TODAY’S DEVOTION (Sunday 6th September 2020)
“Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:29-39 NKJV
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13
WELCOME TO THE 248TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Today is Church in the House, and I hope you will join us on the Morning Cloud TV, or through our Facebook page or YouTube channel. God has been faithful and glorifying Himself in our lives right from our very homes. There has been no difference between Church in the House and Church in the hall except for the warmth of not seeing our faces and fellowshipping physically together, which can be a distraction to some.
Fellowshipping spiritually together right form our homes has had its own unique blessing to our lives. Besides this, our ongoing 50 DAYS WINGS OF THE SPIRIT will be hitting its day 37 session today, the 37th Day. In Yesterday’s session, we mined certain truths from the words of Christ in what we know today as “the LORD prayer.”
One of the precious lines in the prayer says, “Your Kingdom Come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To me, the entire purpose of redemption and creation is buried in those words. We can mine truths from them for an entire lifetime.
I have come to discover that life circumstances will remain the same our mouth and hearts synchronizes to begin to call on earth what is being said in heaven concerning us. Now, I am not referring to what many preachers have presented as confession of faith. I am referring to something deeper than that – a synchronization with Heaven that put things in our mouth to say on earth as said in Heaven.
David said unto God in prayer,
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 NKJV
If the words of our mouth and the meditations (or inner thoughts) of our hearts are not synchronized with the words that are settled in Heaven concerning us, nothing about us will be settled on earth.
A lot will be out of order. Our marital lives will be in shambles, or our economies unsettled, or even both; nothing in our lives will be moving because we have not connected with what is moving in Heaven concerning our lives on earth. Sadly, even eternity will not be in our view. The Bible says,
“forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven” (Psalms 119:89 NKJV).
OUR WAY GOD CONNECTS US TO THINGS SETTLE IN HEAVEN CONCERNING US IS BY SCHOOLING US IN THE MYSTERIES OF THOSE THINGS
For instance, if God wants to connect me to an increase, a blessing or a more significant things settled in Heaven concerning me, He will school me in it so that I can have it on earth. He could use his servants pr talk to me directly by His Holy Spirit.
There are revelations of things that are settled in Heaven concerning our walk and talk with God. When we are schooled in them, they will shape us to lead a lifestyle that unlocks them into our lives. That tells me, there is a revelation in Heaven things like your marriage, your health, your economy etc. that have been settled in heaven concerning you. When you get schooled in it, you make it manifest in your life.
The Life of the Ethiopian Eunuch comes to mind at this point.
Our Devotional text today is lengthy but necessary. It made it clear that it was settled in Heaven that that the Ethiopian eunuch becomes one of the sons of God (like every other person on the face of the earth then). But he never stepped into it. There was no revelation to propel him into it.
No one shared with him what God had settled in Heaven concerning his salvation. He never saw what God settled in Heaven concerning his spiritual life on earth, hence not settled in it. This tells explains why preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to those who are perishing and those who are being saved is important.
Sadly, it is doctrines of devils called gospel you hear in the mouth of many.
There are so many Christians who are trapped in false ministries today, following one error or the others. So much that have been settled in Heaven concerning them have not materialized in their lives on earth because there is no scriptural revelation on those things – they have not been schooled in it.
You find some running from Church to church, prophet to prophet, people to people, Prayer Mountain to Prayer Mountain, etc. Drinking Oil, using soaps, sand, salts, water, and all types of things to pray! Sowing all kinds of financial seeds yet not still settled in life. They spend their energy looking for what is not lost.
The way God brought the Ethiopian eunuch to the things that were settled in Heaven concerning him is the same way He uses today. He took a man named Philip on the wings of the Spirit to the eunuch.
I think this man, Philip, was no small man of God. He was a man who could transport physically using the portals of glory in the spirit. Only Elijah did that in the days of the Old Testament. But in him, we see the glory of the former rain manifesting. The Bible says,
“Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:39 NKJV
It was a man of this spiritual caliber that GOD used to school the eunuch in things that were settled in Heaven concerning him.
Time has come for us to start checking the spiritual character or credentials of preachers before we start listening to them. I have said this repeatedly. It is what we have that we give when we minister, not just what we say. And what we have comes from what we are before God, not what we are before men.
Most of us preachers, are terrible sinners before God, but righteous men and women before men. We forget that God does not use active sinners. He uses repented sinners. Without a holiness garment and having an intimate relationship with GOD, we will put our eternal life in jeopardy, while ministering to others.
It is the content of the spiritual fountain of a preacher that flows out to our spirits when he or she is ministering to us, not just what is in their heads. That is why God wants us saved from the wrong spiritual fountains. If you are therefore, under a man or woman who knows all about the devil, or how to scoop money from people, but does not know the WINGS or WAYS of the Spirit, like Philip, he may be able to school you in other things but will not be able to school you in the things that are settled in Heaven concerning you.
YES, YOU WILL NEVER KISS THE GLORY OR HAVE PEACE IN YOUR LIFE. YOU WILL REMAIN UNSETTLED!
To bring the Ethiopian eunuch into the things settled concerning him in Heaven, God had to use a clean man of God who knew the wings and ways of the Spirit. That alone speaks for itself. We need clean and holy men of God, who know the wings and ways of the Spirit to be schooled in the things written concerning us in Heaven.
The next thing god did was to make Philip join the chariot of the one who needed the schooling. For you, it may be to join a Church or ministry of a preacher with the spiritual credentials from Heaven, and the grace that can bring you to the place of being school in the things that are settled concerning you in Heaven.
You may need to pay the price to leave and Old place of worship to a GOD ordained place for you, irrespective of what may be required, make sure you do not trade your destiny for anything.
Now, when Philip joined the Chariot, he was right on time. He met the man reading the book of Isaiah but without understanding. That tells us that there is divine timing to divine moves. If you cannot sense when you ought to leave a particular Church or preacher to a new one GOD connected you with, you will expire.
The joining of Philip to the chariot of the Ethiopian Eunuch took place right on time and the result was glorious. The man was schooled in the things settled in Heaven concerning his spiritual life on earth and got his walk and talk with God settled. Hallelujah!
History has it that he was the one that brought Jesus to the entire nation of Ethiopia. God made him a gate of the gospel in that nation. That was what was settled concerning him in Heaven, but it never happened until he was schooled in them.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT IN OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS,
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said,
“See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
You cannot be settled in life by becoming a spiritual wanderer and vagabond on the face of the earth like Cain; going from one Church to church, prayer night to prayer night, man of GOD to man of GOD. No! No! No! No!
You can only be settled if you locate one preacher anointed for you, sit under his or her ministry and get schooled in the things that are settled in Heaven concerning you. In God’s plan, everyone has a preacher and two angels assigned to him or her on earth. Until your life gets planted under the ministry of the three, you will never experience the best of GOD.
What is the message this morning? If you are not school in things that are settled concerning you in Heaven, your life will not be settled in earth.
There is something that when you find in GOD, will make good to begin to find you. There is something that when you find in God will make sure things that are settled in Heaven concerning you become settled in your life. Your expectations will no longer be cut off.
That thing is called the knowledge of wisdom, downloaded from the storehouse of the revelation of things settled concerning you in Heaven. That is what to sit under your God given spiritual authority to receive until you find and eat or assimilate it. The Bible says,
“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
“So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.” Proverbs 24:13-14 KJV
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to your ordinances, for all are your servants. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.” Psalms 119:89-93 NKJV