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1. Luke 21:28
Look up for our redemption draws nigh. Jesus tells us to look up in these last days when perilous times are upon the earth. 2. Men of God in the bible who "looked up" David looked up to hills and got a revelation that his help comes from God. Psalm 121:1-2 Stephen looked up and saw the heavens opened and Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. Abraham looked up at the stars and did not consider the deadness of Sarah's womb 3. Looking down, we are faced with: Our circumstances our limitations men's faces the glory of the world our weakness our own abilities our bills our past our mistakes 4. The devil tempted Jesus: to look down at His empty stomach to jump down the mountain to look down on the glory of the kingdoms of the earth 5. the devil wants us to look down. The Word of God wants us to look up! 6. We can look up to by reading the Word of God and believing what God says about us. The Word says we are seated in heavenly places with Christ, far above principalities & powers.... 7. Isaiah 40:25-26, 28-31 Looking up will cause your strength to be renewed, you will be focused, encouraged 8. Joel 2:28; Ephesians 3:20 Looking up will cause you to dream big dreams God wants us to dream big dreams. He will surpass your biggest dreams! 9. The Kingdom of God is in levels. The Word wants us to go from glory to glory. So start somewhere. 10. God is interested in establishing you. He wants to bring your dreams to pass and give you new dreams. 11 . Pick up your discarded dreams! Anything that is causing us to dream small is not God! God wants us to progress until we dominate our circumstances to be so blessed where people can SEE it! Malachi 3:10. 12. Romans 15:13. Hoping in God will fill us with joy and peace in anticipation of our breakthrough. You cannot hope while looking down. You must look up to hope. The things around us do not inspire hope so look into the Word of God for your hope! Romans 8:24-27. Our God is a God of hope. 13. Do not postpone your hope! Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Proverbs 13:12. Postponed hope causes discouragement. 14. Don't wait to get your overdue dream to come to pass. Luke 13:10-17. It is God's desire to fulfill your dream today! 15. Haggai 1:2-11. Dream killers : things that postpone dreams. our confession:- "the time has not yet come" disobedience:- 16. 1 Kings 17:3-9. Don't restrict God: God is your source. Not your job. Stop praying for the dried brook! Let God show you a new stream. You are the Elijah of the story. You are not the widow. Stop waiting for your prophet to show up. As a son of God, you are anointed to bless others and cause them to prosper! Look up saints! Look up for your victory! Look up for your deliverance! Look up for your redemption draws near. Prayer requests: - every overdue dream, be birthed now! - new streams of income, open up now! Show me my widow of Zarepath. - Lord cause us to dream again. Send us new dreams. The fool: the fool makes several appearances in this book. He is a liar, deceitful, hateful, a slanderer (Proverbs 10:18), mischievous (Prov. 10:23), a servant to the wise (Prov. 11:29) and deluded (Prov. 12:15). Worst of all because he is not even aware that he has a problem, he shows his folly openly (Prov. 13:16). Unfortunately, for the same reason, it is fruitless to try to correct him (Prov. 23:9). The foolish man is constantly contrasted with the wise man (Prov. 10:8). The foolish man is the man David wrote about in Psalm 1 — he walks in ungodly counsel, stands in the way of the sinner, and seats in the seat of the scornful. Being foolish or being called a fool was such a strong term that Jesus warned us that the punishment for calling our brother a fool is condemnation to hell fire (Matt 5:22). Finally, we find that the root of the fool’s problem is a heart condition in the book of Psalms, chapter 14:1. Therefore, there is hope for the fool: come to Jesus and find wisdom.
The poor man: The poor man is identified as someone who is at a disadvantage. He is not in a desirable or enviable position (Proverbs 10:15). He is unpopular (Proverbs 14:20). He may be responsible for his own state of affairs (Proverbs 10:4). The Word of God tells us to treat him with mercy (Prov. 14:21), to give to him (Prov. 19:17, 22:9). God hears the cry of the poor (Prov. 21:13). The poor man is better than the foolish man (Prov. 19:1). However, poverty is not a condition to be satisfied with, because it can cause us to sin (Prov. 30:9). We can escape the plight of the poor by being diligent (Prov. 10:15), by not indulging in pleasure (Prov. 21:17), by being generous (Prov. 11:24) and by being hardworking (Prov. 20:13). However, Proverbs 13:23 shows us that though a poor man works hard, the enemy is constantly battling against him to take what he has away from him. However, Jesus has a great promise for the poor in Luke 6:20. He promises them the Kingdom! This brings us to the final character in our study. The good king: This character appears several times in this book, he is an influential man. He is powerful, wise, wealthy, a judge (Prov. 16:10), merciful and truthful (Prov. 20:28). He does not surround himself with wicked men (Prov. 25:5) and is a defender of the poor (Prov. 29:14). Under the rule of this king, the poor man can thrive, because the king does not tolerate wickedness (Prov. 20:26). Jesus is the King of kings. He has made us kings and priests unto our God (Rev. 1:6). You want to know what your responsibility is as a king? Read the book of Proverbs, and you will know what is expected of you. We are called to reward the diligent (Prov. 22:29), love righteousness (Prov. 16:13) and favor the wise (Prov. 14:35). We have profiled three characters from the book of Proverbs. We all at one time were poor and foolish because we did not know God and were under the oppression of the devil. Thank God for Jesus, who came and made us rich by becoming poor (2nd Corinthians 8:9) and established us as kings (Rev. 1:6). Take up your mantle as a king today and go out and administer justice and righteousness for others in Jesus’ name (Luke 4:18)! The number 40 re-occurs several times in the Bible, both in the Old and New testaments. In this column, we will look at significant references to 40, specifically, the number 40 as it is associated with the passage of time, as in 40 days or 40 years.
We first encounter the number 40 in the book of Genesis in chapter 7:4. God spoke to Noah about the coming flood, where it would rain for 40 days and nights. Prior to this, man had never experienced rain, since the earth was watered by dew and from beneath the earth. As we know from reading the rest of the account, it did rain as promised and at the end of it all, every animal and human that was not in Noah's ark during the flood, perished. Thereafter, God started afresh with Noah and his family. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights, fasting on mount Sinai in God's presence (Exodus 24:18) He received the covenant directly from God to deliver to the children of Israel. It took 40 days for the spies that Moses sent out to scope out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:25). They returned with reports about the abundance they saw, but the majority of them also carried an evil report about their ability to take the land. For this reason, God decreed that the generation of Israel that did not have faith in Him would die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land. Therefore, it took 40 years for the children of Israel to finally get to the promised land (Canaan). (Deut. 29:5). In the book of Judges, there were three instances where the land had rest for 40 years. Under Othniel (Judges 3:9-11), Deborah (Judges 4:1-5:31) and Gideon (Judges 6:1-8:28). Remarkably, the children of Israel had rest from their enemies for 80 years under Ehud (Judges 3:30). Eli the high priest judged Israel for 40 years (1st Samuel 4:18). Interestingly, David ruled Israel for 40 years (2nd Samuel 5:4) and so did his son Solomon (1st Kings 11:42) and King Jehoash (2nd King 12:1). Elijah was sustained on one meal for 40 days and nights (1st Kings 19:8). The number 40 appears several times in Ezekiel (4:6, 29:11 29:12, 29:13), most commonly in reference to Egypt and how long it would lie wasted. Nineveh had 40 days to repent, or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4). In the New testament, Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:2). He spent 40 days with His disciples after his resurrection before he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:3-9). From the passages above, we see several recurring themes, including that of doing away with the old, renewal or new beginnings, stability and sustenance and transition, especially from an old order to the new. At times in our spiritual walk, we may encounter a period of stagnancy or a stubborn root in our lives that we are struggling to deal with. On the other hand, the Spirit of the Lord may simply signal to us, that God is getting ready to change our season. Why don’t we take up a faith challenge and follow the biblical pattern of 40. Make a commitment to 40 days of fasting or praying over a particular need or just making a decree, consistently for 40 days and expect a change in your life. God bless. |
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