In His Image Ministries

Saturday September 30 Bible Reading:     John 6: 28 - 40 Topic:                  The Work Of God The people thought in terms of works. They thought that by doing good works, they could win God's approval. Jesus corrected the people's concept of salvation by works. Nobody secures favour and acceptance by God because of works. People receive God's favour and acceptance because of a work - one work - to believe "in the One He has sent" (john 6: 28 - 29) To believe means to commit, to entrust. It is believing in Jesus as the Saviour and Lord of our lives and committing our lives to Him. The crowd that asked Jesus this question was likely expecting a long list of do's and don'ts or activities to be carried out or rituals to be obeyed and observed but Jesus said there was only one work - to believe in Jesus. A lot of worshippers today have ...

Friday September 29 Bible Reading:     Rev 12: 7 - 12 Topic:                  Our Weapon Michael, the name of the Archangel in today's passage means "Who is like God" (Jude v. 9; Dan. 10: 13, 21; Dan 12: 1) He is both an Archangel and a warrior (1 Thess. 4: 16) Before Jesus came into the world, satan controlled the world by the power of his deception. However beginning with the Ministry of Jesus, His Word and Works have cast satan and his forces down from their control over all humanity Those who hear and believe the Gospel are not under the deceptive control of satan anymore. The eternal plan of redemption was accomplished on the Cross and perfected in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The result of God's salvation is glorious: satan is banned from Heaven - will no longer accuse believers before God nor have power over them...

Thursday September 28 Bible Reading:     John 6: 22 - 27 Topic:                  Labour For The Food That Endures Forever Jesus said to the woman of Samaria "everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst, indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4: 13 - 14) After the feeding of the 5000 and the twelve baskets of left-overs, the crowds were soon hungry again. They frantically searched for Jesus to satisfy their physical hunger. Jesus challenged their focus on physical food and refused to allow them to call His agenda by moving to another place. Paul warned the Philippian Christians, "for as I have often told you before, many live as enemies of the Cross of Christ; their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, thei...

Wednesday September 27 Bible Reading:     John 6: 15 - 21 Topic:                  Wading Through Storms Of Life After the great miracle of feeding the crowd (5000 men, not counting women and children), they were excited and wanted to make Jesus King immediately. The disciples entered the boat and headed to Capernaum but Jesus had not gone with them. Suddenly, along the way there was a strong wind and the waters grew rough. This posed a big threat to lives and property and became a big hindrance to the whole journey. Often in the journey of this life, there are many storms, road blocks, obstacles, in our path to create difficulty in the entire journey, to slow us down or damage us or to derail us from the Divine purpose; to bring discouragement and frustration. Verse 21 tells us that as soon as they allowed Jesus into the boat, immediatel...

Tuesday September 26 Bible Reading:     John 6: 1 - 14 Topic:                  He Cared Also For Their Physical Needs Great crowd (mixed multitude) often thronged the Ministry of Jesus. Many sought Him for bread, a few for Words of Eternal Life. Jesus ministered to all of them. In the days of Jesus, there were many who lacked basic necessities of life, even as it is today in our Country and Africa in general. A good number of these people are in our Churches and in our outreach programmes. They are hungry, neglected by the society, sick, harassed and seriously buffeted by the troubles of life. They are looking for help. Even those who have had opportunities of being educated are not spared. Many years after graduation, there are no jobs; some of our youths are expressing their total discontent by taking to criminal activities like ar...

Sunday September 24 (15th Sunday After Trinity) Bible Reading:     Luke 16: 19 - 31 Topic:                  Where Are You Headed? Today, even many people in the Church do not believe that hades/hell is a real place. However in His Teachings, Jesus talks about it as a actual place where people who are excluded from God's presence go. This is in contrast to Heaven which is a place of joy, the abode of believers. Whereas hell is seen as a place of torment and sorrow, Heaven is referred to as a paradise, a place of glory and joy. The rich man who lived in a worldly paradise, in luxury, in the gratification of fleshly lusts and pleasures, with no thought about God died and went to hades. He was able to see paradise, but it was way out of his reach. Lazarus died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom, where he was comforted. It mu...

Saturday September 23 Bible Reading:     1 Sam 4: 1 - 11 Topic:                  Beware Of Reprisal Attacks We should be especially vigilant because we are most vulnerable when we have experienced major spiritual and physical breakthroughs. The enemy may launch a reprisal attack since we may let our spiritual guard down at such times. Just as Israel was celebrating the return of the Presence of God, the restoration of the revelation of God's Word and Life in their midst, their arch enemies, the Philistines attacked them. Israel suffered a heavy loss with 4, 000 soldiers killed. The Philistines initiated the aggression in this context in order to disrupt the unification of Israel. To worsen matters, Israel in a bid to reverse their losses engaged the corrupt children of Eli who were rejected by God to convey the Ark of God from Shiloh to the...

Friday September 22 Bible Reading:     1 Sam 3: 15 - 21 Topic:                  Confirmation Of Samuel's Ministry Samuel began his ministry under Eli at the time when the Lord had rejected the ministry of Eli because of the corrupt practices of his children. There was scarcity of the Word of God in Israel and Israel lacked spiritual direction. (1 Sam. 3: 1), God abandoned the old Prophet Eli, called Samuel into service and used him to deliver a message of judgment against Eli and his family. Samuel did what God commanded him to do and the Bible recorded that "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up and He let none of his  words fall to the ground. And all Israel .... knew that Samuel had been established as a Prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Word of the Lord" (1 Sam...

Thursday September 21 (St. Matthew's Day) Bible Reading:     Matt. 9: 9 - 13 Topic:                  The Call Of Matthew (Levi) Matthew was a tax collector - one of the most despised groups in Jesus' day, because they worked for their Roman oppressors. In the eye of the Jews, they were the worst of sinners. They were cheats, dishonest and unjust men. Most tax collectors were extremely wealthy because the Roman Government allowed them to collect more than the percentage required for taxes. They greedily abused their rights by adding whatever percent they felt could be collected. As a result, they were deeply hated by the People. Matthew was a Chief Tax Collector, a great sinner. Whereas Jesus saw in him  a man who needed salvation, the people saw him as a cheat dishonest and dubious man to be hated and shunned. Jesus invited M...

Wednesday September 20 Bible Reading:     1 Sam. 3: 1 - 14 Topic:                  Speak Lord For Your Servant Hears Our Heavenly Father has different ways of speaking to His children - through dreams, Scriptures, prophecies e.t.c. During the time of Eli, the Word of the Lord became rare and revelations scarce. Eli and his sons had blocked the channel of communication by their sins. You too can block God's presence in your Church and fellowships by your sins. God, Who is not a respecter of persons found for Himself a person who would hear Him and do His Will. He was the small boy Samuel. Our reading today tells us how God called him. When God first called, he did not understand who was calling and went to Eli. This happened three times until he was guided by Eli and the Word of God came. Proper discipleship of our young converts is...

Tuesday September 19 Bible Reading:     1 Sam. 2: 27 - 36 Topic:                  God's Honour God has many principles that guide His relationship with His children. One such principle is found in v. 30: God honours those that honour Him. Eli and his sons dishonoured God in their sanctuary services. First, his sons slept with women who served at the entrance of the Sanctuary Second they scorned God's offering and sacrifices by taking the choicest part for themselves Third, Eli could not restrain his sons even though he knew about their sins. He honoured them above God. On account of their sins, God's anger was aroused and He sent His messenger to pronounce His judgement on them. They all will die young leaving an old man in the house, they would no longer serve on the Altar; the two sons Hophini and Phinehas would die in one day. A...

Monday September 18 Bible Reading:     1 Sam 2: 18 - 26 Topic:                  Early In The Lord Samuel's story and the experience of the sons of Eli show the importance of beginning early to train our children in the Lord. Here we see the boy Samuel ministering before the Lord (v. 18). His parents visited him yearly and his mother made robes for him. Though it is important for parents and guardians to provide all material needs, healthcare and education, it is more important to train up our children in the ways of the Lord. God was with Samuel from a very early age, which is why Samuel succeeded in Israel as a Priest, Judge and Prophet. God blessed Hannah with five more children because she loaned Samuel to Him (vs. 20 - 21). God always out-gives us, try Him! As Samuel grew, attracting favour from God and man, Eli's children were u...

Sunday September 17 Bible Reading:     Luke 10: 25 - 37 Topic:                  Go And Do Likewise The religious leaders of Jesus' day repeatedly came to Him with questions in order to test Him. Why do you ask the questions you normally ask?, is it not to find out the truth or test people? On this occasion, Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan in response to a Lawyer's question. The man who fell into the hands of robbers needed help. Unfortunately the two 'men of God' that came his way could not offer any, it was the Samaritan, foreigner, despised by Jews, who gave him the assistance that saved his life. How often do you shy away from helping people, who need your assistance? Jesus commended the Samaritan's action and recommended it for mankind. Beloved, Christianity is not about knowing and quoting the Scripture, it invo...

Saturday September 16 Bible Reading:     1 Sam. 2: 12 - 17 Topic:                  God's Standards Eli's sons were described as corrupt because they had no regard for the Lord. They treated the Lord's offering with contempt; they ignored the approved pattern for collecting the priests' share of meat from people who came to sacrifice; they treated people arrogantly; they slept with the young women in God's House. When people serving in any capacity in the church become irreverent, deliberately change orders to suit their lustful desires, express arrogance, etc, they are corrupt. Their works are also corrupt and unacceptable to God. Unfortunately, today, we see people who are immoral, idolaters, liars, e.t.c. occupy important posts in churches and pretend to be serving God. Let it be clear to such persons that God is not a respecter of any person. El...