03-26-2019, 10:33 AM
*OUR DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL*
_A DEVOTIONAL BOOKLET FOR CHAMPIONS_
*DATE: TUESDAY 26TH MARCH, 2019*
*TOPIC: I SHALL NOT END IN THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE!*
*BASIC SCRIPTURE: 1CORINTHIANS 10:1-11*
I know a man who left his village to sojourn in one of the well-known cities in Nigeria. In the process of time, he got married and was blessed by God with children. He also grew in his walk with God to become a pastor in his church. As he began to age, he retired back to the village to live the rest of his life.
There in this village, he still had a passion for God, so he started a church. Several persons were drawn to the church because of his past character and integrity. As the church grew, alas, some untoward things began to creep into it. the pastor started sleeping with young ladies who were members of the church. Some who noticed what was going on decided to intervene. They called the old pastor and warned him to desist from his sinful ways.
Unfortunately his response was very shocking and unbelievable. He said without remorse, *“The young ladies ladies are so many and there is no one to marry them all; should I allow them to waste away like that?”*
What a response! As far as I can recall, the man never changed his ways before he departed this world. You can see that he started with a humble and blessed beginning, but he did not appear to have ended well. Remember that what matters in this RACE OF LIFE IS HOW YOU END! Hear _Julien Smith; *“No one has a problem with the first mile of a journey. Even an infant could do fine for a while. But it isn’t the start that matters. It’s the finish line.”* I remember Israelmore Ayivor:
“Remember no matter how fast you run, you can’t be the winner if you don’t finish.” Indeed, great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending!_ Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing that the beginning thereof.”
The Bible is replete with how many began their journeys and how they ended. Enoch did not start his journey with God. However, after he had Methuselah, he remembered God and had a glorious finish (Genesis 5;22-24). What about Job? Midway in his walk with God, his journey was very rough but he had a glorious end. The scriptures say his latter end was blessed and full of days (Job 42:12,17). King David started well; his journey was almost ruined by his illicit affair with Bathsheba, but he was remorseful and had a glorious end (1Kings 2:10-11). *Apostle Paul started as a MURDERER but ended as a TERRORIST against HELL* (2Timothy 4:6-8).
On the contrary, many of the children of Israel who left Egypt with great miracles, signs and wonders did not finish well. Today’s scripture tells us this, “But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (Verse 5). Use today’s devotional to examine your life and ministry and determine/
decree that *YOU WILL NOT END IN THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE!* Decree that by the GRACE of God, you will END VERY WELL and make heaven at last! Amen!
*PRAYER POINTS:* Take Song 2: The Old Rugged Cross…
1. Father, by Your grace I will not end my journey in the wilderness.
2. I decree that MY BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD! The glory of my LATTER years shall be greater than FORMER years in Jesus name.
*THE BIBLE-IN-ONE-YEAR: 2SAMUEL 13 – 15*
*BY: BISHOP (DR) CHRIS E. KWAKPOVWE (CEK)*
_PUBLISHER/AUTHOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_
*Song 2: The Old Rugged Cross*
1. On the hill far away,
Stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suff’ring and shame
And I love that old Cross
Where the dearest and blest
For a world of lost sinners was slain
*Chorus*
So I’ll cherish that old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
2. Oh, that old rugged Cross
So despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God,
Left his Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
3. In the old rugged Cross,
Stain’d with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
T’was on that old Cross
Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctified me.
_A DEVOTIONAL BOOKLET FOR CHAMPIONS_
*DATE: TUESDAY 26TH MARCH, 2019*
*TOPIC: I SHALL NOT END IN THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE!*
*BASIC SCRIPTURE: 1CORINTHIANS 10:1-11*
I know a man who left his village to sojourn in one of the well-known cities in Nigeria. In the process of time, he got married and was blessed by God with children. He also grew in his walk with God to become a pastor in his church. As he began to age, he retired back to the village to live the rest of his life.
There in this village, he still had a passion for God, so he started a church. Several persons were drawn to the church because of his past character and integrity. As the church grew, alas, some untoward things began to creep into it. the pastor started sleeping with young ladies who were members of the church. Some who noticed what was going on decided to intervene. They called the old pastor and warned him to desist from his sinful ways.
Unfortunately his response was very shocking and unbelievable. He said without remorse, *“The young ladies ladies are so many and there is no one to marry them all; should I allow them to waste away like that?”*
What a response! As far as I can recall, the man never changed his ways before he departed this world. You can see that he started with a humble and blessed beginning, but he did not appear to have ended well. Remember that what matters in this RACE OF LIFE IS HOW YOU END! Hear _Julien Smith; *“No one has a problem with the first mile of a journey. Even an infant could do fine for a while. But it isn’t the start that matters. It’s the finish line.”* I remember Israelmore Ayivor:
“Remember no matter how fast you run, you can’t be the winner if you don’t finish.” Indeed, great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending!_ Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing that the beginning thereof.”
The Bible is replete with how many began their journeys and how they ended. Enoch did not start his journey with God. However, after he had Methuselah, he remembered God and had a glorious finish (Genesis 5;22-24). What about Job? Midway in his walk with God, his journey was very rough but he had a glorious end. The scriptures say his latter end was blessed and full of days (Job 42:12,17). King David started well; his journey was almost ruined by his illicit affair with Bathsheba, but he was remorseful and had a glorious end (1Kings 2:10-11). *Apostle Paul started as a MURDERER but ended as a TERRORIST against HELL* (2Timothy 4:6-8).
On the contrary, many of the children of Israel who left Egypt with great miracles, signs and wonders did not finish well. Today’s scripture tells us this, “But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (Verse 5). Use today’s devotional to examine your life and ministry and determine/
decree that *YOU WILL NOT END IN THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE!* Decree that by the GRACE of God, you will END VERY WELL and make heaven at last! Amen!
*PRAYER POINTS:* Take Song 2: The Old Rugged Cross…
1. Father, by Your grace I will not end my journey in the wilderness.
2. I decree that MY BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD! The glory of my LATTER years shall be greater than FORMER years in Jesus name.
*THE BIBLE-IN-ONE-YEAR: 2SAMUEL 13 – 15*
*BY: BISHOP (DR) CHRIS E. KWAKPOVWE (CEK)*
_PUBLISHER/AUTHOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_
*Song 2: The Old Rugged Cross*
1. On the hill far away,
Stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suff’ring and shame
And I love that old Cross
Where the dearest and blest
For a world of lost sinners was slain
*Chorus*
So I’ll cherish that old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
2. Oh, that old rugged Cross
So despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God,
Left his Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
3. In the old rugged Cross,
Stain’d with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
T’was on that old Cross
Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctified me.