TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2022)
“Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 245TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
The 245th day of God’s amazing grace happens to be the 2nd day of the 9th month of the year.
We remain eternally grateful to the LORD God for keeping us alive all the 245 days of the year. Our minds are stayed on Him!
In a world like ours, if our minds are not stayed on Jesus Christ, we will never live in perfect peace. The Bible says He will keep them in perfect peace whose minds are stayed on Him. The same Bible says “cursed is he who trust in man.” Meaning perfect peace is not for those who trust in people.
If you trust in people, you will be losing your peace from time to time.
You will be peaceful this day and troubled the other. That is why, you may have a thousand people who love and support you with the whole of their hearts, it is still better to fully trust in God than in any of them.
To trust within this context, is to invest your entire being in someone because of your firm belief in their reliability, truth or ability. You see, you could have some trust in those who love and care for you, but do not invest your entire being in their reliability, truth, or ability because humans do change.
Sometimes it is not the people that will change their behavior towards you but the circumstances around them will change their ability to be there for you, making it impossible for them to give you what they usually give.
For instance, if the people were giving you great financial support due to their deep love for you, and they lose their jobs or source of income, their deep concern for you has not changed but their circumstances have changed.
It could become impossible for them to keep expressing their care for you through what they were giving to you before things changed. David saw all these before saying what we captured in the second portion of our devotional text. It says;
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4 NKJV
THE BIBLE DID NOT SAY TRUST IN YOUR GOOD FRIENDS, SUPPORTERS AND THOSE WHO LOVE YOU AND DO GOOD. IT SAYS TRUST IN THE LORD.
The Bible did not say feed on their faithfulness, it says feed on God’s faithfulness.
People who feed on the faithfulness of their friends, lovers (not sexual lovers) and well-wishers, will fail when their circumstances changes. But those who feed on the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father, who live in realms where neither Him nor His circumstances can change, will delight themselves in the LORD and be granted the desires of their hearts.
Now, when the Bible says GOD will grant us the desires of our hearts, it’s not a reference to the carnal desires of an unregenerate heart. It’s simply a reference to the wishes GOD grants our hearts to desire.
It is what GOD grants our hearts to desire, especially while we are in a fast, prayer, or a fellowship with Him, that should form the desires of our hearts. Until it comes from Him to our hearts it will never be granted by Him, no matter the situation we may be in.
The law of godliness demands that the desires of our hearts be granted only when they are outsourced from God not from us. It is when the desires of your heart are outsourced from God that they will be granted as you feed on God’s faithfulness.
So, understand that we are not living on an earth that will allow us to prosper if what is in our hearts is from us. The first man never lived that way, and he is still the pattern.
We must outsource our desires from the LORD and spend our days demonstrating our reliance on His reliability, and our faith on His ability. His ability to save, keep, prosper or elevate us. This we must do through a frequent bible based and Holy Spirit enabled fast.
DO NOT FORGET, UNLIKE MEN, GOD LIVE IN REALMS WHERE BOTH HIM OR HIS CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT CHANGE. SO, WE ARE COVERED!
The Bible says;
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will realize that the realm that our Heavenly Father lives is called eternity. And He lives in those realms with people who have a contrite and humble spirit at the center of His heart. The purpose is to revive them from that realm when the need arise.
To revive means to bring back to life, success, health, elevation, blessings and etc. To raise from any unpleasant circumstances and set one on his feet again, by firing life into the person.
It simply means, to restore back to life; it could be financial life, marital life, spiritual life and etc. This beautiful manifestation of God is exclusively for those who demonstrate their trust in Him; people who allow or cultivate their minds to be stayed on Him.
Now, One very effective way to demonstrate our trust, reliability, faith and confidence in GOD is through Biblical fasting. For those who may not know, we are on a 30-day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on Biblical fasting. Today is the second day of the journey.
Biblical fasting is one way we tell the LORD that we have invested our entire being on Him, and that we firmly belief in His reliability, truth or ability to save us, keep us, prosper us, protect us, elevate us, or make us victorious in battle; or even save us from sin and its consequence, depending on the why or reason for the fast.
Personally, I have come to discover that most times, you will not be able to trust God enough to save or keep you from something until you frequently engage yourself in a Bible based Spirit enabled personal fast.
FOR INSTANCE, DAVID WAS A WARRIOR AND FASTED OFTEN.
He fasted often because he was always in danger and needed God to save him from the sword of the enemy. Most times he fasted, not for himself but for others. Sadly, some will always reward evil for his good by fiercely witnessing against him like what many of us face today.
He said in one of those Psalms;
“Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know. They reward me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul.
But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart. Psalm 35:11-13 NKJV
In the new Testament we also have someone who fasted often, almost for same reasons. His name was Paul. Yes, Paul fasted often as well. In his days he was also always in danger because of the precious truths he carried for His generation.
He needed to die daily through his fast as well, to demonstrate his trust in the LORD to save and to keep him from evil.
Though one fasted according to the doctrine of the law and the other according to the doctrine of grace, both David and Paul were important to God in so many respects, and in so many ways in their generation hence fasting to unleash their callings and demonstrate their reliability in the LORD, to keep them from the sword of their enemies as they do His blessed will.
Their lives tell us that we cannot fulfill God’s call upon our lives without relying on Him through frequent Bible based and Spirit enabled fasting. And do not forget that everyone in Christ has a call to fulfill. It is not just we preachers.
So, Bible based and Spirit enabled fasting should be a lifestyle not a once a while exercise.
Talking about the call of GOD, it is important to identify your call as a child of GOD and begin to spend your days around it. Until you identify your call and begin to pursue it, you will be a reproach in your generation despite your Christianity.
OUR JOB AS PREACHERS REMAINS TO PERFECT YOU FOR THE WORK OF YOUR MINISTRY.
That is why no one can tap into the full potential of a true apostle of Jesus Christ like Paul, until they find their callings and begin to fulfill their ministries as they sit under him to drink from his fountain.
There is a connection between the call of GOD upon our lives and a life of Bible based Holy Spirit enabled fasting. Both works together to change our lives for the better.
That is why a frequent Bible based and Spirit enabled fast will not just attract personal revival from God to you, but will help you stumble into your calling and keep you aflame for your ministry.
As we can see in Isaiah 57:15, one of the benefits of a Bible based and Spirit enabled fast is, personal revival. It helps in bringing us to Life in the Spirit and unleashing great prosperity in our lives as we pursue GOD’s plans and purposes for our lives.
If you look at the lives of David and Paul, you will realize that as one humble himself before GOD through his fast, demonstrating his reliability and firm belief in God, God will send a revival into his souls. He will revive his heart and cause a breakthrough light to break out in any darkness he may have been before the fast.
That is how we are propelled by the LORD to move from victory to victory in our Christian lives. The word says;
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15 NKJV
Most people are too dead in the Spirit to release GOD’s calling upon their lives. They are too lazy or too ignorant to come alive in the Spirit, especially to the realm of discovering and pursuing the true call of GOD upon their lives. That is why they are suffering.
The prosperity of the righteous is built around God’s call upon his or her life. No where else!
THE GREENER PASTURE IS ALWAYS WITHIN THE CALL OF GOD UPON A PERSON’S LIFE.
Not in any nation under Heaven. That is why you must lead a life of Biblical Fasting and prayer, at least to be revived enough and come into the realms of God’s true call upon your life.
You see, in the kingdom of GOD, the Spiritually dead can only come alive to “Life in the Holy Spirit” and keep themselves there by dying to the flesh, through a frequent Bible based and Spirit enabled fasting. That was why our fathers gave themselves entirely to payer and to the ministry of the word. You can’t do that without a frequent Spirit enabled fasting.
The problem we have today, in fasting matters, is people frequently engaging themselves in non-biblically based and Spirit enabled fast. They engage themselves in religious fast.
Anything that is not Bible based and Holy Spirit enabled is just empty religion. Our generation must understand that there is a difference between Bible based Spirit enabled fast, and a religious fast.
We will see more about that as we journey along because if you frequently engage in religious fast, and not a Bible Based Holy Spirit enabled fast, you will end up influenced by, or even possessed with, a religious spirit.
One of the most dangerous states to be in as a Christian, is the state of being influenced or possessed by religious spirits. They will use the word of GOD that has not been accurately explained to you to destroy your life. You will be led to do things that will ruin your spiritual, physiological, marital, social, and financial life.
In fact, religious spirits will speak to you in GOD’s voice, altering your peace generally in life. You will think that you are following GOD while you are not. For instance, there are people who have left successful marriages and educational careers saying GOD asked them to leave while He did not.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE ABANDONED PROMISING BUSINESS CONNECTIONS BECAUSE OF ONE VISION OR VOICE A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT SENT TO THEM.
Sadly, you will not be able to identify and overcome religious spirits until you are circumcised in the spirit, and very few preachers today can be used of the LORD to do that.
I wish everyone can be used of the LORD to circumcise our hearts, but very few have paid the price to be used that way because it will take a Paul, a John the Beloved, or a Peter at his old age type of preacher to be circumcised against the religious spirit, and there are not many of them today.
We have more of the Balaam type, the Simon the sorcerer type, the Ellymas the sorcerer type, and at best the Apollos type of preachers; mighty in scriptures but limited in accurately biblical revelation and apostolic doctrine.
These preacher types are the custodians of the religious spirits.
The Apollos type has a different type of religious spirit while the class of Balaam and Ellymas type of preachers have another type – a more demonic and dangerous type.
These classes of preachers initiate all kinds of fasting for people and brings all types of prophecies to them. They are the altar raising preachers, oil using, and all kinds of divergence inventions preachers. They and their members will make you fast a lot but there will be no fruit.
I have seen people under the spirits they got from this kind of preachers having so much problems in life despite their fast. Do not let a religious spirit initiate a fast for you. It will destroy your life in the long run!
Not too long ago, an old woman died while fasting here in Kenya. Was the fast the problem? I doubt, because if fasting kills, then God would not have ordained it. It was not her fast that killed her but the spirit that drove her to fast; the religious spirit.
Satan has always attempted to ruin the purposes of God in every generation that way. True fasting is Bible Based and Holy Spirit enabled. It is dying to the flesh to demonstrate your reliability in GOD and firm believe in Him to do what you are asking Him to do in prayer.
True fasting has changed History and raised many destinies. You are the next to be raised and visited powerfully through a Bible Based Spirit enabled fast.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.” Luke 4:1-2 NKJV