TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 5TH DECEMBER 2023)
“Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me,” Psalms 40:11 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 339TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.
It’s been 339 days of His mercies, compassion, and kindness. Indeed, like the song says, “all our lives He has been faithful…” That is why today, we can sing of the goodness of the LORD!
Today is the fifth day of the month. We just finished a devotional journey on visionary living. Today God has another word for us.
You see, in a world of uncertainties and uncontrollable evil, we need something bigger and higher to be preserved and kept from the unexpected. The Bible made it clear that if God is in the midst of us, we shall not be moved. He can be in the midst of us as a people, He can also be in the midst of us as individuals.
As Individuals, He is in the midst of us by living in us. That is why, God in man is the greatest insurance in life. The emphasis of religion is usually God around man, but the emphasis of true Christianity and the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ is, God in man.
It is important to note that, in the beginning, God lived in man. He was not just around man. The portals of Heaven opened in man and around man. But the fall changed everything. That is why man became what he is today.
Ecclesiastes puts it this way;
“For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 NKJV
Everything became vanity after the fall. But in the beginning, it was not so!
Your life will remain vanity if you do not come into Christ and become a temple for Him in the Spirit. When you become a temple for Him in the Spirit, you will begin to outsource your decisions from the Spirit of the living GOD.
You will no longer be comfortable in outsourcing them from the realm of carnal feelings, or the flow of information governed by the god of this world.
You will realize that, if you do not outsource your decisions from Heaven by the Spirit of the living GOD, your life will turn into hell on earth.
When our decisions are outsourced from Heaven, it will put our lives in order and harmonize every step we take with God’s will. And do not forget, doing the will of God is the successful way to live your life on earth, and living within the boundaries of God’s will for your life is the most secured place to live in on earth.
Actually, the essence of Christianity is synchronicity of a man’s life with God’s will and ways. It is important that our hearts be established or rooted in this truth.
ANYTHING OUTSIDE THAT IS EITHER RELIGION OR DECEPTION!
Why is it important that we get established in the truth stated above? You see, we are in days when the seed of apostacy is being planted in the hearts of man by the many preachers we call apostles, bishops and prophets. Some bring what they call new revelation.
But God is not doing anything new; the foundation of our faith has already been established by our Bible Fathers. God is only doing something fresh!
I submit to you that, any preacher whose message might be great and insightful, but ignores holiness, separation from this world, personal purity, consecration to God, or righteousness; anyone whose message has no warnings about hell and eternal judgment, is not a preacher to listen to.
His message could put money in your pocket, marriage on your life, or bring you great life success by the world’s definition, but it is not helping you eternally. Such preachers are the ones being used to plant the seed of apostacy in the hearts of Christians.
Most of them will tell you, “we can not be perfect.” But the Bible commands that we be perfect just as our Heavenly Father is perfect. If it was not possible to be perfect, God would not have commanded it.
For with God, nothing shall be impossible.
When God say we should be perfect, He means we should be mature and live in synchronicity with His will and ways. And when that happens, sufficient grace will be released to bring forth holiness, purity, righteousness, intimacy with God in our lives. It will enable us not to keep living in the sin that is living in us. Only then can we become dangerous to the kingdom of darkness.
GOD WANTS US TO BE VERY DANGEROUS TO THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS NOT ACCESSORIES OF ITS ACTIVITIES.
Sadly, many of us are accessories of the activities of the kingdom of darkness, by what we do and say. We aid its activities by the way we live and relate with others. We make people fall into sin or walk away from God. It is not a good report.
I have come to discover that, the most dangerous, effective and impactful Christians on the face of the earth, or in the kingdom of God, are those whose lives are in complete harmony with God’s will and ways.
When the Bible talks about the Crucified life, that is what it really is, a life whose every aspect is in perfect harmony with God’s will and ways. Though the process of achieving that is usually very painful, but very needful!
Sometimes it will involve strict discipline from the LORD or those He has placed over our lives. Jesus Himself had to learn obedience through what he suffered. The word suffering, connotes the price to pay to align. There can be no synchronicity with divine will and ways without suffering.
That is why we can only become perfectly synchronized with God’s will and ways, by following the LORD’s footsteps and looking unto Him, who for the sake of the Joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame.
Today God has given Him a name that is above every name, “that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus is LORD!” Hallelujah!
What the LORD achieved (and is ready to help us achieve), teaches us that there will be no words that will be able to accurately describe the glory we will have in our lives, in this life and the life to come, if we endure the pain of synchronicity and harmonize our lives with God’s will and ways.
The pains of synchronicity do manifest in different forms. It all depends on the circumstances that surround you, and it is important that we find out.
Sometimes, when a Child of God is trying to respond to God, and bring his life into harmony with divine will and ways, people who are not in God’s will and perfect ways, will seem to be prospering and him diminishing.
Indeed, it is usually not pleasant to see yourself going down and the wicked going up, especially in your days of synchronicity.
THAT IS ONE OF THE HARDEST POINTS A CHILD OF GOD CAN FACE IN HIS OR HER DAYS OF SYNCHRONICITY.
Friend, there are days of synchronicity. During those days God will be passing you through what I call “School of Hard things.” It’s a period when the wicked seem to be prospering while you diminishing.
For instance, people who do not know what you know, or fear God the way you do will be prospering and having things easy. But you will be suffering and having things difficult and be wondering what in the world is happening?
You could even be tempted to think, “Am I really on the right paths?” But the Bible says,
“When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever.” Psalms 92:7 NKJV
On the flip side of the coin, when the righteous diminishes and start going them for bringing his life into perfect harmony with God’s will and ways, it is for him to be lifted and made to flourish in due time.
In God, the way up is down! That is why the Bible says,
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10:35-38 KJV
This scripture contains one of the most critical answers to the questions of the pains of synchronicity.
What do we do when we are surrounded by innumerable evils for saying yes to Jesus? What do we do when the pains of synchronicity begin to spring up? The Bible says we should cast not away our confidence.
Our confidence is usually rooted in that revelation and faith that pushed us to respond to God in the first place. The Bible says we should not cast it away, and the reason is simple – it has a great recompense or reward. That is why we must continue and not stop!
THERE IS A SECRET I WANT YOU TO LEARN AS A CHILD OF GOD.
If Heaven gives you a MEGA promise, you can only receive the performance of that promise AFTER you have done the will of God, not WHEN you are doing it. Your obedience must be complete for God’s word to be performed.
In other words, the manifestation of the reward of synchronicity with divine will and ways, comes after we have done the will of God; or after we have been synchronized; not while we are synchronizing.
The performance comes after the process not during the process.
The mistake many Christians make is to watch for the performance during the process, and when we do not see it, we lose hope and draw back. But during the process nothing happens.
Understand that, Jesus did not rise from dead the day He died. He was buried before He was raised. He had to endure the process of death for three days before He was raised. It is the same principle God activates when dealing with us.
There is need for patience and endurance because the season will be over. All that God will be pouring into our lives during the process, is His mercies, resulting in some miracles to keep us going.
Our devotional text for today says,
“Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O Lord; Let your lovingkindness and your truth continually preserve me,” Psalms 40:11 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will see three things that must proceed from God to us at all times during the process of doing the will of GOD and synchronizing with His ways. The first is “mercy,” the second “loving kindness,” and the third “truth.”
If you lack the three during the process, you will not survive the process. You will find your soul drawing back from God, and give up on Him.
This is where being in a good Church comes in.
Let me close this devotional with this apostolic truth; there are three kinds of churches in the realm. Two are in the realm of men, and one in the realm of glory (life outside this life).
The ones in the realm of men are, the sick church that Jesus called, the synagogue of Satan, and the good Church that He used Paul to reveal to us, which is called, the pillar and ground of truth in the Bible.
THE ONE IN THE GLORY REALM, WHERE WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE AND JOIN IN THE NEXT LIFE, IS THE PERFECT CHURCH.
Preachers whose congregations belong to the sick Church, have argued that there is no perfect church, and that those who may want to leave their churches should just remain, because whatever might be making them to leave, will still be found in the very churches they are going to.
In truth, there is no perfect Church on earth. But Jesus has good Churches on earth, where He manifest in their midst as the way, the truth, and the life. I call them green pastures.
He will not allow His elects to remain in sick churches.
Prophetically, there is a sheep movement, and there is a shepherd movement. These are no longer days when the elect of Christ will be left in sick Churches. They will all come out and settle in green pastures where they can be fed for their eternal life.
So, if you want to be synchronized with God’s will and ways, do not worship in a sick Church. Find a good Church and plant yourself there, even if it will be online or off line, so to speak. It pays to be planted in a good Church.
In a good Church, “God’s mercy,” “His loving kindness,” and “sanctifying truths” are present. They are a manifestation of Christ.
Make yourself part of the family and remain there serving the LORD faithfully until you fulfill your days. That is the word of the LORD this morning!!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY;
“For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
“And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.” Hebrews 6:10-15 NKJV