TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 9TH April 2023)
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,” 2 Peter 3:10-15 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 99TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
We give God the glory for another day and for waking us up this morning. We thank the LORD for keeping us in the land of the living. With all we have seen, I will say the LORD is our portion in the land of the living. That is why we have not been consumed.
Today is Passover Sunday, also known as Easter Sunday. It is our day of commemorating the resurrection of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave us freedom from the penalty, practice, and presence of sin. Without this demonstration of His amazing grace, we would never have been saved.
Christ is no longer in the grave. He is risen! In His rise is our rise. Death (moral corruption, absence of natural life, and eternal separation from GOD) is defeated forever. We are saved, we are free, we are restored back to the family of God. Hallelujah!
There is also the other help we receive from the blessings of the resurrection of Christ, that usually manifest in our lives as God’s amazing grace for survival. The Bible says, many are the afflictions of the Righteous, but the LORD delivers them from they all.
Yes, because Christ is no longer in the grave, but highly seated in the Heavenly places with the LORD, we can now experience an out pouring of His grace, that delivers from all afflictions. We can now have the presence of the LORD in the midst of our life pressures.
His resurrection has made it possible for us to experience Him even in our days, as our immediate present help in time of trouble. He said, “lo, I am with you always.” That is the same, “I AM that I AM” who manifested in Egypt, and brought Israel out of bondage.
He is still here with us to help us. Sometimes He helps us by stopping the trouble, other times He helps us by allowing us go through it and making sure we are not consumed. He said in His word;
“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.” Isaiah 43:2 NKJV
The waters, rivers, and fire come to cut short the lives of men, or make it bitter. But I believe because of His resurrection, we can live long enough to fulfill our prophetic destinies.
HIS RESURRECTION GAVE US AN ETERNAL LIFE THAT IS STRONG ENOUGH TO HELP US THROUGH THICK AND THIN IN A WICKED WORLD.
Personally, I do not think of living a long life, I think of living a fulfilled life. The reason is because, with eternal life, we can live long enough to fulfill all the LORD has pre-planned for us. The resurrection of Christ should fire every one of us to be thinking of living a fulfilled life in Christ, not a carnal desire for long life, especially now that we are in a terminal generation, and there are more things to do in God’s kingdom.
God deals with His own in mysterious ways, that is why He is like the wind that you cannot grasp with your hands. Like Paul, it is important we ask Him for help whenever we need it, but if we do not see it immediately, we are to leave everything to the discretion of His omniscience.
As earlier stated, sometimes He sends the help by allowing us go through what we fear, but sustaining us in the midst of it. It is called “the fellowship of Sufferings,” a part of what you experience after tasting the power of His resurrection, especially with a desire to be conformed to His death, and attain the resurrection from the dead. The Bible says;
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11 NKJV
It was the suffering of Christ that purchased our redemption. There is a way that we also go through some things, by way of having fellowship with His sufferings, for the redemption of others, after knowing or experiencing the power of His resurrection.
PAUL PUT IT THIS WAY;
“For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:11-12 NKJV
This scripture made it clear that, having fellowship with His sufferings remains one way to unleash the blessing of the resurrection of Christ on others, especially those held under the captivity of darkness. The resurrection of Jesus and the blessings in it, is to prepare mankind for the last day, by the hands of those who are sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings.
It is by their hands that God releases into His Church the resurrection power that transforms the moral nature of men, from children of wrath to sons of God. That is why if they are not the one leading Churches, you could have Church but no transforming power of God in it, hence having a membership of children of wrath by nature, masquerading as sons of God.
The Bible is clear that no child of wrath can escape the day of judgment that is coming. The day is called “the Day of the LORD.” But all who are no longer Children of wrath courtesy of the transforming power of God, will escape.
The first part of our Devotional text said;
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
This scripture contains a Bible Prophecy. The prophecy makes it clear that time is marching the righteous towards the New Heaven and the New Earth, where righteousness dwells, and the wicked to the lake of fire.
IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE IT, YOU MUST MAKE A DECISION NOW!
A decision of where you will allow time to take you to, because time is taking us all to either of the destinations mentioned above. Those who are looking for the New Heaven and the New Earth with a lifestyle of godliness germinating from the Christ in them, will end up in the New Heaven and the New Earth, where righteousness dwells.
God’s perfect plan, when time was created, was for it to wipe away the consequences of the fall of man and the fall of lucifer, and bring the earth and its inhabitants back to its proper place in glory. That is why even the earth is expectant. The Bible says;
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
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.” Romans 8:19-22 NKJV
Time is the one with authority to bring the earth and the entire creation to that glory phase that was once there when Adam was created. It’s just that this time around, it will be the second Adam that will be in charge, which will make it more glorious than when the first Adam was in charge. It will be so glorious that it will be beyond description using human words.
The Bible admonished that the glory of that future life is what we should live our present lives for! The reality of where time is taking us all to, as painted in this Bible Prophecy, should get our focus, not just this morning, but every day of our lives. That will help us to live how we ought to live, because nothing prophesied by Bible prophecy will not come to pass.
In case you do not know, the most accurate prophecies in human existence are Bible Prophecies. They tell us things that have been pre-determined, which most have happened; like the dead, burial and resurrection of Christ, celebrated today. If you are a student of history and a student of Bible prophecy at the same time, you will understand me perfectly.
HUMAN HISTORY ITSELF HAS BEEN SHAPED BY IT. THAT IS WHY WE SHOULD GIVE HEED TO THESE THINGS.
I submit to you that there is nothing in Bible prophecy that has ever failed, and none will fail. We should only wake up to the reality of the coming future and begin to lead our lives right. People who do not ignore Bible prophecy, have been known to be the most consecrated men and women in the history of the Church, and the Kingdom of God on earth.
The question now is, how are we expected to live since all these things are going to happen? The last portions of our devotional text hold the answer. It said;
“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,”
We are expected to be found by the LORD at all times in peace (the Shalom of Christ), washed by the blood of the lamb, blameless, and without spot or wrinkle. These is the aspect that makes me sad because of some things I have seen in our lives as believers. Are we really blameless? Are we really without spot or wrinkle? For most of us, the answer to all that is a big “No!”
ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS FOR THAT IS THE ENTHRONEMENT OF THE DOCTRINES OF DEVILS IN THE PRESENT CHURCH.
Which brings us to the subject of doctrine. When I was following wrong doctrines, I lived a life of sin; which still kills me today every time I recall the dark days. There are times that the effect of those doctrines flows back into my soul and make me feel for those presently trapped in them.
I tell you, the battle with wrong doctrines that one has imbibed are not cheap battles. Even when you leave them, what they leave behind in your life, has a way of remaining. It resurfaces in days of temptation and trials, and weakens your resolve for righteousness during close quarter battles. That is what makes wrong doctrines very dangerous.
But we have the blood of the lamb that has not lost its power doing a cleansing work in our lives. We also have the word of the LORD that is always there to help us.
It is important to note that the blood of Jesus Christ that was shared through the eternal spirit of GOD only work through what we hear from the same Spirit; the doctrine of Christ from the Holy Spirit. It is what we hear that determines what we believe and think, and it is what we believe, that may have formed our thoughts system that determines our life styles.
That is why a blameless and spotless life – the very life the Bible says we should live these end times – is not possible without imbibing the doctrine of Christ on daily bases.
If Christ will find us in peace, blameless and spotless at His coming (either when He allows death to take us home, or when He comes in the rapture trumpet), the doctrines of demons, and every false or man-made doctrine must be far from us. The doctrine of Christ must be enthroned in our lives.
It is my prayer that God will use these words to keep us in perfect peace, and to help us live blameless and spotless lives from hence forth, in Jesus precious name. Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be partakers with them.” Ephesians 5:1-7 NKJV