DESTINED TO REIGN 🕊️

OLD FRIENDS

READ: 2 Peter 2:7-22

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)

After you are born again, a great change will come into your life if you change your friends. One of the things that greatly affect your ability to exhibit great change is your group of friends. Your friends are with you throughout the week. You may spend only two or three hours in church every week but you may spend over thirty hours with your friends in the same week. Obviously, your friends will influence you far more than the church does. The one who spends more time with you influences you more.

It is important for you to change your friends now that you are born again. If you maintain the old friends, I can assure

you that you will backslide. When I got born again, I had a whole lot of friends from the world. After I got saved, I realised that it was not going to be possible to maintain these people in my life. Gradually, every single one of them disappeared from my life.

Occasionally, I meet some of these people in town. They are like strangers to me. I do not know where most of my old friends are. I do not have anything to do with the old crowd. My new friends are Christians. After you are born again, there will be no change in your life if there is no change in your friends. Show me your friends, and I will tell you all about your spiritual state!

How can you continue to be friends with the liars, the thieves, the fornicators and the adulterers of this world? How can you be pure if you maintain all these friendships? If you keep your old friends, you will look foolish whenever you try to do what is right. How long can you last, looking odd in the midst of unbelievers?

BE THANKFUL

READ: Ephesians 5:`8-21

Enter into his gates with THANKSGIVING, and into his courts with PRAISE: BE THANKFUL unto him, and BLESS his name.

Psalms 100:4

You may approach God but you may not feel His presence. You may spend a long time praying but you may not feel His presence. It is important to know what to do in order to have the presence of God manifested in your life.

The presence of God will be enjoyed by those who are thankful. Thanksgiving is a master key to enjoying the presence of God. Saying “thank you” and being thankful are some of the most important spiritual virtues that you must develop if you are to enjoy the presence of God.

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us COME BEFORE HIS PRESENCE WITH THANKSGIVING, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 

Psalm 95:1-2

ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100:4-5

Being filled with the Spirit is predicated upon being thankful. Speaking psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are forms of giving thanks and praise to God. All through the New Testament, you will notice the exhortation to be thankful and to pray with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving ushers you directly into the presence of God. Being thankful and giving thanks is distinctly different from any other kind of prayer. When you are thankful, you have a good attitude, you have a grateful spirit and you have a pleasant disposition. These are attractive, even to human beings. They are also attractive to God. These attitudes, especially the posture of thankfulness, attracts the presence of God.

STEP OF FAITH - SMALL STEP

READ: Isaiah 28:9-14

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 5:2-3

God has made it possible for you to walk by faith by creating a walk that involves many little steps. Faith is the obedience of one small step. Think of all the heroes of faith God used. Most of them took one small step. His commandments are quite possible for you to obey because they are always one small step at a time.

God will probably tell you to witness, win souls, start a fellowship and learn how to preach. As you obey these little steps, He will lead you to your destiny. To have faith is to obey one small step at a time. There is one small step that God has for you. That small step is the act of faith that will change your life.

What did Rahab do to be called a hero of faith? Rahab, the harlot, gave her house to visitors. She provided the services of a harlot to Israeli spies. This was something she was used to doing. The only difference was to have had Israeli boys in her house for the night.

What did Abraham do to be included among the heroes of faith? He obeyed God and had sex with his aged wife. This is something he had been used to doing in his younger days.

What did Moses do to become a man of faith? He threw a stick down and it turned to a snake. I am sure he had thrown many sticks down before that time.

Faith is always a small step! God wants you to do something and it will never be a big thing. It will be series of small steps. The next small step will take you higher than you imagined.

DAVID

READ: 2 Chronicles 6:7-10

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; …

2 Samuel 7:1-3

David is famous for doing a little bit more. God had blessed him and he was established as king. But he wanted to do a little bit more and build a house for God. This attempt to do a little bit more really touched the Lord.

Realising that God had given him rest, he did not just continue to enjoy the rest but endeavoured to do a little bit more for God. Many ministers become established in the ministry and from then on, live a life of complacency and are happy to do little or nothing to improve their churches. Once they have a house, a car and a congregation, they turn the switch of life off. There seems to be no more work for their idle hands.

Not so with King David! Nathan, the prophet was surprised about the idea that David had come up with. A battle-hardened commander who had seen much bloodshed wanted to build a glorious temple for the worship of God. Who had ever heard of such a thing? When God gave David rest from all the fights he had undertaken for God, he sought to do a little bit more.

Don’t you want to do a little bit more? Can’t you see that great people always want to do a little bit more? The people who love God always want to go an extra mile. God was pleased and impressed. David’s great reward came as a result of this desire to do a little bit more. God promised to establish his seed after him. This great promise was fulfilled because David attempted to do just a little bit more. Even the desire to do a little bit more was noticed and rewarded.

EXEMPTED FROM EVIL

READ: Isaiah 60:1-7

BEHOLD, THE EYE OF THE LORD IS UPON THEM THAT FEAR HIM, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, AND TO KEEP THEM ALIVE IN FAMINE. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

Psalms 33:18-20

The eye of the Lord is upon you. Because you fear God, your soul will be exempted from the evil that is lurking around. God can keep you alive in a famine. When everyone else is destroyed by the poverty and financial difficulty, you will survive.

Labour for the blessing of being exempted from evil. Strive to be exempted from the curses that are multiplying over the planet. Work with all your heart for the blessing of “exemption”. There are many evils sweeping through the earth today: poverty, disease, tragedy, war and famine, which can wipe out all your life’s achievements.

All through the Bible, we see examples of how God exempted His people from the curses and tragedies that were raging around. In the great flood, He exempted Noah from destruction! In the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah He exempted Lot and his family from the fire!

You will be exempted from the judgment of the wicked! Arise and shine, your light has come! Gross darkness will cover the earth but you will be exempted from the world’s darkness. The glory of the Lord will be seen upon you. You need the power of God to exempt you from the darkness in the world. It is actually in the gross darkness that the glory of the Lord will arise on you.

People choose to go to nations because they feel that they will be rich and prosperous there. They are attracted by bright colours and flashing lights! But flashing lights and bright colours never made any one prosperous! Labour to be exempted from the curse that is lurking around by day and by night.

HIS PRESENCE

READ: Luke 24:36-53

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be ENDUED WITH POWER from on high.

Luke 24:49

In the presence of God, you will be endued with power. Jesus warned His corrupt, proud and weak disciples to stay in the city until they were endued with power. Until you are endued with power, you can do nothing. You need God because you need to be endued with power to be able to do anything for Him.

You need His presence to go with you because without Him you can do nothing.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5

Jesus was clear; without Him, you can do nothing! He did not say you can do a few things. He did not say you can do some minor things. He did not say you can do a few spiritual things. He said, “You can do nothing!” Nothing means zero! Nothing means nothing! But with God, all things are possible! Once God is present in your life, your nothingness is converted into something.

Isaiah was shocked to find how unclean he was. A man of unclean lips cannot accomplish very much. Remember that you will be preaching out of these very lips. Your sin, your uncleanness and your wickedness are not things we are making up. They are real. Without the presence of God, a man of unclean lips is going nowhere. You need His presence to go with you because you are a man of unclean lips.

Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 6:5

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SUPERNATURAL POWER

READ: John 11:11-45

When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

John 11:4

Mary and Martha are the ultimate examples of those who reap the benefits of honour. Mary and Martha honoured Jesus and they reaped all the rewards of honour. Remember, it was Mary who anointed the Lord’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The honour they bestowed on Jesus was unparalleled!

Mary and Martha reaped the rewards of honour. Notice: Mary had Jesus sitting in her house! Mary had her dead brother raised! Mary and Martha had ultimate miracles! Mary and Martha were close to Jesus! Mary and Martha had access to Jesus Christ! Mary and Martha are in Heaven today! Mary and Martha are

memorialized! Mary and Martha are more popular than some of the apostles! Mary and Martha are more known than many of the disciples of Jesus! And it is all because of the honour they bestowed on Jesus!

Those who honour receive supernatural power! Honour is rewarded with mighty works from the one you honour. Jesus could not do mighty works when He was with people who did not honour Him. Mighty works of miracles and healing are denied those who do not honour. There are needs everywhere. I remember a young lady who honoured me with a little offering. When I prayed with her over her offering, I saw someone who could be her husband. A few minutes after she honoured me with her little offering, God gave her a miracle husband. There are countries that have ten million more women than men. In other words, there are ten million women who cannot and will not find husbands in their country. Indeed,it is a miracle to have a husband!

RECOGNITION.

READ: Luke 24:13-32

RENDER therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR.

Romans 13:7

The first level of honour is when you are recognized. If people do not recognize who you are they often do not honour you. If they do not honour you, they do not believe in you. When they do not believe in you, your ministry does not work among them. When Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem, He was not recognized as the Messiah. They did not honour Him. Instead, they killed Him and shortened His life.

They recognized Jesus as a carpenter, the son of Mary, and one of five brothers. Because they failed to recognize Him as the Son of God, they failed to honour Him! On the road to Emmaus, the disciples walked along with Jesus but they called Him a stranger because they did not recognize who He was.

When God sends men amongst us, it is very important that we recognize them. It is also very important how quickly we recognize them. When you fail to recognize a good person, he will move on to where he is recognized. It is not good to stay amongst people who do not acknowledge you. The ability of people to acknowledge you is key to their ability to honour you.

I realise that some of the greatest pastors and prophets are not recognized by their fellow ministers; they are not acknowledged or even noticed in their own countries. Shallow men often honour insignificant and unsubstantial things that do not deserve honour. When you are not acknowledged, always remember that you are not being honoured, and you are not being taken seriously. Move on to the places where you are honoured.

SPEAK IN TONGUES

READ: 1 Corinthians 14:1-5

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

1 Corinthians 14:2-3

Speaking in tongues builds you up like nothing else. After you are born again, a great change will come in your life if you learn how to pray and speak in tongues. You will not find a shallow unchanged person speaking in tongues for hours. Those who show a great change are those who speak in tongues for hours. As you speak in tongues, your spirit is edified. Your spirit man is built up as you speak in tongues.

When you pray in tongues you call on God in a secret language. You bind demons in the spirit world. Speaking in tongues is a secret weapon given to you by God. Nothing changed my life as much as speaking in tongues. I have learnt to speak in tongues for hours! I prefer to speak in tongues than to pray in English! I pray in the spirit and I pray with understanding! I am charged up like a battery when I speak in tongues. I become like a spiritual powerhouse when I speak in tongues!

The reason why you do not speak in tongues much is because you want to understand yourself. You cannot understand tongues! You have to believe that you are praying to God when you speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues enables you to pray all the time. It enables you to call on God all the time. It is God’s gift to us.

You must use the clock to help you pray in tongues. Start at 6.00am and end at 7.00am. Start at 4.00am and end at 5.00am. Start at 3.00pm and end at 4.00pm. Use your clock to tell you how long you have prayed. There is no other way to pray in tongues than to use your clock. When you pray in tongues, you cannot even tell when you have said “Amen”. You simply have to learn how to pray by the hour. Speak in tongues and there will be a great change in your life. You will be a mighty powerhouse! All your old problems will fade away and you will enjoy your new life in Christ.