TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2023)
“For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me [inquire for and of me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!
But seek not [the golden calf at] Bethel nor enter into [idolatrous] Gilgal and pass not over to [the idols of] Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity and exile, and Bethel [house of God] shall become Beth-Aven [house of vanity, emptiness, falsity, and futility] and come to nothing.
Seek the Lord [inquire for and of Him and require Him] and you shall live, lest He rush down like fire upon the house of Joseph [representing the ten tribes] and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel [the center of their idol hopes]. Amos 5:4-6 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 258TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
We bless the LORD for giving us another day! He has been kind and compassionate towards us, not dealing with us according to our sins, but according to His faithfulness. Those who are wise have used this dimension of His acts of mercies, to cleanse themselves from sinful living and all that. We give Him all the glory for everything.
Today we want to look at the subject of seeking the LORD. One beautiful portion in our devotional text says, “Seek the Lord [inquire for and of Him and require Him] and you shall live.” It made the result of seeking the LORD clear. It says we shall live when we do so. But are all people who are seeking the LORD finding that life? The answer of no!
You see, whenever people seek things in pretense of seeking GOD, they suffer in spite of their prayers, giving or fasting! The dabble into extra scriptural practices like the use of oil, salt, water, and etc. The raising of altars and etc. The worst way to lead your Christian life this end time is to seek things, pretending that you are seeking GOD. We seek things in pretense of seeking GOD when our primary purpose of seeking GOD is to get earthly things.
Everyone who seeks God truly will live. He or she will find life. But everyone who seek GOD to get things, will die spiritually over time, because he or she is not seeking the kingdom of GOD first! That is the scripture. It’s been 258 days since we stepped into this year. Personally, I have tried my best to make sure that, I and they that the LORD has given me, did not spend any day far away from God’s manifest presence, or seek things in the pretense of seeking GOD!
Under the enabling grace of GOD, I have written 258 devotionals this year, held several intensive word and prayer meetings each month, preached for more than three hours in most meetings that we have had in our apostolic center alone, and an average of 6 to 8 hours each Sunday. You may be asking, “What is pursuing you man of GOD? Why are you running at this speed, even wearying those that should weary you?” The answer of course is nothing!
I AM THE ONE PURSUING SOMETHING THROUGH THE ENABLING GRACE OF GOD!
I am leading my people to seek GOD, and make sure no gap exists between us and Him. The Bible says those who seek HIM, will live, but those who do not, will die! The devil would not need to attack them for them to die; they are bound to die like plants that do not receive rain.
Their marriages are bound to collapse. Their businesses are bound to fail. Their enemies are bound to prevail against them. Their ministries are bound to close down or be taken over by sorcery and divination. Their prophetic visions are bound to be blurring, making them depend on others for dream interpretation.
Their economic lives are bound to experience dryness, because GOD is the ideal RAIN that makes economic lives to spring forth and thrive. And He cannot manifest as such until you seek HIM with the whole of your heart, by pursuing His knowledge. The Bible says.
“Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. Hosea 6:3 NKJV
If you look at the planet; it is rain that makes things grow. If there are no rains everything is bound to die. That is why seeking God is a necessity not an option. IF YOU MAKE IT AN OPTION OVER TIME, YOU WILL BE AUCTIONED TO DEVILS FOR FOOD. When you seek God by pursuing His knowledge, He is bound to come upon your life the rain – like the latter and the former rain in the first month. Hallelujah!
The divine order remains “Seek God and live.” Not what look like Him; but Him! If you seek what look like Him and not really Him, your life will still be a misery in spite of your efforts.
AND IF YOU TRY SEEKING GOD WITHOUT HAVING AN ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST, YOU WILL FIND ANOTHER GOD.
Seeking God begins with a true encounter with Jesus and continues with multiple encounters with His Holy Spirit. The reason for all that is simple; Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God also. They are part of the trinity.
At THIS POINT it’s important that we ask ourselves the very question Jesus asked those who came running after Him; because many people in our generation are running after God or Jesus, but few are truly seeking Him. There is a difference between running after Jesus and truly seeking Him.
Not everyone who runs after Jesus is really seeking Him. But everyone who seeks Him will truly run after Him! At one time, many came running after the LORD, and He asked them, “WHAT DO YOU SEEK?” This same question is being asked by the LORD today.
The people Jesus asked previously, were from the ministry of John the Baptist. They came to him because they knew that the ministry of John had come to an end, and they needed to switch to the new move of GOD on ground. Their desire was to find the God of today not that of yesterday. So, they followed the LORD to help them find the GOD of today.
Our Church generation is in the same season. The ministries of most fathers of faith have come to an end. The danger of hanging on to them is great. You will be experiencing the activities of destroying spirits if you keep following them and what they teach. A ministry that has come to an end, can no longer be used by God to take care of lives. That is why those who hang on to it lack moral excellence and freedom from dark forces.
You will never be able to come to the present tense of GOD hanging on to ministries that have come to an end. You will remain in the past tense, having sin, Satan, and curses to contend with. Like the disciples of John, the Baptist did, you must switch camps to walk in the present tense of God. The use of oil, water and all that is the past tense of God. In the present tense there no use of gadgets.
YOU JUST WALK IN THE GLORY. THE BIBLE SAYS;
“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). John 1:35-39 NKJV
Jesus permitted them to join Him because He was the present tense of God, and their priority was right. Their priority was to run after Jesus and find God! God will not allow people who truly seek Him to remain in ministries that have come to an end. Only those who are not true worshipers will remain there.
When you are in a ministry that has come to an end, the rain of the Spirit will never be falling on you. You will just be leading a spiritually dry life. That is why you should not be a seeker of God who seek Him to get things. You will never experience the blessing God reserve for those who truly seek Him.
When your heart truly seeks God, He will not cease falling on your life like rain. That is why at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries Global, we sing, “It is raining, all around me! I can feel it, the latter rain. Ride on Jesus! Give me more rain! Until I am wet, until I am soaked with the latter rain!” Hallelujah!
We will never stop running after this great God. No! We will not stop seeking Him; because as we do, we experience Him over and over again coming upon us like rain! If you want to experience how God come upon people like rain, join this apostolic family.
We are a New Breed without weeds. A royal priesthood! A Holy Nation! God’s own special people: we believe we are ‘condemned’ to seek Him all our lives, experience His grace and the opening of portals of Heaven over us, as we do so! Ours is a GODLY heritage. The lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.
You can become part of this excellent army of the LORD anywhere in the world! The conditions are simple; become a seeker of God and not things. Once your heart aligns with God, you can become part of us, enjoying the most of Him wherever you live.
IT’S A GLOBAL ARMY WITHOUT BOUNDARIES OR DENOMINATIONAL WALLS!
It has only one commander, one leader. His name is Jesus Christ.
It’s an army of God seekers, running after Jesus, every day to find God, and have Him come upon them like rain. Yes, Christ in us is the hope of glory. But we also need Christ on us, like rain, to spring forth and thrive on the face of the earth.
The question still remains “WHAT DO YOU SEEK?” If your heart is right, your life will be right. If your heart seeks the LORD, your life will never lack His manifest presence. The Bible says it will be like a tree planted by the living waters – bringing forth its fruits in its season.
A major highlight in our devotional text says, “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!” No one seek God the way man seeks for food and die. You can look for food with the very energy you need to look for God and die, but you can never look for God with the very energy men use to look for food and die. You will find Him and experience His manifest presence coming upon your life like Rain.
When He comes upon your life, visions will spring forth. You will begin to see where others just look. Healing will spring forth wherever you need it – be it in your health, economy, mind, habits, soul, spirit, name it. No one recovers when God comes on him or her like rain. You must become part of the generation that seek Him with the same energy men use to seek or work for their daily bread!
That is the message of today’s devotional!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3 NKJV