TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 31st July 2025)
“And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Luke 22:31-32 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 212th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. It’s been 212 days since the year started. That means a lot, especially to anyone who understands how dangerous our world is becoming every day.
It’s been 212 days of breathing in and out successfully, it’s been 212 days of experiencing God’s uncommon favor, amazing grace and power, precious redemption, everlasting mercies, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, peace, and marvelous helps. It’s been 212 days of experiencing God’s living truth, faith building insights and sanctifying doctrine, especially on this platform.
Things may not be as you expect but do not forget what the Bible teaches about the blessing of being alive.
The Bible teaches that a living dog is better than a dead lion, and that to all who are joined to the living, there is hope. Yes, you may not have the best, but you are better than those who are dead, especially those who are languishing in hell now.
As sad as it is, understand that you are better than that billionaire or millionaire who died and now is in hell. You are better than that rich king, politician, president or celebrity whose works still earn them millions of dollars but whose souls are presently in hell. You are better than that academician who died without the LORD, that celebrated scientist, or preacher, who died without the LORD.
YES, DO NOT BE SURPRISED THAT A PREACHER CAN DIE WITHOUT THE LORD. JESUS SAID:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
This scripture teaches about the possibility of any miracle working, demon casting, or wonder working preacher dying and not making Heaven. These are some of the scriptures that make the poor in spirit tremble before the LORD.
They should help us understand that making heaven is not by the sinners’ prayer but by the sinners’ repentance. If you are alive, you have the opportunity to read this scripture and make amends, but the person who died without doing so no longer have that opportunity. That is the import!!
Yes, as sad as it is, you are better than that celebrated prophet, miracle worker, or church member who died without living a life that was spent doing the will of the LORD. That is what should make you grateful to God for being alive, even if you are not alive with all you expected to be alive with; great marriage, amazing children, wonderful wealth, comfort, and all that people crave for.
You are still joined to the living, so there is hope.
If you think about those who died without Christ and the fate that awaits them in eternity for a moment, you will thank God that you are still alive, even if you have no food to eat or a house of your own.
People in hell are wishing to be given the very chance we all have now.
Some prominent ones are even wishing to come back to life, even if it is to be homeless, rejected by friends, or poor and needy. They consider the poorest person alive today very fortunate, because of the opportunity we all have to repent from any sin that may take us to hell, which they will never have forever.
We have been looking at what our divine destiny needs to be fulfilled.
ONE OF WHAT IT NEEDS IS A HEART THAT IS ON ETERNAL THINGS AND A FAITH THAT IS ALIVE AND WELL.
That is why the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire is important to our walk with GOD. It is the most important spiritual experience you can ever have after salvation because it reinforces a man’s salvation encounter and keeps it alive. It also fixes our hearts on eternal things and kindles the flame of faith withing us.
If we give ourselves entirely to prayer and to the ministry of the word, we will find it taking us from faith to great faith. Your divine destiny will not just need faith to be fulfilled. There are life-seasons that your divine destiny will need great faith to be fulfilled.
Understand that and grow from where you are to where you ought to be. Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire that makes our prayers, fasting, giving, singing, and even going to Church impactful. The Bible says.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20-21 NKJV
Your divine destiny will require that you live your days building yourself in your most holy faith for it to be fulfilled.
It is very sad to see that many in Church today will prefer building other things than their faith. Many prefer building their careers, businesses, families, and all they desire without giving a thought to their faith.
We forget that when God says the “Just shall live by faith,” He made faith building the most important thing in the life of a Child of GOD. The reason is because faith building allows us to become all that God has predestined us to be. It is the catalyst of victory over every work of the evil one.
Our devotional text today says it all. It speaks of what Jesus prayed about when Peter was about facing a terrible temptation.
THE SPIRIT REALM SOMETIMES SEEMS TO BE A COMPLICATED REALM.
When Satan asked for Peter, to shift him like wheat, his rising profile, business, or family was not the subject of his attack, Peter’s faith was the subject of attack.
When Jesus moved to provide a prayer cover for him, He did that because his destiny was at stake. However, He did not pray for his business, fame, or family not to fail. He prayed for his faith not to fail because that was the focus of the attack. If the faith fails, everything about him will fail.
A major highlight in the text says, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
I have faced a lot of intense warfare in life. Mine had nothing to do with battles around anything earthly, but eternal; and those are the most intense spiritual battles. But in all that I had faced and still face, I have come to realize that the subject of every satanic attack directly or indirectly during those moments has always been my faith.
Satan knows that I need a living faith to be able to fulfill my destiny, hence launching his attack against my faith.
The same applies to you. Satan knows that when it comes to the release of our divine destiny, our faith must not fail, hence throwing things at us to make it fail. But Jesus is praying for us, like He did Peter when He was physically here.
However, we must realize that during any attack of the enemy, bringing down our faith will always be the focus. The quicker we come to terms with this the better. Until our faith fails, our businesses will not fail. Until our faith fails, our marriages or family will not fail.
Until our faith fails, our ministries or callings will not fail. The life of the redeemed of the LORD is designed by GOD to be lived by faith. It is designed to thrive, succeed, make progress, and be all that God wants it to be by faith. That is what makes faith the control station of the Christian life. Once it is out, our destiny is tossed.
NOW WHAT IS FAITH? FAITH IS NOT MENTAL CONFIDENCE IN OURSELVES. NO!
Peter had a mental confidence in himself when he boasted that he will not deny Christ. But Jesus said to him, “before the cock crows once you will do it thrice.” He did it thrice before it crows once. That tells us faith is not mental confidence. It is not even confidence in ourselves. It is confidence in God. The Bible defines it as the substance of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen.
It means true faith has both substance and evidence. It is usually anchored on revelation, that is why it comes by hearing from God at an immediate present. In other words, if God has not spoken to you about a thing at an immediate present, there cannot be true faith in Him concerning that thing.
True faith is a child of things (in the throne room of GOD), that have been revealed to our spiritual senses; it is a proof of things we have seen in the spirit but have not seen in the natural – a conviction of the reality of those things.
God’s servant John the beloved, spoke about things that can be seen, felt, or touched in the spirit. That is a description of the realm of faith.
Faith is usually a product of seeing from God, touching, or feeling things in God – things that have been created to be born on earth or in our lives. That is why it helps us to fulfill our destinies.
It also involves taking steps that will pull the things God has preplanned for our lives, from the realm where they are yet to happen, to the realm where they are meant to happen. Destiny is fulfilled when things that are yet to happen are moved into the realms they are meant to happen. One of the major forces that make that happen is our faith.
I believe the message of today has been passed. God has been faithful this month. May the month of August be one of the best months of our lives. Amen
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:15-19 NKJV
