TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 4TH JUNE 2024)
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 156TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It is the fourth day of the month already and we are grateful to the LORD who has not given us over to the teeth of our enemies. He has kept us and has not allowed His love for us to fail, even when we do not deserve it.
This morning it is important that we give Him the praise for His amazing grace that has stood firm in our lives, even as we look at the Cry of His Spirit on matters of fear.
Except for the fear of the LORD, the spirit of fear is not one of God’s gifts.
God gives those who walk with Him the ability to tremble at His word, but will never give them the ability to tremble at the words of their enemies. In His kingdom, those who tremble at His word, do not tremble at the words of their enemies.
Meaning if we find ourselves trembling at the words of our enemies, we should know it’s not from Him. His word says;
“A righteous man who falters before the wicked Is like a murky spring and a polluted well.” Proverbs 25:26 NKJV
This scripture made it clear that God will not want any of His own, faltering before the wicked, or trembling at their words.
To falter means to yield in cowardice, to compromise integrity, or fall down before someone due to weakness of mind. It means if we yield in cowardice to the wicked, or compromise our integrity before them, our lives will become like murky springs or polluted wells in the spirit realm.
The classic edition of the amplified version put the same verse this way;
“Like a muddied fountain, and a polluted spring, is a righteous man who yields, falls down, and compromises his integrity, before the wicked.” Proverbs 26:25 AMPC
YOU CAN NOW UNDERSTAND WHY MEN LIKE SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO STOOD BEFORE NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND SAID;
… “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 NKJV
You cannot speak like this if you do not have something from above working in you. God works in you according to what you know. The knowledge of His word in your life is what determines how He work in you.
The amazing story of these three Hebrew boys, especially their response to king Nebuchadnezzar, proves that they knew proverbs 25:26, and stood on it when the King wanted them to bow before the image he had built. Their resolve was stronger than the king’s threat.
He was the king of kings then, so long as the kings of the earth were concerned. Yet, three subjects resisted him. It is suicidal to reject a king of kings; it was an invitation to death not to bow to him when he says so. But not these boys.
The righteous ones refused to falter before the wicked one. That is a pattern there for us all. That is an end time pattern for the end time Church. We must refuse to falter, bow in cowardice, or compromise our integrity in the face of any situation.
Clearly, God is raising an end time Church that will be full of people who will not falter before the wicked. That is the Church Jesus is coming to take home. Yes, the LORD is going to sit as the purifier of the sons of Levi, and purify us like silver and gold are purified and bring us to that faith position.
Yes, He will grant us uncommon grace for uncommon courage before the Godless authorities of our age and time.
We are going to face stiffer opposition in our age and time, especially carriers of the present truth and those who want to completely align with Christ as a pattern for their lives.
There will be opposition in the home front from parents, spouses, and even children. Jesus said all that. It will require uncommon courage for those being attacked to keep to their faith, and not compromise their integrity because of the strength of family ties.
THERE WILL ALSO BE OPPOSITION FROM UNCLES, AUNTIES, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS.
The family will become a valley for the slaughter of the faith of many these end times, again because of the power of family ties. This is currently happening.
God ordained family ties to be a blessing, but recently most of it have become a curse in people’s lives. It has become a cord pulling souls to hell, and when you resist, you suffer for it.
Understand that it is very difficult to overcome family ties when it comes to keeping the faith. There are people who have abandoned the faith to sustain their family ties because misguided preachers twisted the “honor your father and your mother” scripture.
I have met young men and women whose parents would not let them serve God.
Do not be mistaken! Parents, siblings, spouses, aunties, uncles, and very close family members who even financed your education will be used these end times to take you away from having Christ at the center of your life.
A man’s enemies, when it comes to making heaven this end times, will include members of his household.
While we have the darkness of making children dishonor their parents working in some preachers in one hand (telling them that spiritual fathers are higher than biological parents), we have the one working in parents to take respectful children from Christ. Both forms of darkness, targets the destiny of children, but in different ways.
All these things are part of the activities of the second coming of the Bible god Molech.
Personally, I have faced attacks from parents who thought I was misleading their Children for teaching them to yield to the LORD to help them depart from sexual sins, alcohol, wild parties, and other things that ruin a youth.
One parent hated me when they found out that their daughter was no longer a lesbian, and a party animal. I was shocked to my bones. So, the home front and extended family of many will become a valley of slaughter of some sort this end times.
BUT NO MATTER THE THREAT WE WILL FACE, AND NO MATTER WHERE IT MAY COME FROM, GOD’S EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR LIVES REMAINS ONE.
His expectation remains that we not falter before the wicked like the three Hebrew boys. It remains that we not become like murky waters and polluted wells due to compromise or cowardice.
Remember, the boys changed the moral landscape for standing strong. Now it is our turn!
It is our turn to stand strong in faith, and not cave in to fear. The young men had the secret ingredient that do not let the righteous falter before the wicked. That’s what we should have as well.
That ingredient was the grace of God, even when they were not in the dispensation of grace. But we are, and we should have it.
You see, when it comes to obeying God and doing His blessed will, no blood relative who is against it should have their way. They may have their say, there is nothing wrong with that. Listen to them and do not be rude. But let none have their way.
Let the LORD who died on the cross to save you have His way in your life. When people become antagonistic towards divine plans and programs, they are seen as wicked in God’s sight.
God does not want any of His own to show weakness before the wicked. We are to show weakness before Him alone, so He can help us. But when we stand before the wicked, we are to be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might, putting on the whole armor of God!
The Bible spoke about the generation that mocks at fear, typified in the horse of the book of Job. We will be coming into that in the days ahead of us. The three Hebrew Boys were part of that generation.
Mocking at fear is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the living God. In simple terms, by the grace of GOD.
It is the grace we obtain mercy to find in the place of prayer, that determines what we do when we are afraid. That is why its good to be prayerful. The prayerful always obtain mercy to find grace to help them in the days of adversity.
THE PRAYERFUL, DO NOT FALTER BEFORE THE WICKED BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS RISE FROM THEIR KNEES AS CONQUERING LIONS.
Understand that, we are humans, and that there is nothing sinful or wrong with being afraid. What is wrong is fear laying hold of you.
David fought great wars and faced uncommon enemies in the battle front. There were times he was afraid. But in such moments, he will pray unto God and say;
“Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, for there are many who fight against me, O Most High” (Psalm 56:1-2 NKJV).
Then he will conclude, “ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3 NKJV)
David stood because he was a man of prayer and word intake. It is the grace you obtain mercy to find, especially in time of deep prayers and word intake, that helps you to conquer fear in the day of war. That is what the life of the sanctified David teaches.
Our devotional text said;
“ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV
The text admonished us to come boldly into the presence of God; the place of God’s Throne, where mercy and truth meet together. Yes, that is the place where we can obtain mercy to find grace in time of need. Especially, the grace for uncommon courage!
THAT IS WHY ONE CAN NOT BE PRAYERFUL AND FEARFUL.
If you are prayerful and fearful, it means you are not in righteous prayers. In other words, you are not praying the prayers of the righteous. You could be praying prayers of bitterness, hate, or that of the hypocrite. You could even be praying religious prayers, or the prayers of the heathen.
None prays the prayers of the righteous and remains fearful. When you pray the prayers of the righteous, you will never remain fearful. Yes, you will never remain fearful after a season of crying unto God.
In fact, for every warrior of righteousness, prayer is the place where fear is killed, and faith and courage birthed.
All these goes to say that if we do not have a deep prayer tap root into the ground of the living truth of God’s word, the Bible, we will remain fearful even after prayers. We will not be able to find the grace to be courageous when the enemy threatens.
God’s amazing grace to be courageous before the enemy, flows into our hearts through the taproot of a human spirit that has been planted deep into the soil of Bible truths, especially through prayer.
You must understand this truth and let it guide you always if you want to be courageous against the enemy. You must understand that there must be spiritual roots, before one can see amazing fruits of courage growing out of his life in any given situation.
If our spiritual roots are deep and deeper into the ground of God’s truth, we will be able to draw sufficient grace to carry us through whenever we need it.
I want to close this discourse today with the classic Edition of the amplified version of the same scripture. It is my prayer that as you meditate on it, God will help you to find the grace that will be made manifest to help you in time of need. Amen
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].
For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:14-16 AMPC