TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 1st August 2020)
“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” Exodus 23:20-22 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 212TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Glory to the Most High God for another Month in Our Year of Rejoicing!
We at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries look forward to a time with the LORD today as we begin our 50 Days “Wings of the Spirit” – a special Church in the House Apostolic Summit that will run from today to the 19th day of September on the Morning Cloud Television daily at 7 pm EAT, and 9:30 am EAT on Sunday.
There is a generation that represents today what Daniel was in His days. Let me begin by speaking to that generation. This generation is usually filled with Heavenly wisdom and ability to decode mysteries to their generation. That are usually hatted and betrayed. One of the major visions of the 50 Days Wings of the Spirit and is to open the womb of that generation.
They will replace the sorcerers and diviners we call prophets and prophetess today.
When Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den by betrayers and hatters, the lions could not devour him. The expectations of the wicked failed. And when he came out, it was their turn. What was true in the Old Testament will be true in the New.
Lions in a negative sense represents evil or evil people. When the people you trust conspire and give you over to evil or evil people, as part of the Daniel generation, God will come through for you. When God comes through for you, and you come out of that phase, it will be their turn.
A time will come when the very evil they threw at you will come back consuming them. If it happened in the days of Daniel, it would happen in our days too! The Bible made it clear that both the men and their families where not spared. The king threw all of them into the lion’s den.
THIS IS WHERE EVERYONE NEED TO BE CAREFUL.
Yes, this is where you must be careful what you do to people either as a father, mother or one that will one day be a father or mother. This story teaches us that wickedness could be personal, but the consequence of the action is not private. It could eat up your family, and do not think you are single and that you have no one for the consequences of your actions to consume. You will eventually have kids and they will consume them or consume those who attempt to help you.
Today is the first day of the eight month of the year. It is a significant day. If you will begin the journey with us today, day of the 50 days Wings of the Spirit, experience what am talking about. I sense Heaven ushering someone into fresh portals from today.
I think we should refresh our memories about a beautiful truth I shared some time back on PROPER SPIRITUAL FEEDING.
I have come to discover that whenever God show mercy to a people, He will get them some quality spiritual food so that they will not go back to folly again. He will establish some “prophetic and apostolic food or feeding homes” and set great cooks (teaching prophets and apostles with access to the kitchen of His deep things) over them.
Then He will send for the famish to come and take their seats, eating whatever He set on His table for them until they grow too fat for the yokes of their enemy to remain on their necks. Yes, until they become strong enough to unleash their individual destinies.
That is one of the critical truths Jesus was trying to reveal to the men of His generation when He shared the parable of the wedding feast with them! The King in that story sent a voice to those He considered worthy but none of them responded positively. They all rejected the invitation to come and be fed the word and got replaced. Yes, the King replaced them with others.
One of the sad things to happen to anyone is to be replaced. That is why one of the major things we must make up our minds and fight against is not to be replaced. It all begins with accepting Jesus Christ as LORD and savior and continues with taking a seat in His Spiritual Feeding Home (a strong prophetic and apostolic feeding center) until you become a temple for Him in the Spirit.
YOU FIND THIS PATTERN IN THE EARLY CHURCH. THE BIBLE SAYS,
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:41-42 NKJV
In other word, they took their seats in “God’s spiritual Food home” established for them shortly after surrendering to Jesus and continued steadfastly, feeding on the apostle’s doctrines through fellowship. The scripture above shows us that anyone who gives his life to Christ without finding a “spiritual food center” or “an apostolic and prophetic food home” to sit and be fed spiritually will take it back as soon as the impact is over.
Some will take it back by openly going back to the world, living their old lifestyles and even worst. Others will take it back by secretly going back to their old lifestyles and still coming to church calling it weakness. That is when you cannot see any difference between them and the lost sinners.
I was told of a pastor who went drinking in a drinking spot boasting of how much he has made through tithes and offerings. That is a man who has taken His life back from Christ but still goes with his life as a pastor – he has lost the content; he is just a shell. The Bible further described them this way,
“They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” Titus 1:16 NKJV
We have different ways we take our lives back from Christ after giving it to Him. That is when a life of Holiness will disappear from our walk with GOD. Everything sinful will become acceptable and treated with kids’ glove. The consciousness of divine will and ways kindled by your salvation experience will disappear. And all that will happen because of lack of proper spiritual feeding after receiving Christ as LORD and savior.
THAT BRINGS US TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RECEIVING CHRIST AS LORD AND RECEIVING HIM AS SAVIOR.
I remember sharing these truths before and felt we should refresh our minds again with them! Truths do not die. They are new every morning like the God who gives them. Most Christians live a life that shows that they have received Christ as LORD but are yet to receive Him as savior.
Sadly, it is not just accepting Jesus as savior that will take us to Heaven but accepting Him as LORD! The Bible is clear on that. Friend, there is a difference between accepting Jesus as LORD and accepting Him as savior.
The word “LORD” mean owner! It kills your right and make you embrace His right. It kills your will and pushes you to embraces His will. It kills your way of life and transforms you to embraces His way of life. That is why the fruit of accepting Him as savior IS A FORM OF GODLINESS WITHOUT CHARACTER, but the fruit of accepting Him as LORD is A LIFE OF REPENTANCE AND CONSTANT DEPARTURE FROM EVIL.
That is why it is easier to accept Him as savior than to accept Him as LORD. It is like the difference between getting married and staying married. You can accept Jesus as savior in a Crusade ground just as you can get married anywhere, but you cannot accept Him as LORD until you find a spiritual food house to sit and be fed, committing yourself unconditionally to Him until you are no more.
Accepting Him as savior may require the repetition of what we call “the sinner’s prayer.” So, it can be done with the mouth but with or without the heart. But accepting Him as LORD is deeper – it requires a heart transformation resulting in a new life – a life of holiness and righteousness that keeps your spirit quickened towards God’s ways and will.
Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as LORD cannot go into a marriage, business, Church, or live in a City and do anything outside God’s will for their lives. They do not do things without divine approval.
THE APOSTLES KNEW THIS SECRET THAT WAS WHY THEY NEVER CERTIFIED ANYONE SAVED IN A HURRY.
They knew if one accepts Christ as savior without finding a spiritual food house to sit and be fed until Christ becomes His LORD, he is not established yet. One day he will go back to Egypt (a life of sin, crafted by Satan using the evil and corrupt systems of the world).
The purpose of strong apostolic teaching centers like the Cry of the Spirit Ministries therefore, is to greatly help those who have believed in Christ to develop a personal walk and talk with God through proper spiritual feeding, and come to a place of unconditional commitment to Christ. Only then will Jesus become their LORD!
There are no words to describe how blessed your life will become when Jesus becomes your LORD! The first thing that will happen is, you will no longer see, talk, or come under any successful attacks of the enemy.
Personal fight against your enemies will disappear. Jesus will take over your battle and give you rest on every side. That is why one major thing you see in the life of those who have made Jesus their savior but are yet to make Him their LORD, is a constant battle against unseen forces or demons.
You will see restlessness in their lives; and find them in constant spiritual battles. You will see them fighting all kinds of enemies,
1. Perceived Enemies
2. Supposed Enemies
3. Fathom enemies
4. Enemies that are just a Mirage, and
5. Very few Real enemies
The first thing God does to you if you make Jesus your LORD is to give you rest on every side.
THAT BRINGS US TO OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT. IT SAYS,
“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”
The word angel means messenger. It was a messianic expression of the presence of the pre -incarnate Christ among them.
In other words, Jesus Christ was the Angel God referred to. He was among the Israelites as a pillar of cloud by Day and a pillar of Fire by Night. The Bible calls Him the messenger of the New Covenant. But today He is among us through the His Word and Spirit.
Making Him LORD involves obeying His word and Spirit and doing all that He tells us to do (as contain in His word and enabled by His Spirit).
When that happens, the results will be Him becoming an enemy to our enemies, and giving us rest from the days of adversity, days of slavery to sin, Satan and the evil and corrupt system of this world. A lot of other things happens when Jesus becomes your LORD. But we cannot go into them in a devotional.
What is the message today? The message is simple. The greatest need of your life, therefore, is not marriage, money, freedom from generational curses or evil altars.
The greatest need of your life right now is a spiritual food house where you can be properly fed and brought to the faith position where Jesus will become your LORD and savior. When that happens, whatever you may be looking for will begin to look for you!
It is a New Day! Welcome to a New Month! Welcome to a month that will usher many of us into fresh portals!
THIS SCRIPTURE CAN BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you? For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [in order to heed their teaching] and does them, I will show you what he is like:
He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock.
But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great. Luke 6:46-49 AMP