TIMES & SEASONS CHANGE BUT God IS ALWAYS WITH Us.

                                 LEARN TO THRIVE IN EVERY SEASON

 

 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To really enjoy the life, you must know how to handle time and the different seasons that you will go through. Change is a constant in life. Every day, week, month and year introduces new things in your life. You will not be on a constant high; neither will you be on a constan

t low. There will be seasons of dryness and seasons of fruitfulness. Each season has its purpose and works to make you appreciate God's grace towards you in different situations. When you are up, He is there with you and when you are down, He also stays with you.

PLACE THE SEASONS OF YOUR LIFE IN GOD'S HANDS. Ask God to transform your attitudes and bring positive results out of negative situations as you travel through life's seasons. Rely on God's unchanging power in the midst of changes you experience in all aspects of your life. Rather than battling the season you currently find yourself in, ask God what He wants you to learn from it, and trust Him to give you the encouragement and strength you need.
Know that, while life is unpredictable, your faith in God will always stand.

USE YOUR TIME WISELY. Regularly remind yourself of how fragile and fleeting life on earth can be, and that every day is a gift from God. Don't fall into the traps of being lazy or too driven, missing out on God's best for you. Ask God to give you wisdom to use your time each day as He would like you to use it, according to His purposes for your life.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that wherever I am, You are there with me; help me to trust You daily.

Scriptural Reading: Ecclesiaste 3:1

by Dr. MENSA OTABIL

HOW TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL QUIET TIME WITH GOD!

How then can a Christian be victorious? How can one stand still and yet overcome? The fight of FAITH is the struggle to set aside that thoughtful time each day for PRAYER and STUDY of the Word, the Life of Christ, for communication with Him.
Satan knows that and so he makes it impossible for you not to have time to listen to the voice of God.

Relationship comes by communication. Communication comes by spending time together. In relationship, love is spelt TIME. There are three reasons why we need quiet time with God. Rick Warrens in his book: “BIBLE STUDY METHODS” (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI., 2006), gives some wonderful suggestions as to how one can have a meaningful quality time with God.

WHY SPEND TIME WITH GOD? There are THREE important reasons:

First reason is because we need fellowship with God:
We cannot grow to be healthy Christians without spending time with God.
Regular quiet time with God was the source of Christ’s ministry.
No man or woman can be strong in Christ without it. That is the way to abide in Christ: sitting at His feet in Bible study and prayers.

Second, because it is our privilege as Christians:
We give God our devotion during quiet time with Him.
We get direction from Him in our Christian pilgrimage
We gain delight in God—we become His friends—John 15:1-2, 5, 14,15.
We grow more like Him—1 Peter 5:18

Third, because we gain tremendous benefits from it:
Joy—the most joyful Christians are those who spend time with God: Ps. 16:11

Strength—we charge our spiritual batteries during quiet time: Isa. 40:29-31

Peace—we gain the promised peace of Christ: Isa. 26:3, 48:18; Rom. 8:6

Stability—when we spend time daily in prayer, Bible study and worship, our lives become stable: Ps. 16:8-9; Ps. 55:22.

Success—daily meditation leads to success in life: Ps. 1:1-3.
Answered Prayers—in quiet times, miracles can happen in the life of the believer: John 15:7.
Others see and notice the difference in our lives: Acts 4:13.

THE PLAN:
Have a Bible, a notebook, a hymn book
Wait on God by being silent for a minute
Pray briefly, asking God to cleanse your heart and guide you. Read two good passages to begin: Psalm 139:23-24, 1 John 1:9; Ps. 119:18; John 16:13.

THE PROPER ATTITUDE FOR THE DIVINE MEETING:
Choose a quiet place.
Come to God with expectancy to meet Him.
Be reverent before Him.
Be alert. Wash your face and if possible brush your teeth to feel wide awake.
Be willing to obey what He tells you.
Begin with a consistent SEVEN minutes daily and let it grow.
Emphasize quality not quantity.

HOW TO SPEND TIME WITH THE WORD:
• Sing a song after a silent prayer.
• Select the passage of scripture you want to study.
• Pray and read through the text few times.
• Meditate on the text.
• Visualize the scene of the text in your mind. Ask: Who, where, why, and when? Contemplate on the suffering of Christ for few minutes!
• Personalize the text to your own life by these NINE questions: SPACEPET

Is there any sin the text tells me to confess? Is the text asking me to make any confession and forsaking of sin?

Is there any Promise to claim? Is there any promise in the text to claim? Have I met the condition of the promise the text wants me to claim?

Is there any Attitude the text tells me to change? Is the text asking me to make a change in my attitude?

Is the text asking me to obey a specific Command? Is the text asking me to obey a specific command I have not been aware of?

Is the text counseling me to follow an Example? Is the text asking me to do as I have read or not to follow the example in the text?

Is the text challenging me to Pray about something? What is the text challenging me to pray about? Am I commanded to pray for an enemy?

Have I discovered some Error in the text to avoid? Is there any negative thing in the text I should avoid?

Is the text introducing me to a new Truth to believe? Is the text exposing me to a new light or truth to follow as the Holy Spirit promised to do—to lead me into all truth?

Is there Something to praise God for? What is in the text that makes me praise God?

James 4:7-8 gives a candid counsel to all who want to be drawn nigh to God. One scholar, EGW, explains how: “Draw nigh to God by prayer, by contemplation, by reading His word. When God draws nigh to you, He lifts up for you a standard against the enemy! How do we draw nigh to God?
WE do so by secret, heartfelt, humble dependence upon God, making known all your weaknesses to Jesus, and by confessing your sins. By so doing, we draw nigh to God and he draws nigh to us,” (MS 92, 1901).

What is the outcome of spending time with God? The closer we are to God, the safer we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God.
When it becomes the habit of the soul to converse with God, the power of the evil one is broken; for Satan cannot abide near the soul that draws nigh to God.
When we draw nigh to God we draw nigh to each other and we become one as Christ prayed. Husband and wife become one. Families become one. Believers become one.

Conclude your devotional time with a short song and prayer of commitment.
There is power in music! Use it in your devotion!

By Dr. Andrews L. Ewoo

JUST 4 LAUGH

                                      

           

                                                  THE MAGIC KITCHEN......... COPIED from myjoyonline.com

 Ikemefuna is a house boy whodrinks the wine of his Boss with impunity then adds water to cover his tracks.
His Boss was suspicious & decided to buy pasties (a French wine that changes color if u add water just like dettol).
Unknowing, Ikemefuna, drankfrom d wine & topped it up with water as usual.
…
Sadly for him, immediately he added water d pasties becamemilky & when d Boss came back & noticed it, he knew he had nailed ikemefuna. Ikemefuna knew he was in trouble & decided to stay put in d kitchen when his boss came home.
The Boss told his wife about what he observed.
“Ikemefuna!”, he called from the sitting room.
He answered: “Yes, Boss”.
“Who drank my pasties?”.
Ikemefuna :No answer.
The Boss asked again: still noanswer.
Then d Boss went to the kitchen 2meet him there:
“Are u insane or what? Why when I call u say “yes boss” but when I ask you a questionu don’t answer me? ”
Ikemefuna retorted, “hmmm oga when u are in d kitchen udon’t understand anything atall, except ur name”
“Is that so?” asked the boss,“Okay, go to the bar stand beside Madam, while I’llgo into d kitchen & then ask me a question”
Ikemefuna accepted. When hisboss was in d kitchen he shouts: “Boss”.
“Yes, ikem” his Boss answers. Ikemefuna then asks, “Who goes into the maid’s bedroom when Madam is not at home?”
No answer.
D boi shouted again: “Boss, I say who dey sneak to d maidsroom when madam no dey house?”
No answer.
The Boss runs back from thekitchen shouting “Wonders will never cease! Ikemefuna, Itis true, when one is in the kitchen, one does not hear anything, except one’s name.”
D wife interrupted, “that’s nottrue. It’s a lie without argument.” Ikemefuna asked ifshe’ll enter d magic kitchen 2be tested. She agreed.
Ikemefuna asks madam, “Who’s junior’s biological father? Me or d Boss?”
Madam: Mad rushed out of thekitchen. “This kitchen needs to be fumigated I can’t understand anything.