TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 21ST JULY 2024)
“ And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 203RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Blessed be the name of the LORD for His mercies and marvelous works. Blessed be His holy name for keeping us alive again and adding more days to our days on earth.
It is another day to live according to divine pattern; the pattern prescribed in the scripture. The pattern was described as fearing God, and keeping His commandments. This we are to do remembering that God will bring every work of ours into Judgment, either good or bad.
People who spend their days according to this pattern, will always have a happy ending no matter who or what may be against them. It is to them the word say;
“Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:17-18 KJV
I received a message some time ago about an evil that was being determined against me somewhere, and I was not worried. The person who brought the message expected me to panic and begin to make moves. But I dismissed it.
I dismissed it not because what was said was a lie, but because I believe that if one lives his life according to divine pattern, no matter how things turn out, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Simple! So, I did not panic.
Besides, who told you that the lives of those who have been granted mercy by the Lord is in the hands of their enemies? God said He will not let even the hair of our heads to drop without His permission. If the evil determined against us succeeds, it means God allowed it to succeed, and it is for His glory.
Living our lives according to divine pattern is one major way to live an earthly life without human worries. It imparts you with a confidence that can only come from the LORD, and helps you to actually live by a higher level of faith; a faith that sees the invisible and hears the inaudible.
That is why the enemy may never stop us from giving our lives to Christ but He can stop us from living our lives according to the will and ways of the Christ we gave our lives to.
HE KNOWS HE CAN ONLY LOSE HIS GRIP ON US IF WE BEGIN TO LIVE OUR LIVES ACCORDING TO DIVINE PATTERN.
This means, if you want to be free from the Satanic or demonic, praying is not always the way out. Living is always the way out; living your days according to divine pattern. Most of the spiritual warfare we face, is usually around matters of Heavenly pattern.
The enemy will either move towards the distortion of Heavenly patterns or the removal of men from anything that helps them live their lives according to Heavenly pattern. You see this in the story of both the fall of Lucifer and the fall of Adam.
You also see it in the temptation of Christ and the trials of men like Paul and the rest of our Bible fathers. In the story of the fall of lucifer the Bible says;
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. Isaiah 14:12-15 NKJV
In this scripture, Satan is seen as one who weakens the nations. He does that by taking them away from God’s pattern for their lives. That is why we all become weak in life whenever we live our days outside God’s pattern for them.
Yes, you can only become weak in life when you are taken away from God’s pattern for your life. But the first-person Satan weakened was himself. He weakened himself when he departed from God’s pattern for His life.
You could be very strong or firm in faith, but as soon as you depart from God’s pattern for your life, you begin to lose strength and go down, down, down, and down. You will begin to lose the beauty of God that was upon your life and suffer a similar fate with the devil.
THE BIBLE SAYS, HE SAID IN HIS HEART;
‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
It was not God’s pattern for his life to ascend into heaven, exalt his throne above the stars of God, sit on the mount of the congregation, or ascend above the heights of the clouds of glory and be like the Most High. It was not God’s pattern for his life to do any of that.
But he decided to pattern his life after all that. The consequence is what we find captured or written in our devotional text. The text said;
“ And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7-8 NKJV
From this scripture, it is clear that our lives can only be peaceful on this earth, by God’s definition of peace, if we lead it according to divine pattern.
The reason for the many outbreak of spiritual wars in the lives of many today lies in the establishment of lives, or departure of same, from the patterns God designed for mankind; the pattern in Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
The pattern says;
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NKJV
This is the ultimate pattern of God for our lives. If we live our days according to this scriptural pattern, we will be established far above principalities and powers. What they call evil pattern in deliverance circles, will not have a bearing in our lives.
Yes, it will be impossible for our lives to be trapped in any evil or demonic patterns. That is why the enemy,
HE WILL TEMPT THEM TO TAKE THEM AWAY FROM THIS PATTERN. WHERE TEMPTATION FAILS, HE WILL BEGIN TO PERSECUTE THEM.
Sometimes, he will fill their lives with trials and afflictions like the life of Job. He will make people hate them. There are those who even lose their marriages, jobs, comfort, and family ties because of fearing God and departing from evil.
They departed from evil, and all the family members, or money, friends, jobs, clients, and other things that made their lives beautiful also departed from them. The enemy does that so that it will be unattractive to depart from evil.
He makes sure all who fear the LORD and depart from evil go through persecution and etc.
Yes, the enemy will do so much evil to them because they chose to align with the LORD. But the Bible says, the LORD will deliver them from they all. Sadly, many fear the trials and persecution that comes with aligning with this pattern, and chose to live below the pattern, consequences living a life of no glory.
As we bring this to a close, it is important to note that, your life will never be what God designed it to be if you do not live it within what He has patterned for mankind to live by.
If you are going through anything, and you do not embrace the life of fearing God and departing from evil, what you are going through will never depart from you. The best way to make any curse, lack, illness, and etc. from hell to depart from you, is to fear the LORD and depart from evil.
No evil will befall those who live their days fearing God and departing from evil. They will live their days in the secret place of the Most high. That is the word of the LORD!!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;” Psalm 91:1-10 NKJV