TODAY’S DEVOTION (Wednesday 9th February 2022)
And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.
And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them. Ezekiel 2:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 40th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
We give God the glory for giving us another day. We just crossed a major threshold today – the threshold of the first 40 days of a year. It is out of God’s mercies that this happened. To Him belong all the glory!
The Prayer model of Christ in Matthew chapter 6 said we should begin each day by hallowing the name of our God. I hope you did that in the place of prayer this morning.
To hallow means to honor. Sometimes we honor the name of the LORD by singing of His mercies and the great things He did in our lives. It has a way of causing a great light to shine upon our souls from the LORD, and bringing a sweet presence of the Most High God upon our lives.
David knew better and instead of using his one-time season of adulterous life as our example, as many preachers do, we ought to be using his noble character of hallowing the name of the LORD each morning as our example. He said;
“O God, you are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
So, I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.” Psalm 63:1-3 NKJV
What you do the first time in the morning has a way of affecting your life very powerfully. Sadly, many people do not realize that. The little actions we get ourselves involve in each morning is what determines our success in life.
It is important to understand that a man’s morning behavior have a lot to do with how he turns out in his life. You are what you are today because of how you managed your early mornings. If you spend your early morning snoring or sinning, your life will never be pleasant at the long run.
David knew that very well, hence building the habit of hallowing the name of the LORD each morning with songs of praise! He woke up each morning seeking the LORD and sending songs of praise to He who lives forever and gave him life.
And talking about righteous prayers, He built a prayer life through that. But our generation use his one-time season of unfaithfulness to build a sinful life. In one of those psalms he said;
“Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:3-4 NKJV
SOMETIMES I WONDER WHY THIS PART OF DAVID’S LIFE IS NOT BEING TALKED ABOUT LIKE THE BATHSHEBA PART!
These and other noble characters of David ought to be a model and motivation for every generation. Sadly, while previous generations use them to build their devotion, ours is using what he did with Beersheba as a motivation for a life of sexual sins and wickedness.
Everyone in Church today knows what David did with Beersheba but very few know what he did with God. It is an indictment of why we all want to keep living sinful lives and claiming born again, forgetting that Heaven is Holy and that no practicing sinner will get there.
We must all be washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus and not go back to a life of defiling ourselves if we will be in Heaven when we die. Do not forget, the Bible says,
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Revelation 21:27 NKJV
The blood of Jesus is here to wash us, and the Spirit of God here to fill and help us live holy lives if we wish. Sadly, many do not wish, hence having a salvation that lacks character fruits. That is why we prefer having a David with Beersheba as a motivation instead of a David with the glory of the LORD as a standard.
Ours is indeed a morally sick Church generation! Full of rascals in the clergy and the laity. Using all the vices they see in the lives of Bible men as a cloak for wicked deeds, instead of following the voice of the LORD in their lives.
One of the noble characters of David that carried the voice of the LORD is what we will be sharing today – the noble character of meditating in God’s word. We ended yesterday’s devotional by stating that meditating in God’s word is the next thing to do if one will have a prayer heart.
Look at what David said happened to him when he was meditating or thinking about a decision, he took to be silent a day that the wicked were before him. He said;
“My heart was hot within me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:” Psalm 39:3 NKJV
To muse means to think. Meditating in God’s word involves thinking through the Rhema word of the LORD. This scripture made it clear that when we muse or think through God’s word, the way David thought through what the wicked were doing before him as he kept quiet, it ignites a fire in our spirits.
In other words, meditating in God’s word, ignites a holy fire in our spirits, infusing it with strength to stay away from sin and get established in the things of GOD.
THAT WAS WHY DAVID USED IT AS A KEY TO OVERCOMING SIN IN HIS YOUTHFUL DAYS. HE SAID;
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:9-11 NKJV
From this scripture, it’s clear that David used the tool of meditation so well in his youth that he spent those days not running after sex, movies, drugs, or alcohol, like the youths of today do but after God and giants. That was why he killed one at 17.
He was a holy and chaste young man, courtesy of the tool of meditation, he used in hiding the word of a strong God in his heart. This is one noble character of David that the youths and young people of our generation must emulate.
We must all understand that when we hide the words of a strong God in our weak moral nature, we contact the strength to be strong in every circumstance and even overcome personal sins. In other words, meditating in God’s word helps us in personal holiness. It is a major enhancer of personal holiness.
I believe strongly that David used the tool of meditation to overcome the tendency of repeating the sin of adultery with any other beautiful woman in Israel after the Beersheba incident. Those who have fallen into sexual sins can testify that it is difficult not to repeat it again. It is better not to do it at all.
Stopping sexual sins, especially when the opportunity keeps presenting itself, is almost like stopping a moving train. But David stopped! I believe he could stop because of the tool of meditation. The Bible made it clear that after the incident, he became very dedicated to God.
NOW, IT IS NOT JUST THE INNER FIRE OR STRENGTH TO STAY AWAY FROM SIN THAT WE GET THROUGH MEDITATION, BUT THE FIRE TO PRAY AND CULTIVATE A PRAYER HEART.
As earlier stated, meditating in God’s word is one way we hide His word in our heart, to propel us to prayer, especially when we do it during a fast or while in prayer. It builds a prayer heart or spirit within us, and allows us to flow freely in the prayer realm, without resorting to stereotypes.
That is why people who meditate in God’s word do not need prayer points from anyone to pray. The word they have hidden in their hearts gives them the prayer fire and vocabulary to use in prayer. The prayer Spirit sets the word in their hearts on fire and propels them to prayer when they set their minds to pray.
The role of deep meditation in scriptures so long as righteous prayers are concern cannot be overemphasized.
One other power of mediation is revealed in our devotional text. A major part of the text says,
“And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.”
The Word of the LORD is spirit and life. Now, how do you carry the spirit and life in the word and transmit into your human spirit so that it can give you life? It is through meditation in the word. The devotional text said,
“The Spirit entered me when He spoke to me.”
The spirit and life in the word has a way of entering into our lives when we meditate in God’s word. Jesus said;
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 NKJV
If we want to operate in the spirit and life of righteous prayers, we must meditate in the word that is spirit and life. If we do not develop the righteous habit of doing so, we will not be able to cultivate a heart of prayer. There is something called quiet time in the Christian faith of ancient times. This generation seems to know nothing about it.
We must bring back the righteous habit of quiet time. We must begin to create times to be quiet before the LORD, mediating in His word and nothing else like the ancient believers did so that we can have the heart of prayers they had, and conquer this return of ancient devils that our generation is witnessing.
We will return to this discourse tomorrow. I encourage you to respond to these truths righteously, and allow the Holy Spirit to use what have been shared to give you an enviable prayer life in Jesus precious name.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
Moreover, He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.
And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” Ezekiel 3:10-11 NKJV