TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 18TH MAY 2024)
“I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’” Acts 26:17-18 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 139TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It is another weekend in our year of impact. We thank the LORD who has been gracious to us. He has been watching over us and making sure the enemy does not rejoice over us.
We give Him the glory for all that.
Who is like unto this God!! Glorious in Holiness, fearful in praises. Doing wonders, hallelujah. Yesterday, He spoke to us about getting tough and staying tough when things become tough. It was a life time message.
He made us to understand that though we be cut down, and the root of our lives grow old in the earth, and the stump of any aspect of our life die in the ground of personal mistakes, ignorance, or spiritual attacks, that there is hope for us.
He spoke to us through His word saying, “If we can get exposed to the scent of water, we will spring up again.” We only need to become intimate with the LORD, and wait upon Him where His scent of water will be reaching us, eschewing all kinds of sin and evil.
I urge you to go back to that devotional from time to time.
Today, the LORD wants to take us further in matters of deep intimacy with Him, and why we should avoid sin at all cost, even when nothing bad is happening to us yet, in the midst of terrible sins.
It is important to avoid sin at all cost when exposing yourself to the scent of water of the Spirit and word of the LORD for a turnaround in your circumstances.
Every preacher who truly wants to help you will tell you that the most dangerous power on earth is not nuclear or electric power. The most dangerous power on earth is not even the vengeance of an Afghan or the sting of a scorpion as they say in the Middle East.
THE MOST DANGEROUS POWER ON EARTH IS THE POWER OF THE COMBINE FORCES OF SIN AND SATAN.
God could destroy nuclear or electric power by sitting down on His throne and sending a word against them. He could destroy any other power by sending commands from the throne room. But He could not destroy the power of Sin and Satan until He came down and died on the cross.
The Bible says
“..through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15 NKJV).
The power of sin and Satan is so dangerous that God could not destroy them by sitting on the throne and issuing a command.
He destroyed them by becoming man and dying a shameful death. That is why People who underestimate the power of sin and Satan have never been free from the demonic. Most of them have ended very tragically.
For instance, King Saul underestimated the power of Satan, that was why he consulted a witch when God could no longer answer Him.
He was supposed to retreat to the threshing floor of repentance to sort things out with the LORD. He instead followed the path of witchcraft, and the result was not good. The Bible says, “God killed him” for doing so.
People who underestimate the power of sin or Satan while in relationship with the LORD, will end up losing His favor, peace, and prosperity. They will not end well in whatever they set their hands to do.
In fact, you can never be free from the power of Satan, underestimating the power of sin. Both are like twin sisters from the same womb. One makes way for the other to destroy a man’s life.
Samson underestimated the power of Sin that was why he lost his anointing on the laps of Delilah. David underestimated the power of sleeping with another man’s wife.
THE RESULT WAS DEVASTATING. HE ALMOST LOST THE THRONE.
If you underestimate the power of sexual relations with someone you are not legally married to, you will be destroyed over time. If you underestimate the power of consulting mediums, even the one you call prophets, you will be sorry.
Many in Church today have underestimated the power of hatred, rebellion, bitterness, jealousy, lust, pride, drunkenness, deceit, love of money, wickedness, or vengeance, and have destroyed their souls in the process. Sons and daughters of Jesus Christ who underestimate the power of sin and Satan, will always lose precious blessings.
So, if you are in the right church, and are waiting upon the LORD through deep intimacy for the scent of water, do not underestimate the power of sin. If you are expecting God to turn things around in your life, do not underestimate the power of sin.
There is one thing God wants us to do to the power of sin and Satan; He wants us to turn away from them. He wants us to have no fellowship with sin or Satan.
Prophetically, these two powers have been destroyed on the cross. They no longer have dominion over those who are in Christ. But their destructive effects will find full expression in our lives if we have fellowship with them. That is why the Bible warned;
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. Ephesians 5:11-12 NKJV
The unfruitful works of darkness are the many kinds of sins we expose our souls to, and the evil works of the devil all over the earth.
For instance, spending time to gaze at nude men or women, and what they do with their bodies, either on social media or any other media, is an act of fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness.
Many have become slaves to the demons in charge of pornography through that. A major highlight in our devotional text today says;
“I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins.”
THIS WAS A MANDATE GOD HANDED OVER TO PAUL DURING HIS SALVATION EXPERIENCE.
This was an apostolic mandate, and remains the true mandate of God to the Church.
That is why any gospel ministry or Church assembly that is not turning people from darkness to light, will never be able to turn them from the power of sin and Satan to God. It will just be asking them to silence some altars, raise some altars, or sow this seed and sow the other one.
It will be sending them to ceaseless times of fasting and prayer spree.
Have you wondered why many have gone to Church for years, and are still held down by the power of sin and Satan? Most Churches today lack what it takes to turn people from sin and Satan to God.
They have all the money making preaching and teachings, but lack Heaven making messages. Hence, there is no word to push people to the place where the power of sin and Satan is broken – the place of deep intimacy with Jesus Christ.
Fellowshipping with the unfruitful works of darkness keeps one bound to sin and Satan. But fellowshipping with Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit breaks the power of sin and Satan from us. That is why God is calling us to deep intimacy.
The power of sin and Satan are deep powers that can only be broken practically in our lives through deep intimacy with Jesus Christ. Shallow intimacy will never do it.
Christians whose relationship with Jesus Christ is shallow will never be victorious over these two powers. They will not be able to extend the victory of the cross into their lives.
And don’t forget, you can be praying and fasting in shallow places in the spirit. So this is not just about praying and fasting. It is more than that!
I pray that as you go through this day, the Spirit of the living God will keep ringing the bell of deep intimacy in your spirit man. You will not cease hearing Heaven saying “Come down deeper and catch things that eyes have not seen, nor ears heard.”
One of the things you will catch is permanent victory over the sting of death and Satan!
The Bible says the sting of Death is sin. And I want to add that the sting of Satan is death, because what he did to Adam and Eve in the Garden brought death into the human race.
No one has ever survived these two stings without rushing back to God for mercy. That is why if we go deep with Jesus Christ, we will never come under them; because in Him is light and the light is the life of men.
It’s a new day for you!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Revelation 1:18 NKJV