Galatians 3:26-29 NIV
”So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.“
INSIGHT
–Character association is a relationship formed consciously and deliberately to fulfill a specific purpose. Such associations can either be actual or inferred to a particular person or situation, in this case Biblical context. The hero’s of faith in Hebrews 11 is a good example of how Christians should preserve in faith through Christ Jesus. We are reminded by the above scriptures, that once we believe in Jesus Christ, we obtain faith in Him, the faith of Abraham as his seeds according to the promise. The promise which declare that we are blessed so that we may continually be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, through God’s mercy and grace.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father we thank You for this new week that You have given unto us. Thank You for enabling us to see this wonderful day in good health. May You heal and deliver all those who are sick and suffering among us. May You answer all our prayers and hearts desires merciful Savior. We love You Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us first. Thank You for redeeming us with Your precious blood. May You forgive us all our sins, iniquities, transgressions, from us and our bloodlines merciful Savior. May You go ahead of us to grant us victory and favor in our lives, families, businesses, purposes and nation. May You fight for us every battle for the battle belongs to You. May You grant us the faith of Abraham to persevere in our pilgrims progress since we trust in You dear Lord Jesus and bless us according to Your promise. May You release the gift of salvation unto us, our families, nations and Your people all over the world. We love You dear Lord Jesus and exult Your name now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Genesis 15:6, Hebrews 11:8-9
Hebrews 11:24-26 NKJV
”By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.“
INSIGHT
–Moses having been saved from the massacre of the Hebrew boys at birth, he was secured into the temple by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:1-6). He enjoyed the food, education and lifestyle of the palace for forty years (Acts 7:21-23). He was then called to go and save the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. He did not go forth in his own name or strength, so every man called by God to lead should only go forth with such a divine accompaniment. It is a Bible principle that applies to all who are called to the work of the Lord. We are reminded to be like Moses, who did not focus on the fleeting pleasures of the world but looked to the eternal reward promised to us through Christ Jesus.
PRAYER
Almighty Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace and mercy today. May You give us deeper faith just as our fathers of faith like Abraham, Moses and others had. Oh God we pray that You grant us the strength and grace to oppose all the passing pleasures of sin. May You teach us to make all our decisions in deep faith, not focusing on the short-term pleasures of sin that so easily entangle us but looking at our eternal reward by faith in Christ Jesus. We repent for any time we have compromised our faith in any of our decisions, thoughts, plans and actions Oh Lord. We repent for everything that has not pleased You and pray that You shall sanctify us by Your precious blood. We thank You for this far You have brought us, all You have done unto us and everything that You are going to do in our lives. We hold fast our faith in You looking to You who is faithful to keep Your promises unto us. Thank You for Your saving grace and loving kindness, mercy and faithfulness upon us. We thank You for we know that You have heard us, in Jesus Mighty Name we pray, Amen
Further reading: 1 Corinthians 3:11-14, Hebrews 12:1-3
1 Samuel 17:34-37 NIV
”But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
INSIGHT
–David was confident in the Lord since his youth. He did not trust in armor or weapons but strengthened himself in the Lord. He was confident that he would defeat and destroy the Philistine giant who had threatened the Israel soldiers for a long time. He wanted to show the Israel’s enemies that God is the One true God, Who enabled him to kill the lion and the bear which threatened his father’s flock. His motivation was to defend God’s name and honor. He indeed killed Goliath who threatened His Fathers flock and Isreal received victory against the Philistines. God requires that we have confidence in Him and His power. To submit our hearts and minds to Him like David who was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). God desires that we win all our battles and calls us to be strong, courageous and to put all our trust in Him.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus You are Good and Your mercies endures forever. You and Faithful and Holy Dear Lord Jesus. You are excellent in every aspect. You are supreme above all else. We put all our trust in You. Some trust in horses, others trust in chariot’s, but we put all our trust in You. We humbly implore You to destroy every uncircumcised Philistine giant in our lives, families, communities and nation. May You break every chain and level every mountain merciful Savior. MayYou deliver all those who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, gambling and other evil vices. May You scatter every stronghold and win every battle for us. All our hope and trust is in You dear Lord Jesus now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Joshua 1:7-9
Romans 8:38-39 NIV
”For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“
INSIGHT
–Paul used to be a persecutor of Christians. Then called “Saul,” he was there giving his approval to the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60). He was very zealous in persecuting Christians, so much that he was actually on his way to persecuting more believers when the Lord Jesus appeared to him (Acts 9:1-9). Paul completely transformed and became a man filed with God’s love and zealously preached the gospel to different parts of the world, in fact wherever his foot may tread. God used Paul to express His great love for us. Like apostle Paul, let us love God and one another because love comes from God.
PRAYER
We thank You Lord Jesus for loving us. Thank You for choosing us. Thank You for blessing us with Your eternal blessings. You tell us that You have numbered all the hair on our head and that we should have confidence in You knowing that we are more valuable that many sparrows. Thank You for loving us dear Jesus with Your eternal love. We know that nothing shall separate us from Your love. We are convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future, powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from Your love God Almighty Father. Thank You for loving us and for giving Your Son Jesus so that we may be forgiven, redeemed and delivered from eternal condemnation. May You transform us that we may be more like You dear Jesus. May You send us to feed Your flock through Your love. We love You dear Lord Jesus, and thank You for loving us first. We pray this believing and trusting in Jesus mighty name. Amen
Further reading: Luke 12:7, John 21:15
Ephesians 5:1-7 NIV
”Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.“
INSIGHT
–Jesus loves us and lay down His life for us His friends. He calls us to love one another in the same way that He has loved us (John 15:12-13). Jesus also calls us to imitate Him and His conduct by loving Him with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength. If we say then that we love God, we should obey His teaching and God the Holy Trinity will come to us and make His home with us (John 14:23). Let us then desist from all evil and offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).
SUMMARY
Character association is a group or persons formally joined together for some common interest as Christians are joined to Christ through faith. Abraham the father of faith joins us to his faith through Christ Jesus by grace (Romans 4:16). In Christ then we are all children of God and His heirs according to the promise (Hebrews 11:24-26). We then have an inheritance that does not fade away. Nothing therefore can separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future, nor any powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (Romans 8:38-39). It is in this revelation that we have the hope of glory. Moses looked at the reward and chose to suffer affliction than to enjoy the pleasures of sin and by faith he moved from the palace where he was the son to Pharaoh’s daughter (Hebrews 11:24-28). David courageously chose to confront the uncircumcised Philistine giant by faith and exult the living God through his victory (1 Samuel 17:34-37). Apostle Paul reminds us that we should be his imitators, just as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Then as we imitate Christ having humility of mind and regarding one another as more important than ourselves and not merely look out for ones own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-8). As we imitate Christ and continue in faith, we have hope of eternal life in Him as we await the crowns set before us.
PRAYER
We thank You Jesus for enabling us to see this new month in safety, peace, and good health. May You heal all those who are sick and suffering among us merciful Savior. May You deliver us from all evil and propel us into our divine destinies. We humbly ask that You grant us selfless hearts that we may be devoted to help and support those who need us by Your grace. May Your will be done Lord in our lives, families, businesses, work, schools and nation dear Lord Jesus. May You teach us to number our days that we may obtain hearts full of wisdom. May You bless us and keep us dear Lord Jesus. May You shine Your face towards us and be gracious unto us. May You show Your countenance unto us and give us peace. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen
Further reading: Mark 10:45, John 15:9-11