TODAY’S DEVOTION (Tuesday 20th October 2020)
“Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:29-39 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 292nd DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
The Heavens declare the glory of the LORD and our lives tell of His marvelous deeds. There is no human on earth who have no proof of God’s love vividly written in their lives. We all have one thing or the other in our lives that tells creation that God is real and alive, kind and merciful, powerful and good, forgiving and just.
Sometimes, the enemy or any member of his host tries to prove the opposite about God, and many of us follow them, leading to complains about this thing and that thing in our lives that has not yet be done.
That is when our lives bear witness against us.
For instance, when we will say with our hearts or mouths “I think God has forgotten me, that is why am still single.” Our lives will respond, “you are lying on God. He woke you up this morning, that’s why you are still alive to even think about marriage.”
There are a lot of things we do and say against God in our time of worries that our lives testify against. If we have the Spirit of God within us, and are leading a righteous life, that is when He comes in to speak words of exhortation, comfort or edification to us. God does not want us to be engaged in things that will hinder us from coming into His prepared place for our life; things He has settled in Heaven concerning us.
If you look at the nation of Israel in the Bible, you will see that they left Egypt, but all who left Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, did not make it to the promise land because of the very things we do with our lives every day. They could not come into that which God had prepared for or settled in Heaven concerning them on earth.
One of the greatest accomplishments of a Christian, is to come into things that God has settled in Heaven concerning him or her right here on earth. That is one of the things the Holy Spirit was given to us for. It is one of the major secrets of a fulfilled life on earth.
We must be spending each day thriving to come into things that God has settled concerning us in Heaven.
IF WE DO NOT DO THAT OUR LIVES WILL BE MEANINGLESS.
Things will remain the same in our lives until we come into the revelation of what is being said in Heaven concerning us. We must come into the revelation and also learn to pray with those things, telling the LORD
“Your kingdom come, your will be done in my life as written in Heaven.”
One of the most powerful things to do on the prayer knee, is to speak to the LORD to bring His kingdom down in your life, and permanently establish it. It is to permit the LORD to enforce His will in your life as written in Heaven. People who do not do this, will lead lives that will be resisted successfully by any force in hell.
You see, Prayer most times, is permitting God to do in our lives what He has settled in Heaven concerning us. If your Heart is not aligned with, illuminated by, or established on that, your prayers will not be aligned for results. If your prayers are not aligned for results, then you will be praying and getting frustrated, because the words of your mouth will not be acceptable. David said;
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 NKJV
If the words of your mouth and the meditations (or inner thoughts) of your heart are not synchronized with what is settled in Heaven concerning you, you will be praying amidst in every of your prayer sessions. Nothing about you will be settled on earth. Things will just be scattered.
For some, marital lives will be in shambles, for others, economy life will be unsettled. And for many others, everything about them will always be at zero point. Even eternity will not be in their view. That is why one of the central activities of the Holy Spirit in our lives, has always been to reveal what is settled in Heaven concerning us.
THE BIBLE CALLS THEM, “THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN FREELY GIVEN TO US BY GOD.” PAUL WROTE ABOUT THIS WHEN HE SAID,
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 NKJV
The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit will always bring you to the things that have been settled in Heaven concerning you, so that you can lead a peaceful and progressing life on earth. When we say “progressive,” we are referring to progressing in the direction of GOD’s will for our life, not in in the direction of our selfish or carnal ambitions.
Progress in the direction of our carnal ambitions and selfish desires is not progress. No matter how significant it may be in the sight of men, it is not progress in the sight of GOD that is why the tower of Babel was brought down. The greatest form of progress is to prosper in things that have been settled concerning you in heaven.
Yes, it is to progress in them, and see each one accomplished in your life here on earth. The Bible says,
“forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven” (Psalms 119:89 NKJV).
If you attempt to progress or prosper in things that have not been settled in Heaven concerning you, there will be no joy in your life. You will cut yourself from Heaven’s backing system and supply, and come to sudden ruin at the end.
There are people who are living very sad and excruciating old lives because they spend their youthful days pursuing and investing their God given talents, time, and treasures in things that are not settled in Heaven concerning them. Careers, marriages, degrees, goals, relationships, and so many other things that were not settled in Heaven concerning them.
Sadly, when I look at so many youths today, I find them traveling on the same path. You find many people wasting their time, talents and treasures, on things that has nothing to do with what is settled in Heaven concerning them.
SOME JUST FEEL HAPPY DOING THE THINGS THAT THEY ARE DOING BUT DO NOT FEEL THE JOY OF THE LORD DOING THEM.
When you are doing a thing that is settled in Heaven concerning you, the joy of the LORD will be birth in your inner being – your human spirit.
Sometimes you will not feel happy doing it either because of the toll it places on your flesh, or the pressure you may be receiving form close ones who do not see any future or reason why you should be doing it, but you will have an incomprehensible joy doing it. The joy will be spontaneous in effect.
The Life of the Ethiopian Eunuch comes to mind at this point. Our Devotional text today is lengthy but necessary. It made it clear that it was settled in Heaven for this man to become one of the sons of God (like every other person on the face of the earth then). But he never stepped into it. He never saw what God settled in Heaven settled in his life until Philip came.
At the end of His encounter with Philip, the Bible says “he went on his way rejoicing.” The joy of the LORD was born in him because He stepped into something that was settled in Heaven concerning him. You may be happy, but never be joyful in life until you step into things that have been settled in Heaven concerning you.
The word “Happy” and “joyful” look the same but they are not. One comes to and end when adversity strikes, the other continues even in the midst of adversity. One is the source of a carnal sense of fulfilment, but the other is the source of spiritual fulfillment.
One gives no energy to deal with uncommon resistance and fight the battles of life, the other gives the energy, not just to beat uncommon resistance and fight the battles of life, but to stand before the giants of life and bring them down. We can go on and on!
THE BIBLE SAYS, “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.” (NEHEMIAH 10:8)
Heaven will always fill our hearts with the Joy of the LORD when we step into things that have been settled in her concerning us. The reason is to give us the divine strength and spiritual accuracy to accomplish them as written in Heaven.
The joy of the LORD is not just a source of Heavenly strength; it is also the source a measure of prophetic power in God’s kingdom. It is the birth place of divine inspirations. When a life lacks anything that is only made possible by the joy of the LORD, that life will be a shadow of itself on earth.
Sadly, so many of us will prefer using prayer, fasting and giving to get things that can only come into our lives when we step into what is settled in Heaven concerning us.
Friend, if your sufficient prayer, giving, or fasting is doing very little in your life, you are outside things that are settled in Heaven concerning you. You are like a man who is outside the city of refuge in the realm of the spirit. So many bad things will be happening in his life. God sent this word help you change the course of your life, and to bring you into things that are settled in Heaven concerning you.
It is the course we take in life that determines the blessings or the curses we see in life. There are courses of life that look good and promising but are curses in disguise. Sadly, so many of us are in it, and God wants us out of it. He wants us out of any course of life that is not a product of what is settled in Heaven concerning us!
The Holy Spirit and the pastor He may have placed in your life are there to help you. Yes, like the Ethiopian Eunuch was helped, you will be helped. You only need to be prayerful in seeking them, teachable and reachable. The best part is, if you will add humility and submission to your desire to come into them, you will find yourself in them suddenly.
Sadly, so many are too proud to step into things that are settled in Heaven concerning them, especially if those things are in their days of small beginnings. Some others are too blind spiritually to do the same. They see no future in things with great future.
If you are either proud or blind, you will look at things that are settled in Heaven concerning you while they are in their days of small beginning and see no great future in them. That is how people miss God’s will for their lives.
I have come to discover that many of us, do not have the humility of spirit and spiritual foresight to step into small beginnings with great endings. That is why we get to the evenings of our lives on earth in great grief and sorrow of heart. But we can change the course of things this morning, we can develop what it takes to submit to small beginnings with great endings.
We can become part of those who are established in the things that are settled in Heaven concerning them!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to your ordinances, for all are your servants.
Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.” Psalms 119:89-93 NKJV