TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 6TH JULY 2023)**
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:
“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them — the children of Israel.
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:1-4, 8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 187th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
We are preparing for the 6th broadcast of our monthly international Tv outreach to the nations for 2023, known here locally as “Citizen Broadcast.” It earned its name from the host Television station for the broadcast, the CITIZEN Television, arguably the largest and most viewed Tv Station in Kenya.
This month’s edition is coming up on the 9th of July, this Sunday. We will be hearing the word of the LORD titled, “JESUS IS ENOUGH FOR ME.”
I hope you will join us for an encounter with the LORD!** You can join us on Citizen Tv, and all their social media handles, and also on our own Facebook page (RICHARD TAKIM, Apostle) and YouTube Channel **(PRESENT TRUTH FOR PRESENT TIMES).
It will also be broadcasted live on the MORNING CLOUD TELEVISION, our own Tv station, with a coverage that spans across all of sub-Sahara Africa. It is also on an app Called “AVO TV.” You can down load the app from your Google play store and be on MCTV GLOBAL anywhere in the world, 24/7.
It has been our season of looking at matters of our divine destiny.
Yesterday, during our midweek service, we had a beautiful time with the LORD that went beyond 10pm. We were looking at one of the major things one must be able to overcome, in other to fulfill his or her prophetic and eternal Destiny *(the two aspects of our divine destinies), and that thing is called *Temptations.
Yes, fighting Temptations is a very important aspect of the Christian life, and it’s more important than fighting demons, because demons will never see you if you do not fall into temptations. A Christianity that does not fight and overcome temptation will become a false Christianity. We saw so many deep truths about the subject, and I urge you to go to our YouTube Channel and experience the Fire and Glory of God.
IF YOU WILL FULFIL ANY ASPECT OF YOUR DIVINE DESTINY, YOU MUST OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS.
We looked at THE REWARDS OF OVERCOMING TEMPTATIONS. One of the major rewards is fulfilling your divine destiny. If you will not overcome temptations, you will never fulfill your divine destiny. Every time we fall into temptations, we take decisions that either hurt, or destroy God’s process for our lives.
Can you imagine if Jesus had not overcome the temptation He had after His 40 day fast? He would have not fulfilled his divine destiny. There would have been no salvation. The LORD sent His Spirit into our lives afresh as we listened to His word during the service and prayed afterwards.
I believe the move of the Spirit among us was sent to heal and strengthen us for the day ahead. It was another demonstration to us that matters of divine destiny, are the most important matters in Heaven for the now.
Our divine destiny will require that we overcome temptations, for it to be fulfilled. The next thing that our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled is “a doing of the word.” That is a Bible phrase. The content of a man’s destiny is usually unleashed or revealed through a consistent walk in the word of the LORD for His life.
Doing the word is necessary to fulfilling a divine destiny.
To do the word means to act on the word of the LORD. There are so many words in scriptures to act on if a man or woman will fulfill his or her divine destiny. Everyone who fulfilled their divine destiny in the scriptures, spent their entire lives acting on the word of the LORD for their lives. They never spent it reacting to the events that happened in their lives.
The Life of a man or woman of divine destiny, was not designed to be a product of reactions. It was designed to be a product of actions – Bible based actions, guided by the content of his or her divine destiny. If we lead lives of reactions, we will fail. We do not react, we act. Then the devil and his agents react to our actions.
THAT IS THE HERITAGE OF THE POWER AND PRIVILEGE THAT WE HAVE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. YOU FIND THAT EVEN LONG BEFORE THE CROSS.
Moses got to Egypt, and acted on the word. Then the devil’s men reacted. It continued that way until the gods of Egypt were smashed and Israel was let go. Here is what the Bible says about his first encounter with Pharaoh. The Bible says;
“So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” Exodus 7:10-12 NKJV
If we will fulfill our divine destinies, we must learn to act on the word, and leave the devil and his agents to be reacting. Yes, we must learn to take charge and move in power and Spirit of the word, no matter the cost, and step in there first led by the word like Moses did.
The Bible says, he and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. And the devil’s kids reacted by casting down their own rods, but the rod of God swallowed that of the evil one. That is how destiny is fulfilled. It is fulfilled when we act on the word not react to our circumstances or the flesh.
Any man or woman of destiny who spend their days reacting to things around them, will defeat God’s program for their lives. But those who spend their days looking for a word from the LORD to act on, especially on daily bases, will always fulfil their divine destinies. The Bible says;
“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV
One major insight we can glean from this scripture is this, if we really want to fulfill our divine destiny, the ever-present word of the LORD must be at the center of our lives. We must meditate on it day and night, so that we can find a daily word to act on, leaving the devil with so much from us to react to.
VICTORIOUS PEOPLE ACT, WHILE DEFEATED PEOPLE REACT.
You must make up your mind to be the victorious person that Christ has made you. You must no longer behave like the defeated foe. You must begin to take Bible based actions, guided by the content of your divine destiny, leaving the defeated foe to react through slander, gossips, persecutions, blackmail and all that.
Satan is actually not designed to act. He is designed to react. He reacted to Job’s blessing, and moved against him. But God used his reaction to give Job double for all his trouble.
Whenever God place a blessing, a calling, a mantle or any other Heavenly treasure upon your life, Satan will react. He is a reactionist. When GOD rescue you from a false prophet, Satan will react, stirring the prophet to be issuing curses. When God rescue you from a money-making machine called church, Satan will react, stirring everyone in your life to move against you.
He is a reactionist while we are not. We take Bible based actions leaving him to react. I reiterate again that by his nature, Satan is a reactionist. That is why when a man or woman becomes satanic, or when they fall under satanic influences, they begin to react to the circumstances of their lives, instead of acting on the word of the LORD.
You will never fulfill your divine destiny as a reactor. You will be satanic by that kind of life, making it impossible for anything divine to be successful through you. In fact, you will have a propensity where the demonic succeed through you instead if you live the life of a reactor.
Sadly, many people spent their days living lives of a reactor; reacting to other people’s success, gossips, sayings, offenses, bitterness, hate, and other fallen circumstances of life. They do not live their lives taking the lead and acting while others react. They ruin their lives living that way!
FOR INSTANCE, MANY GET MARRIED, AS A REACTION TO A LIFE OF BEING SINGLE.
Some bear children or go into any form of relationship as a reaction. They are born reactors. They open business as a reaction of another person’s success. They go into things to react to what people may have said to them. They do not get married, or do anything in life as a result of actions, taken to fulfill a special content of their divine destiny.
They do things as a result of a reaction to something or someone.
There those who spend their days reacting to a bad past; a divorce that has happened, a child that died, a relative that was lost, a business or job that was lost, a church that hurt them, a man or woman who took advantage of them, a wife or husband we left them, a father who abandoned their mother, a childhood event, and all that.
Stop reacting and start acting. You are a woman or man of destiny, and cannot keep living your life that way. You must learn how to act on the word of the LORD. Destiny matters have no room for such reactions. They have no room for even desperation or regrets. All the rooms are for Bible based word actions. A major highlight in our devotional text says;
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
If you look at this scripture carefully, you will discover that Joshua’s success in the release of his divine destiny was not anchored on sowing financial seeds into another ministry or prayer and fasting. It was anchored on doing the word of the LORD. In simple terms, acting on the word or taking destiny-based actions revealed in the book of the law he was admonished to be reading.
Now, don’t get me wrong, serving the LORD with your substance or praying and fasting, are very important acts of worship in the kingdom of God, or in the pursuit of our divine destiny. They have their own place in our walk with God. But nothing can substitute doing the WORD of the LORD, or spending your days acting on Bible based words according to the content of your divine destiny.
If you serve the LORD with your substance, fast and pray but do not spend your days acting on Bible based words according to the content of your divine destiny, your destiny will still not be fulfilled. If you do not spend your days obeying the LORD, you will fail. Divine destiny is unleashed through implicit obedience to the voice or word of the LORD.
Understand that it is people who do the WORD, that change the world for God. People who walk in complete obedience to the voice or word of the LORD, are the only people who will be remembered for the great things God used them to do.
What is the message this morning? The message is simple; your divine destiny is full of divine instructions to be obeyed and divine commands to be executed. If you do not develop the mindset of swiftly doing the word of the LORD, you will abort God’s plan for your life, and come to a tragic end like king Saul. That is the message!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.”
So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?
Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:10-23 NKJV