TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2024)
“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Joshua 1:5-6 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 36TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
What a mighty God we serve. Heaven and earth adore Him, angels bow before Him. What a mighty God we serve.
We remain eternally grateful to the creator of Heaven and Earth for His marvelous deeds and glorious acts that have been the reason for our being alive for the 36 days of this year.
Yes, we remain grateful to the LORD for bearing the cost of our survival these 36 days.
He keeps healing our diseases, forgiving our sins, fighting our unseen battles, sheltering us from the storms, making sure no weapon formed against us prospers, and doing much more than we can ever ask or imagine. We are eternally grateful.
The Bible says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” God has not failed in feeding us with such words. He has not failed in sending to our spirits great insights, and revolutionary words.
He has indeed been Our Faithful Shepherd who feeds us with choice spiritual foods on all platforms.
Yesterday we had another encounter with the LORD during our Sunday service in a message titled; “CONSIDER YOUR DESTINY.” Yes, it was not just a message but a word encounter that put a sword of the Spirit and a shield of faith in our hands for any evil day that might come.
It was an explosive session that every one of us should always remember.
GOD’S WEAPON TO US FOR DEALING WITH ANY EVIL DAY REMAINS WHAT THE BIBLE CALLS, “THE ARMOR OF GOD.”
It is not a bottle of oil, a bottle of holy water, some salt in prayers, or any of those gadgets given to people in church to pray with. It is the armor of God. If we do not put on the whole armor of God, we will not be able to stand against the wiles of the devil on any evil day.
It is so sad that many of us preachers have not trained those who sit under us to be able to put on the whole armor of God. That is why many cannot stand on the evil day. They rather run here and there looking for prayers on the evil day of their lives.
Sadly, we mislead them by asking them to raise altars of sacrifices, go pray on this mountain and that mountain, silence this fathom altar or the other fathom altar, etc. We mislead them to sow this seed and sow the other seed.
We do not teach them the truth; we do not tell them that what is missing in their lives is the armor of God.
But come to think of it, you cannot give what you do not have. How many of us preachers are putting on the whole armor of God? That is why we do not have members with the whole armor of God. We only have people with all the deliverance inventions we have made.
God gave us a word yesterday that gave us two important parts of the armor of God to put on in any evil day. He gave us both a sword and a shield made from the same fire of revelation knowledge on considering our destiny above all things.
As He will have it, we have been considering things that our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled since last month. You cannot consider your destiny without doing that. We have seen over seven things that our divine destinies will need to be fulfilled.
TODAY WE WILL BE LOOKING AT ANOTHER; BOLDNESS AND STRENGTH. YOU CAN CALL IT COURAGE!
Yes, no one can fulfill a divine destiny without boldness, strength, and courage to face the challenges that are usually attached to it. The Power of Heaven is usually behind courageous people whose lives are tailored to divine moves and ways.
Take courage out of their lives, you will take Heavenly backing from them. There comes a time in a believer’s life when God only stand with him or her if he or she is courageous.
God has never stood with fearful men and women in battle.
That was why He could not stand with the army of Saul when they became afraid of Goliath but stood with one small David to bring down the giant because the young man was bold and courageous.
From Biblical account, it is clear that whenever God meets fearful people who have ears to listen, He will say to them “Fear not.”
If they obey and become courageous, He will begin to stand with them to bring down the greatest oppositions to His redemptive plans from the kingdom of darkness in their age and time. But if they do not, you will see Him departing from them.
Destiny without courage can never be fulfilled
When Moses was sent to Egypt to unleash his destiny as a deliverer, the boldness, strength, and courage he used in executing his assignment was what brought the arm of the LORD on the gods of Egypt.
When we say strength, we are referring to the strength that comes from your faith in God’s power to save and deliver you even from the paw of the lion. In other words, your divine destiny will need boldness, Faith in God’s backing, and courage to be unleashed.
It was faith in God’s backing that made David stand confidently before Goliath and execute him with his words before the man was killed. Courageous men will first kill their enemies with the sword of their words before God moves in to actualize what they have just said.
That was the key of David. He was bold and courageous. He ended up fulfilling His destiny as a Giant Killer!
YOU WILL NEVER FULFIL YOUR DESTINY AS A GIANT KILLER IF YOU ARE FEARFUL!
Every Child of God is a giant killer because we serve the Most High God. He is not the tallest. He is the most High! So those of us who serve and worship Him in spirit and in truth are potential giant killers because He is the one killing. But we must stand strong and bold to see Him do that!
There is more to this man David that we can glean here.
It was faith in God’s backing that gave him the boldness and courage to withstand and overcome the anger and venom of his mentor (Saul) who became his tormentor. It was faith in God’s backing that gave him the boldness and courage to take over the City of Jebus and turn it into Jerusalem as written in Heaven.
The Jebusites were the fiercest Demonic warriors of that time. They could disappear in battle and no mortal sword could kill them. But David went against them trusting in Divine backing. The rest is History.
The Bible says;
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” thinking, “David cannot come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).
Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), he shall be chief and captain.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”
Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward. So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. 2 Samuel 5:6-10 NKJV
I have said it before; your prosperity is lying behind the battles you are afraid to confront. Your greatness is hidden in the things God designed you to destroy; things that lack of boldness is preventing you from confronting.
I am yet to see a man who unleashed his divine destiny without boldness, faith in God’s backing and courage. The last frontier to cross over in other to step into any blessing in the kingdom is the frontier of fear and fearful things.
In other words, the last frontier you will cross before you can step into your Destiny will require a supernatural boldness and courage birthed in your spirit by your Faith in God’s backing.
YOU SEE THAT IN THE COMMISSIONING OF ALL THE BIBLE MEN GOD USED IN ENFORCING HIS DIVINE WILL ON EARTH, AS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN.
Take Jeremiah for example. When God called him, He instructed him strongly to be bold and very strong against the enemy.
He told him point blank that he was going to face a people who will not accept his message; a religious generation who will want him dead and buried. But He warned him to be strong and very courageous even in the face of death. Then will He see His outstretched hand.
In fact, God literally told him, “Do not be dismayed and break down at the sight of their faces, lest I confound you before them and permit you to be overcome.”
You see, when it comes to facing the enemy to unleash your divine destiny either as a prophet, an apostle, a pastor, or whatever the LORD has called you to do, God will only stand as you stand. If you don’t believe me read this.
He said to Jeremiah;
“I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, because they have forsaken me, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
“Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.” Jeremiah 1:16-17 NKJV
The same word was passed to Ezekiel, Joshua and others God called to enforced things on earth, but in different languages. Our devotional text today contains the language God used in passing same message to Joshua.
A major highlight says;
“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage…”
Meaning, it takes being “strong in faith and bold” in the face of the enemy to come into the realm of God’s glory where no man will be able to stand before you in the release of your divine destiny.
In the Spirit’s realm, God handed over those Joshua was to confront into his hands, but the key to seeing it happen in the natural realm, lied in Joshua being bold and courageous in battle.
As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that many have refused to accept the call of God upon their lives basically because of fear.
Others have refused to stand strong against the enemies God designed them to kill because they are fearful and weak. There is no ounce of courage in them to do the will of God because they lack faith in His backing!
God wants all that to change hence sending this word to us this day!
I am fully persuaded that if we make this devotional our meditation, and respond to it by becoming bold and strong in the release of our divine destiny, no man will be able to stand before us all the days of our life.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9 NKJV