LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIIONALS; FAILING TO SUCCEED

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

WEDNESDAY 17^TH APRIL 2019

FAILING TO SUCCEED

1 CORINTHIANS  15:9

For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God

STUDY||EXODUS 2:10-15

The scripture does not just leave us with the success stories of  heroes of faith. In it was also the failures of these great people. The bible didn’t just record the perfection of the saints, it also recorded the imperfections of the people greatly used by God. God understands that the failures of men are also part of the requirement for success.

I haven’t found one man or woman that succeeded who have not failed before, not one! Your failure is one of the reason you will succeed. Paul a murderer, Esther, a Slave, Gideon, a coward, Peter, a backslider, you will not appreciate the value of success if you have not failed.

However, successful people are not men who never failed, but men who failed but never gave up but pressed on until they succeed. God is able to use your failure as a stepping stone for your success. Your weaknesses and failure are part of the process for a successful life.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus turn all my failures to successes.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS; GO FOR HUMILITY

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

MONDAY 15^TH APRIL

GO FOR HUMILITY

PROVERBS 22:4

By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.

STUDY||ACT 12:20-24

True humility is the gateway to wealth and honour.  God loves the humble but He resists the proud. Humility is one of the characteristics of the Trinity. The easiest way to win the heart of God is to put on humility. God is attracted to the humble.

Col 3:12: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.

However, today, hypocrisy has replaced humility. Eye service is the order among believers. This is false humility. True humility comes from the heart. True humility is reverencing God in true holiness and honouring others.

Phil 2:3: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Some people are humble until they receive power, become wealthy or in a position of authority. True humility is as a result of the working power of the Holy Spirit within a believer. Humility is preferring others than yourself. It is having power but not using it all the time. It is showing mercy to others.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus give me the Spirit of humility.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS: BEWARE OF PRIDE

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

FRIDAY 12^TH APRIL 2019

BEWARE OF PRIDE

1PETER 5:5

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

STUDY||EZEKIEL 28:11-19

Pride is one of the most dangerous vices the enemy use against believers. Many mighty men and women have fallen because of pride. Great leaders have been humiliated and disgraced just because of pride. Many anointed man and women of God have fallen from grace because of pride. If you must walk with God and be successful you must deal with pride.

God himself resist the proud. His Spirit, is nature and character is totally against the proud. He cannot stand the proud. God ensures that the proud never gets to the top. He ensure they are destroyed before their time. Could it be that the reason you are not making progress is because of pride.

Proverbs 15:25The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow.

Pride is parading yourself as better than others. It is ascribing your success to your effort instead of ascribing it to God. It’s is exalting yourself more than it’s due. It is thinking you can do without God, pride starts from the heart. A good example is Lucifer. He was thrown down because of pride.

Beware of pride. Allow the spirit of humility work in you. Don’t allow your achievements, beauty, power or wealth gets into your head. Always ascribe to God all that you are and you have.

PRAYER

Lord put in me the Spirit of humility, remove every element of pride in me totally.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS: DEALING WITH CRITICS

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

WEDNESDAY 10^TH APRIL 2019

DEALING WITH CRITICS

LUKE 6:26

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets

STUDY||JOHN 7:1-13

Before you aspire to be great in life you must settle it in your heart that criticism will come. If you are nobody people won’t care about you but the moment you become relevant people will hate you, insult you and falsely accuse you. You will never be great focusing on the praise or insult of people.

As I grow and observe the lives of great men and women in all spheres of life. I discovered that people who respond to hater’s comments and fan’s praise are always distracted and often find themselves in deeper mess. Jesus in the passage above was been praised by some and condemned by others, yet Jesus never responds to any of them.

In your journey to greatness, never give attention to these two sets of people. Focus on your assignment and calling. Some peoples calling is to criticize, you can’t stop them from pursuing their assignment but don’t let them stop you either. 

Forge ahead with every sense of purpose and responsibility to serve your generation.

MEDITATION

You cannot please all men, as long as you please God, it is alright.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS: STIR UP YOUR GIFTS

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

TUESDAY 9^TH APRIL

STIR UP YOUR GIFTS

2 TIMOTHY 1:6

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

STUDY||EPHESIANS 4:1-16

Gifts are given to men by God for the expansion of His kingdom and for the blessing of men. Gifts have transformed our world and the way we think. The gifts music, public speaking, acting, architecture, invention and lost more have blessed our lives, prospered men and inspire others.

God gave men both natural and spiritual gifts, I must say, spiritual gifts are far more valuable and superior to natural gifts. Spiritual gifts include healing, faith, miracles, prophecy, ability to see the invisible and do the impossible. Spiritual gifts are powerful and God is also more willing to give you than you’re willing to receive.

Most importantly, for your gifts to find expression you must stir it up. To stir your gift is to convert the potential anointing in you to kinetic usable energy. One of the ways you stir up your gifts is by fervent prayer and exercising it. If you perceive you have the gift of healing, don’t wait, start by praying and laying hands on the sick.

Practice puts your gifts to work. Don’t allow anyone to despise it. Put your gift to work, engage God’s grace upon your life and leave the consequences to God.

MEDITATION

1 Tim 4:12

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS: THE PRICE OF LEADERSHIP

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

MONDAY 8^TH APRIL, 2019

THE PRICE OF LEADERSHIP

JOHN 10: 15

As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

STUDY||EXODUS 32:1-33

It is not news that the secret to living is dying. This is more true for leaders. You cannot be a leader if you are not ready to die. Leaders lay down their lives for the sake of others. This is the peak of leadership responsibility. 

"Selfishness is the singular reason many leaders are not fulfilling destiny."

People cannot trust you with their lives until they see that you are willing to lay down your life for theirs. Not people taking it by force (John 10:18) but you willingly laying it down for them. Jesus the greatest leader who ever walked on earth established this deep leadership principle for us to follow.

Jesus was willing and indeed died for His followers and because of this, the disciple joyfully died to protect and expand the vision of Jesus. A leader must be ready to sacrifice all he/she has for the blessedness of his people. You must die to self-aggrandizement and ambitions.

However it is the love for the people that will inspire and compel you to die. How much you love your followers will determine how far you are willing to go for them. Without loving the people you are leading you cannot make the ultimate sacrifice of dying for them.

REFLECTION

Self-sacrifice is the hallmark of great leaders.

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS;FORGE AHEAD

LIGHTLIFE DEVOTIONALS

THURSDAY 21ST MARCH 2019

FORGE AHEAD

PHILIPPIANS 3:13

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

STUDY||EXODUS 14:1-19

“You can’t change the past. Whatever has happened in your life so far—both good and bad—cannot be altered, and all the decisions and events that have made you what you are today are indelibly inscribed in the story of your life. But with God’s help you can change the future” The words above are the priceless words of Billy Graham.

Do you know someone who became a failure today because of an incident that happened thirty years ago? There are people who never rise again in life just because their business failed years ago, they got laid off from their jobs decades ago and their wives walk away sometimes ago.

In the same vein, there are people who never moved from the comfort of a success they achieved ten years ago. Whether you failed or succeeded in the past, God have a better future for you.

Never allow your past successes or failures to deny you of experiencing the great future that God have for you. Strive to move forward even in the face of adversity. Your future is nothing like your past.

God is able to use your past mistakes to drive you to your place of greatness. Believing His promises gives hope and faith to move forward.

REFLECTION
Whatever happens, ensure you are always advancing.