TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 29th October 2023)
“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.”
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.”
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:27-31 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 302ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
It has been over two hundred days of God’s mercies, compassion, peace and marvelous deeds. There are no words to describe the things we have seen the LORD do in our lives. We have seen His grace grant us dominion over sin and its consequences more than what words can say. We have seen His power making provision available to us more than what hearts can fathom. We have seen His sword fighting against our enemies. It has been God all along!
He has also been faithful in taking us out of one week and bringing into another. We are here again witnessing the first day of another week in our year of signs and wonders. The faithful God has no history of becoming unfaithful no matter how unfaithful man becomes. We give Him all the glory!
Today we will be looking at an ingredient of life, that someone out there will require in other to become all that God has called him or her to be that beautiful ingredient of life is a glorious marriage. Yes, you heard me right, a glorious marriage.
I did not say a glorious wedding. Many had glorious weddings, but today they do not have a glorious marriage. They prepared for a glorious wedding and took it for preparation for a glorious marriage. Friend, it is when you prepare for a glorious marriage, that you will end up with a glorious wedding. Not the other way round.
Do not be deluded to think that a glorious wedding will always result in a glorious marriage. The answer is no! It is rather preparation for a glorious marriage, that attracts the favor from GOD for a glorious wedding. A glorious marriage will produce a strong family as fruit. It will not produce a broken home, because it is a marriage on God’s perfect will, way, and word, sustained by the Holy Ghost Himself.
I HAVE MAINTAINED THAT ONLY THE HOLY GHOST CAN SUSTAIN A MARRIAGE.
He sustains only marriages that are God’s perfect will for couples. Principles of Marriage may help, but they do not really sustain marriages when the problems that are out of this world hit the union. Only the Holy Ghost can Sustains a marriage under such circumstances. He will sustain it if He was the one that brought the couples together to form the home.
Any marriage that God has not joined together, no marriage principle can sustain together. What God has not joined together, prayer and fasting cannot keep together. Any marriage not founded in God’s perfect will, will never be sustained by God. Marriage principles, prayer and fasting, and every other act of worship in the kingdom, can only sustain marriages if they are already founded in God’s perfect will. The faster the Church wakes up to this truth, the better for all of us! What God did not alpha, he will never sustain or omega.
Sadly, most marriages are joined together by tradition, circumstances, lust, pride, sexual passion, religion, convenience, Church leaders, and etc. and not God. Some of these things join people together in the name of God. God does not sustain what man joined. He only sustains what He joins using men.
What man joined together will never fulfil God’s perfect will; hence He will not keep it together. A wedding ceremony may be glorious but that will never translate into a glorious marriage if God is not the one who joined the couple together. On the other hand, God may join people together, but if they do not follow His way of staying married, there will still be problems.
I have come to realize that there is no marriage principle that will work if the Holy Ghost has not planted the peace of God in a marriage. And the Holy Ghost only does that if it was God that joined the couples together, and if the couples followed God’s ways of running their lives and home.
In simple terms, it is the presence of the Holy Ghost that makes marriage principles to work. If He is absent, it does not matter which principle is present; marriage will never work. Someone once wrote a book titled “Making your marriage work.” It was a good read that blessed me when I read it over 19 years ago. But I grew up to discover that the principles he wrote about will never work if the Holy Ghost is not present.
IT IS MY PRAYER THAT YOU START PREPARING FOR A GLORIOUS MARRIAGE IF YOU ARE SINGLE INSTEAD OF A GLORIOUS WEDDING.
And if you are married, may the LORD grant you the wisdom to restructure your life and marriage to become a glorious one. If marriage will not be part of the pursuit of your prophetic destiny, then may the LORD anoint you to serve your generation according to His will. May He give you a beautiful life that will be an envy to those around. Amen!
Another thing that I consider as a beautiful ingredient of life, that I want us to look into, is Divine Protection. Yes, your earthly life will need divine protection to be great and beautiful. All through the Holy Bible you see this truth expressed from chapter to chapter.
If divine protection is not added to your life in this wicked world, you may have all other things right, but you will not live long enough. If you live long, it will be a painful and struggling life. You need divine protection to live a beautiful life in the ugly and fallen system we find ourselves and fulfill God’s assignment for your life.
It is divine protection that gives a man or woman of destiny a beautiful life and keeps him or her long enough to finish God’s will for his life. You see that in the life of David. You see God protecting him from Saul and all his enemies. You see God using that to enable him to unleash his divine destiny. You see God making sure that even when he was battle wearied, his enemies do not prevail against him. The same can be seen in the life of Paul the apostle; He went through so much that ordinarily he should have died in few months after accepting Christ.
The first year he opened his mouth to preach, the Jews stoned him to death. The Bible says;
“Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”
“However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” Acts 14:19-20 NKJV
It takes divine protection to be stoned and left for dead, and then rise to go back into the same City, to continue what you were doing before the stones came. It takes divine protection to be so treated, and still have the life in you to travel to another city, without being admitted in the Hospital for recovery.
IF GOD HAD NOT DIVINELY PROTECTED PAUL, AND THE REST OF THE DISCIPLES, I DO NOT THINK THE GOSPEL WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TO US.
The dragon really tried to devour them, but God protected them. You will need divine protection to live any life the LORD designed you to live. You will need it to fulfil any assignment He gave you to fulfill. May you not lack divine protection in Jesus precious name.
The necessity of divine protection cannot be over emphasized. God arranged it for all of us. It is available for all who need it. That is why when you read the Bible, you will realize that, when God gives you a beautiful life to live or a destiny to pursue, He will assign angels to protect you. The Bible made it clear that God has unlimited protection for us all.
When He give you an assignment to spend your years on earth doing, the Holy Ghost will be assigned to both empower and protect you to do it. God protects His vessels and all He is using to do things in His kingdom. That is why if you see yourself causing ripples in the camp of the enemy, you will also find the Holy Ghost empowering and protecting you.
If you are one of those under threat this morning, I want you to be assured of divine protection. God said in His word;
“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.”
“He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” Isaiah 8:12-14 NKJV
If you are involved in causing ripples in the camp of the enemy, let this word fill your spirit. Also understand that, the same Spirit that is empowering you to do anything in God, is also protecting you at the same time from any harm that may come out of what you might be doing with God. That is why you find Jesus telling us;
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19 NKJV
This scripture made it clear that if the Holy Ghost uses you to trample on serpents and scorpions, or step on toes that are destroying God’s work, He will make sure that nothing by any means hurt you thereafter, no matter their threat.
THAT IS WHY GOD IS SAYING TO YOU THIS MORNING THAT YOU SHOULD NOT FEAR THEIR THREATS.
The Holy Ghost does not empower a man to do a thing then abandons Him when the repercussions come from hell. He is not a man that abandons his partner when the heat becomes hot! He sticks to His human partners to protect them from the backlash of the enemy after using them to do a work for God. That is why a major highlight in our devotional text this morning says;
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.”
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
I like the line that says, “do not fear.” Fear is not good for you and I, especially if we want to enjoy divine protection.
Fear will cripple the hand of the LORD and hinder us from experiencing God’s protection over our lives. God is saying we should not fear. We should only have faith. Faith will launch us into the realm of glory where God’s protection exists! That is why the Holy Ghost always tells His human partners “fear not, for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God.”
What is the message of our devotional this morning? The message is simple. There are different ingredients of life. Things that make an earthly life beautiful, fulfilling and great. One of it is a glorious marriage (if God’s assignment for your life permits it), the other is divine protection. There are many others. We just haver space for this two today. May your life not lack any ingredient to be what God designed it to be, in Jesus precious name. Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY;
“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:15