TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Tuesday 6th July 2021)
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.
“Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” Isaiah 48:17-18 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 187TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
We bless the LORD for another day to be alive and well. Day by day we are experiencing His grace, love and power. His encamping angels and indwelling Holy Spirit have been some of His greatest spiritual assets in our lives.
While the encamping angels protect us from physical and spiritual harm, His indwelling Holy Spirit is keeping, edifying, exhorting, guiding, empowering, and fueling our walk and talk with Him.
To Our God belong all the glory in Jesus precious name.
There are certain Bible truths that are to be repeated from time to time because of how important they are to our lives. They are to be repeated in other to keep them fresh in our spirits. It is when kingdom truths remain fresh in our spirits that we walk in their blessing, especially in time of need.
The Bible says;
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;” Romans 1:28 NKJV
Not retaining God or His Kingdom truths in our knowledge can lead to us getting involved in very abominable things resulting in very destructive things in our lives. That is why God designed that critical Bible truths be kept afresh in our minds.
THERE IS A CRITICAL BIBLE TRUTH CALLED DIVINE BACKING.
If it is retained in our knowledge, we will not step into the curse of depending on ourselves or others. We will not even engage the arm of flesh in anything that concerns us.
I have taken so many risks in life just because of the revelation of divine backing burning in me. I grew up to discover that it is more risky sometimes not to take a risk. I learned that from Papa Benson Idahosa. There are success strides you will never make until you learn to take a risk, praying, fasting and trusting God to bear you up.
This generation must learn that if you will ever succeed in life, the revelation of divine backing is one major truth in God’s kingdom that must remain fresh in our spirits. It is a major Bible truth that we must always retain in our knowledge. It will help us to avoid so many destructive things in this life, even as we all journey towards the life to come.
Sometimes the devil try to trap us into the curse of not trusting in God. But we can avoided the curse by having the revelation of divine backing burning in our spirits. Concerning this curse, the Bible says;
Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his Strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8 NKJV
Each time I look at this scripture against the backdrop of what many so called deliverance ministers are teaching today to be the root cause of people’s problem, I marvel. The curse of trusting in man, as described in this scripture is huge; it can turn one into a shrub in the desert; it can place one in a realm of not seeing good when it comes. That means perpetually sorrow.
MOST OF WHAT BELIEVERS GO THROUGH IS CAUSED BY THIS CURSE YET MANY OF US DO NOT REALIZE IT!
Can you imagine someone suffering under this curse and approaching a present day deliverance minister or prophets for help? They will blame either evil altars in the person’s life for the curse, or see some factual visions about the person, then ask for seed, or blame the problem on either not tithing or the birth position of the person; it all depends on the prevailing money making doctrine or spirit in the mind of the minister.
The enemy has indeed destroyed everything in God’s sanctuary.
The presence of the curse of not trusting in the LORD and the absence of the blessing of trusting in Him is the reason for most of what we go through as believers. So many are carrying the curse of not trusting in God but blaming the problems it is creating on other things.
For instance, a lot of us are dependents of the arm of flesh but we portray ourselves as God’s dependents. We forget that it is impossible to falsify anything successfully in the kingdom. The absence of its results in our live we always expose us.
We must realize that who we call in the day of trouble, shows who we have been trusting in the day of peace. Who we beg for help in the day of adversity, shows who we have been trusting in the day prosperity. There are no two ways about it. The Bible says;
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
If the blessing in this scripture is not present in our lives, it is a sign that we are dependents of the arm of flesh not the arm of the LORD. It means we do not trust in the LORD with all our hearts or acknowledge Him in all our ways.
AND THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING. 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
When we trust in the LORD, we will not lean on our own understanding, we will be acknowledging Him by praying to Him in time of need and taking other actions that demonstrate our dependency on Him in all our ways, and we will find Him directing our paths.
To trust in the LORD will require having the revelation of divine backing burning in our spirit. It is when it burns that we will not lean on our own understanding. It is when it burns that we acknowledge Him in all our ways. It is when it burns that we find Him directing our paths. Consequently, helping us to avoid the curse of trusting in man and engaging the arm of flesh.
I have come to discover that in the battle of life our enemies are not actually our problem. Lack of the revelation of divine backing in our lives is our problem. If we have the revelation of divine backing, we will establish a fir trust in the LORD in day of adversity, and see Him break forth against to give us rest from it.
Talking about divine backing, I remember defining it in one of those devotionals as God standing by man in every endeavor of his life. It is a supernatural support from a loving God to a people who are aligned with His will and ways. In simple terms, it is God standing by you as a ‘Mighty Terrible One’ (MTO) to help you.
When Jesus was in the flesh as man he never did anything without firs securing divine backing. He was able to raise the dead, heal the sick, come out of terrible storms, walk on water and do all He did because “God was with Him.” Divine backing is God being with you!
IF GOD IS NOT WITH YOU, IT DOES NOT REALLY MATTER WHO IS WITH YOU.
We must seek divine backing in everything we do. Seek it before opening that business, seek it before embarking on that marital journey, seek it before applying for that job, seek it before traveling to that place. Yes, seek divine backing before doing anything in life.
However, in seeking divine backing, you must be in divine will and divine ways. God o not back what is not in His will or established in his ways.
I remember when the LORD made me to understand that what He has given me for my generation will not be accommodated by the ministries I was serving, and that I needed to be independent of them. It was scary! I was just 23 years. I had served those churches for 7 years then.
I was in His will so I need to seek Him for Divine backing. I prayed for 40 days seeking Him for help and it came. It came because it was His will that I serve His mandates for my life independent of the churches I was serving then. Though I was afraid, His arm came and backed me to this day. You do not seek divine backing if you are not in God’s will. It will never come no matter how much you pray or fast for it.
God only back things that are in His will that why people in his will must learn to pray always and trust Him to back them up before embarking on anything He wants them to do.
Sometimes we think that because it is His will, we do not need to pray against for divine backing.
Yes, there are things that happen automatically without praying for them once you are in God’s will and walking in his ways, but there are things you must seek the LORD in fasting and prayer to do when you are in God’s will or walking in His ways. You must seek GOD yo back you up to do what you know is His will.
If that business is God’s will, then seek Him daily for divine backing. If that marriage is God’s will, then seek Him to help you build it in his ways and will. Seek Him for divine backing. It that Church you want to open is God’s will and in His ways, then seek Him to back you up. Once you are in God’s will, you have the legal right to stand in prayer asking for divine backing to succeed in it.
JESUS, WHO WAS PERFECTLY IN GOD’S WILL ALL THE TIME, PRAYED DAILY TO SUCCEED IN IT.
If He needed prayer to succeed in God’s will for His life as man, then we will be fooling ourselves not to do the same if we want to succeed in God’s will for our lives. We must spend our days praying and fasting for divine backing else demons will not cease from hindering us successfully.
What is the message of our devotional today? The message is simple. Don’t go into anything as a dependent of the arm of flesh. If you do, you will reap curses instead of blessings. In other not to be a dependent of the arm of the flesh, you must keep the revelation of divine backing burning in your spirit.
With divine backing, you will not be running in your own strength. You will be running in the strength of the almighty. People will be wondering why you are making such great waves and gaining such heights in life. Those who are wise will know it’s not you but something and someone bigger than you.
I have discovered that a man who try to copy or compete with those God is backing will end up frustrating himself.
When you run against men who are not running spiritually with their natural feet but the feet of God almighty, you will just weary yourself. The race is actually not to the swift and the battle not to the strong. It’s God’s divine backing that makes the difference in life and ministry. There are no words to accurately describe what your life will become if you lack divine backing as a Child of God in whatever you may be pursuing to do.
Marriages will break down without divine backing; Businesses will fail without divine backing. Churches and ministries will fold up without divine backing. God will open a great door for you but without divine backing, you will not be able to enter.
Paul the apostle wrote down in one of his letters saying;
“For a wide door of opportunity for effectual [service] has opened to me [there, a great and promising one], and [there are] many adversaries.” 1 Corinthians 16:9 AMP
It’s impossible to deal with the many adversaries that surround divine opportunity without divine backing. A major highlight in our devotional text today says;
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
If you do not have divine backing in whatever you may be doing, the enemy will successfully sway people against you and there will be no help from God to conquer them.
Always remember that divine backing is God being with you to help you succeed in life or ministry. You will need it to succeed in a wicked and perverse generation.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
“Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish.
You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing.
For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff.
You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 41:10-15 NKJV