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

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Tuesday 6th April 2021)

“The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim; Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, with foxes walking about on it.” Lamentations 5:15-18 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 96th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!

Today is my wife’s Birthday and I want to take this opportunity to thank God for giving her another year and for making His name to stand strong in her life. Our nuclear family is a trophy of God’s mercies and grace and we thank God for all He has used her to bring into our lives.

Yes, I know you want to read a devotional but today is a special day in our family and we crave you indulgence to join us in celebrating this amiable woman in my life, the life of our kids, the family of the Cry of the Spirit, our extended families and friend at large.

It’s my prayer that the LORD continue to shower His goodness, mercies, power, wisdom and uncommon grace upon her life in Jesus precious name.

I also want to thank the LORD for helping us run through 12 sessions of our 2021 Passover Retreat. It was not easy for me to stand for an average of 7 hours a day for 4 days at a stretch but the LORD made it easy. It is my prayer that we will carry on our Christian lives, using all we learned, to keep the FAITH and win the RACE that God has set before us, amen and amen.

The word of the LORD never dies. People who preach, teach or prophesy them may die after fulfilling their days, but the word never dies. Today again, we will be traveling back in time to drink from another well of truth that was dug few years back on this platform. It is my prayer that you find something refreshing to drink and quench a spiritual thirst you may have in Jesus precious name. Amen and amen.

SCHOOLING FOR RULING & DOMINION

Schooling is for ruling and dominion. Schooling has a way of increasing our spiritual capacity, and when spiritual capacity increases dominion increases in the spirit. When dominion increases in the Spirit, we will no longer make our enemies the subject of prayer, fasting or giving. We will make knowing God the focus and ultimate focus of our lives.

It’s not God’s will for our enemies to be a thing of concern to us. You see that in the life of Adam – a life that contains the original intent of God for mankind. The man walked in dominion. As a result, Satan was not a thing of concern to him.

There is no record where Adam sat down in fellowship with God and start binding demons and asking that God judge his enemies. Though there was Satan and his fallen angels around the earth then, none of them was a threat to him. The “crown of dominion” was on his head and the devils were no match to him. It was when the crown fell that Satan began to terrorize him or the human race.

What can we glean from all that?

Instead of being enemy conscious we should be “crown of dominion” conscious. It’s not really the enemy that is responsible for our problems. It is the absence of the crown of dominion on our heads as children of GOD that is responsible for our problems.

One day I was privilege to visit a senior military Officer in the Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters in our capital City, Abuja. They could not let me in. Only generals and their security details are allowed into the very place I was visiting. But when he passed a call to the security officers at the gate, they opened the gate quickly and started calling me Sir. That was military dominion in action.

They knew I was there to see their boss after he had called and gave me the same respect they give him – I took a salute from them.

In the same way, if you carry the crown of dominion on your head in the Spirit, devils will be opening gates of blessings and letting you in. They will not be able to keep you outside your gate or portal of blessing. Satan himself will not let them stop or come near you the way he never came near Adam in the Garden.

THE BIBLE SAYS IN 1 PETER CHAPTER 5 VERSES 8 THAT HE IS GOING ABOUT LOOKING FOR WHO TO DEVOUR.

The reason is simply; he looks for who to devour because he cannot devour everyone. Anyone with the Crown of dominion on his head cannot be devoured by the devil. So if you live a Christian life with the crown of Dominion on your head you will earn Satan’s respect. But if you live a Christian life without that crown, you will be crowned with crisis. It will be a Christian life full of Crisis.

With the crown on Adam’s head, Satan could not dare Adam. There was no sickness, no pain, no adversity, no witch wizard, or demon that could come near him. I believe that is where the Church today must return to. Jesus has paid the price for our return but we are not responded properly that is why everything seem undone.

In my opinion Satan has been visiting the Garden of Eden to launch attacks on Adam but have not succeeded.

I believe for him to come to the garden the day he met Eve it means he have been coming but Adam was too busy with God to notice him. But when Eve was fashioned (a woman that was less busy with God and prophetic destiny) he decided to use her to take Adam away from the place of Dominion in the Spirit that made it impossible for his attacks to succeed.

In other words, he decided to sway Adam to do a thing that will make sure the crown that was well seated on his head fall off his head! Sadly, he succeeded. From that day death, grave, and hell started rejoicing because mankind was dethroned.

Our devotional text this morning is a prophetic capture of the Lamentation of humanity and all we have gone through for losing “the crown of Dominion” that day. It says;

“The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim; Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, with foxes walking about on it.”

Foxes will not have invaded our lives if the crown of dominion had not fallen from our heads.

THERE IS SO MUCH WE CAN GLEAN FROM THIS LAMENTATION?

But, first I want you to understand that lamentations are most times a by-product of losses. The prophet was lamenting over the loss of our crown of dominion and at the same time showing us the true reason for our problems in life. Things that have been blamed on altars and voices from our villages, evil foundations, curses on father’s houses, and etc. where blamed on the fall of the crown of dominion from our heads.

Men who have the crown of dominion on their head will operate in amazing dominion in the Spirit. They will easily get married when the season for marriage comes irrespective of the curses, altars or voices from villages or father’s houses. Money will not be a thing of concern in their lives even if they were born in a family plagued by poverty.

They will be busy strengthening their relationship with God and doing His blessed will for their lives and will never notice the devil even when he comes like Adam never noticed. And that means he will not be able to do them harm because you only notice an enemy who can hurt you not the one who cannot touch you.

If demonic spirits are prevailing against you and witches and wizards feeding fat on you, the problem is not with them but you.

You lack dominion in the spirit; as a result, you are being dominated. A church generation that keep perfecting its skill of pointing accusing fingers at their enemies for every bad thing that happen to them will not come into this revelation neither will it recover.

The enemy reigns over us only when we do not have “crowns of dominion” over our heads in the Spirit. Everyone in covenant relationship with God knows that!

I repeat if the enemy is prevailing over you as a Child of God, it’s because you are yet to receive back the crown of dominion that fell from our heads in the Garden of Eden. Jesus has died and collected the right to get it back for us, but you are yet to die the necessary death in the realm of the flesh to receive and activate it.

THAT IS WHY YOU ARE SUFFERING AND GOING THROUGH SATANIC ASSAULTS!

The best way to collet what Christ died on the cross to give us, is to die the necessary death to the flesh to have it. Today, you can begin a fresh walk and talk with God that will get the crown back on your head.

Kings are not crowned just because they are heirs to the throne. They are crowned because they have been schooled in the things of their Kingdom. In the same way, you cannot get back your crown of dominion until you have been schooled in the things of the kingdom of God.

Sadly, so many have been schooled in the things of their Churches and their prophets but are yet to be schooled in the things of the kingdom of GOD. Other have been schooled in the things of demons.

In the kingdom of GOD, no schooling no crowning! The Bible says,

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.” Galatians 4:1-2 NKJV

If you want to get your crown of dominion back, you must be under God appointed guardians and stewards – preachers with His manifold grace and truths – to be schooled in matters of His kingdom, until the time appointed by our Heavenly Father.

But how many people will humble themselves to be schooled? How many will sit long enough to be crowned? Very few!

In the days of Elisha and other sons of the prophets who enrolled in Elijah’s ministry, only Elisha was crowned. He sat for 20 years and when the time appointed of the Father came, only he was schooled enough the carry the mantle. That mantle was a crown of Dominion.

FINALLY, PERMIT ME TO CLOSE THIS DEVOTIONAL ON A PROPHETIC NOTE.

The Church today is full of “ignorant people” who walk like “informed people.” Ignorant pastors who appear knowledgeable in the things of GOD are the ones who are leading – blind guise leading the blind. They are blind to the things of GOD hence seeing and teaching only dark things (the depths of Satan). That is why you hear them talk more about enemies, evil spirits and etc.

They know more about monitoring spirits, spirits of rejection, spiritual husbands and wives and etc. But know little or nothing about God, His kingdom, power and glory. They will hide behind scriptures that said we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices and be spewing dark things on the saints hence darkening their lives.

The blind (in the things of God) are indeed leading the blind (in the things of God). That is why many are presently in spiritual ditches. You see it reflecting in their marriages, finances, careers, spiritual lives, families, and etc. It has become exactly what Jesus said in the book of Matthew. The Bible says;

But He answered and said,

“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” Matthew 15:13-14 NKJV

There is a demolition exercise going on in the spirit realm.

The agenda is to uproot whatever GOD has not planted in His church and every other place that Satan is holding sway in people’s lives. The vision is to rescue those who have followed blind guides in spiritual ditches; bring them out, school them and then restore the crown of dominion to them.

Sadly, there will be casualties because some blind guides will be judged publicly along with those who bankrolled and supported their ministries! That is the cry of the Spirit Today. I pray that you be on the LORD’s. AMEN!

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY;

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”‘ Revelation 2:7 NKJV