TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 31ST JANUARY 2024)
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 31ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It is the last day of the 1st month of the year, and we are grateful to the LORD God for all He has done for us.
The faithfulness of our God stood strong for us all through the month. It was indeed a month of amazing spiritual refreshment. Going back to few truths we have seen before was really refreshing to the soul. We thank God for seeing us through.
In some of our devotionals this month, the LORD took us back to things our divine destinies need to be fulfilled. We shared that behaving ourselves wisely is one major thing our divine destiny need to be fulfilled.
Recently, the LORD made it clear to us that foolish conduct has never being a blessing, and will never be. The Bible says David behaved himself wisely in the affairs of his prophetic destiny and was promoted. We will never remain at the bottom of life if we behave ourselves wisely.
Wise behavior is always at the base of amazing liftings.
David was lifted in the midst of his enemies partly because of wise behavior. We saw in scriptures that even when his mentor became his tormentor, he behaved himself wisely, and God used that to preserve him from the sword of his mentor turned tormentor.
Sometimes we are the ones to give God what to use in preserving us from the things the enemy throw at us to sabotage our divine destinies.
One of the things to give to God is wise behavior. If we do not learn to behave ourselves wisely in any given circumstance of life, God will be handicapped in bringing any redemption we may need, intervention or the manifestation of His glory that we require.
If we want our circumstances to change to the better, wise behavior is a necessity. Many are in very unpleasant situations because they do not behave themselves wisely. They behave themselves foolishly on daily bases. They pray a lot but behave foolishly.
PRAYING A LOT BUT BEHAVING FOOLISHLY, WILL RUIN ANY RESULT YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH PRAYER.
For instance, imagine a woman whose home is at the verge of breaking down, praying daily that it should not, but remaining a contentious, nagging, unreliable, irresponsible woman in the home front.
Imagine that in the midst of her prayer life, she respects her pastor more than her husband. Imagine that one day she took her husband to her pastor for more prayers. Then on getting there, she threw terrible words at him, calling him all kinds of unprintable names.
Then when the man responded, she threw a slap at him, quoting scriptures, and hoping God will save the marriage. That will be the end of that marriage! Even if God wanted it saved, she has given the devil what to use to kill it finally, and at the same time by her foolish behavior, rendered God handicapped.
You cannot be asking God to save your marriage and be doing things that do not help marriages to stand and see God save it. You cannot be asking God to give you peace and be doing things that create strife on daily bases.
Wise behavior is a necessity of life.
When we do not behave ourselves wisely, we rendered the supernatural power of God useless in our lives. That is why you hear people who complained of hardship and hard life in spite of being prayed for.
Whatever effective prayer did not take care of, God is saying to us effective wisdom is the key that will deal with it. Effective prayers have their role in our lives and effective wisdom also has its role. One cannot be a replacement for the other.
If we pray effectively but do not behave ourselves wisely in the matters of life, our lives will still remain the same. Few ways to behave ourselves wisely in matters of divine destiny are highlighted in our devotional text today. But the one that caught my attention this morning says;
“…for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”
IF I DO NOT LIKE WHAT LIFE IS GIVING TO ME, I SHOULD CHECK WHAT I AM GIVING TO LIFE.
Life is built in such a way that whatever you give to it is what comes back to you. A dear man of God once said “life is an echo.” Meaning, whatever you cry out to it, is what cries back to you!
Sadly, in a “kill my enemy” consciousness Church generation, we have become blind to these facts of life.
When things go wrong in our lives, we are quick to point out to some witches and wizards out there, or some uncles, mothers and fathers who may be responsible. We forget that it is when the enemy has something in us that he can attack us successfully.
I am not saying there are no witches and wizards. What I am saying is that if there is no dust in your life, the devil will have nothing in you to feed on.
There is a message preached sometimes back on “the 14 curses in the shell of the flesh.” The message is titled, “Breaking the shell of the flesh.” Behaving ourselves foolishly by sowing to please our flesh is the most powerful way we tap into the 14 curses in the flesh, and bring great problems upon our lives over time.
It is one way we make ourselves preys to some predator demons in the spirit and natural realms. God is clear and emphatic about that; he that sows to please his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. It does not matter if he is anointed or not.
When Samson sowed to please his flesh in Judges 16, he reaped corruption or spiritual decay. It resulted in chains and imprisonment in the life of the most powerful and dreaded man of that age. But when he was sowing to please the Spirit in Chapters 13, 14, and 15, he was a man of exploits.
Wherever the enemy is cheating you of can be traceable to the moments you spent your life sowing to please the flesh. Wherever he may be successfully hindering you from unleashing your divine destiny is the very area you may be sowing to please your flesh.
As citizens of God’s kingdom, we soar high in power, glory and Heavenly peace when we sow to please the Spirit and descend down in weakness, shame and crisis when we sow to please the flesh.
This is the time to wake up in faith, and begin to check what we are doing that might be killing us. If we do not wake up, we might perish even in God’s presence.
YES, ANGELS WILL SADLY WATCH US SELF-DESTRUCT.
The Holy Spirit will be grieved because we took away the right He needs to use in helping us.
If there is anything in our lives that prayers (I mean righteous and effective prayers – not powerless and stupid prayers) has not taken care of, it means we are doing things that are sustaining them in our lives. It means we are sowing to please our flesh, hence the supernatural of God cannot help us!
In the spirit realm, whatever problem that came upon you because you sowed to please the flesh, may be taken care of by a miracle out of God’s mercy; but it has a way of returning back to you if you go back to a life style of sowing to please your flesh.
That was the spiritual code Jesus demonstrated when He said to the man who was sick for 38 years and then Healed by His touch;
…”See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” John 5:14 NKJV
If sowing to please the flesh was what brought problems upon you, it will take both prayers and repentance to be free indeed from that problem. If you do not stop doing what you were doing that brought your problems, there will always be a reversal of healing, deliverance, etc.
For instance, if taking cigarettes or alcohol was the reason for the problem God healed you of, if you go back to it again after being healed, what God took away will return.
Jesus said it could even be a worst thing.
If adultery, lust, pride, idleness, foolishness, lack of integrity, spiritual blindness, sexual perversion or any other seed of uncleanliness was what you sowed to please your flesh; resulting in what God took away by His power, what you were healed or delivered of will return, if you return to doing those bad things that brought the evil things upon your life in the first place.
THESE ARE TRUTHS TO HAVE A SIT DOWN WITH MY FRIEND. DO NOT BE LAZY ABOUT IT!!
Behaving yourself wisely, by refusing to sow to please your flesh under any given circumstances, is a very powerful force in the kingdom of God.
Sowing to please the Spirit at all times is the key to unleashing a divine destiny even in the midst of the stiffest opposition. That is the only way we align with God to break forth through us, and unleash His power to take us from the declaration to the manifestation.
Moses sowed to please his flesh by the waters of contention, and lost the grace to bring Israel into the promise land.
The original mandate was to deliver Israel from Egypt and take them into the promise land. But one seed he sowed to please his flesh, denied him the completion of his assignment. Joshua had to take over from there.
We can never move from the declaration to the manifestation of our divine destiny sowing to please our flesh! We must seek the LORD this morning for mercies, and ask Him for the grace to repent from that kind of life and the fullness of the Spirit to begin to sow to please the Spirit always. Amen!!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Matthew 16:24-27 NKJV