TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 28 MAY 2023)**
“Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, Who keeps our soul among the living, And does not allow our feet to be moved.
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” Psalm 66:8-12 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 148TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OFSIGNS AND WONDERS!
Are you not glad that we are coming to the end of the fifth month of the year 2023 with Joy, peace and testimonies on our lips? Either you believe it or not, Satan never wanted some of us to even be alive. But the LORD has kept us!
It has indeed been God’s amazing grace all along. Every second, minutes, day, week, and month we have seen this year, its been just God’s amazing grace, favor, mercies, and marvelous deeds.
It is better to be a beneficiary of this grace than anything else. It has kept us, it has watched over us, it has provided for us, it has fought our battles, it has been our refuge, it has forgiven our sins, and now it is purifying us with truths on righteousness, purity and holiness.
God has been ministering to us lately on this platform, on the sanctification of the body. It all began from the sanctification of the spirit. The Bible says;
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-34 NKJV
The vision of what the LORD has been doing this month is to bring us to the place of consecrated Christian living; where we begin to live lives that will keep our spirits, souls and bodies blameless at the coming of the LORD, or at the end of our days on earth.
The Bible says He who calls us is faithful and will also do it for us, because these things are not by might or by power but by His Spirit. Our job is to take responsibility and respond to what He has been speaking to us.
Today we will be continuing with our discourse of the sanctification of the body. We will be refreshing our minds on the mystery of the three kinds of baptisms in the kingdom of God, and the role they play in our lives, so long as living consecrated lives is concern.
THE ESSENCE OF THESE BAPTISM, IS SEPARATION FROM WHAT GOD CONSIDERS DEFILING OR DAMNING TO OUR SPIRITS, SOULS AND BODIES.
It is a separation from Egypt (life of sin) after coming out of Egypt (a life of sin). It is one thing to come out of Egypt and another for Egypt to come out of you. Israel came out of Egypt in the days of the Bible, but Egypt never came out of them.*** ***That was why the tragic thing God never wanted happened.
The Bible made it clear that God had taken them out of Egypt, with the aim of bringing them to the promise land, but unfortunately, none of those who left Egypt, including Moses, got to the promise land, except Joshua and Caleb. The people who actually got to the promise land where those who were born in the wilderness.
The ones who left Egypt could not get to the promise land because Egypt never left them. Just as we have many of us in Church today who have left the world and its sinful ways to serve the LORD, but the world and its sinful ways have not left us. We are still living like the lost world in all we do. The only difference is going to Church on Sundays and being religious.
The word of caution here is, just as those who left Egypt without Egypt leaving them did not make it to the promise land, so will those who left the world and its sinful ways to serve the LORD, without the world and its sinful ways leaving them, not make it to Heaven. This is very scary!
The Bible says;
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
***Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, *“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 NKJV
This is one bible portion that should always have our attention if we want to live consecrated Christian lives. If you look at the Church today, from the leadership to the followership, you will find the very sins that prevented the Israelites from entering the promise land among us.
SADLY, THE EGYPT THAT LIVED IN THEM THEN, IS STILL LIVING IN US TODAY, EVEN AFTER COMING UNDER THE GRACE OF GOD THAT DELETES A LIFE OF SIN.
For instance, a lot of us pastors unrepentantly sleep with our Church members and grandstand. A lot of us members sleep with our pastors and see nothing wrong with it. We are involved in terrible sexual immoralities and not even weeping before the LORD about it.
There are few who are repenting and returning to the LORD, but many see it as a life with no eternal consequences having recited the sinner’s prayer. And because of this dangerous mindset, there is an increase of lust, idolatry, love for pleasure rather than love for GOD, and deep friendship with the world among us. There is so much that need to be cut off from our lives through sanctification.
When Israel left Egypt, they thought that was it. That the promise land was there for the taking. They did not know that there was a qualification process for getting and living in the promise land.
God does not choose the qualified for Heaven, because by default none of us is qualified; all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD. God qualifies the chosen. And because Heaven is holy, and no sinner will enter there, God will choose us in our sinful states, and then qualify us for Heaven by making us holy through His sanctification process.
THAT IS HOW THE SINFUL ARE CHOSEN AND QUALIFIED FOR HEAVEN.
Actually, it is people who resist God’s qualification process that go to hell. All who submit to it, especially on daily bases, are being made holy and Heaven worthy on daily bases. The Israelites who saw His power in Egypt, and left Egypt to follow Him, resisted His qualification process in the wilderness, and ended up not making it to the promise land, a symbol of Heaven.
The qualification process was to remove Egypt from them, just as our qualification process is to remove a life of sin and worldliness from us, because the promise land was not for people with Egypt in them, just as Heaven is not for people with a life of sin and worldliness in them.
Yes, if we want to make Heaven after fulfilling our days on earth, we must understand that Heaven is not for liars, the unholy, defiled, and abominable. 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
We must understand this scriptural position and submit to God’s qualification process. This brings us to the subject of the three kinds of Baptisms in God’s kingdom. The Baptisms in God’s kingdom, especially the last two types, are one-way God qualifying us, after choosing us for Heaven. Jesus says;
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18 NKJV
There are people who have taken the word baptism in this scripture to mean water baptism and have misled themselves and many others.
IF WATER BAPTISM WAS A QUALIFICATION FOR MAKING HEAVEN, THEN NO ONE WILL BE IN HELL.
We will just gather entire nations and get them baptized in water, then release them to go living their lives the way the want. In fact, there would have been no soul in hell if water baptism was the way to heaven. But the kind of Baptism that makes one supernatural; provoking signs and wonders to follow them; signs like casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, taking up serpents, drinking any deadly thing in error and not be hurt, laying hands on the sick and they recover, and etc. is not water Baptism.
Personally, I started moving in signs and wonders as a Christian, and preaching in rural Crusades, before I was Baptized in water. Meaning, I got immersed or Baptized into the Baptisms Jesus was talking about in this scripture even before being Baptized in water.
If you sit under an evangelist by content, you will never understand the Bible. You will be taught things that are totally untrue. Sadly, all our leading spiritual fathers in Africa are Evangelists by content. That is why we are in error and have taken water baptism to be a qualification for Heaven.
The truth is, many are called through the preaching of the gospel, few who accept the message are chosen, then those who repent and become faithful are qualified for Heaven through their repentance and faithfulness. The baptisms they go through in Christ, and remain true to GOD in the midst of it, is what qualifies them; and the Baptisms has nothing to do with water Baptism.
Water Baptism is easy and requires no price, apart from the money charlatans collect from those they Baptize to make them feel saved while they are still lost in their sins. For the truly saved, water baptism by immersion, is a demonstration that one has left the world and is now fully committed to Christ.
Meaning if you look for them in sexual sins, alcohol, drinking parties, worldly social gatherings, rebellion, bitterness, unforgiveness, same sex marriages or intercourse, and all abominable practices, iniquities and trespasses, you will not see them there again. You may have seen them there before, but you will not see them there again.
WATER BAPTISM IS YOU TELLING THE WORLD THAT YOU HAVE LET IT.
Meaning, if you return back to it after being baptized in water, you have denied the faith. That is why I have never Baptized anyone again since I did in Nigeria many years back. Many went back to the devil. I followed the evangelistic concept of water Baptism not the apostolic, whose emphases is on Holy Ghost and fire Baptism.
Do not forget, Jesus did not Baptize anyone in water. Go and read your Bible! But He pushed His disciples to go for the Holy Ghost Baptism and fire.
As earlier stated, there are three kinds of Baptisms in God’s kingdom. We have water Baptism, Holy Ghost Baptism, and Fire Baptism. The one that qualifies us for Heaven, through sanctification is Holy Ghost baptism and Fire Baptism. Water Baptism is just a form of religion that has no power. It is done to fulfil all righteousness (Read Matthew 3).
Holy Ghost and Fire Baptisms are apostolic immersions in Christ that results in separation from anything that defiles, that causes abomination, or a lie, leading to a consecrated Christian life. Both baptisms separate us from the evil and corrupt system of this world, personal sins, and all uncleanliness. That is why everyone who wants to make Heaven must seek Holy Ghost Baptism and submit to the fire Baptism He passes us through.
Fire Baptism is a baptism into suffering. These sufferings come as we press away from the flesh and its carnal passions, the world and its systems, into GOD and His ways. During the process we go through things, resulting in experiences that cleanses our innermost beings of all evil. The Bible says;
“Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.” Proverbs 20:30 NKJV
There are blows we received from the lost world, like termination of our jobs, and related blows, for being faithful to GOD. Sometimes, they come not because we are faithful but because we compromise in some ways. These blows have a way of cleansing us of all evil. Paul calls the one that comes on us for doing the right things, the fellowship of His suffering.
A PORTION OF OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS;
“For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to ich fulfilment.” Psalm 66:10-12 NKJV
This scripture presents another form of fire baptism. We can go on an on, because there is so much trapped in these beautiful verses of the Bible, but we have received enough to meditate upon, as we strive for a consecrated Christian life.
The message of today is simple; there are three types of Baptisms. The ones that qualifies us for Heaven are Holy Ghost Baptism and Fire Baptism. Fire Baptism is a major instrument of sanctification, especially when GOD is dealing with the sanctification of the soul and the body. It happens when we live right and the lost world move against us, or when we compromise and begin to suffer for it.
I went through a 9-year period of fire Baptism when I compromised. It’s not an easy place to be but necessary for one’s sanctification. It is God’s way of removing evil from our innermost beings and restoring us back to himself. The vision of this instruments of sanctification is to cleans us of all defilement and bring us to the rich fulfilment of living a consecrated Christian life.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Mathew 3:11-15 NKJV