TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2022)
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. Isaiah 54:16-17 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 284TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
May all glory and honor be to our God, who has given us another day to be alive and well.
We give Him the glory and the praise, over and over, for dealing with us according to His Holiness and faithfulness.
Recently I was asking myself that if God had been dealing with me according to my faithfulness and holiness what would have happened to me in my days of unfaithfulness and filthiness? I would have been wiped away.
The same is applicable to you.
Let us, therefore, join the Psalmist this morning to says;
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.” Psalm 103:8-10 NKJV
This is one of the major characteristics of our GOD that has been the secret of the existence of the human race from the day Adam fell in the Garden. If God were dealing with us according to our sin, and punishing us according to our iniquities, there would been no human on the face of the earth.
If God was not amazingly merciful and gracious, there would have been no one in Heaven either.
If GOD was not amazingly gracious, merciful and kind, we would all have perished. He took away the reason for our oppression by dying on the Cross, making it impossible for the enemy to have a legal right over us, especially at the instance of our repentance.
That is why no matter how much things seems not to be okay with us, we must remain grateful, because the things the LORD has done for us are much more than the ones that seems yet to be done in our lives.
The Bible says;
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
This is one of the most glorious admonitions in the Bible. It is one of many faith positions to take as a New Testament saint. I think we should pause a little and look at it.
I believe, if you follow each of the admonitions (rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks), your life will not be the same.
IF WE GET EACH OF OUR DAYS FILLED WITH JOY, CEASELESS PRAYERS, AND GRATITUDE TO GOD, WE WILL ENJOY THE BEST OF EACH DAY.
No evil occurrence will be able to put us down. The Bible made it clear that it is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything.
Meaning, if you are looking for God’s will for your daily life, you do not need to go to prophet, just follow this scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Yes, the word said His will for our daily lives is that we rejoice always, and good gospel music can help us in doing that.
His will also is that we pray without ceasing; the precious burden the Holy Ghost impregnates us with, and the desire to be in talking terms with God, can help us to do that. The Bible says, “men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”
Lastly, His daily will for our lives is that we give God thanks in everything. Remembering His marvelous helps and mercies towards us can help us do that. It can help us start our day with gratitude to He who stood no where to create everywhere.
I have come to realize that a people who will not fail in starting their days with gratitude to God will always have successful days. There is a way gratitude to God grinds the devil and soots our spirits to connect the eternal that is absolutely needed in our lives.
So, if you add these three aspects of God’s will for our daily lives, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything, you will see a special three-fold cord faith position, that if not broken, will propel us into greater heights in God and greater fulfilment in life.
Child of God, God’s word is full of the revelation of what His will is for our lives.
Sometimes I wonder what many of us do with the “prophet prophesy” spirit. How can we have the Bible in our hands and be running after prophets to prophesy to us?
WE WILL BECOME IGNORANT OF WHAT THE SCRIPTURES SAYS AND FULL OF WHAT THE PROPHET SAYS.
In the days before the cross, it was right that they make the prophets the voice of the LORD to their lives because the prophets where sold out to the word of the LORD. But today things have changed.
Jesus warned us about deception from prophets who present themselves to the needy as the Christ. He said we should take heed that no one deceive us. Therefore, the best way to set yourself up for deception today, is to be ignorant of what the scriptures says and be full of what your prophet says.
In the days when believers had only the Bible as the voice of the LORD for their lives, and the prophets, mere interpreters of the will of God (the Bible), Christianity had character, power, eternal relevance, and absence of demonic oppression.
People where not scammed or taught how to raise altars, and all the nonsense we do today. The crucified life was the characteristics of the Christian life.
There were no marital problems. There were no unclean spirits they call spirit husbands or wives in the lives of the believers. People were not due for marriage and its not forth coming. There was no sowing of seed to get a miracle or blessing from God.
The presence of the LORD was the atmosphere of believers. You find the fragrance of Christ everywhere believers assemble. It was beautiful.
To crown it all, the Holy Spirit was made the ultimate blessings of the believer not material things. There were no worshipers of mammon. There were no lovers of money. We had just lovers of GOD in our churches.
Money and other forms of material blessings were the consequence of having the Holy Spirit as God’s blessing in our lives.The revelation of the blessing of Abraham was not presented as the material things that Abraham gathered. The Holy Spirit was (and is still) the blessing of Abraham to them, which was (and is still) very scriptural.
The Bible says;
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV
If you look at this scripture you will see why our fathers never treated the material blessings Abraham gathered as the blessing of Abraham. The promise of the Spirit is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which first comes as the anointing in our day of salvation, and baptism of the Holy Spirit in the day of our sanctification
THAT IS THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM IN OUR LIVES.
It is God’s remedy to the curse of the law in our lives. And not just the curse of the law; but also any other curses in the life of a man. That is why when you have the Holy Spirit you are blessed.
You will find out that no one will be able to put a curse on your life.
In fact, if you say you have the Holy Spirit and you are living an accursed life, it is not the Holy Spirit of God you truly have but His counterfeit who was introduced to the Church via the use of oil, water, salt and all that for deliverance.
With the authentic Holy Spirit who descended on earth on the Day of Pentecost is in your life, you cannot be cursed. You will just lead a blessed life.
One may say “how about Lazarus?”
Well, the parabolic Lazarus was not a New Testament believer with the Holy Spirit in His life, that was why he was, poor, sick and with sores all over. He was a before-Pentecost righteous figure, and do not forget, the Holy Spirit was not given until the resurrection of Christ.
The life of Lazarus tells us how righteousness without the Holy Spirit living in our lives look like in some cases. The Bible truth remains, once you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you are blessed. He is the blessing of Abraham that God reserved for the gentiles or non-Jews, who we are.
Once you are blessed with the Holy Spirit (the blessing of Abraham), you cannot be cursed by anyone. We even saw that in what an ancient prophet of darkness, who was hired to curse Israel said.
It is interesting to note that only prophets of darkness can be hired with money to do prophetic things not prophets of God. But we live that for another day.
SO, AFTER A FAILED ATTEMPT TO CURSE THE PEOPLE OF GOD, HE SAID TO THE ONE WHO HIRED HIM TO DO SO;
….“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’
“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? and how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? Numbers 23:7-8 NKJV
This word from the sorcerer made it clear that once the blessing of Abraham, the Holy Spirit, is operational in our lives, no one can curse us or denounce us.
He is GOD’s antidote to all the curses of life; either the ones that germinated from the fall of man, or the once being spewed on the human race from the gates of hell, or curses from witches, wizards or any prophets and prophetesses of darkness parading themselves or being paraded as prophets of GOD.
In those days, Israel where not even carrying the Holy Spirit.
They were carrying the shadow of the Holy Spirit, yet they were protected that way. A curse could not be placed in them. How much more will you be protected now that the days of shadows are over, and the days of the substance have been ushered in for the last 2000 years.
The reason why man still break curses in their lives, despite being Christians, is because they have not received the blessing of Abraham, the Holy Spirit. They still hold on to the shadow, the oil and etc. calling them the symbols of the Holy Spirit.
No one has shown them in the Bible where God decreed that the shadow will no longer break curses or protect anyone, since the substance has arrived.
In another place, the same prophet of darkness revealed how frustrating it is for them to invoke a curse on the blessed of the LORD. He said;
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.” Numbers 23:7-8, 19-20 NKJV
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COME INTO YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE BLESSED.
In other words, God has blessed you with the blessing of Abraham. With the blessing of Abraham in your life, it will be impossible to be cursed. Because cursing you will only be possible after the blessing is reversed, and the blessing cannot be reversed by any prophet of darkness, or anyone in that matter.
But that also call for caution because there is only one person who can reverse it, you yourself. You reverse it when you no longer have relationship with the Holy Spirit, or when you force Him to depart from your life. That is when you can be cursed. That is when you can be destroyed by the enemy and all he has in his arsenal.
Our devotional text says;
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. Isaiah 54:16-17 NKJV
The Holy Spirit is the destroyer of weapons formed against us. He is the custodian of the spoilers God created in His kingdom to destroy weapons formed against us anywhere in the kingdom of men, and anywhere in the kingdom of darkness.
It is when we do not have Him as our Refuge, our Fire, our Friend, our purifier, our companion, our comrade our Father and etc. resident on our inside, that we become vulnerable to weapons formed against us. That is why we must strive to have him in our lives as all that not a visitor.
We must learn to plead with the LORD at all times, especially in our days of unfaithfulness, not to take Him away from us. In the days of his unfaithfulness to the LORD, David prayed saying;
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12 NKJV
In the days that David prayed this prayer, the Holy Spirit had not been given. They had just His shadow. Yet, David understood the importance of having him in his life as a resident.
He seems to know the consequence of losing Him to sin and unfaithfulness more than our generation that can now have Him instead of His symbol.
THE MESSAGE OF TODAY REMAINS ONE; YOU WILL NEVER LIVE A BLESSED LIFE UNTIL THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS UPON YOUR LIFE.
The Balaam generation of this world will make the earth hot for you if you do not have the Holy Spirit in your life, or if you have but loose him to persistent unfaithfulness.
Now, as we have been sharing, when the Holy Spirit comes, His first priority will always be to set our lives in order, so that there will be no enchantment or divination against us that will work. And that He will do by revealing the deep things of God to us, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language.
The deep things He will reveal to us will be to transform our minds not to conformed to this world but be renewed. He will do that by making sure living scriptural truth that burns in human hearts of spirits like fire in the bones, are encountered.
I think the time has come for us to check the kind of Holy Spirit we have, who is allowing us to lead careless lives and come under successful attacks of our enemies. The true Holy Spirit will not do that.
The Church of late have been exposed to another gospel hence ushering many into another spirit; a religious spirit many preachers and their members take for the Holy Spirit. That is why we do not see the results of having the real Holy Spirit in so many lives.
We will pick up from here tomorrow.
MEANWHILE, MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8-9 NKJV