Thursday, 25^th February, 2021.

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4: 2-3

Memory Verse: Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. Ephesians 4:3 (AMP)

Imagine if Naaman, captain of the host of Syria had built a wall around himself making himself inaccessible to the ministry of his servants. Imagine if he was lost in the euphoria of being a celebrity. Surely, he wouldn’t ever have been healed (2 Kings 5:1-19). Sunandha Kumariratana, born in 1860, was a daughter of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and Princess Consort Piam Sucharitakul. She was a half-sister and the first queen consort and one of four queens of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). On 31 May, 1880  Queen Sunanda Kumari Ratana, pregnant at that time, and her 15-month-old daughter  drowned when their boat sank in the Chao Phraya River at Bang Phut, while on the way to Bang Pa-In Palace.

The Palace Law, dating from the Ayutthayan era was harsh. All staff had to leave the vicinity where the queen’s barge sank. The staff were only allowed to extend battering rams and throw coconuts for her to hold unto. They were forbidden by law on pain of death to touch the queen, not even to save her life. Apparently coconuts where thrown to her to cling on, but she was unable to reach them as she could not swim. In 1881, King Chulalongkorn, overcome with grief, set up a marble obelisk at Bang Pa-In Palace as a cenotaph to her memory. The commemoration text was written in Thai and English by the king himself.

Lessons:

1. Those who build too many walls around themselves suffer foolishly alone in the day of trouble.

2. No man is an island. Value relationship.

3. Prestige, Status, Fame, Money, Royalty, etc, have a way of making you see others as second class citizens. Reject that spirit that want to quarantine you in order to harm you. We all need each other to survive. As humans, we are configured to socialize and help one another.

Quote: Every mighty man will one day need help from one ordinary man.

Prophetic Decree: Pride of prestige shall not lead you to your early grave, in Jesus name.

Prayer Focus

1. I repent of anyway I have looked down on others, in Jesus name.

2. Holy Spirit, help me to be mighty yet lowly in heart, in Jesus name.

3. O Lord, break me and mould me. Help me not to destroy myself, in Jesus name.

4. Spirit of pride, die, in Jesus name.

5. O Lord, help me to be deeply rooted in You, in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 5-6