TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2023)
“As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore, they served before the king.
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.
Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.” Daniel 1:17-21 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 333RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
Our God is good and His mercies endures forever. It has kept us for 333 days of this year, sheltered us from harm, fought our battles, neutralized weapons formed against us, and made sure those who gathered against us, fell for our sake.
We are getting closer and closer to the end of the year, and we give God the glory for what we have learned about visionary living. Some of us are better armed for the coming year.
If we do not trade what we have learned for anything, if we treat them as kingdom treasures, we will not just live glorious lives on earth, but also fulfilled lives that will speak in the age to come. Amen!!
Today we want to look at another treasure of visionary living, good Education and quality revelation. With quality education, you will reign in secular matters (or human affairs), and with quality revelation, you will reign in spiritual matters (or divine affairs).
In other words, you will ride on the high places of the earth. That is the dichotomy. The Bible says;
So, the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.
“He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock; Deuteronomy 32:12-13 NKJV
When the LORD leads you in life, and you add quality education to the leading of the LORD, you will find yourself reigning in spiritual and secular matters and consequently, riding on the high places of the earth. A man who reign in secular and spiritual matters, is a man riding on the high places of the earth.
None can be used by the devil to trap him or corrupt his life.
The Spirit of the LORD in his life, will kindle his mind, and make him ten times better than others, when applying his education to life decisions. We see that in our devotional text. A portion of the text says;
“And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.” Daniel 1:20-21 NKJV
THE KING FOUND DANIEL AND HIS THREE FRIENDS TEN TIMES BETTER THAN ALL
He found them, ten times better than the magicians, and astrologers who were in all his realm; not some of his realm but all his realm. Now, they all attended the same secular school, got the same quality of education, but Daniel and his friends became ten times better.
What happened? The Spirit of God added to what they learned and made them ten times better.
If you say you do not need education in your quest for visionary living, you have just limited yourself. There are things you will not be able to do or become in life without sound education.
I have people in my life who know God so much but because they did not acquire a good education in life, they cannot find a good job or prosper in business. They are struggling so badly, even some church members.
I look at them and say, “if this one had been educated, in this and that field, with a beautiful degree, they will be financial stars of God’s kingdom.” Friend, there are degrees you acquire in some universities, that you will not go about looking for money, money will be the one looking for you.
At one time, I had a telephone conversation with one of our members in the United States, and she spoke to me about an institution whose graduates find jobs while still at school. Companies with global repute wait for them to graduate with amazing salaries.
Now, how can you attend such a school and struggle in life?
Do not let anyone deceive you with spooky prophecies! If you do not add quality education to your life on earth, you could struggle through life despite your dedication to God. That brings us to the next law of visionary living. I call it the “law of visionary education.”
YES, EVERY DEDICATED CHILD OF GOD SHOULD BE EDUCATED, BUT IT SHOULD BE VISIONARY, NOT SITUATIONAL.
If every dedicated Child of God is thoroughly educated, especially in the best Universities on earth, we will make the world hotter for devils. But now you have thoroughly educated people who are agents of invisible spirits (some ignorantly) placed in critical places on the face of the earth influencing our lives.
For example, you see men and women who attend the best colleges and universities on earth controlling the media, the financial world, the diplomatic world, secular education, entertainment and large corporations we all depend on to get thing done on earth.
I cannot forget the number of times believers who are strong against abortions have been flagged down by some of these men and women who also control the social media. You find some telling us what to write, and what not to write on our own social media accounts that we pay for.
But they allow all kinds of obscene things, on same social media stream that they will not allow a godly thing to be posted. They fight all Godly things and sustain all ungodly things.
Quality education gives one an advantage in life. It can give you an advantage over others. That is what we are seeing in the battle for the souls of men.
Look at it this way! If a dedicated Christian, without a degree in satellite engineering or data processing, go for a job where such specialties are needed, and an agent of the devil with the degrees, and even much more, go for same job, the agent of the devil will get the job, and use it to do whatever the devil wants him to do with it. But the dedicated Christian will not, even if it’s God’s will for him or her to get it.
SO MANY OF US ARE FRUSTRATING GOD’S WILL FOR OUR LIVES FOR NOT HAVING QUALITY EDUCATION.
It is God’s will that dedicated believers get quality education so that they can be placed in the high places of the earth by the LORD. Especially, with the aim of using their dedication to influence lives for Him.
Here is another example! God may want His dedicated child to be at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to influence things for Him, but will never be able to get him or her the job, if he or she has no degree or special training in space technology or Aeronautics.
What am trying to say is, speaking in tongues is good, and dedication to GOD is great, but there are places it will never get us to. We must add quality education to our dedication to GOD.
If dedicated believers are placed in critical places of the earth, or educated enough to own and control critical sectors of human government or life on earth, they will be able to get souls saved without speaking in tongues for years.
They will use their educational advantage and spread the influence of God over the hearts of men, and snatch them from the portals of hell.
Sadly, many Dedicated believers have been told by prayer warriors, intercessors, preachers, prophets and prophetesses who themselves did not even go to school, that it is not God’s will for them to be educated. I cannot count the number of dedicated believers I have met who have been misled by this kind of word from the LORD!
Others were misled by themselves; their over spirituality misled them. Satan sent voices and dreams from hell, to tell them that. He used the language of GOD to convince them that it is God’s will for them to be uneducated. Today, most of them are less than dust in life because they listened to such leadings.
WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPEN TO THIS GREAT PEOPLE OF GOD?
I believe Satan knew if they were educated, they will be placed by the LORD the way Daniel was placed in the King’s palace, to stop his works, hence using prophecies, dreams and visions to intimidate some, and deceive others to despise education. Our devotional text says;
“As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king.
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.
Thus, Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.” Daniel 1:17-21 NKJV
There are four people in this scripture, but let me limit myself to one of them; the one we all know as Daniel.
Daniel’s education in the wisdom of Babylon helped him to be positioned for visionary living in Babylon. His dedication to the LORD transformed the landscape of Babylon because he had the education to have a job in the King’s palace.
If you do not have the education to have a job in a good place, you will never have it no matter how well or much you pray.
Do not let any deceive you with prophecies and visions that you can work in a place where you do not have the educational qualification for. If the organization love you as a person, you may have the job, but you will never stay long in it, or be compensated adequately for it, due to lack of certificate.
God found a certificate in the hands of Daniel to use in positioning him strategically in Babylon so that he could influence things for Him, and he did that for 60 years. If you say you will not need a certificate in your hands to be position by God the same way, you are ignorant.
VISIONARY EDUCATION IS A NECESSITY FOR THE LIFTING OF DEDICATED BELIEVERS TO GREATER HEIGHTS ON EARTH.
From Daniel’s life, it is clear that our dedication to God may not make much meaning on earth if we do not have the candle stick of quality education to stand on and dispense the power it carries to save souls.
Do not allow Satan to keep limiting you to the background of you having so much spiritual power from God, but lacking the advantage of good education to unleash it. The law of visionary education must be respected for you to live a successful visionary life.
Visionary education is different from the usual way you see people pursue education. For the dedicated child of God, you do not pursue education just to have a degree or to say “I went to school.” You will still be nothing despite your education if you do.
You will still not ride on the high places of the earth like Daniel because your got educated outside the plans and program of GOD for your life.
You can see that in the number of those who were schooled in one thing but are being blessed in another. They wasted their time earning degrees that are currently not helping them in life. They were not wrong being educated, they were only wrong not pursuing visionary education.
What then is visionary education? Visionary education is getting educated in line with God’s plans and programs for your life. It is knowing what God want to do with your life and going to the university to study or acquire a degree in the very course that will help you unleash it.
Daniel knew God wanted him at the King’s palace and studied so well to come out best, so that he will be employed and positioned there to unleash his spiritual powers, as a market place prophet. That is what visionary education will do for you. It will prepare you for what the LORD wants to do with your life.
It will give you a certificate that will not just be a piece of paper, but a Heavenly permit to be employed where God wants you, and do what He wants you to do.
Someone may say, Joseph did not go to secular school to become all he became in Egypt, so he or she will not need a secular education. That is a dump argument. The world has evolved since the year Joseph was all he was in Egypt. Things are no longer the way they were in his age and time.
If Joseph was alive today, he will be at best a Sunday school teacher in his local Church, or a dedicated Christian serving as a house help, or a prisoner who is suffering for doing the right thing; for refusing the sexual advances of his master’s wife.
His interpretation of the dreams of the prisoners will not even bring him to the palace but it will just take him back home. He will never even qualify to be a gate keeper (protocol officer) in the palace of any royalty today.
There is so much on this subject but enough has been shared for the day!
If you are a dedicated believer, please go for education, pursue visionary education. It is never too late to be in school. We should all go learn what will make us unleash our destinies and live successful visionary lives.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change.
There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.
Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.” Daniel 5:10-12 NKJV