TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2022)
“The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the LORD, who fully repays His enemies!
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child.
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.” Isaiah 66:6-8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 262ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
It is another beautiful week from the LORD and we are glad to be alive and well. Day unto day He is showing us mercy, and “looking beyond us” according to a song writer.
Indeed, if the LORD has not been looking beyond our sins and wicked acts, into His plans and purposes for our lives, we would have longed perished. God’s plans for our lives are always bigger than our mistakes, rebellion, sin and wickedness. That is why He looks beyond us whenever we repent and shows us mercy.
Apart from our individual lives that have experienced so much mercy from the LORD, the life of Saul who later became Paul is one life that shows a perfect example of this. He did not just live in the regular sins of hate, and etc., he was a murderer, a persecutor and a terrorist who was killing the LORD’s people and throwing some into prison.
Consider the children who were rendered parentless because of him. Consider the emotional torture they went through for being orphaned, the sufferings and destruction that may have broke out in their lives because one zealot called Saul killed their parents for no just cause. Consider the blood that was shed because of his activities and the souls that were lost.
The man Saul was so dreaded and feared in Bible days that even God’s servant, Ananias, refused to believe our LORD Jesus when He appeared and sent him to minister to Saul, after the encounter he had with the LORD on the road to Damascus. The man was too evil to be in Heaven. He carried all the characteristics of a soul that should roast in hell for such crimes against humanity.
But When the LORD met Him, amazingly Christ did not impute those sins on him, He imputed them on Himself and sent him to become his servant.
THE MAN SAUL, WHO LATER BECOME PAUL, IN TESTIFYING OF THE ACT OF MERCY UPON HIS LIFE SAID,
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” Acts 26:12-19 NKJV
Saul, moving from being one who was terrorizing the people of God, killing some and putting others into prison, to an apostle of our LORD and savior Jesus Christ is a perfect example how our LORD and savior can look beyond us.
This is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible when it comes to God looking beyond us and showing us mercy. This is one story that shows that God’s plans for our lives are heavier than our sins, iniquities or trespasses. Making someone who has shed so much blood a servant in the very kingdom he tried to destroy is indeed one of the greatest acts of mercy we can find in the Bible.
That is one of the blessed reasons to serve God.
YOU WILL HAVE HIM AS YOUR JUDGE, YOUR LAWGIVER AND YOUR KING, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
As your Judge, no one will be able to condemn you when He has declared you forgiven, and maybe like Paul, put you in His service. They may hold the stories and with them, cook more things up against your person, but the grace the LORD will be releasing upon you will be making whatever they may be saying non and void. The Bible says,
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. Isaiah 54:16-17 NKJV
We can see the manifestation of GOD as our Judge in this scripture. We can also see His manifestation as King as well, but we will come to that.
The last verse of the scriptures spoke about tongues rising against us in judgment. When GOD is our judge one of the major things He will be doing is to make sure tongues rising against us in judgment are condemned. Be it in the courts of demonic oppression, the courts of public opinion or the courts of slander, gossip, blackmail and all that.
If God is your judge, only His court can determine what happens in your life. Not the courts of demonic oppression, public opinion, hate, slander, blackmail or whatever. That is why the greatest miracle that can happen to a human being is the miracle of salvation. When I use to hear that in crusades in the 1980s it was not making much sense because cripples walking and all that looks more spectacular. But as I grew up, I understood that the miracle of Salvation is indeed the greatest. It does not just make you Heaven worthy, it also makes God your judge. Hallelujah!
GOD IS THE JUDGE WHO WENT TO PRISON FOR OUR CRIMES SO THAT WE CAN SPEND ETERNITY IN HIS PALACE.
The judge who took the consequences of our sins, iniquities and trespasses and handed us a forgiveness, mercy and grace that we do not deserve. I will make Heaven because God is my judge. You will make Heaven because He is your judge.
As our judge we will not need to appear at the great white throne judgment again. We have escaped that one. It is those who did not make Him their judge on this side of eternity that will appear there.
It will be terrible that day because appearing at the great white throne judgment does not means one will be justified. It is a throne for eternal condemnation and judgment. The Bible says;
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV
This scripture contains what we escape if we make Jesus our Judge. It is when He becomes our Judge that our names can be written in the book of life. Until then no name can be written there.
Making Him our Judge is simple. It begins with accepting Him whole heartedly, as your LORD and personal Savior, with fruits of your salvation testifying to Heaven that you are saved. Then it continues by living His kind of Life on the face of the earth; the Crucified life.
THE CRUCIFIED LIFE IS A LIFE THAT SAYS NO TO SIN, SATAN, THE FLESH, AND THE EVIL AND CORRUPT SYSTEM OF THIS WORLD.
It is life that seeks not its own will but the will of the LORD; a life with the foundation of the LORD. Which brings us to the next manifestation of God, our King.
When you accept the LORD and begin to seek only His will to be done, even at the expense of your own will and comfort, you have also declared Him to be your king. If we declare Him to be our King, no weapon formed against us can prosper. Kings defend their subjects from destruction. You will begin to enjoy divine protection from your enemies. He will become a destroyer to your destroyers or your destruction.
As our King, we live only for His will and the establishment of His kingdom on earth as written in Heaven. That brings us to the word of vision of our 30-Day journey of faith; Biblical fasting. Citizens of God’s Kingdom are subjects of His will, plans and purposes. They are usually driven by Kingdom rhythms on earth. They dance to a different drumbeat and follow the command that is outside this world, yet very relevant to their world. However, none of that is possible without their fast.
You will need to be able to sit in GOD’s cabinet meetings that happen in the glory to have burdens placed in your heart, and you cannot do that without Biblical fasting. The cabinet meetings are called “the council of God.” Biblical fasting helps us to sit there and participate in the deliberation, when necessary, or just listen to the Godhead talk for the purpose of receiving revelation, visions, or instructions from them.
Now, it will take Biblical fast (not religious fast) to sit there and take also Biblical fast to bring into the natural what you conceived in your Spirit during deliberations. Sometimes we conceive mandates, assignments, burdens, and etc. They become like our prophetic babies to bring forth on earth by travailing in the Spirit. Our devotional text says;
“The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the LORD, who fully repays His enemies!
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child.
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.” Isaiah 66:6-8 NKJV
This scripture is an ancient secret that have guided many warriors of righteousness in birthing divine purposes on earth through Biblical Fasting. They sat in the council of God in Heaven, conceived great mandates in their spirits and spent their days travailing through fasting and prayer to bring them forth on earth.
THERE IS FASTING AT ADVANCE LEVEL.
Fasting at advance level is not about our earthly needs but about the needs of Our king. That is why when the LORD become your king, you cease living for yourself. You begin to die daily and live a life that is sold out to His will alone. Even your fast will never be for you but for Him. That is why He will make sure no weapon formed against you will prosper.
Now, as our King, we experience Him as our law giver; one who tell us how to get married, stay married, run our financial lives, lead righteous lives and etc. He guides us with His laws. One who leads us on how to put our bodies under so that after we have said “we are saved” we will not be cast away in hell.
As our lawgiver, He streamlines our lives and shows us how to order our steps. He guides us with His eyes and shows us pathway of truth to walk in. He brings ancient paths to scriptural light and kindles our spirits with them. He makes sure we do not embrace the spirit of lawlessness and become part of the mystery of iniquity on earth.
Child of God there is so much more we can share this morning, but enough for the day have been shared. It is my prayer that you use them to boost your fasting life so that you become one of those Heaven count on in Jesus precious name.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him.
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” Psalm 32:6-9 NKJV