TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 2023)
“So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of
Babylon.Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Daniel 2:16-19 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 264TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
May the LORD fill your life with great things! May He bless your coming in and your going out. May He cause His face to shine upon you!! May He bless the works of your hands.
We cannot live in a wicked world without having enemies. Sometimes you wake up, and they wish you did not. Other times, you fall sick, and they wish you die. A lot is going on in the lives of God’s elects. But the Bible forbids that we pray against our enemies. May the LORD therefore, surround you with songs of deliverance.
May none of us be given over to the will of our enemies.
The Bible says, the counsel of the wicked shall not stand. With this scripture, I do not think we should be engaging the wicked in any wrangle. Their counsels against us shall not stand. If we believe that, we will stand in that scripture and pray, instead of engage them in any fight.
I declare that, as the LORD has said, may the counsel of the wicked against your life fail in Jesus precious name. Amen!
God has a word for us every day. He is the God who lives and speaks. Day unto day, we have been shown truths on this platform. He urged us few days back, to spend these last months of the year on the prayer knee. He even revealed to us what we should be praying about.
Get the details in the devotional of the day before yesterday, if you missed it. That is part of preparation for the new year. We are going to be looking at the importance of preparation in the life of a believer. I hope we are ready!
Talking about preparation, the first thing that a believer in Christ should spend doing for a life time is preparation for Heaven. We must all understand that everything in the Kingdom of God requires preparation. We must not take salvation to be a one and for all thing, and then sit in complacency until we begin to fall back to our old nature.
Getting and staying saved is part of preparation for Heaven. If you get saved, and spend your days doing nothing to stay saved, you will not make Heaven because you will soon become unsaved again.
NO ONE GOES TO HEAVEN WITHOUT PREPARATION.
You have to be prepared for eternal life with Jesus, by spending your days doing what will earn you crowns in Heaven, when you meet Him. This life is not forever.If anyone tells you that it even ends at death, just know they lie. Just like our lives do not end at sleep, so do they not end at death. Death is sleeping and not waking up but the totality of our consciousness is still there. That is why people feel pain in hell and those who live well joy in Heaven. So, the Bible strongly advocates that we spend our days preparing for our final day.
Now, between our present day and our final day, there is a life to live; a blessed life at that. The next thing we prepare for is blessings; significant blessings like marriage, ministry, financial freedom, and etc. We must get ready for any blessing the LORD wants to place on our lives. Everyone must understand that before God brings usinto a blessing, He will prepare you for it. Before He begins a move in your life, He will prepare you for it. You will never come into what you have not been prepared or processed for in the Kingdom.
One instrument of preparation IN God’s kingdom is knowledge. That is why you must learn to read the word of God, and books that will help your understanding of it. Talking about books that helps our understanding of the scriptures, it is important to know that, there are times that you pick a book you thought could be of help, but find the help just on the cover page, or introduction. The rest of the content may not mean anything to you, except for few books.
Howbeit, it is great to read. Do not ignore reading, listening, and getting informed. Knowledge is a tool for preparation, and preparation is the seed of manifestation. So, reading, listening, or observing, is one way we prepare for manifestation. You must be a friend of the Bible and books that helps your understanding of it, to lead a beautiful life on earth.
We have been sharing about God’s mercy on this platform.
One thing many do not know is the connection between God’s mercy and the knowledge we acquire bystudying His word. That is why, in God’s kingdom, one way we seek His mercy, is by seeking understanding of His kingdom matters, through the Bible and books that will help our understanding of Bible precepts. A church generation that will not seek understanding from the Bible, and books that explains Bible precepts, will never tap into the greatness of God’s mercy, and escape the sword of men and devils.
DANIEL UNDERSTOOD BY BOOKS – PRIMARILY THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH.
He was a man in good standing with God who used His understanding of the book of Jeremiah that he read, to unlock God’s mercy on the exiled nation of Israel. Reading Bible Books that teaches the hidden things of God will help you understand Him and His ways. If you understand God and His ways, you will be able to unlock His mercies upon your life and that of others, the way Daniel did. Concerning this spiritual skill of this governmental prophet of God, he himself wrote saying;
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans —
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:1-3 NKJV
Our devotional text tells how the distinguished character of this man brought God’s mercies on an exile nation. He was a man who never used the “It’s my right” mentality, that we see in Church today being used on God. He always approached the throne of God through the doors of His mercies. A major highlight in the text says;
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. This scripture is very enlightening. It made it clear that, getting things from God is not a matter of rights. It is usually a matter of God’s mercy. Men in good standing with God, are always on their knees,seeking mercies from Him to grant them things freely by His Spirit. It is men who have fallen from God,that approach Him with the “it’s my right” mentality,like the hypocrite in Luke 18.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD HAS A WAY OF BRINGING ONE TO A POSITION OF HUMILITY IN HIS OR HER WALK WITH THE LORD.
Let me tell you something about having the knowledge of God! When you become knowledgeable, in the things of God, it has a way of bringing you into the realm of fury; you will begin to burn furiously, against all people who function as catalyst of spiritual ignorance and Biblical illiteracy in the church. You will burn the way Jesus burned when He entered the Temple and saw what was happening. He burned because He knew what the spiritual leaders of that day did not know. In the same way, you will be burning also; you will not have peace with any Ahab, Jezebel, or Baal system in the Church. You will see how things have been turned upside down and commercialize and burn with furry.
Sadly, those who benefit from the status quo will call you arrogant. But that is giving a person a bad name to hang him or her. Having an intimate knowledge of God turns you into two things. It makes you meek or humble, but not weak and fearful.
The second thing it does is, it emboldens you against all forms of evil and ignorance, to challenge them. That is the part that makes the old prophets and their sons call you arrogant. But we can see all these in the life of Moses, a man who knew God face to face.
While the rest of the nation were seeking the acts of God, he was seeking His ways. The Bible says, *“he was the meekest man on earth.” *Meaning, having the knowledge of God, makes you meek and humble. It takes away the “it is my right” mentality, and helps you see the mercies of God as the qualification for getting anything in His kingdom.
But there was also another time that he came down from a 40-day encounter with the LORD, and became what present-day preachers and their members will call arrogant. The Bible says, he saw that the people had turned to other gods, like many have turned today.
THE NEXT THING HE DID WAS TO CONFRONT AARON VERY STRONGLY, AND REBUKE THE PEOPLE VERY SHARPLY.
You will always rebuke those who follow another god, presented as the true God, when you come into the realm of intimate knowledge of God. Friend, knowing God intimately will turn you into God’s demolition man in a crooked and perverse generation.
I submit to you, that when you become knowledgeable in the things of God, you will begin to talk to those who do not know in humility, but rebuke those who should know sharply. Some you will rebuke for bringing falsehood to church, or for taking advantage of God’s sheep, no matter your biological age.
You will be a terror to them and they will be a pain on your neck. That was what God transmitted to Jeremiah, when He said, “they will fight against you, but will not overcome you (Jeremiah 1:17-19).”
What is the message of today? The message is simple. Increase the manifestation of God’s mercies in your life, by increasing in the intimate knowledge of who God is. As you pray and seek God’s mercies for 2024, find churches where you can be taught the word. Sit under a preacher who can increase your knowledge of God. You will come to the realm of enjoying God’s mercies in your life. Also, do not forget that, you will no longer be proud and tolerant of the works of darkness when you become knowledgeable in the things of God. You will become meek towards the ignorant, and bold against those who should know but are perverting the ways of God.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18 NKJV