TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 2023)
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” Romans 8:20 -25 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 83RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
We are signs of God’s mercies and wonders of His forgiveness, compassion, and benevolence. We are not serving an Idol, we are serving the one and only True God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
He is ever faithful, ever merciful, ever kind, ever attentive to our cry.
He is not just attentive to our mouth cry, He is also attentive to our heart cry, our body cry, or economic cry, and the cry of the aspects of our lives that have no voices to express themselves but are vulnerable to afflictions. The Bible says;
“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:17-19 NKJV
I do not know about you, but I can identify with this scripture. It is because of the LORD’s attentiveness to the cry of our lives, both the audible and the inaudible cries, that we are alive today. If He was not one who watches over us like the apple of His eyes, we would not be here. We thank Him for what we have seen Him do in our lives and our families so far. We have confident that He who began this good work in our lives, will continue it to the end.
THE LORD HAS BEEN IGNITING OUR SPIRITS WITH PRECIOUS TRUTHS WE CAN CAPTION AS FAITH POSITIONS FOR HOLY SEED CARRIERS.
God’s unending resources are for the prosperity of the holy seed He has given us to carry. He said to Jacob, one of the carriers of the holy seed that resulted in our salvation today;
“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:15 NKJV
His promise to be with Jacob, was not made to any other man or woman in any nation under Heaven that day, but to Jacob alone. Why would the LORD ignore them and come to him? His holy seed in Jacob attracted Him. It was responsible for the encounter Jacob had.
The Bible says;
“Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:10-15 NKJV
As I look at this scripture, I see one of the major things God does to holy seed carriers; the release of destiny shaping encounters they never planned.
History had it that it was a road where many used in moving from place to place. But none of them had any encounter with the LORD because none of them who passed that road carried His seed. One day, one who carried the seed came to the place, and the owner of the seed met Him.
One major word the LORD spoke to Him when He met him that day, that is worthy of double attention, is in the last verse. The Verse said;
“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Genesis 28:15 NKJV
This verse tells us how much God commits Himself to carriers of His holy seed. He stays with them, supplying all the Heavenly resources they need, until the word He implanted in their lives come to pass; or the holy seed in their spiritual womb is born.
One of the many things the LORD will deal with, as He keep us wherever we go, is the seven earthen vessel limitations of holy seed carriers. We have seen four of them. The first is Dimensional limitation, the next is the limitation of the carnal or natural mind, the third is the limitation of the sin nature, and the fourth, the limitation of the state or nature of our hearts.
Today we will be looking at the fifth limitation – the limitation of the Fallen Age Environment.
When Lucifer fell and became Satan, he was banished from Heaven, and because of his expulsion, he lost his place eternally. God decided to replace him with one who will be created in His Own image and likeness. That one will not be an angel, like Lucifer, but a son of GOD with a physical body. The Bible says;
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
BEFORE GOD CREATED MANKIND TO REPLACE THE FALLEN ANGEL, HE HAD CREATED THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE MANKIND WOULD LIVE.
In fact, if you read the story of creation, you will realize that creation did not begin with the creation of man, creation began with the creation of where man would live – an environment suitable for him and his destiny to thrive.
The man happened to be Adam; the first holy seed carrier on earth.
He was commanded to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth and replenish it. He was given dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. That was the holy seed he carried. God would also create another environment, in the first environment called the earth that He created, and make it Adam’s home.
The Bible says;
“The LORD God planted a garden eastward of Eden, and there He put the man Whom He had formed.” Genesis 2:8 NKJV
All these buttresses the importance of environment to the prosperity of the holy seed we carry.
Sadly, mankind would loose this environment, and find themselves in an environment where the holy seed cannot thrive; an environment of curses, thorns and thistles – an environment of sin, where people can come under the sway of the wicked one to destroy carriers of the holy seed. That was why Cain killed Abel!
Sadly, the limitations of this fallen environment are one of the limitations that holy seed carriers contend with on daily bases.
The fallen environment has demons in it, curses in it, wicked men and women in it, unclean things and etc. in it. There is so much happening on our earth in the seen and unseen realms that we cannot completely articulate. They are heavily responsible for the wars, the diseases, the deaths, the poverty, the hardships, the toil, the depravity and etc. that mankind go through.
I SUBMIT TO YOU THAT THE EARTH AS WE KNOW IT WAS NOT THE ORIGINAL ENVIRONMENT THAT GOD CREATED FOR US.
You will never know how it is affecting you, until you loose or live your life without the indwelling presence of God completely. Those who are dead in spirit will never understand this. The fall of man subjected the entire creation to futility, and we struggle with that every day.
Except God be with you, it is impossible to live in an environment that have been subjected to futility, or ineffectiveness or uselessness, and not be ineffective, or useless in life. Part of the bondage of corruption that we contend with daily, is from the earth environment. Creation itself is groaning under the same yoke.
Our devotional text says;
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” Romans 8:20 -25 NKJV
From this scripture, it is clear that creation is hoping to be delivered from the bondage of corruption that the fall of man brought it into. And the book of second Peter chapter 3 made it clear that, the deliverance will take place when the earth as we know it, will pass away. But until then, we have all the factors to contend with. That is why God will keep us, and be with us until every word-seed He planted into our lives, is fulfilled.
It is important therefore, that every holy seed carrier believe this word that was first spoken to Jacob, which I believe belong to us also.
What He said to Him then, He is saying to us now. He is saying to you and I, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, … for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
May the LORD continue to preserve us from the bondage of corruption in this fallen world; may His indwelling presence continue to keep us in His power and glory, in Jesus precious name. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God. The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.” Isaiah 43:2-4 NKJV