TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 20TH JANUARY 2024)
“WHEN ABRAM was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk and live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).”
“And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.” Genesis 17:1-2 AMP
WELCOME TO THE 20TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
TODAY we will be taking our journey BACKWARDS again.
Yesterday, we shared some Bible tips on prophetic pregnancies. We also shared about God’s way of delivery our prophetic babies.
I consider that word one of the best wisdoms to have at this season of the year.
Especially if your faith is telling you that God has something fresh in His plans for your life this year, and a great thing that has been buried in your spirit for years need to be born in this season of your life.
Well, for those who might not know, the term prophetic pregnancy is not referring to natural babies conceived after strong prophetic declarations, like in the case of Samson and even Mary.
We are referring to God’s prophetic plans for our lives – things he ordained to do with us before the foundation of the world.
They range from the lives He put in our spirits to live on earth, or the eternal plans and ministries he put in our spirits to birth in His kingdom, to even the messages He put in our hearts to preach to someone looking at us.
Those are prophetic babies because they need to be born.
It is part of what we call pregnancies of divine destiny that the whole creation is waiting to see us bring forth.
The Bible spoke about creation waiting for our manifestation. There is something creation is waiting for you to bring forth.
It could be a book, a video on YouTube, a post on any social media platform, or even a moral landscape transforming song, that God needs to give wings to, and cause to fly to the nations.
Your divine destiny is full of such prophetic pregnancies that must be born in their times and seasons; plans and purposes of God for your life that the earth must see happen; divine visions, goals and dreams that forms part of God’s end time moves to usher in or bring back Jesus, as King of kings and LORD of lords.
It is very important that you wake up to the reality, because waking up to the reality will change your life completely.
ONE WAY IT WILL DO THAT IS BY FILLING YOUR HEART WITH A BURDEN TO PROTECT WHAT YOU CARRY.
People who spend their Christian lives not protecting what they carry, namely their divine pregnancies; will be plunged into unnecessary perils of life. The enemy will successfully corrupt their hearts and destroy its sanctity.
I submit to you that most problems people face and blame on enemies, are actually caused by major incursions of hell on them because of their divine pregnancies.
That book they are yet to write, that message they are yet to preach, that Church they are yet to plant, that family they are yet to raise, and all other things the LORD intends but is yet to do with their lives, is the reason they are attacked by hell.
Sadly, some have been misled to think the attacks are coming because they are cursed, or are the 1st born or etc. They are deceived by heretic apostles, prophets, etc.
I have come across those they plunge into endless deliverance routines to stop the attacks, without any result. Such attacks cannot be stopped by deliverance programs, because they are prophetic labor pains. They only come to and end when the Child is born.
The Bible says, as soon as Zion travails, she brings forth. They are to travail until they bring forth. It is the bringing forth that will terminate the travail.
But they must come under the covering shelter of the midwife God has prepared for them like David came under Samuel in 1 Samuel 19:18-24, else they will perish under those attacks; by either having their babies aborted, or turned into another seed by the evil one.
The most important thing that a Christian is to protect therefore, is his or her prophetic pregnancy. We are to pay any price to protect it from being aborted or turned into another seed.
I have come to realize that one major thing Jesus, in the days of His flesh, protected, was what He came to accomplish on earth – which was His divine pregnancy.
He so protected it that, one day He looked at His brothers, and looked at Joseph and Mary, who were known in the community as His earthly parents, and said they were not.
I BELIEVE THIS IS A STANDARD THAT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AND UPHELD BY ALL KINGDOM CITIZENS.
The Bible says in Matthew chapter 12, from verse 48, that Jesus looked at the people and said, “who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And then He stretched forth His hands to His disciples and said; “here are my mother, and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven, is my mother and my brothers.”
That tells me that sometimes, to protect what we carry, we would have to redefine blood relationship. I am not saying we treat our blood relatives badly, but we redefine our relationship with them in terms of priorities.
Our relationship with people God has placed in our lives, those who are doing the will of God and helping us to do God’s will, must come first. Either they are our blood relatives or not. That is the message of that passage of the Bible. It is one way to protect what we carry.
There was another time He did something that many will consider shocking. All was done to protect what He carried.
The Bible says during that time, Peter tried to stop Him from going to the cross and die; which was the ultimate baby He came to deliver on earth. The response of Christ was; “Get thee behind me Satan.”
He was firm and aggressive, because He was protective of what He carried from the Godhead. That is the standard.
One thing I see here is, the most dangerous threat to our divine pregnancies are not always our enemies, but our family and friends. People within our space, especially those who love us passionately.
That is why it is very difficult to deal with such situations.
No matter what happens, God expects you and I to prioritize our divine pregnancies above all men and women on earth. He expects us to protect our pregnancy from the suggestions, ideas, and counsels of concerned people, especially when they run contrary to the scripture of truth.
They might say, “we are your parents, so you must listen to us.” While what they want you to listen to or follow, will destroy what the LORD has planted in your spirit. You are to politely and respectfully say to them, “No, Dad!” or “No, Mum!”
FOR SO MANY TODAY, THE FIRST PEOPLE TO PROTECT THEIR DIVINE PREGNANCIES FROM, WILL BE CONCERNED PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES.
For others it will not be concerned people, but a life of sin.
Yes, a life of sinful habits can be very dangerous to a divine pregnancy. Let no one deceive you, sin is a serial killer, any day, any time, even when you do not know what it is killing.
Adam never knew what it killed when he ate from the tree of sound judgment, but it killed something. Today we all know. Time will always reveal what sin killed in our lives.
Sadly, because of the pleasure of sin, we do not always know what it is killing as of the time of committing it.
The pleasure has a way of hiding the dark impact on us; especially pleasurable sins like sleeping with another person’s wife or husband, sleeping with someone you are not married to, spending time doing bad things in secret, lying to gain advantage, slandering and hate, bitter betrayals and disloyalty that make us look great, etc.
Though sin and its consequence have been potentially defeated on the cross, it is yet to be defeated in the lives of many of us.
Most of us are yet to extend that victory from the cross to our individual lives, hence putting our divine pregnancies under serious threat.
As we bring this to a close, it is important to note that, sin is a very potent force to protect a divine pregnancy from.
That is why people who come into the realization of what they carry in Christ Jesus, automatically embrace a life of Holiness, righteousness and purity.
You find them living their Christian lives differently. You find them avoiding sin by all righteous means.
Join this team because there something God want to do with your life.
Friend, I submit to you that there is an appointed course for your life, set before you by God, run through that course with patient endurance, and steady and active persistence, and you will make it in Jesus’ precious name. Amen!!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.
You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.” Hebrews 12:1-4 AMPC