Quote of the day (31st January, 2016)

“Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer.” – Rick Pitino

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (31st January, 2016)

January 31, 2016

INSINCERITY

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Matthew 21:23-32

…Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

Matthew 21:31

The people who fought against Jesus Christ were not irreligious sinners. The people who crucified our Saviour were the most established religious leaders of the day. They knew what was right and what was wrong. They fasted, they prayed, they paid tithes, and did all that was right in their eyes to the exclusion of God and His Son Jesus Christ.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed and crucified, prostitutes, drunkards and murderers were asleep in bed and did not rise up to harm our Saviour. The “good” people who knew all about God and whose profession it was to write Scriptures (the Scribes) were at the forefront of the mob that could not recognize the Messiah. The pastors of the day, the highest priests, invented charges and accused the holiest and the best. They made him out to be the worst of scum and declared him unfit to live.

This reality should send chills down the spines of longstanding Christians or religious persons who claim to be in the service of God. Please learn this truth: serving God for a long time puts you at risk of depending on the tree of good and evil rather than depending on God. The tree of good and evil actually blinds you and prevents you from seeing God. This is why Jesus said that sinners and publicans will enter the kingdom faster than Pharisees and religious leaders would. They were too religious and knew too much.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

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Quote of the day (30th January, 2016)

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (30th January, 2016)

January 30, 2016

ENVOYS

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: 2 Samuel 20:4-10; 1 Kings 2:1,5-6

…so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died.

2 Samuel 20:10

David appointed Amasa to be the commander of the army in place of Joab. Joab tricked Amasa and killed him when he was not expecting it.

One of the things I look out for is how people relate with those I have appointed. When you have a large church, this is the most revealing sign of disloyalty. Because people always have to deal with you through your representatives, you get to learn about their real feelings towards you by observing how they relate with those you have appointed. Somebody who does not accept your wife does not accept you.

I always note people who are in constant dispute with my administrators, General Overseers, personal assistants and secretaries. To me, it is one of the clearest signs of disregard, disrespect and dislike for me personally. It has made me understand how God feels when we criticize and reject the men he has called and anointed. To criticize someone God has called and appointed is to say that God lacks intelligence and has foolishly appointed the wrong people. When people habitually fight and oppose those I have appointed, it surely sends a message to me.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

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Quote of the day (29th January, 2016)

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” – Buckminster Fuller

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (29th February, 2016)

January 29, 2016

AFFLUENCE

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: 2 Kings 5:20-27

The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

2 Kings 5:27

Money is the root of all breakaways. Money is the root of all evil. From my little experience, I can conclude that almost all breakaway situations in churches have their roots in money. The evil that enters churches, destroying and dividing them has its roots in money.

Let me give you some homework to do. Carefully analyse these people who leave in anger and rebellion. You will be amazed to find out that almost all those who leave you are money-hungry covetous men. They may have left accusing you of terrible sins but they are just looking for money . Sadly, many of our decisions are driven by our desperation to have money or to have the control of money.

Gehazi is the pastor who lost his ministry because of his desire for money. Most of us will not admit our base desire for more and more money . Unfortunately, many decisions are driven by the desire for money.

Look at what happened to Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the prophet. His master refused to receive money from Naaman, the Syrian. Out of greed, Gehazi went ahead, lied to him and took the money for himself.

By this act, Gehazi dishonoured the ministry of Elisha. Elisha cursed Gehazi and instead of becoming a prophet, Gehazi became a leper.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

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Quote of the day (28th January, 2016)

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” – Buddha

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (28th January, 2016)

January 28, 2016

CRUELTY

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: James 3:13-18

…jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are the coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Songs of Solomon 8:6

Envy is a negative personal trait that is as cruel as the grave.

Anyone who has attended a funeral of a young person cut down in the prime of his life will understand the meaning of the phrase, “as cruel as the grave.” Attending the funeral of young fathers, mothers and friends only leaves you with desperate feelings of pain.

It is distressing just to watch grieving families torn apart by death: loved ones are wrenched away from those that depend on them. The meaninglessness of their lives and the hopelessness of their situation cannot be counselled away . A great desolation falls on those left behind and a gnawing and persisting pain consumes them. Can there be anything as cruel as the grave? But the Bible says that jealousy is as cruel as the grave. Jealousy is indeed a very evil thing.

Envy is a negative personal trait whose evil effects are worse than anger and cruelty combined. What can be worse than cruelty? Remember that Jesus Christ was crucified because of envy (Mark 15:10). Envy is worse than cruelty because it is a mindless force that drives an individual to eliminate another without mercy or good reason. Envy is a monster that I pray you will not have to contend with.

Indeed, you must fear the envious for their cruelty is more than the grave! The greatest sin of men to crucify Jesus Christ was committed because of envy

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

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Quote of the day (27th January, 2016)

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” – Henry Ford

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (27th January, 2016)

January 27, 2016

ENVY

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Mark 15:1-20

A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 14:30

Envy defined: Envy is a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success and possessions. Envy is a negative personal trait that destroys a person from within.

The Scripture calls it rottenness of the bones. Envious people are destroyed from within. They may have everything but are focused on what others have and what others are doing. Envious people are not content. They may look happy on the outside but their hearts are thinking about what others have and what others are doing.

Happiness to an envious person is about what another person has or does not have. They may live in the most beautiful castle, but once the person they fear is smiling in a grass hut somewhere else they are not happy.

A person consumed with envy is not happy because of his diseased soul. The soul of such a person is defective and the person is unwell. I have watched envious people live their lives as though they were on a crusade against their own personal happiness. They do not want to be happy! They only want to focus on the existence of another.

Accept your lot and focus on what God has done for you. Your envy is self-destructive and the cruelty of your envy is eating you up.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

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