TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2023)
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 329TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
It pleases the Father that we see another day and continue our discourse on visionary living. I think we go straight to the flow of the word.
Yes, by now, most of us must have understood that Visionary living, is all about fixing your eyes, ears, mind, heart and entire being on the prophetic reason why God created you, and doing all within your God given power to fulfil it.
It is having a single purpose from GOD for living, instead of spending your life not knowing what to do with it.
There are people who spend their years not knowing what to do with their lives. If you ask them, they cannot tell you an eternal reason they are living for in time. Some could say something but it will not be meaningful, they will just be talking to appear to have something they are living for, but when you observe their lives, you will know this person has nothing eternal they are living for in time.
For instance, there are people who will say, “My purpose for life is to worship God” and that is it.
Well, we are created to worship God, but in doing so there must be something from the LORD, a vision, a life goal, or purpose to spend each day, week, month, year and an entire life dying for.
On His way to the Cross, while standing before Pilate, the Roman authority that the Jews handed Jesus over for Crucifixion, a conversation ensured between our LORD and the Roman authority.
IN THAT CONVERSATION, THERE IS SOMETHING TO LEARN ON VISIONARY LIVING.
The Bible says;
Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” John 18:37 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will find so much about visionary living, especially what I will call the driving force of visionary living; knowing the eternal cause or purpose you were born to fulfil in time. In other words, the vision or cause God designed that you came into the world to fulfill.
For Jesus it was to be a king who died on the cross, to save a king, Adam, who lost his place in God. He was the greatest visionary life that ever lived on the face of the earth because He never pursued any other purpose.
He was not driven by any earthly desire, or distracted by the need for this early blessing, or the other. He did not even get married, acquired properties, or pursue any of the early things we pursue.
He never pursued fame, fortune, earthly ambitions or glory. He just lived for the eternal reason God had Him born in time. That is visionary living per excellence.
The earthly life of Christ, shows that getting married is not a purpose for living, and should never be anyone’s purpose for living. Getting married, is a spiritual incentive for fulfilling an eternal cause you were born for, and a purpose you came into the world for.
Those who do not embrace this eternal purpose of God for marriage, have either been destroyed by their marriages, or had the peace of their lives altered drastically by marriage.
Jesus never got married because what He came into the world for never required that incentive. If He had married, that would have buried the eternal reason He came to the earth. He would have become like the fathers of the Nephilim of the days of Noah.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT, GOD DID NOT CREATE MAN TO TREAT MARRIAGE AS A PURPOSE FOR LIVING.
Neither did He create man to make material success in life, a purpose for living. He never created man for any earthly cause. He created man to fulfil His eternal purposes in time.
Material blessings, marriage and all the early glory men seek, were to be consequences for living visionary lives; spending our days fulfilling God’s eternal purposes for our lives in time.
In other words, if what you were born for will require marriage and having a family, God will grant you one. If it will require fame, like Jesus had, God will give you fame. If it will require fortune like the cause of Solomon required, God will grant you uncommon fortune.
If it will require uncommon favour, network of businesses and all that, God will grant you that. If it will require an illustrious career in the military, police force, law or any other place, God will grant you one.
God will grant you only the earthly successes that are required for you to fulfil the eternal cause you were born for in time, or the purpose you came into the world to fulfil. You will not need to pursue any of these things as a purpose for living. They will happen to you as consequences for pursuing your prophetic or eternal purpose for living in time.
God design that good things pursue us. He never designed that we pursue good things. So, if we live our days, seeking or pursuing good things – things that were designed to be a consequence of visionary living, we will never live fulfilled lives.
If we live our days making the desire to own houses, lands, get married and have a family, become famous, gather great wealth like Solomon, pursue an illustrious career in any area of human endeavour, and etc., we will be spending our days, seeking what the Gentiles (godless people) seek, worrying ourselves and piercing our hearts with many sorrows.
Our devotional text says;
“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV
Sadly, there are so many godless preachers, prophets, apostles, and teachers in church today, who make us seek what the gentiles seek.
SOME DO THAT WHILE PUTTING UP A SMOKE SCREEN OF STIRRING US TO SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
You will never know them by their leaves of outward appearance, but by the fruits their ministries bear in our lives. By their leaves, they are religious, rich, powerful, but by the fruit of their impact in people’s lives, they are godless like the gentiles.
You know they are Godless by what their preaching, teaching, prophetic ministry, and all that they do, make people’s hearts to seek.
Our devotional text made it clear that God did not design us to spend our days pursuing things that should be pursing us. He designed us to spend our days pursuing His eternal and prophetic purpose for allowing us to be born.
He designed our lives to be spent pursuing the purpose we were born on earth for, while the blessings He has put on earth pursue us as a consequence. In clear terms, God did not design our lives to be spent pursuing money, fame, or marriage.
He designed that our lives be spent pursuing His eternal and prophetic plans for them. Then marriage, fame or money will pursue us, if they will be required to fulfil those plans. I hope you understand me!
That means, if we are the ones pursuing money, marriage, and the rest of the earthly blessings and glories, instead of them pursuing us, we are not living our lives according to the prophetic or eternal purpose of GOD for them. It means we are not involved in visionary living. It is as simple as that.
Visionary living is seeking the purpose why you were born; the cause that brought you into the world, and living your days for it.
Visionary living in God’s kingdom is not pursuing earthly glories, especially at the expanse of eternal or prophetic purposes. Earthly glories are additions that should come into our lives, when they are needed in helping us fulfil the purpose why we were born.
YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WHATEVER IS BEING DELAYED IN YOUR LIFE IS BEING DELAYED BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT ALIGNED WITH PURPOSE.
Whatever earthly glory you are missing in life, is missing because you have not aligned with the eternal cause or prophetic purpose, that will make it to be added to your life on earth. The Bible says “and all these things shall be added to you.”
If nothing is being added, it is a sign that you have not found the kingdom purpose that will make it to be added to you. The classic Edition of the Amplified version put what Jesus said to Pilate in this contemporary expression;
“You say it! [You speak correctly!] For I am a King. [Certainly I am a King!] This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the Truth.” John 18:37 AMPC
Friend, you must know why you were born, and for which purpose you came into the world. If you do not, you will spend your days busy here and there. Your life will lack the very things God designed that they be added to us, when we live our days pursuing His plans and purposes for our lives.
You will just be busy here and there to gain this glory and the other glory, until all of your days are fulfilled and you die (maybe rich and famous) but feeling miserable for not fulfilling why you were born.
Visionary living is not spending your days getting busy here and there.
It is not a blessing to be living a life that is busy here and there. That is how we live when we spend our days seeking what should be seeking us. God wants us to stop getting busy, here and there, while time is escaping from us. That is diversionary not visionary.
Anything diversionary we take for visionary, will cause us so much trouble with no help from God to quench it. It will sap our energy and make our lives miserable.
It is my prayer that we depart from any form of diversionary living and embrace these laws of visionary living in full, so that we can serve our generation according to the will of GOD and finish our days well and strong in Jesus precious name. Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the LORD, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him.
Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound.
Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’
While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”
Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” 1 Kings 20:35-40 NKJV