Month: December 2024

Date: Thursday, 12^th December, 2024

Text: Judges 7:1-25.

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

At a point in time in the history of Israel, they did evil in the sight of the LORD; and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. They became a menace to the Israelites. The Israelites were an agrarian society who worked hard to cultivate their farm and raised animals to maturity.

For seven years the Midianites plundered the Israelites at the point of harvest. They continued until they became impoverished. They so terrorized the Jews on their own land that they could no longer farm openly for fear of the Midianites. It was at this critical time that the Israelites cried to the Lord and God decided to intervene and fight for them- Judges 6:1-40.

God chose Gideon to lead the conquest. But the Most High did not want anybody to share in His glory so he decided to fight the multitude of Midianite army (perhaps running into millions) with only a few men.

The Israelites soldiers were about thirty two thousand and God wanted to reduce them to only 300 choice men. So he conducted two tests.

First he told Gideon to ask all the fearful soldiers to go back home. At this point twenty two thousand (22,000) men returned home. They failed the test of faith.

There were left ten thousand soldiers who were full of faith but God was still interested in downsizing them so he conducted another screening test. It was a test of watchfulness or alertness.

The ten thousand men were asked to go down to the waterside and drink water. Gideon was meant to observe their mode of drinking and screen them out.

Nine thousand, seven hundred men (9,700) of them knelt down to drink while three hundred (300) scooped the water in their hands and lapped it with their tongues like a dog. In other words as they drank they were watchful and at alert. They did not drink in a relaxed and careless way like the 9700 that let off their guards and knelt down to drink water.

Therefore only 300 of them scaled through the test of alertness. At the end of the day these were the few men that passed the tests of faith and alertness. And with them the Midianites were subdued totally- Judges 7:1-25.

Give no room for fear and stay alert. Jesus said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Matthew 26:41

Key Nugget: Alertness and faith are major qualities of good soldier.

Date: Wednesday, 11^th December, 2024

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:27

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

Soldiers are typically well organized into hierarchies. The reporting lines are very clear and they are well trained to follow instructions. They follow the last order without questioning their constituted authorities.

The Centurion (commanding a unit of 80-100 soldiers; roughly equivalent to today’s Captain or Major) who pleaded with Jesus to heal his sick servant said, “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Matthew 8:9

Soldiers are trained to always fall in line not out of line. Discipline is the key word here. They have a code of conduct which they are trained to follow. The end result is obedience. There are well spelt out punishments for those who fall out line into disobedience.

Discipline is also called Self Control- the ability to put your body under subjection. Self control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit- Galatians 5:22.

Paul the apostle said concerning himself, “But I keep under my body (I strictly discipline my body), and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:27

It takes discipline to be holy. Holiness is total obedience. Abraham was a man who obeyed God even when it was not convenient. He obeyed God ‘foolishly’. He obeyed God without questioning. In Genesis chapter 12 he was asked to leave his village and his kinsmen and relocate to an unspecified location, he obeyed like a soldier.

He was asked to circumcise himself and household- at the age of 99- Genesis 17:10-24. He obeyed without hesitation. As if that was not enough, in Genesis 22, God asked him to sacrifice his own long-awaited and beloved son, Isaac. Again, he obeyed. The word of God says, “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6.

Prayer Nugget: Father, I ask for the grace to put my body under the control of the Holy Spirit and to live in total obedience in Jesus name.

Date: Tuesday, 10^th December, 2024

Text: 2 Timothy 2:3

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

Believers in Christ are not called to be spiritual civilians but soldiers. Soldiers are professionally trained to possess certain ethics that transform them into the personality they become.

Training is a process and process takes time. However, for those of them that can endure to the end, they get certified and decorated.

Soldiers are trained to be tough; they develop skills that make them resilient in the midst of adverse situations. In the army training school, they make them pass through difficult terrains so that their bodies are adjusted and adapted to surviving impossible situations.

The key skill developed here is called endurance. Endurance is the ability to withstand hardship or adversity. It is the capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity without withdrawing or falling apart.

The word of God says, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.’ 2 Timothy 2:3. Take note that it takes hardness or toughness to be a good soldier. Such a person can triumph on any spiritual terrain.

Again the Holy Scripture says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12

The attribute of endurance is also known as a perseverance or long-suffering, a fruit of the Holy Spirit- Galatians 5:22. You cannot afford not to possess this great spiritual attribute of a gallant soldier of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer Nugget: Father, I ask that you increase my capacity to persevere and endure till the very end in Jesus name.

Date: Monday, 9^th December, 2024

Text: Hebrews 13:15

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

The type and worth of gift you give to a person will be determined not only by the size of your pocket but also by the calibre of the person you are dealing with. In the same vein, the way you dress to a function will be determined by the type of function and the calibre of people that will attend the occasion. For example, the way you dress to visit a casual friend in your neighbourhood is not the same way you will dress to visit a king, a president or a governor.

The best gift you can give to God apart from your heart (life) is the fruit of your lips also called the Sacrifice Of Praise- Hebrews 13:15; Hosea 14:2c.

If you have the opportunity to hear God speak to you in his glorified form, what would it sound like? Two people in the Holy Scriptures gave us crucial information on this. One of them was John the Beloved. He encountered the glorified Christ on the Island called Patmos and he described his voice as, “The sound of many waters.” Revelation 1:15

The other person who testified on this was the prophet Daniel. In his own case he said, “And the voice of his (God’s) words (sound) like the voice of a multitude” Daniel 10:6c.

In order words when God spoke, it was as if millions, billions or perhaps trillions of people chorus the same words at the same time. Imagine you hear such a person spoke to you, how would you describe it? I guess you would say, “Awesome!”

Now if you want to praise that wonderful Supreme Being, how would you do so acceptably? In fact, if you praise him a thousand times over and over, you have just started.

Perhaps, that is why Charles Wesley penned down the lyrics of the popular hymn which says,

“O for a thousand tongues to sing
  My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
  The triumphs of His grace.

Another song writer wrote a popular song we sang a lot back then at the turn of the millennium, which says,

“I will praise you Lord

With every breadth that I take

I will praise you Lord

This promise I make

And should eternity end

I’ll start all over again

Even then I will praise you Lord.”

Action Nugget: Spend quality praising God as a habit as from today!

Date: Sunday, 8^th December, 2024

Text: Proverbs 21:31

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

Yesterday we considered the hardworking nature of God. Hard work is not negotiable. There is no short-cut godly or good success.

As important as this is , it is not enough to guarantee success. The word of God says, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Ecclessiastes 9:11

The horse may be prepared for battle but safety and victory comes from God- Proverbs 21:31. Again Paul said^{, “}I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

As you can see from the above scripture hardwork is great but it is not enough to guarantee good success.

All believers are therefore commanded to pray always- 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray as though all your success depends on only prayer and work as if all your breakthroughs depend on hard work alone. Thus you will strike a balance between prayer and work.

Prayer is a must but it is not a substitute for hard work; neither is hardwork a substitute for prayer.  Work, work and work; pray, pray and pray! Your life would be full of bountiful testimonies in Jesus name.

Reflective Nugget: Prayer is a must but it is not a substitute for hard work; neither is hard work a substitute for prayer. 

Date: Saturday, 7^th December, 2024

Text: Matthew 25:14-30

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

God is a hard worker who neither sleeps nor slumbers- Psalm 121:4.  He spent six days building the Heavens and the Earth and did not rest until the building projects were successfully completed.

Genesis 2:1-2 says, “Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

We serve a God who hates laziness. The Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry was severally accused of working on a Sabbath, the day he was supposed to be resting, but his response was, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work”. In other words, he was saying, “My Father has never stopped working until now, and I too am working.” John 5:17

In the Parable of the Talents, the king gave talents to three of his servants according to their individual abilities. To the one with the most ability, he gave five; to the next he gave two and to the man with the least ability he gave only one talent. Each of them was expected to trade with the talents and double it. He then went on a long journey.

On his return the king called his servants to give account of their stewardship. The man with five talents was able to trade with his money and double it; the one with the two had doubled his too; but the one with only one talent went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

He became unproductive. One thing with unproductive people is that they always give excuses. He found fault in his master, accusing him of being a hard man who loved to reap harvests where he did not plant, and who loves to gather crops where he did not scatter seed.

His master described him as a wicked and lazy servant who should have, at least, deposited his money in the bank, so that some interests would have accrued on it before his return. He was eventually jailed and tortured for his lack of productivity- Matthew 25:14-30

Reflective Nugget: Laziness has no place in God’s kingdom.

Date: Friday, 6^th December, 2024

Text: Matthew 4:4

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

We spend so much on our bodies to maintain good health and vitality. This is great, but man is not made up of the body alone. We are tripartite meaning man is a spirit having a soul and dwelling in a body. In other words the body is just like a garment that wears out over time and is eventually put away.

Your body is temporal and would one day expire, be discarded and degraded; the spirit and soul, however, would continue to exist forever- Luke 16:19-31.

It is therefore not a wise thing to focus on the body at the expense of the spirit and soul.

The word of God says, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord”- Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4.

The Word Of God, therefore, is the Bread of Life, the Soul Food that you will eat and be spiritually satisfied.

Just like the body shows deficiency signs when malnourished, the spirit and soul also display warning signs when not well nourished. Symptoms of spiritual malnourishment includes but not limited to tiredness, weakness, disinterest in spiritual things, discouragement, drifting away from the path of truth and drifting towards disobedience; anxiety, leaning  more on your own understanding and less on the God’s wisdom etc

The same way you conduct medical check up on your body it is also very necessary to do regular spiritual check up on your spirit and soul through the mirror of God’s word- 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Action Nugget: Spend quality time reading, studying and meditating on God’s word daily.

Date: Thursday, 5th December, 2024

Text: Isaiah 57:1-2

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

When you pray there are three possible responses you can get from God. You can get a ‘Yes’ from God like the case of blind Bartimaeus. He specifically requested the Lord to restore his sight and he got his desire granted same hour- Mark 10:46-52.

Another possible response you can get is ‘Wait it is not yet time for your desire to be granted,’ Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years before their promised son was released to them by God- Genesis 21:1; Hebrews 6:15.

Elizabeth and Zachariah also waited till it was 6 months to the conception of Christ according to divine agenda; at which time both of them were already old and stricken in years- Luke 1:5-29.

Another answer you can possibly get when you pray is God telling you, ‘No, I have a better idea.’ A classic example is when the Lord was about to be crucified, three times he prayed that the cup of suffering should pass over him, but God (The Father) declined because he had a better idea- Matthew 26:36-45. Had it been the Father granted his request, no soul would have escaped eternal destruction in Hell.

Many have become discouraged because when their loved one was sick and they had prayed, fasted, reminded God of all his promises, cast out every devil and engaged all angels, yet the sickness got worse and eventually led to death. But God is still good in every situation.

So many people have lost the battle against terminal diseases despite serious prayers being offered to God on their behalf. Does that mean God has failed? Does it imply the scripture is no longer potent? Definitely no!

We have a reassuring message in today’s text which says, “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.” Isaiah 57:1-2

God can decide to lose a battle in order to win a war. God prefers to allow an early departure that leads to eternal glory than late departure that leads to everlasting destruction. God is good.

Prayer Nugget: Father, thank you because you are always good to your own people in every situation. Hallelujah!

Date: Wednesday, 4^th December, 2024

Text: Psalm 30:5

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

When Christ was arrested and beaten like a common criminal, the disciples fled and scattered. In fact, even Peter who hanged around denied him three times. They thought all had come to an end to the ministry of Christ.

When the enemies came to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 22 vs 53, he said, “Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.” The power of darkness reigned for a time. It seemed all Hell was let loosed. At a point Christ cried saying, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27 vs 46. For the very first time he felt abandoned by his heavenly father.

God deliberately lost that battle briefly in order to win the war against the devil.

When they nailed Christ to the cross little did the enemy know that he was nailing his own coffin. The defeat of Christ was temporary. Indeed weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

But the grave could not hold Jesus Christ captive. He rose up back to life on the third day to live forevermore. Death was permanently defeated and Jesus Christ became the first born from the dead giving the hope of resurrection and eternal life to all who believe in him.

His temporary defeat led to the harvest of billions of souls. His blood that was shed became an eternal source of cleansing for all who believe in Christ.

The foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men. None of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord Of Glory- 1 Corinthians 2:8

The Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is still alive today. Have you lost a battle recently? Don’t be discouraged; as long as you are on the side of Jesus, you are bouncing back on your feet strong.

Prayer Nugget: Father by your Holy Spirit, I bounce back from every defeat I have suffered in Jesus name

Date: Tuesday, 3^rd December, 2024

Text: Psalm 24:8, 10

Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan

Exhortation:

In military language, a battle refers to a single engagement between two or more military units, while a war is a prolonged period of conflict between two or more nations or political factions. A battle is usually fought over a specific objective, such as capturing a town or defending a strategic location, and it typically lasts for a short period of time. A war, on the other hand, involves a series of battles and military operations that take place over a longer period of time.

In Exodus 15:3, the Bible says, “The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name– Isaiah 42 Vs 13 says, “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.”

He is the Commander of Heaven’s armies, the one mighty in battle, and the Lord of Hosts. Psalm 24:8, 10. He is The Chief War Strategist. He, therefore, can never lose a war. However, as part of his war strategy, God can sometimes deliberately decide to lose a battle in order to win a war.

For example God permitted the enemies of Daniel to succeed temporarily (he lost the battle technically because they succeeded in casting him into the lions’ den), however, their victory was short-lived. The lions could not devour Daniel. At the end of the day Daniel had the last laugh as his enemies lost out completely at the end of the day- Daniel 6.

As long as you are on the Lord’s side, that ugly situation will not swallow you. The Man of War will fight for you and turn the situation around in your favour. You will have the last laugh in Jesus name.

Prayer Nugget: Lord of Hosts, please arise on my behalf, fight for me and grant me victory and the last laugh in Jesus name.