TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 5TH JUNE 2022)
“Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha! ’He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting.” Job 39:19-25 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 156TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
Hallelujah to the King of Kings and LORD of lords.
To who can we compare Him with? His greatness is beyond human assessment. His compassion beyond human calculations. His mercies ever new! His protection, top notch. Even the worst demons that hell can produce cannot break through it.
To Him belong the glory for giving us another day to be alive!
This morning we are going to continue with our journey of faith for the month as we follow the Cry of the Spirit on matters of fear.
Yes, fear, the crippling force of many in their pursuit of destiny. It is one thing that kills a man before he finally gets killed. If Satan want to succeed against you, he will first baptize you with foolishness, then watch you practice it; then he moves further to fill your heart with fear.
There is nothing that strips a man like fear. It speaks and shows you things that are very unreal. It turns threats into photos and make life difficult for you, turning you into a fighter of perceived enemies, supposed enemies and fathom enemies. If you look at what the Church call warfare today you will see all that on display.
People fear cockroaches and other rodents calling them witches and wizards.
When I was under that spell or that kind of Christianity in my high school days, we once killed an innocent cat, calling it a witch. Sadly, the cat was male. How can you call a male cat a witch? At least we should have called it a wizard. But our fear got the better part of us and we got the innocent cat killed.
Someone actually said it appeared from the thin air. We killed it shouting the blood of Jesus, and threw it into the toilet because the ‘spiritual’ person leading said it will resurrect except we do that. But when morning came, we discovered that our landlord, who was asking all of us if we saw his cat, had bought it few days back because of the rats that were destroying his grains.
When he asked us about the cat we behaved like the unsaved Christians that we really were by saying no! We lied! Lying is a sign that salvation is yet to come into someone’s life, even if he or she is a preacher. Or maybe it came and after a while it disappeared.
WE HAD TO LIE TO THE OWNER OF THE CAT AFTER KILLING IT IN FEAR THAT IT WAS A WITCH THAT APPEARED FROM THE THIN AIR.
We believed what the ‘spiritual’ person among us said because we were afraid. If you are fearful, you can believe any lie that sound comforting. You will believe any lie that is told to take care of your fears. You will even follow Baal calling him God, especially when it promises a protection it cannot even deliver.
Most people who follow false prophets and heretic teachings are full of fear. It is the fear in them that makes them believe even prophecies that are factual but outright lies from the pit of hell. The fear makes them worship the prophets and give to them what should only be given to God.
There was this story of a dear man of God who left a ministry he was serving as one of the pastors to start another work under a solo mandate. But his general overseer was not pleased because he feared many people will follow him. The man would later give him a prophecy of ten things that will happen to him.
Everyone who knew this man of GOD was filled with fear, because one of the prophecies said “He was going to die.”
He did not change his mind, he went ahead and started his ministry after a season of intense prayers and approvals from the LORD.
Then came a couple very early in the morning into his home, with a prophecy; claiming they had been praying for him. And that God has sent them to ask him not to go anywhere that day, that he was going to have an accident and die as their general overseer had said if he goes anywhere.
They went further to say they came there so he and they can spend the day praying. These were known spiritual people in their church. People that no one disobeys and goes free.
Yes, there are people like that in so many churches who pretend to be praying for others but are only out to practice charismatic witchcraft on people.
So, this man of God received them politely, and requested that they wait for him while he gets something done. They entered his apartment and took their seats. Then the man went out, took his car and drove off. He travelled for hundreds of kilometers away, running at full speed! Then after few hours he returned.
THEN THE MAN AND HIS INTERCESSOR WIFE ASKED THE PASTOR WHERE HE WENT BECAUSE THEY WERE WAITING FOR HIM.
He said “I traveled. I went to kill all the demons you placed on my way. Now, leave my house!” He drove them out and warned that they not return to his place again. The prophecy said he should not travel or go anywhere that day else he dies, but he went out the same day and returned and nothing happened.
It takes boldness to neutralize lying prophecies. Fear will get your soul caught in the web of lying spiritual people like that couple, who made themselves self-appointed prophet and prophetess.
You see, The man of God was not the fearful type hence the refuge of lies the couple wanted to build for his destiny could not be built.
Ordinarily, most of us would have fallen into the prophecy and begin to obey whatever the couples said out of fear. That is how many get their lives hidden in refuge of lies constructed by dreamers and prophecy delivery agents. God speaks but most of the gods speaking today are sent to build refuge of lies for men and women of destiny to destroy themselves.
A refuge of lies is a succor or solution provided by a lying prophecy or a dream or direction induced by a religious heart. There are other types of refuge of lies, but am limiting myself to this one.
So many people are under the refuge of spiritual lies. Most of them operate as either mushroom or full-grown churches, hosting the destiny of men and keeping them together through the instrumentality of fear. If they try to leave, they are reminded of the persons who left and what happened to them.
The Bible calls such churches cages that are full of deceit. They keep people in fear and intimidation so that they will remain in the cage they call a church and destroy themselves at the end. It is fear that brings men and women into bondage; the bondage of the spiritual head of the cage or church.
But the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of freedom. He will always release anyone from any fear that has subjected him or her to bondage. Yes, that is why men and women of God who carry it delivers people from greedy shepherds that have made them cash cows through what they teach, preach and practice.
THERE ARE PREACHERS WHO THREATEN PEOPLE WITH DEATH FOR NOT RAISING WHAT THEY CALL ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.
The teachers, preachers or practitioners of those doctrines may carry the spirit of a religious Jesus Christ, but are not carrying the true Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ will never subject us to any bondage. It will rather free us from any bondage. The Bible says;
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15 NKJV
This scripture is clear on the nature of the Spirit of Christ – He releases and does not bring people into the bondage of persistent giving to raise altars or get deliverance. People who use spirituality to keep others down through fear hate people like us who preach and teach believers how not to be afraid – how to break free from religious fear impose by preachers and serve the living GOD.
Our devotional text today is a biblical allegory of an end time generation that will function as the horse of the coming King. It is an Old Testament of covenant picture of a new covenant Church that will arise in our days. It will comprise of people who can mock at fear because the anti-Christ functions best by putting people under fear.
And do not forget, the end time battle will be against the spirit of the anti-Christ; the spirit of lawlessness or mystery of iniquity. This spirit tries to do very bad things to inflict fear on people. I was told of a prophetess who perform miracles and puts people in submission to her words by the bad things she make sure happens when she is disobeyed. But finally, she died!
The anti-Christ spirit will inflict people with fear and threaten them at the slightest provocation, basically to also paralyze the work of the LORD. If we do not have a generation that mocks at fear these end time, there will be no glorious church for Christ to rapture.
The reason for the second coming of the Elijah spirit is to raise men and women who will not be fearful before the enemy.
THE ALLEGORICAL EXPRESSIONS OF OUR TEXT SAYS;
“Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha! ’He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of captains and shouting.” Job 39:19-25 NKJV
There is so much truth buried in this scripture that we cannot unearth in a devotional. But whatever you see about this horse is what God want to achieve in our lives as an end time Christians. We are in battle and cannot afford to be fearful like chickens. We are to be as bold and daring as this horse.
It is my prayer that God will animate the truths buried in it and show you more things that will strengthen you to fulfill your destiny without fear. In Jesus precious name. Amen
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba,[e] Father.”
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:15-16 NKJV