THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 7TH APRIL 2024)

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

“Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.” Deuteronomy 8:3-5 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 98TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.

It is the first day of another week in this great year, and we give God the praise for all His marvelous deeds and works.

We thank Him for His kindness, compassion, goodness, mercies, forgiveness, and faithfulness. They have all worked together to keep us alive, healed us when we fall sick, raise us when we fall into sin, sustain us in the midst of life wars, and guide us at cross roads.

Looking at His manifestation in our Church services and individual lives, we can affirm again, as we have been doing for years, that the days of God’s glory are here. This might sound to you like one of those Pentecostal jargons you hear money minded preachers make, when their expectations are met.

However, when we say God’s glory, we are referring to the fullness of His grace and truth, that makes the fullness of His manifest presence available and accessible, all at the same time.

That is how the works of the devil are destroyed. They are destroyed when we experience His grace and truth.

Friend, like I have always maintained, these are no longer days of praying with bottles of oil in your hands. Though many are still there, we have done that in time past and discovered that there is more in God.

There is so much to press into in our age that is bigger than the anointing Oil. It is called the fullness of God; which actually is the essence of the mystery of godliness.

TODAY SHALL BE FOR US A DAY OF GOD’S RHEMA WORD; IN OTHER WORDS “GOD’S PROCEEDING WORD.”

For starters, let me says this; the Bible is made up of the logos and the Rhema; the spirits and the letters, the spoken and the written word.

When you open its pages, you find the logos, the letters, and the written word. But when you open your spirit as you open its pages, you contact the Rhema, the spirit, and the spoken word.

That is why, genuine prophetic flow in our dispensation is different. It is scriptural based and scripturally cooked because God will never speak in contradiction to His written word. It is what we find in the Bible as we study, that brings us to the scripture to wait and meditate upon, to receive a proceeding word from Heaven.

Now, I am not saying we stand on one single scripture then come out with a suppose proceeding word from the LORD. That is destructive.

It is destructive because the Bible is not capable of private interpretation. Scripture is designed to interpret scripture. And such interpretations can only be accurate if the person reading the Bible or preaching from it is filled with the Spirit of truth.

Sadly, many have stood on certain feelings and twisted scriptures, to speak a suppose word from the LORD, and destroyed themselves and those who heard them.

For instance, those who stood on the scripture that told us how Elisha poured salt into a stream, and prophesied its waters out of a plague, to bring the dark practice of praying with salt, never heard from God because the dispensation of grace does not permit that.

A preacher who has no knowledge of dispensational theology, will always do things like that, bringing forth heresies at will; and if he or she is working in miracles, many will believe him or her to their detriment.

You see, heresies and false prophecies are conceived when men and women who have not sat under genuine apostolic grace try to preach the Bible. They are conceived by inspiration that is not rooted in sound doctrine, and prophetic feelings not powered by the Spirit of Truth.

YES, TALKING ABOUT PROPHETIC FEELINGS; EVERY PROPHECY PROCEEDS FROM A PROPHETIC SENSATION OR FEELING.

When the prophetic sensation is genuine, it will spew out authentic prophetic flow from the throne room of God, but if it is not, it will spew out something that is extra biblical, half-truth, or complete lies from the pit of hell.

Sadly, the prophetic feelings of most people these days are scooped from carnality and Biblical illiteracy. They are scooped from an internal fountain of corruption, spiritual ignorance, greed, covetousness and for some, bitterness.

That is why seed sowing and enemy killing prophecies, and prophecies on possessing other people’s possessions and even spouses, are the norm in the prophetic delivery of most Christians or preachers.

For instance, a Christian will hear from a ‘God’ at one moment to join a particular Church, and at another moment, sometimes after few days, he is hearing from a ‘God’ again to quit.

Others will hear at one moment, and say it is God’s will for them to marry this person, and at another moment they will be saying some other thing; sometimes within the same week. In such moments, one is forced to ask if God is confused, as in knowing who the real spouse of the person is.

But from the Bible, we know such prophetic flow are carnal things. They have nothing to do with the true God. It is the people bringing such things that are confused, and maybe stupid. They are just driven by sexual feelings.

The Bible says;

“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6 NKJV

THIS SCRIPTURE IS A WARNING TO THE “GOD TOLD ME” AND “GOD SAY” GENERATION.

It is a warning to all who say “God says,” while He has not said anything. It is a warning to all who lie on God. Understand that, to receive a true Rhema word from God these days, your fountain must be pure.

Yes, the fountain of your spirit must be filled with the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit or breath of prophecy.

Our devotional text today is very unique. A major Highlight of it says;

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

In this scripture, God made Israel to suffer hunger and fed them with just one type of food from Heaven. Apart from to bring them to a place in the Spirit, where they can develop a sense of value on the proceeding word, the other intent was to purify them.

God’s ultimate will for all generations, has always been to have a prophetic people on the face of the earth.

However, we cannot operate accurately in the prophetic until we have been purified by the LORD. And since many (either do not know this or) reject God’s purification process, sorcery and divination has now become the prophetic anointing of most departments of the end time Church.

For example, if a prophetic flow is oozing out of some preacher, despite his or her sinful living and conduct, they are operating under the spirit of divination and sorcery.

An unclean spirit is powering them to speak the words they speak, even if they may be calling the name of Jesus like the Sons of Sceva, or quoting scriptures like Satan did to Jesus after the temptation.

The Holy Spirit does not use unholy vessels.

He will first purge and purify a man before using him to speak. That is why Holiness was the primary hallmark of the men and women God used in Bible days to speak prophetically.

They were first called “Holy Men of God,” before prophets. But today the story is different. Our prophets and prophetesses are lesbians and sex addicts.

THEY SLEEP WITH CHURCH GIRLS AND EVEN PEOPLE’S WIVES AND STILL PROPHESY.

They are masturbators and liars. They prophe-lie and speak under a demonic anointing. They a greedy, covetous, sinful, and dirty in spirit yet we call them “men and women of God.”

Even the lay Christians who claim to be moving in the prophetic are no different from these preachers. They have capacity to seduce men and women to sexual infidelity. They lie like the devil and still claim a prophetic call.

They practice all kinds of secret sins calling it weaknesses, yet come out with a counterfeit prophetic tone, or something they stole from genuine prophets of God. They are money and fame driven.

If you get close to them, you will find out that the love of money is stronger in their hearts than the love of God. They are crafty, wicked, and vengeful. But God is raising a new breed that will replace these greedy breeds.

What is the message this morning? The message is simple. God wants us to have a pure spirit so that we can operate a pure prophetic anointing. He wants us to have pure spirits so that the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy, can flow from us to wrap up the sin age.

May He find us worthy in Jesus’ precious name. Amen!!

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;

“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.

Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:19-21 NKJV