TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER 2023)
“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jeremiah 23:3-6 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 251st DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
This is another day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Day unto day He shows us His mercies. It is just that many of us are not making use of it.
Yes, if you ask me, I will say, the mercy and grace of our God has been the secret of our survival. Both are the reasons we have not been given to the will of our enemies, and all that is against us.
Indeed, we can align with David this morning to say, “If it was not the LORD who has been on our side, men would have swallowed us up when they rose against us!” Do not forget, Satan will always plant dark men and women around destiny people to hinder them. But GOD also has a way of protecting destiny people.
However, there is a talk about enemies today that is more of a panic talk than a revelation. Satan has used our ignorance of God to place most of us in panic modes, talking fearfully about the enemy and what he is doing without walking in faith!
God want us to walk in faith not fear. He wants us to be Christ and His kingdom conscious, not Satan and his demons conscious. He wants us to be conscious of those who are for us, not those who are against us. He wants us to fill our hearts with what is working out for our good, not what is working against us.
Talking about enemy, enemy and enemy, is more of a sign of illiteracy in the things of God. Knowing God changes your conversation. It exhumes faith in Him in your spirit, and brings peace of mind, calmness and boldness, even in the midst of storms.
It makes the enemy too small to be made the centre of one’s faith. It makes him too small to be at the center of the reason for a church service, or prayer meeting.
IN FACT, HE BECOMES “A THING OF NO CONCERN.”
Talking about the enemy will never erase his works from your life or the life of any one. If you want to stop the enemy, you must start talking about God, His promises for you, His ways and will for your life, His power, His glory, and His kingdom. The enemy must not be your conversation.
That is why deliverance system in God’s kingdom is different. It centers on teaching the captive about GOD, and Christ their deliverer, until they align with Him, and come into His rest for them.
Deliverance system in the kingdom of darkness and men of God who do not know this, talks about the enemy you want to be delivered from. Sadly, you end up getting either nothing or just a short relief, instead of the rest you are looking for.
Deliverance system in God’s kingdom sets free by talking to you about God. So, if you want to be free from any works of darkness, meet a church that can teach you about the works of God, the person of God, the ways and will of God for your life, and the true revelation of who He is. It will change your conversation and belief system, bringing you freedom.
People who talk about God and His Christ, will never cease from seeing His acts and amazing grace in their lives. They will enjoy the best of Jesus, and find Him to be enough, because He will become real in their lives.
Sadly, Jesus is not yet real in the lives of so many. He is a prophet to some, and maybe a history figure or myth to others. But I want to submit to you that Jesus is real, He is not a myth. He is the second person in the triune God, and can be very real in your life!
He has not been made real in so many lives because people look for Him in wrong places. It is when you look for Him in wrong places that He appears to be a myth to you; because you will never see Him, He will never be real in your life.
I WANT TO SUBMIT TO YOU THAT JESUS CANNOT BE FOUND IN WRONG PLACES.
So, do not look for Him everywhere His name is mentioned. His name may be mentioned in a place, but His presence will not be in that place because of the agenda of those who may be mentioning His name. Sadly, today, there are so many gatherings, churches, and ministries where the name of the LORD is mentioned, but the glory of the LORD is absent.
Those are the wrong places to seek the LORD.
This end time God is raising right places to find the LORD. He is taking His sheep from wrong places to right places where Christ can be found, and made real in the lives of those who are hungry and thirsty after righteousness. Our devotional text is a major prophecy that has both Historic and prophetic Consequences.
Historically, it was fulfilled in 1948 when God brought Israel back to their land. But spiritually it has been fulfilled in every Church generation. Our Church generation is currently experiencing its own package of the fulfilment of this prophecy.
It is the very prophecy that is being fulfilled in the life of many souls in our ministry. I have seen other ministries that the LORD is using to do the same thing.
The precious souls that God is setting free in our apostolic centre were in places they thought were Cities of refuge. But all their days in such places made them emptier of Christ, miserable, and spiritually bankrupt.
They never found the LORD. Those who even found Him before going to such places ended up loosing Him. They all ended with empty lives after filling the pockets of the prophets, prophetesses, apostles and etc. with money, through the dark practices like altar raising, that they were taught.
The reason for that is simple; Christ was not there! It was just the mentioning of the name Jesus that was there; the presence and glory of Christ was not there.
You can not have the presence and glory of Christ in a place and be asking people to sow seeds to get miracles. You can not have the presence of glory of Christ in a place, and have people who live in persistent sins calling it their weakness.
You can not have the presence and glory of Christ in a place and hold on to dark doctrines and practices without God confronting you about it. You can not have the name without the presence of the LORD and experience rest from sin, Satan, and his works.
THE NAME OF THE LORD, WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OR GLORY OF THE LORD, WILL NOT PERMANENTLY SAVE OR CHANGE ANYONE
You can only find the name and the glory of the LORD in the right places; God’s cities of refuge for the end time. That is where curses will be turned into blessings. It is the place where living in sin will no longer have dominion over God’s people.
Yes, a place where their warfare will be brought to an end.
The Bible made it clear that when you get to a City of Refuge, every avenging demon in your life will no longer hold you sway. So, the story of the souls in our apostolic center who are experiencing the glory of the LORD, is a pointer to the fulfilment of prophecies.
Simply put, they got to where Christ is, and they were delivered from the works of their enemies. That is the Jeremiah 23:3-6 prophecy manifesting. A major Highlight of the text says,
“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.
This end time, you will never be free indeed from any harassment of the Devil, or become what God has created you to be, if this prophecy is not fulfilled in your life. The prophecy must be fulfilled in your life, for your problems to be neutralized.
You must therefore, find an apostolic and prophetic grace teaching center to plant yourself for that to happen. End time freedoms by the hand of the LORD, will be as a result of the manifestation of Bible prophecies in the lives of people, not the raising of altars, giving of money, etc. If you want freedom by the demon of deliverance, then use money, and etc.
But if you want it by the hand of the LORD, position for the manifestation of end time Bible prophecies in your life. Contained in the Jeremiah 23:3-6 prophecy, are the basic ways God would minister to His lost sheep this end time.
UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN A SHEEP IS LOST, OR NOT IN ITS FOLD, IT WILL BECOME A VICTIM OF SATANIC ATTACKS.
I repeat, when a sheep is not in its fold, it will be exposed to the demonic and satanic. The worst is, it will never be able to obtain deliverance. If eventually it runs into what look like a Church, but not really a Church by God’s definition, it will still not be saved. It might have relief but not rest.
That is when preachers the Bible calls “the hireling,” will be exploiting it of money, and all it can. But Jesus said “I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries, and bring them to their own fold.” That is the Jesus solution to this problem.
What the Bible termed as “all countries” in this prophecy, refers the cities of spiritual refuse with the outlook of “a church,” places people have planted themselves in, or ran to for help.
Sadly, they are everywhere, making the loudest noise and putting up the largest “man of God” signs and outlook; causing the naïve and ignorant to be carried away so easily! God wants His sheep in all countries (Churches) that are merely Cities of Refuse gathered unto Him.
He wants them established under Him as their shepherd by the hands of spiritual leaders that will let that happen. By the hands of shepherds who will feed them until they get to a realm where they will fear no more or be lacking. Not shepherds who will curse them for not tithing or for leaving their churches, or threaten them not to leave their empty Churches!
Friend, something is happening! We must rise from ignorance and start checking ourselves by our fruits, not by our noises, claims or sign posts. You must begin to check a ministry by its impact on your morality, and prosperity of your relationship with God, not the ‘good things’ they make happen to you.
I have heard very sad stories of what the sheep of Jesus are going through under some preachers, who are simply devils in God’s garment. Stealing messages to preach to sound called of God, and making so much noise.
PEOPLE HAVE TEARFULLY NARRATED HOW THEY WERE CURSED, AND GIVEN FEW DAYS TO LIVE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY FREELY JOINED, AND WANT TO FREELY LEAVE A CHURCH.
A church that is led by a spiritual leader who uses words like, “I have to release you before you leave this place or else…” is simply saying to you that you are in charismatic cage, and a cult system, not a Christ system. Christ systems do not function that way.
What is the message of our devotional this morning? The message is simple; you do not need one more moment in a City of refuse you call Church.
There is a move of God that is pulling His own out of spiritual cages, crowds or cities of refuse we call Churches. The primary goal is to bring us under one Shepherd Jesus Christ. It is a Bible prophecy that will precede the return of the LORD, and it is happening now.
People are losing interest of going to such churches and being taken by the LORD to where He wants them to dwell. Until this move is fulfilled in your life as a Child of God you will never have rest in life!
I pray that we all be like Mary this morning, we all say to the LORD, “Be it unto me according to your word LORD.”
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the Lord!” Jeremiah 22:29 NKJV