TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 9TH MAY 2022)
“Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.”
For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. Romans 8:1-4 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 129TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
We bless the LORD of Heaven and earth for giving us another day to be alive. We will not fail to say “thank you Jesus” with the whole of our hearts because we know we are alive because He is alive.
He has kept some of us from troubles, while for some of us, He did not keep us from trouble but helped us go through them and come out well. Indeed, the eternal God is our refuge, underneath are His everlasting arms.
He has been our King, our LORD, our Judge, our Law giver, our purifier, our sanctifier, our judgment seat, our mercy seat, our fire Holy Ghost Baptizer and our all.
He has also been our man of war, helping us in the battle with unseen forces.
Being invisible and immortal, He have been fighting and helping us to conquer invisible battles and strengthen our mortal lives to live as long as He has appointed us to live.
Oh, yes, the LORD is our helper in all things and He will show Himself marvelous and mighty on our behalf. He offers help to His own and will not abandoned them in the midst of battles, especially if they learn to call on Him.
David said,
“The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower.
I will call upon the Lord, who is to be praised; so, shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:2-3 AMPC
That is why when it comes to receiving help in your indivisible battles, all you need to do is to be on the LORD’s side, then call upon his name because the Bible says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest” (Exodus 14:14 AMPC).
When it also comes to receiving help in our moral bodies, all we need to do is to have the Holy Spirit living in our human spirits, because the word says;
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11 KJV
To quicken is to give life. If the Holy Spirit is not living in us, there will be no power to give life to our mortal bodies, especially when it becomes, weary, weal or sick.
AND THAT WILL MEAN A LOT OF TROUBLE FOR OUR EARTHLY LIVES.
You see, our mortal bodies are designed by the fall of man to be short-lived, and perishable. In the beginning it was not so. That is what make us fall sick and even die.
Before the fall, man could not fall sick or die, but now, death have become possible because of the elements of this fallen age called the present age. But Christ is walking us towards a final realm where we will no longer be sick or die.
When we get to that realm, the bible says “there will be no more death.” But while we are still in this realm, He has made His immortality available to keep us alive and well till we fulfill our days.
So, if we do not receive help from the immortality that is in Christ by being quickened from time to time by the Spirit of GOD, we will live a miserable life and die premature. We will find ourselves not getting restoration and healing each time our bodies breaks down.
We have been looking at practical Christianity; practical Christianity involves, having the Holy Spirit in us giving life to our mortal bodies on daily bases. It involves having a fore taste of immortality while in our mortal bodies.
If you are doubting the possibility of this, read the scriptures on what Paul went through and yet did not die until his days were fulfilled. The Bible says;
“Are they [ministering] servants of Christ (the Messiah)? I am talking like one beside himself, [but] I am more, with far more extensive and abundant labors, with far more imprisonments, [beaten] with countless stripes, and frequently [at the point of] death.
Five times I received from [the hands of] the Jews forty [lashes all] but one;
Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been aboard a ship wrecked at sea; a [whole] night and a day I have spent [adrift] on the deep;
Many times on journeys, [exposed to] perils from rivers, perils from bandits, perils from [my own] nation, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the desert places, perils in the sea, perils from those posing as believers [but destitute of Christian knowledge and piety];
In toil and hardship, watching often [through sleepless nights], in hunger and thirst, frequently driven to fasting by want, in cold and exposure and lack of clothing. 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 AMPC
WHICH MORTAL MAN WILL GO THROUGH ALL THAT PAUL WENT THROUGH AND NOT DIE IN ONE OF THOSE ENCOUNTERS?
Consider what it means to go through all that we read in the scripture above and still survive to write them down? Consider what it means to be far more imprisoned, beaten with countless stripes, and frequently at the point of death and yet not dying?
Consider what it means to receive five times from the the Jews forty lashes all but one and come out with healthy skin or set of bones?
Paul said three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he had been aboard a ship wrecked at sea, a whole night and a day he has spent adrift on the deep, and yet He lived to share the stories?
That was the immortality that is in Christ manifesting in his life. That is another expression of practical Christianity that many of us are not aware of.
So, if you do not believe that we can have a foretaste of immortality you have just seen it, Paul had it to show us the possible of having it even in our days. We just need to live Christian lives that are ruled by the Spirit of God not the flesh. Which brings us to our devotional text this morning.
This morning I woke up thinking about the personal battles and threats to our salvation that we face each day as children of God.
Some of these threats, honestly we lack words to talk about them. Others we lack ears that will hear us or hearts that will believe us if we say them. But the LORD knows all about these wars and His Holy Spirit will remain our immediate present help in all the troubles.
They are close quarters battles that even the closest person in your life have no idea of. But I found some wisdom to apply in my own life in our devotional text this morning, I hope you will find also as we share.
You see, our devotional text today is one scripture I believe many present-day preachers have either not studied or have just chosen to ignore in their crave for other things, and follow their own ideas.
They have presented gospels that we have believed but have not helped us in Heaven making matters. Yes, their gospels have helped us in matters of money making but have not helped us in matters of Heaven making.
SADLY, MANY WHO STILL DRINK FROM THEIR CISTERNS ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS.
Except for those who are still immature and not serious with the LORD, there are certain scriptures that when you read you begin to question the kind of gospel you have heard and believed over the years. You begin to question your salvation even, and begin to realize that you had believed a preacher’s idea of salvation instead of what the word of God truly said.
The scripture of our devotional text is one of them!
Sadly, so many believers are walking with preachers’ ideas of salvation instead of what the word of the LORD is truly saying. That is why there is no genuine Christianity again. It has become near extinct.
We have a generation of youths that does not know what it means to be a Christian because of the some preacher’s ideas of salvation they have imbibed for the gospel.
I remember being one of this breed many years ago until the LORD began to speak to me to ignore all the books I was reading and start studying the Bible to know God for myself. I was shocked to discover the magnitude of errors we have believed in as Christians during the process.
Yes, I was shocked to discover that the Bishops, pastors, general overseers, arch-Bishops and all the men of God I revered and respected so much are preaching gospels filled with their won ideas. It threw me in shock for days and I stop going to their conference. I would later burn all the tapes I bought from them and repent for following human ideas instead of the word of the LORD.
Until you take time to read the Bible in counterpart rendering like the classic edition of the amplified Bible, you will never know how we have been grossly misled by a multitude of preachers in so many aspects of the Christians faith, especially matters of making Heaven.
THE GOAL OF PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING IS TO IMPACT THE WORLD FOR CHRIST AND MAKE HEAVEN.
Our devotional text says;
“Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.”
For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. Romans 8:1-4 AMPC
I do not want to interpret this scripture to you. I want you to read it by yourself and study the lines rendered. This version of the Bible used here made the scripture clear enough for anyone to connect the spirit of the letters.
Personally, I discovered that if you study the scripture closely, with a pure heart and a desire to make Heaven, you will see how many ideas about salvation that have been manufactured by some preachers and taught to the Church as the word of the LORD, especially to the youths from decade to decade.
That is why you see a lot of vices in the lives of many Church youths.
They live in terrible sins and still believe they will make Heaven because they have been told there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. But they their teachers did not add what the Bible really said as we can see in the devotional text.
You can see that the text is full of revelation on the core truth of practical Christian living.
PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING IS “LIVING AND WALKING NOT AFTER THE DICTATES OF THE FLESH BUT AFTER THE DICTATES OF THE SPIRIT.”
There is no condemnation to believers who live and walk that way. Yes, there is no adjudging guilty of wrong for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk after the dictates of the Spirit.
Meaning those Christians who live and walk after the dictates of the flesh are condemned. They are adjudged guilty of wrong doing, and will not make Heaven no mater how highly placed they are in Church or in ministry. That should scare all of us who claim to be believers but do not know how to live like believers.
Jesus subdued sin by dying on cross and released His Holy Spirit to us to help us in living not according to the dictates of the flesh, but according to the dictates of the Spirit.
The Bible says as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God.
But if you do not study that scripture closely, you will think the Bible is saying as many as are giving directives by the Spirit. That is the idea that most preachers have presented to us. But within context, it is not so!
If you read the scripture within context in the classic edition of the amplified version, you will understand how we have been misled. It says;
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.
For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Romans 8:12-14 AMPC
Within context, being led by the Spirit is not just being given directives as it were, but yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit to habitually put to death make extinct, kill or deaden the evil deeds prompted by the flesh or our bodies.
As many as are habitually putting to death, making extinct, killing and deadening the evil deeds prompted by the flesh are the sons of God. As many as are not doing so are sons of hell. That is it!
That give us a true picture of who a Son of God truly is. It tells us the true meaning of what it means to be led by the Spirit.
As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that practical Christian living involves habitually putting to death the evil deeds of the flesh, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.
That is the only way we can come out of the bondage of the fear of coming judgment not by empty confessions of faith. Yes, that is the only way the Spirit delivers us from the slavery of the bondage of fear and bring us into the adoption or spirit producing sonship in Christ.
When we no longer live according to the dictates of the flesh and its evil deeds, but the dictates of the Spirit, we are in true sonship, we can enjoy the bliss of Crying Abba, Father. Hallelujah!
That is why the Bible says;
“For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. Romans 8:15-16 AMPC
When we no longer follow the evil deeds of the flesh and its dictates, the Spirit has testified with our human spirits that we are truly children of God.
The bottom line is in whose dictates one is following.
Those who are children of God follows the dictates of the Spirit, those who are not follow the dictates of the flesh, even if they are crying Abba Father or they are preachers. That is the message!
I want you to read this piece over and over again until more light breaks forth in your human spirit because enough has been said already.
AND MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
So, then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him.
But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God].
But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].
And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.
For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. “ Romans 8:8-14 AMPC