TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 10TH MARCH 2023)
…“What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the LORD Jesus.” Acts 21:13 NKJV
But the following night the LORD stood by him and said,” Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Acts 23:11 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 69th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
God has been so good to us and our lives testifies. Even if our minds may not recognize it because of what one may be going through, our lives still testify of the goodness of the LORD, to the sons of men.
We have been looking at faith positions of precious word carriers. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of word carriers because the King of the Kingdom, who also rides on the white horse of the rulership of the kingdom, is called “the Word of God.” The Bible says;
“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” Revelation 19:12-13 NKJV
You can’t be part of a kingdom that is ruled by a ruler called “The Word of God,” and not be a carrier of a precious word from Him. You are a precious word carrier as a born-again child of God; maybe the revelation of the word you carry has not dawn on you yet, but you carry a word.
There are two kinds of people in the citizenship of God’s kingdom; the first are those who have come into the full revelation of the precious word they carry. The second are those who have not. You belong to one of the two if you are truly a citizen of God’s kingdom. You belong to a kingdom of precious word carriers, who are riding their lives under the governing influence of Jesus Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
The pattern is littered all through the Bible; if you read the book of Hebrews chapter 11, you will see all who are mentioned there. They all stepped into some precious word of the King of kings, given to them individually for their generations.
Samson is one of those in Hebrews 11 that we have seen on this platform. Before he was born, an encounter his mother had with the LORD, went ahead of him, and revealed the precious word he was to carry all his life.
THE WORD SAID, “BEGIN TO DELIVER ISRAEL FROM THE HANDS OF THE PHILISTINES.”
It reveals to us, the nature of some precious words people in God’s kingdom carry; a command from the LORD and King Himself, depicting the life direction He wants someone to take.
For Samson, he was to take the direction of a militant leader, whose Job was to deliver Israel. For you, it will be different, especially for our age. The deliverance is not longer from the Philistines but from Sin, Satan, and the evil and corrupt system of this world.
So, if you are saved and sanctified, there is a precious word on your life. A command from the LORD for you to carry out for a life time.
When a precious word comes in form of a command tied to your life by the LORD, it becomes a mandate to die for. Everyone who is in the Kingdom of God today, has one. That is why the five-fold ministry gifts are to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry; their personal ministries as priest and kings – the ministry of unleashing their God given mandates, or living their lives according to the command of the LORD tied to it.
There are precious words that comes as prophecies just to encourage, exhort or edify us. These ones are available within the “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of “GOD” context.
Once they come to you, they are transmitted into your life to make you a carrier as well. But people who carry the precious word, that come as life mandates or commands from the LORD to which their entire life is tied to, are usually blessed daily, with the
“man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of GOD”
type of precious word.
MAYBE LET US SHARE SOMETHING WITH YOU ABOUT THAT. PAUL WAS ONE OF THEM.
The first time he met the LORD, a life mandate or command from the LORD was passed to him. As he would later discover and share, it was a mandate and command that his entire life was tied to. He wrote to the church at Galatia saying;
“For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it….
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,” Galatians 1:13-16 NKJV
He spent his life, carrying this precious word, and moving in the direction of the mandate until he breathed his last. But in-between, there were seasons that the “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed from the mouth of the LORD” word dimensions came to him.
One of it was in the midst of an intense persecution and trial.
Agabus, one of the remnants of the Old Testament kind of prophets, met him at one time and warned him prophetically not to go to Jerusalem because of what awaited him. Everyone urged him not to go. But as we can see in our devotional text, in response to the prophecy, and to all the people who were powerfully affected by it, the precious word carrier said;
…“What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the LORD Jesus.” Acts 21:13 NKJV
In today’s Church, the prophet will place a curse on him and people will accuse him of disobeying the man of God, or the voice of GOD. But Paul was more advanced in revelation. He knew it was the gift of GOD that was speaking, not the voice of GOD. The two are not the same.
Paul was a carrier of the voice that sealed his life many years back, but his excellency, Prophet Agabus, was just expressing a gift of prophecy.
But how many Christians today, know that what a gift of prophecy says is the voice of a gift, not the voice of the LORD? Very few! That explains why so many word carriers abandon what the voice of God said to them years ago, for what gifts of prophecy are saying to them today, thereby defeating the precious word they carry, and God’s mandate for their lives.
UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT THE VOICE OF THE LORD HAS SAID TO YOU, IS SUPERIOR TO WHAT THE GIFT OF PROPHECY MAY BE SAYING TO YOU.
We are not bound to follow the gift of prophecy like we are bound to follow the voice of the LORD. That is what many in church today do not know, hence being misled by both prophets of light and darkness in matters of predictive prophecies.
So, Paul did not follow the gift of prophecy that day, as useful and accurate as it was, because he already had a voice that was leading him. That voice, was the voice of the precious word that was commanded and tied to his life, the day Jesus met him on the way to Damascus.
He knew that the gift should only be followed if it aligns with the voice of the precious word he carried. That is why people who do not have the revelation of the precious word of the LORD for their lives, always look for prophecies from prophets. They are the ones who run after them saying, “prophet, prophesy.” They are the ones who become victims of charlatans.
But if you are under an apostolic anointing like Paul, you will know that what the apostolic said to you, is superior to what the prophetic maybe saying to you through the gift of prophecy. You will be stable like Paul and not be looking for prophets to prophesy to you, or panic if they bring fearful predictions.
What took me here was what Jesus did when Paul finally got to Jerusalem. Indeed, trouble broke out as the gift of prophecy predicted, and all hell let loose. But one thing that did not happen was, Paul was not eliminated as the people feared.
Like the Eagle that he was, he used his apostolic skills to ride on the storms that broke out, and made it a platform to fulfill his ministry by sharing the word, as the precious word he carried commanded him to be doing the first day the LORD placed it on his life.
The Bible says the LORD granted him favor in the midst of the fight; favor, with the Soldiers who were stirred to arrest him.
Now, as we can see in our devotional text, the LORD did not just stop there, He also appeared to him one of the nights, after a heated session with the terrible Pharisees and Sadducees.
THE LAST PART OF THE TEXT SAYS;
But the following night the LORD stood by him and said,
“Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Acts 23:11 NKJV
The LORD is saying to us through this encounter that He gave to Paul, that His precious words that we carry are much more important, eternal, proven, steadfast, dependable, powerful, and in alignment with our prophetic destiny, than any vision about us, prophecy, dream, or revelation, that may come from anyone, even if they are as accurate as his excellency, prophet Agabus.
The second thing He is saying to us is this; every carrier of a life time precious word, will need seasonal words of encouragement, not from a pastor, a concerned kingdom citizen, a prophet, or anyone to keep moving on. They may be concerned but will never be in alignment with your destiny all the time. Those who surrounded Paul were concerned but were not in alignment. The Bible says;
“Now when they heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem,
then Paul answered; “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the LORD Jesus.” Acts 21:12-13 NKJV
If Paul had listened to them, He would have missed it, so long as his divine destiny was concerned. But he went ahead and met the real encouragement he needed, from the LORD Himself. That is why I urge believers to shun the many prophets and prophetesses who bring this or that prophecy to them, on this or that.
I want to urge you reading this to do what Paul did, if anyone brings a word of prophecy to you that runs contrary to an original word you heard from the LORD. It could be accurate but if it runs contrary to the precious word you carry, shun it. It will ruin God’s voice in your life if you do not.
Friend, every carrier of the precious word will need seasonal words of encouragement from the LORD Himself, like Paul got, to get to the finishing line of their assignments. It is those seasonal words that comes as proceeding words that man cannot live without.
I believe enough have been shared for the day. There is so much depth in today’s devotional that needs to be chewed. I hope you will take the strong meat, bit by bit, and chew it gradually, until you absorb every bit of it into your spirit.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel,” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat the scroll. Ezekiel 3:1-2 NKJV