Planting Season
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (NET) “For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity in earth: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what was planted;” Growing up in the village, harvesting season was usually one of the fun times in farming. I remember accompanying my grandmother and others to the farm to harvest yam. There is usually a small thatch hut in this farm, and after harvesting for a while, we get some fire going in the center of the farm where some yams are roasted and eaten with red oil mixed with freshly plucked pepper and salt. You can see how satisfied my grandparents are as the yams harvested keep swelling the barns close to the riverside. But all these would not be possible if we had done nothing during the planting season. The natural things are usually a mirror of certain spiritual realities. The Bible instructs us in Ecclesiastes that there are seasons and appropriate times for every purpose on earth. Just as there is an appropriate time for planting certain crops in the year, likewise are there appropriate times for planting spiritual seeds on the earth. For parenting, the formative years, 0 to 6 years, are the planting season and appropriate times for imbibing morals and inculcating home training in the child. For career, the appropriate time for getting an education is usually in one’s childhood and youthful years. For family life, the Bible talks about the wife of one’s youth, the youthful years are an appropriate season for starting a family. However, when we begin to look at life with the eternal perspective, then we must come to the realization that our time on this earth represents our planting season. Jesus once told a parable of a man who planted wheat but while men slept, the enemy came to plant weed and he said to leave them to grow together until it was time for harvest. And by harvest time, he was referring to the time of his return and the subsequent judgment of the world. Our time here on earth is when we plant and sow what we shall reap in and for all eternity. This time can be split into day and night; the youthful years and later years of one’s life. More productive planting is made in the day, so that when evening approaches, one can concentrate on consolidating the efforts of the morning, by nurturing, weeding, and watering the seed sown. What are you doing with your planting season? When you do not take advantage of the planting season, you will reap sorrow and regrets. Go into today determined to give yourself to fulfilling God’s plan for your life while it is day, for night comes when no man can plant. Harvest time beckons, get planting now. —Ikechukwu Mpama Bible in 1 Year: Numbers 13-16 (in today’s audio) Streamglobe is nondenominational. Kindly share this Devotional with your contacts and let’s touch lives together. If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) Download Today’s Audio here: https://bit.ly/aud2660 http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202660.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
What Are The Odds?
Psalms 91:7 (NET) Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it will not reach you. What comes to mind when you hear of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Does your mind conjure up an image of a set of computers networked together performing super-complex calculations reeling off non-stop codes and numbers? Or do you think of super-robots that can perform supercool tasks with great ease? Or maybe your memory takes you to a science fiction(sci-fi) movie you have seen in the past such as the Ironman suit of the Marvel franchise which is just like an intelligent person built with cutting-edge technology and filled with so much knowledge? Surprising though, some applications of AI are so commonplace we virtually interact with it sometimes daily. Just like when you use a face recognition feature to unlock your smartphone, or when you begin typing in a query for google search and it gives you auto-suggestions, or even when you find that some unsolicited emails from strangers have been sent to Spam in your mail, artificial intelligence is at work. It is also what social media companies use to determine what ads you see and what contents make it to your newsfeed. Artificial Intelligence is built on the framework of statistics and can be put to use to great benefits and used to make predictions with a remarkable degree of accuracy. Statistics utilizes data from the past to make informed predictions about the future and is used for planning and estimation in various works of life. However, it is critical for the believer that he never sees himself as just a statistic. This is critical. The believer must come to the realization that his realities are shaped by the word of God and not by the prevailing circumstances or the re-echoing precedents of the past. So, when you hear that 7 in 10 graduates are going to be unemployed or underemployed after graduation, don’t begin to fret and worry that the odds are against you; you are more than a statistic. When you hear fearful stories of horrors happening all around you, don’t begin to imagine that you will be next; you are more than a statistic. Learn to engage the power of prayer. Hold God to His word and shape realities by your faith in God’s words and promises. Go into today knowing that while statistics might be good enough to provide forecasts for certain matters and people, the forecast of your life is written in God’s word. You are more than a statistic; you are God’s child, more than a conqueror. Cheer up! The odds are in your favor because Jesus is Lord. —Ikechukwu Mpama Bible in 1 Year: Numbers 13-16 (in today’s audio) Streamglobe is nondenominational. Kindly share this Devotional with your contacts and let’s touch lives together. If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202659.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
Marriage and Integrity
1 Corinthians 7:1-2 (KJV) Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Before the epistle of First Corinthians was written, some members of the church at Corinth wrote a letter to Apostle Paul asking certain questions. They wanted to know if they were permitted to get married as unmarried men and women who now believed in the Lord Jesus. They wanted also to know if those married to unbelievers could remain with their spouses even if their spouses did not believe. Today’s Bible verses address the first question the Corinthians raised. Apostle Paul makes it clear here that even though celibacy is a good thing, sexual immorality is a bad thing and marriage helps to avoid it. One of the strongest attributes of God that His children inherit is His integrity (Psalm 15:4). God even exalts His word above His name (Psalm 138:2), that’s how much a Person of integrity our God is. Marriage adds the layer of integrity into the reasons why a believer must flee all sexual immorality. If a married person commits immorality, he not only sins against God and his body but sins against his spouse and breaks his integrity. Some have taught that celibacy is a secret to spiritual power. That could be true for some inferior form of spiritual power, but God’s power doesn’t work that way. The only reason in the word of God why unmarried people can serve God better is because a married man would have to be concerned about the things of this world—how to please his wife. But marriage becomes a big plus to ministry when one marries the right person who would help him/her fulfill his divine mandate. Prayer: Ask the Lord to help you marry the right person who would help you fulfill your divine destiny. If you are married, ask the Lord to help you and your spouse help each other fulfill destiny. —Abraham Damilola Arigi Bible in 1 Year: II Timothy 3-4 (in today’s audio) Streamglobe is nondenominational. Kindly share this Devotional with your contacts and let’s touch lives together. If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202318.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
The Blessedness Of Being Led
Psalm 23:1 (KJV), “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” ( Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV) is one of the many memory verses I learned as a child, but It was after many years that I discovered that even though I had memorized these verses, I had not learned what it meant to trust in the Lord with all my heart.Another popular verse of the Bible is Psalms 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. This verse is very popular, but the blessedness of being led by the Lord seems far-fetched for many who recite it. One of the personal proofs that you are a son of God is being led by His spirit (Romans 8:14). Sadly, many Christians rarely enjoy this benefit and this is evident by the wrong choices they make on a daily basis. Why is this so? From Proverbs 3:5-6, we see that it is only those who trust in the Lord with all their heart, and who are not leaning on their own understanding but who acknowledges God in all their ways that will have their path directed by God and they are the ones who will not lack. Trusting in the Lord with all your heart is the criterion for enjoying the blessedness of being led by the spirit of the Lord. If you cannot trust Him, He cannot lead you. Go into today determined to fight and cut away from whatever causes you to lose your trust in the Lord if you desire the blessedness of being led by Him. Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to always trust you. I ask also that you will always work in me both to will and to do of your good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) in Jesus’ name. Amen! —Dr. Emmanuel James Bible in 1 Year: John 10-12 (In Devotional Audio) Download Free Edifying Sermons Here: www.streamglobe.org/34 If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202658.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
Trust, The Proof Of Faith
Isaiah 30:15 (NET) “For this is what the master, the LORD, the Holy One of Israel says: “If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, but you are unwilling” Mr. George was falsely accused in his office and this got him really upset, but in the midst of the confrontations, the hymn with the words: “trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus…” kept playing in his heart, but this ceased after a while since he did not pay attention to it because he had been overwhelmed by his troubles. He tried all that he could to exonerate himself but failed and this got him even more troubled. At the end of work for the day, he got into his car and was headed home. It was in his car that the Spirit of the Lord spoke to him: “you trust your car, you believe it will take you home, but you didn’t let me when I wanted to help you, even though I tried many times. Don’t you trust me?”. At that point, he knew his day would have gone differently if he heeded the message in that song in his spirit and was not as worked up as he was in defending himself. All his efforts only ended up making things worse. Just like Mr. George, many believers have missed God’s help because they allow worries to overtake them and couldn’t hear God when he came speaking to them. The proof of faith is trust and the proof of trust is the absence of worry or anxiety. If you still worry about a matter, it shows you don’t have faith yet [over it]. “Oh, that’s easy!” Someone may say, “I’ll just stop worrying and faith will come”. What will shock you though is that, you’ll soon discover that you don’t have that ability in yourself. When you worry, it shows that you have the need to trust God. When you discover that you can’t stop worrying about a matter, it is a sign that you are still carrying the burden yourself. The right thing to do at that point is to commit the burden to God through prayers, and keep at it until the worry has been lifted. Remember that scripture says: “cast your cares upon Him, for He cares” (1 Peter 5:7).“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV). Worrying shows that you still trust in yourself, and as long as your trust is in yourself, God will not be able to direct your path, because He only directs the path of those who trust in Him with all their heart. The ultimate aim of worry, therefore, is to bring you to the place where you can’t access God’s help; the place of confusion and directionlessness. Go into today making up your mind to turn every worry into a signal that tells you that you need God’s help. Prayer: I receive grace not to be anxious about anything. If anxiety comes, I receive enough grace to turn it over to the Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen! —Dr. Emmanuel James Bible in 1 Year: Hosea 8-14 (In Devotional Audio) Download Free Edifying Sermons Here: www.streamglobe.org/34 If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) Download Today’s Audio here: https://bit.ly/aud2657 http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202657.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
Who Shall Separate Us?
Romans 8:35-37 (KJV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. One attribute of the first and second-century believers that I have always admired in awe was their ability to stand for Christ in the midst of the harshest persecution. Theirs was a generation of believers that knew that accepting the Lord Jesus would be signing up for diverse persecution and hostility from even their own government. But they were resolute, and they overcame. By the end of the second century AD, the church had covered the known world. Idol worship in Europe and Asia Minor was now a thing of the past. (This was before the corruption of the church in the following centuries). One thing was quite clear in their attitude. They were resolute to stand for Christ and love Him in spite of whatever would come their way. Verses like today’s verses were their anthem and pledge. Persecution was not going to stop them from loving God. Please understand that today’s Bible verse is actually saying ‘nothing would stop us from loving God’: not persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, etc. Go into today remembering that God has loved us with an everlasting love. This love made Him make the ultimate sacrifice [of becoming flesh in order] to save us. Our only reasonable response would be to love God back(1 John 4:19). Remember that it is to those that love God that all things work together for their good. Great glory is reserved for those who love the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). We must never turn our backs on Him but remember that no matter what we face, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Overcoming is in our DNA. Lord, please help me to abide in your love and be fruitful in every good work. Amen. —Abraham Damilola Arigi Bible in 1 Year: Proverbs 20-21(In Devotional Audio) Download Free Edifying Sermons Here: www.streamglobe.org/34 Bible in 1 Year: Psalms 102-104 If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) Download Today’s Audio here: https://bit.ly/aud2656 http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202656.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
What To Do When God’s Promises Are Delayed
Habakkuk 2:3 (KJV) “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” At the age of ten, Gary had wanted to join the teenager’s club in his neighborhood, but for three years he couldn’t. Every time he tried to, he was confronted by the same question, “how old are you?” And that question sent him home every single year until he was thirteen. Gary couldn’t join the club because he was younger than the specified age. Just like Gary, many want to see the future manifest now, they want God to do what he’d scheduled for later now and when that doesn’t happen, they get frustrated. Before you term God’s promises ‘Delayed’, find out what the appointed time for it is. But, if the appointed time has come, your duty is to claim it in prayer and keep at it until it has been fulfilled, just like Daniel did. Daniel 9:2-4 and 10:12-13 (KJV), “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments”. “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia”. Go into today determined to understand the timing of God’s promises for you and to insist on its performance once the time is set. Prayer: I receive an understanding heart in Jesus’ name. Amen! —Dr. Emmanuel James Download Free Edifying Sermons Here: www.streamglobe.org Bible in 1 Year: Psalms 102-104 If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202655.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
How Does Faith Come?
John 6:63 (KJV), “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Trust is the proof of faith, it is the outworking of faith. Trust itself is resting in assurance (Isaiah 30:15). Faith is not earned, it is given (John 3:27). You cannot choose to have faith, the best you can do is position yourself in a way that gives you easy access to the one who gives faith. God is the one who gives faith and he does this by sending you the spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13). Every good and perfect gift comes from God; faith is one of these gifts and there’s nothing you can do to earn it. Cast all your cares of the Lord, for he cares (1 Peter 5:7) is a statement the world and canal Christian can’t understand. You must have eyes to see and ears to hear that God cares before you can cast your cares on him. God is the maker of seeing eyes and hearing ears (Proverbs 20:12) and this is a mystery to the world and to the carnal Christians, because, only those who have paid or are willing to pay the price of staying under Jesus’ tutelage, discipline, and discipleship have the blessedness of a seeing eye and a hearing ear (Matthew 13:16). Yet you must taste before you see that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8) and it is after you’ve seen that the Lord is good that you can trust him. You see, if you have faith, it is not because you chose to, it was given to you. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), thus, the duty of everyone who wants to please God is to position himself in a way that gives him easy access to the giver of faith. Hearing the word of God is the way (Romans 10:17). If you want to have faith, keep reading, studying, listening to, and fellowshipping with the letters (Bible) until you’ve been able to pick God’s voice in those letters. It’s the word of God to you that fosters faith in your heart. Remember that the words that he speaks are spirit; have to ability to give faith and are life (John 3:63). God still speaks (John 10:27) and unless you’re able to hear him speak to you, you won’t be able to have faith, for faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Go into today making up your mind to keep reading and studying the letter (Bible), fellowshipping with believers in sermons and services until you’re able to hear God’s faith-giving voice. Prayer: I receive grace to keep hearing the word of God until faith is formed in me in Jesus’ name. Amen! —Dr. Emmanuel James Join the live stream of Streamglobe Word Encounter Today by 11:30am WAT(GMT +1) join here: www.streamglobe.org/live Bible in 1 Year: I Chronicles 15-19If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) Download Today’s Audio here: https://bit.ly/aud2654 http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202654.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS
One Spirit with the Lord
1 Corinthians 6:14-15 (KJV) And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. Montgomery was going through a series of experiences that made it clear to him that he was under the influence of a curse. His great-grandparents and grandparents were missionaries. There was indeed a generational blessing in his family, and everyone knew it. But Montgomery’s case was different. He was walking under the influence of a curse. How did this come to be? After he became born again, he found out through prophecy that he contacted the flow of curses in his life through sexual immorality with prostitutes during a season of his life. Because he had joined himself to a cursed person through immorality, he started walking in her generational curses. By the mercy of God, he was delivered and brought into the blessing of Christ. Clean clothes do not purify dirty clothes, but dirty clothes can pollute clean clothes. We saw previously that everything that happened to the Lord Jesus will also happen to us believers because we are members of His body. It is because we are members of the body of Christ that we share in the blessings of Abraham, and will be resurrected into glory. Anyone who truly understands this will flee sexual immorality because immorality takes a member of the body of Christ and soils it with iniquity. Because your body is now the temple of God that lives within you, sexual immorality which is a sin against your body is a sin against God’s temple. Go into today remembering that because you are a member of the Body of Christ, you should walk in the blessing of Christ. Confession: I am blessed with all spiritual blessings. I am blessed beyond every generational curse because I am a member of Christ’s body. Sin shall have no dominion over me. Amen. —Abraham Damilola Arigi Download sermons here: www.streamglobe.org/34 Bible in 1 Year: Numbers 9-12 If you wish to start getting Streamglobe Devotional Text & Audio early every day, Send us a message or Click here to join a Streamglobe WhatsApp Group☞ https://chat.whatsapp.com/L9dNW31CAwdIIdZfXjnc7U Send WhatsApp messages to +2348034420524, +2348138224547 (send Testimonies and Inquiries here too) http://listen.streamglobe.org/Devotional%20Audio%202313.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()Subscribe: RSS