TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 14TH JULY 2023)
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.” Psalms 84:5-7 NKJV.
WELCOME TO THE 195TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
Indeed, blessed is the man or woman whose strength is in God. Our strength has been in God which is why the enemy has not been able to weary us. Some trust in chariots, others in their horses, but we will keep remembering the name of the LORD our GOD.
The Psalmist says;
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” Psalm 18:2-3 NKJV
For all our lives, even when we never knew Him, He had been our rock and fortress, our deliverer and strength. We have seen Him manifesting as our shield and horn of salvation every now and then.
In times of war, He has always been our stronghold.
Friend, if Jesus is all and all to you if He occupies the center of your life, you will be invincible in the midst of any attack from the forces of darkness.
We can see that in the life of the three Hebrew boys in a foreign land, who refused to bow to the image of gold; they refused to bow to the gods of the foreign land they lived like many of us should. They refused to bow because their bow had already been given to the One and only True GOD.
The Bible says;
“And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell downbound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the[e] Son of God.” Nebuchadnezzar Praises God
Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. Daniel 3:23-26 NKJV
INDEED, BLESSED IS HE WHOSE STRENGTH IS IN THE LORD
These guys survived the fire because many years back, God had promised the entire nation of Israel through the prophet Isaiah saying,
“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)
God actually promised to make them invincible. The three Hebrew boys in a foreign land, stood boldly on that promise when they faced the king, believing that the KING of kings, who made that promise years back, will save them from his hands.
In fact, they said even if He decided not to keep to His promise, of making them invincible, they will still not withdraw their bow to Him and pass over to the graven image.
You do not withdraw a bow that you have given to GOD.
Bows to GOD are actions that should last a lifetime. It is such commitments that put Jesus at the center of our lives today.
If Jesus is at the center of your life, you will be invincible in the midst of any attack from the evil one, like the young men were in the midst of that fire.
Our bow to GOD represents our worship.
Once you give your worship to God, you are not to withdraw it from Him, no matter the cost. It is one way we come into the manifestation of things GOD has predetermined for us.
For instance, He predetermined that when any Jew passes through the fire, it will not scourge them.
So, on that day of trial, when King Nebuchadnezzar made the image of gold and forced all in his kingdom to bow to it, other Jews feared him and bowed, hence not seeing the Isaiah 43:2 word of promise come to pass in their lives.
But the three Hebrew boys who feared GOD instead of the king, and kept their bow to Him intact saw it. They stepped into the manifestation of the promise.
THEY ALONE, REAPED A PROMISE GOD MADE TO THE ENTIRE NATION OF ISRAEL.
Now, they reaped it not because they were better than others, nor was it because God decided to give them better treatment. God is not a respecter of persons. They reaped it because their worship of GOD was genuine and better than that of the rest of the Jews, and because they treated GOD as special, through their unflinching loyalty and unbroken commitment to Him.
People who treat GOD as special will always enjoy special manifestations of His promises on earth.
They will be treated as the apple of His eyes. It is not people who raise altars, offer sacrifices to preachers like idol worshipers, or go to this place or the other place for deliverance that enjoy God’s special moves like the three Hebrew boys enjoyed.
If you do not treat GOD as special through a life that is committed to Him, His word, and His ways, the special moves of His Spirit described as glorious things spoken concerning you, will be absent in your life, even if you are a faithful tither.
You see, when it comes to kingdom stewardship, and generosity in God’s kingdom, it is important that we do not replace a life of commitment to Christ with giving. It will never allow the promises of GOD attached to our giving to speak into our lives. We have to be true worshipers of GOD first, before being faithful givers or tithers. It should not be the other way around.
Sadly, today if we look at our lives, we can find so many manifestations of Christ that we have not seen happen in our lives; so many predetermined things of GOD that are yet to happen.
The reason is because of our fear of men and other things. We withdraw our worship from GOD at the slightest pressure of life and begin to walk in the flesh. Thereby paralyzing the works of the Spirit.
We do not treat GOD as special, neither is our worship genuine. We chicken out like the rest of the Jews did in a foreign land, instead of standing strong in the Holy Ghost and in God’s holy truths.
IF GOD WANTS TO SHOW YOU HOW FEARFUL YOU ARE TO BE COMMITTED TO HIS WAYS, YOU WILL BEGIN TO SEE CHICKENS IN YOUR DREAM.
You will find yourself either selling them and not making a profit, living among them, eating them, or doing any other thing with them. The Bible clearly states that those who are too fearful to be loyal to God like the three Hebrew boys were, (the chicken Christians) will not make Heaven. It says;
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 KJV
If you are fearful, you will be unbelieving. It will not be long, you will become abominable or any other things stated in this scripture. The scripture also stated that all whoremongers will go to hell.
A whoremonger is he or she who is sexually immoral. If you are too fearful to be loyal to God, you could become sexually immoral.
You could be married, but because of the fear of being poor, losing your job, or living a clean life before God, you could be sleeping with people you are not married to. On the other hand, you could be single and because of similar fears or some others, be sleeping with those you are not married to. The Bible calls you a whoremonger.
Whoremongers are also people who sleep with their pastors, or pastors who sleep with their Church members. If they do not repent, the Bible says the lake of fire will be their home.
All these truths point to one fact.
They point to the fact that the life of a follower of Christ, should be a life of unbroken commitment to the LORD, His Holy Truths, holy will, holy ways, and Holy Spirit.
It should be a life of unflinching loyalty to Him like we see in the lives of our Bible fathers in the scriptures. That is the kind of life that will make us invincible to the attacks of the evil one.
Being committed and unflinchingly loyal to the LORD, will put Him at the center of your life, making sure no pressure of life destroys us. It will bring us to a place where we can sacrifice anything to keep our worship of Him intact.
One example that a Bible father laid for us, is found in the book of Philippians. The word says;
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
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 3:7-11 NKJV
COMMITMENT AND UNFLINCHING LOYALTY TO THE LORD ARE WHAT YOU FIND IN THIS SCRIPTURE.
It is a major character of people whose strength is the LORD. You find it in the lives of Paul, Peter, John the beloved, who withstood the rigor of being thrown into the boiling pot of oil, Antipas who was martyred, where the throne of Satan was, and the rest of our fathers.
That was the character that cleaned up their lives and set their hearts on pilgrimage. It brought them to the place of generating the powers of the age to come in this age, thereby transforming all valleys of weeping in the lives of others into pools of blessings.
It made them men and women who could appear before God in Zion, and go from strength to strength. Our devotional text says;
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” Psalms 84:5-7 NKJV.
God sent this word to us this morning, to show us one more thing that our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled; commitment to the LORD and unflinching loyalty.
We are not talking about commitment to some religious doctrines or dogmas, but Christ and His ways. His will, His word, His truth, His Holy Spirit, and His kingdom.
Our lives will be set on the right course when that happens. We will begin to obey God by faith, looking for the City which has foundation, whose maker and builder is God.
We will connect the powers of the ages to come, and generate so many supernatural forces in our lives that will make it impossible for shame, reproach, hardship, sin, pain, marital or financial crisis to chain us down. We will just find rest for our souls!
Friend, when we connect the powers of the age to come, no force in this age can neutralize us, and commitment to the LORD and unflinching loyalty is the way. That is the word of the LORD!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10 NKJV