TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2024)
“Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah
Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. Psalm 66:1-5 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 50TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all the earth! Sing out the honour of His name; Make His praise glorious. It is another Jubilee day of the year.
Every year has its own, today is the one for year 2024. I don’t know how it met you, but I want to say, may the mercies and faithfulness of God remain upon us, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen
We thank our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ for keeping us alive these 50 days. I believe strongly that the remaining 316 days of the year, are also covered. He will keep us!
This year naturally is a special one. Those who were born on the 29th of February will celebrate their birth days this year. Do not forget, it is a leap year; that would be after four years of waiting. It is indeed a naturally special year.
For the rest of us, I want to say, though the fig tree may not have blossom yet, it’s just a matter of time. It will blossom.
The seed has already been planted, and the rain of the Spirit is falling on the soil of our lives. Let our hearts not cease from making a glorious shout to the God of Heaven and earth, because the word of the LORD will not fail.
Praising God is one way of affirming His works. It’s one way we declare His works in our lives and the lives of others. That is why when GOD is genuinely praised, the earth of our lives yields her increase.
That makes praise a catalyst of supernatural increase.
Praising God either through singing or praying has a way of increasing the presence of God in our lives, thereby bringing about other forms of increase; especially an increase of what we truly need, to become what He has created us to be!
WHEN WE MAKE HIS PRAISE GLORIOUS, IT MAKES OUR LIVES PROSPEROUS AND VICTORIOUS IN BATTLE.
You make His praise glorious when you praise Him in Holiness, sometimes sacrificially like Paul did in the prison. Paul and Silas were in a very terrible situation – a situation that preaching the gospel brought them into. But they did not table their problem to God. They tabled their praise to Him.
Someone reading this may have spent enough time tabling his or her problems to GOD. It’s time to start tabling your praise to God.
Most times when we table our problems to God, things remain unchangeable. But when we table our praise to God, they change.
However, you must do that while in the will of God for your life, because Paul and Silas who first did that, were in God’s will for their lives and in the field of kingdom work.
You must not think that Praising God is just a tool for changing life circumstances the way it has been taught over the years by charismatic preachers. Paul and Silas were not singing to come out of prison. They were singing because of what Jesus said many years before that day.
It is important that we understand the scriptures and stop being fools this end time. The Bible says we should walk in wisdom.
Paul and Silas sang in response to how the LORD said we should behave when we are persecuted. Years before that day Jesus sat on a mountain and taught what we now know to be the beatitudes. Part of what He said reads;
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12 NKJV
PAUL AND SILAS OBVIOUSLY HAD THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONTENT OF THIS SCRIPTURE, AND DECIDED TO MAKE IT REAL IN THEIR LIVES.
They rejoiced and were exceedingly glad, for the great reward awaiting them in Heaven. They rejoiced by singing Hymns; but they did not know that in doing so, they were tabling their praise to God instead of their problem.
The result was awesome; their earth yielded her increase and power came down. The Bible says;
“And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Acts 16:23-28 NKJV
When we table our problems to God all the time, the God of peace will guard our hearts with peace. But when we table our praise to God at the prompting of His word or Spirit, especially while living in His will and ways; the God of peace will invade our lives with the greatness of His power.
May God teach us to table our praise to Him especially in difficult circumstances like what Paul and Silas faced!
One of the major truths to glean from this story is this; they did not just sing to God to change their situation. They sang in obedience to the word. The word said whenever they face what they faced, they should rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and one way to do that was to sing hymns to God.
In simple terms, they applied the word to their woes and their woes became a wonder. The wonderful power of God came down and broke down the prison, leading to the salvation of Souls. God carried out a prison break for them, but it was not for them to escape because they were not criminals.
HE DID THAT TO MAKE MEN SUBMIT TO HIM, AND IT HAPPENED. AN ENTIRE HOUSE HOLD GAVE THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST AS A RESULT.
The Bible says;
“Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” Acts 16:29-34 NKJV
What a mighty God we serve.
Indeed, in the day of His power, His people shall be willing, Hardened hearts will be made soft to accept the LORD. The next people to submit to God that day, were the authorities that got them locked up unjustly in prison.
The Bible says;
“And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.” So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”
But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”
And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city.” Acts 16:35-39 NKJV
When we table our praise to God, His power will come down. When His power comes down, His enemies will submit to him!
But as earlier stated, Paul and Silas did not sing their hymn because they wanted God to bring them out. They sang because they were applying the word of God to their situation.
Each time we face an unpleasant situation, we have a Choice to either apply the WORD of God to the situation, or our worries. Those who apply their worries to it, will never come out victorious. Paul and Silas decided to apply the word of God not their worry, and Heaven responded with great power.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT IN OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT TODAY SAYS;
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah
Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men”
If we want to see the greatness of God’s power breaking out on us to make His enemies submit to Him and change our circumstances, we must learn to apply HIS WORD to our woes not OUR WORRIES.
If we apply our worries, our woes will increase. But if we apply His WORD, His WORKS will break out and swallow our WOES. That is the secret!
When you apply your worry to a situation, you will not just increase your woes, you will break another instruction that Jesus gave. He said in one of His teaching sessions, “Do not worry about your life” (Matthew 6:25). When you worry about your life you become weary and weaken.
Friend, the worst thing to apply to a problem is worry. God wants us to learn to apply His word to our situations not our worry.
The scriptures are full of words to apply in any given situation we find ourselves. God want us to be word applicants or practitioners, not men and women who worry.
For instance, there are Bible words to apply when facing marital crisis, health challenges, financial hardship, disappointment, or temptation.
God did not leave us without truths to apply to the circumstances of life. It is when we lack the knowledge of these things that we perish. That is why the best book to read is the Bible, and any other book that will help you understand it.
When you read the Bible, learn to find out Bible lessons or instructions to apply to the different circumstances of your life.
Discover what the word says about the different kinds of woes that face mankind, and how to apply it. That is how to be battle ready or thoroughly furnished for every good work as a child of God!
I believe the message of our devotional for the day has been passed!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU THIS MORNING!
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:13-17 NKJV