TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 22nd JANUARY 2024)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 22ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
We bless the LORD of Heaven and Earth, the commander in Chief of the host of Heaven, the governor among the nations of the Earth; the one whose kingdom rules over all, for giving us another glorious day.
From what we can see in the eternal future, through the lenses of the Holy Scriptures, it is very expensive not to have relationship with Jesus Christ while one is alive. It is very expensive not to be in talking terms with Him.
That is why the Bible says, “Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish in the way” (Psalm 2:12). The Son is Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God.
Sadly, some say He is not a Son of God because God has no wife. He is just a prophet. People only see Him as a prophet when they look at Him through the lenses of religion. But Jesus, while He was physically on the earth was more than a prophet.
That is why you can’t find anywhere in the Bible where He said, “Thus says the LORD.” All other prophets said, “thus says the LORD.” But He never used those terms in prophesying. He said, “verily, verily, I say unto you.”
You know why? He was not a prophet, but the Son of God who spoke through all the prophets in the Bible before becoming flesh. He demonstrated His deity as God or Son of God when He resurrected from dead.
So, God has no wife. They are right.
But Jesus is the Son of God because the word Son there does not mean an offspring born out of copulation between a man and a woman. The Phrase “Son of God” means “offspring of God,” or “He who sprang from God.”
He is the only begotten offspring of God, the second person in the Godhead who sprang from God and entered the womb of Mary, and was born by her, but never called her mother because God has no wife.
He called her woman. You see that in John 2:4, and John 19:26-27. If you read the Bible very well, you will discover that it was people who related with them that called her “mother of Jesus,” not Jesus Himself.
So, we can also say, Mary is not the mother of Jesus, but the source of His flesh. The word woman, apart from meaning a man with a womb. Also means source, or the source of flesh.
THESE SIMPLE BIBLE TRUTHS MUST BE KNOWN BY ALL CHRISTIANS SO THAT WE ALL CAN HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
They should not become objects of arguments. They should be believed without reservation. Not believing them will not change the truth in them, it will only deprive you of having great relationship with Jesus Christ as your King, LORD, and GOD.
The word of the LORD remains, kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish in the way. The earth and the age to come will not bless all who are not having a true and fruitful relationship with Him now.
Come to think of it, the Bible says He scheduled our days long before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs. He is the only God who finishes before He starts. He has never started a thing without finishing it first in the Spirit. That is why He does not fail and will never fail.
Not having a relationship with this kind of God, is really a stupid thing to do.
Heaven and earth adore Him; angels bow before Him. So, you are missing a lot if you have no relationship with Him. You will be missing the service of the angels who bow before Him and many other precious blessings He offers.
You will be missing a foretaste of Heaven that descends on those who serve Him while in fellowship with Him. You will be missing the clouds of glory that forms around those who serve Him. You will be missing much more than what words can say!
You may be serving in Church or working with a man or woman of God; that is really different from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Except your service is born out of your personal relationship with Him, you will never enjoy the benefits of serving a good Church or a genuine man or woman of God.
Come to talk about serving in Church or serving a man or woman of God, I have come to discover there are two groups who do not reap the spiritual benefits of doing so. The first is a group made up of people who are either serving dark Churches or serving men or women of God who are not really serving God.
The second group is a group of those who serve in Churches with Christ at the center, and work under righteous men and women of God, who God is really using to change the moral landscape, but are doing so without having a personal relationship with the LORD.
YOU SEE THE EVIDENCE IN THEIR LIVES. THERE IS NO GLORY OF GOD IN THEIR LIVES. THEY LIVE IN AN ICHABOD REALM OF LIFE.
You find some in the valley of perversion, though they have money, trips abroad and all that. They are not heaven worthy even if they are celebrated in the system they serve.
While others you find in the valley of trouble, moving from one spiritual problem to another, looking miserable and terrible, despite their service to God. While some others you find permanently in the rubbles of life. That is not the will of God.
Personal relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be substituted with anything that might be of God. So, we should not substitute it with anything that might or might not be of God. If we do, our lives will show for it. It will be full of successful attacks from the pits of hell.
God does not allow the enemy to touch people with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ except when He wants to use the enemy to promote them to higher realms of glory.
So, if you are serving God and are at the same time oppressed of the devil, it means you are doing so without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; you are doing so without allowing the LORDSHIP of Christ to sit over the details of your life.
The Bible made it clear that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek or serve Him. He is not a robber! So, make a personal relationship with Christ the highest priority of your life, and you will begin to reap great rewards for serving the LORD.
If your service to God in any way is not allowing you to spend quality time with the LORD and be intimate with Him, set your priorities right and all will be well.
If you are serving a ‘man of God’ who is not truly called of God, or cannot stand before God and men to turn many to righteousness or foster relationship with Jesus Christ, you are not serving God.
You could be enjoying some benefits but you will never see the true blessings of God speak in your life; which involves sound health, peace, purity, life progress, etc.
LET US CONCLUDE THIS DEVOTIONAL WITH ANOTHER SET OF TRUTH.
That truth is, God pays or rewards those who serve Him with Himself. Yes, He rewards us with Himself, that is why people who truly serve Him, do not lack His manifest presence, making good things happen in their lives. He pays them with Himself.
The second truth is, God does not pay or reward people with no genuine permits from Him to do whatever they might be doing in His name. In other words, God does not pay who He did not employ!
He will never pay those who just employ themselves. That is how astute He is.
If therefore, you want to serve God, and enjoy the rewards or benefits, you must discover your divine destiny or the things He wants you to do for Him on earth, and serve Him within those boundaries for Him to pay or reward you with Himself.
If you keep serving in a Church, or serving a so-called man or woman of God who God did not employ in His vineyard, those who just employed themselves, there are no words to describe what your life will become when the curtains of time will close on you.
The only place you can serve God and have a happy ending in life, is in the place of your divine destiny; which has to do with responding to God’s immediate present will for your life. Anything outside that is foolishness.
Whatever you are doing in your Church today, that is not God’s current will for your life, might give you some benefits but will never speak well for you in the next life.
Yes, you may be celebrated for it, or look glorious in it, making you acceptable by all, but God will be seeing it as “lawlessness” and deny you the rewards.
Friend, this is the time to start double checking whatever you are doing in your Church or under your man of God. This is the time to serve God within the boundaries of your divine destiny. The days are dangerous. Let the wisdom of God guide you.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV