“When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name, LORD God Almighty” (Jer 15:16)

This month I shall be 29 years old in Christ. I can testify that all these years I never lost my appetite for the Word of God. I never lost my longing, interest and excitement to open the Bible, to read it. To me, the Bible is not an ordinary Book. It is the Word of God, a personal letter from my Savior and my Lord. The Bible is both mysterious and very practical to me. When I am sick, I find my healing there. When troubled I find peace within its pages. When happy, I find God’s delight and His purpose for my life.  When I open the Bible, it does not smell ink, paper, leather or plastic. It smells fresh bread from the heavenly oven. The very sight of the Bible makes me hungry to read the Word of God. My Bible is my best treasure on earth. Is it yours too? Then, child of God, you are blessed!

“So pay attention to how you listen! Those who understand [these mysteries] will be given [more knowledge]. However, some people don’t understand [these mysteries]. Even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” (Luke 8:18)

The preacher has a responsibility before God to prepare his sermon. The congregation also has a responsibility before God. The believers are to be good listeners, holy and prepared. Before coming to church, you need to pray and get ‘in the Spirit’. The way you spend your Saturdays, especially the evenings, will determine the mood you shall be on Sundays. Do not sleep late on Saturday, so that you will not be too tired in the church. We are commanded to keep the Sabbath holy (Ex 20:8). Sunday must be special more than any other day in the week. On Sunday you come to church to listen to the Word of God, pray and praise God. It is also a time of fellowship with the Body of Christ. This is totally different than your company meetings. Here, God is in charge. The way you spend your Sunday will determine your week. So it is very important to make the best out of it. You need to cultivate a holy appetite for the Word of God.

Be careful how you listen to the sermon. It is different than when you listen to some speaker in a business seminar. Pray for your ears! During the church service you should not be passive, day dreaming, lazy or sleepy. There is a danger to lose the little religious understanding you have. There is a danger to change from being religious to becoming an unbeliever.

You should be spiritually active, prayerful, attentive, excited and hungry for fresh revelation. Then God will bless and encourage you, adding to your little revelation. He will increase your store of wisdom and understanding. Study your life! If you are not maturing spiritually, it means that you attend the wrong church or you are not a good listener. In any case pray and repent if necessary.

“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Mt 8:1-4)

The prayer meeting was wonderful. Jehovah Jireh is still manifesting in our midst. Sister R shared her testimony. She is a humble and faithful woman of God. She is a wife, mother and grandmother. She never misses any of the services in our church. She is a teacher by profession. She also has a wonderful ‘hobby’: she writes books for children. Since I know her, all these years, she applied to the government to approve her books. But none listen to her. We prayed many times for a breakthrough. Last year her husband had a stroke. Now she knows that only God can help. On Monday she received a phone call that the Commissioner for education in Delta state comes to inspect her store of books. This was a miracle. The Government officials were so impressed with her labor, that they gave her the contract to supply books to all the primary schools in the state. She was told to come to Asaba and collect a cheque for millions of Naira. The Government promised to build a new printing press for her.  This is the lesson: It pays to trust, wait and serve God. When all (human) hope is lost, God intervenes! Praise the Lord!

We then praised God with singing and dancing. Lastly, the message came: The healing of the leper! The prophetic word this season was ‘to go up the mountain and encounter Jehovah Jireh. The Holy Spirit pointed to us the danger many believers and churches fell into: praying and seeking money they abandon the God who provides the money.  That is why tonight, we left the talk about money aside and we looked at some miracles of Jesus, trying to build our faith. We read how Jesus healed the leper.

Leprosy was an incurable disease, both spiritual and physical. It was considered to be the worst of all. It was a mark of God’s anger with that person. People like Miriam, Gehazi and king Uzziah were smitten with leprosy because of their sins. Only God could heal them. This is Christ’s first miracle of healing recorded in the Bible. Christ, to show that He came to turn away the wrath of God, by taking away sin, began with the cure of a leper. The leper came and knelt down at the feet of Jesus, worshipping Him. He called Jesus Lord. That means God Almighty. He said “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus touched him and made him clean. The healing happened immediately. Jesus sent him to the priest. God wants you to share your testimony!

Why will this man worship Jesus in his particular hopeless circumstances? It is because he knows that Jesus is his only hope! For as long as you have many helpers and gods you will not be able to worship Jesus. Miracles will pass you by. Faith will make you bold. No leper was supposed to come into the city. They were isolated outside from community. This leper took a risk by leaving his hiding place. Men could have stoned him to death. But at the feet of Jesus he found safety, peace and healing.  May your faith increase! Do not be proud or distracted! Come to Jesus! Bowing in humble adoration at His feet you shall find grace to help in time of need. Jesus is able and willing to bless you tonight.

(In the picture: Children dancing and praise God in Saturday class (Prophetic prayer meeting) in our church tonight)