TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 29TH JANUARY 2025)
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”‘” Exodus 4:21-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 29TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY.
This is another day that the LORD our God has made. By His mercies we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Victory will remain our song, mantra and anthem. It will remain our vision, and passion; the victory that comes in the name of Jesus.
Each time I read the scripture of our devotional text above, I see the terrible consequences of serving idols or being treated by mortals as a god. That was who Pharaoh of the days of the Bible was! The Egyptians did not know the God of heaven and earth, hence serving Idols.
They were sold to idolatry and treated their King (Pharaoh) as god – he was called the sun god and was also typified as a snake. In simple terms, Pharaoh was a terrible idol worshiper who worshiped a bigger deity and saw himself as the son of that deity. That was why his word was law.
He could kill whoever he wishes and keep whoever he wishes as seen in the story of his cup bearer and baker. In prophetic terminology, we say Satan became flesh in him. You can then see why God decided to use him to demonstrate or reveal His power to humans.
He said to Moses “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”
God hardened the heart of Pharaoh as an act of judgment for serving Idols and receiving worship from men.
Worship belongs to GOD not men. Whenever you take what belong to God, you come under judgment. Pharaoh took what belonged to God and came under that judgment.
You will always loose God’s mercies and come under His judgment each time you touch what belongs to Him alone. Human history is littered with the lives of people who lost God’s mercies, and came under divine judgment, like Pharaoh.
BUT TODAY WE ARE GOING TO SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THAT STORY.
We are going to see the story of Israel in Egypt and how it relates to our redemption. We are going to uncover a truth on God’s redemptive mercies from the Life of Israel in Egypt. That is why we made the scripture that tells us how GOD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and forced Israel out of His hands our text today.
We will also see something about the prodigal son and how to recover from any sorrow of sin using the very steps he used. The vision of all that is to help us build our hearts on the word of the LORD and make it solid with what He says.
The Bible teaches that a people who build their hearts on the word of the LORD shall never pass away. It says they will do the will of GOD and abide forever.
That is why men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still very much alive (though dead). We hear them speak to us each time we read the Bible. They lived by the word of the LORD and did the will of GOD and now they are alive forever more.
Indeed, any people who build their lives on the word of the LORD do not pass away! Jesus Himself certified them “alive” when He said God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And that He is the God of the living and not the Dead.
The word of the LORD is the manna that came down from Heaven, which if we eat and respond positively, we abide forever. It carries what it takes to keep us connected to the Life of GOD in this life and the life to come.
These men received and ate the word, today, after over 4000 years; they are still alive in the programs of GOD on earth. That is God’s plans for everyone in His kingdom.
One thing many do not know is that whatever gets planted into a man’s soul remains with him even after death. Death does not erased memories from the spirit and soul of a man. It does not erase the truths buried in that soul.
IT THEREFORE CANNOT REMOVE THE WORD OF THE LORD THE SOUL MAY HAVE FED ON BEFORE IT DIES.
Dying in Christ only perfects the revelations in a man’s soul because He is going into a realm where what He fed on is tangible. So, if you are spending your life in the word of the LORD, you are getting your soul filled with things that will last forever. It is one of the expressions of God’s mercies in our lives.
Talking about God’s mercy, I have said repeatedly that God’s Mercy is much more of a seed than a need! This is one revelation that is worth chewing on daily bases; it is one Bible truth to digest into our souls. You see it in the way the prodigal son handled the mercy his father showed him.
The way the prodigal son handled the mercy of his father is very reformative.
First, it was the Father’s mercy that made Him not to deny the young man his request to have his own share of inheritance even while the father was still alive. Inheritance is shared after death not before.
So, when he ran into trouble, he remembered what he used to see in his father’s house and decided to return (or repent). He did not decide to return with the pride of the Pharisee or the “I deserve mercy” mentality. In fact, he was not even seeking the position of a son again. He knew he had lost it. He sought the position of servant.
The Bible says,
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”‘ Luke 15:17-19 NKJV
Hidden in this story is the very position to take if you want to recover from anything in life – don’t forget we crash-land in life and become victims of poverty, diseases, struggles, pain, disappointment, divorce, etc. because of the Godless and Christ less decisions we do take in life.
SO, IF YOUR LIFE BECOMES UNBEARABLE, THAT IS NOT THE TIME TO STORM THE GATES OF HEAVEN REQUESTING BLESSINGS.
The prodigal Son took a “return position” that forced great mercy from the heart of the Father when his life crash-landed.
One of the golden things he did was not to request what he lost. He lost his position as a son and recognized it; hence requested for the position of servant. That was what made Mercy flow out to Him. Don’t forget, the story of the prodigal son is the story of GOD and us. Jesus said that story to show us, among other things, how to approach God in need. But many of us are not learning!
You will attract great mercy from God if you do what the prodigal son did. Do you think you deserve a Child after you have aborted the one that you conceived maybe out of wedlock to save yourself from shame? Do you think you deserve a husband after you have abused and destroyed the life of men through seduction?
Do you think you deserve a marriage after you have so abused women as a man, or destroyed other people’s marriages as a woman? Do you think you deserve peace after rejecting the counsel of God for your life and going to establish yours?
Child of God, we do not deserve anything from God. We just need His mercies, that was why Jesus came to die on the cross and qualify us for all things.
However, understand that whatever we may have lost to sin, ignorance and rebellion, is lost. We do not deserve another chance. We must come to terms with that for GOD to show us mercy. That was the revelation that the prodigal Son had. That was the very faith position that drew great mercies from the heart of his father.
So, he went back to GOD with a desire to get, not what he lost. But God gave Him much more than He lost! The Bible made it clear that he returned to serve but God gave him his position back! The Bible says,
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” Luke 15:20-24 NKJV
IF YOU WANT THIS KIND OF MERCY FROM THE LORD THIS YEAR, YOU MUST FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS THE PRODIGAL SON FOLLOWED.
Many Christians will rather ask God for what they lost and make it their reason for coming to Him, instead of asking the LORD to just do what He wants to do with them. That is why they remain without having it.
They will be placing a demand through prayer and fasting, giving, and sacrificing for the miracle of getting married, money, peace, prosperity, deliverance, healing, etc. instead of making service the reason for their repentance, but not the prodigal son.
If you look at our devotional text this morning, you will realize that Israel was in Egypt for over 400 years and God raised Moses to bring them out. But His primary vision for bringing Israel out of Egypt was not to free them from Pharaoh but for them to serve Him. That is what we must align with when seeking mercy of the LORD.
A major highlight in the text says,
“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord:”Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”
What can we glean from here? Israel in Egypt represents mankind in slavery to sin and Satan. God saves us from the slavery of sin and Satan for us to “serve” Him not for Him to “save” us. It is in our serving Him that we are saved.
In fact, wherever you see God saving people, it’s for them to serve Him. That is why when we make our needs the primary focus in our walk and talk with God, we lose. But when we make service the primary focus, we gain. People who live for God irrespective of what they may be facing, will end up winning in life.
I believe the message of this devotional word has been passed.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
“So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
“I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. Exodus 23:24-28 NKJV