TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Tuesday 5TH October 2021)
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Matthew 10:40-42 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 278TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
The keeper of Israel who does not sleep or slumber have been faithful. He has been a refuge in times of evil winds and have been a man of war as well. He manifests His presence in our lives according to the rhythm of the battle of life. That was why David said;
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:1-3 NKJV
When He is your fortress and the rhythm requires that He manifest as a deliverer, He moves from being just a fortress to becoming our deliverer.
When the rhythm requires that He manifest as our strength, His presence transforms in manifestation from being our deliverer, to becoming our strength. If the rhythm of the battle changes again, His manifest presence also changes. That is how His omnipresence becomes His manifest presence in our lives.
We are living in the latter days prophesied by the prophets. I believe God is building up Zion! He is appearing in His glory because it takes the glory to build in time, things that are designed to last eternally. Zion is a code name of many critical things of the Kingdom, including the true church.
The true Church is designed by the LORD to last eternally because she will become part of the new Heaven and the New Earth where righteousness dwells.
SHE HAS AN ETERNAL PURPOSE, SO ONLY THE GLORY CAN BUILD HER, HENCE GOD APPEARING IN HIS GLORY.
In the same way Satan is attacking true sons and daughters of Zion. He is appearing in his glory also. Yes, iniquity is the glory of Satan. Lawlessness and deception are aspects of His glory. He is unleashing all that on those who are sold out to God, and using those who are not sold out to attack and weary those who are.
I want to share some secrets with you at this point. They are people who seek the LORD; those the LORD has blessed with strongmen of His kingdom to serve as a source of the spiritual survival.
They are people who are morally bankrupt in the faith but there are those who are upright before the LORD. The upright before God are the strongmen of His kingdom; the Kingdom of LIGHT. They are called Sons of light. They need a kind of protection, support and ministration so that they remain as pillars.
Sadly, Satan knows this but God’s kingdom citizens do not. That is why he attacks them and the citizens of God’s kingdom neglect them, thinking they are strong enough to take care of themselves.
In fact, in season of their weariness, you find believers sapping the little strength they have left for battle. That is why you find Paul asking for prayers and support at all times, you also find people neglecting and abandoning him in the forefront of battle at all times.
It is wrong to think that strong men and women of God’s kingdom do not need to be ministered or greatly helped to remain strong in battle. It is wrong to think that they are strong, hence do not need to be kept strong or attended to; that it is the weak alone that needs to be attended to.
They forget the possibility of becoming battle weary and loosing grip, like Moses when He was holding the rod up the mountain. The forget that if these men and women loses grips and falls, the weak will be vanquished.
THEY WILL HAVE NO ONE TO STRENGTHEN THEM.
If you begin to mature in Christ, you will begin to see the necessity of becoming or providing a support for the warriors of righteousness instead being the one who always ask them for support. You will come to the revelation of how the enemy attack these breed in God’s kingdom.
You will sense that Satan has a different strategy for them; and even if they are strong, he knows how to attack and weaken their resilience. He attacked Jeremiah and the man cried unto God saying (in effect) “I am fed up with this call you place upon my life.”
This strongman of God’s kingdom continued; “Even when I do not want to prophesy, your word is like fire in my bones.”
We can see clearly here that, that day, the enemy attacked his resilience. Sadly, there was none to minister to him. He had just Baruch, who was his secretary, taking down each prophecy but not having the equipping to help when the enemy attacked his resilience.
It is very interesting! Like many have done to me all the years am in ministry, Baruch meticulously wrote down what came out of Jeremiah’s mouth but never care about what the man was going through as expressed in his prophetic tone. We believers always think God’s strong men do not need any help from us.
Yes, Baruch did a good job in being Jeremiah’s secretary, that is why we have the complete book of Jeremiah. But he stopped right there, which was not good enough. He stopped there just as many of us would have stopped.
Sometimes, strong kingdom men die before their time because people think they do not need help, rather they are the ones who need help from them. But that is a lie! It is a false perception that neutralizes people from helping God’s strong men to stay strong.
When God’s strongmen are attacked by false and scandalous people called preachers in the church system, or some stealth enemy operators under their wings, it can be devastating. You see, in battle, it is very possible to withstand most external assaults, but internal ones are sometimes too weighty for strongmen to survive.
Jeremiah, for example, was not attacked by outside invaders or non-Jews. He was attacked by those God sent him to speak His word to. That was why he cried against his calling, and even cursed the day he was born. It is very easy for a strong man to grow very weak if the attacks that are weakening his soul are coming from within; especially through people they are laboring or have labored for.
PAUL CALLED IT “THE PERILS OF FALSE BRETHREN.”
Satan’s primary aim is to stop God’s strong men from being strong because in their strength is the strength of many.
He knows that the men and women who fall in the category of the “ONE MAN GOD LOOKS FOR” to transform others, should not fall, because if they do, a lot will go wrong in God’s kingdom. Hence he pushes them to the limit, making sure no one gives them the comfort they need to stay in battle and keep others strong.
That is why, if your spiritual strength is coming from the LORD through any of His strongmen around you, make the person’s triumph you vision. Decide to make sure his or her strength, vigor and vitality (spiritual and natural) do not cease flowing. Make that your vision, and you will see God do great things in your life.
A portion of our devotional text says;
“He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. “
Why the rewards? The strength of the Church to thrive in a dark world, depends on God’s true messengers and righteous men. Their weariness is the fall of many, and their success or victories is the success or victory of many. Hence the rewards. God attached great eternal rewards to ministering to them, because in ministering to them you are ministering to all who depend on them for spiritual survival.
When you minister to them, you are not just ministering to an individual, you are ministering to even generations unborn that will need his or her works for spiritual survival in their days. That is why, people who serve strong men and women of God’s kingdom as a source of strength (spiritually, materially or naturally), are blessed, sometimes generationally.
On the flip side, those who do them harm or help the enemy in distressing or bringing them down are also cursed generationally. They are cursed because they are not just bringing down one individual but destinies that depends on the person’s spiritual strides to walk with the LORD and be alive in Christ.
As we bring this to a close, I want to request that if there is a strongman of the Kingdom of God that you have been depending on for spiritual survival, time has come for you to wake up to your responsibilities of providing the support he or she needs in battle. Make the person’s success your vision like the Church in Philippi did for apostle Paul.
Start doing things that will keep the person strong in battle the way those ancient brethren did because it is for your benefit. No more excuses! You have what it takes, it’s just that you heart is not perceiving it.
Sometimes, the desire to always draw strength from strongmen of God’s kingdom blindfolds us from seeing that they also need help from us. So, make up your mind to become a source of strength; spiritually, economically, socially, and physiologically if possible and etc. for the person.
If you do not do that, you will find yourself being used of the devil to weaken him or her from within, and bring everything down. It will start like a little dislike that you brush aside, and then grow into a monstrous attitude that can destroy things.
You will even begin to perceive things that are untrue (around him or her) and develop the habit of getting offended at things you should have received with grace. And before you realize it, you have joined the devil in bringing down what God has made a source of spiritual energy for many.
Sadly, instead of being one who share in his or her distress, you will be one who create the distress. But God forbids, hence sending this word!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
“Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress.
Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.
For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.
Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Philippians 4:11-20 NKJV