TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2023)
And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse [p]their king and their God, and look upward.
Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness. Isaiah 8:19-21 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 46TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
Glory be to GOD for giving us another day. Indeed, it is another day that He has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it.
Today is the 15th day of our 28-Day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on the supernatural, and we have seen quiet some beautiful truths. Lately, we completed a set of days that we took out to look at consecration as the foundation of supernatural living in GOD.
If you missed them please go back to previous devotionals.
The dark supernatural has trapped so many souls in it. Sometimes one wonder why? Yesterday God gave us the reason. Today we will be continuing with the same flow.
The scripture of our devotional text today, was the scripture of our meditation yesterday. We decided to use it again today, because the truth in it worth a double attention. The first time I read that scripture, I said to myself, do people ask others to go seek witches and wizards, and those who mutter and whisper? And why will the people follow? Is it that they are overwhelmed by their problems?
It is really puzzling when you are told, let us go and meet Satan to solve this problem, and you go. But from what we saw yesterday, it is clear that Satan will never come as one. He will always come as God; as the Most High God!
So how do people successfully make others seek witches, wizards, warlocks and all that? They succeed because they present the witches, wizards, warlocks, and agents of the dark spiritism, as God’s ministers. They propagate an erroneous belief that the people are agents God placed on ground to help men solve their problems.
But the victims do not ask them, which God!
Like we mentioned yesterday, if Satan comes to all men as Satan, or his ministers come as ministers of Satan, they will have very few followers. But now he has millions, and even billions of men and women who follow him, and do his bidding. Many do so, thinking they are following God.
Sadly, some of them are Christians who should know better. It leaves one wondering; because how can you give your life to Christ and then move to make the antichrist your lord and personal savior, because he solves problems? That is absurd, but we do it.
IT REMINDS ONE OF KING SAUL.
Yesterday, we mentioned that Saul visited the witch of Endor; that was a man who was once chosen by God, anointed by God, tasted the power and presence of God, and ate the same food God’s prophet ate (signifying that, he partook of the same spiritual food and anointing), but how he would later turn to go seek the witch of En’Dor, is baffling. The Bible says;
“Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa.
When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”
So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”
Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 1 Samuel 28:3-10 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will realize that what took Saul to the witch of Endor, was a problem.
The Bible says, “Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at Gilboa.” It is pressing problems that usually take people to the dark supernatural for help.
BUT THEY WILL END UP BEING POSSESSED, AND RUINED AFTER RECEIVING HELP FROM IT.
That is why God, remains our very present help in time of trouble. However, many do not find Him when they need help, because their hearts are not pure, according to scriptures. The Bible says, “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” But how many who are in need are actually pure in heart? Very few.
Now, when the word says “pure in heart” it is the purity of the spirit it refers to, not moral or sexual purity. Which means, even your sin should not make you seek the dark supernatural for help thinking God will not help you, since you are living a filthy life.
Understand that Jesus died on the Cross just for you. He is a friend of sinners, who helps the filthy, and then use that to make them clean. So, God can still be your immediate present help in time of trouble, if you seek Him. You do not have to seek the dark supernatural for help, no matter the need you may be in.
But we see a much deeper reason why Saul went seeking for the dark supernatural when he was in need. He had a history of not listening to God, hence had a bad relationship with His prophet. Prophets then, were like the Holy Spirit now.
In their days or dispensation, you have to relate with the prophet and make him your prophet to walk with God.
But today if you do that, you and your prophet will key into the dark supernatural without even knowing it, because GOD NO LONGER walk that way.
It takes the Testimony of Jesus Christ to know that.
Sadly, a large percentage of Church people do not know that, hence calling certain preachers, their prophets; replacing the Holy Spirit with them, and consequently, walking in the dark supernatural in the guise of prophetic and deliverance ministry.
THAT IS WHY WE TELL PEOPLE; PROPHETIC MINISTRY HAS CHANGED. IT IS NO LONGER AS IT USED TO BE BEFORE THE CROSS.
But they are not listening because, these wizards of En’Dor they call prophets, and their witches’ counterparts they call prophetesses or oracles, seems to have solutions to their problems, and they have mastered the act of coming as messengers of God to the people.
Sadly, some who operate as such, really had original callings of God upon their lives, but because they were not discipled by men and women with apostolic content, they yielded to ignorance and it took them back to prophetic ministry before the cross. Now, they operate at par with native doctors, witches and wizards; they mutter and whisper, and prophesy, using the python spirit.
But they do all that with the spiritual traits of messengers, servants, or prophets of God. They function like the slave girl in Acts 16 that Paul met. They are accurate, powerful, and profitable to those who seek them for help. Concerning that slave girl, the Bible says;
“Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” Acts 16:16-17 NKJV
Can you imagine this girl being with us and having a Church in any of our cities today? She will have many followers who will go meet her for her accurate, powerful, and money-making prophetic ministry. But Paul shut her down. Though he ended up in prison because of that, the spirit left her for good.
In the dispensation before the Cross, prophets deputized for the Holy Spirit because He was not yet given; man had not yet been redeemed. But now we have been redeemed. The Holy Spirit has been given. If you therefore, let any prophet or prophetesses, deputize for the Holy Spirit on your case in this dispensation, you will touch the dark supernatural.
The people who were going for the prophetic ministry of this slave girl, allowed her to deputize for the Holy Spirit in their lives, hence becoming clients to the python spirit that was using her. In their days, the god Diana had a woman who prophesied for it, and gave pagans prophecies of what the future holds.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE SAME SPIRIT WAS WHAT WORKED IN THE SLAVE GIRL.
So, Samuel was deputizing for the Holy Spirit in the life of Saul. But the king did not listen to him. He was a subtle rebel, who was more concern with what people would say about him than what God was saying about him. God was patient with him, until he broke all restrictions of the LORD and lost the voice of the LORD. Then a problem arose, and God refused to respond to him. That was when he ended with the witch of En Dor.
The word says;
“When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.” 1 Samuel 28:5-7 NKJV
The Bible says, Saul had killed all those who practice the dark supernatural in the land, and sent them away. But here was him seeking for their help. How did he get here? It is important to know! He got here because he would not listen to Samuel, his God given prophet. In fact, he tore his garment at one point, and killed the priest of God at another.
We will get there too, if we individually refuse to cultivate a healthy, and fruitful relationship with the Holy Spirit, our present-day Samuel, so to speak; and keep going after prophets. We must not rebel against His voice of Truth, and keep ruing after the voice of our present-day prophets.
We must not turn our backs at His voice of righteousness and purity, as He speaks through the Bible, and the apostolic teachings of God’s true servants on the face of the earth today. We must not turn our backs at Him, and turn our faces to the prophets who are all over, both social media and other places, trying to tell us how much of men of God they are.
When He speaks to us, and we refuse to listen to Him, a time will come when we will speak to God, and He will not respond to us. We must not allow that to happen because it will result in a journey into the dark supernatural; it will result in us running after prophets to prophesy to us; seeking for a word from the LORD who we never listened to in the past, from them.
THAT WAS THE PREDICAMENT SAUL FOUND HIMSELF.
Sadly, the church, as it stands today, is in the same predicament.
The number of people seeking prophecy today, testify to these things. People live rebellious and Godless lives, and when problems arise by reason of that, they begin to seek prophecies, they begin to pursue prophets and prophetesses to see visions for them, and prophesy to them; calling them “my prophet, oracle, major” and all that.
I believe, enough for the day has already been shared.
As we bring this to a close, understand that rebelling against the voice of the LORD, has never been a blessing to anyone. If Saul has been faithful to God, or repentant when God confronted him of all the evils he did, he would not have ended with this witch. But he did not. He missed God and ended with other gods.
When you miss God, you will end up with other gods when problems arise.
Understand that the Holy Spirit is our Samuel today; He is our prophet today! Let no one who is going about, calling himself your prophet, or prophetess, take His place in your life. Understand that the dispensations have changed. There is no room for personal prophets in the new Testament.
Also do not create one by calling someone your prophet, else you touch the dark supernatural. They could be your spiritual leader as in helping you hear from God yourself, but not your prophet, as in deputizing for the Holy Spirit.
If you create a place for a personal prophet or prophetess, to deputize for the Holy Spirit in your life, you will wake up one day to discover that you have been seeking mediums and wizards; you have been seeking dark men and women of God, people who whisper and mutter. You will be in shock that you have not been seeking God.
God placed fivefold ministry gifts in the Body of Christ to help us. He placed, apostles, prophet, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. He made them able ministers of the New Testament. They are not restorers of Old Testament systems.
That is why a true apostle today, should help us bury the old nature, have Christ formed in us, and propel us to lead a Crucified life. A true prophet today, should infect us with the Holiness of GOD, then equip us to be able to follow the Holy Spirit ourselves, and live a life that is sold out to God’s will and ways.
A true evangelist today, should stir the lost for Christ, and not practice magic on them. A true pastor today will care for you and make sure you live as a temple for God in the Spirit.
The vision remains, to execute the great commission without omission. So, to the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Do not follow them.
You will be ruin!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
or the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [e]edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, Ephesians 4:11-14