Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV
”This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live“
INSIGHT
–The ancient covenants were administered by observation and witnessing of various parties both spiritual and physical, thus the use of the words ‘heavens and earth’. For instance, the assembly of elders of the tribes and all officials hear speech and the heavens and the earth to testify (Deuteronomy 31:28). God speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets (Psalms 50:1). Also, Isaiah 1:2 discloses “hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.“ Our God has given us His word, which acts a weighing scale that results to either life or death. Those who hear His voice and follow Him find life, but those who rebel against God result in death. Every matter is established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1), thus we are reminded to love the Lord our God, obey His voice, cling to Him, for He is our life and the length of our days, that we may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths, we are called to hear and do the word of God. Jesus is the Word of God and the way of life, He is calling us to hear His voice and to follow Him, and we will have abundant life.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we thank You for the gift of life. We praise You for You have given us life in abundance through Your death and resurrection. We appreciate You for You have blessed us and saved us from the snares and shadows of death. We shall not die but live to declare Your goodness Oh Lord. We shall not die before our time but we shall live long on earth to serve our purposes and afterwards come to be with You loving Savior. Because of Your great love we are not consumed Your compassion never fails, for You are always with us and in us, precious Holy Spirit. Thank You for the gift of salvation. May You grant the gift of salvation to our family members, friends, communities, nation and all the nations of the world. May You teach us to always do Your will dear Lord Jesus. May You fill our hearts with love for You and our neighbors as ourselves. All glory and honor belongs to You dear Jesus now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Deuteronomy 32:1, Proverbs 14:12
Proverbs 18:21 NIV
”The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.“
INSIGHT
–A persons life and welfare largely reflects the fruit of his/her tongue. To speak life is to declare God’s perspective, promises, blessings on our lives, families, children, education, businesses, churches, nation and situations. To speak death is to declare life’s negatives, defeat, by constantly complaining. After their deliverance from captivity in Egypt, the Israelites kept complaining to Moses that they don’t have food and water whereas they fed better in Egypt. As a result a whole generation died in the desert and they did not enter the promised land (Numbers 32:12-13). Joshua and Caleb exercised their faith in God even though they saw fortified cities and giants, but they declared that their victory comes from the Lord (Numbers 14:6-10). We are reminded to speak life every day and every hour, and the Lord will always bless us.
PRAYER
We rejoice in You Lord always and again we rejoice. We rejoice in Your goodness and love. We rejoice in Your promises and faithfulness. You have kept us this far by Your mercies and grace dear Lord, we thank You. You have delivered us from the schemes of the enemy and kept us safe, we glorify Your holy name. You have transformed us and led us because of Your great love for us dear Lord Jesus. You have always provided for us food, shelter, clothing, and everything that we need and, have reminded us that we are more valuable than the sparrow. We bless Your holy name. We repent for every time we have murmured and complained and turned away from Your will. We are sorry and ask that You forgive us and wash us with Your precious blood. May You walk with us always and journey with us everyday and everywhere that we go and we shall go. Thank You precious Holy Spirit for You have prospered the work of our hands, fruit of our womb, young of our livestock and crops of our land. Thank You Lord for You delight in us and make us prosperous, just as You delighted in our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We thank You for You are faithful Lord to keep all Your promises. All victory, glory, honor, power and praise belongs to You Lord Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Philippians 4:4-7, James 3:3-12
John 5:24 NIV
”Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.“
INSIGHT
–The Word of God is life and yields life everlasting to those who believe. For anyone who obeys and keeps God’s word will never taste death (John 8:52), and everyone who believes and has faith in Jesus has eternal life in Him (John 3:15-16). For anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them (John 3:36).
PRAYER
Your word Lord is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing through the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We believe in You dear Lord Jesus and Your word. Thank You Jesus for You died on the cross for our sins that we may come to life, may You forgive us all our sins, iniquities, transgressions and wash us with Your precious blood. May You teach us to do Your will always and keep Your word. May You transform us and renew our thoughts and hearts in accordance to Your great love. May You grant us eternal life together with our families, communities and nation. 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 forever more. Amen
Further reading: Acts 5:20, Hebrews 12:1-2
Joshua 7:20–25 NKJV
”And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.“
INSIGHT
-The sin of one soldier who stole some devoted goods brought collective guilt upon the entire nation of Israel. Instead of life, Achan chose death and coveted the spoils in Jericho. His sin was soon discovered and he brought guilt upon all the Israelites who came before the Lord as Judge. Joshua took a fatherly attitude towards Achan and addressed him as ‘my son’, and Achan became vulnerable to disclose where he hid the beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. We have evidenced such occurrence in the present times where some people choose to steal, corrupt and embezzle funds. In our country crimes of murder charges have in the past and present been prosecuted to death sentence. In nations like China, a public servant who is caught with offenses like corruption, bribery, embezzlement and engaging in organized crime are executed to death. Jesus Christ is merciful and loving. He calls us to repent our sins and change our ways and He will absolve us from all our sins and give us life.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we thank You and honor You. You are our God and none can be compare to You. Thank You for this far that You have brought us and the far that You are taking us. We humbly repent for all the sins we have done and ask You to forgive us and wash us with Your precious blood. May You forgive all those who have sinned and deserve death that Your mercy and grace may be upon them. Lord You say in Your word that mercy comes before judgement, may Your mercy and grace come upon all those who have sentenced to death. May You transform all people in our families and societies, that we may all be like You Jesus. May You help us to forgive all those who have offended us and shun away from judgement. All glory, honor, mercy and salvation belongs to You dear Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Numbers 32:23, James 2:13
Romans 5:12–16 NKJV
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.“
INSIGHT
–In the garden of Eden is where death came, instead of the life yielding tree, Eve chose the to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and gave it to her husband Adam who also ate. What a disaster for all mankind that death came through the sin of one man Adam, but thanks be to God for He has given us His grace through one Man Jesus Christ that we may have life everlasting in Him. We have been crucified with Christ and it is not longer us who live but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20), therefore we are called to be Christlike in our words, conduct, interactions and everything.
SUMMARY
God has given each one of us the will to choose either life or death. This will was inceptualized during the fall of man. Given the choice to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or the tree of life, Eve chose the tree that yields death and Adam also ate (Genesis 2:8-17). We have been given the option to follow the word and commands of God. Those who hear and do according to God’s word have life but those who rebel against God come to death (Deuteronomy 30:19). Achan rebelled and chose to steal the spoils of Jericho, a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels which brought guilt to the whole of Israel and brought death upon his head. We also find that our tongues have power of life and death and whatever we choose we eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Lastly, we obtain life or death through our belief systems. Those who hear the word of God and have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God have eternal life, but those who reject Him come to eternal death (John 5:24).
PRAYER
Dear Almighty Father we come to You with thanksgiving and adoration in our hearts. We thank You for loving us with great love and when we were still sinners, You died for us. How great is Your love upon us. Thank You for loving us and calling us to Yourself. You have set us apart to Yourself and made us a new generation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation, and all praise belongs to You. Thank You have loved us and washed us with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. May You sanctify us afresh body, soul and spirit dear Lord Jesus. May You touch the hearts of all those who do not know You dear Jesus and lead them in the way of salvation. May You remember all those who are sick and suffering, and heal them. May You encourage those who have lost hope with Your peace that surpasses all understanding. May You heal our wounds, physical, emotional, financial, psychological and revive us. May You heal our land dear Jesus we humbly implore You. We ask that You prosper all our plans and hearts desires, and make a way for us where there seems to be no way, according to Your great love. May You do a new thing in our lives, families, children, businesses, education, society and nation. May You enlighten our steps and make everything new in Your name. We claim Your victory in every situation for we are more than conquerors in You dear Jesus. We shall not die but live to declare Your goodness Oh Lord. 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: Genesis 2:8–17, Psalm 118:17