TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 8TH MARCH 2023)
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him, Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret – it only causes harm. For evil doers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place. But it shall be no more.
But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:7-11 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 67th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
This is another day that the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. He has been merciful to us. We owe Him a lot of gratitude.
It may interest you to know that what we see on earth as signs and wonders, is actually the evidence of the very environment where God lives in eternity; manifestations of a realm we will forever live in after this life. We are only experiencing a snap shot of it on this side of eternity.
Beautifully, the impact has made us trophies of His grace, mercies and compassion. To Him belong the glory in Jesus precious name.
We have been looking at the faith positions to take and the flesh positions to avoid, as precious word carriers, in other for the word we carry to be fully or richly fulfilled in our lives. We have seen quiet a few. The last faith position we saw was the faith position of rich fulfillment called Patience; we can call it patience in tribulation.
Yesterday we saw that the precious word we carry will try and test us. We will pass through hurtful and painful experiences like Joseph, David and Paul all passed through. In other words, we will go through tribulation. The essence is for us to be purified.
However, we will not be purified, no matter how anointed to do so the experience may be, except we are patient with God, in the midst of the tribulations or test and trials. That is where the phrase “patience in tribulation” comes in. It is a faith position to be patient in tribulation. The Bible says;
“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” Romans 12:12 KJV
IT TAKES THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE PATIENT IN TRIBULATION.
It takes constantly being strengthen by the Spirit of GOD in the midst of tests and trials to be patient in tribulation.
One of the beautiful ways to enjoy that ministry of the Spirit, when going through test and trial, is the way of continuing instant in prayer. The full text of this scripture makes it clear that it will help us to remain fervent in Spirit, serving the LORD, despite what we may be going through. That is why the test and trial, no matter how painful it may be, will end up refining us for the precious word we carry to come to pass.
The amplified version of the same scripture renders it this way;
“Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the LORD. Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:11-12 AMPC
This gives us a clearer picture of what the LORD expects us to do when His word is trying us; when we are being tested and tried. It says we should never lag in zeal for our GOD, and in earnest endeavor. It calls unto us to be aglow and burning with the flames of the Holy Spirit, serving the LORD, no matter how intense the sufferings may be.
It made it clear that our obedience to this call, will help us to rejoice and triumph in hope. It will help us to be steadfast and patient, and continue constant in prayer, no matter how hot the fire of the adversity, because of the word we carry, may be.
One thing a precious word carrier should know is this, your life will be peaceful until you begin to carry the precious word of the LORD in your spirit.
Yes, sometimes things will be fine, until you are exposed to sound doctrine or made a prisoner of prophecies by encounters with the LORD. There is a precious word quality from the LORD, that can create troubles for you, when you receive it into your life.
THE TROUBLES DO NOT HAPPEN BECAUSE YOU DID ANYTHING WRONG.
They happen because you now carry what you have never carried before from the LORD.
In explaining the parable of the sower, Jesus indicated it to be “tribulation or persecution” that arises because of the word (Mark 4:16-17). That is why we must be patient with God in the midst of it. It is a faith position to take. Which brings us to the opposite side; a flesh position not to take. Our devotional text says;
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him, Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret – it only causes harm. For evil doers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place. But it shall be no more.
But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:7-11 NKJV
I can’t forget the first time I stumbled into this scripture. It was a season that men were laying afflictions of slander, evil speaking, terrible gossip and destiny eliminating black mail on my back. I was in the midst of Psalm 66:10-12; the devotional text of yesterday. It was a terrible and horrible season of my life. That was over 10 years ago.
Everything about me was in the graveyard of life, but no one knew it. That was the first time I tasted the fact that a preacher can be at the verge of death, yet members will not know. Their selfishness will not let them pick it, even when it is glaring.
They will come pouring problems on you, not knowing you have bigger problems. I was even seeing a grave the enemy said was mine, because I became suicidal, but none of those around me knew.
It started 8 to 10 years earlier; I had taken a sinful step that I thought was a success step in relationship matters, and the result was killing me. Those the enemy was using to lay affliction on my back were really good at it, making being alive not an interesting thing to desire.
In the midst of that, I never departed from my Bible. I read and clung to it until the pages got tired of me opening them. That was when I stumbled into the scripture of our devotional text. It flooded my weary heart with light and hope, and kindled patience in my spirit.
I WAS NOT PRAYING AGAINST ANYONE WHO WAS BEING USED OF THE EVIL ONE TO MAKE MY LIFE UNBEARABLE WHEN THAT HAPPENED.
I knew I deserved all that was happening to me because the LORD warned me not to take the step. I was only praying to GOD to show me mercy, and lead me back to my destiny paths, using the light of His word.
I knew, if I could return to my destiny paths, I will experience rest.
The only thing I did not know was what GOD was doing in my life; the depth of the refining process was unknown to me. I never knew He was using my tribulations to imprint more of His word into my heart, and move me from the evangelistic mantle to the apostolic and prophetic teaching mantle.
In simple terms, I never knew my mantle was being changed in the Spirit.
Before then, I had been commissioned into ministry on the 8th day of March, 2000; after seven years of full-time evangelistic ministry. (Today is actually the 23rd anniversary of my commissioning, and November 8th this year, will be the 31st Anniversary of my call into ministry. Yet I am still starting. My goal is to finish strong). So, what was happening to me during that season was strange.
I had doubted my calling at the height of the 9 to 10 years of adversity, and began to venture into other things. So, when Psalm 37:7-11 pop up that day, it was a renewal for me. It immediately had an impact on my life. I withdrew from those things immediately, and became patient in my tribulations.
It was a glorious experience, sensing the flesh position of impatience that developed when I doubted my calling, quickly giving way to the faith position of patience in tribulation. Friend, I will never forget those moments. They were painful, but needful.
One of the lessons I learned during those moments, is the danger of the flesh position of impatience to a precious word carrier. I learned that it is the reason why some people cannot wait in the furnace, and be thoroughly refined and prepared for their generation.
CONSEQUENTLY, COMING OUT AS DISABLE MINISTERS OF GOD, OR DISABLED VESSELS OF THE KINGDOM.
Impatience with God, has not helped anyone, no matter how anointed or how authentic their callings were. It has always ruined great destinies and wiped away great futures. It has paralyzed the manifestation of the precious word that God’s people carried in different generations, including ours.
If you look at the fields of the world you will realize that genuine kingdom impact has disappeared. Most of what we are doing in church today is not helping people eternally. We seem to have lost the true impact of the great commission our fathers had on nations, when they turned cities upside down for GOD.
We have produced more dangerous vessels than any other generation, because of impatience.
Child of GOD, you must understand that a precious word carrier, who will not fight impatience, during their season of test and trial, will abort the process and come out as a dangerous vessel. When you become a dangerous vessel, you will be unfit for any good work.
There are chances that you will begin to even use your God given energy, to pursue (with the aim of eliminating), those God may have called to help you, like Saul did to David. You will do things that will make you lose the kingdom, and watch GOD hand it over to someone better than you.
The word of the LORD today is simple; we should not take flesh positions in our walk with the LORD. We should only strive for faith positions. Being patient in tribulation will refine and help us not to blow our destinies away. It will help us not to venture into things prematurely.
I believe the LORD has spoken to us. Time to apply what He has said. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” James 1:2-4 KJV