TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2024)
“When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory; but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves.”
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Proverbs 28:12-13 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 33RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Truly, it is of the LORD’s mercy that we are not consumed. I will keep stating that until our time on earth is over because God’s mercy is a shield.
Yes, God’s Mercy is a welfare package prepared for all who call upon the name of the LORD. It was responsible for feeding Israel for 40 years in the wilderness.
It made sure their health did not go down, their feet did not swell, their belly was not empty of food, their clothes grew with them, and so much more. It was from there that God sustained them.
I think we should learn to make God’s mercy our welfare package too, like they did. It is very simple. Just live a blameless life, and learn to follow the LORD wherever He leads you, and you will have it as your welfare package.
People like David will tell you that God’s Mercy is the door to all kinds of redemptions in His kingdom. Even in the place of prayer, if you do not obtain mercy you will never find grace to help you in time of need.
That is why, if you see God’s grace speaking in your life, especially despite your recklessness or spiritual laziness, it is a sign of God’s mercy. Make use of it and repent, else you will begin to reap the consequences of taking God’s mercy for granted.
In Christ Jesus, Mercy is God’s catalyst for a fresh or new start. No matter how much our lives have been destroyed, or rendered none and void, God’s mercy can fix it by giving us a redemptive restart.
For those in warfare, mercy is God’s way of telling the devil, “You can’t change my mind concerning my sons because I see repentance in them; so back off!” Mercy is the very reason we will make Heaven. It is the repairer of the fall and the terminator of the works of the evil one in a man’s life.
Most preachers will tell you to give some good money so that they can pray for you to be free from this or that. Well, that might work if the preacher is under a dark anointing, but will never work under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.
In God’s kingdom, our giving and service to His purposes has reward.
BUT IT IS HIS MERCIES THAT DEFEAT THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL IN OUR LIVES, NOT OUR MONIES.
If you have the revelation of what I am sharing about, you will not cease saying unto God, “It is of your Mercies that we are not consumed; because your compassion fails not.”
The timelessness of God’s mercy is demonstrated in the scriptures that state that God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Yes, that is the nature of His mercies because He lives in eternity.
His mercy will always make an eternal impact. That is why, if He forgives your sins in time, eternity will respect it, and If He retains your sins in time, eternity will also respect it.
God’s mercy is eternal. It stands in time to cancel our eternal judgment, by bringing us to the place of repentance from dead works, and faith towards our LORD Jesus Christ. The only thing is that if we do not withdraw from it here in time, we will never see it when we step into eternity in death.
The Bible says there is no repentance in the grave. Meaning, in the life after death, the spirits of men can no longer repent. They can only regret; and since they cannot repent, they cannot secure God’s mercy.
Talking about repentance, from scripture to scripture, it’s clear that repentance is the only force we can use in withdrawing from God’s mercy. Many have thought prayer and fasting or even sacrificial giving is the force. But the answer is no!
Repentance is the only force that pulls God’s mercies into our lives. It is when we pray with hearts that are pure before God, that prayer becomes the means for securing God’s mercies.
In other words, God’s mercy is available to all but can only be accessed by those who have repented of their sins, or seeking to repent of their sins; and that can only happen here in time, because only in time can men repent.
The Psalmist made it clear that there is no repentance in the grave.
In other words, when men step back into eternity through death (without repentance), they will lose the opportunity and heart capacity to repent; they will only be remorseful and regret for not repenting while they were alive. You see that in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus in the book of Luke 20:19-21.
IN SIMPLE TERMS, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO REPENT AFTER DEATH. IT IS ONLY POSSIBLE TO REGRET AND BE VERY REMORSEFUL OF YOUR SINS.
Those who stand in place of judgment, or get thrown into hell fire, can only gnash their teeth in regret and be remorseful, but cannot repent.
If it’s possible for people to repent after death, then no one would have been in hell. That is why it’s very important to make use of God’s mercy here and now, by living a life of repentance from dead works, and faith towards our LORD Jesus Christ.
Why are we sharing about God’s mercy?
The flow of our devotional in recent days has been very enlightening. God has been showing us what our divine destinies will need to be fulfilled. Yesterday, He made it clear that if we will fulfil our divine destinies, we must not pursue His purpose driven by a passion to become rich.
We must not replace the love of God with the love of money.
The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil in the Church and outside the Church. Many are pursuing destiny as a means to make money that is why the glory of God is absent in their lives. But today Heaven is showing us the next ingredient our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled, and that ingredient is God’s Mercy.
David made a profound discovery in one of his sessions with God and said;
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:6 NKJV
To me God’s goodness and Mercy should be the travelling partners of apostolic and prophetic people. It should be the travelling partners of those with a passion for God. It should be the travelling partners of people of divine destiny. And off course it is!
For instance, if God’s goodness and mercy were not the travelling partners of Samson, the day he was flopped by Delilah and imprisoned, that would have been the end of him. But mercy spoke and said no when he repented of his sins.
THE BIBLE SAYS, HE WENT ON AND FINISHED STRONG BY KILLING MORE PEOPLE IN HIS DEATH THAN THE NUMBER HE KILLED IN HIS LIFE TIME.
If Mercy had not said no in the case of David and Bathsheba, there would have been no David after the act. The Bible made it clear that under the law, whoever does what David did, was to be stoned to death. But when God saw repentance in his heart, God changed the laws.
When it comes to the release of divine destiny, mercy is one of the greatest investment Heaven can make in your life to help you unleash it. But you must lead a life of repentance.
You must live a life that qualifies you for divine mercy from the throne room, especially when you do not deserve mercy. A major highlight in our devotional text today said, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
This scripture presents one way to secure God’s mercy; not covering our sins. It directs us to expose it to the right ear, so that the blood of Jesus can cover it for us, and His mercies released.
The reason for not covering sins lies in what secret sins can do to us; secret sins are the greatest killers of divine destiny, because they have a way of hardening our hearts and shutting us away from the doors of God’s mercy.
The rule remains; “he who covers his sins shall not prosper with God,” it does not matter who the person is. He may prosper economically, because even the wicked can be prosperous, but cannot prosper with GOD.
Yes, he or she will not prosper or progress in their walk with God. He or she will not be able to carry the fullness of God’s presence.
He may be able to develop friendship with men and people of God and become one of their best, but will never be able to develop a personal friendship with God. He will be too filthy to live in God’s rest.
What is the message of our devotional today? The message is simple; your divine destiny will need God’s goodness and mercy to be fulfilled.
There will be seasons when you will sow to please your flesh and sin against God, that is when God’s mercies come in. All you need to do is to confess to the right ears, and repent through the circumcision of your heart, and times of refreshing will come from the presence of the LORD to you.
That is the word of the LORD today!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:1-2 NKJV