TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 7TH November 2020)
“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 310TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
With just 55 days to go in this year of never-heard-of attacks from the forces of darkness on the human race, all we can say is, “thank you LORD. You did not allow the intentions of the dark world to come to pass. There is only one thing that is allowed to come to pass in your Kingdom LORD, and that thing is your word Oh LORD.”
When He was Physically on earth, Jesus firmly declared
“Heaven and earth shall pass away but my way shall not pass away.”
Yes, evil shall pass away. Death, hell and grave shall all pass away. Even the devil himself and all his host of fallen angels, human and demonic spirits, shall pass away. But the word of the LORD and those who build their lives on it shall not pass away!
We shall reign with the LORD in the new Heaven and the new earth where Righteousness dwells. That is the blessed hope that the righteous should build their lives on. It has a way of helping us to touch the power of the age to come to keep ourselves going in this age, until time is no more.
The Bible is clear on these prophetic truths that we are affirming this morning!
A people who build their hearts on the word of the LORD shall never pass away. Those who do the will of GOD abides forever. Even death has no power to bring them completely to an end. 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 our Bibles. They are now part of the Church that is registered in Heaven. They form the cloud of many witness that surround us and cheers us to keep running the race and finish well.
WHEN THEY WERE IN THIS WICKED WORLD, 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 actually the manna that came down from Heaven which if we eat and respond to it 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.
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 of God in a man’s soul, because he is stepping out of his body and going into a realm where what he fed on while here 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. That is why the ongoing PROPHETIC APOSTOLIC TRAINING SCHOOLS are important. This month we are again receiving things that will last forever.
It’s been our month of GOD’s Mercy, and Heaven has been faithful in revealing one new truth or the other to us.
Yesterday we learned that God’s Mercy is much more of a seed than a need! It is one living truth that we should deliberately keep burning in our hearts. Yes, it is one scriptural revelation that is worth repeating over and over again.
WE ARE PICKING FROM THERE AGAIN THIS MORNING AS WE LOOK AT THE WAY THE PRODIGAL SON HANDLED THE MERCY OF HIS FATHER.
First of all, 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.
Except in rare cases, Inheritance is shared after the death of a father not before. So when he ran into trouble, he remembered the blessing of living in his father’s house, and decided to return (repent).
Now the way he decided to return is very important. Most times we want to return to the LORD but do not know the right approach to take. He took the best approach so long as God’s justice system is concerned. 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 and decided to return with the mentality of the tax collected, who found himself so unworthy of God’s mercy but got it anyway. He sought the position of a servant and not the previous position of a son.
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 secure GOD’s mercy to help you recover from anything in life.
Don’t forget, we crash-land in life and become victims of poverty, diseases, struggles, pain, disappointment, divorce, and etc. because of the Godless and Christ less decisions we do take in life.
Families go from curses to curses, poverty to poverty, marriage problem to marriage problem, from generation to generation because of the Christ-less and God-less decisions they take from generation to generation.
So if our lives become unbearable, that is not the time to storm the gates of Heaven requesting for blessings. That is the wrong approach; God’s justice system does not favor people who do such things. It favors people who take the approach of a humble soul seeking for God’s mercy; the very approach that the prodigal son took when his life crash-landed.
THE PRODIGAL SON TOOK A “RETURN POSITION” THAT FORCED GREAT MERCY FROM THE HEART OF THE FATHER.
One of the golden things he did was not to request for what he lost because he knew he no longer deserved it. In fact, he judged himself and passed sentence over himself. And God’s justice system says if we judge ourselves we shall not be judged.
He lost his position as a son, and recognized it and never requested or came back for it. He came back for the position of a servant. If He had come back for the position of a son, he would have been condemned because it would be unjust to have after what he did according to God’s justice system.
God’s Mercy flowed out to him because he took the right approach.
The story of the prodigal son is the story of GOD and us. Jesus told that story to show us, among other things, how to approach God in need. But many of us are not learning! Our arrogance and pride has stopped us recovering all that our Godless and Christ-less decisions took away from us.
But a people who will do what the prodigal son did will always force God’s mercies out of His throne room to their lives on earth. Yes, they will turn God’s justice system to their favor.
At this point, let’s ask ourselves some questions. Let’s take down some towers of Babel in our hearts with some real questions.
Do we think we deserve a Child after we have aborted the ones that we conceived, maybe out of wedlock, to save ourselves from shame? Do we think we deserve a husband after we have abused and destroyed the life of men through seduction?
Do we think we deserve life after we have looked God in the face and chosen death? Do we think we deserve healing after turning our back on the word of the healer Himself and allowing diseases to break out among us?
YES, LET US ASK OURSELVES SOME HONEST QUESTIONS
Do we think we deserve even a marriage after we have so abused women as a men or destroyed other women’s marriage as women? Do you think we deserve peace after rejecting the counsel of God for our lives and going to establish our own counsels?
Do we think we deserve Heaven because of grace if we spend our days living a Christian life that is not different from the life of a lost sinner out there? Do you think you deserve restoration after losing privileges that the LORD gave you to a life of rebellion, wickedness and all kinds of sins?
Whatever we may have lost to sin, ignorance and rebellion, is lost that is the fact. 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 faith position that drew great mercies from the heart of his father to his life.
If we do the same, our lives we receive great mercies form God and be restored in moments.
When the young man returned to GOD with a desire to get, not what he lost and with an accurate judgment of himself, God gave him much more than he lost! God gave him his position back and much more!
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
LET ME REPEAT THIS STORY OF A WOMAN I CONSIDER A CONTEMPORARY PRODIGAL SON
Many years ago a preacher shared with us the story of a harlot that GOD transformed totally and gave a home. She was a professional harlot that had some complications during her harlotry days. The doctors had to cut off her womb to save her life.
Then one day she met the LORD through the preaching of a child of GOD; it was an encounter that took her away from the streets into the hands of Christ.
She later joined a Church and said to herself,
“I don’t deserve marriage or children after all I have done. I will serve the LORD unconditionally and die and never join those seeking him for marriage.”
Truly, she kept to her word. She did what the prodigal son did.
“Father I am no longer worthy to be called your Son. Make me one of your servants.”
She served for some time, and then a young man showed up asking her hand in marriage. She declined. Then another came, and she declined. Then they started disturbing her from all over. Then in a bid to be sending them away, she stated saying to them, “I have no womb.”
But one day a certain man came; this one refused to give up even after she had told him she had no womb. The man maintained that God said to him she was his wife. After a long time of hanging on, he went to their pastor dragging her along.
To cut the long story short, they had a Holy Ghost filled wedding and after one month the lady took in. That was when the man started his own ‘trouble’ – good trouble of course.
He said to her, “So you lied to me that you have no womb just to put me away?” The lady was weeping uncontrollably. The man thought she was weeping because of his rebukes. But he never knew she was weeping because it was impossible for her to conceive.
SHE WOULD LATER SHOW HIM ALL THE MEDICAL PAPERS THAT VALIDATED HER CLAIM OF HAVING NO WOMB.
What do you think God did to this lady? He gave her what she lost to sin and wickedness when she judged herself like the prodigal son did. It is a people who do not know how to judge themselves in a DON’T JUDGE ME GENERATION that will die in the consequences of their sins.
God gave her what she lost because she never made it her reason for coming to the LORD! Many Christians will rather ask God for what they lost and make it their reason for coming to him. That is why they will remain without having it.
You find so many people placing a demand on God, even through prayer fasting, giving, and etc. for marriages, money, peace, prosperity, deliverance, healing, and other things instead of judging themselves and passing sentences that agrees with God’s justice system on themselves before God.
Yes, many will seek to be arrogant before God asking him for what they lost even in tears instead of seeking to serve Him like this woman and 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.
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” from or self-inflicted sorrows.
Sadly, we do not even know that none will be allowed to serve God in self-inflict sorrows if we return through the route of the prodigal son. He is too merciful to let that happen.
I believe the message of today’s devotional has been passed. May God use these truths to give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified even as you prepare for today’s sessions of the 2020 School of the Prophets!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” 1 Corinthians 11:31 NKJV