TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 28TH JUNE 2023)**
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth — if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” Psalms 137:5-6 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 179TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
Indeed, there is no God like Jehovah, the God of Jeshurun, who rides the Heavens to help us. For 179 days He has been thrusting the enemy down and saying destroy. The eternal God is our refuge, our lives testifies.
Underneath are His everlasting arms.
Friend, if you see people whom the Bible describes as the foolish, the weak, the lowly, and the despised things of this world, succeeding or progressing in whatever they may be doing in God’s kingdom, just know that it isn’t them. There is an eternal GOD behind their lives, making things happen. That is a summary of the story of my life.
I guess, you can say the same of yourself.
Let us therefore, not fail in appreciating this GOD, who alone is wise; the omnipotent, the omnipresent, the omniscience, and the Omni of the ominis on planet earth, who sits in the circle of the earth, lives beyond the galaxies, but with a presence that can still be felt around everyone on earth.
There are no words that one can use in describing this amazing God, who the Hebrew nation caught in 300 names, and we saw all those names crystallized into the name above all names, Jesus Christ. The Bible says,
“Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV
Our security has been in this name that is above all other names. Yes, our Peace, healing, deliverance, salvation, visitations from God, revelation of who He is, expectations in life, and all you can think of, has been in this name, the name Jesus Christ.
TAKE THE NAME AWAY FROM OUR LIVES AND OUR ENEMIES WILL BEGIN TO HAVE US FOR DINNER.
That is the name we believe in, that is the name we bear, that is the name we own and boast in. That is the name above our own names and whatever is named in our lives. It is the name we cherish, worship, adore, honor, live for, and will also die for. It is at that name that our hearts have bowed to the LORD and our knees to His majesty forever.
That is the name that forms the core of our faith. We pray in that name, live in that name, worship in that name, fast in that name, give in that name, overcome trials in that name, go through adversity and come out strong, all in that name. We fight the fight of faith, in that name. We meditate on and read our Bibles in that name, we attend church services in that name, we spend time in personal prayers, all in that name.
There is nothing about the Christian faith that is done outside that name. Anything done outside it is of the dark kingdom. We are all going to Heaven in that name.
Our eternal and prophetic destinies are all fulfilled in that name. It is a name that is respected in Heaven, worshiped on earth, and feared in hell. That is why the Bible says, at its operational power, every knee shall bow, of those, in heaven, of those on earth, and those beneath the earth. It is the name of our divine destiny.
Now, talking about divine destiny, it is important to note that, in Heaven, the only matters that make a Heavenly council to sit, are matters of divine destiny.
The first time the council of Heaven sat over an issue, as documented in scriptures was after the creation of the heaven and earth; when God wanted to create the reason for creating the heaven and the earth. That reason was mankind.
THAT WAS WHEN THE COUNCIL OF HEAVEN SAT.
During the council meeting, God spoke to GOD in council (God the Son and God the Spirit) saying;
…”Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 NKJV
This scripture shows that the first time a Heavenly council sat on earth matters, was to create man. And do not forget, the creation of man was motivated by divine destiny. So, what really made the council of Heaven to sit that day was to fix matters of God’s plan and purposes.
God’s council does not sit because we are suffering. He can intervene in our sufferings without the council of Heaven sitting. God’s council sits because of our destiny. That is why, no matter what you may be going through, if destiny is not at the center of it, it will never make God’s Heavenly council to sit.
God will first harmonize a man with His immediate present will, to bring the person into destiny alignments, before moving significantly in his life.
The Heart of God beats after men and women whose hearts are beating after their divine destiny. If you want God to set His eyes permanently on you, locate what He created you for, and spend the rest of your life pursuing it.
There is a generation that Heaven is watching over; it is not the generation of prayer warriors. It is not even the generation of preachers. It is the generation of those who are mindful of their divine destiny and are busy with how to fulfill it.
This people enjoy a special grace of divine attention. Before they call, God’s answers, and while they are still speaking, God hears. We have been looking at what our destiny needs to be fulfilled. Words like this should stir us into limiting our lives to matters of our divine destinies only.
Yesterday God highlighted to us that living a life of repentance is one major ingredient our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled.
We discovered that, secret sins can be very dangerous to our divine destinies. Every Child of destiny who could not finish the race God set for him by GOD, disappointed destiny due to either a secret sin in their lives, or something close to it.
THE NEXT THING OUR DIVINE DESTINIES WILL NEED TO BE FULFILLED, IS THE PRINCIPLE OF SWIFT RESPONSE TO GOD!
Seven years ago, I was ministering in one of our schools of the Spirit sessions here in Nairobi, and the LORD showed me someone who will soon come under the gates of death and even die if he did not respond to his destiny. The LORD showed me that there has been an un-necessary delay in the way he was handling a divine call.
I really saw this death coming and was eager to tell this person about the vision. But due to my personal prophetic tradition, I decided not to announce the vision, but to seek a way out, because GOD reveals to redeem.
So, I called this person and tried to bring him into what God had called him to do. I shared with him the importance of being swift in responding to God’s call. That day, he understood that if we do not add swift response to our divine destiny, it will never be fulfilled.
You see, there is what we call in the prophetic realm, “the swiftness of an eagle.” If you do not have that as a Child of God, you will never step into your divine destiny, consequently, becoming a prey of spiritual predators like demons of premature death. Our devotional text was an expression of the swiftness of an Eagle that David passionately made in one of those spiritual sessions of his life. A major highlight of it says;
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth..”
Jerusalem was the place of his divine destiny. His assignment was not actually to become king but to locate where the temple was appointed to be built before the ages began. And that he did very well – he located and built Jerusalem – a major project that was part of his divine destiny.
And as you can see in the devotional text, David attached his joy, skill, success, increase in life, and even the power of his speech to his response to divine destiny.
That means, a swift response to divine destiny has a way of bringing increase to us. It has a way of protecting us in ways we may not understand. That is why it’s not safe to spend one moment of your life outside the things God may have assigned you to do on the face of the earth.
I CANNOT FORGET THIS STORY!
I have shared it over and over again to illustrate so many relevant truths that the LORD has enabled me to teach. This story is about a couple God called to be missionaries in India, many years ago.
Dr. T. L. Osborn of blessed memory had just returned from India and some other missionaries too. One of them brought a report of how much India needed the gospel. This couple sat in that meeting listening, and after that the Holy Ghost said to the man, “shut down what you are doing. I have called you to be a missionary to India.”
But, like every Ahab husband does, he went to his wife for her consent. The woman told him, it cannot be God. We can’t go to that terrible place.
Day after day, week after week, and then month after month God kept reminding him. But he would not respond because the wife kept telling him that it was not possible to leave the comfort of America and go to India for missionary work.
She suggested that they send money monthly to those there.
When the man objected and insisted that they go, she threatened him with divorce. Sadly, the fool, like many of us, fell into her cheap threat. The man stupidly chose his marriage over his divine destiny. Finally, God stopped speaking to them, and the consequences of his disobedience started speaking to both of them.
The wife was the first it spoke to. She caught cancer and died!
Then a man of God came to tell the husband the reason why he lost his wife, but before he could get himself together, maybe to now Obey God, he caught cancer also and died. All these happened after years of not responding to divine destiny.
From these stories, I came to learn that death and all forms of evil, will successfully attack those whose disobedience is hindering souls from being saved.
Are you one of them? If you are, know that God sent this word to wake you up! You may have a fruitful relationship with God, spending countless hours with Jesus Christ, behaving yourself wisely like David, and not plagued with the love of money or secret sins. But if you are not swift in your response to divine destiny, you will lose the results of all that and bring calamity upon yourself.
I pray for you today, that you take away fear from your heart, and embrace God. I pray that your understanding of what the will of the LORD is will be boosted by this devotional, and the swiftness of the eagle restored to you. I pray that you join those who are redeeming the times, because the days are evil.
I pray that you don’t become lazy or slothful in matters of divine destiny, but you become swift and responsive in Jesus precious name! Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:14-17 NKJV