Help for the Family Ministry Lagos, Nigeria. THE FAMILY ALTAR Daily Devotional Week Sun. 26/10/2014 – Sat. 01/11/2014 The Family Altar Sunday October 26th, 2014 Topic: Bless the Lord, O my soul Bible Text: Psalms 103:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. (KJV] • Just a Charge Can you just think of your life without God’s mercies? Can you search your soul [mind] and try to recollect even the least of His mercies towards you and all yours? Think of His love towards you. Think of His breath of life in you as at now? Think of His daily supply of your needs. Think of His protection from day-by-day evils. Think of His salvation. Think of His Spirit in you, confirming you are His and leading your steps in life. Think, think and think. Really, can you at all count or recount all His mercies? As your soul searches and remembers His mercies and blessings, there is no way His praise will not fill your soul and burst out in spontaneous singing of His praises! Our God is good. His loving-kindness is unspeakable. But for God …… just imagine what your lot in life would have been. Let your soul magnify His holy name all through this day. May you abide and be blessed in His presence today in Jesus name. • Meditate on this: As your soul searches and remembers His mercies and blessings, there is no way His praise will not fill your soul and burst out in spontaneous singing of His praises! • Prayer Points: 1. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. As you meditate on God’s mercies, faithfulness and loving-kindness towards you and your house/family today, let His praise fill and flow in and from your soul. 2. Father, let Your mercy never depart from me and my house in Jesus mighty name. 3. Today, merciful Father, have compassion on Your church. Do wonders in Your church today in Jesus name. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Monday October 27th, 2014 Topic: Does money truly answer all things? Bible Text: Ecclesiastes 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. [KJV] • Just a Charge Does money answer all things? This is the vital question to all of us today. Does money provide answer to ALL THINGS in this life? Is money the answer to everything? Can money give everything? Can money buy everything you need? Solomon, the wisest man of his generation, preached that message: “Money answereth all things”! Yes, he was a great preacher, a man endowed with uncommon wisdom. But we must put his life into the right perspective in order to understand the spirit behind this particular message. His life-time can be divided into two halves – (1) his younger days when he wholeheartedly served the God of his father, David, and (2) his older age when his heart was stolen away by the gods of his numerous foreign wives. With so much wealth and a heart full of idols, he became a depraved preacher of many fallacies! Bible scholars accounted his writings in Proverbs to his younger days, and most of his messages in Ecclesiastes to his older days. That his wisdom and great riches had become corrupted by the idols of his heart was evident all through the Book of Ecclesiastes. Today’s issue is simply one of such incorrect and unsound doctrines of a fallen Preacher! Money is good and useful in many ways. Nevertheless, it does not and cannot answer all things! There are so many real things pertaining to life and living that money cannot give you. Or, do you think money can give you the salvation of your soul? Can it give you fullness of joy? Can it give you peace that transcends all understanding? Can you get real security from money? Money cannot give you children. Money cannot give you a home? Money will fail you big time in many ways! And so the counsel of heaven to you and I, and all: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” [1 Timothy 6:17]. Do not place your trust in “uncertain (undependable, unreliable, unsteady) riches”. Proverbs 23:5 further reinforce this admonition, “Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.” Rather, let us learn to put our trust in God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. He is certain to “…..supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” [Philippians 4:19]. Enjoy the riches of God in all your ways today in Jesus name. • Meditate on this: Money is good and useful in many ways. Nevertheless, it does not and cannot answer all things! • Prayer Points: 1. Thank God for the excellency of His name. Appreciate Him for who He is. 2. Has God really blessed you with material riches? Thank Him for that. Yet, the riches of the Lord greatly transcend material things. Thank Him for His marvelous riches towards you and in you. 3. Have you become so confident and reliant on your material riches? Is your mind rest secured in your great riches instead of on the Living God? You cannot serve two masters! [Matthew 6:24]. Today, repent of this sin, and return your heart fully unto God. Let Him alone be your absolute trust for all you may ever need in life. 4. Father, bless me and my house today with your unsearchable riches in the name of Jesus. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Tuesday October 28th, 2014 Topic: And God bless them Bible Text: Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. [KJV] • Just a Charge After God had formed man out of the dust of the earth and made him a living soul by the breath of His nostril [Genesis 2:7], it is striking to note that the first thing God gave the man is “His blessing”. And God blessed them ….. This is not a mere greeting! It is something much more fundamental to the existence, sustenance and success of man in life. God’s “blessing” here talks of God adding grace to the life of the new man. It bears reference to divine endowment with grace to enable the man to perform beyond human capacities. He definitely needed this as a basic empowerment to be able to accomplish divine tasks given him afterward – be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, exercise dominion, cultivate and keep the garden, obey my commandment to keep fellowship [Genesis 1:28, 2:15-17]. And God blessed them. Who are the “them” here? Remember God made only one person – Genesis 2:7. But Genesis 1:27 and 5:2 reveals to us that the one person God created was actually a dual gender of Male and Female. The “them” here refers to the Male and Female components of the created Man. The blessing of God is for them together as an indivisible entity. It is not “And God bless him” or “And God bless her”. It is “them” that God blessed. This is very significant, especially as it concerns marriage relationship. The created “male-female” Man was later developed into “man-woman” Man – and that combination or feature is what we call Marriage today. In Matthew 19:6, Jesus says, “So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, dont let man tear apart. (WEB). Marriage is the restoration of the original Man but in a better “man-woman” feature. The initial “blessing” was in no wise re-designed. It was not redefined either. It is still for “them”. It is a special endowment for the man and woman that God has joined together as One. It is not for either separately but for both as One. Without the other, this special endowment is invalid for one alone. The two must be One in God’s design to activate this divine endowment to generate and enjoy the synergy it produces only in functional marriage setting. In a dysfunctional marriage, this original blessing is suspended, unworkable and so unprofitable. This is useful information for every married couple. Make your marriage function according to God’s design and see this special grace bringing supernatural fruitfulness into your lives and home. I hope you all will do. May His blessing be upon your life and home in Jesus mighty name. • Meditate on this: Make your marriage function according to God’s design and see this special grace bringing supernatural fruitfulness into your lives and home. • Prayer Points: 1. Let us lift our voices in praise of the Owner of our souls by whose pleasure we are alive today. 2. Thank God for His wonders in marriage. He made marriage for the good of man. All His gifts to man are good and perfect – of which marriage is one. 3. Is your marriage or home operating out of His order? Are you and your spouse truly One in the Designer’s order? If not, you have this long been denying yourself of “God’s blessing” meet for marriage. Repent today and ask God for a new beginning in your marriage. 4. Commit all your affairs today unto God, trusting Him for success in all your eandeavours. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Wednesday October 29th, 2014 Topic: My son, keep your parents’ instructions Bible Text: Proverbs 6:20-23 My son, keep thy fathers commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: [KJV] • Just a Charge Today’s jet-age children think they are wiser than their parents! They think they know better and are smarter. They see the older ones as being old-fashioned and uninformed! However, many of them only realize their ignorance, if not stupidity, after that they have had their fingers burnt! A local adage in Nigeria says, “If a child has as much cloths as the elders, he or she cannot have as much rags as the elders”! In order words, no matter how the young ones know, they do not have the experience of the elders. And that really matters. God Himself recognizes the superior wisdom that life’s experiences do produce. The elders have had their senses exercised by various knowledge and experiences that the young ones will take time to come by. Another Nigerian local adage says, “What an elder sees while sitting down, a young one cannot see while standing up”! That is why the elderly ones, especially the parents, are better placed, and indeed entrusted by God with the responsibility of guiding the younger ones in the right way. This task is accomplished majorly through various instructions and counsels. My son, keep thy fathers commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother. This is God’s admonition to the young ones – the children. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right……. that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth [Ephesians 6:1, 3]. Obedience to the instructions and counsels of the elderly or parents is for the ultimate good of the young ones or children. Children, you will be doing yourselves and your destinies great favour by obeying your parents in all righteousness. Any well-meaning parent will naturally love his or her children enough to give only righteous and profitable instructions and counsels. Every good parent wants to work for the good of their children, knowing that they are his or her security for a happy future. Giving right and up-building instructions and counsels is one way of accomplishing this desire. Therefore let the children accept, honour and obey the parents’ instructions and counsels in this light. You may not always understand the whys” and “whats” of some of parental or elderly instructions and counsels at times. Yet, knowing it is coming from a loving and good parents and for you wellness and upbuilding, do it still! You will surely bless these parents for that in the days ahead. You will of course eat the greater portion of the fruit thereof! As a child, I pray that the grace to obey your parents be impacted unto you abundantly today in Jesus mighty name. • Meditate on this: “What an elder sees while sitting down, a young one cannot see while standing up”! • Prayer Points: 1. Today, appreciate the Saviour of your soul. Thank Him for saving you. Thank Him for upholding you in the faith hitherto. 2. As children, thank God for your parents. (As much as possible, appreciate them today for their roles in your life). 3. Today, let every parent pray earnestly for their children to be delivered from the end-times spirit of “disobedience to parents” – 2 Timothy 3:1-2. Pray also that the spirit of obedience will fill the hearts of all your children in Jesus mighty name. 4. Today, let every child pray for himself/herself, that God should remove rebellious spirit from him/her. Ask God for the grace to obey and honour your parents in all things according to the will of God – Ephesians 6:1-3. 5. Commit all your activities today unto God and ask Him for sufficient grace for the day. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Thursday October 30th, 2014 Topic: “Good work”, not a substitute Bible Text: 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. [KJV] • Just a Charge In Isaiah 64:6, the Bible says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away”. “Righteousnesses” in this Bible verse allude to countable quality as against the uncountable noun (righteousness) meaning holiness or the quality or state of being righteous. It refers to acts or conducts that one put up to show one is righteous – and, really, it could all but be truly “a show”! The Bible calls it “works of righteousness”. This is the special focus of the Law. It demands the fulfillment of several, usually ritual or ceremonial deeds to be counted as righteous in the eyes of the Law. Such is the demand for circumcision, purification by diverse washing rituals, observation of special days and festivals, etc. But all these were meant to be a temporary and typical measures until Christ come to perfect a new way for mankind – the way of mercy and grace [Hebrews 8 and 9, John 1:15-17]. Through Christ, true righteousness was imputed unto us by grace, no longer by meeting the demands of the works of the Law. By the indwelling Holy Spirit and powered by grace, living right (in obedience) is made possible, even easier. We no longer have to depend on sacrifices or works of our own righteousness which, in any case, is but like filthy rags in the Lord’s sight! Now, living in obedience unto God by His grace is better than any effort at trying to win His approval through works (offerings and sacrifices) of righteousness. Our works (services) becomes only reasonable and acceptable unto God only if our lives had first become pleasing and acceptable unto Him on the merit of Christ’s righteousness. Otherwise, all would simply be mere religion and works of the flesh, which are altogether abominable filthy rags in God’s sight. Christ has become our righteousness; in Him alone are we acceptable and pleasing unto God. Wishing you a pleasant day in Jesus name. • Meditate on this: Christ has become our righteousness; in Him alone are we acceptable and pleasing unto God. • Prayer Points: 1. Jesus Christ is our Jehovah Tsekenu (the Lord our righteousness). Worship Him. 2. Galatians 2:21. Seeking righteousness on the merit of works is tantamount to Christ dying “in vain” on your life. It is great despite to the atoning blood of Jesus. Repent today! 3. 2 Corinthians 5:21. Today, appropriate to yourself by faith the atoning death of Jesus Christ, that you might become the righteousness of God in Him. 4. Father, please grant me grace day-by-day to be able to live a life pleasing unto you everyday of my life. 5. Father, today, touch my life and the lives of all in this house with Your transforming power in Jesus mighty name! The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. /You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Friday October 31st, 2014 Topic: What is the meaning of your name? Bible Text: 1 Samuel 25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. [KJV] • Just a Charge What is your name? Do you know the meaning of it? If so, do you know the implication(s) of the meaning – on your life and destiny especially? Please note that “As the name of a man is, so he is”! Nabal means “foolish” or “churlishness”: he lived and died a fool! Friends, names have meanings, and each name has its own implication(s) on the bearer. Sometimes in early 1995, the Spirit of God led me to a search for the meaning of my former Surname. It was an amazing revelation when my Uncle told me what the name means and implies! That led to the new Surname I bear now – which in itself was inspired of God and one I had to grow to get used to. Have you ever taken it upon yourself to conduct a search on the meaning of your names? Whether native name, English name, Christian name, or even appellation, there is no meaningless name! Is your name associated with an idol? Is it associated with some negative circumstances? Is the appellation or nickname you are being called associated with evil character? Even some of the so-called Christian names we just pick from the Bible have terrible meanings and damning implications! For instance, Jacob means ‘Supplanter”, Shadrach means “illuminated by the sun god”, etc. Are you Linda? It means “snake”! There are so many other names we bear that are already doing damage to our life and destiny. Most of our parents that gave us the names we bear do not know God in the first place, or, though they know Him, they never asked Him for a name for us! They just gave us a name of their own fancy or for any other reasons best known to them! For instance, do you know that the name Solomon was given to the son Bathsheba gave birth to by His father David without consulting God? God had to send His own name – Jedidiah – through Prophet Nathan [2 Samuel 12:24-35]! Any wander why “Solomon” messed up eventually? “As the name of a man is, so he is”! We need to act wisely herein. Even God had to change the name of some Bible characters to match or positively change their destinies. Examples are Abraham from Abram [Genesis 17:4-6], Israel from Jacob [Genesis 32:28], etc. To avoid their parents from making mistakes, God even had to personally christen some – e.g. Emmanuel. Would you need a change of name? Good to consider that today. And then, if you are a parent, be careful what name you give to your children. Seek the face of the Lord before you christen your new-born. Don’t hurt their lives and destinies through inappropriate or damaging names. Be wise! • Meditate on this: Friends, names have meanings, and each name has its own implication(s) on the bearer. Prayer Points: 1. Once again, today, let us thank God for His truth. Thank God for the mysteries of the kingdom not being hidden from you. 2. Today, I want to encourage you to seek to know the meaning of the name you are called. Ask question from whoever matters. Pray to God on the matter. He will reveal hidden things you never know unto you. 3. Would you need a change of name? Would any of your children need a re-christening? Is it your surname that you need to change? Do not hesitate any longer. Pray for grace and boldness to do it. It is your life and destiny that is at stake! 4. Pray that God should reverse any damage inappropriate names had done to your life and destiny thus far. Ask God to re-create your destiny today. 5. Commit the rest of the day and all that are yours unto God. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094 The Family Altar Saturday November 1st, 2014 Topic: Blessings of suffering [2] Bible Text: Hebrews 12:5-8 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. [NKJ] • Just a Charge Another blessing of Christian suffering, especially when it is as a result of divine chastening, is that it proves that God still treats you as of a loving child. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. It is because God loves you. Even as children of God, we yet do occasionally misbehave. To show His disapproval, and to rebuke us as a loving Father, we sometimes have to “endure chastening”. His goal is never to harm or destroy us, but to point our attention to our wrong, correct us and lead us in the right way. How should we react to this divine treatment? 1. Despise it not. 2. Faint not. To despise means to scorn, disdain, detest or hate. Divine chastening is not what a genuine child of God should do contempt to. Rather, we should treat such dealing of God with fear and reverence. We should be glad that God is handling us with love. It means that He has not abandoned us to our own way. It is only a bastard that hates to be corrected by “his father”. We are also to faint not. It means we should not become downcast or fainthearted. We are not to become weary, lest the Enemy take advantage of us. We should be strong and very courageous under divine chastening, knowing fully well that it is for our ultimate good. We should pay attention to why we are being chastened, appreciate God for correcting us and then change our ways. Let the season of divine chastening draw you closer to God rather than causing you to flee His presence. In such season, let your love for God increase the more, reciprocating His love wherewith you are being disciplined. You are definitely going to end up a better person after all, if you do. May His grace be multiplied unto you in your season of divine chastisement in Jesus name. • Meditate on this: We should be strong and very courageous under divine chastening, knowing fully well that it is for our ultimate good. • Prayer Points: 1. Yet another week of God’s faithfulness, mercies, grace and protection. Let us rejoice in Him and be greatly thankful unto Him. 2. Are you presently going through suffering that can be accounted as divine chastisement? Rejoice! Thank God for approving you as His child. Pray to God for the right attitude to handle the present situation. 3. Pray to God to reveal His purpose in your present suffering. Ask Him for grace to cope, and to effect changes being demanded of you. 4. Father, let this suffering perfect me for your use and glory in Jesus mighty name. 5. It is time to pray for one another. Let individual’s prayer point(s) be handled. 6. Let us commit the rest of the day and the weekend unto God. The Family Altar is a marriage and family-focused daily devotional posted for free use of all by Help for the Family Ministry, Lagos, Nigeria. Except otherwise indicated, all write-ups are authored by the Ministry’s helmsman, Pastor Dayo St. John. You can be a part of this via the Ministry’s website: helpforthefamily or Facebook page: Help for the Family Ministry For further details, comment or requests, please contact: Website: helpforthefamily E-mail: thefamilyaltar@helpforthefamily Telephone: 234-8023072094, -8098032094
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 10:05:04 +0000
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