Revelation of the Word

THEME: DELAY

Matthew 25:1-6 

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

INSIGHT 

-In the parable of the wise & foolish virgins, Jesus explains a concept of the kingdom of heaven where the master delayed & the virgins slept. The wise ones carried extra oil but the foolish ones were not well prepared & had to go to buy more when the master arrived. Unfortunately, the foolish virgins were locked out of heaven as they were not prepared for Christs’ coming. We are thus reminded to love God, others & always maintain good conduct in our walk of life.

SUMMARY 

-Delay in Hebrew is written as mahah & it means inhibit, detain, reject, postpone, overstay & procrastinate. Delay in life can result from : – negative mental conditioning, a test of one’s patience, a process of preparation for Gods’ promises, a result of disobeying God, influence by principalities etc.

-The Lord delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt & lead them round the wilderness through the Red Sea which was a longer route compared to the war-torn Philistines territory, on their way to Canaan. This is because there was war in the Philippines nation which would make them go back to Egypt because of their mental & historical conditioning. Moses successfully took the people out of Egypt but failed to take Egypt out of them. They were accustomed to slavery & found comfort in oppression thus unable to receive Gods’ blessings. The other reason was that; they disobeyed God thus walked for forty years in the wilderness until that generation passed on. Later; when Moses went up mount Sinai to collect the ten commandments, he took 40 days & the Israelites perceived delay. They made a golden calf, worshipped it & made it their god. They failed in the test of patience & knowledge of God. Unlike in Moses’ experience where delay was evidenced in the Israelites lives, delay affected Daniel personally. He fasted & prayed & his answer delayed for 21 days as the angel sent was caught up in the heavens by the prince of Persia before Archangel Michael intervened. Principalities can therefore cause a delay in our prayer answers; affecting our lives. Sarah was also a victim of delayed blessings as she waited long to bear a child due to barrenness. She lost hope, got frustrated & gave her husband Abraham a chance to bear children with her maid servant Hagar. She could not believe it when God promised Abraham a son since they were both old & considered as good as dead. God tested their faith & at the appointed time fulfilled His promise by making Abraham the father of many nations. We might also be undergoing delay in our lives due to various reasons as sited above. Jesus reminds us to hold on to our faith, pray without ceasing & at the appointed time, He will answer our prayers & bless us abundantly. 

PRAYER 

You satisfy us with Your love Father, we thank You. Increase our faith to illuminate our hope in You; as we wait patiently for what You have promised. Bless us Lord & enlarge our territories, that Your hand may be with us to keep us from all evil who cause us pain. We place all our trust & desires in You, direct our steps. All glory & praise belong to You, now & forever. Amen

Blessed Weekend

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