TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 23RD April 2023)
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:
While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim;
When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low.” Ecclesiastes 12: 1-5 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 113TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS & WONDERS!
The LORD has added another day to our lives on earth. It is unfair to take it for granted. If you think staying alive is cheap, go check people on life support and see how much is being spent a day to keep them alive.
Sometimes we do not realize the cost of staying alive; the cost on God. I mean staying naturally alive.
If we quantify it based on the scientific attempt to keep people alive, and if God was paying a health facility some money to keep us alive, you will realize that it will cost Him quadrillions of dollars, to keep one person alive till the days appointed to the person are fulfilled.
It is therefore important to give God all the glory for keeping us alive. Say a word of gratitude to Him and let’s honor this loving and kind father, whose kindness is beyond comprehension.
For the recent days that we have seen, the LORD has been sending the Cry of His Spirit to us on doctrine. It has been an amazing time of refreshing from Our God. We have realized that everything about the human life is as the result of the doctrines transmitted into his spirit over time. Basically, doctrines are teachings or instructions, and everyone have been taught or instructed either in one way or the other.
THE QUALITY OF WHAT WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO DO OVER TIME, OR TAUGHT, REFLECTS ON OUR LIVES.
If we are bad, it means what we have been taught or instructed in is bad. If we are good, it means what we have been taught or instructed in is good. We must understand that it is the doctrine that we have absorbed over time that forms the core of our innermost being that controls our lives.
To change our lives, we must change what lies in the innermost core of our being. That is why the great commission borders on sound doctrine; making men disciples of Christ.
It takes discipleship to change what lies in the core of our innermost being not just church attendance. Discipleship was actually the standard of the early church, because that was what the LORD commanded us to do. And they did it very well, raising transformed and Heavenly worthy people as a result.
That is why if you are attending a church that is not making you a disciple of Christ, you may be doomed eternally. The darkness that lies within every un-regenerated man, will still be hanging in you no matter your prayers and fasting; you will be finding yourself living in sin and seeing nothing wrong with it. The Bible says;
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 NKJV
Sometimes we do not ask ourselves why God search the heart? Most times He does that to remove the evil and dark doctrines that lie in the inner most part of our beings. That He does, through sound teachings and discipleship.
For those who may not understand, what we do at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries is not just a church service, but discipleship. That is why we stay hours in what they call church. The LORD has made the ministry a place of strong discipleship programs that we run in different names; according the vision of each teaching session.
Sadly, most of us ministers of the gospel think that our major calling is to be prayer contractors to people in needs. That is being stupid in ministry. Our greatest calling is to change the dark doctrines that run the core of human hearts. A minister of the gospel who is not doing that, will be use by the spirit of hell to lead people to the lake of fire.
Now, because of the reality of our eternal life and the eternal destinations that awaits everyone, it is important that we are not taught things or instructed to do things that will land us in hell fire when we die. In other words, it is important to make sure that the doctrine that forms the innermost part of our hearts, do not lead us to hell after death.
THAT IS WHY THE BIBLE WARNS US AGAINST DOCTRINES OF DEVILS.
The entire planet is matching towards a Day God has set aside to judge all wickedness and punish all disobedience as the judge of the earth. We should not forget that and begin to live carelessly. The Bible says;
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV
In my opinion, every human being on earth should have this scripture in the back of their mind. Sadly, even some of us preachers do not have it. If we do, we will not be preaching money-making and demonic deliverance doctrines. We will major in preaching heaven making doctrines.
The Book of Revelation 20:11-15, clearly states that, people whose names are not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire on the day of judgment. What lies in the core of their innermost being will be responsible.
Meaning, there are those who will not be greeted by this fate on that day; people whose names are written in the book of life. What lies in the core of their inner most being will also be the reason!
THERE IS A SCRIPTURE I WANT US TO GLEAN A TRUTH FROM AT THIS POINT.
We cannot make Heaven if what lies in the core of our innermost beings is not changed from darkness to light. Whatever attract God’s wrath upon people is lying down deep within them. It is not around but within them. The Bible says;
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them…..
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. Romans 1:18-19, 26-27 NKJV
First of all, it’s important to acknowledge some hard things buried in this scripture, the destiny of those with darkness at the core of their innermost beings. The first are those whose darkness within them, made them gays and lesbians.
Without controversy, this scripture is clear on the eternal destiny of gays and lesbians. It tells us clearly that they will be cast into the lake of fire in the Day of Judgement, if they do not heed the warnings of the LORD, and turn to His Holy Spirit to extract the darkness within them, through discipleship.
You see, no one is born gay or lesbian. All are made that way by what lies deep within them. What lies deeply within each of them was transmitted over time into their hearts. Some were made to believe over time, that they were born gays or lesbians, or bi sexual; and they responded to all that by becoming either gays, bi sexual or lesbians. But all that are lies from deceiving spirits.
The doctrines they absorbed that made them that way are from the pits of hell. They heard them, believed them, and then obeyed them and they became part of the LGBT community. So, they are what they are because of what lies deep in their innermost beings.
IT WILL TAKE AN EXTRACTION OF SAME, THROUGH DISCIPLESHIP, FOR THAT TO CHANGE.
Now it is not just those who practice same sex marriage or intercourse that are marching towards eternal damnation because of what lies in their innermost beings, there are those of us who are involved in other abominable that are still not free.
They include those who do not like to retain God in their knowledge, people who have being given over to a debase mind to do things that are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, and etc. The Bible says;
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32 NLJV
All the characters mentioned in these verses are that way because of what lies deep on their inside. It is the darkness on our inside that makes us immoral, wicked, covetous, envious, deceitful, evil-minded, or backbiters.
It is what lies in our inner most beings that make some, haters of God, others violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedience to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful and etc. That is what keep some of us sinful and wicked despite knowing the righteous judgment of God on those who live that way.
We will never be free from this evil way of living if what lies within us is not changed through the execution of the great Commission without omission. That brings us to the last category of life that Jesus the giver of life created for the human race – eternal life.
WE HAVE SAID THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF LIFE JESUS CREATED FOR THE HUMAN RACE.
We have the natural life because man was given a natural body to live in a material world. Then we have the spiritual life, because man is a spirit living in a body. We have spent more days sharing on the spiritual life because it is the determining factor of where man will spend eternity after time.
The third is the eternal life, because man will live eternally after this life. We have shared extensively about those other two categories of life. It is time to look at the last category. Our devotional text says;
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:
While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;
When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low.” Ecclesiastes 12: 1-5 NKJV
The importance of looking into matters of eternal life cannot be over emphasized. We are not forever. One day we will all die and go to meet our creator to account for our lives, if we do not live lives that remembers Him on this side of eternity, it will be hell when we get to the other side.
We will pick up form here tomorrow.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “All is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 12:6-8 NKJV