TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 27TH MARCH 2024)
“And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him:” Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 87TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Glory be to God almighty for another glorious day!
With the eyes of faith, we can see the LORD ahead of us, making crooked places straight, breaking in pieces the gates of brass, and cutting the bars of Iron asunder to make a way for us.
When the presence of the LORD goes ahead of a people, they will never see a successful attack of the devil or an obstacle that is not surmountable.
One of the greatest secrets of peaceful or victorious living in an evil infested world, is to have the manifest presence of God go ahead of you. That is why men who know this secret, have the habit of spending quality time with the LORD, to commit their ways to Him, before embarking on anything in life.
David was one of such men.
Seeking the counsel of the LORD and His will on a thing before embarking on it is one way you secure His backing for that thing – it is one way you put the LORD ahead of you.
David did that and the result was amazing. The Bible says;
“Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.
So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.
And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. 2 Samuel 5:17-21 NKJV
This scripture, among other things, teaches us that we will need time in the stronghold of truth and prayer (in the Holy Ghost), especially each day, before getting up to face life and the challenges it brings.
You will need to cultivate the habit of praying in tongues for hours, especially in the morning, before rising to go to work or facing your day. You will need to commit your ways to the LORD like David did here, before you can see the glory of the LORD in your life.
PEOPLE WHO COMMIT THEIR WAY TO THE LORD, CANNOT BE DEFEATED BY THEIR ENEMIES
The Bible says;
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” Psalms 37:5-6 ESV
David did not just seek the LORD one time. He sought Him always. After that first victory, the Philistines came the second time to attack him. Again, he did not just respond to them even with the first victory he had recorded over them.
He did not ignore the LORD, take Him for granted, or assume God will act the way He did before; He went to the stronghold again to seek His directives. That again put God ahead of Him in a more powerful way. The Bible says;
“Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer. 2 Samuel 5:22-25 NKJV
I have come to understand that the more we depend on God, the more of His power and presence we will have in our lives.
But many of us do not do this. We do not apply this great secret of David. We do not commit our ways to the LORD like he did; hence we do not see His acts in our lives, like he saw.
Many run to the LORD when they have already gone ahead of Him, met obstacles, and then turn around and become fed up with life.
Let me show you a practical truth at this point; if you do not put God ahead of you in a given day or before embarking on anything, you have silently put hell ahead of you because there is no middle ground.
For instance, if you do not seek the counsel and directives of the LORD before going into, you have silently sought, put hell ahead of you in that marriage.
IT WILL BE HELL ON EARTH FOR YOU.
If you do not put God ahead of you before embarking in any relationship, trip, business, job, or etc. you have silently put hell ahead of you and everything might be hellish from start to finish. .
Another word for hell is Sheol – the abode of the dead. That means if you do not put the LORD ahead of you, or set Him always before you like David did in his days , hell will bring your life to the shadows of death.
It will paralyze your efforts to make it in life. David said,
“I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, for You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.” Psalms 16:8-10 AMPC
People who set God before them will never be moved. They will enjoy stability in life. People who set God before them will always rejoice, they will not be abandoned in hell or sheol.
The presences of God will manifest in their lives and paralyze every activity of hell.
There is another dimension of truth to the mystery behind setting the LORD before you. To set the LORD before you also mean to set His word before you. That is, to take time and look at it, study it, meditate on it, and make it your attention and focus, and guiding light in whatever you want to do.
If you set His word before you that way, before embarking on things like starting a Business, going into marriage, accepting a proposal or making one, pursuing a career, making an application for a job, deciding on an important journey of life and etc., the LORD will always be ahead of you to make the crooked places straight.
HE WILL BE AHEAD OF YOU BREAKING THE GATES OF BRASS IN PIECES AND CUTTING THE BARS OF IRON ASUNDER.
One other way to put God ahead of you, is to learn how to trust Him to direct your paths, instead of directing them yourself.
God will always go ahead of people who trust Him enough to allow Him direct their paths. One way we tell God to direct our paths is to pray that He take over our day, week, month, or year before stepping into it.
He will go ahead of those who pray to Him to take charge of their day, week, month, or year before stepping into it.
Yes, He will always go ahead of people who will trust Him enough to thoroughly pray concerning anything before stepping into it. In God’s kingdom, sufficient prayer is one way we demonstrate our trust in Him.
When the LORD sees that trust, He will go ahead of us directing our paths. The Bible says;
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
Our devotional text has additional truths to glean on the subject. It tells us of the pathetic story of a Child of God in the Old Testament, who lost divine backing because he did not rely on the LORD.
One of the verses in the text says,
“Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.”
It is very costly for a child of God not to rely totally on the LORD.
It is important for us to understand that, becoming a child of God, places the responsibility on us to always rely on Him in everything.
It is very costly not to commit your ways to Him in prayer and leave Him with your enemies to handle.
It is very costly to engage the arm of flesh as a child of God, especially when we have the power or provision to do so.
Whenever we engage the arm of the flesh instead of the arm of the LORD, our enemies will escape from our hands and the victories the LORD wanted to give us will be withheld.
I believe David knew this, that was why even when he had the means, he still engaged God through prayer, seeking His directives and backing before facing the enemy. Our devotional text made it clear that;
“…the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
Your life as a Christian, will always be as good as your loyalty towards God is.
Yes, if there is loyalty towards God in our hearts, we will enjoy His outbreaks in our lives. We will not rely on the arm of flesh but on the arm of the LORD. Our hearts will not shift to ourselves, but remain firmly rooted in God.
I believe the Spirit of the LORD has helped you to find wisdom this morning!
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:13, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding ” May the wisdom you have found, and the understanding you have gained this morning, make your life brighter and better in Christ Jesus! Amen
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY
“Those who trust in the LORD Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity. Psalm 125:1-5 NKJV