TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Thursday 30th September 2021)
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:13-17 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 273RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
We bless the LORD for the Season six of our special School of the Spirit (7D7M); especially yesterday session. We thank the LORD for re-presenting the gospel to us again; the message of the cross. Since we started this journey in July, He has in His mercies placed us on the wings and winds of His Spirit.
There is a difference between the wings of the Spirit and winds of the Spirit. The wings of the Spirit help us to ride on the winds of the Spirit.
The winds of the Spirit sometimes manifest as the revelation truth of who Jesus Christ. It also manifests as a move of GOD. But the wings manifest as the power of the Spirit. When we say one is moving in the wings of the Spirit, we are saying one is moving in the power of the Spirit.
The manifestation of the wings and winds of the Spirit in time is always very impactful. This school has been a manifestation of both. God have been giving us the revelation of Jesus Christ and releasing the power of His Spirit upon us. It is a move of God to strengthen our spirits and bring us to His appointed places for our lives.
This move is also resulting in revival of righteousness globally because everyone that has been sending feed backs to us form anywhere in the world have been saying, just one thing in essence. You can summarize all they have been saying to us on one sentence; A Revival of Righteousness have been kindled in their lives.
Standards of righteousness have fallen in every nation under Heaven. God is restoring them again through a revival of righteousness. End time moves of God will be known by the revival of righteousness they bring to the souls of men and women. It is important that every child of God locate a wave of this kind of move around them and begin to ride on it.
It takes revelation truth to ride on the wave of a divine move. In other words, to participate in a move of God. That is why any move of God that lacks revelation truth will dwindle and eventually die because people will not be able to participate in it. There could be power to enjoy but there will be no revelation to keep them in on the wave for long.
BUT ANY MOVE OF GOD THAT HAS REVELATION TRUTH WILL NEVER DIE.
At the onset it may come under attack, misunderstood for a season, consequently looking small or nonexistent, but over time God will make it grow big, blow up, and fill the whole earth with the knowledge of His glory. That is how this end time move will be in many nations. It is a move that will bring back forgotten truths, exhume buried standards of righteousness and restore the Church the way Jesus started it so that the dying world can be saved.
The move will first raise Cedars in the Garden of God and place them in Lebanon and Mount ZION; then use them to heal the sick Church and save the dying world.
Among other things, these cedars will be use by the LORD to bring back the revelation of the message of the Cross and the noble habit of searching the scriptures instead of following prophets to prophesy. They will serve as a swift witness of God against perjurers and all sorcerers.
They will be used of Him to paralyze the activates of the mystery of iniquity in the hearts of those who are appointed unto salvation and get them planted in the Garden of God to become cedars in the Garden.
These men and women will carry uncommon prophetic and apostolic contents. They will stir up a thirst for the word wherever they go, because they themselves are given to a life of searching the scriptures.
IF YOU READ THE BIBLE, YOU WILL REALIZE THAT ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF TRUE PROPHETS OF GOD IS THE RIGHTEOUS HABIT OF SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES.
In fact, there was a move of God that broke out in Nigeria many years ago. Searching the scriptures was one of the distinguished characters of those who gave their lives to Christ in that move. It became so entrenched in the faith of this fresh believers, especially in Nigeria, that the acronym SU (Scripture Union) was used to described any genuinely born-again Child of God of that time.
But when they began to travel to the United States, they begin to adulterate the move by importing an Americanize version of Christianity. The message of repentance was changed into the message of material prosperity, laying the foundation for all the doctrines of men and devils in the mouths of many preachers in Africa and beyond today.
Then came the sorcerers and diviners called prophets.
Sadly, today we have a version of Christianity that is alien to the kingdom of God. Like we say it in Africa, men like Paul will be turning in their graves seeing what we have done with his messages due to an ‘impressive’ distance we created with the true word of the LORD.
We now run after prophets, who are just psychics and wizards, instead of running after GOD. Everyone seems to want a word from a prophet, no one want to become a disciple of Christ who sits with Him, with eyes on their Bibles to learn His ways and know His will.
Our generation have so much separated from personal Bible study that we no longer accurately know what God is saying about marriage, money, sex, sin, family, education, health, eternal judgment and the ages to come.
We walk in the dark of what God has said in His written word about things that are so dear in life, and stumble into paths loaded with spiritual dynamites, leading to explosions that manifest as abominable things in our lives.
We have been so disconnected from the scriptures that we now spend our days according to the scripts of our enemies. But true Christianity flows from the revelation of GOD concealed in scriptures.
ANY CHRISTIANITY THAT IS DISCONNECTED FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IS A FALSE CHRISTIANITY.
Not having the urge to spend quality time with the word is a sign that your salvation is not genuine. Authentic salvation experience will drive you to look for living truths in the Bible by spending quality time to devour the scriptures. It will drive you to live a lifestyle of searching the scriptures to know God and be intimate with Him. Jesus buttressed this when He said,
“You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me,” (John 5:39 CEV).
True salvation encounter will get Christ established in your heart through a faith that is born in you when you develop the righteous habit of searching the scriptures, because faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of GOD. If Christ is really established in your heart, He will begin to shape your life to become godly, giving you the moral courage to live right in a perverse and crooked generation.
OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT TODAY IS FULL OF TRUTHS WE CANNOT UNPACK IN A DEVOTIONAL.
Paul wrote to his son in the LORD, Timothy, first to warn him of impostors and second to show him the way to overcome them.
He showed him that continuing in the things he had learned from him; basically the apostolic doctrine, he will be able to overcome the deception ministry of the impostors.
He also highlighted that the salvation experience he had at Childhood that drove him to know the Holy Scriptures is a force that will help him overcome the impostors as well.
From what he wrote, it is clear that timothy’s salvation experience was very real.
It drove him to spend time knowing the Holy Scriptures. Paul wrote that from Childhood he had known the Scripture, which was able to make him wise unto salvation. I like that! Then he concluded the chapter by exposing to him the power of the Holy Scriptures to save him, and those who hear him, from the impostors of that age.
All that this Apostolic Father wrote to his Apostolic Son is very relevant in our time and age. The Church today is full of evil men and impostors who are growing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Some time ago while speaking over the Radio one of our listeners sent one of the most shocking News I have ever heard since I came to East Africa. A prophetess he went to for prayers took him to see a witch doctor’s instead by deceit and after that lured him to have sex with her, and he did. She said it was for cleansing.
EVIL PEOPLE WILL INDEED GROW WORSE AND WORSE!
We are living in a time and age where evil and wicked men and woman in God’s garment will grow worse and worse. A time when impostors will grow worse and worse; deceiving and being deceived. The only way to survive the season we find ourselves is to apply every word Paul wrote to Timothy captured in our devotional text today. He wrote to him saying,
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The first thing we must do is to locate apostolic fathers with the word of truth and righteousness and learn from them. Timothy learned from Paul, that was why the man of God wrote to urge him to continue in what he has learned.
If you have no one superior in revelation knowledge to humble yourself and sit under to learn from, you will be an ignorant preacher or believer on fire; fire of pride and arrogance. That will make you a victim of this evil men and impostors.
I will like to announce to you that God still has men like Apostle Paul in our generation. He still has a remnant among the clergy that has not bowed down to Baal or departed from His ways. I knew few of them in my days. One was the pastor who lead me to Christ. He taught me sound doctrine. That is why I preach differently.
You must locate one of them and sit under his apostolic and prophetic teaching grace; you must search for one and attach yourself to his mantle.
The second thing you must do is to carry out a check on your salvation; did you really receive Christ into your heart when you believed? Was your salvation a psychological one or a spiritual one?
That young man who was taken captive by the prophetess and lured, first to a witch doctor, then to have sex with her, did not really met Jesus. If He had met him, the Spirit of Christ in him would not have allowed him to fall a victim of such wickedness. Born again is not a religious title but the description of an encounter between a lost sinner and Jesus Christ, KING of kings and LORD of lords.
SO, YOU MUST RE-ASSESS YOUR SALVATION AND GET TRULY SAVED IF YOU WERE NOT.
Because it is that initial encounter Timothy had with the LORD that Paul said should further reinforce his spiritual security or salvation from the evil men and impostors feasting on the souls of the men of his day.
If you lack an original encounter with the LORD, you will never be saved from what is happening now in our age. Lastly, you must feed on the scriptures daily. The Bible says,
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
No one can fall victim of ‘evil men and impostors’ if he has a healthy relationship with his Bible.
Like I stated earlier, if you do not study the scriptures you will spend your days according to the scripts of your enemies. The Holy Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reprove, correction, instruction in righteousness that you may be complete (or mature), thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Finally, the safest thing to do these days, is to separate yourself from men and women of God who demonstrate power and unleash ACCURATE prophecies without unfolding the deep things of God in the Bible; Deep truths that are capable of making you a temple of GOD in the Spirit.
A true prophet of GOD today will unfold Bible truths to you that will help you to permanently overcome sin, iniquity or trespass and propel you to live a life that unleashes the glory of the LORD, or the fullness of GOD’s presence wherever you are. He will kindle an uncommon thirst for the word in your hearts.
May the new month bring the best of God to your life, even as we bid this month goodbye. Amen
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
I sat not in the assembly of those who make merry, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because Your [powerful] hand was upon me, for You had filled me with indignation.” Jeremiah 15:16-17 AMP