TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Tuesday 20th July 2021)
“His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”
“Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!” Psalm 87:1-3 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 201ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
The gracious GOD has given us another opportunity to see a fresh day. To Him belongs all the glory. I trust Him that the rest of the days will be for us days of the manifestation of the glorious things spoken concerning us!
Yes, there could be gory and disgusting things spoken over us by the wicked, but the glorious things spoken by the LORD are superior to them. There could be gory things spoken because of the fall, but the glorious things spoken by our redemption sacrifice are superior.
It may interest you to know that there are two classes of utterances in the spirit realm; the gory things spoken concerning mankind, and the glorious things spoken concerning mankind.
The gory things are simply the impact of the fall of man upon the human race and the plans of the devil against us. They also constitute any utterance spoken over our lives by either aggrieved people, witches, wizards, false prophets and etc. They also include things we say about ourselves that are not good.
The glorious things are the benefits of redemption, and utterances of the eternal plans of God for our lives. They constitutes what righteous prophetic voices, like the voice of our spiritual fathers, have spoken over us, the promises in scriptures, and the righteous things spoken over our lives by those God placed over our lives like our parents and etc.
Life has a way of activating the gory things in the lives of men.
It has a way of forcing into our lives the manifestation of the gory things that sprang up in the human race after the fall of man. It has a way of forcing the plans of the devil into our lives.
For instance, to get and not stay married is a gory thing. To be pregnant and go to abort the Child is a gory thing. To be sick without receiving healing is a gory thing. To be poor is a gory thing. To sin against God and man is a gory thing. Life has a way of forcing gory things into our lives as mankind.
That is why everyone on the face of the earth is either manifesting the glorious things spoken concerning him or the gory things spoken concerning him. There is no middle ground!
IF YOU LOOK AT THE LIFE OF SAMSON, YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT INDEED THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND!
He was taking on the gates of the City of Philistines and defending Israel from the clutches of their human enemies. That was a manifestation of the glorious things spoken concerning him.
But when he spent the night in the house of a harlot, slept on the laps of Delilah, had his consecration shaved, and became a prisoner in the camp of the enemy, the gory things manifested.
He manifested the glorious when his consecration was kept, and the gory when his consecration was not kept.
Consecration is very important to us as children of God. Living right before God is something we should not debate about. It will put us on the LORD’s side and make sure that what manifest in our lives are the glorious things spoken concerning us! That is one of the many lessons we can glean from the life of Samson.
However, God did not allow the enemy to have the last laugh over his life when he reaped the consequences of his anti-destiny decisions.
If you read the story carefully you will realize that Samson repented of all he did and sought the LORD for help. His hair grew again as a result. And he killed more at his death than all the days he had lived. We can say that was also a glorious thing spoken concerning him.
Repentance is a very powerful force in the spirit. It does not matter what gory things may be manifesting in our lives because of our ungodly and unrighteous conducts, if we can humble ourselves before God, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, the glorious things spoken concerning repented souls will begin to speak in our lives. God said in his word;
“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
Repentance has always been a game changer in the life of any sinner.
No matter how fast your life may be sinking because of your sins, iniquity or trespass, repentance can stop the sinking storms and place you on the wings of God’s mercy, making you ride on the high places of the earth. Hallelujah.
THAT IS WHY SATAN WAGE HIS GREATEST BATTLE AROUND THE HEARTS OF MEN NOT TO REPENT.
He knows what their repentance will do to him and his works. He will make people to be wise in their own eyes so that they will not repent and have their sins washed away. The Bible says,
“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:21 NKJV).
Many are in sorrows for being wise in their own eyes. The enemy has locked their hearts up with veils of deceit and false doctrines so that they will not see the need for repentance or what to even repent about.
We must be careful not to allow the wicked one to put us in such a state. It will never allow the glorious things spoken over repented souls to manifest in our lives, especially after sinning against God.
One of the glorious things says;
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,
whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21 NKJV
It tells us that repentance brings times of refreshing from the presence of the LORD, leading to the restoration of all things in the life of repented souls. But some have preached that it is money to a preacher or Church project that brings the restoration of all things.
Others have said, even after repenting, there are some sins you will still need to give a sacrifice to a preacher for, so that you will be free from the consequences. This is arrant nonsense.
Sometimes I wonder which Bible these preachers are reading from. I don’t think it’s the one the Holy Spirit wrote using our fathers.
You will render the blood of Jesus of no effect in your life if you allow yourself to be misled by a preacher with such teachings that make you give sacrifice offerings because of the sins you committed. The blood of Jesus is the only valid sacrifice for our sins in the courts of the spirit realm not amounts of money.
IT IS THE ONLY THING RECOGNIZED IN THE SPIRIT REALM.
That is why God said in His word;
“Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!
For thus says the LORD: “You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” Isaiah 52:2-3 NKJV
Shaking ourselves from the dust is repenting from our sins genuinely and beginning a walk in the Spirit. That is what brings the restoration of all things and the needed redemption form the consequences of our sins, not money.
The law states that we shall be redeemed without giving money to anyone.
The doctrine of giving money to be free from the consequences of some sins is a lying doctrine on the lips of greedy preachers. Satan put such lying doctrines on the lips of some preachers so that sinful men and women will not reap the glorious things spoken concerning repented souls.
No matter what you may have done, may the enemy not have the last laugh in your life, In Jesus precious name! But you must understand the power of repentance to see that come to pass.
You must also understand that what we manifest in life as children of God, is a product of either our personal consecration or internal desecration. If we allow ourselves to be desecrated by unclean things of this world, or defiled through movies, face book, wrong associations, and etc., we will manifest the gory things spoken concerning us.
Our Devotional text says,
“Glorious things are spoken of you or City of GOD.”
Historically, this was referring to the nation of Israel – specifically Jerusalem. And one of the glorious things spoken concerning that City is that there will be a New Jerusalem in a New Heaven and a New Earth where righteousness dwells. Hallelujah!!
The New Jerusalem is going to descend on the very spot where the Current Jerusalem lies and it will have a throne of David with Jesus sitting on it as KING of kings and LORD of lord, to rule and reign for a thousand years.
I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
However, prophetically speaking we are the City because Jesus demystified that when He looked at us, (the redeemed from sin, Satan, self, and the evil and corrupt system of this world) and said
“You are a City set on a hill that cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).
Glorious things are spoken of us. We must press into them daily. No pressing no manifestation.
Friend, as you spend this day and every other day the LORD will bring your way, I want you to understand that the will of God is that you uncover the glorious things spoken of us and fix your attention on them. Paul said God will reveal them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God!
God’s will, is that we meditate on them day in and day out “until the Day dawns the morning Star Himself shines or rises in our hearts.”
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION TODAY;
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word.”
“With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!”
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
“Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes.”
“With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.”
“I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.”
“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.”
“I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” Psalms 119:9-16 NKJV