TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2022)
“Then [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him.
And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord].
And He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” Zechariah 3:1-4 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 350TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
We are in a festive period for some, and a holiday period for others. Many are preparing and getting ready for the yuletide. We have done this year after year after year, but many have not realized that it is a product of God’s investment in our lives.
We owe Him a lot of gratitude. That’s why I want to say something about showing GOD gratitude in a period like this.
The first way you can show God gratitude in a period like this, and maybe in other periods, is to testify of His goodness to those whose hearts are right towards you. Yes, those whose hearts are right towards you, and we will come to that as to why I said so.
Showing God gratitude through heart felt testimonies of His goodness in our lives is an ancient practice of people who walked with God in time past. They spoke about His goodness in their lives in gratitude, and some did that in public meetings with substances in their hands to sacrifice towards the prosperity of GOD’s purposes.
They handed over the substances to God’s messengers who He assigned to bear the responsibility of feeding them. We can borrow a leaf from that this period.
Another of showing gratitude is by singing songs that affirms or tell of God’s works in your life. You will not need a trained voice to do that. You just need a voice. Get your kids together if you have, form a beautiful team and lift up your voices to GOD who has kept you this year.
If you are living alone, put on the garment of praise and sing to He who lives for ever. David said;
“I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.” Psalm 89:1-2 NKJV
Now, I stated earlier that when testifying of what the LORD did in your life this year or before, especially as your way of showing how grateful you are to Him, tell your story only to people whose hearts are good towards you. Our Testimonies can be turned into trials if we do not do that.
Yes, what you shared may no longer exist in your life because Satan hates it when we tell of what God has done in our lives. Hence, he has special people planted around us, especially in our Churches, to make sure what we appreciated God for no longer exist after that.
THAT EXPLAINS WHY PEOPLE LOSE THEIR TESTIMONIES AFTER SHARING IT WITH OTHERS.
Sadly, you can never know who not to share your testimonies with by looking at people’s faces. No! That is why it is difficult. You can only know by walking in spiritual sensitivity. People who lack spiritual sensitivity will always ruin themselves so long as showing public gratitude to GOD by sharing testimonies is concerned.
If you ask me, I will suggest that you share your testimonies with people who do not have ties with you, basically to encourage them to know or trust GOD too. Someone you may have met in the bus, or on your way to the market, or somewhere else and etc. People you do not know before.
Just start a conversation with them, if prompted, and tell them how good GOD have been good to you, then share what He did, and give them room to share theirs also. If they have none, just encourage them to believe GOD to do in their lives what He did in yours. And maybe say a word of prayer. That will bring souls into the kingdom and glorify GOD the more.
Do not share your testimonies carelessly.
You can even share it with your pastor only, so long as his or her heart is good towards you, and offer whatever you want to offer to God as you show Him gratitude for His good deeds. Your pastors may in turn share it in Church without mentioning your name, with the aim of bringing glory to God.
I said share with pastors who have a good heart towards you because some of us preachers will hear what God may have done in the lives of our members and remember that, maybe they have not been contributing to the Church or giving us something, and then become bitter towards them. You can save us from that by keeping quiet.
But if you have indeed, not been contributing to the Church enough, or giving your hard-working pastor substance from time to time, you have not been doing well. If you are under me, I will rebuke you sharply for seeing such mercies from the LORD and bearing no fruits in return.
IF THAT IS THE CASE WITH YOU, PLEASE USE THIS PERIOD TO CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR.
Get something substantial and send to your man of GOD who have been used of the LORD to bless you. Doing that, especially sacrificially, will propel Heaven to bless you in the coming year. Heaven do not forget people who know How to be grateful.
That is why if you say God has forgotten you, check the last time you truly gave Him thanks. Check when last you showed Him or someone He may have used to bless you some serious gratitude. You will find out that it was years before Hitler went after the Jews (laughter).
Now, showing God gratitude is one thing that is beyond sharing testimonies, offering God sacrifices, and singing songs. It is something we also do with our lives. In other words, In addition to sharing testimonies, offering God sacrifices, and singing songs, we show God gratitude by living.
Yes, we show Him gratitude by living lives that serves His interest on earth.
We show Him gratitude by offering ourselves to do whatever will prosper His will, by spending our days doing only what He assigns us to do, and making sure our lives on earth prospers His interest anywhere we find ourselves. That is one beautiful way we show GOD gratitude.
We have been sharing about the indwelling presence of God, one way we show God gratitude that way is by serving as His holy Temples on earth.
You see, When you carry GOD’s indwelling presence, you are serving as His temple on earth. Now, every other thing you do to show Him gratitude will make so much meaning, both in your life and in the lives of those around you.
And do not forget what we shared the other day, you cannot pretend to be showing God gratitude and ignoring or despising those He may have used to bless you. Show them gratitude as well. If you do all these with the presence of God in your life, all will be well with you.
TODAY IS THE 16TH DAY OF OUR 31-DAY JOURNEY OF FAITH WITH THE CRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.
And we have been looking at the third category of God’s presence, the indwelling presence. If you are a man or woman of gratitude, you will enjoy the most of God’s indwelling presence in your life through what you do to give Him thanks.
The songs you sing, the testimonies you share, the sacrifices you offer, and the life you live in gratitude to God’s mercies, kindness and compassion in your life, will make your life highly inflammable with God’s holy presence. Oh yes. You will be set on holy fire.
In fact, if you carry God’s indwelling presence, whatever you do with God or in His kingdom (be it tithing, serving, or whatever), will set your life on fire. That is why you should not live a Christian life that lack the indwelling presence of God in its full strength.
Your services to God and all you do in His name will not result in a blessing in your life if you do. There will be no enough indwelling presence of GOD in your life to make great things happen to you for serving the LORD.
That brings us to a final phase of this journey. We have 15 days to end it.
In this phase, we want to look at the rewards or blessings of God’s indwelling presence in our lives, especially if we carry it in its full strength. Which brings us to our devotional text.
The text is about a prophetic vision that Zechariah, one of the prophets that lived in Bible days, saw concerning the man that was serving then as the High priest then. The office of the High Priest was very sensitive then. In the days of that vision, It was gradually becoming both a position of spiritual and political influence. Which was not good for the office.
Maybe, since politics is dirty, the political side was responsible for the filthy garment that God’s prophet Zechariah saw on the high priest. The Bible says;
“Then [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him.
And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord]. Zechariah 3:1-3 APMC
God has angels in Charge of nations.
THE GUIDING ANGEL IN THIS SCRIPTURE WAS THE ANGEL IN CHARGE OF ISRAEL.
The Angel of the LORD there was Christ pre incarnate, hence the capital letter “A” in the word angle. Satan stood at the right hand of the high priest Joshua, who was standing before Christ, the one who was coming to be the final high priest for mankind, by fulfilling the eternal role of the high priest on lost souls. How do you expect condemnation in such a sitting?
It will be impossible because of the presence of Christ. What will always happen before CHRIST on this side of eternity is redemption by stripping one of the filthy garments.
Friend, there is so much in this scripture that cannot be uncovered on this platform, but what we want us to know is this, the first reward or blessing of having God’s indwelling presence in our lives is the removal of the filthy garment from us. The indwelling presence Of God will networks with His manifest presence in our lives to take away any filthy garments from us.
The word garment is a bible word for acts or lifestyle. Filthy garments then mean filthy deeds or acts, filthy character, filthy habits, or a lifestyle of filthiness and uncleanliness.
Joshua was engrossed in it, giving the enemy the leverage to stand at his right hand to hinder him through accusations; which would have been justified. But the Judge of all who took away the legal right for justifiable accusations of Satan against us to be just, was on hand to stop Satan.
The voice of the Judge of All sounded in Joshua’s defense saying:
“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, who now and habitually chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this returned captive Joshua, a brand plucked out of the fire?”
Then the next instruction was, “Take away the filthy garments from him.”
What can we glean from these scriptural verses? Very clear truths. You see one assignment of God’s manifest presence and one blessing of God’s indwelling presence in the scriptural verses.
While God’s manifest presence rebukes Satan by pointing to the finished works of the Cross whenever he tries to stand on our filthy lives to hinder us, God’s indwelling presence moves to take away the filthiness from us and make us holy so that Satan will no longer have the leverage over us.
I hope you understand that.
It is those who resist or hinder God’s indwelling presence from doing so, by being responsive to the flesh instead of the Spirit, that will continue to have Satan standing at their right hand to successfully resist them.
YOU CAN NOW UNDERSTAND WHY PAUL WROTE TO THE CHURCH AT GALATIA SAYING;
“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).” Galatians 5:16 AMPC
As stated in previous days, the gratification of the cravings and desires of the flesh remains the number one enemy when it comes to enjoying all the blessings of our redemption in Christ Jesus. If we do not use God’s grace and Truth available in Christ to bring our flesh under subjection, it will hinder the indwelling presence of God from taking away any filthy life style that exist in our lives.
When that happens, we will begin to manifest what the Bible calls “the work of the flesh” thereby hindering us from entering the kingdom of Christ. Sadly, most famed preachers preach against this Bible truth.
Child of God, do not let any deceive you. God wants our live pure and holy.
That is why the first blessing of God’s indwelling presence in the life of a man, is always the removal of filthy garments (habits, deeds, lifestyle etc.) from him, and the replacement of the same with holy garments (habits, deeds, lifestyle etc.).
It is not money, marriage, success in anything earthly, or whatever, as good as they may be. It is a life of Holiness unto the LORD.
God’s indwelling presence is the facilitator of Holiness in the life of a filthy soul. It works in our lives to take away the filthy garments of the works of the flesh, and cloth us with the rich robes of the works of the Holy Spirit; works of righteousness, purity and holiness.
That is why if we say we carry the presence of God in our lives, but walk in the flesh, we are just being hypocrites. The first thing that we will see as evidence in the lives of those who carry God’s indwelling presence will always show in their relationship with the flesh. They will spend their days crucifying the flesh and not feeding or glorifying it.
It is eternally dangerous not to allow the indwelling presence of God in our lives deliver us from filthy garments.
Sadly, present day believers will prefer that it gets them money, marriage and all the earthly things. But its first priority is always to free us from the works or practices of the flesh; it’s priority remains to take away filthy garments from lost souls who are speeding to hell because of putting them on.
There are details we need to know about how that happens. Unfortunately, that is all we can take for today. We pick up from here when we return tomorrow.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 AMPC