Lord Jesus has called you and me to manage His earthly kingdom. We have been given an enormous responsibility. We manage the earthly affairs of the Master of masters, the Lord of lords. God has entrusted much to us. King David in Psalm 8:3-6 expressed his wonder at how much trust God has placed into the hands of human beings. The servants were commanded to manage their master’s goods, wealth or property. Servants in those days owned nothing themselves. Everything they had, even their spouses and their children, were the property of the master. And even when he would go off to a far country, they had no right to say, “The boss is gone now—let’s take our money and run.”
Likewise, everything we call ours is really His. Even our own bodies are not ours. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” As servants of Jesus we own nothing. We are managers of God’s property. Our knowledge of the “mysteries” or “secret things” (1 Corinthians 4:1) is still the knowledge of the mysteries of God. Our husbands and our wives, our sons and our daughters, our houses and our land, our spiritual gifts and our ministries, our time and our talents—they are all His property, entrusted into our care until He returns to receive them back.
Now if we would only realise that we are but tenants on His land, we would be less selfish and demanding; if we would only realize that we are not the king of the castle, but He is the King, then we would not be so quick to run away from our responsibilities. In fact, we would ask His permission before we did anything. We must not ignore the fact that not all of us have equal responsibility. Verse 15 of our text says, “‘and to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability….’ ” Not every servant was entrusted with the same number of talents. One was given five talents, another two, and the third servant was given only one. What we discover is that God makes us managers according to our “manage-ability.”

PART 2: MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE GOT (MATT. 25:18-26; PROV. 10:4-5)

Jesus stressed that although God has entrusted something to each of us, some of us who have been entrusted with little don’t make the most of the little we have got. Servant number three was given only one talent to invest. We are told in verse 18 that upon receiving his talent, he “went and dug in the ground, and hid his master’s money.” Now at first glance, this doesn’t appear to be such a terrible thing to do. His master told him to look after one talent and so that’s what he did. He buried the talent for safekeeping. In those days, it was common to hide some of your money in case some invading army conquered the land and took over the banking system.
What did the master think of this servant’s logic when he returned? He was not impressed at all. We are told at the end of the parable that not only was he fired from his job, but the master ordered that he be thrown “into the outer darkness,” a place where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It’s scary to admit this, but did you know that many of us are just like that poor one-talent servant? Many of us don’t make the most of what we’ve been given. And because we don’t make the most of what we’ve got, even the little we have will one day be taken away. Let’s take note of behaviour and attitude that characterised this third servant and caused him to displease his master so much.

• The Fear of Failure: Upon the master’s return to ask his servants for an accounting, the third servant tries to justify himself, saying in verse 24 of our text that he knew his master to be a “hard man.” And then in verse 25, he says that he was “afraid,” and therefore went and hid his master’s talent in the ground. So we see that the first thing that characterised this third servant and provoked his master’s displeasure was fear.
He buried his talent because he was afraid—afraid that if he took the talent and invested it, he might risk losing it all and then have nothing to return to his master. For fear of losing everything, he did nothing. Fear is probably the most powerful enemy of success. So many people miss opportunities to do something significant with their gifts or talents or possessions simply because they fear failure. You may have been blessed with a natural ability to sing, but much of this talent has gone to waste because you fear you would go to pieces once you stepped on the stage. What a tragic thing it will be if you bury your God-given talent. Some of you have been given a naturally warm and loving personality. Yet you’ve never allowed yourself to get close to anyone because of the fear of rejection. And so you’ve buried a treasure. It’s buried so deep that most people don’t even know that you have it. Instead of warmth and love, they see you as cold or shy. Only you know that deep down inside there is something in your possession of great worth. We leave the treasure lying buried in the dirt.

• Laziness: Servant number three had one more tragic flaw. When the master returned to settle accounts, he indicated what he thought of that servant’s decision to bury his talent. In verse 26, the master called him a “wicked and lazy servant!”
If fear of failure is a great enemy of success in the kingdom, laziness at least runs a close second. It probably took servant number three all of five minutes to dig a hole and bury the talent. He saved himself all the time and energy needed to think through all the investment options that were available to him. He couldn’t be bothered researching the possibility of buying a house or a piece of land at a bargain price and finding good tenants. Nor did he even have enough ambition to make a trip to the bank and take the time to decide on whether to invest the talent in a daily-interest shekel account, or a fixed-interest foreign-currency account, or whatever. This man was just plain lazy. The Bible says in Proverbs 10:4-5 “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.” Proverbs 20:13 advises, “Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.”

PART 3: CONSEQUENCES IN FAILING TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE GOT (MATT. 25:20, 30; JN. 3:16-18; 2 COR. 5:10)

The consequences in failing to make the most of what you have got is enormous. The following were highlighted in the passage:

• Losing What You Have Been Given – The first consequence of fear and laziness for servant number three was the loss of even the one talent that had been entrusted to him. When his master returned and found that the servant had been negligent and had buried his talent, he was angry. He said in verse 28 that the talent should be taken from him and given to the servant who had 10 talents. Now in this parable, Jesus was not justifying taking from the poor and giving to the rich. What Jesus was doing was teaching a simple principle of life: If you don’t use it, you will lose it. The third servant not only didn’t achieve a profit on his master’s money; he even lost the one talent he was given to manage. This fearful and lazy manager had dug a hole, little realizing that he was digging it for himself! He didn’t realize that if he didn’t use it, he would lose it.

• Future Everlasting Darkness – If losing the only talent he had was not enough, then the third servant heard his master call him an “unprofitable servant” in verse 30, and order that he be cast “into the outer darkness,” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Here was the second consequence of his failure to make the most of what he had.
What could Jesus possibly mean by these harsh words? In verse 19 that the master returned to settle accounts with his managers “after a long time.” This speaks to us of Jesus’ own return. Yes, it’s been almost two thousand years and He hasn’t returned yet. But this “long time” is coming to a close. The signs are clear. And one of the reasons He is returning is to settle accounts. Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Jesus will look for a profit on his investment. Here Jesus is not talking about just our natural gifts or talents. Here He is talking about how we will deal with the greatest gift of all, the one gift that God has offered to everybody—the gift of salvation. The greatest gift that you have been offered is the gift of Jesus, God’s Son—the gift of the Saviour. We read in John 3:16-18 God has given us the one gift that, if accepted, will give us eternal life, a life in heaven full of reward and personal fulfilment. But if we reject it, because we’re afraid or too lazy to receive it and act upon it—then even the life we have now will be taken from us. In place of eternal life, we will be cast “into the outer darkness,” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

CONCLUSION
In the parable in verse 16 that the one “who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.” In another Bible version, we read that this man “went at once.” One thing that set this servant apart from the third servant was his faith. And there were two things that showed that he had faith. First of all, he took a certain measure of risk. He could easily have taken the safe route and buried his talents too. But instead, he took his money and invested it. Another indication that this was a man of faith was the fact that he “went at once.” Alexander the Great, when asked how he had conquered the world, replied, “By not delaying.” This servant didn’t waste any time in investing his master’s money—he didn’t want to lose even a day’s interest on that money, so he “went at once.” You are encouraged to go at once, God helping you.

QUESTIONS
1. How many servants were given talents?

2. Who was the rich man who went on a long journey?

3. Mention how many talents each of them had at the return of their master

4. What were the two major reasons servant number three did not use his master’s talent?

5. What was the master’s judgment on servant number three?

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sat. 28/1/2017

You Are Working For God Not Yourself

Matt. 25:14 & 20

The money that is given to the servants is not their own. “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them”. The money they earn with the capital is not theirs to keep. ”The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.” The servants are only stewards of the master’s investment, and it is the quality of their stewardship that the master seeks to measure. The servants knew that they were never working for themselves and you will not be an exemption. No matter your position in the church or how long you have been in the vineyard, the kingdom’s policy does not allow you to work for yourself as if you will not give an account. We should maximise the use of our talents not for our own selfish purposes, but to honour God. We know that we work in a fallen world. Because of the curse of sin, our work will be difficult. But we should feel satisfaction and joy from doing our best with what God has given us in the place where his providence puts us, seeking to succeed in order to honour him.

Point of Emphasis: No matter your position in the church or how long you have been in the vineyard, the kingdom’s policy does not allow you to work for yourself as if you will not give an account.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus help me to maximise the use of my talents to honour you in Jesus’ name.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Fri. 27/1/2017

You Will Give Account Of Your Stewardship

Matt. 25:19; Jam. 4:14

The Parable of the Talents is not about salvation or works of righteousness, but about how we use our work to fulfil our earthly callings. It is about whole-life stewardship. It is about stewardship that spans throughout our life cycle. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. No matter how long the time you spent here on earth, one day, the master will come and settle account with you. James 4:14 says “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Here Apostle James says no matter how long you spent here on earth is a little time. Why can’t you then make your life count? The unfaithful steward in this parable didn’t waste the master’s money so much – he wasted an opportunity. As a result, he was judged wicked and lazy. We are responsible for what we do for God with what we have been given, and one day we will be held responsible. What we hear from the Master on that Day of Judgment is up to us.

Point of Emphasis: No matter how long you spent here on earth one day, the master will come and settle account with you.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus help me to make every moment of my life count for you in the name of Jesus.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Thur. 26/1/2017

Your Wickedness And Slothfulness Will Be Punished

Matt. 25:18 & 26

“But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money… But his master answered him, ‘you wicked and slothful servant! … And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The kind of judgment that came upon this servant is a clear indication that there is no hiding place for the wicked and the slothful in the kingdom of God. But God will also judge men for sins of wickedness and slothfulness in the great and terrible day of his righteous judgment. Not only the wicked, but the slothful servant will be judged. The slothful will be judged wicked. Interesting thing is that the servant was not a waster. He did not waste the talent unlike what the prodigal son did to his inheritance. Here he will be judged wicked and slothful for refusing to improve his talent. His punishment was beside the loss of his talent, he was cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He had not turned the grace of God into wantonness yet for being unprofitable he is sent to hell.

Point of Emphasis: He had not turned the grace of God into wantonness yet for being unprofitable he is sent to hell.

Prayer Point: My Lord and my God, give me the grace to change in any area of my life that I am slothful.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Wed. 25/1/2017

We Are Not Created With Equal Ability But Have Equal Rewards

Matt. 25:15b

The most overlookedpart of this parable is the second half of verse fifteen: the master gives toeach servant talents, “…each according to his ability.” The master understoodthat the one-talent servant was not capable of producing as much as thefive-talent servant. We want to protest this as unfair. Yet we know this istrue from our own experience. Diversity is woven into the fabric of creation. Buteven though we’re not created equal in regard to the talents we’re given. Thereis equality found in the Parable of the Talents. It comes from the fact that ittakes just as much work for the five-talent servant to produce five moretalents as it does the two-talent servant to produce two more talents. This iswhy the reward given by the master is the same. The master measures success bydegrees of effort.

Point of Emphasis: The master understood that the one-talent servant wasnot capable of producing as much as the five-talent servant.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus, don’t let me miss my reward in yourkingdom.

Gptech:
Hmm, over $600.

Dz kind dollar price dey fear me... In naira biko

Gptech:
Apart from metallic build and bigger battery, we use thesame phones, plus the fact that you can't expand your memory, technically mine is better

How much that MI note 2 ft cost?

GrandMufti:
but the good thing is that those old phones still get support

Na d koko b that

GrandMufti:

Hope no b redmi 1 u dey use sha

Nochious123:
Noo..m a novice o..abg give me ur whatsup number

.

Gptech:
Me wen be redmi note 2 nko?

I still get hope

Me weh buy beta xiaomi redmi note 3 2years ago dn turn to old skool

Make I just port go MI note 2 jeje

Nochious123:
Nawa.ow i go come do pass

Boss, u dn see bootloader unlock?

adrusa:
I just took delivery of my Mi Max. I'm trying to install TWRP to get root, but it is not working. Can any of the Xiaomi gurus in the house help me? Thanks in advance.

GrandMufti:
sir enjoy your phone for now. you can decide to brick it later

A word is enough oooo

Gptech:
You either wait a bit and hope that miui 9 will offer global stable for the redmi note 3 mtk or unlock bootloader and port to other roms like eu roms, that's why I was looking for vosquare, I think he has done something like that before.

I dey here o baba

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Tue. 24/1/2017
You Have More Than Enough
Matt. 25:15

To one, he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away (Matt. 25:14). Have you ever wondered what a talent is worth in today’s currency context? It is hard to know for sure, yet whatever its exact value, in the New Testament a talent indicates a large sum of money, maybe even as much as a million dollars in today’s currency. We are tempted to feel sorry for the servant who received only one talent, but in reality he received as much as a million dollars from the master and buried it in his backyard. He was given more than enough to meet the master’s expectations. In the same way, everybody in the church today is given more than enough talents to make meaningful contribution to the development and expansion of the kingdom of God. Just as the master expected his servants to do more than passively preserve what has been entrusted to them, so God expects us to generate a return by using our talents towards productive ends. The servants were given enough to produce more – it is the same with the gifts God has given us. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Point of Emphasis: In the same way, everybody in the church today is given more than enough talents to make meaningful contributions to the development and expansion of the kingdom of God.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus, help me to be focused in putting my talents to use for the expansion of your kingdom.

Hello, who knows of any top electrical engineering company that I have my internship program?

And what questions can I be asked during interview?

GrandMufti:
try to lock the app in memory or allow it to autostart or disable restrictions on the app

I no want autostart...i go enter Chinese rom soon

LESSON 8 22/1/2017

THE PARABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURES

Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 75, 80

Devotional Reading: 1 Cor. 2:6-16

Topic For Adults: Sell All To Get Godly Pearl

Topic For Youths: Don’t Miss Your Unique Opportunity

Topic For Intermediates: The Kingdom Of God Is Better Than All

Scripture Lesson: Matt. 13:44-46

Memory Verse: Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field (Matt. 13:44) NKJV

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sun. 22/1/2017

Seek The Kingdom First

Matt. 6:31-34

Jesus knows that some people will become anxious about what they need in life because of lack of faith. He affirms that God has promised to provide for His children all their needs. He proceeded to tell us the vital thing which God expects from us. In verse 33, He charged us to make diligent effort to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness i.e, we must seek earnestly to have the rule and power of God demonstrated in our lives than other things of life will be made available to us. You must make effort to obey Christ’s command so that you can possess His righteousness, then God will provide you with all necessities of life. There is no need for you to be anxious for anything if you seek the kingdom first, He will surely provide for you.



Point of Emphasis: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.

Prayer Point: As I seek first your kingdom, good things of life for my comfort will not elude me in Jesus’ name.



BACKGROUND

Almost everything a man desires requires a task of keeping eye on the goal and making sacrifice to achieve it. There is a need of keeping firm our ultimate aim of our membership of God’s eternal kingdom by working sacrificially and give it all it takes to retain it.

The Lord Jesus uses a parable of the hidden treasures to draw our attention to the needful sacrifice we must make for the sake of the kingdom. Sinners must do everything needful to accept the will of God for their lives.



NOTES ON THE TEXT

PART 1: ILLUSTRATION OF HOW TO FIND THE KINGDOM (MATT. 13:44-46)

Jesus used a common practice in His time (verse 44) to draw the people’s attention and understanding to know how to find the kingdom of God. It was common in Jesus’ time for people to hide precious materials in the ground. In the time of war, these things are hidden in other to prevent them from falling into the hand of the enemy. Sometimes, the owner may die and not return to retrieve the goods. The item may not be discovered until when a fortunate person comes in contact with it. The Jewish law favoured the person that found the treasure as the owner, especially, when the person bought the fields.

Again, in verse 45, Jesus made use of example of a merchandise who found a godly pearls and wanted to make it his own, sold all he has in order to make it his own.



PART 2: COST OF FINDING THE KINGDOM (MATT. 13:44-46)

It is imperative to make deductions from the parable Jesus made in order to have a clear understanding of what Jesus was telling His followers about the kingdom. Firstly, the man who found the treasures went to sell all that he had in order to make it his own. This is telling us that the person who comes in contact with the kingdom of God and wants to make it his or her own must give up everything to accept the will of God for his or her life. Also, the merchandise seeking godly pearls was going about his work when he found the goodly pear of a great price. There was nothing compared to the goodly pearl that was matter to Him. This made him to sell all he had that he could get his utmost desire. There is nothing that can be compared to the kingdom of God to true believers.

The parable focuses on the same point as in the buried treasure. The latter was searching while the former came upon it and found it unexpectedly. It is certain that the man knew the value hence he sold all to obtain the ownership.



PART 3: VALUE OF THE KINGDOM (MATT. 13:44-46)

Jesus knows the value of His kingdom to mankind. However, He doesn’t want us to do something He has not demonstrated. He put our interest in His heart, in view of this, he left His deity and paid the supreme sacrifice on the cross to give us grace to have access to the kingdom (Phil. 2:5-11). What are the things that we should give up to find and inherit the kingdom? We must give up all the mundane things which give temporary gain but result in long term pain. We must equally show attitude of gratitude on what the giver of the kingdom offers. As there was nothing comparable to the godly pearls, nothing should matter to believers more than the kingdom. Thus, we must hold our citizenship of the kingdom jealousy and invite others into it. “Seek ye first, the kingdom of God every other things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33) The kingdom is not only exciting when discovered but it is precious. A man who finds it obtains a godly heritage unquantifiable. This goes for any genuine Christians.



CONCLUSION

The parable of the hidden treasure illustrates the kingdom of God which is a priceless treasure that should be desired above all things. One should acquire the kingdom by selling all and giving up everything that would prevent our being part of it. Selling all means that we must transfer our whole heart from other interest to the one supreme interest – Christ Jesus. Strive to be Roman 12:1 compatible. “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”.



QUESTIONS

How can you get the best of your desired goal?

In your own understanding, how do you consider the action of the merchandise in this parable?

Give a precise explanation of what Jesus was telling His disciple in this parable.

How can a believer show gratitude to what the kingdom of the giver offers?

How should we hold our citizenship of the kingdom of God?

Gptech:
Don't get you, you mean you don't get messages when you close an app like whatsapp on Chinese roms?

Yea....if I no open any app, nothing like notifications and I like it that way. Even when u reboot phone, no app is opened in background

U know, in normal Chinese rom apps don't open in background and also if u close an app like whatsapp it won't receive any notification until u open, but in European rom it's not really effective. Sometimes, when I close whatsapp I still receive messages, how can I do it like that of Chinese rom?


Cc gptech
GrandMufti

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sat. 21/1/2017

Seek The Kingdom Of God With All You have

Matt. 13:44-46

There are two fundamental truths that we can get from the parables of hidden treasures (i) the kingdom of God is a priceless treasure incomparable to nothing else (ii) the kingdom can be attained by giving up everything that could make a believer to be excluded from becoming a candidate of eternal kingdom. With these two truths in mind, you must transfer your whole heart from other interest and place it on Christ Jesus alone. There are two important action steps expedient for each person to take according to these parables. Everyone has to discover the treasure and then, sell all you have to possess it.





Point of Emphasis: The kingdom of God must be desired above all.

Prayer Point: Give me grace Lord to give up everything that would prevent me from being part of God’s kingdom.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Fri. 20/1/2017

Life Of Holy Worship And Devotion To God

Heb. 12:1-2

The love of God should prompt us to abstain from things that give temporary pleasure and everlasting pain. The race that is set before us in this world must be run by awareness that our greatest danger is to yield to sin, therefore, we must run with perseverance and endurance to live a life of Holy worship and devotion to God. We must look unto Jesus, our source of strength, love, grace, mercy and help (v. 2). Because of the joy set before you like Jesus, you must endure and live a holy life to the end of your race. Don’t yield to that temptation but resist the urge to do evil so that you will not be disqualified from the race to heaven.



Point of Emphasis: Lay aside every sin that easily besets.

Prayer Point: By Your divine help and grace, sin will not disqualify me from completing my Christian race successfully.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Thur. 19/1/2017

Keep God’s Commandment With You

Prov. 2:1-12

Believers can only live prudently by keeping the word of God in our hearts. Doing this also will make us to be victorious over sin (Ps. 119:11). We must allow the study of the word of God to be followed by prayer because study alone can make one a scholar but study accompanied with prayer through the power of the Holy Spirit will transform us spiritually (verse 3). It is only when we have God’s wisdom that our inner motives, desires and thoughts will produce godly life and power.



Point of Emphasis: Make God’s commands and ways pleasant to your soul.

Prayer Point: Help me Lord to always keep your commandment so that I will not become perverse.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Wed. 18/1/2017

Heed Christ’s Counsel

Rev. 3:15-20

Christ’s words in verse 15 describe the spiritual condition of the church in Laodecia. Perhaps you are lukewarm and have compromised with the world or may be you profess to be a Christian but your way of life doesn’t portray that you know Him. As Christ warned the Laodecia church about their spiritual wretchedness, so He is warning you today to turn a new leaf. This counsel is coming to you today because God loves you and doesn’t want you to perish but to live with Him in His kingdom. He is knocking at the door of your heart, open, and He will come in (v. 20) Don’t differ your reconciliation with your God till tomorrow because delay may be dangerous.



Point of Emphasis: Christ is requesting for your intimate fellowship.

Prayer Point: I will not refuse to heed Christ’s counsel, I restore my intimate fellowship with Him today in Jesus’ name.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Tue. 17/1/2017

Seekers Of God’s Kingdom Will Prosper

Isa. 55:1-13

An essential requirement for seekers of God’s kingdom is that they must repent of their sins and draw near to God in faith. Furthermore, the vital conditions for receiving the fullness of His Spirit is that they should continue to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness and power of His kingdom. Believers who abide in the word of God and continues to live in order to please His Creator will surely prosper. Also, you will enjoy the promises in verses 12-13 and others contains in the Scripture. If you have not been seeking the Lord whole-heartedly decide to do so today and you will begin to witness unprecedented breakthrough in your life.



Point of Emphasis: As you seek the kingdom of God, you shall go out in joy… verse 12

Prayer Point: Help me Oh Lord to prosper as I seek your kingdom in the name of Jesus.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Mon. 16/1/2017

The Kingdom Of God Is A Precious Treasure

Phil. 3:8-11

Jesus said “I am the way the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn. 14:6) It is certain that the way to the Father and His kingdom is Jesus Christ. Paul’s profit of the hidden treasure is knowing Christ. He counted all things but loss for the Excellency of knowing Christ. He suffered the loss of things valuable to him because of what is more precious i.e. winning Christ. He viewed his righteousness-being forgiven, justified and accepted by God as a gift received through faith in Jesus Christ. A Yoruba adage says “if a child sees honey, he or she will throw away cake”. The priceless quality of heaven made Paul to pursue eternity with vigour. The indwelling power or righteousness in the life of believers is what makes us eligible for God’s kingdom. In order for you to get the precious treasure of Heaven, you must do away with things that are competing with Jesus in your life. Note that the ground for our salvation and hope of righteousness is the death and blood of Jesus that was shed on calvary. The blood of Jesus is a priceless and precious treasure that gives access to God’s everlasting kingdom.



Point of Emphasis: Believer’s possession of eternal kingdom is a precious treasure that nothing can compete with.

Prayer Point: Help me O Lord to count everything as dung for the Excellency of having Christ Jesus in my life.

LESSON 7 15/1/2017

THE PARABLES OF GROWTH

Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 92, 94

Devotional Reading: Acts 4:1-4

Topic For Adults: Sow The Seed With Simplicity

Topic For Youths: The Invisible Transforming Power

Topic For Intermediates: Knowledge Of Mysteries Of God’s Kingdom

Scripture Lesson: Matt. 13:31-33; Acts 1:4-8

Memory Verse: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree” (Matt. 13:31b:32a) NKJV

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sun. 15/1/2017

They Are Spiritually Discerned

1 Cor. 2:10-16

The concept of the kingdom of God, its growth and all that it entails are spiritual things. They are best understood spiritually. In Jesus’ attempt to bring the concept to the level of His audience, he employed parables – which are earthly stories with heavenly meanings. This was supposed to bridge the gap between the people’s knowledge and the spiritual concepts of God’s kingdom. However, for one to adequately grasp the intended meaning and purpose of the kingdom, and to actually fit into it, one has to grow in the spirit. The spirit of man helps man to understand the carnal or earthly things. In the same vein, it is only by the spirit of God in you that you can understand the mind of God and the kingdom concepts, which are spiritual.

Point of Emphasis: The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God… because they are not spiritually discerned.

Prayer Point: I refuse to be carnal, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and His fullness, O Lord.

BACKGROUND

Jesus was the kind of leader who spoke the word of God with great conviction and authority in such a way that those who desired to know the truth could discern the meaning. He didn’t speak necessarily what people wanted to hear but what they needed to hear. As it was in His days so it is today, He is communicating to us through this lesson something which we need to know about the kingdom of God.

NOTES ON THE TEXT

PART 1: THE PARABLE OF MUSTARD SEED (MATT. 13:31-32)

The mustard seed was so small. The Jews had said that it was little like a drop of blood. The mustard bush or tree known in Palestine is not the mustard known in the Western world. The one in the Western world grows in valent lots, so also on farms for cultivation. It is flimsy and short. The mustard seed of Jesus’ country grew high and could get to about 12 feet in height, birds could perch and build net on it. The proverbial usage of mustard seed about the kingdom of God depicts that it is has a little beginning but grows into a big tree which serves as a shelter for birds.

PART 2: THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN (MATT. 13:33)

The use of leaven in this parable may be rendered as yeast in a piece of dough in an advanced stage of fermentation. In the process of baking bread, bakers mixe leaven or yeast in the new dough to make it rise. The effect of the yeast makes the flour/dough to puff up.

Though the New Testament used the leaven in some passages in the sense of the permeation of evil for an insidual way as in Matt. 16:6-12; 1 Cor. 5:6-8 and Gal. 5:7-9 but the usage of leaven in this parable pictures the rapid growth of God’s kingdom in the world. The parable is placed right after the parable of the mustard seed.

PART 3: THE INVISIBLE POWER OF THE KINGDOM (MATT. 13:31-33)

When Jesus spoke of the mustard seed, everyone knew what He was talking about. The point Jesus made was that the kingdom of Heaven begins in a small way but that it grows into something big and visible. He used the parable to illustrate the quiet and invisible power of the kingdom at work. This process goes on inside the heart.

It addressed the power of the Gospel to transform the lives of those who gave their lives to Jesus. It could also be said that whenever the gospel gets to any place, and they embrace it, the level of living is raised to new standard. This is evident in the changes in the quality of life experienced by the individuals.

It is a clear truth that the kingdom of God influences people, communities, and countries. Though its starts may be little but gradually it metamorphosizes and makes visible positive impact. Stephen Neil, the great missionary statesman posited that ‘the kingdom of God is manned by really great people, the transforming power of their work is far greater than what secular workers achieved”. Once the mustard gets into the soil, it grows and becomes formidable. The seed of the kingdom is like this, the moment a community or person gets in contact with the gospel; it grows in goodness, turns the community right around and causes a total transformation.

Jesus’ usage of parable teaches us the fundamental way of communicating a vision. It simplifies the message, knowing the people and their needs.

PART 4: SOW THE KINGDOM SEED (ACTS 1:4-

It is amazing how a few hundred Christians in the first century saturated the then known world with the gospel despite the absence of modern electronic communication gadgets. They were few with little resources, yet they could make a huge success. We are many today with so much resources, but we are achieving very little.

Christians should not think that we are being productive as long as we have blaring musical instruments, computers and can play stupendous music. We should know that Christian faith which makes one qualified for God’s kingdom thrives and grows best on personal relationships.

Jesus’ plan to reach the world with the Good News of the kingdom of God, forgiveness and admittance to His kingdom made Him to choose the first disciples. They did the work with utmost good faith boosted with the power of Holy Spirit. We also need the power to advance the kingdom in our generation.

CONCLUSION

The contemporary believers can achieve the same success when we are willing to be taught and willing to share the truth we have known with others. The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to us (Matt. 13:11). Let us endeavour to sow the seed in the sinners so that the kingdom can be enlarged through us. The illustration of the fermented dough is displeasing but it is used to produce something good. As the yeast permeates the dough and spreads from particle to particle as tiny living organism, fungus type microscopic plants and propagate themselves so the gospel spreads through society and influence the people even those that initially opposed it.

QUESTIONS

Explain the parable of the mustard seed.

Explain the parable of the leaven.

What are the basic truths the two parables connote about God’s kingdom?

How were the few Christians able to saturate the world with the gospel in the first century?

How can we do the same in our generation today?