TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2024)
Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
Therefore, David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer. 2 Samuel 5:22-25 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 336TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Glory be to the LORD God, it is the 1st day of the 12th month of the year 2024.
What a blessing to see this month, and be among those God has shown mercy to be alive to experience the beautiful things the month has in store for mankind.
I reiterate again that with few days to go, we can say, the year was indeed our year of impact. We have been greatly impacted by God’s mercies, kindness, graciousness, greatness and beauty.
We have been impacted by his marvelous helps, and revelation knowledge.
It’s a month of Christmas. I can’t forget looking forward to this month when I was a child. The reason is, my Dad will get Christmas clothes and shoes for us, and keep them in his corner and promise to bring it out on Christmas day.
From the day he shows us the clothes, to the day we will wear them, we usually live in anticipation; anticipation of the month of December. Our calendar is usually busy as we all look forward to the very day we will put on our Christmas clothes.
Life can be beautiful if God’s mercy is upon your life.
I think the Christmas season the month usually herald, is still as it was in our days, but not as strong due to the woke ideologies on Christmas from the west, and what some uninformed preachers in the Church say about it.
For us here in Nairobi Kenya, it is different. The Christmas colors and bells are already speaking and ringing in so many malls. They remind me of my days of childhood. It is really a beauty to behold.
WHEN I WAS A KID, I USE TO REALLY GET EXCITED OVER THIS SEASON.
It was also a season when all those we call uncles and aunties in our neighborhood give us money, saying, “merry Christmas.” You can laugh it off if that is hilarious.
You can see why we spend an entire year looking forward to the month of December. For us, kids, it was the most blessed month of the year.
I want to urge fathers to do to their kids what my Dad did to us. Get some beautiful Christmas clothes for your kids and do not forget their mother, your wife. Make it a season of making your kids happy to be born by you.
If you can, and if the LORD creates the opportunity for you, take them for a holiday outside the country, if not look for other beautiful ways to make them happy.
God has given you that beautiful life, live it in His will and ways, touching the life of those beautiful hearts he placed in your hands.
You will not be with them forever, so make use of the season and give them some more blessed memories to remember when you will fulfill your days and be gone. It will shape them to treat their own children well, building a legacy of effective fathering in your lineage.
My Dad left us over 23 years ago. But I still remember those moments and try to create them for my kids as the LORD’s mercies enables me.
I thank God for giving us the privilege to share that part of my Dad’s life with him.
As a father, you will grow old one day, fulfill your days, and die. As earlier stated, create blessed memories for your kids, because they will need them to immortalize you in their conversations.
If you do not fall into this line, if you are single, use this season to love the LORD, spread His joy wherever you can, and let people be happy that you are in their lives.
If possible, let everyone the LORD has placed in your space, be happy that they have you.
In very little ways that you can, create blessed memories for them, and let them blessed you in their conversations.
For some, the month will be a month of traveling to spend the holiday with loved ones, and for the child of God, it will be a month of using the Christmas season for personal spiritual retreat.
I did that over and over when I became of age, and began to understand how to handle the seasons of God for my life.
YOU CAN BORROW A LEAF FROM THAT, AND START THE NEW YEAR ON A HIGHER SPIRITUAL NOTE.
For some CEOs and business minded people, the month of December is usually a time of retreating to some serene places, to plan for the coming year. It is indeed a unique month.
Irrespective of how your program will be, the month of December has always been a beautiful month for the circumspect. It is a month you can use to sit with God to find out what plans He has for you for the coming year, and plan your life within that plan.
It is also a month of love, and reconciliations for some.
You can join this group by extending love to those you do not talk to, maybe because of some misunderstandings you had. If the LORD permits and if possible, use the season to reconcile with everyone who hurt you or who you hurt, let them know you love them.
You can use the month to extinguish any form of unnecessary hostility with anyone. The month has 31 days!!
Meaning, we have 30 more days to exhaust this year according to the Gregorian Calendar. Use the remaining days to do the right thing.
You may have spent the year believing God for things that maybe did not happen. You may be ending the year in disappointment. Today’s devotional might help you know why and prepare you for a beautiful 2025.
Let me share one secret to eliminating disappointments in life, that secret is called divine direction. You need to embrace it to have a great new year.
That is one secret we find in the life of all who walked with God in Bible days.
Yes, that is something we find everyone who walked with God in Bible History doing, from prophets to priests, from Kings to judges, from an entire nation, to a single individual; they led lives that were directed by the LORD.
If you lived this year, not guided or governed by divine direction, it explains why you had some disappointments and might still have them next year, if you do not change.
THE TRUTH REMAINS, IF WE ALWAYS DO WHAT WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE, WE WILL ALWAYS BE WHAT WE HAVE ALWAYS BEING.
One thing you should never repeat as you prepare for the coming year, is self-led life, or worry led life. If we are not divinely directed, we will never lead blessed lives in this world. We could have rich lives, but will never have blessed lives.
The two are not the same. The rich fool had a rich life, but Abraham and other Bible men that came out of the loins of Abraham like David, had blessed lives. The world is full of people with rich lives, but we cannot find too many people with blessed lives.
Our devotional text is about how divine direction helped David to come out victorious over His enemies. It says,
Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
Therefore, David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer. 2 Samuel 5:22-25 NKJV
This scripture paints a beautiful picture of one of the blessings of divine direction, victory over the enemy. We can see that our enemies can only defeat us when we are not guided by the LORD.
When we are guided, we will be too blessed to be defeated by the enemy.
Friend, the coming year will be full of challenges. If you look at Bible prophecy, you will realize that the year might not be better. We will need help from God to go through it victoriously.
To have that much needed victorious passage through the year, we must embrace divine direction.
Now, what is divine direction? Divine direction is the guidance that GOD provides for those who seek Him, to bring them to a more blessed and fulfilled life in a chaotic and confusing world.
It is God acting as our shepherd, leading us through and through. Some Bible scholars see divine direction as God’s road map for an individual or organization, bringing about amazing success or progress.
IT IS A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING WE ENJOY ONLY WHEN WE ESTABLISH A REAL CONNECTION WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
It has three basic aspects, which are; (1) seeking God’s wisdom, (2) Surrendering to His will and ways, and (3) following the Bible propelled instructions of the Holy Spirit. If we do all that, we will lead very blessed lives, not just in 2025 but beyond.
I believe the LORD has spoken to us. We have found enough light for the day and for the year to come. As we bring this to a close, let me reiterate again that a blessed life is better than a rich life. A blessed life is always a child of divine direction, but a rich life can be the product of even stealing.
It is important to note that, the entire world is under the sway of the wicked one. It will take divine direction to escape the snares, traps and assaults of the dark kingdom he rules.
It will take divine direction to have a marriage the wicked one cannot break, an economic life he can not destroy, a career that will make one a colossus by God’s definition despite the enemy, a business that will thrive unhindered, and all that will make this life beautiful.
If God directs your steps in 2025 and beyond, good will always follow you every week. Happy New Month in Jesus precious name. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.” Psalm 32:8-9NKJV