DATE: THURSDAY JULY 27TH 2017
THEME: WHOLENESS IS POSSIBLE
Memorise:
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:19
Read: Luke 17:12-19
17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
17:18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
17:19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Message:
After reflecting on the goodness of God, David wrote in Psalm 103:1
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
The lame man in Acts 3:1-8 must have taken a cue from David in praising God. After his burden of 40 years was lifted, he praised God in a very dramatic way, just like David did in times past. When David praised God, his entire body was fully involved. He went to such great extent as removing his royal robes and dancing before God like one of his subjects (2 Samuel 6:14-16). He was used to leaping in praise and honor of the Most High. Have you ever leaped to give God praise?
After God has lifted your burden, in addition to praising Him, you can give Him generous thanks- not the kind of thanks that has to be squeezed forcefully out of you. Thank Him from a heart overflowing with gratitude. Some people are just too stingy! Not only do they find it difficult to give God a good offering from what he had already provided for them, they also find it difficult to give Him thanks. What such people fail to realize is that stinginess has never helped the stingy. What you hoard will go stale, become useless or be lost. Give God thanks and do it with a heart full of gratitude.
Moreover, if you give God quality thanks, you will definitely receive something in return. In other words, when God does something for you and you thank Him generously, He becomes so impressed that He gives you something else in addition to what precipitated your thanksgiving. When all is said and done, you end up with double blessings. Those who give shabby thanks or do not give thanks at all cannot get a second blessing, and if care is not taken, they may even lose their initial blessings to the devil. If you look at the example of the 10 lepers who were healed by the lord Jesus Christ in today’s bible reading, you will discover that thanksgiving opens the door to a very special blessing: wholeness! This is a type of blessing that no gates of hell can prevent. When God makes you whole, everyone will know about it. Wholeness is the height of restoration. It is a return to the original state you were in before a burden was placed on you. As you thank God from today, you shall receive the blessing of wholeness in Jesus’ Name.
Key Point:
Father, as I thank and worship You today, please make me whole.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 3-4
Ezekiel 16:23-43
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 5: THE GREAT PHYSICIAN
1. The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus.
Refrain:
Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessed Jesus.
2. Your many sins are all forgiv’n,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus;
Go on your way in peace to heav’n,
And wear a crown with Jesus.
Refrain:
3. All glory to the risen Lamb!
I now believe in Jesus;
I love the blessed Savior’s name,
I love the name of Jesus.
Refrain:
4. His name dispels my guilt and fear,
No other name but Jesus;
Oh, how my soul delights to hear
The charming name of Jesus.
Refrain:
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR REFERENCE
1 Kings: 3. 1. And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 2. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. 3. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 4. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. 5. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7. And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 8. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10. And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12. Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15. And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. 16. Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19. And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
1 Kings: 4. 1. So king Solomon was king over all Israel. 2. And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, 3. Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. 4. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: 5. And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend: 6. And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute. 7. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. 8. And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: 9. The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan: 10. The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher: 11. The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 12. Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam: 13. The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars: 14. Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim: 15. Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 16. Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth: 17. Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar: 18. Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin: 19. Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land. 20. Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. 21. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22. And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. 24. For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. 25. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27. And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28. Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. 29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. 32. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 33. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. 34. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
Ezekiel: 16. 23. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) 24. That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. 25. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. 26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. 27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. 28. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. 29. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. 30. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; 31. In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; 32. But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! 33. They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. 34. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. 35. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: 36. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; 37. Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. 38. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. 39. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. 40. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 41. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. 42. So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
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