TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 11TH JULY 2022)
“at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.” Acts 26:13-16 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 192ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
Our God has given us another day to serve our generation according to His will. He has given us another day to fulfill the whole duty of a man. The Bible says,
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 AKJV
Yes, fearing GOD and keeping His commandments is the whole duty of a man. A day without this duty is a wasted day. And a day without remembering that God will bring everything we do under judgment will be spent either in sin or lawlessness.
I think one of the many things we forget as humans is the fact that God will bring every secret thing, either good or evil into judgment. This truth is missing in many hearts; from the pulpit to the pew. From the church walls to the outside world.
That is why you see all forms of impunity and lawlessness. You see no fear of GOD and outright disregard for His ways and laws.
For the Church, the adulterated teaching on grace has killed the true fear of God in the heart of men. It has made some believe that there is no hell again, and turned preachers into teachers of all kinds of nonsense that runs contrary to the justice system of GOD.
So many so-called Christians will be surprised in eternity because of not knowing the truth about the justice system of God, especially as it relates to our salvation. That is why I tell people if you want to make Heaven, remove your eyes from John 3:16 and fix it on Matthew 7:21-22.
PREACHERS WHO PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR DESTINY WILL FIX YOUR EYES ON JOH 3:16 BUT THOSE WHO MEAN WELL WILL FIX IT ON MATTHEW 7:21-22.
John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
But Matthew 7:21-22 Says;
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
You can believe in Jesus but still live a life of lawlessness. Those who prophesied in His name, casted demons in His name and did miracles in His name, obviously believed in Jesus. That makes believing in Jesus not enough for making Heaven. This justice system of God is unknown to so many believers.
The justice system is unknown to even preachers that is why we have more scandals than any other sect of people in the church system. We take our abilities to prophesy, cast out demons and walk in miracles as GOD’s approval of our sinful lives and lawless deeds.
We take His patience to be the termination of any justice for our wickedness, and we teach men so.
These are the things that have placed so many professing Christians on the Broadway that leads to death; I mean eternal death. The worse part is many do not know that they are living their earthly lives on the broad way. They do not know those are the paths they are treading in the spirit.
Jesus said;
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV
This scripture made it clear that the narrow way is something we are to find; it is not standing before us and looking at us. We must search the scriptures until we find the path and tailor our lives to it.
When we find it, our Christianity will be different. It will be without carnality, without sinful living and without any form of lawlessness.
CHRISTIANITY ON THE NARROW WAY IS WHAT MANY FEAR OR DREAD.
It has its own teachings, principles, conduct, vision and etc. It is completely against the version of Christianity we have now, which is why many attacks it furiously. It is a Christianity without the shadows of the Old Testament, but the substance of the New Testament – Christ Himself.
It is a Christianity with Christ at its center, governing, guiding, shaping, transforming, patterning, commanding and giving directives by His word in the Bible. It is a Christianity type that Paul was called to birth; a Christianity where we put our bodies under subjection so that after we have preached to others, we will not be a cast away!
It is a Christianity where the Old nature of sin is done away with, and the regenerated nature of righteousness replaces it completely. The grace in this kind of Christianity teaches us to deny ungodliness, worldly lust and all that will not make us Heaven worthy. The Bible described it this way;
“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
The narrow way Christianity is a work of the unadulterated grace of God, and the unadulterated Bible truths. That is why when Jesus came, He was full of grace and truth. Which brings us to the next miracle we want to address; the miracle of God’s grace.
God’s grace is the power and pardon of God. It has its own miracle that it performs in the lives of men.
Look at apostle Paul who was Saul for example. . As Saul, he was a terrorist. Killing believers was like a religious vocation to him. Then one day this happened.
OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT PRESENTED IT AS REPORTED BY PAUL HIMSELF. IT SAYS;
“at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.” Acts 26:13-16 NKJV
This is one of the most dramatic conversions in the history of the church. It displayed in high definition, what GOD’s grace can do. Only the miracle of GOD’s grace can take a terrorist and make him a minister of the gospel; a special minister at that in one sweep.
The miracle made him one of the choicest servants of GOD on earth, from being one of the worst murderer or killer of his age. There are no words that can accurately tell what GOD’s grace is capable of accomplishing in our lives.
The miracle of God’s grace will forgive our sins and wipe away the record of wrong doing completely. It will regenerate a lost soul and turn him or her into a thriving saint. It will take a harlot and make her a woman of virtues. It will take a sexually pervert and make him or her a person of sexual purity.
It will take the morally depraved and make them a generation of moral excellence. It will take a battered life and shape it into one of the most beautiful lives on earth. It specializes in making something out of nothing. It takes man’s reject and make him or her God’s asset.
If there is any miracle we need today, among other great miracles, it is the miracle of God’s grace. It takes away the legal right of the wicked against our souls, gives us miracles without collecting seed from us. It will never bring deliverance to us by asking us to raise altars of sacrifice.
The miracle of GOD’s unadulterated grace has no money-making deliverance doctrine in it; it does not insult the blood of the lamb. It is the greatest enemy of charlatans and lying prophets. That is why they hate carriers of that grace with passion.
Child of God we need the miracle of God’s grace in our lives daily. That is the message of today! It will make you strong in time of weakness, it will raise you up if you are down, it will show you a glorious future when things look bleak and dark. It will guide us in interpersonal relationships and teach us how-to walk-in mercy.
No matter what may be happening around you, if you will find grace in the sight of the LORD, you will survive and even go to be a deliverer to others.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV