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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (Friday 18th September 2020)

“For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me [inquire for and of me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!

But seek not [the golden calf at] Bethel nor enter into [idolatrous] Gilgal, and pass not over to [the idols of] Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity and exile, and Bethel [house of God] shall become Beth-aven [house of vanity, emptiness, falsity, and futility] and come to nothing.

Seek the Lord [inquire for and of Him and require Him] and you shall live, lest He rush down like fire upon the house of Joseph [representing the ten tribes] and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel [the center of their idol hopes]. Amos 5:4-6 AMP

WELCOME TO THE 260TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING

Whenever people seek mundane things in the pretense of seeking GOD, they suffer in spite of their prayers, giving or fasting! The worst way to lead your Christian life this end time is to seek the mundane pretending that you are seeking the eternal and or divine.

Everyone who seeks God lives, but everyone who seek the mundane pretending to be seeking God, dies! That is the scripture.

It’s been 260 days since we stepped into this year. Personally, I have tried my best to make sure I and they that the LORD has given me did not spend any day far away from GOD’s manifest presence, or seeking things instead of seeking GOD!

This lock down has kept me busier than when there was none. I never knew I was going to have the busiest ministry season since I came to Kenya this season. We have had more meetings than we have ever heard, when the situation said “no more meetings.”

From statistics, we have reach more people these season than at any other. God turned the hearts of hundreds of thousands to His word on the platform He raised for Himself – the Morning Cloud Television. It has been a journey, and we believe God for strength for the rest of the days.

Now, one may be wondering what is pursuing us? But we are the ones pursuing something. We are running after GOD, seeking Him to make sure no gap exists between us and Him.

IT HAS NOT BEEN BY MIGHT OR BY POWER BUT BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

The Bible says those who seek HIM, will live but those we do not seek Him will not! No one need to pray that people who do not seek GOD die. No! It’s like plants having no water to survive. So those who do not seek the LORD are bound to die like plants.

Yes, their marriages are bound to collapse, businesses bound to fail, and enemies bound to prevail against them. Their ministries are bound to close down or be taken over by sorcery and divination.

Their prophetic visions are bound to be blurring, making them depend on others for dream interpretation. Their economic lives are bound to experience dryness because GOD is the ideal RAIN that makes economic lives spring forth and thrive.

You see, God cannot manifest as RAIN on us until we seek HIM with the whole of our heart, not by empty prayer sessions but by pursuing an intimate knowledge of who He is. The Bible,

“Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. Hosea 6:3 NKJV

If you look at the planet, you will discover that it is rain that makes things grow. If there are no rains everything is bound to die. Again, God is like rain to us, because we are His plantings. That is what makes seeking God a necessity not an option.

A generation that makes seeking God an Option, OVER TIME, will be auctioned as food for devils in the spirit realm. When you seek God by pursuing His Knowledge, He is bound to come upon your life the rain – like the latter and the former rain in the first month. Hallelujah!

THE DIVINE ORDER REMAINS “SEEK GOD AND LIVE.” NOT WHAT LOOK LIKE HIM; BUT HIM!

If you seek what look like Him and not really Him, your life will still be a misery in spite of your efforts. And if you try seeking God without having an encounter with Christ, you will find another god.

Seeking God begins with a true encounter with Jesus, and continues with multiple encounters with His Holy Spirit. The reason for all that is simple; Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God also. They are part of the trinity.

At THIS POINT it’s important that we ask ourselves the very question Jesus asked those who came running after Him. Because many people in our generation are running after Jesus but not seeking God! There is a difference between running after Jesus and seeking God. Not everyone who runs after Jesus is really seeking GOD. But everyone who seeks GOD runs after Jesus to find Him!

That is question is, what do you seek? That was the question He asked those who came running after Him at one occasion during His earthly ministry. The people were from the ministry of John the Baptist – the guys knew when the ministry of their father in the LORD was over, and switched camps – they followed a fresh ministry that could help them find GOD.

Our Church generation must learn to switch camps like these guys when they find out that they can no longer get living water from their spiritual fountains. Yes, when the fountain becomes only a source of matters of evil altars, evil foundation, marriage, money and etc.

The Bible says;

“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). John 1:35-39 NKJV

Jesus permitted them into His presence because their priority was right – they were running after Jesus to find God!

WHEN YOUR HEART SEEK AFTER GOD, HE WILL NOT CEASE FALLING ON YOUR LIFE LIKE RAIN

That is why at the Cry of the Spirit ministry, we sing “It is raining, all around me! I can feel it, the latter rain. Riding on Jesus! Giving me more rain! Until I am wet, until I am soaked with the later rain!” Hallelujah! We will never stop running after this great God. No! We will not stop seeking Him. Because as we do; we experience Him over and over again coming upon us like rain!

If you want to experience how God come upon people like rain, join this apostolic family. We are a New Breed without weeds. A royal priesthood! A Holy Nation! God’s own special people; we believe we are ‘condemned’ to seek Him all our lives and open portals of Heaven over Earth by doing so!

Ours is a GODLY heritage because we have always seen the lines falling for us in pleasant places.

You can become part of this excellent army of the LORD anywhere in the world! The conditions are simple; become a seeker of God and not mundane things. Once your heart aligns with God, you can become part of us, enjoying the most of Him wherever you live.

It’s a global army without boundaries or denominational walls! It’s an army of God seekers running after Jesus every day to find God and have Him come upon us like rain. Yes, Christ in us is the hope of glory. But we also need Christ on us like rain to spring forth and thrive on the face of the earth.

The question still remains “what do you seek?” if your heart is right, your life will be right. If our heart seeks the LORD, our life will never lack His manifest presence.

The Bible says it will be like a tree planted by the living waters – bringing forth its fruits in its season. A major highlight in our devotional text says, “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!

NO ONE SEEK GOD THE WAY MAN SEEKS FOR FOOD AND DIE.

You can look for food with the very energy you need to look for God and die, but you can never look for God with the very energy men use to look for food and die. You will always find and experience His manifest presence coming upon your life like Rain.

When He comes upon your life like rain, visions will spring forth. You will begin to see where others just look. Healing will spring forth wherever you need it – be it in your health, economy, mind, habits, soul, spirit name it.

No one recovers when God comes on him or her like rain. You must become part of the generation that seek Him with the same energy men use to seek or work for their daily bread! That is the message of today’s devotional!

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!

“Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.

Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3 NKJV