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

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Thursday 28th January 2021)

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 28TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS,

God is faithful and just. He is not just faithful and just but most merciful and kind. His mercies are from everlasting to everlasting. He has kept us for 28 of the 365 days of the year. I am confident He will keep us for the remaining days of the year. The Bible says,

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:45 NKJV

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of dead men and women. People who have died to the flesh, the world and all forms of carnal desires. It is also a kingdom of men and women who have died to doubts. That is why it is a kingdom of power; God’s miracle working power.

Those who have died to doubts are the candidates of this power. They walk in miracles, signs and wonders because they have what it takes to believe God for the unusual.

We must therefore believe in this gracious God who has the days under His control; we must believe that He will keep, guide and see us through the remaining days of this year. We must have faith in Our GOD!

FAITH HAS A WAY OF CONNECTING US TO THE POWER OF THE LORD. THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION.

The power of the Holy Ghost is the very power that brought Jesus out of the grave. It is the power of resurrection. It is responsible for authentic salvation. It will not just take care of our days but also give life to all the days that are ahead of us.

There is always a difference when you step into any day that is powered by the Holy Ghost. It brings dead things back to life.

Like stated in one of our devotionals, this is the bedrock of our faith. It brings everything dead to life. It can bring a dead marriage back to life. It can bring dead organs in anyone’s body back to life. It can revive a business, a backsliding soul, a dying Church, or family.

I think we should say something more about this by reiterating some more truths we shared in previous devotional.

We shared about the three gates of the enemy; the gates of hell, death, and grave. God’s resurrection power is Heaven’s tool for dealing with the gates. And since these three gates are the major gates responsible for all human problems, the resurrection power of Jesus Christ can deal with all human problems.

I have seen this power make even dead and barren wombs conceive.

It was the power that brought Lazarus back to life after being in the grave for four days. It was the power that healed the sick, casted out demons.

It was the same power that touched a young Roman soldier, the only Son of his mother, who died in battle field and was put in a coffin on the way to be buried. The power touched him when Jesus touched the coffin.

You see, anything Jesus touches comes back to life!

History has it that this young man had been embalmed. In those days virtually all vital organs of the body are removed during embalmment. So what was in that coffin was like a shell of human flesh. But the one who created man and breathed into Him to become a living being was the very person that touched the coffin, and the resurrection power brought the man back to life!

IT REPLACED ALL VITAL ORGANS AND GAVE HIM HIS LIFE AGAIN.

You see, with God all things are possible but with men nothing is possible. God’s resurrection power is the answer to all our problems. That is why God wants your faith to be built on the power of God and not the wisdom of men.

Our devotional text said,

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”.

These were the blessed words of God’s apostle of grace, Paul. Whenever I take a closer look at the book of Acts and the letters, I see how far our church generation has departed from the faith that was once delivered to us. I see how we have become different from the early church.

The apostles were not preaching the gospel most of us preach today. They were not preaching persuasive words of men’s wisdom or secular humanism. They were demonstrating the Spirit and the resurrection power of God.

But today, when we preach we demonstrate the flesh and a form of godliness that has no resurrection power. That is why at best people will fall under the anointing and get up without anything happening to them.

Yes, there are people whose lives are full of breaches; folks that will not let God’s power do a work in them because their hearts are not right towards Him or others. But when we display a form of godliness that has no power, even true seekers of God will remain the same if they fall under our version of the anointing.

If your life is barren, poor, sick, sad, oppressed, dead or dying, there is one answer God made available in His word. It is not olive oil in a bottled, holy water, prayer clothes, candles, praying salt, or mats. It is not any prayer chalets given by charlatans and impostors behind pulpit. It is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ!

The good news is that power is available every day, even right now as you read this. That is the power you need to plug into to quench the evil flame that may have been kindled in your health, marriage, finances, ministry, family, destiny, or even your relationship with God.

Yes, an evil flame can be kindled in a person’s relationship with God.

Samson had an evil flame of sex and seduction kindled in his relationship with God. The result was lost of his sight and public humiliation. When an evil flame is kindled in your relationship with God, you will begin to live in sin. You will not be able to maintain a close walk with God. It will become a threat to your divine destiny.

But God’s resurrection power is available to quench any evil flame in your life. Just ask for it. Develop your faith for it. If you are truly hungry and thirsty for it, you shall be filled.

When Jesus manifest Himself to you as the resurrection and life, power will be released into your life extinguishing any evil flames. But that will never happen until you seek Him. Yes, you must seek him with all your heart not some of your heart. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him.

I commend you this glorious day to God, and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified! Amen!!

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 NKJV