TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 16TH MAY 2024)
“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” Mark 4:39 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 137TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
God has been faithful to us. To Him belong the glory.
Day unto day He have been showing us mercy, kindness, and giving us marvelous helps. No one can survive an evil infested world as a Christian, if God is not marvelously helping him or her. The Bible says those who will live Godly in this world will suffer persecution.
Christians who were here before us, men and women who led Godly lives, succeeded and lived victoriously in this world because God marvelously helped them. He has a History of being a Father to the fatherless, a refuge from storms, the healing balm, and everything His child needs to thrive.
A world without Him would have been a very terrible one.
We would have lacked who to cry to in time of need, who to call on in time of adversity, who to assemble around every Sunday to worship, who to study about, meditate upon, draw spiritual virtues and power for living from.
We would have lacked who to draw our life visions and faith from in the Bible. In fact, there would have been no Bible, Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ. It would have just been a world full of Satan, his fallen angels, and his works.
But glory be to God who did not leave the world under the power of the evil one when man fell. He came into the world as man, died on the cross, resurrected, got back the dominion mankind lost to Satan, and gave us victory.
Today we can rejoice and live a life that is free from all that came upon the human race at the fall.
We can relate with God and enjoy His presence. We can enter in to His courts with praise, and His Most holy place with worship. We can be free from sin; its penalty, practice, and presence. We can be free from all. It is a freedom in Christ that cannot be found anywhere else.
But it sad to state that, not all who are known as Christians are enjoying the freedom. Not all who go to Church, sit under preachers, give their tithes and offerings, and even preach the gospel are enjoying this freedom in full.
Many are still bound by sin, Satan, the flesh, the carnal nature, and a whole lot that makes a man’s soul dark, and his life filthy before God.
THE REASON FOR ALL THAT IS BECAUSE NOT MANY HAVE EMBRACED THE AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN LIFE, THE CRUCIFIED LIFE.
The Crucified life is a Christian life that is built around intimacy with Jesus Christ. Genuine intimacy with Christ is made possible by dying to the flesh daily. It is not possible when we are not genuine with the LORD.
It is not possible even when we are genuine but are not exposed to teachings or preaching that fosters it.
There are so many genuine people who are exposed to wrong doctrines and preachings that do not accomplish anything in their walk and talk with God. In fact, they do not even have a walk and talk with God because of the kind of Churches they attend and things they hear.
There is a clarion call to all of us who call upon the name of the LORD; that call is that we pay every price and become deep or intimate with Jesus Christ. The call is a call to get close, and closer to God than ever.
Sadly, most of us have not been living a consistent Christian life.
We have been intimating with men, with women, with everything that our carnal nature desires. Now it is time to become intimate with the LORD. That is the clarion call. Time to become consistent in our walk with GOD. Time to be truly close to the LORD!!!
Every one of us must understand that it is our individual closeness to God that will keep us far from the satanic this season, heal us of our diseases, raise us from economic hardship, take care of our enemies, and make us all that God wants us to be.
As a people, we must be living each day, with a burning desire to follow God into the realm of deep intimacy with Jesus Christ, and to know Him in ways we have not known Him before.
Closeness to God or deep intimacy with Him, fills us with the fullness of Christ and makes Him “go active” in our lives in ways we have not seen before.
Now, talking about Jesus going active in a man, I have come to discover that, Jesus is alive and active only in the mouths of many but not in their lives. He is yet to be active in the lives of so many.
Yes, the private lives of many are not experiencing Jesus Christ.
They know Him but do not experience Him as a living God. Simply put, He is not active in their lives. Our devotional text today made it clear that if Jesus goes active in the life of a person, there will be a calm in any storm he or she might be in.
YES, EVERY RAGING STORM THAT MAY BE UP AGAINST THE PERSON WILL BECOME CALM.
Yes, it will become calm without having to sow a seed, visit a prophet, go to any mountain to pray, raise an altar or silence one as they say, get the head anointed with oil, being served with some so-called holy communion, going for deliverance to recover lost stars as they say, or etc.
People do all that because Christ is not active in their lives. He is active in the mouth of some, but not active in their lives. The text says;
“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”
Your marriage may be going through turbulence this day. Your finances may have been caught in the raging storms of financial losses, or the totality of your economic life caught in the storm of lack, debts, and etc.
Poverty may be trying to rush you to the gates of premature death. Persistent sorrows and stress may be raging against you. Your family may even be in danger as we share this blessed words. Whatever may be the case; there will never be permanent peace in your life, until Jesus goes active in it.
A life that Christ is present but not active will be full of darkness, sin, and ignorance of GOD. It will be void of divine moves of the Spirit. The miracle power of GOD will be completely absent.
The Kingdom, power and glory of God will never be experienced. The Christian life of the fellow will just be a form of godliness that lacks power.
There will be no divine healing for his sicknesses. No divine intervention when the perils of life hit him. There will be no supernatural supply of anything from Heaven when the natural fails. It will just be a dead life; dead of the supernatural moves of God.
THAT IS WHEN MOST PEOPLE GO TO CONSULT THE MEDIUMS WE CALL PROPHETS IN THE CHURCH TODAY.
A Christian life that Christ is not active in, will be like a graveyard full of dead things. You will see them drinking Oil to deal with their problems, using mustard seeds, salt, brooms, mats, water, apples, soaps, and etc. to pray.
Practicing Charismatic voodoo and witchcraft will become appealing to them.
It is important to understand that, if your life lacks the manifestation of Christ the divine one, you will key into the demonic that is being presented today as deliverance in Church, when the storms of life hit you.
The way forward is simple; it is to get Christ active in your life.
A Christian life that Christ is not active in will be full of successful demonic assaults and presence. In fact, the demonic will be active in it because the supernatural does not allow a vacuum to exist.
If you are not full of God you will be full of what is not God. It is as simple as that. There are no middle grounds!!!
Christ becoming active in you remains the hope of glory. Until He goes active in your life, the storms of your life will never become calm. You will never have true peace.
Jesus is the only one who can rebuke your storms and bring relative peace. He is enough, and more than enough if He truly lives in you.
That is why we are urging us to become deeply intimate with Him.
We cannot see His manifestation in shallow intimacy. Only when we go deep that we will see Him active within us. The apostles said, “We will give ourselves entirely to prayers and to the ministry of the word.” The faith position got the LORD active within them, unlocking a life of miracles, signs and wonders.
You are the next on God’s list!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY;
“Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital]. It may be you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 2:3 AMP