A weekly Devotional by Gbile Akanni

"A CHALLENGE TO ARISE : We Do Not Well."

“And when these lepers came to the utter-most part of the camp, they went into one tent and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household. So they came and called unto the porter of the city, and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man there, neither voice of men, but horses tied, and asses tied and the tents as they were. And they called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within…” 2Kings 7:8-11 KJV

God has given the church in Nigeria an opportunity to affect the land positively, but we do not well. We emphasize that which is foolish; we do not pay attention to righteousness. We do not well and mischief is coming on us. Men have learnt our language, and our gimmicks, and they have decided to use these against us. The young man you did not share the Word of God with may become your executor tomorrow.

Churches have become so rich that they are beginning to float finance houses and banks. It is unheard of that Kingdom resources are tied up in the world system. Some mischief will come upon us if we tarry. Those lepers spoke to one another. I wish you will throw a challenge to the next Christian Brother around you and speak to him. Ask him if he has shared the little experience he had. Have you gone to call men that are still groping in darkness to “come and see, the Lord has pushed down your enemy? Jesus has conquered the devil on your behalf?” There is a leprous characteristic that has been manifesting in our lives: the characteristic of eating and drinking and packing and hiding. It is a leprous manifestation. You need someone to tell you. You do not well if in the midst of your noise, and excitement; in the midst of all we think is happening wonderfully around us, you do not share it? You do not well. Brothers, though God has given us definite promise of breakthrough, yet if we tarry with the work of sharing the good news some mischief will come upon us.

May be there is an open door of ministry that is set before you. God Himself opened it for you. Step to it, tarry not, otherwise some mischief will come, and these things you think you will live long to enjoy, you may not be part of them again. God may open some certain doors to you where business will fall on your own side. That is not for you to change your raiment, nor to drink, and eat and overeat but that you may share it. If you remain sluggish and unconcerned, some mischief will come your way and nobody will be able to explain it................

“Now therefore come that we may go and tell the king’s household, so they came and called unto the porters of the city and told them.” Thank God for those lepers. God is going to make you supernaturally strong but it is for a purpose: that you might go and tell the Good News, not to keep coming again and again, asking, “What is the latest?” A few years ago finance houses were booming in Nigeria, new banks were being opened and people were excited. Then beloved brothers started carrying God’s resources to hide in them. If they knew that mischief would fall on them I know they would not have done it. Those things are gone, they are lost and there is nothing you can do about it. Kingdom blessing is not meant to be hidden.

Every available opportunity that will come your way this year, is to tell the news to every man, every woman God brings your way. Tell the news. How it is going to change their destiny is not even your problem because God has already done a work. We ought to move and not tarry for the days are evil. God has pushed away and held down the hands of the enemy that we may quickly do the work. If we tarry, some mischief looms over the top of our heads. Therefore come, arise, go and tell it.

Those that will be skeptical to your message God will still demonstrate His glory; they will still see the power of God break forth, but we must go and tell it. There was urgency with the lepers’ response. They said, “if we tarry till the morning light.” There is a time limit for us to carry out this work. We live at a time when men’s ears are itching and they are piling up teachers for themselves, who tell them what they want to hear. The Bible says a time will come when they will not be able to endure sound doctrine. Right now those itching ears have multiplied, with their teachers. There are all kinds of teachers and all kinds of fellowships now. If we tarry some mischief will come upon us. So arise!