TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 14TH AUGUST 2024)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalms 23:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 227TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It has been a year of God’s goodness and mercies for us. We have seen the impact of who God is in our lives on every side. To Him be the glory!!
Today God has a word for us on depending on Him. Without God there can be no survival. All survivors in God’s kingdom depended on God to survive and still depend on Him. It might interest you to know that the first man that lived on this planet never survived by His own strength! He survived by the strength of Jehovah!
The earth was not designed to favor those who do not depend on God for everything. You were not designed to survive by your strength. You were designed to survive by the strength of Jehovah. That is why only people who have learnt to depend on God in everything will survive the seasons we live in.
But depending on God is not a mouth thing. We must learn how to depend on God because we have seen people who claim to be depending on God failing woefully in life. You must be schooled in the things of God to depend on Him. If you are not schooled in the things of GOD you won’t know how to depend on Him.
You cannot depend on God and fail if you are properly schooled on how to depend on Him. No one who depended on God in scriptures failed.
Joshua was able to speak to the sun and the moon successfully because he depended on God. Moses was able to break the backbone of Pharaoh, bring judgment on the gods of Egypt and bring Israel out successfully because he depended on God.
Elijah was able to restore God to the national consciousness of Israel in the Mount Carmel showdown because he depended on God. Solomon became the wisest and Richest King of all times because he depended on God.
When Samson was depending on God he was a wonder to his enemies. He could carry gates of Cities and eliminate entire armies without using a bomb. No one who depended on God failed in life.
OUT OF WEAKNESS ALL OF THEM WERE MADE STRONG.
So those of us who are claiming to be depending on God and yet failing in everything we do, need to be schooled. We need to check how we are depending on Him. We may be sincere at heart but are not enlightened in our minds.
Bad things do not perpetually prevail over people who depend on God. So many do not really know what it means to depend on God. God lamented that His people, we, are destroyed for lack of Knowledge. He did not say we are destroyed for lack of sincerity.
He said we are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Sadly, many in Church today are schooled in the things of devils; they know the names of all kinds of evil spirits and what they do, but do not know the 300 names of God and what they do. Others are schooled in humanistic philosophies and secular humanism.
They know every common way to solve problems but cannot tell God’s way to solve problems. Hence when they face uncommon problems, they fall down flat and start contemplating suicide, while some run to mediums called prophets for help.
If we are not schooled in the things of God we will never make headway in life. Every virtue we may muster to succeed will not lead to a happy ending.
The first way to depend on God is actually to sit down and be schooled in His things.
Everyone who depended on GOD in scriptures, spent time with Him learning His ways and studying His paths; from Moses to Joshua, from Samson to David, and to all other men and women of exploits in the Bible.
Let’s take Joshua for example. He was blankly told that he will not be able to fulfill his assignment without depending on God. And one way He was taught to do so was the way of schooling in the things of God.
THE BIBLE SAYS GOD SAID TO HIM;
“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.” Joshua 1:8 NKJV
This is a command to maintain a schooling posture in a man’s walk and talk with God. Jesus was given the command, and he followed it to the latter. That was why his dependence on God bore fruits for him.
Meaning, if we say we are depending on God and do not spend the better parts of our lives schooling ourselves in His ways and paths, we are deceiving ourselves. Like I said earlier, you cannot depend on a God whose ways you do not know!
You must spend the better part of your life knowing His ways and paths to truly depend on Him.
A deeper look at what God told Joshua reveals a second way to depend on GOD – to walk in obedience. He said to him “..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.” If we claim to be depending on God and yet we are not obeying Him or respecting His ways, we are in reality depending on ourselves.
Rebellion is one way we tell God “we do not need you.”
If you look at the life of everyone who truly depended on God in scriptures, you will see a life of implicit obedience to the will and ways of God, even at the cost of their lives.
The most effective way to tell God, “I depend on you” is by obeying Him. That is why the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. That brings us to the last tip I want to share on depending on God – “being led by the Spirit.”
People who depend on GOD are not led by themselves. They are constantly led by the Spirit. The life of David comes to mind at this point. He demonstrated dependency on God by waiting for Him to speak before taking any step in life. Even in the midst of battle and war with all kinds of weapons at his disposal, he will still step aside and wait on God to speak.
DO YOU KNOW THAT IT IS EASIER TO WAIT ON GOD WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DO A THING THAN WHEN YOU HAVE?
Most times, we wait on God for direction when we are in need, but when the supply comes, we cease waiting and start directing ourselves. That was the error of Saul, and we are still repeating the same error today!
But David knew that “A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” So all his life he maintained that “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 33:17, 20:7 NKJV).
Consequently, he never failed to seek GOD’s will and way in everything He did before embarking on it.
Friend, as we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that when it comes to making it in life, it is not really about “what” you have by your side, but about “WHO” you have on your side! You see, if God is not by your side, even the best equipment or most trusted people will fail you!
Our devotional text this morning explained the kind of walk and talk David maintained with God. A major highlight of it says,
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
We can go on and on. But I believe God has spoken to us this morning. I pray that you walk in the light of this word, in Jesus precious name. AMEN!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion;
May He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Psalms 20:1-5 NKJV