TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 9TH JANUARY 2023)
“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.” 2 Corinthians 12:1-5 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 9TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
The LORD God has been so good to us. His Holy Spirit, the greatest Heavenly treasure given to mankind, has been so gracious. We will ever remain grateful for all His wonders in our lives.
We have been on a 31-day journey of faith on visionary living. We have seen some laws that governs the same. We have seen the laws of visionary residency, the laws of visionary hearing, and the laws visionary relation. Today we want to see what to walk in other to operate the laws mentioned.
Everyone who will lead a visionary life must walk in the dreams, visions and revelations of the LORD to succeed.
Indeed, visionary living is more than seeing visions and dreaming dreams but visions, revelation and dreams from the Holy Spirit will be needed for visionary living. It takes dreams, visions, and revelations of the LORD to understand what aligns with God’s plan, purpose, vision, goal or route for your life, which are all part of visionary living. A major part of our devotional said,
“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:” 2 Corinthians 12:1 NKJV
Coming to the realms of visions and revelations of the LORD is very necessary for us on this earth of moral darkness and all kinds visions, dreams, and revelations from the flesh and the spirit of hell.
Yes, the flesh and the spirit of hell generates their own streams of prophetic flow, sadly some comes out through religious people and some spiritual leaders. The essence is to make those who may want to lead visionary lives to do so swimming in this false prophetic flow that appears to be coming from God.
Obviously, there are people who have been misled and misguided in life by dreams, visions and revelations that are not of God and have invested their entire lives in those things. Some only woke up at the evening of their lives, to discover that they were misled.
SADLY, OTHERS WOKE UP IN ETERNITY TO DISCOVER THEY WERE WRONG.
For all of us who have been misled by false prophetic hearing in life, the words of God through Jeremiah will make more sense. It says;
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:16 NKJV
How would you know if a preacher you so respect and take as an oracle of God is speaking a vision of their own heart? It can be difficult, yet that is what most of people in ministry do to people. I have been a victim of all that in my small life, and I have the scars to show.
The necessity of personally coming to the flow of visions and revelations from the LORD cannot be over emphasized. It is the only alternative to the flow of visions and revelations from the flesh and the evil one.
I was shocked to discover that all false religions started with visions, dreams and revelation encounters that their founders had. I never knew such things were possible outside God and I discovered that; I was reading a book on that in the 90s when I stumbled into it. That is why their followers believe all they teach, and make people follow or even get killed to establish.
If you want to lead a visionary life be careful of the realm that your visions, dreams or revelation come from. Satan has a history of misleading people. We must be careful of what we are hearing of seeing with our dream, vision or revelation ears and eyes.
Here in Kenya erring preachers and their sympathizers have always dreamed of seeing one thing or the other about me. All preachers who sleep with Church members, steal in the name of God or are close to those who do, have people among them who tell them “I am not of God” with cooked dreams, false visions, or induced revelations to share.
They sound so convincing to those they have fooled. But they do not know that what their preachers, prophets, and apostles are really saying is that “I am not of the god they have presented to them; the Baals, Ashtoreth, Tamuz and etc. they belong to. I do not belong to their stock.”
AND THEY SHOW THEM PROOFS THAT CONVINCES THEM.
Which should make sense to a wise Christian who understands the word and how Christianity should be. But how many fit that description? How many are really wise enough to know what these wolves are saying is basically to keep their captives in their religious grip?
How many can indeed judge prophecy personally and truly know that what the dark men are presenting to them is false? Very few! Majority are in infantile states.
They gave them titles and exalted positions to make them feel big and pride themselves in that, but they do not even have the stature to judge prophecy and recognize that they are being deceived.
The Bible says;
“Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit;
Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.
Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 AMPC
Dreams, revelations and visions, are some of the tools for visionary living because they help us to see into God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Joseph, for example started having them at a young age. And they did so much to shape his life. He can be a guide in helping us understand the role of visions, dreams and revelations from the LORD in helping us live visionary lives and fulfill God’s plans. The Bible says;
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a [distinctive] long tunic with sleeves.
But when his brothers saw that their father loved [Joseph] more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not say, Peace [in friendly greeting] to him or speak peaceably to him.
Now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more. And he said to them, listen now and hear, I pray you, this dream that I have dreamed:
We [brothers] were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about my sheaf and bowed down!
His brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or are you going to have us as your subjects and dominate us? And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said.
But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down and did reverence to me!
And he told it to his father [as well as] his brethren. But his father rebuked him and said to him, what is the meaning of this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves to the earth and do homage to you?
Joseph’s brothers envied him and were jealous of him, but his father observed the saying and pondered over it.” Genesis 37:3-11 AMPC
The word of the LORD that was coming to him in form of dreams, would later prove him, and help him to be on tract with destiny until he became the prime minister of Egypt, a father to Pharaoh, a minister of treasury and Agriculture, and a savior of lives in the ancient world.
If you go through the story of his life you will discover that at each point of his life, visions, dreams or revelations from God guided him. You and I will need the same guidance to succeed.
The message this morning is simple. We should not be moving in the flesh or base our wants on it. We should be moving in the Spirit, and responding to life challenges based on our divine destinies. It is my prayer that God will use these few thoughts to add to our wisdom bank on visionary living, in Jesus precious name. Amen
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Moreover, He called for a famine upon the land [of Egypt]; He cut off every source of bread.
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant. His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron,
Until his word [to his cruel brothers] came true, until the word of the Lord tried and tested him.
The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the peoples, and let him go free. He made Joseph lord of his house and ruler of all his substance,
To bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom.” Psalm 105:16-22 Ampc