TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 27TH FEBRUARY 2023)
“The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:1-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 58th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
God is faithful and amazing. We give Him the glory for giving us another day, and placing our feet on the second day of the week, after a beautiful encounter with Him in our Sunday services.
For us at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries, our just concluded February Apostolic Renewal Summit was one of a kind. The weight of the glory and depths of Truth that were distilled upon our hearts, from the Testimony of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of prophecy, was indeed faith building and prayer-life changing.
We bless the LORD for His ever-abiding presence and sovereign will, that has been working in our midst. The Bible says;
“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.
The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:16-17 NKJV
I think we at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries, are enjoying the days prophesied in this scripture. I believe this is one scripture, that is bound to be fulfilled again in our days, and we seem to be seeing its fulfillment among us.
What we see in every meeting or service we hold, seems to be the Spirit of the LORD saying to us,
“Do not fear, Zion, let not your hands be weak. The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
These things are happening, not because we are holy, but because He is Holy.
They are happening, not because we are faithful, but because He is faithful. The manifestations are happening, not because we are mighty, but because He is the Mighty One. He has been saving us, rejoicing over us with singing, and quieting us with his love, to show that its not about us but about Him and His agenda.
By His mercies, we are seeing the end of another month, with just a day to go. What else is responsible for this, if not the kindness and mercies of our God. He who commanded His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. Shall He not give us all things that pertains until life and godliness, and enable us to have them?
WILL HE NOT WATCH OVER US?
I have said repeatedly, that if you are not serving the LORD Jesus Christ, you are missing a lot. He is the best a man can have in this life and the afterlife.
Our 28-day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on supernatural living, is coming to a close. We have just one day left. God have been speaking to us lately on His plan for our health. It does not matter how rich you are, if you are not healthy, you will never be able to enjoy your wealth. Living in sound health is a necessity.
Today we will be looking at the last part of God’s plan for our health.
Few days back, we looked at God’s first plan for our health – the medical care and personal hygiene plan. We saw that being administered with medication is God’s will for our lives. It is part of His physical health plan for our lives. The next plan we saw is the first supernatural plan for our health, called divine healing.
There are two supernatural plans of God for our health. Divine healing is one, and divine health is another. One is a miracle, the other a blessing. One could return when situations that brought the healing no longer exist. The other will remain on a man’s life from generation to generation.
We have seen the most we can, on divine healing, and how-to bring healing to the sick. Divine healing and healing the sick, are all part of God’s plan for our health.
TODAY, WE WILL BE GOING FURTHER INTO THE LAST PART OF THE PLAN CALLED DIVINE HEALTH.
Divine health is GOD’s will for our lives. It is a divinely empowered physiological life that is free of diseases and illnesses. It involves being sound in health by the power of God. It is not divine healing. Divine healing is the elimination of diseases by the power of God.
But divine health is not the elimination of disease, because it makes sure one is not sick.
We can find people in scriptures that enjoyed divine health.
The generation after the fall of man, enjoyed divine health. That was why they lived long. Divine health guarantees longevity. You find people living up to 900 years and even beyond. You find someone not being sick for over 300 years, and living that way until he passes away. That is divine health.
It does not just protect our bodies from diseases, but make sure death do not come earlier than God or time has pre planned.
Abraham enjoyed divine health too; that was why aging was no problem to him. He still went to war at over 85 years, that was against five kings, and rescued his nephew Lot, from captivity.
Moses was 120 years old, yet his eyes did not grow dim because of age. Meaning, divine health has a way of taking care of problems that are associated with aging.
Sadly, some of these things may sound strange to us because too many Christians have accepted the world’s way of seeing health.
They expect their bodies to grow weak at a particular age, like the world do. Some even expect diseases and take the medical community at their word. The do not even consider the fact that the big Pharmaceutical companies, will want to sell their medication, hence doing some sinister things for profit.
THEY JUST JOIN THE WORLD TO EXPECT DISEASES.
One has to be careful what we expect, because the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut off. A Child of God should not expect diseases, but divine health from the LORD. A child of God must understand that, we are not of this world, and that we are just in it because of the divine mandate called the great commission. And that, the LORD made His word what should govern our lives here, not what the world says, sees, or shares.
In praying for His disciples, and by extension us, Jesus said;
“I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.
Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-18 AMPC
There is so much that we can glean from this scripture, but I will limit myself to the subject in view. One thing we can clearly see here is where we should not outsource our perspectives from. The word is clear that we are not of this world. So, we should not outsource our perspectives from it.
Come to think of it, how do you allow what you are not off, to shape your perspective on any matter!! That will be foolish on your part. It will deny you so many privileges of salvation, of which divine health is one. That is why you see so many Christians sickly, and not even believing in divine healing, come to talk of divine health.
Friend, if we will enjoy divine health, we must not be of this world in any aspects of life. We must not allow its perspective shape our view of health. We should not forget that divine health does not make sense, to the sensibility of anyone who is part of this world.
SO, WE SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM WHAT THEY THINK, AND LIVE BY WHAT GOD THINKS ABOUT OUR HEALTH.
In other words, we should live by the thoughts of GOD on our health as documented in His word. One of it was expressed by John, an apostle of Jesus Christ, who wrote the book of the Bible that we took our devotional text from. He wrote saying;
“The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:1-4 NKJV
The text shows us God’s will for our health in the lines that’s says,
“I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
The line did not just tell us what GOD’s will for our health is, it also tells us one way to achieve it. And that way is through the prosperity of the soul; the prosperity of the soul that comes through walking in truth. That is why the text says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
God is the God of Truth!! So, when you walk in truth, you find yourself doing His will, walking in freedom, not yielding to the flesh, confessing the word, and binding yourself with Him; the immortal God, through intimate fellowships with His Holy Spirit.
You will only fall sick, if you do not take proper care of the natural aspect of your life, because the supernatural aspect will be fully taken care of. Yes, it will be fully taken care of by the Holy Spirit, who enables us, as God, to bind ourselves to the immortal God.
THAT IS HOW WE RECEIVED LIFE IN OUR MORTAL OR PERISHABLE BODIES, TO LIVE IN DIVINE HEALTH.
The Bible says,
“And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11 AMPC
The life that comes from the Holy Spirit to our mortal or short-lived bodies, is a piece of immortality from the immortal God. That brings us to another perspective of what divine health is.
Divine health is a piece of immortality, infused into mortal men, who bind themselves to the immortal God, from time to time, and spend their days serving their generation according to His will. It is the third part, or aspect of God’s plan for our health.
I hope you understand these truths!! It is my prayer that, we all enjoy this piece of immortality all the days of our lives on earth, in Jesus precious name. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” Isaiah 40:29-31 NKJV