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Surge 7 #faithformore
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CONTENTS
First Word by Tolulope Moody
Day 1 We can become more 3
Day 2 We can do more 5
Day 3 We can trust more 7
Day 4 We can love more 9
Day 5 We can give more 12
Day 6 We can strike more 15
Day 7 We can influence more 17
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FIRST WORD
TOLULOPE MOODY
Hello friend,
It’s a delight to share this compilation of #surge meditations with you from Sycamore Church, Ibadan, Nigeria. We believe that God has awesome plans for every human life and He reveals and expresses them to us by His Word. We hope that you’ll deliberately engage these next few days in reading God’s word, and that the meditations shared each day would bring fresh light to your heart and grace to your God-journey. These #surge devotions have been a great blessing to our church family and many around the world, who join in with us during the periods of the studies. We hope that you will enjoy that same blessing as you turn your heart to God with desire. To find out more about us or to receive more resources from our church, please visit our website www.sycamorechurchng.com or catch us on any of our social media handles: YouTube, Facebook : Sycamore Church Twitter: @sycamorechurch IG: @sycamore_church Email: [email protected] We’ll be glad to hear from you to know how God has used this resource to bless you. Once again, we count it a privilege to come into your world! Much love, Tolulope Moody Lead Pastor @tolulopemoody [email protected]
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Day 1
WE CAN BECOME MORE!
Bible reading: Acts 3:1-11, 2 Corinth 3:16-18
I’m sure you’ve been in situations when you met one of those old uncles that you hadn’t
seen for several years and then he comes exclaiming about how you’ve grown. It could be
pretty annoying sometimes, especially when they keep at it and make it seem like they expected you not to have grown.
Maybe the more important question is do we ourselves expect that we’re growing? That
we’re becoming more than we’ve ever been?
In a strange way, life has a way of making people accept things for what they are and not
hold out for more.
Circumstances start to define us. A season chokes us till we just sit in that as a standard.
What do you think it was like for the lame man in Acts 3? He spends every day meditating
on his limitations and how he’s shut out from the beautiful gate. He sees everybody else
in a light that he can never walk in.
Feeling limited is a very tough place to be.
Have you ever gotten to those points where limitations seemed to define you? There’s
that strong sense of what you can’t do, or what you don’t have and all that can never happen because of that.
But God calls us beyond our limitations. He always wants us to live full of hope and expectation.
1. Refuse the Tags
Don’t throw tags all over yourself. Tags many times describe us in the experience of our
past but don’t give consideration to possibilities.
‘I’m lame! It’s who I am’
‘I can never speak in public’
‘I can never lead’
‘I’m shy’
‘I’m the type that must say my mind’
I think there’s a big difference between ‘I can never’ and ‘I have never’. Refuse every tag
that doesn’t recognize the possibilities of Grace. It might seem accurately descriptive, but
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God sees you more than what has been. God sees you in the light of what more can be.
God doesn’t just see the man as lame. He sees the jumping, leaping praiser and He’s
committed to that Cause.
2. Keep the Door of Hope Wide Open
I like that the man never got tired of coming out as far as he could. He never quit asking
and expecting. The Bible says he was expecting to receive something. You should too.
Don’t let limitation make you lose a sense of expectation about life. You may have lost
stuff or lost opportunities, but God is still good and He will always be good!
God’s promise is that the Holy Spirit is working a transformation in us. We are becoming
more like Him. We are being helped to see life through His eyes. We are being empowered to do life like Jesus.
We must win it in our hearts and hold out for it. We must be full of expectation and desire.
Change is happening! I’m becoming more.
Don’t just attend church. Be strongly aware that you’re being changed.
You’re not just reading the Bible or praying. A mighty person is emerging. You’re not who
you used to be. Your attitudes are being helped. Your integrity is getting more resolute.
Your character is being shaped. Your love is being established. Your inner man is being
strengthened. Your capacity is being enlarged. Your victory is being manifest. Your feet
are being quickened. Your thoughts are being purified. Your reach is being stretched.
Let’s believe in a new way and expect with fresh desire: The past does not define us. We’ve
had highs and lows, but the best is yet to come!
Something To Pray: 2 Corinthians 3:18
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Day 2
WE CAN DO MORE!
Bible reading: Zechariah 4:6-9, Philippians 2:12-13
I remember visiting the zoo with a senior female friend many years ago. It had been a long
and tiring afternoon out going through the details of one animal after the other. In our tiredness, we then got towards the lions.
I had always thought going to the zoo was about going to see animals, but when the lions
began to really just let out roars that afternoon, I realized everybody seemed to agree that
going to the zoo is first of all about staying alive before its about seeing any animals.
I mean, there was a mass take off! Nobody seemed to think that the lion was locked in a cage.
I think there's a point we can all get to with our lives where the conversation would go
beyond tiredness and convenience, beyond even what looks likely or attainable.
There's a life that digs out ability beyond the likely, that lives full of drive, that stays on
the edge to do all that can be done.
That's the life I believe God calls us to.
Our faith and the grace of Jesus are not cloaks for laziness or to accept a life of mediocrity.
Rather, they are a spring to attain to more than we could have of our natural self.
1. Live Beyond Excuses
At some point, excuses must not be good enough for you. You must welcome a sense of
dissatisfaction about always having an excuse for everything you won't do.
There might genuinely be an excuse why you don't, but there's a bigger reason why you should- the God empowerment!
We will never walk in all that God calls us to if we go the lane of excuses.
2. The Power of Not Doing
We speak a lot about the great power in doing a little more. But maybe it’s also helpful to
consider the power in not doing.
Whatever is not don't is not just an action: it is a pathway. It’s always a step further in a
life of negligence or of mediocrity or of passiveness. It’s never just about weakening what
could have been, it is also about strengthening what should not be.
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Let's believe today that we aren't lazy or weak, but that we're empowered and anointed
to do- to start, to press on and to complete! We are able, because God is already working
in us what he calls us to work out!
Something to Pray: Acts 10:38. Pray for such an anointing and life expression today.
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Day 3
WE CAN TRUST MORE!
Bible reading: 1 Samuel 17:25-50, Jeremiah 17:7
How far has fear ever driven you? I've done very ridiculous things because of fear.
As a little kid, I once hid under a table and in the midst of my panicking and breathing
hard, I planned out how I would stay there for the next three and a half years, because I
feared I had missed the rapture and I didn't want my eyes plucked out.
I've wondered many times about how in the natural we grow into all our fears. Fears of the future, fear of need, fear of rejection, fear of people, fear of failure, and so on.
We didn't start that way.
There's this blissful trust in a child. It fears nothing. It's not anxious about anything.
I believe that as Christians we must again, and constantly, learn to be children- of God.
Jesus taught us to be like the little children. Not childish- but child-like.
To have a trusting, tender heart.
You remember that old hymn: 'Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in
Jesus...'
There's a sweet combination of trust and obedience that reveals the bliss of the Christian
life.
God doesn't just want us to obey him. He wants us to trust him. Obedience will bring God
results into your life. But trust will make the journey of obedience sweet. You wouldn't
have to go around 'breaking body' (kanra) over every God instruction.
1. We Trust That God is Loving
The first consciousness we must constantly affirm in trusting God is that He is a loving
father.
God is a good God! We must never forget.
We must know for certain that His thoughts towards us are for our good. God is not some
miserable kill-joy just out to control people. He's a lover of people. He's a good father.
He looks out for our best. He calls us to the best we can ever be.
If we remember that, we would trust Him the more. We will learn to interpret the events
of life in the light of His love.
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Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Job 13:15 NKJV
2. We Trust That God is Able
The second leg of our trust for God is that He is actually able.
God is not just the loving and good father who has all that He says to do at heart. He is actually able and strong enough to do exactly what He says.
The Bible reveals Him in that exact light- a God who is loving enough to save humanity,
and able beyond measure to do that.
We're many times in life going to be delving between two sides of the pendulum swing:
On the one side, like the Israeli army, Goliath is ranting and your God-trust is depleting as
your fear of Goliath rises;
Or the other side, like David, your Goliath-fear is depleting as your God-trust is rising.
Make a fresh push today to be on the right side of trust. Affirm anew that God loves you
and He's able to bring you to your best in every situation you're in and watch it pump a fresh rise into your trust level.
God doesn't want us living freaked out and panicking. He wants us walking from one
victory to the next, and more than that, to absolutely enjoy the process of each victory.
Can you be more resolute about your trust than you are about anything else?
Let trust be a traceable line through your life story. Through the moments you
understand and through the moments you don't; when you feel strong and when you feel
out of your depth; when you know what to do and when you don't; when you're on a high
and when you're on a low... Let the constant be that you trust God.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.
Jer 17.7
May you truly know that sweet blessedness today!
Something to Pray: Would you take a moment today and outline five of the most challenging things ahead of you. Then deliberately affirm your trust in God over each of them.
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Day 4
WE CAN LOVE MORE!
Bible reading: John 21:14-17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
I've always wondered how awkward a conversation it was between Jesus and his guy,
Peter.
They were having breakfast, so technically, you could assume they were like on a date.
Then Jesus starts all the 'love you' talk. And he keeps going on with it, asking again and again whether Peter loves him.
Most guys I know would be dead angry and pissed out about that.
We live in a generation where there's an unprecedented scarcity of love, and there's so
much abuse and manipulation around what love really is.
People have been hurt, cheated, taken advantage of and so on, all in the name of love.
It leaves us in quite a difficult place. A world standard and system contrary to what we
believe, but a commandment from our God emphatic and hinged on it.
When Jesus was asked to summarize all the law and prophets, he summarized it as loving
God and loving people. (Matthew 22:35-39)
Sometimes, because of the manipulation and bitterness in the world, believers refrain from 'the whole love thing'.
But that's wrong! It’s the very essence of our lives.
Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
John 13:35 TLB
For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will
know that you’re my true followers
John 13:35 TPT
It’s like visiting a hospital and then saying I won't breathe anymore because there are
several people on oxygen masks and life support in there.
You don't throw away the substance you hold because you see others not getting it right.
Good news is that love is not an out-to-in thing for the believer. It's an in-to-out. We don't
love because the world is deserving or understanding, we love because God's love is poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
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1. More Than These
Notice that Jesus isn't just wanting to be loved. He's asking Peter to affirm a 'more than
these'.
For Jesus, there are comparative measures.
I think if we're honest, we all know the 'these' that have the tendency to creep up on us and compete with our love and attention.
Jesus calls us again to make him our priority and core passion.
We've got to take our focus off idols.
Imagine today that you were sitting on one end of a table with Jesus on the other end, and
he asked you the 'love me more than these' question. Can you say a confident yes?
2. What Does Your Love Propel?
Do you notice that each time Peter affirms his love for Jesus, Jesus commits responsibility into his hand?
I think one of the biggest disservices to love in our day is that it is said so much but done
so little.
Love is not just in saying. It’s in doing. It’s in a corresponding line of action.
Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with
tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in
sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].
1 John 3:18 AMP
My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.
1 John 3:18 MSG
In practically challenging your love walk today, ask yourself what your love can propel
with the people in your world. What can your love propel with your spouse, your family, your friends, your mentors, your church?
Our love is not just in saying it, but in a corresponding line of action.
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Something To Pray:
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:18 NKJV
Would you pray today for a sincerity and truth for your love walk today and for God to
propel you to even greater expressions of His love in you.
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Day 5
WE CAN GIVE MORE!
Bible reading: Luke 18:18-23, Matthew 10:8
I had this thing I was fond of doing as a little child. Whenever I got stuff- whether a snack
or my pieces of plantain had been counted- I would give out all or most of mine to anyone
who cared. Then two minutes later I would be seen in some corner of the house crying
my eyes out about my loss.
Thinking about it now, I can imagine how annoying it was for everybody! My parents
would keep asking 'did anyone force you?'
It was even more annoying when the next day again, I'd bring some of my stuff and say I want to give it out.
My friend, will you ger'out!
I think it perfectly reveals the human condition.
The need and pain in the world touches on something in us and propels the good part of us to want to give; but the insatiable part of us never wants to let go.
Therein is our dilemma. We can't have our cake and eat it.
We read of Jesus telling the rich young ruler to give away all his possessions and the bible says he went away sad. It’s the same dilemma- we want give, but we don't want to let go.
There are five top reminders we must hold dear about why we give:
1. Because We Have
This sounds obvious, but the reality is that giving is one of our biggest statements of dominion over our possessions.
The difference between us having stuff and stuff having us is in our willingness to give.
That's what Jesus was testing in the rich young ruler. You want real life? Then come beyond the dominion of stuff.
2. Because We Love
Our giving is a statement of our love. God didn't just love the world. He gave his Son. Love
must propel action, and one of the key actions of love is to give.
We give to what we love.
It’s not a relationship if all we do is share scriptures and pray. Love gives!
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3. Because We Honour
Again, our giving is a statement of value and honour.
There's a point where we think it’s about meeting needs. But it goes beyond that.
I can't meet every need in the world. But I can genuinely honour those God put in my life.
This is why we give to God. This is why we tithe. It is not meeting God's needs, it is our
honour for God. Our tithe is a statement of recognition that God is our source, therefore we bring the first ten percent of everything we get to him.
Our giving ultimately reflects our honour.
4. Because We Sow
Have you ever considered why a farmer gives seed to his ground? It’s a statement that
there's more to his life than what's in his hand.
We believe God gives more!
We refuse to make our current level a statement of the level of our life. So, we give.
Giving is more than just a good deed, before God it always turns out as a seed.
5. Because We Obey
Finally, the Bible teaches us to live generous lives. It is the life we are called to.
Jesus said 'freely you have received, freely give'.
My challenge to you is what acts and what structures can you hold yourself to that will
raise the bar or sustain you in your level of generosity?
Take the deliberateness to make sure you're not just giving to life by compulsion, but that you are giving in reflection of your love and honour by design.
There is one who scatters yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is
right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will
also be watered himself
Proverbs 11:24-25 NKJV
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and
smaller.
Proverbs 11:25 MSG
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Something to Pray:
Pray today for the Lord to create in you a willingness and a yieldedness to give.
Make a sound declaration:
I am generous by the help of the Holy Spirit!
Stuff don't own me, I own stuff!
I love and honour in action, not just in words.
My world is getting larger and larger, because I am generous.
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Day 6
WE CAN STRIKE MORE!
Bible reading: 2 Kings 13:14-20, Hebrews 10:37-39
One of the most annoying things to me in all human endeavours is when an opportunity
goes by and then the person in a position of influence tells me 'I would have agreed if you
had asked one more time' or something of that sort.
I'm like 'thank you for this most encouraging information!'
I never want to feel I barely stopped short, especially when I know I could actually have done the little more.
I'm sure that's how Joash felt with Elisha. I could have struck the ground several more times. But sadly, he didn't.
The truth is the biggest opportunities of our lives will not come with signboard notices.
We simply have to learn to be people that maximize every moment of our lives anyway.
So, the big question is not about moments that call for special hits. The big question is to
give every moment of life our most special hit.
If we believe it is right to love then we should love all we can all the time; if it is right to
give, then we should give all we can all the time; if it is right to go to church, then we
should go with our best attitude all the time, and not live wondering whether it’s going to be a special service.
Would you strike all you can?
1. Now is Now, Then is Then
Many people seem to be saving their special strikes for some special moments
somewhere ahead.
I pray we would get a revelation that now is now and then is then.
People keep their special ideas and effort till they land their dream job, they keep their
love and forgiveness till they have a committed spouse, they keep their cleanliness and
order till they live in the house they dream...
Don't postdate your strikes. Now is now and then is then.
Don't lose your now in anticipation of a then. Give today every strike you can. Tomorrow
comes with a grace for all that is in it.
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2. Except We Couldn't Strike Anymore
I don't mind missing out on Elisha's full blessings. Really. But let it be because I couldn't strike anymore, not because I just didn't.
When I'm explaining to my kids why I missed out on Elisha, I hope I can sincerely tell them I just couldn't strike anymore. It was beyond me.
If that won't be true, then I want the full blessing!
If it was down to me just not wanting to forgive one more time, or just not wanting to
have the conversation again, of just not wanting to pray again and love again...
If it is just down to my failure to strike again, then I think it’s too weak a story to tell.
I wonder how many homes, marriages and relationships didn't have to be lost if only we
would strike one more forgiving hit. I wonder how many people could have hit the water in the hard rock of their career if only they would strike one more hit or commitment.
Be encouraged today. You can strike again. Remember, on the other side of your strike is
a God who actually wants to bless you with much more!
Go for it people!
Something to Pray: Can we pray today for a steadfastness of heart and of hands and a
fresh encouragement to strike again, whatever that is in your context.
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Day 7
WE CAN INFLUENCE MORE!
Bible reading: Matthew 5:13-16, Isaiah 60:1-5
Several years ago, as a young child, I recall how I would always get very thrilled when I
watched some large concerts. I would especially be thrilled seeing different sections of
the audience having different colours.
For me, it meant that the concerts were so well planned to the extent of getting all the people who were to sit in a particular section to wear the same colour shirt.
I grew up to understand how silly a thought that was and that the colours on each section
were simply a function of the lights that were put over the section.
I find that most instructive.
It's such a great awareness when we consider just how much light influences. It changes
the tone and ambience of a room. It changes what can be done or cannot be done. It determines illumination.
And Jesus calls his followers the light of the world!
When we understand that, we would understand how he sees us.
He sees us as a people of influence. He sees us as a people who determine the experience
the world lives in. He sees us as illumination for a dark world. He sees us as determinants
of the tone and feel of the world.
Jesus calls his followers light!
1. Can We Improve the Quality of Our Influence?
It's one thing to understand that God has given us the opportunity of influence, it's another thing to ask what quality of influence we're putting out.
Can we improve the quality of our influence?
Can our light be what it should be- a bright expression of Jesus, purified from the contaminations and weights of self and ambition.
Very often, we've put too much in the mix.
We've got the Jesus thing in there, but we've added so much self-seeking, sin and
worldliness that dulls out the quality of what we give the world.
Can we make a decision that the world deserves the best of Jesus? The world deserves
our brightest and purest light.
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Can you improve the quality of influence you put out in your everyday conversations?
Can you resolve to take advantage of every platform and opportunity you have to be a
God-sent bright light.
2. Can We Intensify the Reach of Our Influence?
Jesus taught that when men light a candle, they put it up on a stand to give light to the
entire room. In other words, they set the position to stretch the extents of influence the light holds over the room.
At the end of the day, the world is not subject to the right influences only- the world is
subject to the dominant influences.
Believers must understand that if we go silent, then darkness becomes a dominant
influence. God calls us to stretch the extents of our influence for the glory of His name.
We must start to believe God can use us more and do more in and through us.
The intensity of the darkness in the world is not a statement of the darkness prevailing,
it is a statement of the absence of light.
We can influence more!
Believe God for words of light in conversations today. Believe God for acts of light in
situations today. Believe God that through you, people will encounter and experience
Jesus. Believe that your neighborhood and family will experience the invasion of a God-
light.
Something to Pray: Can we dedicate every opportunity and platform we have in life and
all that God will open up to us as an opportunity to shine the light. Tell God to make you
a purer and more intense light in the dark world.
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Sycamore Church was planted in 2014 in response to a burden God gave us to help a people and a generation longing to see Jesus.
We believe that the Bible is God’s Word. It is accurate, authoritative and applicable to
our everyday lives. We believe in one eternal God who is the Creator of all things. He
exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He is totally loving and completely holy.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ as both God and man is the only One who can
reconcile us to God. He lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life.
We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the only way of
salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs when people repent of their
sins and place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment
for their sin. Salvation is a gift from God, and it cannot be earned through our own
efforts.
We believe that the Church is a local community of believers unified through faith in
Christ. It is committed to the teachings of Christ and obeying all of His commands, and it
seeks to bring the Gospel to the world. The Church works together in love and unity,
intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ. We believe that although differences
exist in expression, the Church of Jesus is one body globally. We believe in the necessity of believers to meet together regularly for fellowship.
We believe that human beings are created to exist forever. They will exist either
eternally separated from God by sin or in union with God through forgiveness and
salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him
is Heaven. Heaven and Hell are places of eternal existence. We believe that our eternal
destination of either Heaven or hell is determined by our response to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sycamore Church
+234 909 1207 917
sycamorechurchng.com
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www.sycamorechurchng.com
