TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2022)
“For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 250TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
Welcome to another glorious day from our LORD and King, Jesus Christ; the One who was, the One who is, and the One who is to come. He is the Day which is why He is the giver of days.
It please Our Heaven Father that be alive today. We do not take it for granted.
Every moment of being alive should be handled as precious. Though every Child of God who is very close to Him, sometimes look forward to his or her home going, it is important that we cherish each moment of being alive on this side of eternity.
The moments of being alive are given to us to fear the LORD, obey His commandments, and serve our generation according to His blessed will. That is why when we fulfill our days, after spending them doing just that, we can conclude like Apostle Paul did, by saying;
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV
Most of us alive today, look forward to this kind of ending. Where we know we are going home to be with the LORD, and will be given the mercy to send our last messages, letters, or books to any generation we may be leaving behind.
Though Herod was on standby to take off his head, Paul knew, this time God will not intervene and saved him because it was time to go.
When you see God not saving His precious servants from death, it a major sign that He has accepted their home coming, thereby lifting up the protection that was around their lives; because precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
But while we wait for our final days on earth, we must cherish each moment we have been given by the LORD to be alive, and be grateful to him even if we may not be getting the best of life that we desire.
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE UNGRATEFUL FOR BEING ALIVE BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH.
That is why some take away their lives.
The devil hates us being alive so much that he will either fill our lives with difficulties, or make us take them away because Of what we may be going through. His mission remains to kill, to steal and to destroy.
But we have a Savior and a Shepherd whose mission remains to give us life and life more abundantly. He said in His own words;
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.” John 10:10-11 AMPC
The life Jesus gives eliminates difficulties and brings a man into the shalom, rest or peace He gives, as the prince of peace. The only difficulty you will be having is the difficulty of doing the will of the LORD, which is a healthy difficulty.
Actually, it is not difficulty at all but the price of living a life that is regulated by God’s will and ways. That kind of life is usually costly on this side of eternity.
There are two kinds of life you live as a Christian. You are living either of them as you read this.
You either living a difficulty life that is mostly generated by a life that is opposite God’s will and ways, or living a life that is regulated by God’s will and ways; which also has its own price.
The first kind of life leads to hell, both in this life and the life to come. But the second one leads to Heaven, both in this life and the life to come. That is why Jesus admonished us to;
“Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it.
But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15 AMPC
THE NARROW GATE IS THE REGULATED LIFE; A LIFE REGULATED BY THE WILL AND WAYS OF GOD.
That kind of life is always pressured and contracted on this side of eternity. Those who are lost call it a difficult life. But the broad gate is a life that is not regulated by the will or ways of the LORD. Those who are lost call it the best life.
Sadly, that is the very life that leads to eternal difficulties and most times the difficulties begin here.
People who are lost call that life a prosperous life because though it is a life with eternal difficulties, it sometimes brings the prosperity of the wicked on this side of eternity. That is how spacious and broad that it is.
Sadly, that is the gate many prefer because they can’t see beyond their earthly needs and carnal ambitions.
Now, you ask yourself why will many prefer something that leads to destruction instead of something that leads to life? The reasons are many, of which one has been stated as spiritual blindness. The Bible says the god of this world has blinded their eyes to seek for things instead of God.
Sadly, some of those the god is using to put its blindness on people are preachers. That is why Jesus warned us of false prophets.
He did not warn us of bad government, or evil politicians because, neither of them can stop His eternal plans for our lives; He warned us of false prophets because of the influence they carry and the eternal consequences of following what they teach or do.
For instance, they take believers from a life that is regulated by the will and ways of God to a life regulated by the antichrist teachings and prophecies. They prophesy to people according to the dictates of their hearts and strengthen their hands in wickedness.
They are not interested in grounding them in the faith until they become temples for God in the Spirit and no longer need their prayers and prophecies. They just keep them in spiritual infancy all their lives so that they will always need them.
JESUS SAID WE SHOULD BEWARE OF SUCH PREACHERS OR PROPHETS.
He said they will take us from a life that should be regulated by the will and ways of God to a life that is regulated by prophecies.
Sadly, the even get people engaged in fasting to further make them think they are dealing with God. You find people who follow false teachings fasting a lot. They use the “this kind cannot go our excerpt by praying and fasting” mantra to govern their lives through religious fasting.
But Jesus never intended that people’s fast cast out problems as we saw in a previous devotional. It is faith in Him that was designed to cast out our problems, which can be birth in us if we engage in Biblical fast.
The plague of false prophetic ministries and teachings that people have accepted as true is the greatest eternal plague we have among us. It is placing those who come to the LORD on the spacious gate that has the prosperity of the wicked and the final or eventual destruction of the soul of men.
Child of God, it is important that we do everything within the grace and truth of the Kingdom of God and come under a life that is regulated by the will and ways of the LORD, no matter the cost.
We have been on a 30-Day journey with the Cry of the Spirit on Biblical Fasting.
One of the blessings of Biblical fasting, especially when it becomes regular, is its ability to take us from a difficult life to a regulated life. It will humble you under God and bring you to the place of leading a life that is governed by the will and ways of the LORD – the crucified life.
The blessing of Biblical fasting is so huge that only eternity can fully unravel.
What makes a fast Biblical, is its alignment with God’s Truth. For instance, Biblical fast is something you cannot do if you are walking or living in unforgiveness. But many have been driven by even hate to fast, that is why they fast that God should kill those who treat them wrongly.
A lot of fasting and prayer we do against our enemies are hate driven.
IN FACT, IN RECENT YEARS, CHRISTIANITY HAS BECOME MISSED WITH VEILED HATE.
A little disagreement you will have with people will result in them wishing you death and cursing very badly. I mean Christians not lost sinners.
For instance, recently I posted a word on my social media platform that says “the True Revival is the Rise of the Josiah Generation.”
The innocent and harmless words that should have results for a discussion or Spirit led reflection in the lives of Holy Spirit filled Christians, received a lot of curses and all kind of hateful comments from people who claim to have gone for a revival at Kasarani here in Kenya.
I was left wondering what I said. I had to read the picture post over and over to see if it was not Biblical. It reminded me of what Stephen and the rest of apostolic forces in scriptures faced.
You see, the hate in the hearts of may believers, will take them to hell.
I just pray Christ delay His coming so that we can be purged of all forms of hate and wickedness at heart. We pray hate driven prayers, we fast hate driven fasting, and receive prophecies in the process from lying spirits saying they are from God. Some come pass, others do not. It is worrisome.
Someone may be wondering if lying spirits can speak accurate prophecies, yes, they can. Ask Balaam. What make them lying is not the authenticity of the prophecy but the source of the prophecy.
It is very dangerous to be hate driven in your prayer and fasting life. It is very dangerous to walk in unforgiveness.
If there are people you cannot greet or talk to because they offended you badly, people you have not forgiven, please do not go into fasting. You will tap into a different realm. You will come up with a “GOD say” that God has not really said.
I remember someone who said God told him that I am a false prophet here to destroy the church in Kenya. He prophesied to his congregation.
His gross was him losing members who came to the knowledge of God. They listened to us and sat down to check their Bibles and discovered that what I was saying was true and that their pastor have been lying to them.
THE PREACHER BECAME ANGRY AND BEGAN TO HEAR FROM LYING SPIRITS.
I have heard so much that people said God told them about me. Most are laughable! The hate for me has driven so many of them to prayer and fasting, helping them to tap into the realm of lying spirits and bringing a word to their misled members.
When a preacher is hateful, resentful, and cannot forgive, please stay away from such fellows, because it will not be long, you all will come under the portal of religious spirits. The spirits will begin to speak to you in the language of God and ruining your lives.
Our devotional text says;
“For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 AMPC
This scripture is a command to walk in love and forgiveness.
If we do not forgive people their willful sins, leaving them and letting them go; if we do not give up the resentment and vengeful feelings, and then go to fast, we will tap into realms of devils that operate as religious spirits. We will come out with prophecies, visions and so on that are not from God. Some could be true but not of God.
Hate and unforgiveness are the wrong things that should be in your heart when you are fasting.
Resentment and offenses are the wrong things that should be in our hearts when we are on a fast. They will ruin our lives in the long run. We will come out with results that are from the pits of hell thinking it was God we touched.
Biblical fasting is not something you do when you feel offended, resentful, vengeful and etc. That will be religious fast. If you must fast when you feel offended, resentful, vengeful and etc. it must be a fast for the cleansing of your heart.
Biblical fasting is a fasting we do with living truths in our hearts not offenses, resentment, desire for vengeance, or unforgiveness in our heart.
I believe enough has been shared for the day. May the LORD use these truths to add to the building blocks of our faith in Jesus precious name. Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Luxury is not fitting for a [self-confident] fool—much less for a slave to rule over princes.
Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.” Proverbs 19:10-11 AMPC
Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his [good] works with the [unobtrusive] humility [which is the proper attribute] of true wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth.
This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal).
For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).
And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbed, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].” James 3:13-18 AMPC