TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2023)
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”‘” Exodus 4:21-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 269TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
God said in His word, “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” Those are strong words. They hold the secret of living a strong and enduring life on this side of eternity. They also reveal that the world as we know it, is not forever as some wrongly believe.
The safest way to live an earthly life, is to anchor it on God’s word that are forever. It’s been proven over time, that a people who build their hearts on the word of the LORD, do not pass away with the rest of the people of this world. The Bible made it clear that even if they die, they shall be positively alive. That is why men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are still very much alive with us. We hear them speak to us each time we read the Bible. They lived by the word of the LORD, and did the will of GOD and now they are alive forever more.
Indeed, any people who build their lives on the word of the LORD do not pass away! Jesus Himself certified them “alive” when He said God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And that He is the God of the living and not the Dead. The word of the LORD is actually the manna that came down from Heaven, that if we eat and respond to positively, we will abide forever. It carries what it takes to keep us connected to the Life of GOD in this life and the life to come. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received and ate the word from the LORD, and today, after over 4000 years; they are still alive in the programs of GOD on earth.
If you build your life on the eternal word of the LORD, and get it integrated into your heart daily, doing what it says, and following where it leads, you will remain alive in the programs of God whatever happens. Our fathers did the same, and today they are alive in the programs of God. Being alive in the programs of God, makes you a person of generational impact. A person of generational impact will still be changing lives for God years after their death, increasing their glory in Heaven.
THAT IS WHY IT IS NOT GOOD TO LIVE A MYOPIC LIFE.
A life that is myopic prophetically, see just in the now and what they need in the now. They do not see the next life, hence living very unfruitful lives. They pursue the earthly at the expense of the eternal, and become mundane in thoughts and actions, doing away with great spiritual blessings.
Apart from the blessing of becoming a person of generational impact, another thing that the word of the LORD that you eat, allow to lead you, and get your life infiltrated with will do in you, is to remain in your soul, even after you are dead. And that is very important, because it will help you move from earth to Heaven in your final moments on earth.
Most people go to hell because of that. The word that would have taken them to Heaven during their final moments, does not exist since they live unsaved lives. Understand that, whatever gets planted into a man’s soul remains with him even after death. Death does not erased memories from the spirit and soul of a man. It does not erase the truths buried in a soul. It therefore cannot remove the word of the LORD the soul may have fed on before a man dies.
The reason Balaam desired the death of the righteous, was because he was not righteous, and he knew the beauty and glory that the righteous experience during transition because of the word of the LORD they have spent their days feeding on.
Child of God, it is good to live and die in Christ. Dying in Christ only perfects the revelations in a man’s soul because He is going into a realm where what He fed on is tangible. So, if you are spending your life in the word of the LORD, you are getting your soul filled with things that will last forever.
One of the many revelations, you must get your spirit and soul fed with, is the revelation of God’s mercy. You must understand what God’s mercy is, how it functions, the responsibility it places on us, and all that. The revelation of God’s mercy will give you the best of God on this side of eternity, and help you transition gloriously to Heaven when your time on earth is over.
Mercy is much more of a seed than a need! That was the word the LORD sent to us yesterday for chewing. I hope you are chewing it, and getting what is chewed digested into your soul.
LET US CONSIDER THE PRODIGAL SON ONE MORE TIME.
The way he handled the mercy of his father, remains very informative. First of all, it was the Father’s mercy that made Him not to deny the young man’s request; the request to have his own share of inheritance even while the father was still alive. Inheritance is shared after death not before, but the father’s magnanimity changed that.
So, when he ran into trouble, he remembered what he use to see in his father’s house, and decided to return (or repent). He did not decide to return with the pride of the Pharisee or the “I DESERVE MERCY” mentality. In fact, he was not even seeking the position of a son again. He knew he had lost it. He sought the position of a servant. The Bible says,
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”‘ Luke 15:17-19 NKJV
Hidden in this story is the very position to take if you want to recover from anything in life. Don’t forget, we crash-land in life, and become victims of poverty, diseases, struggles, pain, disappointment, divorce, and etc. because of the Godless, and Christ-less decisions we take in life.
So, if your life becomes unbearable, that is not the time to storm the gates of Heaven requesting for blessings. The prodigal Son took a “RETURN POSITION” that forced great mercy from the heart of the Father when his life crash-landed. One of the golden things he did was not to request for what he lost. He lost his position as a son, and recognized it by requesting for the position of a servant. That was what made Mercy to flow out to Him.
Don’t forget, the story of the prodigal son is the story of GOD and us. Jesus told that story to show us, among other things, how to approach God in need. But many of us are not learning!
YOU WILL PULL MERCY FROM THE HEART OF GOD TO YOUR LIFE ANYTIME, IF YOU WILL LEARN TO DO WHAT THE PRODIGAL SON DID
Do you think you deserve a Child after you have aborted the one that you conceived maybe out of wedlock to save yourself from shame? Do you think you deserve a husband after you have abused and destroyed the life of men through seduction?
Do you think you deserve a marriage after you have so abused women as a man or destroyed other people’s marriage as a woman? Do you think you deserve peace after rejecting the counsel of God for your life and going to establish yours?
Whatever we may have lost to sin, ignorance and rebellion, is lost. We do not deserve another chance. You must come to terms with that for GOD to show you mercy. That was the revelation that the prodigal Son had – the very faith position that drew great mercies from the heart of his father to his life.
So, he went back to GOD with a desire to get, not what he lost. But God gave Him much more than He lost! The Bible made it clear that he returned to serve GOD, not to get what he lost but to live in the house of the Father. He just desired the dwelling place of His Father.
In response, God gave him his position back! May that be your story!
The Bible says,
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” Luke 15:20-24 NKJV
There is this story of a CONTEMPORARY PRODIGAL SON like many of us, that I have shared over and over again. I think we should refresh our minds with it.
Many years ago, a preacher shared with us the story of a harlot that GOD transformed totally and gave a home. She was a professional harlot that had some complications during her harlotry days. The doctors had to cut off her womb to save her life in the days of her medical challenge. Then one day she met the LORD through the preaching of a child of GOD; it was an encounter that took her away from the streets into the hands of Christ.
GENUINE ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST WILL TAKE ONE AWAY FROM HIS OR HER OLD WAYS!
That was what happened to her; though not easy for her, because she went through a lot, but her faith in Christ was resolute. She would later join a Church and say to herself, “I DON’T DESERVE MARRIAGE OR CHILDREN AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE. I WILL SERVE THE LORD UNCONDITIONALLY AND DIE AND NEVER JOIN THOSE SEEKING HIM FOR MARRIAGE.” Truly, she kept to her word.
She did what the prodigal son did. “Father I am no longer worthy to be called your Son. Make me one of your servants.” She served for some time, and then a young man showed up asking her hand in marriage. She declined. Then another came, and she declined. Then they started disturbing her from all over. Then in a bid to be sending them away she will always tell them “I have no womb,” and they will walk away.
But one day, there was this young man who came with a persistent spirit; he refused to give up even after she had told him she had no womb. The man maintained that God said to him she was his wife. Quickly, he went to the pastor dragging the lady along. To cut the long story short, they had a Holy Ghost filled wedding and after one month the lady took in. That was when the man started his own ‘trouble’ – good trouble of course.
He said to her, “So you lied to me that you had no womb just to put me away?” His trouble will later melt into a great sacrifice of praise to GOD, for what the LORD had done, after reading the medical records of the wife. The lady, who was awestruck and filled with a mixture of joy and tears, wept uncontrollably after discovering she was pregnant. She knew it was humanly impossible for her to conceive, and that God had done a creative miracle she never asked Him.
WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD DID TO THIS LADY?
He gave her what she lost to sin and wickedness when she repented and requested to be a servant instead of a son. He gave her what she lost because she never made it her reason for coming to the LORD! Many Christians will rather ask GOD for what they lost and make it their reason for coming to him. That is why they remain without having it.
They will be placing a demand through prayer and fasting, giving and etc. for marriages, money, peace, prosperity, deliverance, healing, and every other thing they lost, instead of making service the reason for their repentance, but not this woman or the prodigal son.
If you look at our devotional text this morning, you will realize that Israel was in Egypt for over 400 years, and God raised Moses to bring them out. But His primary vision for bringing Israel out of Egypt, was not to free them from Pharaoh, but to make them His servants.
A major highlight in the text says,
“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord:” Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”
What can we glean from here? Israel in Egypt represents mankind in slavery to sin and Satan. Primarily, God saved us from the slavery of sin and Satan for us to “serve” Him, not for Him to “save” us from whatever. In fact, wherever you see God saving people, it’s for them to serve Him. That is why when we make our needs the primary focus in our walk and talk with God, we loose. But when we make service the primary focus, we gain.
I believe the message of this devotional has been passed. May God use the truths shared to keep giving us more inheritance among they that are sanctified!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE A MEDITATION FOR TODAY!
“We sinned against him, but he didn’t give us the punishment we deserved. His love for his followers is as high above us as heaven is above the earth. And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
The Lord is as kind to his followers as a father is to his children. He knows all about us. He knows we are made from dust. He knows our lives are short, that they are like grass.
He knows we are like a little wildflower that grows so quickly, but when the hot wind blows, it dies. Soon, you cannot even see where the flower was.” Psalms 103:10-16 HBER