TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 18TH JUNE 2023)**
“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:16-19 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 169TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
We have been looking at matters of divine destiny. We thank God for how far He has led us. We thank Him for all the insights. We have come to know that matters of divine destiny, are some of the most important matters in the kingdom of God on earth.
The reason they are is not farfetched. Mankind was created to fulfill divine destiny. There was a prophetic destination pre-determined before mankind was created. There was a vision, a purpose, a plan of God, and all that before men were created.
In other words, there was a why.
We were all created to fulfill a why in God’s plan and until each and every one of us finds out his or her own way, life will remain whatever it is with us. Maybe the reason your life is full of questions, or the reason you find yourself doing questionable things that are making life unbearable for you, is because you have not found out your own why, and begin to live for it.
For instance, the why of Jeremiah, one of the ancient prophets who lived in Bible days, was explained to him, when the LORD said to him;
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV
He was a young man whose father was a priest. He must have found fulfillment in having such a father, and enjoying all the goodies of priesthood. He must have thought, “that was it,” until God revealed his why to him; the why behind his creation.
God’s why for creating him, was for him to be a prophet to the nations.
You have your own why, yes, the why behind your creation. It might not be to be a prophet like Jeremiah, but there is a why. You must find it and begin to live for it. There will be things that will start happening in your life when you do. There will also be processes you will begin to go through with God when you do. Some will be painful, others blessed. But your life will no longer be the same.
Yesterday, we shared about walking in prophetic destiny; you will begin to walk in your prophetic destiny when you find out your why, and make an unbroken commitment to live for it.
YOUR WHY IS THE ULTIMATE REASON BEHIND YOUR CREATION.
Testifying about his own why, one of our Bible fathers, apostle Paul said;
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 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.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, Acts 26:12-19 NKJV
This scripture can be an inspiration in your quest to find out about your why. Your “why” is always a Heavenly calling; it will always come to you as a heavenly vision, not some earth based mental concoctions called life vision.
The scripture tells us how our father Paul, found and embraced his, and how we might find and how we should embrace ours, when we find out what it is. It tells us that once we find out what our “why” is, we must live for it for the rest of our lives.
WE MUST NOT BE DISOBEDIENT TO ANY OF THE DETAILS IN IT, BECAUSE IT IS A HEAVENLY CALLING.
I do not think your why is to be a fornicator, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, a drug dealer, a husband snatcher, a wife thief, a home breaker, a lesbian, a gay, a preacher who steal in the name of God, and all that. Any of these will lead you to hell fire when you die.
No man’s “why” includes doing things that will take him to hell, or the place of eternal judgment. No man’s reason for being born includes spending eternity in the lake of fire. Jesus said the lake of fire or hell, was created for the devil and his angels, not for men. But sadly, some men would be there because they added to their “why” what God never created them to be.
That is why you must find out why you were born and live strictly to it. God will do anything to help you and I fulfill our why. The reason is, when we fulfill our why, He will be glorified, and His will or intentions on earth, can be fulfilled on earth as written in Heaven.
There is so much God can do in your life and mine to help us fulfill our why.
Yes, there is so much He does to help us fulfill our destiny. He can even show us undeserved mercies, over and over again, and give us a new beginning, over and over again, so long as it will help us to fulfill our “why,” or divine destiny on this side of eternity.
We have been looking at what our divine destinies need to be fulfilled and yesterday we said our divine destiny will need the blessing of New Beginnings to be fulfilled. Yes, your divine destiny will need fresh beginnings over and over again to be fulfilled, and God has a history of giving those who fear Him, or walk with Him fresh beginnings.
As we find out our whys, and begin to pursue them, there are chances that we will fall into sin, take paths of iniquity, or trespass in one way or the other. If that happens, God will not just fold the plan He has for our lives, and abandon us. No! He does not abandon His pregnant people.
Sadly, it is His pregnant people that abandon Him, and yet He would never cease going after them. He will go after them to give them a New or fresh beginning.
A PART OF OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS,
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV
This scripture can be seen in the lives of so many Bible men and women who walked with God. It contains the blessing of New beginning; one of the major blessings we need to fulfil our why.
The Bible says we should look at Abraham our father. When you look at him, what do you see? So many truths on walking with God. For instance, when He deviated from the paths of his divine destiny and lost touch with God, through the Ishmael saga, the LORD God decided to give him a fresh start after 13 years of no communication.
He cut the covenant of circumcision with him and instructed that every male Child be circumcised on the 8 day; signifying a new beginning.
That also tells us what God will do to us whenever He meets us, with the new beginning blessing; He will demand a deeper commitment and order a circumcision of our hearts. The idea is to make sure we do not go back to the paths of rebellion, sin, iniquity, or trespass again.
Actually, new beginnings are not for everyone. They are for those who would be willing to have their hearts circumcised.
Even in relationships, if you give a fresh start to someone whose heart is not circumcised, they will use it to destroy you. The same is applicable in our relationship with the LORD; He will first order that our hearts be circumcised, before giving us a fresh start or new beginning.
In God’s kingdom therefore, fresh starts or new beginnings, are contingent on the circumcision of our hearts. Sadly, most preachers preach New beginnings in a different way, attaching or conditioning it on some special sacrifices people must seed into their ministries.
But Abraham never seeded anything when the LORD gave him a new beginning after the Ishmael saga. He just got himself circumcised. Yes, he had to be circumcised to start afresh.
You and I would be circumcised by the LORD, whenever He is bringing the blessing of new beginning to us.
Yes, we would be taken to the threshing floor of repentance by the Spirit of the LORD. If we resist His circumcision, and claim a fresh start or a new beginning by ‘faith,’ the way we do it today, there would be no new beginning in deed, we will only have it in our minds not in our lives.
What are we saying this morning? Your divine destiny will need fresh starts or new beginnings to be fulfilled. But each one the LORD gives you, will require the circumcision of your heart with unpalatable flesh slaying Bible truths, for it to be real in your life. If you embrace a fresh start, or a new beginning in God without the circumcision that should come along with it, you will claim a fresh start or new beginning that will never manifest in your life.
That is why you see yourself embracing new beginnings and fresh starts prophetically, but watching your life remaining the same. There can be no fresh start or new beginning without the circumcision of the heart to make it happen. That is the word of the LORD to us this morning!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” Genesis 17:1-14 NKJV