TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATUDAY 27TH APRIL 2024)
“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:28-32 KJV
WELCOME TO THE 118TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
The LORD in His mercies has given us another weekend to be alive and fulfill our ultimate goal for being here. We give Him the glory for 118 days of God’s mercies that we have seen already. Our lives testify.
One of the major things we have seen for the 118 days is the grace of God. The grace of God is a combination of His pardon, power, and mercies, and we are grateful for having it run our lives.
The best part of God’s grace is His mercies.
Have you ever sat down to consider a world without God’s mercies?
There will be so much from the pit of hell that we cannot contend with. So much from our mistakes that we cannot stand. In fact, there will be no second chances, and the judgment of God for sin will be running like rivers.
Prayers will not be answered because prayers are only answered when mercy is present. Salvation will be impossible because it takes God’s mercies to be saved. Doctors will treat ailments, but no healing will come, because it takes God’s mercies for medical care to work.
The rich and the wicked will be having a field day over the rest, oppressing and exploiting with no one to cry for help, because it takes God’s mercies to come out of the grips of the wicked. People will even sleep and not wake up!
I have said this repeatedly that, it is better to have a life without money than to have a life without God’s mercies. God’s mercies can always bring money but no amount of money can buy God’s mercies.
That explains why David sang of the mercies of the LORD almost every day of His life. It explained why the book of Psalms has more verses on God’s mercies than on anything else.
ENTIRE CHAPTERS WERE DEDICATED TO GOD’S MERCIES.
It is important to note that, everything God does, revolves around His mercies for mankind. That is why our sins and wickedness have not consumed us. He looks at the big picture. For instance, God will look at how the life of a terrible sinner will turn out if He shows him or her mercies.
Yes, He will not move to destroy the sinful person at once. He looks at how the person will turn out under His mercies, and restrain His judgement.
God shows us mercies so that we can change and become what He wants us to be. And for many cases, things have turned out well. That is why some of us are saved. His mercies have moved very depraved people, who are willing to be changed, from being terrible sinners, to becoming awesome saints.
God has a history of not giving people what they deserve, that is why everything He does revolves around His mercies. He said in His word;
… “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
So, then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Romans 9:15-16 NKJV
The Bible made it clear that even when He speak to us, He speaks from His mercy seat.
It could be strong warnings, thundering rebukes, or sentences passed over our evil deeds, it still come from His mercy seat, so that as soon as a trace of repentance can be found, judgment can be withheld.
He said to Moses;
“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.
And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” Exodus 25:21-22 NKJV
THIS SCRIPTURE MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE CRY OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT USUALLY COMES TO US FROM GOD’S MERCY SEAT.
God’s vision is to restore man back to full fellowship with Him, and get him back to the fullness of His presence, that is why He speaks from His mercy seat. Even the doctrine of Christ, people do not want to hear, comes from God’s mercy seat.
Whatever He does, especially when it comes to matters of doctrine, is saturated by His mercies. That is why the enemy will not want people to give heed to sound doctrines. He knows they are the most powerful force in God’s kingdom, because of the mercy they unlock on those who even sit to listen.
One thing that sound doctrines does is they plant us in God’s manifest presence, because of the power of God’s mercies that is behind them.
Trust me, Satan would never want anything that will get you planted in God’s presence to come your way. He will never allow you to open your heart to a doctrine that will help you find a peg in the holy place.
He will rather allow you to be exposed to teachings that propels preachers to remove money from pockets, get folks into the use of oil, water, salt, brooms, candles, pictures, and etc. in prayers. He will never allow men to open up their hearts to truths from the mercy seat.
God asked Moses to put the Testimony into the ark. Then He will speak to Him from the mercy seat. There are truths buried there for us. Maybe lets get to the ones that we can get to.
The ark represents the fullness of the manifest presence of God, or the glory of the LORD on display.
The Testimony represents God’s doctrine, teaching or instructions. Today, it represents the doctrine of Christ. Paul call it sound doctrine. What God told Moses to do tells us where sound doctrine proceeds from; it tells us where the doctrine of Christ proceed from.
It proceeds from the realm of the fullness of God’s presence or the realm where His glory is on display.
That explains why many of us preachers do not have sound doctrine on our lips. Most cannot get to that realm to bring a word to God’s people, hence teaching doctrines of devils like redemption of first born, spirit husband or wife, raising, breaking, or silencing of altars, etc. and doctrines of men like giving of first fruit, etc.
Now, because many cannot get to the realm in God, where sound doctrine is kept for every generation, they preach dark doctrines.
SADLY, OUT OF EVERY 10 PREACHERS TODAY, 9.5 PEDDLE EITHER DOCTRINES OF MEN, FALSE DOCTRINES, OR DOCTRINES OF DEMONS.
That is why churches run either as money making machines, metaphysical cults, social clubs, political parties or places of theatrical performance. It is what a Church teaches and practices that makes the Church what it is.
It takes dying to get to the realm of the Spirit where sound doctrines are kept for each generation.
If a preacher is not willing to pay the price, he will not be able to get there. He will at best be stealing from those who have, and in most cases, owning the revelations. Sadly, many do not know that such preachers are dangerous to them, because the Bible says;
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell. Proverbs 9:17-18 NKJV
If you understand this scriptural warning, you will never sit under a preacher who is preaching a revelation that is not his; one who is teaching things he did not die the necessary death in God’s presence to get.
The Bible says you will sit there enjoying the revelation but will not know that it carries death; and that being a guest of that revelation, will bring you under the spirit of hell, because her guests are in the depths of hell.
The word death represents absence of the life or active presence of God. Hell, on the other hand is a spirit that will never let you have the fullness of the presence of God.
THESE TWO SPIRITUAL PLAGUES HAPPEN TO ANYONE WHO SITS UNDER STOLEN REVELATIONS.
Sadly, today (especially here in Kenya) there are so many preachers who validates the stealing of other people’s messages. In fact, the Church in Kenya was completely under hell and death, because 99.9 percent of what the average Kenyan preacher preaches come from what they pick from somewhere.
It is important to note that, those who validates the stealing or copying of other people’s messages, are ether ignorant of the plagues it brings on their faith at the long run, or are agents of the devil themselves; who are on a mission to keep people under the two spiritual plagues that accompanies stolen revelations – death and hell.
Even if my spiritual son is preaching my messages, he must die my kind of death to the flesh, the world, and etc., else the spiritual lives of those under him will suffer same consequences at the long run.
The Bible says stolen waters are sweet but the dead are there. Do not down play the Biblical injunction.
When you sit under stolen teachings you will never come to the place in your relationship with God where the waters of His presence flow in and through you to change things around you.
You will never come to the place where deep call unto deep in your walk and talk with God.
You will never come to the place in Christ where the water falls of His presence and the waves of His glory and billows will be constantly going over your soul.
In other words, the vision of God to have you back into the fullness of God’s presence or into a realm where His glory will constantly be on display in your life, will not be actualized in your life. The Bible says;
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.” Psalm 42:7 NKJV
You must learn to sit under preachers who can pay the price to get to the Ark of the Testimony in the Spirit, and receive doctrine for this generation.
Only those who pay the price to get there, preaches what can bring you to the realm of the depth of GOD, where the noise of the waterfalls of the river of His presence and waters of His glory go over the souls of men and refreshes or renews their lives.
OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS;
“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:28-32 KJV
If you look at this scripture, you will discover the displeasure of God for prophets or preachers who major on dream interpretations instead of accurate scriptural interpretation.
Accurate dream interpretation could be good, but no matter its accuracy, it is not sound doctrine; it is not part of the Testimony in the Ark for this generation. In other words, it cannot bring any to the place where the waters of God’s presence refreshes and renews the lives of men.
God will never be pleased with any kind of ministry that is built on stolen revelations. In our devotional text, you will find Him registering His displeasure.
You will discover that He is not pleased with preachers who say “God has said,” while God has said nothing; He is not pleased with preachers who prophesy and teaches lies. He is displeased with preachers who make people walk in error.
HE IS NOT PLEASED WITH PREACHERS WHO PREACH, TEACH, OR PROPHESY THINGS THAT DO NOT PROFIT THE SOULS OF MEN ETERNALLY.
While we cannot stop them from doing their wickedness, we can stay away from their ministries to save ourselves.
Here is the spiritual safety rule, once you cannot sense the daily death of Paul in a preacher, please stay away from them no matter what they may be preaching.
I believe God has spoken to us this morning! As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that genuine doctrines do not proceed from the outer court, but from the Ark of the fullness of GOD’s presence on display. Also understand that very few preachers today can get there.
It’s really a tragedy, because most people in the church system are not even aware of these things.
The first thing you will never see in your life, if you sit under stolen messages or false doctrines, is a constant flow of God’s presence. You will never see your life planted in the ark of God’s glory or the ark of the fullness of His presence. It is when you are planted that you become what He wants you to be.
When your life is planted in God’s presence or when the river of His presence begins to flow from it, you will begin to see deliverance happen in your life without going for deliverance. You will be seeing God’s power breaking forth and making things work around you.
Your enemies may come against you in one way, but the presence of GOD with you will make them flee in seven ways.
The blessing of the LORD that makes rich and adds no sorrow will just be happening in your life wherever you turn. The only sorrow you may have will be the sorrow of doing GOD’s will and the sufferings of saying no to the world.
Go for sound doctrines that drop like the rain! Pursue teachings from those who have died the death to preach what is on their lips. Avoid stolen waters by all means. That is the message of today!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass.
For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:1-4 NKJV