THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 30th November 2019)

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 334th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF GOING FORWARD.

Today is the last day of the month of November 2019. There will be no November 2019 again until we are ushered into the age to come. Oh yes! This is the last for this age. Even in the age to come, there will not be any. It’s therefore important that we step into this day with gratitude of heart. God had shown us mercies to start and finish the month with peace.

In our devotional yesterday we began uncovering the mystery behind problems that have refused the prayer and power of very anointed men and women of God – issues of life that have survived even corporate prayers.

We discovered that just like Daniel’s relationship with God was what saved him from the lions, there are issues in life that only a person’s relationship with God can solve. If therefore you do not have a viable relationship with God, those things will consume you.

Many who run after prophets and go from meeting to meeting looking for who to pray for them to get married, get a job, get healed, get delivered and all that have done so for ages and remained the same. The reason is they need to be planted in an assembly of people who emphasis deep intimacy with God to improve their strength in the spirit and break from the yokes of their enemies.

Today we are going a step further!

Our devotional text today contains an instruction that if all Christians obey, there will be no deliverance case in our midst. It says,

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

THAT TO ME IS THE KEY TO THE SOLUTION OF ALL THE PROBLEMS YOU MAY BE GOING THROUGH.

Satan, the real enemy, will not want you to draw near to God because he knows if you draw near to God, God will draw near to you. And if God draws near to you, the devil will be very far from you.

You see, the distance between you and your troubles tells us the distance between you and God. If sickness, poverty, failure, hard life, disappointments or any kind of demonic assault is very close to you, it’s a sign that you are very far from God.

Sadly, most Christians are not close to these things, they live with them. Living with satanic affliction all the time is a sign that we are not living with God.

The lady that was healed of HIV in one of our early meetings in this nation came to meet me with the problem in my office. She was not just living with that diseases, she was living with other works of darkness. She was not the only one with that affliction that came to me for prayers, there were two.

Like I always do, I did not rush to pray for them. I gave them one instruction. Keep coming to the meetings. On day you will gain dominion and break from the yoke. One obeyed the other disappeared. Today the one who obeyed have been healed but the one who did not is still going about looking for help.

WHAT DID GOD REALLY DO?

You see, as she kept coming and listening to the word, receiving prayers and impartation, she began to move closer to God in the Spirit. The closer she got to God the far the diseases got away from her. That continued until the day she was certified healed by her doctors.

Drawing near to God is the key to pushing the devil away from your life. God is not a magician. The key to having rest from the days of adversity is to draw near to Him. No disease or destruction can survive His presence. So, whatever we have in our lives that is from hell, will disappear as soon as we get closer to God enough.

Don’t forget He is a consuming fire. He consumes whatever may be consuming us as we draw near to Him. The key to defeating your enemies, therefore is to draw near to God.

The key to making sure those who come to attack us in one way flee in seven ways is to draw near to God. If you live a Christian life that is not drawing near to God on daily bases these last days, you will be sorry both in time and eternity.

There are problems in the life of a Christian that can only be eliminated when he or she eliminates the distance between him or her and God. Such problems cannot be eliminated by a one-time prayer from anyone on earth. They can only be eliminated when that child of God eliminates the distance between, he and GOD – or become deeply intimate with God.

That is why I tell Christians to stop running after prophets and start running after the prophetic word (the Bible) and anyone who can unveil the mysteries in it.

Enough of the charismatic madness we call Christianity. We have reduced ourselves to mare food on the dining tables of witches and wizards because we are very far from God. We look very close to Him by our loud confessions and religiosity but, only our mouths are close to Him; our hearts are very far from Him.

THE LONG DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND GOD IN THE SPIRIT IS THE REASON BEHIND OUR AFFLICTIONS AND MANY TROUBLES.

If we will stop this noise, we call Christianity and start drawing close to God in spirit and in truth, peace will begin to settle in our lives.

Our devotional text made it clear that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. When God draws near to us, hell, death and grave will go permanently away from us. When hell, death and grave go permanently away from us, we will begin to have rest from all forms of adversity.

Now how do we draw near to God? Heaven has made available ministries and ministers on the face of the earth to help us do just that. Locate one and plant yourself there. Do not compromise your faithfulness in that place and you will see the move of God.

As you find a local assembly of God’s people and commit yourself to the LORD there, you will find yourself drawing close to God if that assembly is of GOD. As you draw closer and closer the works of Satan will disappear from your life. You will celebrate God’s faithfulness, grace and mercy.

It’s a new day for you!

As we bid goodbye to November 2019, may the rest of our days, years or decades on earth be a blessing to our walk and talk with God, in Jesus precious name. May we lead Christians lives where deep will be calling unto Deep. May our place in shallow waters be lost to a permanent place in the deeper places of the Holy Spirit. Amen and amen

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION.

“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all your waves and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me — a prayer to the God of my life.” Psalms 42:7-8 NKJV