TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY 2024)
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 18TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It is not a doubt that the goodness of the LORD has been running after us. We give God all the glory for that.
One of the major assignments of God’s goodness, is to keep us strong in the seasons of life. Yes, we need to be strong both in bad times and in good times. That is why being strong in the LORD should not be an option to any one of us. It should be a necessity.
His goodness has enabled us to be strong for 18 days. I believe, it will enable us to be strong for the rest of the year.
I don’t know about you, but I have learnt a lot already this year through our devotional. In just 17 days, I have learned a lot.
What was more profound to me, was the devotional that reminded me that God is not in absolute control of my life. He is in sovereign control. What a time of the year to be reminded of that.
The word made it clear that there are controls of my life that are in my hands, and there are controls that are in God’s hands. The ones in my hands must not be mismanaged. If they are, I may not have a beautiful year.
It is the mismanagement of the portions of our lives that God has put in our hands of placed under our control, that the enemy uses in attacking us.
I leant that if I put the aspects of my life that He placed under my control in His control, especially by using His wisdom to rule and manage them, my life will be full of peace.
God designed the aspects of my life under my control to be managed by His wisdom, not my wisdom. In other words, by His will, not my will, in His ways, not by ways, and etc.
Now, since there are three basic kinds of wisdom, I must make sure that I do not apply the wrong kind of wisdom to my life, else there will be no words to describe what my life will become.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE GREAT LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED FROM OUR DEVOTIONALS THIS YEAR ALREADY.
Today, we are been told through our devotional text, to be strong in the LORD. To be strong in the LORD, among other things, is to be strong in applying only His wisdom to our lives, and not any other.
We should not forget that we are a City set on a hill that cannot be hidden. And that as God’s Cities on the hill, the book of Revelation made it clear that only the wisdom of God should shine forth in the city (which is our lives).
In other words, only the will, way, word, and voice of the LORD should guide our lives while on this side of eternity. Any other will, way, word, or voice, will fill our lives with darkness.
This is where reading the Bible and sitting under men, who have sat under Jesus Christ to be taught, becomes necessary.
God use such men to teach us what we may never learn on our own. Divine wisdom indeed comes from the Holy Ghost but He uses different Kingdom advance channels to impart it into our lives.
These kingdom advance channels include, the Bible, countless hours with God, a Church that is rooted in truth, interface with men of God who have not lost touch with God, anointed books written by such men, and related ministry materials.
It is important to understand that mankind has been constantly fought and is still been fought by forces that operate outside the human plane. They are supernatural and far beyond the human power.
So, they cannot be handled by human wisdom.
They are demonic and satanic, so you cannot defeat them using either demonic or satanic wisdom. You must operate the wisdom of God to defeat any circumstances created by these unseen forces.
We do not need a prophet to know that most circumstances of life are created by these forces, making the wisdom of God the only agency of total victory in this life.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT OF OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT TODAY SAYS;
“we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Due to the presence of these unseen forces everywhere, I want to admonish that you keep your ears very close to divine wisdom.
You see, sometimes we under estimate Satan and fall into his snare. I have heard Christians make all kinds of statements about this fallen angel – statements like foolish Satan and all that.
I really understand what they are trying to say, but I want to submit to you that Satan is not foolish.
The underestimation of our arch enemy (the devil) is the first reason for the casualties we have in Church today. Satan is not foolish. Stop underestimating him, else you will not burry yourself in God and defeat him out of your life.
The Bible made it clear that he was the perfection of beauty.
He has been here before man was created so he knows what men do not know. He was in Heaven before he fell, so he has been to places we are yet to even gaze at. Except we are buried in Christ, we are no match to him or his angels.
The quicker you understand that, the better.
The call here is not to fear Satan, the call is to get our spirits and souls buried in Christ, and our being guided by His will, ways, word or voice. The call is to get our hearts filled with or buried in the wisdom of GOD.
A generation that do not know how to burry itself in the wisdom of God and limit their lives to it, will be beaten blue black by Satan in every front. Even Jesus in the flesh walked in the light of these truths, so who are we not to?
That was why He depended on the wisdom of God in all things.
HE SAID, HE COULD OF HIS OWN SELF DO NOTHING. AS HE HEARD FROM GOD, SO HE SPOKE; AND AS HE SAW, SO HE DID.
If we do not therefore look unto Him and live likewise, there are no words to describe what our lives will become.
A lot of us depend so much on ourselves. Yes, we do not depend on people, we just depend on ourselves. Which is still very defeating in life. The Bible says cursed is he who trust in man. No one has ever succeeded with God, trusting in man.
If you depend on yourself, you still fall with those who trust in man because you are also a human being. God wants us to trust in Him, so that He can keep us in perfect peace in a chaotic world.
He wants us to walk in His wisdom so that we can always win in our battle with the dark forces of this age.
I pray for us today, that the LORD God will take away our independence on self, and put our hearts totally on Christ. I pray that the light of the word will keep shining in our hearts and giving us an inheritance among they that are sanctified.
Make this prayer of Apostle Paul for the Church, your personal prayer today and forever in Jesus’ precious name, and you will see yourself operating in divine wisdom!
THE PRAYER OF APOSTLE PAUL:
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (the people of God), I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”
“[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,”
“By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),” Ephesians 1:15-18 AMP