TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 12TH DECEMBER 2022)
“Thus, says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place?
For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.”
[The acts of the hypocrite’s worship are as abominable to God as if they were offered to idols.] He who kills an ox [then] will be as guilty as if he slew and sacrificed a man; he who sacrifices a lamb or a kid, as if he broke a dog’s neck and sacrificed him; he who offers a cereal offering, as if he offered swine’s blood; he who burns incense [to God], as if he blessed an idol. [Such people] have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations;” Isaiah 66:1-3 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 347TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Day unto day God has been showing us mercies and looking beyond us, to the glorious future He has prepared for us; a future of a New Heaven and a New Earth, where righteousness dwells.
Talking about the future, there are two kinds of futures that are before every one of us. Each has an earthly aspect and an eternal aspect. The earthly aspect is called a future in time, and the eternal aspect is a future in eternity.
There is a future in time and eternity before those of us who are walking in the flesh, and there is a future in time and eternity for those of us walking in the Spirit. The future of those of us who walk according to the flesh and those of us who walk according to the Spirit is not the same.
Each kind of walk creates its own kind of future, and God does not want us in the future created by the flesh. That is why He said in His word;
“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).” Galatians 5:16 AMPC
We have read this scripture repeatedly on this platform and it is deliberate. The idea is to have it sync with our spirits.
Walking in the flesh is gratifying the carnal and sinful cravings and desires of that human nature without God that lives in everyone. Walking in the Spirit is living a life that is responsive to, and controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit, despite the Godless human nature within us. It is ignoring the nature and responding to the Spirit each day.
EACH WALK HAS ITS OWN DETERMINED FUTURE.
The future that a walk in the flesh will create in time and eternity is called ruin or corruption, and that which a walk in the Spirit will create in time and eternity for those who walk in the Spirit is called everlasting life. The Bible says,
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7-8 KJV
All these means, while God has predestined the human race to be redeemed and brought to Heaven, each person’s walk will ultimately determine if that will happen to him or not. God is not willing that any should perish, hence providing for us the way of Salvation. But each person’s decision is what will determine their destiny in this life or the next life.
Jesus Christ remains the way of Salvation for the Human race. The Bible says;
“Therefore, if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMPC
Salvation remains by faith but a faith that springs from a transformation that has happened within. If you look at this scripture you will see that transformation. It is a transformation of a moral and spiritual condition that happens when one is ingrafted into Christ, becoming a new creature.
To be ingrafted means to be joined or fastened. Your moral and spiritual condition cannot remain the same after you have been joined. If it is still the same, it means you have not been joined to Christ. You are not saved yet. Salvation is by faith but by a faith that has character fruits resulting from the transformation of one’s spiritual and moral condition.
SURRENDERING OUR LIVES TO CHRIST IS SURRENDERING TO A LIFE OF REFORMED MORAL OR SPIRITUAL CONDITION.
A life of reformed moral and spiritual condition is a life that is not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit of Christ. It is a life that is responsive to and controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit, not a life that gratifies the desires and sinful cravings of the flesh.
A life that is responsive to, and controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit is a life that will always carry the indwelling presence of GOD. Which brings us to the focus of our 31-day journey of faith – the Presence of GOD.
The LORD has been speaking to us lately on the necessity of carrying the indwelling presence of God. The indwelling presence of God is what guides us on how to walk in a dark world. It is what qualifies us for Heaven and make it possible to survive an evil infested earth.
There are seven classes of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The seventh class has to do with moving from divine visitation to divine habitation.
Divine visitation talks of the manifest presence of the LORD, but divine habitation talks of the indwelling presence of the LORD or God. The ultimate purpose of the presence of the LORD is divine habitation.
A major portion of our devotional text says;
“Thus, says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place?
For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.” Isaiah 66:1-2 AMPC
The first two verses of this scripture talk of God’s desire to have His presence living in us; in others, to have the hearts and spirits of sanctified men as his resting place of earth. That means you do not call a building the house of God, The house of God is a people who carry His indwelling presence on earth.
That means no church building is a house of God. Those terms have been our religious expressions for years, making us lay emphasis on buildings and structures instead of on people. We have invested fortunes building so many structures and telling people that they are contributing to building a house for GOD, but God Himself said, it is a lie.
NO ONE CAN BUILD A HOUSE FOR GOD.
You can build a house for serving the purposes of GOD but you cannot build a house for GOD. If you have ever given money like me, to build a house for GOD, you were fooled. God said;
….Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place? Isaiah 66:1 AMPC
Thank GOD something is happening in the body of Christ.
I perceive that the spiritual leaders who will replace the current ones will walk away from any form of Biblical illiteracy on matters of GOD’s house. They will embrace revelation knowledge so that people will begin to lay emphasis on building themselves up and keeping a clean walk with the LORD, so that we all can fulfill our destiny as the house of God on earth.
It is an irony that while God is calling people who carry His indwelling presence His house, religious people are calling building God’s House. Bishops, archbishops, prophets, popes, fathers and all kind of men and women of the ecclesiastical order are calling large and small church halls “House of GOD.”
Off course, that is what they will prefer because with that they can be raising all kinds of monies for themselves in the name of building a house for GOD and smiling to the bank. There are stories where people have been told to give moneys for houses of GOD that have refused to be completed.
There are church building projects that have become ATM machines for some preachers. They themselves will not want the building completed. They need it as a bait for collecting money from GOD’s people. So, when you go to church, you give offerings more than 20 times.
WITH MANY TIMES FOR THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE OF GOD WHILE YOU WHO IS GIVING IS THE REAL HOUSE OF GOD.
This is one error that has kept people in the realm of divine visitation instead of the realm of divine habitation. Until we come into the realm of divine habitation, where we do not need to seek GOD to visit us again, because then He will be living in us, we will never become like the house of Obed-Edom.
Concerning the household of this Old Testament resident of Israel, the Bible says;
“So, David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to him into the City of David; but he took it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
And it was told King David, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing;” 2 Samuel 6:10-12 AMPC
As we can see in this scripture, David got afraid of the cost of divine habitation (so to speak) when he saw Uzzah killed by GOD for abusing the protocol of divine presence. He consequently, decided not to bring the ark into his house, but Obed-Edom took the risk and decided to move from asking God to visit him with miracles to asking God to live with him (so to speak). He received the ark into His household.
A household signifies a man’s life.
Obed-Edom decided to bring the ark into his life (so to speak), and the result was amazing. The Bible says “and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.” David had to learn from that at the end of the day, and opted for divine habitation instead of divine visitation too.
The life of this Old Testament man tells us that we will not need to ask GOD to visit us with miracles again if we move from the realm of divine visitation to the realm of divine habitation. We will be seeing blessings springing up in our lives seasonally and moving from glory to glory because of the indwelling presence of God.
You have a choice to make this morning; a choice to keep calling a Church building “house of God” or seeing yourself as “the house of God” and moving from the realm of divine visitation to the realm of divine habitation.
THIS IS A CALL FOR A FRESH WALK WITH GOD FOR SOMEONE.
You have a choice to make between going everywhere people gather, to look for GOD to grant you miracles, and going nowhere people gather for miracles but carrying GOD on your inside, and watching His indwelling presence in your life bless you and your house hold like it did to the house of Obed-Edom.
You have a choice to make between worshiping in a divine visitation-oriented church, where you are asked to sow this seed, use this oil, use this sand, collect this prayer clothe or miracle water, or travel for this miracle meeting or gathering and etc., and worshiping in a divine habitation-oriented church where your life can become like the household of Obed-Edom in blessings.
You have a choice to make!
As we bring this to a close, I want to recommend a series of messages I preached in the past on this. They are titled; “Moving from Divine Visitation to Divine Habitation.” You can call the Church material handlers on Telephone number: 0718901132 (+254) for your copies.
Time to bring the ark of the LORD into your life! Time to carry GOD’s indwelling presence in your life!! Time to move from divine visitation to divine habitation!!!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.” 2 Samuel 6:16-17 AMPC