TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2022)
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life.” Isaiah 43:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 344TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
Staying alive for 344 days is not cheap. But here we are, slowly, surely and beautifully getting to the end of 2022 as outlined by the Gregorian calendar.
The most amazing thing is, even if someone is wicked or kind, righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy, poor or rich, saved or unsaved, God will not put the cost of his or her staying alive on him or her but Himself.
Hey wait a minute! Have you ever thought that the cost of being alive is not on you but on GOD? That is why I wonder at those who say “there is no GOD.” It explains why the Psalmist said;
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Psalm 14:1-2 NKJV
Becoming so corrupt to the point of saying “there is no GOD” is the highest expression of foolishness.
If there is no GOD, who is keeping your heart beating? Who is supplying the air that you breath in? who is making your blood flow in its veins? You may have some foolish scientific explanation to give for that but do not forget that true science authenticates the existence of GOD.
I say again that glory to GOD the cost of staying alive is not on us or on any loved one. They would have gotten tired and killed us. If it was even on ourselves, on behalf of others, we would have stop bearing the cost in our days of provocation and let the people die. But GOD, who knows the hearts of men (our hearts), placed the most important cost of our staying alive on Himself.
He did not even place it on our righteousness but on Him.
The Bible says He causes His rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked. That rain is mostly the rain of His mercies, which is the foundation of all He does for mankind.
Now, someone may think “well, since He still takes care of the wicked, unsaved, impure or ungodly, why should I live right? Let me just live the way I want, He will still take care of me.” That will be a childish or foolish decision. Let me show us why we said so.
THERE IS A MYSTERY OF THE PRIORITIES OF THE ETERNAL GOD IN TIME, AND I SENSE THE HOLY SPIRIT WANT TO UNVEIL THAT MYSTERY TO US.
Yes, when it comes to keeping us alive and showing us mercies, He does not consider man’s spiritual conditions or states but His own faithfulness, holiness and mercifulness. He will cause His rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked because of that. However, He considers the righteous who carry His indwelling presence His Highest priorities on earth.
They belong to a breed and People He will make his jewels in the Day of reckoning. They belong to a special breed He can give in exchange for others on this side of eternity.
Recently, there was prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia. An American Basketball player who was arrested and jailed in Russia was exchanged with a Russian arms dealer who was arrested by the United States and jailed in the States. The Russians requested for their citizen when the Americans requested for theirs, and the exchange took place.
Each nation wanted to save its citizen from getting rotting in the prison.
The Americans considered their citizen more important than any other Citizen, hence giving back a Russian prisoner for her sake. The Russians also considered their citizen important hence giving the American basketball player in exchange for him. But with our God it is much better and higher.
It is not about some prisoner exchange but about God releasing those who carry His indwelling presence from the perils of life by giving men in exchange for their lives, especially to save His kingdom advance projects from failing, or to make sure His will is done on earth as written in Heaven.
God has a History of letting those who do not carry His indwelling presence to perish in exchange of those who do; He does that to prosper His will on the face of the earth and bring about the redemption of many.
Child of GOD, it is important to understand that, while God loves all human race, there is a race that is considered more precious in His sight than others. It is a race of people who carry His indwelling presence; people whose lives have been synchronized with His will or have become the foundation of His will on earth courtesy of the indwelling presence of GOD they carry.
WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT ON GOD’S PRESENCE, AND HAVE SEEN THREE CATEGORIES OF HIS PRESENCE.
The third category (the indwelling presence of God) in my opinion, is the most important category because it makes other categories to work for us. For instance, it made other categories work for the early Church and helped them to turn their world up side down for the LORD.
Their lives were proofs that if you carry the indwelling presence of GOD, it will make His Omni Presence and His Manifest presence to work together for your good, no matter what you may be going through. The reason for that can be found in Romans 8:27-28.
The Bible says;
“Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:27-28 NKJV
The Bible made it clear in this scripture that there is a breed of people on the face of the earth that Christ is making intercession for according to the will of GOD. It is a breed of those with His indwelling presence. The indwelling presence they carry is making all things to work together for their good through the intercession of Christ.
That means, though God makes His rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked, Christ is not making intercession for every man on the face of the earth. He is making intercessions only for those who carry His indwelling presence.
That is why it is very important not to limit yourself to the manifest presence of GOD, if you want to enjoy the most of God’s presence. It is important that you press into carrying God’s indwelling presence all the time and wherever you go. It will keep you under the coverage area of the intercessions Christ is making for those who carry the indwelling presence of GOD.
It is the intercession that Christ makes for those who carry the indwelling presence of God that makes the Omni Presence and the Manifest Presence to work together for their good, according to Romans 8:27-28.
AND HE INTERCEDES FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT.
So, though God causes His rain to fall on the righteous and the wicked, there is a generation of men and women who are precious in His sight and there is a generation of men and women who are not. One generation will enjoy the blessedness of the intercessions of Christ, the other will not.
The difference is the generation that will enjoy the blessedness of the intercession of Christ, carries His indwelling presence and are precious in His sight, but the other does not and it is not precious in His sight.
Friend, there are outbreaks of GOD we will never enjoy in life if we are not precious in His sight. Our devotional text says;
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life.” Isaiah 43:1-4 NKJV
From this scripture, it is clear that if we are precious in His sight, God will give men in exchange for our souls. He will redeem us from destruction, call us by our names and make us His own special people.
The word also made it clear that if we are precious in His sight, we will walk through the waters, but His Omni and manifest presence will work together to make sure we are fine. If we are precious in His sight, we may walk through the rivers, but they shall not over flow us because His Omni and Manifest presence will work together to make sure we are fine.
IF WE ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT, WE WILL WALK THROUGH THE FIRE AND NOT BE BURNED OR HAVE THE FLAME SCORCH US BECAUSE OF THE NETWORK OF HIS OMNI AND MANIFEST PRESENCE.
We will enjoy these uncommon outbreaks of God that does not happen to every human on the face of the earth if we carry His indwelling presence, especially in a high density.
Child of GOD understand that the miracles we enjoy when we become precious in God’s sight cannot be enjoyed by those who are not. And do not forget that what makes us precious in His sight is His indwelling presence in our lives. So, strive to make sure you become a temple for God in the Spirit.
People who carry God’s presence on their inside have fulfilled a major eternal purpose of God for their lives in time, and will be treated better than others.
with all these things, we can understand a bit of the mystery of the priorities of the eternal God in time. It is the presence of God that we carry on our inside (His indwelling presence in our lives) that makes us the priorities of the eternal GOD in time.
I believe enough has been shared for the day. Time to use these beautiful truths to add to the building blocks of our faith.
Time to wake up to the reality that if our generation of believers will stop carrying oil and start carrying the indwelling presence of the LORD wherever they go, it will be hot for the devil in our age. We will be able to transform the moral landscapes of our nations and make sure righteousness is exalted in our nations.
Now, before we sign out completely let me make something clear. The scripture of our devotional text was, by the law of first application of scriptures, about the Nation of Israel. In their dispensation people could not carry the indwelling presence of GOD.
So, someone may ask “why were they able to enjoy the blessedness or miracles that are only for those who carry God’s indwelling presence since they could not carry the indwelling presence of GOD?”
YOU SEE, IN THEIR DAYS THEY WERE DWELLING IN PROPHETIC SHADOWS, ORDINANCES, SYMBOLS AND SIMILITUDES.
Though they could not individually carry the presence of God on their inside, because mankind had not been redeemed, they had the ark of God among them as a shadow of the presence of God on their inside. God dwelled among them via the ark and made them enjoy the blessings or miracles that only manifest when you carry the indwelling presence of God, especially in a high density.
Do not forget, when Moses was told to collect an offering from the Jews by the LORD, the purpose was for him to build the LORD a sanctuary so that He may dwell among them. The purpose was to create a place among them where the three categories of GOD’s presence can converge in their lives.
Now that we are in the days of the substance, it has become easier to experience that convergence. There are miracles we will never enjoy, and blessings we will never come into, until the Omni, manifest and indwelling presence of God finds a place to converge in our lives.
Whatever Moses did about the ark and the Tabernacle of meeting then, was to create the place of convergence in symbolic form.
He had to make the ark of the covenant, and led Israel to carry it wherever they went, until they got to the promised land, and built the temple and placed it there. The purpose remained creating a place for the three dimensions of God’s presence to converge in their midst.
There is a whole lot of mystery surrounding these but that is how much we can take for today!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood;
oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:1-8 NKJV