TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 26TH MARCH 2023)
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,
A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 85TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
It’s been the goodness of the LORD all along. There is no way the enemy can force tears out of your eyes when the LORD is your keeper.
When you have Someone, who does not sleep or slumber as the One who watches over you, there will be no need to stay awake at night thinking about your safety. He is not a human system or institution, He is the rock of Ages, the man of war.
He has kept us for 85 days and will keep us for the rest of the days. We believe!!
It has been enlightening looking at the faith positions of precious word or holy seed carriers. Each day has left us with things to thank God for; kingdom realities to help us in worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, sanctifying words to help us align with His holiness, amazing grace to propel us to keep walking in truth, and great hope for the future.
Yesterday’s devotional, like many others, was amazing. The part that spoke to us about how we increase our approval ratings with God is still resounding in my spirit.
There are things that God tells us that blow our minds, and give us the grace to look for temptation to face. That devotional was one of them.
Before we get to the last limitation that carriers of the holy seed have to receive help from God to overcome, let us look at the issue of approval ratings before God. Anything about our lives that is not divinely approved by God, will turn out to be a source of misery to us. Be it marriages, businesses, careers, relationships of any kind, or even churches we attend.
The bulk of our life sufferings are product of taking decisions, doing things and living lives that lack God’s approval, thereby loosing blessings that would have come to us naturally, or facing problems that would not have been part of our lives.
It is sad that people do not care about what God thinks in whatever they do. It is more sadden to know that people do not care if He approve a thing they may be doing or not. They just lead their lives the way their desires guide them, and when they run into trouble, they turn to blame God for it.
THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE WAYS TO LIVE.
Authentic salvation, has a way of shutting down what you love doing and igniting you to run after only what GOD approves. That is why as soon as you get saved, God will plant a seed of Himself in you, and make it impossible for you to be comfortable living life the way you want it.
It is very important that you do not just seek to increase your approval ratings before GOD, by overcoming temptation, but seek to live every bit of your life doing only what His word, will, and ways approves. You may not understand, but if you look at what happen to Jesus, perhaps you will understand.
Scriptures made it clear that when His life as human, was approved before God, a voice came from Heaven to confirm it. The Bible says;
“And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.
And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!” Matthew 3:16-17 AMPC
If you think you do not need this kind of sovereign declarations over your life, then you are ignorant.
If you think you do not need Heaven to declare to creation saying, this is my beloved son or daughter, in whole I delight, then you need to read your Bible to find out deep truths. Every human on earth need such Heavenly declarations to overcome the enemy of their soul, and prevail over prevailing circumstances.
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH TELLS US WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF SUCH DECLARATIONS ARE MADE. IT SAYS,
“And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast.
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.” Isaiah 61:4-7 NKJV
When God make the “This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight” declaration over your life, He will begin to use you to rebuild the old ruins of so many lives, you will be used by Him to repair the ruined lives, the desolations of many generations.
The declaration will affect the thoughts of people and they will begin to see you in a new light; a glorious light. No one will treat you as a reject.
The Bible says, instead of shame you will have double honor, and instead of confusion you will rejoice in your portion, and that everlasting joy shall be yours. Meaning, when the enemy want to attack you with shame, confusion or sorrow, it will be impossible because the declaration will make it impossible for him to do that.
What we get in life by doing only what God approves, is much more than what prayer can give us. That is why we should spend our days on earth seeking divine approvals before doing anything that is without our purview, and making sure our approval ratings are growing before God every now and then, by overcoming temptation.
Now let see that last earthen vessel limitation, that God is ever ready to help us overcome, as His holy seed carriers. I call it the limitation of man’s ability to come to an end or die. In other words, the limitation of death. A relevant portion of our devotional text says;
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 AMPC
THERE IS A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE.
Once that time comes, there is nothing any of us can do about it. That is the seventh limitation of the earthen vessel. It can also be called, the limitation of mortality. It is a limitation in the earthen vessel that makes it possible for the vessel to die, especially when it’s time to die comes.
One day I sat down to think about all the great men and women of God who have passed, and wished there was no death. Their great mantles are still needed today, but death would not let us have them alive with us. I can’t forget seeing Dr. T L Osborn, standing side by side Dr. Benson Idahosa in the late nineties in Benin, Nigeria.
It was a great meeting that had the cream of the cream of the Nigerian charismatic movement in attendance.
I can’t forget seeing the pioneers of the charismatic move in the United States, standing on one platform in the late eighties and early nineties, and pouring themselves out. But today, they are no more. Death has denied us from experiencing these great mantles today, except for their individual videos. Indeed, ability to die is a major limitation in the lives of precious word or holy seed carriers.
No matter how anointed you are, the anointing you carry can not save you from death. Ordinarily it should. But it can’t. It can only shield you from it when your time has not come. But once your time comes, you will just have to bow out of time and join the rest of our departed brethren in eternity.
All of us who are alive today and looking as if we are immortal; especially in the garment and grace the LORD has given us to function as His sons and daughters, a time is going to come when our flesh (the earthen vessel), will become too weak to carry us any longer, and we will bow out of time like they did.
WHEN THAT TIME COMES, NOTHING ELSE WILL MATTER OTHER THAN TO BE RIGHT BEFORE GOD WHEN YOU STEP OUT OF THIS LIFE.
Was mankind having this limitation at creation? The answer is yes. But how did God helped him to overcome the limitation during that time? God planted the tree of immortality, or the tree of life, in the Garden of Eden at that time.
Mankind was eating from its fruit anytime he wanted, and it kept him for all the timeless time he lived in the Garden of Eden. There was no premature death or death at all. But when he lost the Garden, he lost access to that tree of immortality, and became mortal. That is why we can die today.
But God still has a way of helping us to live as long as our purposes permits. He has a way of helping us not to die before our time. He has a way of defeating death when it comes too early to take us out of time. The Bible says, “to Him belongs escapes from death,” (Psalm 68:20). The Bible also said, “He holds the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18). So, we are covered.
In those scriptures is the covenant of long life for all of us in Christ. In another place He was like; “with long life would I satisfy you, and I will show you my salvation” (Psalm 91:16).
These truths tell us what the LORD does, or will do, to help us overcome the limitation of mortality. As we carry His holy seed, let us have faith in Him to offer us that help; let us believe Him to satisfy us with a life that is long enough for His purpose for our lives to be fulfilled.
Finally, I want to submit to you that, when you have eternal life, you should not worry about long life. Eternal life is God’s final solution to the limitation of mortality. It is my prayer that we will all yield to Him when the limitations in our earthen vessel manifest, calling upon Him for help, in Jesus precious name. Amen!!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will [e]set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 NKJV