SincereMilkDevotional and FaithWatch Reflection

Devotional  Friday, January 31, 2025 The Circle of Influences   Mark.7.19 - Since it does not reach and enter his heart but [only his] digestive tract, and so passes on [into the place designed to receive waste]? Thus He was making and declaring all foods [ceremonially] clean [that is, abolishing the ceremonial distinctions of the Levitical Law]. Further attention to Christ’s teaching on which makes a person unworthy to God,  the inward or the outward? I believe Jesus was talking here about food-  which goes to your stomach,  digests and excretes its wastes. Many people may have used this passage to justify their disposition to physical acts like dressing,  drinking,  smoking and many more acts that seem to be condemned by some evangelicals. As much as God indeed cares more about what comes from the heart, He's also aware the heart could be corrupted from without. There are some outward acts that really matter, and can actually corrupt a man. In Mark 7...

Devotional  Thursday, January 30, 2025 The Inwardly and the Outwardly Mark.7.21 - 23- For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God." In today's text, Jesus reacted to the queries of the Pharisees about ceremonial cleansing, a tradition of the Jews which pays more attention to bodily cleansing at the expense of the spiritual. He emphasized the fact that the cleansing of the heart is more crucial than the physical cleansing. Because, the immoral and ungodly characters displayed by people are worse than eating without washing hands. “Cleaningness is next to godliness”, a common statement everywhere but the dirtiness of your body cannot disapprove of you before God. That is why Christianity believes that the smell of the...

Devotional   Wednesday, January 29, 2025 Guard Your Heart Vigilantly Prov.4.23 - Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. AMPV. The heart of a man is the centre of his life both physically and spiritually. It is the place where decisions that can make or mar a life are made. You can only go as far as your heart can fathom.  Your thoughts and beliefs are the main reasons for life's limitations and progress. It is the place from where the spring of life flows, and needs all the care to avoid the effects of manipulative factors all around us. We all believe that the heart is the best decision maker when considering issues of personal interests,  so the general belief is to follow your heart when you're left alone. Yes! It is good to always follow one's heart but it's not always safe to do so.  I remember one of the best lines used by some boys to impress ladies of interest, “My mum always told me ...

Devotional  Tuesday, January 28, 2025 There are Two Masters 2Pet.2.19 - While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. God created us pure and innocent souls. We develop into whatever we are today in the course of time. No child is bone perfect or evil. We are all influenced by our environment, people, and most importantly our spiritual exposures. Our nature and temperament are equipped in time by these and other factors. The book “Why You Act the Way You Do ” by Tim Lahaye was an eye opening novel for me growing up. To identify the reason I am who I am, my natural weaknesses and strengths and most importantly the spiritual forces surrounding our mentality and thoughts.  In today's devotional, we focus on the influences of the spiritual forces or powers dominating our hearts. No human heart is empty per se. Our thought life is designed to work 24/7. Just like the biolog...

Devotional  Monday, January 27, 2025 Battle of the Heart   Prov.23.7 - For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" He says to you, But his heart is not with you. We are going to focus on the heart as the main field of life's activities and centre of spiritual welfare and the control room of all realities. The physical is without doubt controlled by the spiritual. Everything a man does outwardly is controlled from within. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…Matt. 12:34. Jesus further emphasizes this in Luke.6.45 - A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. We are what we think. We are products of our thoughts. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the success, the failures, the blessings, the curse, the love, the hatred, the truth, the lies, the peace, the conflicts, the argum...

  Devotional  Sunday, January 26, 2025 The Sower Should Reap First   2Tim.2.6 - The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops . The greatest misfortune anyone can experience is to miss the blessings and rewards of waiting. I heard a pathetic story of a lady, the only child of a widow, who was trained single handedly by her mother out of a series of challenging experiences from childhood to maturity. The mother laboured, toiled day and night to give this girl the best of Education from Primary school to the University level, with the hope that she will in turn take very good care of her mother at old age. After a successful University Education, she graduated with first class honours and was the overall best student of her set, but unfortunately died in an auto crash on her convocation day. After many years of toiling, working hard and waiting for harvest, the joy of all is to be alive, available, hale and healthy when the results of the long years of ...

Devotional   Saturday, January 25, 2025 When the wait gets too long   Prov.13.12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. Most of us get tired of waiting upon God after a few minutes or hours of prayers. Honestly, no one is immune to frustration when answers to prayers are delayed beyond usual. The ten Virgins all slept off because of the weariness of their long waiting for the bridegroom. The fact that five of them were tagged wise and other five tagged foolish had nothing to do with their strength to stay up late for the Lord. But because they had extra oil which was more about divine grace and strength. Humanly speaking, when hope defers, the heart gets sick. No one knows how long God's time could take, but God expects men to travail and wait before Him until they prevail. If it takes days, months or years, keep waiting until you receive answers. The time frame between Ascension and Pentecost was about 10 days, whic...

 

Daily Devotional   Friday January 24, 2025 A Place of Fortification  Luke.24.49 - Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." Being fortified with power from above is a major reason for waiting. The waiting room is a place of nourishment and empowerment for success. We are  being fed with the sincere milk like babies, we eat the spiritual manner like the Israelites in the wilderness,  the bread baked on a coal like Elijah- the strength of which sustained him for forty days. Isa. 40:28-31. When you surrender your all to Him and learn to connect and align rightly with His purpose for Your life, He is set to fight your battles and enable you to do your part. He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail- The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD wi...

 

God is worthy of my praise

 Sunday January 19, 2025                                              Wait on Him! Just Wait… !  Ps.27.14 - Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! One of the most difficult exercises for humans is waiting. Especially, when other options and distractions abound, available and enticing. You feel like why not explore the available when the desirable isn't forthcoming. The pressure of life coming from within and without are enough to derail us from waiting for God's appointed time. So many believers have missed their appointed time, lost their opportunities and blessings all because they couldn't ‘just wait’. Job.14.14 - If a man dies, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes. Impatience is a great disease capable of ruining one's entire life and purpose. Th...

Daily Devotional  Monday January 20, 2025 Get Ready   1Kgs.18.41 - Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain ." The waiting room is a place of faith, preparation and expectations. A place where you call things that are not as though they were- Rom. 4:17. It's the place of hope and faith. When we find ourselves in the waiting room, God expects us to believe in nothing else but possibilities. It's not the time to complain and doubt. Many stay longer than necessary in the waiting room because they fail to believe, stay positive and get ready for answers.  Waiting upon God requires that you trust Him completely that He is able to do exceedingly above all that you could ever ask or think. He has everything you need in His custody. And when He promises, just prepare to celebrate. He is ‘Professor Talk and Do’. In 1 kgs 18. Elijah told kind Ahab to celebrate, eat, drink and relax cause he already heard the sound of a...

Daily Devotional  Tuesday January 21, 2025 Build Relationships Prov.27.17 - As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. The waiting room is never really a lonely place, though it appears so most times. Your experience and human limitations might make it look like you are the only one with a problem or challenge in the whole world.  This is  the reason for depression and suicidal thoughts. The mind will be so clouded in distress that we couldn't see other people praying to have the little you think isn't enough for you.  Prophet Elijah after a successful demonstration of God's powers among the Israelites and before king Ahab- an extraordinary manifestation of God through him - A great challenge to prophets of every generation, still felt alone when Jezebel came threatening. He was frustrated to the extent that he ran for his life seeking to die. 1kgs. 19. But if you look carefully,  you will realise like God told Elijah,  there ar...

Daily Devotional  Wednesday January 22, 2025 Connect with the Lord  Deut.10.12 - And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, The waiting room is a place of connection and networking. While preparing for answers and waiting for time, God wants us to do some more important things. These things are the reasons for the waiting experience. Yesterday, I shared the importance of building a network of relationships with people of like minds. That is the horizontal relationship with men. The second is the vertical relationship with God, the source of grace and abundance- connecting with the Helper Himself. The Lord could have taken Israel through a shorter route to the promised land. But the wilderness experience is to fulfill a purpose. The same wilderness experience is the waiting room where God is expecting us to build our relat...

Daily Devotional  Thursday January 23, 2025 Understanding His Will Eph.5.17 - Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Beyond what you think you need, there's what God knows is more needed for us all. Waiting on God involves learning to communicate with Him in prayers and listening to Him through thorough study of His word. He wants us to understand the nitty gritty of what He's about to deliver to us and whether there's something more in His mind for us. Waiting experience requires that you surrender yourself to Him completely, submit to His instructions, serve with total humility to His will, be lost in Him and allow him to take all the glory when the answers eventually come. The waiting room is a place of crucifixion. Crucifying the flesh and being renewed in the inner man. It is not the blessings we receive from Him that matters but the ability to understand that He wants to build a permanent abode with us. His primary aim for creating, ...