TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Saturday 26th June 2021)
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 177TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS.
Each of the 177 days of this year speaks of GOD’s mercies and compassion towards us. It tells us of a timeless zone that is coming in the ages to come. Yes, fast approaching; an age where some will spend in a lake of fire and others in the bliss of the glories of a New Heaven and a New Earth where righteousness dwells.
Each of the 177 days speaks loudly that we are not permanent on the current earth. We are just passing through it! Very soon each and every one of us and the earth as we know it will be no more.
Sadly, that is one thing the devil has successfully blinded our eyes to. He can easily open our eyes to who is hindering our marriage, our economies, our peace or progress but will never open our eyes to these upcoming prophetic events because he knows what will happen to us when our eyes are opened to them.
But as the Sun rises and the sets, we are being given a message that one day, our earthly lives that rose when we were born, will also set.
Our Sun rose the day we were born. It will set the day we will transit to the next life. The question is where will we transit to as our souls depart from the earth to wait for the events of the great white throne judgment and the age to come? Will it transit to paradise or to hades?
Those among us who believe that neither hell or Heaven exist, are the greatest victims of Satan’s fooling machines on the face of the earth. They have been struck with a spiritual blindness. They now belong to the fold of the one who have been banished to eternal punishment, the devil; a fallen being that is going about looking for people who will accompany him to his place of final abode – the lake of fire.
Sadly, he has found so many of us. Our only chance is to change our belief and meet Jesus for salvation before it’s too late.
It is this morning I discovered more birthday messages. I appreciate all of you. Talking about birthdays, I believe one major thing that a birthday should remind us of is the day our Sun rose. As we celebrate it, we are not to forget that if Jesus tarries there is a dying-day coming.
SADLY, NO ONE HAS BEEN GIVEN CAPACITY TO CELEBRATE A DEATH DAY.
The spirit is not usually here to do that. By the time someone’s death is confirmed, he or she has either gone to hades or paradise leaving those who care in tears.
Birthdays are days of celebration and shouts of joy, but death days are days of pain and screams. Every sane human being should be conscious of this fact and live a life that is submissive to Christ. Everyone likes a birthday but none of us likes a death day – except those who are truly in Christ.
Yes, the only people who love their death days are those who have conquered death by giving their lives to Christ and are dying daily, living lives of self-denial and sacrifice towards His glorious appearing. To them death is just a journey back Home. Like our father Paul put it, for them to live is Christ and to die is gain. Because to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD. Hallelujah!
So they are not afraid to talk about death. In fact, they look forward to it the way Jesus did.
Amazingly people who read the gospels today do not notice how expectant Jesus was towards death. He was always talking about it. In fact, He spoke about it until Peter got so pissed off that He thought Jesus was crazy and took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But he forgot that Jesus came to show us how we should live the redeemed life.
He came to show us that we should live the present life looking forward to when we will step out of this body into a more glorious body! And Paul seem s to get it very well.
Jesus was always talking about His death because of what was behind it (meaning what will come out of it).
His resurrection and our final redemption were behind it. If you know what will come out of your death as God’s righteous seed, you will not be afraid when it comes. You will just say to all who care to listen; “friends, it’s time to go Home.” If you know that a glorious body will come out of it, you will be that expectant.
BUT IF YOU DO NOT AND ARE LIVING IN SIN, YOU WILL BE FEARFUL.
The Bible says;
“There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:40-44 NKJV
If you know what will come out of your death, you will serve the LORD Jesus Christ with all you might all the days He has given you and not be afraid to leave when He says it’s time!
We are not the Hezekiah generation that does not know how to tell the world “good bye it was nice knowing you” when the time to go home comes. We are the Jesus generation that knows how to bow out of the scene and go to meet our LORD.
But until the final day comes, we have just one mandate from the LORD. And the mandate is “Occupy till I come.” So we will keep fighting every inch of the battle to serve our generation according to the will of God. We will keep seeking God for mercies to help us resist the flesh, the devil and the world time our days are fulfilled.
Yes, we will not be afraid to talk about our death or dying day because we know it’s not a death but a sleep. Only those who do not worship Jesus Christ as LORD and savior die. Because when the pass out of their body, they have passed from this life to a life in hell. But we who are saved we do not die, we sleep!
WE SLEEP IN DEATH TO BE AWAKENED BY THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET. THAT WAS WHAT BALAAM SAW AND DESIRED.
We sleep in this life to be awakened to a more glorious life in a New Heaven and a New Earth where righteousness dwells.
The Bible says;
“the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the LORD. Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NKJV).” Hallelujah!
Our devotional text this morning says;
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14 NKJV
Yes, we are to live the Christian life looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Jesus Christ – preparing for it by getting souls saved and spending our days as we should. We are to live this life looking at the end. We are to live it soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age denying ungodliness and worldly lusts until our days are fulfilled.
We all have days allocated to us by the giver of life to live. He made this clear when He said to His disciples
“Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power” (Mark 9:1 NKJV).
In another place He kept a man alive until the man saw the birth of Christ. He made sure the man defied death until he had seen what He wanted him to see.
CONCERNING THIS MAN, THE BIBLE SAYS;
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Luke 2:25-26 NKJV
These and many other scriptures made it clear that there are days or years the LORD (our life giver) has allocated for each and every one of us. Talking about our death will not make Him cancel the days or reduce them. It will help us to live the life He has called us to live without compromise. The Bible says everyone who has this hope in Him purified Himself. They do not defy themselves.
That is why I feel so sad whenever I defy myself with anything. You should feel so too, if you are truly saved. We should weep and mourn and seek the LORD for mercies each time we defy ourselves with sin. We should not be defying but purifying ourselves.
I almost forgot that this was a devotional. But I believe the LORD has spoken to our hearts this morning.
Take this day as one of the days given to you by our Life-giver to fulfill. If we have just sinned against God, we should fill the day with repentance and decisions not to go back to our sins again. If you are in right standing with the LORD, fill the day with righteousness, obedience, submission, love for your neighbor, and all the virtues of the Kingdom of God on earth.
And may the GOD of peace guard your heart in Jesus precious name. AMEN and amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NKJV