TODAY’S DEVOTION (Wednesday 2ND September 2020)
“When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.”
“These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.”
“Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” Psalms 50:18-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 244TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
“Glory to God in the Highest and peace to men of good will” It is another glorious morning in a fresh month. Welcome to the second day of ninth month of our YEAR OF REJOICING.
The first statement you read from our devotional text this morning is a declaration that angels made the day Jesus was born. What caught my attention is who they invoked the peace of the LORD upon. They invoked it on men of good will. They did not invoke it on everyone in the nation or the face of the earth.
That reveals a lot about the God we serve that most of us do not know; God does not give peace to everybody. His peace is for men of good will so that they may sustain their goodness on the face of the earth. The wicked are programmed to be eliminated by either their wickedness, or the swords of justice placed on the face of the earth.
So, God does not give peace to everyone on earth. That is why He does not answer the prayer of everyone. He answers only the prayers of men of good will.
This morning God has a word for us. I hope you are ready for the word. To start with, the world as we see it is not actually ruled by the visible. It is ruled by the invisible. Even in politics, people who truly control policies, decisions, and direction of government are not really the ones we know as presidents or heads of government.
They are men or woman we do not know but we feel. You do not see their names making headlines. They are just silent but responsible for every sound you hear on the media.
ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF MAN, THEY DETERMINE WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT AND WHO DO NOT.
That is why I have never participated in an election in my life; I just know that elections, especially in Africa, are most times fruitless exercise. Votes appear to count but they do not really count. The people will choose who to lead them, but these hidden men will decide who to announce as winners.
If these men and women who operate behind the scenes say they do not want you, even if the ballot box says you won the election, the electoral body will say you did not. And that settles it! That is why there is so much political turmoil in some nations. The will of these hidden presidents and kings is what the visible presidents and kings serve.
Humanly wise politicians, therefore, do not begin campaigns on the streets. They begin with these King makers or hidden presidents. They know that if these hidden men do not say yes to their ambition, even if the men on the street say yes, they will never be enthroned.
Now, what is true of the political is also true of the prophetic!
The Church is a prophetic and an apostolic entity. We are Children of prophecies. In the words of Peter, I can say we are “Sons of the prophets.” Sons as in offspring! Our faith sprang from what the prophets where propelled by the Holy Ghost to prophesy. The Bible says,
“for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21 NKJV
FROM WHAT THE PROPHETS SPOKE WE NOW HAVE OUR SALVATION.
We are, therefore, Children of prophecies or Sons of the prophets.
Now as Children of things that prophets spoke as propelled by the Holy Ghost, we are not expected to live our lives without consulting the GODHEAD the way a wise politician will consult and obtained the approval of a hidden president or kingmaker before hitting the streets with his campaigns.
If we hit the streets of life with our marriage plans, business plans, ministry plans, or whatever plan without first seeking the direction, approval, and backing of the GODHEAD, we will fail. People fail in life for not doing this.
I have said it before that God does not back what He did not initiate. A life that is not in harmony with His Blessed will, eventually becomes a misery.
The prophets never spoke by the will of man but God. The Christians life we are called to live never came by the will of man but God. If we therefore led our lives as Children of God by the will of man, instead of God we will loose.
Most of us do not know that giving our lives to Christ is not a religious act, but a kingdom act. It places on us the responsibility to lead a life that is not ours; a life that is outsourced from Heaven. And a life is not said to be outsourced from Heaven if it is not in Harmony with Divine Will.
Many believers are having serious issues in life because they are living their lives opposite how the Christians life ought to be led – in Harmony with divine will in all fronts. If we look at ourselves carefully, we will realize that the areas of our lives that are not in alignment with God’s will are the areas of our lives under satanic assaults.
Satan cannot attack an aspect of life that is in harmony with God’s will for it. He cannot attack any aspect of lives that is synchronized.
For instance, if our marital life is synchronized, all the demons in hell cannot do anything about it. They cannot hinder us from getting married, staying married and having a family of our own. If our economic life is synchronized, all the demons in hell cannot hinder us from living in financial plenty and still serving God in Spirit and in truth.
If you are going through anything in life right now, God want you to bring the aspect of your life going through in harmony with His will and ways, and you will see His salvation in that area of life.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT IN OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS;
“Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
I like this scripture; it says if we forget God in any aspect of our lives, that aspect will be torn in pieces and there will be no prophet, apostle, pastor, or whoever that can deliver us by their prayers.
Most marital lives are torn in pieces because the couples went into it forgetting God. The same can be seen in the lives of those whose economic lives are shattered. The forget God by not asking Him to lead them in the pursuit of economic freedom, and when He blessed them, they forget Him by not respecting the covenant of giving and receiving.
To forget God does not mean to literally forget that He exists. Everyone in Church knows there is God.
To forget God means to forget to bring Him along into your plans by harmonizing what you do with His will and ways. It means, to go into a thing not remembering to consult Him for His will, it means to follow your ways or guide without relying on Him to do it for you.
If you lead a life that forgets God, you will always be in disarray. God’s perfect peace is for those whose lives are in perfect harmony with His will and ways.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY:
“But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.”
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever.”
“He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.” Psalms 81:11-16 NKJV