TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 14TH October 2023)
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:13-17 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 287TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
We thank God for His marvelous kindness and mercies. We thank Him for giving us life and for giving us another day to be alive and well. We bank on His compassion and peace. We trust in His word and all He has for us.
We know our God is faithful and will keep watching over us in this evil infested world.
Today God has a word for us. Let’s begin with this beautiful statement. The only way we can get a glimpse of the unsearchable riches of Christ is to spend time searching the scriptures.
One of the hallmarks of true New Testament Prophets of God, is to search the scriptures. Searching the scriptures, was one of the distinguished characters of those who gave their lives to Christ from the seventies to late nineties.
It was so entrenched in the faith of this fresh believers, especially in Nigeria, that the acronym SU (Scripture Union) was used to described every genuinely born-again Child of God.
I believe the present Church must go back there, because these days, many of us have separated from personal Bible study, and we no longer accurately know what God is saying about any aspect of our lives. We want to hear prophecies from prophets, not what the more sure word of prophecy, the Bible, says.
We do not know what the Bible accurately say about marriage, money, sex, sin, family, education, health, eternal judgment, and the ages to come. Consequently, we now walk in the dark of what God has said in His written word about things that are so dear, and stumble into paths loaded with spiritual dynamites, leading to explosions that manifest as abominable things in our lives.
We have been so disconnected from the scriptures that we now spend our days according to the scripts of our enemies. True Christianity still flows from the revelation of GOD,concealed in scriptures, not the mouth of your famed preachers.
ANY CHRISTIANITY THAT IS DISCONNECTED FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, IS A FALSE CHRISTIANITY.
Not having the urge to spend quality time with the word, is a sign that your salvation is not genuine. Authentic salvation experience will drive you to ‘devour’ the scriptures. It will drive you to live a lifestyle of searching the scriptures to know God and be intimate with Him.
Jesus buttressed this when He said,
“You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me,” (John 5:39 CEV).
Yes, true salvation encounter will get Christ established in your heart through Faith. But if Christ is really established in your heart, He will begin to drive you to the Holy Scriptures to search about him. That is what makes not having a personal thirst for the written word a sign of false Christianity.
Our devotional text today is full of truths we cannot unpack in a devotional. Paul wrote to his son in the LORD Timothy, first to warn him of impostors and second to show him the way to overcome them.
He showed him that continuing in the things he had learned from him; basically, the apostolic doctrine, he will be able to overcome the deception ministry of the impostors. He also highlighted that the salvation experience he had at childhood, that drove him to know the Holy Scriptures, is a force that will help him overcome the impostors as well.
From what he wrote, it is clear that timothy’s salvation experience was very real. It drove him to spend time knowing the Holy Scriptures.
Paul wrote that from Childhood, he had known the Scriptures, which is able to make him wise unto salvation. I like that! Then he concluded the chapter by exposing to him the power of the Holy Scriptures to save him and those who hear him.
All that this Apostolic Father wrote to his Apostolic Son is very relevant in our time and age. The Church today is full of evil men and impostors who are growing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
I remember something that happened years back, when I use to preach on the radio. There was this day that a listener sent one of the most shocking News I have ever heard, up to that time, since we came to East Africa. A prophetess he went to for prayers took him to see a witch doctor, and after that lured him to have sex with her, and he did. She said it was for cleansing.
EVIL PEOPLE WILL INDEED GROW WORSE AND WORSE!
We are living in a time and age where evil and wicked men and woman in God’s garment will grow worse and worse. A time when impostors will grow worse and worse; deceiving and being deceived. The only way to survive the season we find ourselves is to apply every word Paul wrote to Timothy captured in our devotional text today.
He wrote to him saying,
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Timothy learned from Paul, and the man of God wrote to urge him to continue in what he had learned. If you have no one superior to learn from these end times, you will become a victim of this evil men and impostors.
I will like to announce to you that God still has men like Apostle Paul in our generation. He still has a remnant among the clergy that has not bowed down to Baal or departed from His ways. You must locate one of them and sit under His apostolic and prophetic teaching grace; you must search for one and attach yourself to his mantle.
The second thing you must do is to carry out a check on your salvation; did you really receive Christ into your heart when you believed? Was your salvation a psychological one or a spiritual one?
That young man who was taken captive by the prophetess and lured, first to a witch doctor, then to have sex with her, did not really met Jesus. If He had met him, the Spirit of Christ in him would not have allowed him to fall a victim of such wickedness.
Born again is not a religious title but the description of an encounter between a lost sinner and Jesus Christ, KING of kings and LORD of lords.
So, you must re-assess your salvation and get truly saved if you were not. Because it is that initial encounter Timothy had with the LORD that Paul said should further reinforce his spiritual security or salvation from the evil men and impostors feasting on the souls of the men of his day. If you lack an original encounter with the LORD, you will never be saved from what is happening now in our age.
LASTLY, YOU MUST FEED ON THE SCRIPTURES DAILY.
The Bible says,
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
No one can fall victim of ‘evil men and impostors’ if he has a healthy relationship with his bible.
Like I stated earlier, if you do not study the scriptures, you will spend your days according to the scripts of your enemies. The Holy Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reprove, correction, instruction in righteousness, that you may be complete (or mature), thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Finally, the safest thing to do these days, is to separate yourself from men and women of God who demonstrate power, and prophesy without unfolding the deep things of God in the Bible to you.
I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified! AMEN
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
I sat not in the assembly of those who make merry, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because Your [powerful] hand was upon me, for You had filled me with indignation.” Jeremiah 15:16-17 AMP