TODAY’S DEVOTION (Sunday 23rd February 2020)
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me — me also, O my father!”
But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” Genesis 27:34-35 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 54th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Today’s devotion is another unique opportunity the LORD has given us to begin the day with a word from His throne. In the beginning was “the word” …. if the word does not form the beginning of our day, we will not be synchronized with Heaven for that day’s blessing.
The Bible made it clear that daily God loads us with benefits or blessings, but many of us are still not blessed significantly despite the days we have seen in our lifetime.
I have seen seventy years Old men and women looking miserable, poor, and sick. I have seen seventeen years Old boys and Girls looking the same. What happened? As I have always said, if God loads us with benefits or blessings each day, why are our lives like that?
The answer is simply; most missed the benefits or blessings God loaded in the days they have lived on the face of the earth. They missed the blessings because they were not synchronized to receive them.
It is important to begin a day with a good and fresh word from the LORD – not just Bible stories and empty motivational or inspirational words. It is important to begin a day with a strong, miracle faith impregnating word every day. If we begin our days with such rich words from the LORD – living truths that can synchronize us with the glory – we will always get the benefit or blessing God loaded the days with.
TODAY THERE IS A WORD TO BEGIN YOUR DAY WITH.
One thing I love about the Bible is that every one of us can always find something to identify our struggles with or someone to identify with when in trouble. Once we can do that by the help of the Holy Spirit, courage and direction will be released and victory be made manifest over time.
When you are going through something and you cannot find a way-out reference for it in the scriptures, things will just be bleak and dark. You will start believing that you are suffering because you are first born even when you are not. You will start believing so many lies!
For those who are not under erroneous preachers, when you are going through something and you cannot find a way-out reference for it in the scriptures you will lack the hope to either go through it successfully or come out better altogether. That is why most Christians come out of life struggles bitter instead of better like Job.
Let us look at peculiar challenges for instance.
When you are victim of family rivalry, Joseph is there to identify with. When you are tempted to sexual sins, David is there to identify with. When you are moved by the Holy Ghost to confront things bigger than you, David is still there to identify with. When you are going to missionary trips in places you have never been before, Abraham is there to identify with.
When God tells you to give Him a sacrifice that you find it difficult to give, Solomon offering a thousand burnt offerings will encourage you, Israel giving thousand offerings even in the wilderness will be of great help, Abraham offering up Isaac and Jesus dying on the cross will impart the grace to obey God into your spirit.
If you are going through a thing either with God or just facing a satanic attack, there is always someone in scriptures to identify with!
THE STORY OF ESAU IS VERY FASCINATING.
Esau, on a non-prophetic note, is one person most of us can identify with in some areas of life. Our devotional text expressed the pain and anguish in his soul when he and his father thought Jacob had stolen his blessings.
By the way, did Jacob really steal Esau’s prophetic blessings? We will live that for another day. It will require an apostolic investigation to uncover the truth! You do not read the Bible on the surface else you will not see some truths buried in it.
Esau was a man whose life was glorious like that of every young man of his generation, but the glory was not well guarded. He allowed his youthful passion and lack of discipline to rob him of great blessings. He would later appear in the New Testament as a profane person who lacks value for spiritual things. And God said, “Jacob I love, but Esau I hate.”
That doesn’t mean God laterally hated the person of Esau. He hated Esau’s character. It’s a revelation of how God sees profanity and lack of value for spiritual things.
When Esau and Isaac his father, were basking in disappointment after discovering the deceit of Jacob, Isaac made a critical statement that I sense the LORD want me to highlight. He said to Esau,
“And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. (Genesis 27:40 KJV).
The key words here are “have the dominion.” In our devotional yesterday we spoke about DOMINION. Dominion is very important. Every problem has a weight of dominion in Christ that will deal with it.
Isaac told Esau that he will remain under the yoke until he gains the dominion in the spirit to break from it. When he gains that dominion, he will break from the yoke.
I HAVE SHARED THIS TRUTH REPEATEDLY.
If you gain dominion you break form the yoke! Hidden in that statement is the key to all kinds of breakthrough and deliverance we need on this side of eternity. Often, we make some grievous mistakes like Esau did in life; especially in our season of having no revelation knowledge of or value for spiritual things.
We accept the wrong relationships early in life, sleep with the wrong people (instead of a man or woman we are properly married to) to satisfy a moment of sexual pleasure, get married to the wrong people, and accept the wrong offers from life leading to circumstances and bringing us under yokes that even prayer seems not enough to help us out.
Other times we find ourselves born into prepared yokes of men and that of the devil like the generation of the Children of Israel who were born during the 400 years of captivity in Egypt. We find ourselves born into families that are under the yokes of generational curses, grinding poverty, failed marriages, dreaded diseases, lack of vision or direction in life, sexual perversion, and all forms of satanic attacks.
You may be in an evil spiritual or physical yoke that you call a job, a marriage, a suitor, a Church, a prophet, a wife, a husband, and etc. God sent these words to tell you this; when you gain the dominion that is required, you will break from it.
We will remain under the yoke of our enemies until we gain the dominion to break from it. That is the secret! It is a major truth to glean from the life of Esau.
THE QUESTION NOW IS HOW DO WE GAIN THAT DOMINION?
The answer lies in this question. How does a Child grow? Good and proper feeding makes a child grow. A consistent encounter with the Word and Spirit of the LORD will increase your stature in the spirit and impart the kind of dominion you need to break from the yoke.
That is why you must not trade with your destiny by turning down invitation to meetings that will impart the dominion you need to break from the yokes you may be trapped in.
God use men to feed men into critical positions in the Spirit where they will gain the required dominion they need to come out of things! As we bring this devotional to a close, I want to submit to you that if you are too busy or proud to sit under such men, you will never gain the dominion you need to come out of your yokes.
Most times our local Churches do not really provide us with the choice spiritual food we need to gain the kind of dominion we need to come out of certain things in life. At best we will be encouraged that one day it will be over. And in the life of many that day has refused to come. And sadly, it will never come because it has already come. It’s just that they are not gaining the dominion they need to break from the yoke.
God needs to show someone where to find a good spiritual family to feed from to break from his or her yoke! May your eyes not be blind to your teachers in Jesus precious name!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!” Isaiah 30:20-22 NKJV