TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 16TH AUGUST 2023)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalms 23:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 228TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
We are in the days of being schooled in the things of GOD. We are also in the days of uncommon storms of life.
A people who are properly schooled in the things of GOD will be able to navigate through the storms of life successfully. You will never find them submerged by whatever the enemy throws at them. They will soar above the works of the evil one and the deeds of the flesh, because the knowledge of the things of God they possess will help them to stay away from the demonic and also from the corrupt things of men.
Yes, they know how to ride along with God on the chariots of His glory!
Friend, you may not have known this but I want to submit to you that riding along with God, on the chariots of His glory, is the best ride on this side of eternity. By God’s grace I have flown in some of the best aircrafts in the world and have come to realize that you may have flown in the best aircraft in the world, or rode in the best cars in the world, if you have not flown or driven in the Chariots of God’s glory, as a Child of God you are missing something.
If these things are strange to you, I invite you to join us in all our meetings at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries, either in person or online, and you will experience what I am stating on this platform.
Prophetically speaking, these are days of horsemen. These are no longer days of living by human strength. The Bible made it clear that by strength shall no man prevail. These are days of going back to the very strength Adam used in staying on the face of the earth before the fall. I feel a stir in my spirit as I write this!
The first man never survived by His own strength. He survived by the strength of Jehovah!!
You were not designed to survive by your strength. You were designed to survive by the strength of Jehovah. If you are losing strength in life, it means you have been surviving by your own strength. When you survive by the strength of Jehovah, there can be no loss in strength except you cut off from His Holy Spirit or quench Him.
THAT IS WHY ONLY CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE LEARNT TO DEPEND ON GOD, ESPECIALLY IN EVERYTHING, ARE SURVIVING THE SEASONS WE LIVE IN.
Talking about depending on God, what does it mean to depend on God? I have seen people who say they are depending on God toiling, suffering, stagnant, and backward in life. But we all know that no one depends on God and toil, suffer, get stagnated, or remain backward in life.
So, if you find someone who says he or she is depending on God barely surviving, always toiling, suffering, or failing, or maybe not progressing in life, you have found someone who does not really understand what it means to depend on God.
There are casualties of spiritual ignorance everywhere. The truth is, if you do not know what it means to depend on God, you will still fail doing what you call ‘depending on God.’ It’s therefore important that we uncover what it means to depend on God!
To start with, I want to say we must first be schooled in the things of GOD before attempting to depend on Him, because no one can depend on who they do not know.
Many do not have an intimate knowledge of GOD yet they want to depend on Him, that is why they still suffer, remain stagnant in life, toil daily, go through spiritual attacks, etc. despite their claim of depending on GOD. Understand that, if you are not schooled in the things of GOD, you won’t know how to depend on Him. You will just be playing religion and paying the price for it.
I reiterate again that no one fails while depending on God. Things could be slow at the onset, but over time they will pick and give you an amazing life. If you say you are depending on God and still failing in life, you don’t know what it means to depend on God.
You need to humble yourself and learn.
You need to learn how to depend on God from the men and women who did in Bible days, because none who depended on God in scriptures failed. From Adam to the last man who walked with God in Bible days. The story is the same.
Joshua for example, was able to speak to the sun and the moon successfully because he depended on God. That tells us that people who depend on God can even control the elements of nature to their advantage. They can speak to the rain, the sun, the moon, a tornado that may be approaching to destroy their city, wild fires, or any other element of nature, turning things to their advantage.
Moses was able to break the backbone of Pharaoh, bring judgment on the gods of Egypt, and bring Israel out successfully because he depended on God. His life tells us that you will never depend on God and see the gods of your nation, city of residence, family or etc. overcome you. It also tells us that you can successfully bring any captive out of the hand of the evil one if you depend on God.
MOSES’ LIFE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT, NO DEMONIC HIERARCHY CAN OVERPOWER ANYONE WHO DEPENDS ON GOD!
So, if you say you are depending on God and demons are always fighting and beating your life up with affliction, check your revelation content or your decision-making processes. You need to get the true revelation of who God is, and begin to make the proper decisions to reap the fruits of depending on God.
Elijah was able to restore God to the national consciousness of Israel, in the Mount Carmel showdown because he depended on God. Solomon became the wisest and Richest King of all times because he depended on God. If you are becoming anything less than these men while depending on God, there is something you do not know about depending on God!
When Samson was depending on God, he was a wonder to his enemies. He could carry gates of Cities and eliminate entire armies without using a bomb. That is how you will become when you begin to truly depend on God. Out of weakness, you will be made strong.
You will find yourself turning the armies of aliens to flight.
You will see God subduing kingdoms through you. You will find yourself quenching the violence of fire, escaping the edge of the sword, waxing valiant in battle, not accepting any money, lifting, freedom, promotion, comfort, or peace that will destroy your eternal hope in Christ. You will not compromise your faith even if you are facing the fires of death, hell, or grave.
When you depend on GOD, you could be wandering in deserts in sheep skins and goatskins because of your faith, like our fathers did and still not accept the goodies of Satan because you will know your redeemer lives, and He will come through for you.
So those of us who are claiming to be depending on God and yet we cannot find these fruits in our lives are just under delusion; because if we compromise every now and then, get oppressed by darkness daily, beg to survive, fail in everything we do, we are not really depending on GOD. We are just playing religion.
WE MAY BE SINCERE AT HEART, BUT OBVIOUSLY, WE ARE NOT ENLIGHTENED IN OUR MINDS.
There is something missing in our revelation of depending on God! Bad things do not perpetually prevail over people who depend on God. There are things you cannot see in the lives of those who depend on God.
You cannot see permanent defeat, continuous economic hardship, persistent marital problems, foolishness, sin, or perpetual oppression in the lives of those who depend on God! You don’t see fear, a walk in the flesh, or a flight away from their enemies. If you see any of these things in their lives it’s a sign that they do not really know what it means to depend on God.
There are few tips to learn on depending on God, but before I unfold them to us, I want you to understand that many in Church today, bank on their sincerity and expect God to act on that. But I have come to realize that, a sincere heart with an ignorant mind is a disaster waiting to happen. It will not save a man’s life from destruction.
God lamented that His people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge, not for lack of sincerity of heart. Not even for the abundance of devils or the presence of evil altars, evil foundations, curses, principalities, powers, or any other forces of darkness.
We are always destroyed for not being schooled in the things of God, or not having a mind that is knowledgeable in the things of GOD! It is when we are schooled in the things of GOD that we can have a mind that is knowledgeable in the things of GOD.
Sadly, many in church today are schooled in the things of sin and Satan!
They know everything about sex, they know how to be wicked, cruel, deceptive, crafty, etc.
They know how to lie in the language of truth and do all the dark things people do in secrets. Others know all the names of every evil spirit, both real and unreal. But do not know anything about righteousness, the 300 names of God, the protocol of the presence of God, and the apostolic standards believers suppose to bear.
There are those who are schooled in humanistic philosophies and secular humanism. They know every common way to solve problems, but cannot tell God’s way to solve problems. Hence when they face uncommon problems, they fall down flat and start contemplating suicide, or running to mediums called prophets.
IF WE ARE NOT SCHOOLED IN THE THINGS OF GOD, WE WILL NEVER MAKE HEADWAY IN LIFE.
Every virtue we may muster to succeed will not lead to a happy ending. The first way to depend on God therefore is to sit down and be schooled in His things. Everyone who depended on GOD in scriptures, spent time with Him, learning His ways, and studying His paths; they had rules and principles from Him that they respected, from Moses to Joshua, from Samson to David and to all other men and women of exploits in the Bible.
Let’s Take Joshua For Example. He was blankly told that he will not be able to fulfil his assignment without depending on God. He maintained a schooling posture all his life, because you cannot depend on the God you do not know. God had to say to him;
“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 1:8 NKJV
That was a command to maintain a schooling posture in his walk and talk with God. Meaning, if we say we are depending on God in anything and do not spend the better parts of our lives schooling ourselves in His ways and paths, we are deceiving ourselves. We will fail woefully. Like I said earlier, you cannot depend on a God whose ways you do not know! You must spend the better part of your life knowing His ways and paths to truly depend on Him.
THE FIRST WAY TO DEPEND ON GOD, THEREFORE, IS TO MAINTAIN A LEARNING POSTURE AT HIS FEET, BUT THE SECOND IS DIFFERENT.
A deeper look at what God told Joshua reveals a second way to depend on Him, and that way is implicit obedience in total submission to His will. You cannot say you are depending on someone whose will you do not submit to or whose voice you do not obey.
God said to Joshua, “…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.” That was a call to obedience in total submission to His will. If we claim to be depending on God, and yet we are not obeying Him, submitting to Him and respecting His word, His will and ways, we are in reality depending on ourselves.
REBELLION IS ONE WAY WE TELL GOD, “WE DO NOT NEED YOU.” Obedience and submission to God’s will is the loudest way to tell God, “I depend on you,” not even shouting in prayers. That is why the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice.
That brings us to the last tip I want to share on depending on God – being led by the true Holy Spirit and not what looks or sounds like Him. Yes, there are so many false Holy Spirits today, that is why many who claim to be led by the Holy Spirit are behaving like mentally deranged people.
When the Holy Spirit leads you, He makes you supernaturally intelligent, self-controlled, wise, righteous, productive and glorious, not mentally deranged.
People who depend on GOD are not led by themselves. They are constantly led by the Spirit. The life of David comes to mind at this point. He demonstrated dependency on God by waiting for Him to speak before taking any step in life. Even in the midst of battle and war with all kinds of weapons at his disposal, he will still step aside and wait for God to speak.
DO YOU KNOW THAT IT IS EASIER TO WAIT ON GOD WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DO A THING THAN WHEN YOU HAVE?
Most times we wait on God for direction when we are in need but when the supply comes, we cease waiting and start directing ourselves. That was the error of Saul. And we are still repeating the same error today! But David knew “A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” That was part of his warfare mantra. Another one says;
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 33:17, 20:7 NKJV).
Consequently, he never failed to seek God’s will and way in everything He did.
Friend, as we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that when it comes to making it in life, it is not really about “what” you have by your side but about “who” you have on your side! Because if God is not leading you, even the best equipment will fail you because He will not be by your side!
Our devotional text this morning explained the kind of walk and talk David maintained with God. A major highlight of it says,
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
We can go on and on. But I believe God has spoken to us this morning.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion;
May He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Psalms 20:1-5 NKJV