TODAY’S DEVOTION (Tuesday 6th October 2020)
“He who plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker.
The plans of the foolish and the thought of foolishness are sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men.
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” Proverbs 24:8-10 AMP
WELCOME TO THE 278TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
The human spirit was originally designed in such a way that it can carry GOD and function as His temple on earth. That make us God’s building or temple. Every building has blocks that carved out the structure, and every temple has pillars that held or beautify it.
For the human spirit, God created His word to function as its building blocks, and His standard of righteousness to function as the pillars. That is why He will never fill us with any blessing, until He has re enforced our spirits or constructed us to carry the blessing, imparting us with His word and teaching us His standards.
Over and over again, you find out that whenever God want to bless a people, He will first school them in His things so that they can develop capacity for the blessing. Schooling in the things of God has always been a prelude to significant and spectacular blessings. God has never blessed a people significantly without first schooling them significantly.
The nation of Israel comes to mind at this point.
If you read the book of Deuteronomy – Moses’ Valedictory speech – you will realize that they were first schooled in the things of God before they inherited the promise land. The Bible made it clear that God schooled them in just one thing for 40 years. And they qualified for the blessing. That thing was a great lesson
“not to live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from His mouth.”
Moses said,
“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3 NKJV
God’s schooling process could be painful like this one but His ultimate vision is to make us know. For Israel they were to know that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed from the mouth of God.
THAT WAS THE THING OF GOD THEY LEARNT FOR FORTY YEARS.
It is a thing of God “not to live by bread alone but by every word that proceed from the mouth of God.” It is not a thing of man or devils. And it took them forty years to learn that.
Now, someone may ask why it took them that long; the answer is simple. First what was coming was big, hence they needed a longer time to be schooled for it. Secondly their response to God was slow, hence it took a longer time than necessary for them to learn the lesson. The third reason is, their captivity in Egypt was long, hence completely damaging their lives. They needed a longer time to be internally reconstructed.
If you want to know how long you may need to stay in God’s training School, you have just known it. The things that will determine the lessons you will learn, and how long you will stay learning them, are;
1. The significance of the blessing God is preparing you for.
2. Your response to His dealings, and
3. How long you have been in spiritual degradation and ignorance.
In fact, some of us may need to remain in God’s school all our lives. The reason is simple; the enemy has damaged everything in our sanctuary (internal life), and because of our lack of proper response to God, it will take a longer time to recover fully.
Israel actually took a longer time because God had scheduled that they finished schooling in 40 days then enter into the purpose of the schooling – which was the blessing of the land of Canaan thereafter. But their slow response turned the 40 days God scheduled into 40 years!
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF UNDERGRADUATES WHO TOOK LONGER YEARS TO DO A COURSE OF VERY SHORT YEARS?
That was what happened to Israel, and I am afraid it is happening to many in the Church today. Some with a worse case than others because they do not even have proper spiritual leaders that Heaven may use to school them.
The three determining factors outlined above are only applicable to those who have been blessed with Apostolic and prophetic Graces from the LORD to school them in His things. They are not applicable to the lives of those who do not have such teachers DIVINE WILL OR WAYS in their walk and talk with God!
If you have not been enrolled in a school, you cannot say you will graduate so and so year. If you do not have a man or woman teaching you the ways and will of GOD, you cannot say you will come out with a blessing so and so time.
God said in His word,
“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15 NKJV
Until God one way to know that Heaven has enrolled you in the school of the Spirit is when God gives you a shepherd after His own heart. One His Spirit will use to feed you until you become all He created you to be.
Israel had a Moses that God used to school them. Without Moses, they would not have even known the will and ways of the LORD.
The early Church had people like Peter, James, John, and the rest of the apostles. Timothy has Apostle Paul for both a spiritual father and guide. Ours cannot be an exemption. We must have a God given shepherd in our lives for the three determinants to come into force in your life.
Don’t forget what we began this devotional with, we said schooling is God’s way of helping us to build capacity for coming blessings.
God will send men to be your spiritual guides, people He can use to school you in His things basically to help you build spiritual capacity. Most people fail in life not because of the problems they encounter in the journey of life, but because they have no capacity in the spirit to withstand the hard thing of an earthly life.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT IN OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT TODAY SAYS “IF YOU FAINT IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY, YOUR STRENGTH IS SMALL.”
It did not say “if you faint in the day of adversity, your enemies are strong.” He said, if you faint in the day of adversity it means your strength is small. This should wake all of us up, and stop us from blaming people for our failures. Our primary problem has always been lack of spiritual capacity.
Lack of spiritual capacity is the reason for all kinds of collapses or failure you see among men.
There are three basic enemies of man. These enemies are the flesh, the devil and the world.
Now, people do not fail because of the presence of the flesh, the devil, or the evil and corrupt system of this world. No! People fail because of the absence of spiritual capacity or internal strength to withstand them. That is why God’s schooling system is for spiritual capacity building.
In the light of this, I want to urge us to focus on spiritual capacity building for the rest of our lives. We should not focus on pursuing blessings. We must understand that blessings only come when capacity for them have been built.
As we bring this to a close, let’s consider the subject of building spiritual capacity to resist sin and overcome all sinful habits.
In our devotional yesterday, we shared about the mysteries of sowing to please the flesh and sowing to please the Spirit. I want you to understand that if you do not spend your days sowing to please the Spirit, as a Child of God, you will not have capacity to resist sin and break free from every sinful habit.
The difference between Joseph and Samson was not the anointing upon their lives but the spiritual capacity of each. Joseph had the capacity to resist sin, hence overcoming the temptation that stood before him in the person of Potiphar’s wife. But Samson had no capacity to resist the same sin, hence hanging around with harlots and loose women.
If we want to live a Holy Life, it’s as simple as taking a bath each morning; we must wake up each day and spend quality time with God, sowing to please the Spirit before going out. And when we return, we should do the same before we sleep. The Bible says we will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water; whose leaves will not wither! Hallelujah!
A generation that sows to please the flesh, by giving it all it wants (illegitimate sex, excessive food, and comfort – the basic needs of the flesh) will be ruined. It will never be holy as God is. And do not forget without Holiness (not dress codes), no eye shall see the LORD!
It’s my prayer that the LORD use this word to improve your walk and talk with Him. AMEN!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. With my whole heart I have sought you; oh, let me not wander from your commandments!
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me your statutes.
With my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and contemplate your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalms 119:9-16 NKJV