TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 22ND JULY 2023)**
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”
“Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom, since he has no heart for it?”
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:15-17 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 203RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
Welcome to the last day of another week in our year of signs and wonders. This year has been our year of great life-building truths. For those who have been following, we can say God has been good to us.
From the content of what we have been receiving from the LORD, I believe God is using this year to prepare some for the years ahead.
We have heard more words on destiny this year than in other years. We have seen what our destinies will need to be fulfilled, in deeper scriptural senses than we have ever seen before. God has been speaking to us about so many things that will help us fulfill the things He has predetermined for us.
One of the greatest truths we have seen was what came yesterday on the knowledge the LORD designed, set aside, or prescribed for the human race to crave or go for. The Bible calls it, the knowledge of the glory of the LORD. God wants it to fill our minds as the waters covers the sea.
One major persuasion that stood out yesterday, was the necessity of the present-day believer to limit his or her spiritual knowledge
intake, to the knowledge of the glory of the LORD (the revelation of Jesus Christ), as the waters cover the sea.
We have heard so much, I believe it is very important that we all begin to make positive use of all we have been taught so far. Today we want to refresh our memories on matters of right relationships.
If you look at the flow of information on the matter, especially on social media, you can easily see that both good men and even devils have spoken to us about relationship matters. Books have been written, seminars held, motivational speakers invited, and so forth.
I think this is the time to set our hearts to hear what the LORD has to say; it is time to tune our ears to the God of Heaven and earth
and let Him speak to us on the same subject.
Most people are in crisis today in the area of relationships, simply because they followed what men wrote or said about it. There is no one who ever followed fully what God said on matters of relationships, who did not come to the place of perfect peace.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE RELEASE OF OUR DIVINE DESTINIES, RELATIONSHIPS PLAY MAJOR ROLES.
Personally, I have come to discover that whenever God wants to change our season, He will move in fresh people into our lives and move out those who have been there.
I also discovered that whenever God brings into our lives, a man or woman that our divine destiny truly needs, Satan will never allow that relationship to have peace. He knows what one season of peace in a God-given relationship will accomplish in God’s kingdom, hence making sure any people God put together to fulfill a course in His kingdom, do not enjoy the peace and harmony they need.
Satan has used the deceptions of the heart, immaturity, lack of self-control, ignorance, bad attitudes of one, and even night visions to
either neutralize or weaken God-given relationships. He has succeeded in separating great friends, spouses, working mates, vision
partners, and ministry help teams, using either what was mentioned above, or the planting of seeds of discord, or other carnal factors.
We forget that the right relationships must be protected.
But because many do not know, we allow him to have his way. And he seems to be very successful, especially these end times, more than at any time because of the horrors of the last days.
Friend, we must all fight to avoid crises in our God-given relationships because, the crisis the enemy creates in every God-given
relationship is intended at defeating a divine plan that may not have even come to light. He would sway either one person in a
relationship, or both, to do things that will generate crisis, and shut down the relationship, so that any intended purpose of God for
that relationship does not materialize.
Sadly, few of us really know how to fight for what is good. We have always allowed him to succeed by planting certain attitudes in us;
attitudes that do not allow what God establishes a relationship for, to grow and blossom.
THAT IS WHY SOMEONE READING THIS MUST BEGIN TO WORK ON THEMSELVES.
We must begin to check if we have hidden tendencies, voice tunes, demeanors, unknown manners, idiosyncrasies, and other things that hinder the prosperity of God-given relationships in our lives.
The only way to fight for the prosperity of a GOD-given relationship is not to always pray about it, but to prevent things that will not allow it to prosper from growing in our lives. Prayer is good, but praying without checking our manners will not help us.
God has never used animals to change the season of His Children. He has always used people. He has always used people to help His sons and daughters conquer evil powers and insurmountable problems and fulfill their destinies. Each and every one of us must therefore work on ourselves, to have or retain such people in our lives.
God will also use them to move us from one season to another as we seek to fulfill our divine destinies.
Let our subconscious bad attitudes, and unknown toxic demeanors, no longer be our problems. Let them no longer hinder the right relationships from staying in our lives. However, if that will happen, we must begin to make conscious efforts, to spot them out, and deal with them ruthlessly.
Now, it is important to understand that, since these toxic attitudes and demeanors for some of us, lie in the subconscious realm, God will have to use people to help us spot them out. When that happens, we should not hate the people. We should rather love them, and if possible, seek counsel on how to conquer it from them.
Sometimes in life, we do not need too many people. We need just one significant person, and our attitudes and demeanors must be right towards that person.
It was one Moses who stepped into the lives of a nation that had been in slavery for 400 years, that God used to move them from a season of slavery to that of liberty.
It was one Elijah that stepped into the life of Elisha, that moved him from a season of being a successful mechanized farmer to that of
becoming a terrific prophet of God. We can go on and on!
The Holy Scriptures are full of people who stepped into the lives of others, glorified them, and changed their seasons. Your life will need such people too, but your attitudes and demeanors towards them must be right.
PEOPLE LIKE ESTHER NEEDED A MORDECAI, PEOPLE LIKE DAVID NEEDED A SAMUEL, ETC.
You will never progress in life without significant people in your life. Someone reading this has been stagnant for too long and God wants to bring a change. That is why we must take God’s prophetic focus for this month seriously. If you have stayed too long at a particular spot in your life, get set to move because God is bringing men and women into your life this year and in the years to come to move you.
For some, they already have them; they already have those God can use to take them to the ends of the earth or make them ride on the high places of the earth. But their attitudes and demeanors are not letting the people function in their lives.
It is important to note that, the difference between a rich man and a poor man most times, lies in his network of relationships.
I have said it repeatedly, that God-given Relationships are the currency of the earth. They are the invisible pipes that transmit things
from one place, people, or nation to another. Your life is what it is today because of the kind of relationships that are either with you
right now or are not with you.
Our devotional text today is loaded with divine wisdom, and also wise judgment on issues of life. The first can be gleaned from these
statements;
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”
Sadly, there are Church members who justify the evil their pastors do. They cannot see any evil in their “man” or “woman” “of God” even if “the men and women of God” steal from them in the name of seed, teach them wrong doctrines, resist the power of God, use charismatic witchcraft or black witchcraft for deliverance, or openly kiss and sexually arouse people around them.
They justify their wickedness, craftiness, greed, covetousness, and recklessness and still try to sell them to an ignorant audience as men and women of God.
THEY DO SUCH EVIL, CALLING IT RESPECT OR HONOUR FOR THEIR PAPA OR MAMA.
The Bible calls such people “an abomination to the LORD!” It says he that justifies the wicked….is an abomination to the LORD!
When a child of GOD becomes an abomination in the sight of God, he or she will no longer be able to discern between light and darkness; they will be calling light darkness and darkness light. Sorceries will become prophecies to them and divination revelation.
The time has come for us to be doing only what the Bible says we should do to such people, even if they are preachers or church members. It says “From such people turn away.” The Bible did not say pray for them or stick to them. It says turn away! That brings us to the next statement of note in our devotional today. It says,
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
There are other translations of this verse, but I will stick to this because of its clarity. While the first scripture counsels us on who
to turn away from, this one tells us who to stick to no matter what. These are the ones to pray for if things become bad between you and them.
It says a brother is born for adversity. Meaning, God did not create relationships to ignite, but to quench adversity. That rings a bell –
it reminds me of the first relationship God ever created – wife – mother – woman. He created it to meet a need.
Now, let me give you a brief background revelation;
The first need God saw in Mankind after creation was the need for a relationship with fellow man. The kind of relationship God saw as the immediate need of mankind was family relationship – hence creating marriage to make that happen. Don’t forget, man had not fallen. He was in the glory and was functioning in the image and likeness of God.
In the words of Psalm 8, we can say, man was the small “G” on the face of the earth, exercising all the powers and authority of the big “G.”
I hope you understand me. Yet God saw that it was not good for him to be alone – that is in spite of his supernatural abilities and mental prowess. Off course even God hates loneliness, that is why He created Angels and other beings to be with Him in Heaven. He would have just been alone in existence if it was good for us to be alone.
That makes the Right Relationships the most important need of a man’s life.
If it was not good for us to be without Rightly Relating with fellow men before the fall, then it is more than not good for us even today. If you understand this devotional from that point of view, you will begin to see what God wants to bring into your life. You will begin to develop the right attitudes and demeanors for God-given relations to either come to you or stay with you.
It is my prayer that God will use these thoughts to help us take the necessary steps towards attitudinal adjustment, in Jesus’ precious
name. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.” Isaiah 60:1-5 NKJV