TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 22nd NOVEMBER 2023)
“And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 326TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
If you are using the Gregorian Calendar, then it will make sense if we say it has been 326 days since the LORD brought us into this beautiful year.
Yes, 326 days of His mercies, sustenance, peace, love, grace, word, and treasures that we have seen run our lives. Which explains why many of us have not been ruined.
It is what runs your life that determines if you will be ruined in life or raised in life. We have not seen the ruin determined against us by the evil one because the mercies of the righteous one have been running our lives.
We believe the rest of the year will receive more glorious results in Jesus precious name.
And for those believers with the characteristics of ending their years with a season of fasting and prayers, may the LORD perfect His plans for your life, as you seek Him. It is a beautiful character for a child of God to end a year like this one with a season of fasting and prayer.
It’s been a journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on visionary living.
Today the LORD will be giving us some more sanctified truths on the subject. By now, it is clear to some of us that visionary living is living our lives according to the plans and purposes of God for it.
By January, some will be starting the year with fasting. It is a noble character as well, so long as it is not subjected to religion.
If you ask me, I will suggest that you make your birth months the beginning of your years on earth, because they are more connected to your prophetic destiny than the traditional beginning of the year.
BUT IF YOUR FAITH CANNOT ACCOMMODATE THAT, JUST DO NOT BOTHER YOURSELF.
Visionary living has a way of changing your season, and taking you out of what is traditional. It involves living your days according to your prophetic destiny. Your prophetic destiny is the totality of God’s plans, visions, programs, patterns, and purposes for your life.
It covers all of His predetermined life routes and goals and prophetic dealings for your life.
If you number your days according to your prophetic destiny, you will make your birth month your beginning of months, and the last month to your birth month your end of months for each year.
Like I said earlier, you can adopt that and see how things will turn out with you.
We have been looking at the laws of visionary living. We have seen the laws of visionary residency, visionary relations, visionary hearing, laws of freedom, and etc. The last law we saw was the law of visionary battles.
Today we will be looking at another law of visionary living called, “the law of God’s faithfulness.” Visionary living is actually a product of answering the call of God upon one’s life. The call to live our lives according to God’s plans and purposes for it.
But for every visionary life to be well spent, God’s faithfulness will be required. Without God’s faithfulness, nothing significant will happen in our lives. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, that “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
Visionary living is leading your life according to God’s pre-planned programs for it, or a Heavenly call upon it. Such life will either not be possible, or where possible, might not be successful, if God’s faithfulness is absent.
It is the faithfulness of God that will do all that God has pre-planned to do in our lives. Let no one confuse you about that. The reason why God requires faithfulness on our part, is simple. If there is no faithfulness on our part, we will be thrown off His path by the success that His faithfulness will bring our way.
THAT IS WHY THE PROSPERITY OF SOME HAVE DESTROYED THEM.
They did not respond to what God’s faithfulness brought with their own faithfulness. The blessings that God’s faithfulness brings into our lives, especially when we led visionary lives, can be corrupted and become the reason for our ruin, if we are not faithful to God.
It takes our faithfulness, to receive and retain what God’s faithfulness creates, promotes, or make us prosper. If there is not faithfulness on our part, we will still see what God is doing in our lives, but we will not be able to receive and retain it for long.
God’s faithfulness to us brings the blessings. Our faithfulness to God receives and retains the blessings. That is the core of the law of faithfulness when it comes to visionary living.
It is God’s faithfulness to His Heavenly call on us, that brings divine performance to all of His divine promises in our lives; all the promises that constitutes His call. That is why the Bible says,
“faithful is He who has called you, who also will do it.”
Yes, He will do it regardless, because even if we are not faithful, He is faithful to Himself and will do it.
But that which He will do, will either not last in our lives or we will not last in it, if we are unfaithful to Him. It is a mixture of the things that God’s faithfulness to us does, and what our faithfulness to God does to receive them, that makes it possible for us to achieve significantly in life.
There is another dimension to this truth that I want to share.
Not all effort brings results. It is efforts that God crowns with the blessing of His faithfulness that brings results in life. If His faithfulness has not brought the blessing, our faithfulness will be fruitless before everyone, because there will be no blessings for it to receive into our lives.
That is why, when God does a thing, give Him praise. Do not allow your flesh to glory in it, even if you were faithful. Your faithfulness did not actually create the blessing. It only received what was created by God’s faithfulness.
IN SIMPLE TERMS, GOD’S FAITHFULNESS BRINGS THE BLESSING. OUR FAITHFULNESS COLLECTS IT INTO OUR LIVES.
Meaning, if God’s faithfulness has not brought it, our faithfulness will lack what to collect. That is the law or principle of God’s faithfulness governing visionary living.
His faithfulness will make sure the vision He may have planted in our hearts, move from the declaration to the manifestation. Our faithfulness will then keep us long enough to swim in the blessing and fulfill our days.
Another core aspect of the law of God’s faithfulness states that, “if God govern your visionary life, He will be faithful to take it from its declaration to its manifestation, and from its manifestation to the finishing line, no matter what happens.”
That is even when you stumble or fall. I think let me share something with us at this point, about falling while leading a visionary life.
You see, in visionary living, you delight yourself in the ways of the LORD. As you do so, God will begin to direct and order your steps, and even establish it. As He directs and orders your steps to establish it, His blessed Holy Spirit will become involved in every detail of your life.
In other words, the Spirit of God will be busying Himself with every detail of your life through the word of the LORD, the Bible.
However, as that happens, hell will be raging against you, and the floods of the serpent spewed at you. At that point, a lot will be shaky in your life. Sometimes, before you know it, you will become careless because of the blessings and miracles of the LORD that are happening to deal with what hell might be doing in your life, and begin to fall into sin, iniquity or trespass.
That is when the law of God’s faithfulness will go active.
It will bring the hand of the LORD down, to reach out and grasp you in support, and uphold you till you return to His paths; the paths you were before the fall. That is why the Bible says;
“The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].
Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him.” Psalm 37:23-24 AMPC
Sometimes, it is not even sin, iniquity or trespasses that we fall into, we just become weary and begin to make bitter complain against God and against His process for our lives. That is also when the law of God’s faithfulness goes into effect.
The goal of this law, is to make sure our visionary lives are not truncated by us or by hell. It is a law that guarantees that we get to the finishing line like Paul got to when he said;
“ I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.
[As to what remains] henceforth there is laid up for me the [victor’s] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed His appearing (His return).” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 AMPC
This is one of the best scriptures on visionary living in the Bible. I think you should go through it again. When God starts a journey with you, the goal will always be to take you to the finishing line no matter what happens.
That was why Samson had a come back that made sure he fulfilled his call even at death. The finishing line is the place of fulfilling your calling, and making sure you have done more for the LORD at your death, even more than at any other time.
God’s intent for stipulating the law of His faithfulness is for the purposes of bringing us to the finishing line of His assignment for our lives. Understand that He is more glorified when we get to the finishing line. So, it is not about us but about Him.
Which brings us to another aspect of the law of God’s faithfulness. But we will uncover that in tomorrow’s devotional. Enough has been shared for the day!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY!
“Furthermore, brethren, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) and triumph, even as [it has done] with you,
And that we may be delivered from perverse (improper, unrighteous) and wicked (actively malicious) men, for not everybody has faith and is held by it.
Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 AMPC