Delightsome Agbabo

March 1 BY THY WORDS For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. — MATTHEW 12:37 Jesus Himself made the above statement. Words are much more important than many people realize. Do you remember Job — and his three so-called “friends” who came to comfort him? Job’s cry to those who came as comforters and stayed as tormentors was, “How long will ye vex my soul, AND BREAK ME IN PIECES WITH WORDS?” (Job 19:2). Words make us or break us. Words heal us or make us sick. According to the teaching of the Bible, words destroy us, or words make us full of life, happiness, and health. Words that we spoke yesterday make life what it is today. That agrees with what Jesus said in Mark 11:23, “. . . he shall have whatsoever he SAITH.” Those things which you say are words. In fact, you could read that last phrase like this: “He shall have the WORDS that he speaks.” Confession: By my words I shall be justified. I know that I shall have whatsoever I say. I shall hav

February 28 PROMISE OF PROTECTION Read Psalm 91. Paul said, in writing to the Church “. . . ye are God’s husbandry [garden, farm], ye are God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9). That means we belong to God. Now, if you have a building worth anything, even your own home, you are going to protect it every way you possibly can. And God, in His Holy Word, has promised us protection. I think the greatest such promise is Psalm 91. Many years ago, I read this Psalm from a Swedish translation. I found that verse 10 translated in the King James Version as “There shall no evil befall thee . . . ,” was translated in the Swedish version as, “There shall no accident overtake thee . . . .” I researched it and found that this meaning is, indeed, included in the original text. I then claimed this protection. Some years later, I did some checking and found that I had driven nearly two million miles preaching the Gospel without having a single accident! Understand, I’m not bragging on my driving; I’m bragging on

February 27 IS YOUR PROFIT SHOWING? Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. — 1 TIMOTHY 4:15 If your profiting is to appear to all, then it is to show! Why is godliness profitable? Why is living for God, being God’s child, walking in fellowship with God, keeping God’s commandments, profitable? It is because God has made some promises to His faithful children. Notice the word “promise” in yesterday’s text: “. . . having PROMISE of the life that now is . . .” (1 Tim. 4:8). God has made us promises in this life. Our profiting is because of these promises. And when our profiting (which is due to God’s promises) appears to all, we are able to show the world there is a God in the Church — just as when Israel was walking with God, she could show the earth “there is a God in Israel” (1 Sam. 17:46). Confession: I will meditate upon God’s promises and give myself wholly to them, that my profiting may appear to all.

February 26 GODLINESS IS PROFITABLE For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and  that which is to come. — 1 TIMOTHY 4:8 Some people would have you believe that godliness — living for God, being born again, walking in fellowship with the Lord — has no profit in this life. They think we must simply endure life with all its ups and downs, struggles and trials, always bearing in mind that “this life will soon be o’er.” I’m glad Paul gave us a balanced viewpoint by saying that godliness is not only profitable “over yonder” in the next life, but it has promise of “. . . the life that now is . . . .” As sinners, we were bankrupt, but God had mercy on us, and He sent Jesus to redeem us. Jesus came not only to save us from our sins — but to live within us (Col. 1:27). And Jesus wants us to bring as much glory to His Name, and to pay as rich dividends to Him as possible in this life. Instead of saying that godline

February 25 DON’T TALK FEAR Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. — PROVERBS 6:2 With your mouth, you are either going to give God or Satan dominion over you. When you were born again, you confessed the lordship of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9,10). You confessed Jesus as your Lord. Jesus began to have dominion over you and to rule in your life. But, when you confess Satan’s ability to hinder you, to keep you from success, to cause you to fear — even though you are a Christian — you are giving Satan dominion over you. And, naturally, when Satan has dominion over you, you are filled with weakness and fear. Don’t ever confess your fears. “But what if I’m afraid?” you might ask. “You” are not really afraid. The Bible says that God has not given you — the real “you” — the spirit of fear, but He’s given you the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. Fear isn’t something that is coming from the inside of you, trying to get hold of you. Fea

February 24 RESISTING FEAR For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. — 2 TIMOTHY 1:7 Today’s text calls fear a spirit, and it states definitely that the spirit of fear does not come from God. Today’s faith thought is a confession you can use to successfully resist fear when it attempts to come upon you. Fear, I resist you, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His mighty Name, I resist you. I refuse to fear; I refuse to be afraid. It is written in His Holy Word that He hath not given me the spirit of fear; But of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I no longer have the spirit of fear. I have the spirit of love. I have the spirit of power. I have the spirit of a sound mind.

February 23 FEAR NOT But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. — MATTHEW 14:27 God never comes with a message of fear. You can start in theOld Testament and trace all the way down through the New, and you will see that every time God manifested Himself to people, or sent angels or Jesus Himself, they always came with the message, “Be not afraid! Fear not!” Fear doesn’t come from God. It comes from the devil. And Christians, including preachers and teachers, have no business going around putting fear into people. We hear so much fear preached: Fear of sickness and disease; fear of what’s going to happen in the world; and fear of the devil. The way some people preach about demons causes people to be afraid. I preach about the devil and demons, too, but I preach that we’ve got authority over them. I preach that we should always remember, in all our encounters with the devil, that He’s a defeated foe. Fear is not the message of the Church. Fai

February 22 UNFAILING LOVE . . . [Love’s] hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end] . . . . — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:7,8 (Amplified) If you walk in love, you will not fail because love never fails! We are interested in spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12 and 14), and we ought to be. The Bible tells us that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away. But thank God, love never fails. Yes, I believe in prophecy and prophesying. I believe in speaking in tongues. Thank God for these gifts! But if you exercise these gifts outside of love, they become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Let’s have prophecy. Let’s have tongues. Let’s have faith. Let’s have knowledge. But let’s have love with it. Let’s put love first, because we are in the family of love, and we have become acquainted with our Heavenly Father, who is love. We ought to want to learn and gr

February 21 LOVE CHARACTERISTICS . . . [Love] does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person . . . . — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:6,7 (Amplified) “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes . . . .” If you have the God-kind of love within — and if you walk in the God-kind of love — you will make it every time! “. . . Love . . . is ever ready to believe the best of every person . . . .” Natural human love is ever ready to believe the worst about every person! I’ve traveled across this country for many years in the ministry, and it’s amazing what you hear about this preacher and that preacher, this person and that person, this singer and that singer. I don’t pay the least bit of attention to any of those stories. I don’t believe a word of them. I believe the best of everyone. Children ought to have the right to be brought up in this lo

February 20 A SECOND LOOK . . . Love . . . is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:5 (Amplified) The subject of walking in the God-kind of love is so important — and so overlooked by Christians — that we’re going to take some extra time examining it. “. . . Love . . . takes no account of the evil done to it . . . .” This has to be the God-kind of love, because we were enemies ofGod, and God didn’t take account of the evil we had done to Him. He sent Jesus to redeem us. He loved us while we were yet sinners. “. . . Love . . . pays no attention to a suffered wrong . . . .” We might just as well admit it — there aren’t too many people walking in God’s love, even though they have it! No, they’re walking in natural human love, and they surely pay attention to a suffered wrong! They get huffy about it. A husband and wife, both Christians, will become angry and won’t speak to each other fo

February 19 LOVE GAUGE . . . Love . . . is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:5 (Amplified) Here is the love thermometer — the love gauge! It’s very easy to find out whether or not you’re walking in love. When you begin to take account of the evil done to you, you’re not walking in love. As long as you walk in God and stay full of the Holy Spirit, you won’t take account of the evil done to you. Through the years when unjust things have happened to me, people have told me, “I wouldn’t take that. I wouldn’t put up with that — not me!” But I just kept my mouth shut and never said a word, smiled, and stayed happy. Why, I wouldn’t take time to deny it if they claimed I’d killed my grandma! I’d just keep shouting, “Hallelujah! Praise God! Glory to God!” I suggest you walk in love, too, toward those who treat you in an evil manner. If you walk in love regardless of suffered wrongs, you’l

February 17 LOVE ARISES Love . . . is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly . . . . — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4,5 (Amplified) It’s always flesh that is boastful, haughty, conceited, arrogant, inflated with pride, rude, and unmannerly. And by an act of your own will, you can decide not to give in to these fleshly temptations. You can decide rather to walk in love — to walk in the Spirit. The battle is there between your human spirit and your flesh. But the Bible says, “. . . Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). Decide to allow your spirit to dominate. When the temptation comes, stand still a moment and begin to speak the Word of God. Begin to say, “I am born of love. I will allow the love of God within me to dominate.” When the temptation comes, begin to speak the Word of God. Begin to say, “I am born of love. I

February 16 AN EXPOSÉ ON LOVE Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy . . . . — 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4 (Amplified) What about this God-kind of love? What are its characteristics? They are given to us in First Corinthians 13. It is to be regretted that the translators of the King James Version translated the Greek word for divine love, agape, as “charity.” My favorite translation on this “exposé on love” is found in The Amplified Bible. I think every Christian should read the Amplified translation of First Corinthians 13 every few days, if not every day — and practice it! Let’s look at it, beginning with verse four: “Love endures long and is patient and kind . . . .” Many people endure long — but they aren’t very kind while they’re doing it! They just suffer along with people and things because they have to. A wife will put up with a husband, but she’s not too kind while she does it (and vice versa). “. . . Love never is envious nor boil

February 15 THE BRETHREN We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. — 1JOHN 3:14,15 A minister’s wife came to me greatly disturbed. “Brother Hagin,” she said, “I can’t go to Heaven. I hate my mother-in- law!” After letting her stew a little, I was able to help her. I asked her to look me straight in the eye and say, “I hate my mother-in- law.” And I asked her to check on the inside of her — in her spirit — as she was saying that. She said, “I hate my mother-in-law.” Then she exclaimed, “Why, something seems to be ‘scratching’ me on the inside!” “Yes,” I said, “that’s the love of God in your born-again human spirit that loves everyone. The real you doesn’t hate your mother-in-law. But you’re letting the outward man dominate the situation.” “You’re right,” she said, “I don’t really hate my mother-in

February 13 KNOWN BY OUR LOVE By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. — JOHN 13:35 How is the world going to know us? By our love. By this divine love. By this God-kind of love. By this unselfish love. “God so loved — He gave.” Now, His love isn’t natural human love. Natural human love is selfish. As a usual thing, even a mother’s love is a natural human love. It’s selfish: “That’s my baby!” But if we would learn to let the divine love of God which isbshed abroad in our hearts dominate us, it would make a real difference in our lives. It would cure the ills in our homes. Natural human love can turn to hatred when it doesn’t get its way. It will fight and fuss, claw and knock, “cuss” and be mean. Divine love, when it is reviled, reviles not again. The God-kind of love is not interested in what I can get, but in what I can give. Do you see how that can solve all the problems in your home? As children of God, the nature of God is in us — and Go

February 12 THE LOVE LAW A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. JOHN 13:34 God’s family is a love family. And the love law of the family of God is, “. . That ye love one another;as I have loved you . . . .” How did God love us? Did He love us because we deserved it? No. God loved us while we were yet unlovely. God loved us while we were yet sinners! (And think about this: If God loved us with so great a love while we were yet sinners and unlovely — when we were His enemies—do you think He loves us any less now that we are His children? No, a thousand times no!) Love is the only commandment of the love family. If you love another person, you won’t steal from him. If you love someone, you won’t kill him. You won’t covet his house. You won’t tell a lie about him. Therefore, divine love is the fulfilling of the law. Since love is the law of the family of God, one step out of love is a step into sin. If you’ve made su

February 11 MATURING FRUIT But the fruit of the Spirit is love . . . . — GALATIANS 5:22 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit . . .— JOHN 15:5 Love is the fruit of the recreated human spirit, produced because of the life of Christ within. Picture a fruit tree. Where does the fruit grow? Fruit grows on the branches. Jesus used the illustration of the tree. Who are the branches? We are. How does natural fruit grow on the branch? It receives nourishment from the trunk — the vine — of the tree. Life fromthe trunk flows out into the branches. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God is life. God is love. His life and love flow out to the believers — the branches. Fruit grows. It doesn’t come fully mature. The Bible says, “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected . . .” (1 John 2:5). The word “perfected” means matured. John was talking about maturing in the fruit of love. (I don’t think any o

February 10 LOVE BORN . . . God is love. — 1 JOHN 4:8 . . . The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost . .- ROMANS 5:5 When you were born again, God became your Father. God is a love God. You are a love child of a love God. You are born of God, and God is love; therefore, you are born of love. The nature of God is in you — and the nature of God is love. In fact, you can’t say you don’t have this divine love, because everyone in the family of God has it — or else they’re not in the family! They may not be exercising it. They may be like the man who wrapped his one talent in a napkin and buried it (Matt. 25:25), but the Bible says that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That means the God- kind of love has been shed abroad in our heart, our spirit, our inner man. Romans 5:5 is not talking about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It’s talking about the New Birth — when you are born of the Spirit of God — that’s when the love of God came

February 8 BY FAITH . .The just shall live by faith. ROMANS 1:17 The faith life is the most beautiful life in the world! It is the life God wants us to live, and the walk God wants us to walk (2 Cor. 5:7). Let both your words and your actions agree. If you talk faith, you must walk faith — you must act faith. Your actions and your words must agree that you are a believer. It won’t do any good to talk faith if you’re not going to act faith. And if it were somehow possible to act faith without talking faith, that wouldn’t do any good, either, because your words and your actions must agree. Some people declare one minute, “I’m trusting God to meet my needs.” Then, with the next breath, they say, “Well, it looks like I’m going to lose my car. I can’t make the payments.” One minute it sounds like they’re talking faith, but in a few moments their actions prove otherwise. Some even quote God’s Word, saying, “I know the Lord said in Philippians 4:19, ‘But my God shall supply all your need acco

February 6 STRENGTHENED . . . The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? — PSALM 27:1 . . . Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. — ROMANS 9:33 The language of faith says, “I can do all things in Christ. The Lord strengthens me. I cannot be conquered. I cannot be defeated. If a natural force comes against me, it can’t defeat me, because there aren’t enough natural forces in all the world that could conquer the Christ who dwells within me! “Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world. I am fortified from within. I’ve learned how to put Christ to work for me and in me. I have, dwelling in me, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead! I have God’s wisdom, strength, and ability in me. I’m learning how to let that wisdom govern my intellect. I’m letting God speak through my lips. I’m daring to think God’s thoughts after Him. “He is the strength of my life, whom shall I fear? God has made me greater than my enemies. God has enabled me to pu

February 5 I CAN I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. — PHILIPPIANS 4:13 Many years have come and gone since I cast my cares upon the Lord, and although I will confess that I’ve been sorely tempted, I have not worried. I have not fretted. I have not had the blues. I have not been discouraged, no matter what. (Some people said I didn’t have enough sense to worry. But, thank God, I had too much Bible sense to worry!) Worry was the most difficult sin for me to give up. Worry is the greatest temptation you will ever face too. But you can resist it. And you must. Your worst enemy is the flesh. The flesh and natural human reasonings would limit you to your own ability. You look at the circumstances, influences, problems, cares, tests, storms, and winds, and you say, “I can’t.” The language of doubt, the flesh, the senses, and the devil is, “I can’t. I don’t have the ability, the opportunity, or the strength. I’m limited.” But the language of faith says, “I can do all th

February 4 WORRY . . . Take no thought for your life . . . . — MATTHEW 6:25 Shortly after I was born again, I promised God, “I’ll never doubt anything I read in Your Word. And I will put Your Word into practice.” Everything in the Word was a light and a blessing to me until I came to Matthew 6:25. I learned from a footnote that the Greek reads, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” Cross-references pointed out that God says, “Do not worry.” But I was full of worry! Not only was I nearly dead with a heart condition; I was about to worry myself the rest of the way to the grave! “Lord,” I said, “if I have to live without worry, I can’t be a Christian!” Suddenly everything in the Word seemed dark and fuzzy; I couldn’t get any more light from the Word. My conscience smote me, because I was not practicing the Word. Finally at 6:00 p.m. on July 4, 1933, I committed all my cares to the Lord. I said, “Lord, forgive me for worrying, for being full of anxieties, for fretting, for being discouraged,

February 3 COMMITMENT Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. — PSALM 37:5 A marginal note in the King James Version reads, “Roll thy way upon the Lord.” Cast. Commit. Roll. Just roll your cares, your burdens, your anxieties, your worries, upon God. Isn’t that what the Word tells us to do? But God won’t take your cares away from you. Some people have asked me, “Please pray that the Lord will lighten this load I’m carrying.” God won’t do that. God tells you what to do about your burdens. And if you don’t do something about them, nothing will be done. “You” is the understood subject of today’s text: You commit your way unto the Lord. You roll your way upon the Lord. You cast all your care upon Him. Some people don’t get an answer to their prayers because they’re notpraying in line with God’s Word. They’re not doing what God said to do about cares, anxieties, worries, and so forth. But it won’t do any good to pray about your cares unless you do what

February 2 CASTING Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. — 1PETER 5:7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. — 1 PETER 5:7 (Amplified) Some people seem to take comfort in thinking, God knows and He understands, while they continue to hold on to their cares. And they never get free from them. It’s not enough to know that God understands and cares. If you want to be free from your cares, you must do what God said to do about them: You must cast all of your cares, all of yourconcerns, all of your anxieties, and all of your worries upon the Lord, because He cares for you. This isn’t something you do every day. It’s a once-and-for-all proposition that enables you to get rid of your cares — it puts them over into God’s hands. I’ve done that. God has my cares. He’s figured it all out, and He’s working it all out. And I’m shouting whil