TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 4TH AUGUST 2024)
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,” 1 Corinthians 2:1-7 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 217TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
This is the day the LORD has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it. What a day to be alive and well in Christ. It is the LORD’s doing and it is marvelous to our souls.
We bless the LORD for today, a day set aside for corporate fellowship in our different assemblies. The most blessed parishioners or church members will be those who will be led in fellowship today, by preachers who are trained in the word of truth and righteousness.
They will be blessed by the beautiful ministries of these men and women of God, who are diligent to present themselves approved to GOD, workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The Bible says;
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV
Sadly, many in ministry are not. You can’t see this scripture fulfilled in their lives and ministries or obeyed.
This morning we are continuing with our discourse on Miracles, signs, and wonders. So far, we have seen that miracles are not a monopoly of the kingdom of God. They could be the product of the kingdom of Satan too, and a lot more about that will be unveiled.
We have also seen that you do not sow to please your flesh and reap corruption, then expect a miracle to cure the consequence as soon as you say some prayers. No!! No miracle will be released if what will cure a consequence is sowing to please the Spirit over time. When we ruin our lives by sowing to please the flesh, we can only raise it back by sowing to please the Spirit.
Today we will be looking at another thing the word said about miracles in God’s kingdom. Actually, when we say the Cry of the Spirit, we are referring to the Cry of the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures.
The Cry of the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures is what many in Church do not usually agree with, and that is sad because it is the testimony of Jesus Christ, the very spirit or breath of true prophecy. It is usually against the practice of false doctrines that they have embraced and all the money-making doctrines they teach.
ONE OF THE MAJOR CRY OF THE SPIRIT ON MIRACLES IN GOD’S KINGDOM SAYS, “MIRACLES ARE THE CHILDREN’S BREAD.”
The word bread means life. In other words, we can say miracles are the life line of God’s children. That is why it is important to walk in miracles as a child of God. We are often surrounded by things that require lifelines for us to come out of.
A lifeline is a thing on which someone or something depends on which provides a means of escape from a difficult situation. In God’s designed, Miracles should be what we depend on to come out of any difficult situations that we find ourselves. That is why our faith should be established on the power of God instead of the wisdom of men.
Miracles are the lifelines of God’s kingdom citizens. I did not say the lifeline of Church members because you can be a church member and still not be a citizen of God’s kingdom or understand how the kingdom of GOD functions.
A citizen of God’s kingdom moves in kingdom power and glory, hence being able to function in the miracle realm. It is those Church members and preachers who have not been established in the present truth (with most of them not yet transformed into God’s kingdom citizens) that unleash the miraculous through charismatic witchcraft.
Miracles for all of God’s kingdom citizens remains a lifeline; a means of escape from difficult situations. They are our lifelines when we come face to face with danger, especially those of us in the fore front of kingdom advance. You see all that in the life of our Bible fathers who experienced God’s miraculous moves as their lifeline in time of difficulties.
Maybe it will be great to look at one or two of them. Let’s begin with our father John the Beloved, who was thrown into a boiling pot of oil to die. He came out unhurt. The people got frustrated and sent him to the Island of patmos.
THE ISLAND OF PATMOS WAS NOT A HOLIDAY ISLAND.
It was a difficult place where hardened Criminals were banished to work until they die out of suffering. The psychological effect of being confined with criminals alone can kill a man. I can’t forget the night I spent in the cell here in Kenya because of the false allegations that were cooked against me.
The police were bribed by a woman who was instigated by our haters to cook a lie and had me deported. I got there, explained myself to the police and they saw that it was a lie, but because they had been bribed, they locked me up.
The psychological effect of being handcuffed for no wrong doing and being locked in a cell for hours was devastating. That day I had a foretaste of what our bible fathers faced. In the flesh I wanted to leave Kenya as soon as I come out of the place, but the presence of God descended in that cell and everything became like nothing to me.
Child of God, we need miracles to survive difficult situations.
During my stay behind bars in the two occasions it happened, I conversed with the prison officer and he told me so much about the nation of Kenya. That was when I discovered that a lot of foreigners suffer in Kenya for lies told against them by locals who work with the police.
The prison officers and police men on duty in the last incident had so much compassion on me when they saw that I was innocent. One of them looked at me and said, “I know you are innocent. In this place only the innocent feel so bad coming here, not the criminals. The criminals feel nothing when they come here.”
It was not easy. Though my case was small compared to that of John the Beloved, but the psychological effect gave me a bit of what they suffered when they were thrown into such terrible places for no wrong doing!
This father of faith, John the beloved, got there and was still able to enter into the prophetic realm of grace called the LORD’s day and be in the Spirit. That was a miracle. Miracles have a way of cushioning the effects of human difficulty on us, hence helping us to still maintain a walk with God in the midst of crisis.
OBVIOUSLY, THE MIRACULOUS HELPED JOHN THE BELOVED TO CONNECT GOD AND RECEIVED THE BOOK OF REVELATION FOR US; THE CHURCH.
He said in his own words;
“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Revelation 1:9-11 NKJV
This was an encounter with the LORD that took place in one of the most difficult versions of human suffering. Without God’s miraculous power, the man of God would not have survived the ordeal because he was very Old at that time.
His survival was key to establishment of the church and the completion of the Bible. Without that the Bible would have had a Genesis but no Revelation, and without the book of Revelation, the future of the Church would not have been known.
Previously, Jesus had said that John the Beloved will not die until he sees the Kingdom. In other words, until he receives the encounter that produce the book of Revelation.
The Book of Revelation is an unveiling of the resurrected Christ, His coming kingdom, and the events that will happen to usher in that phase. That alone tells us that when God give us a promise that looks impossible, it is not our arm that will perform it, but His miracles.
All the miracles that happened in the life of John the Beloved were sent to perform that promise Jesus made about securing his life until he sees the Kingdom. And He saw it!
Today we have what he saw as the book of Revelation, with a lot of lessons to learn from the life and times, and truths of God’s servant, John the Beloved.
IT IS CLEAR FROM HIS LIFE THAT GOD DOES MIRACLES TO EITHER CONFIRM, REFUTE OR ESTABLISH.
He will do a miracle to either confirm His word, refute the lies of the enemy, or establish His will for our lives. So, if you want to see Him releasing miracles in your life constantly, without you even praying about it, make sure you are sold out to do His will.
Another person I want us to look at before we close this today, is our LORD and savior Jesus Christ, when He was here in the flesh.
If you look at His earthly life you will understand why the Bible says He is the author and finisher of our faith. He showed us how to live the natural life supernaturally and the supernatural life naturally. He showed us how to handle difficult situations supernaturally.
Miracles were constantly His lifeline. At one time He wanted to pay a bill called the temple tax, but there was no money at hand. Immediately, He keyed into the lifeline of miracles. The Bible says;
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”
He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.” Matthew 17:24-27 NKJV
Scriptures like this should come to mind each time we are in need; especially financial needs. We may not be able to get fishes into our hooks since we are not fisher men, but we can get clients to do business with us so that our businesses can flourish through the miraculous power of GOD.
NOW, I BELIEVE WITH THE WHOLE OF MY HEART THAT EVERYONE WILL WANT THIS KIND OF LIFE.
Therefore, it is very important to know the hindrances to living it (the kind of life Jesus lived) and deal with them. Yes, there are hinderances to the kingdom life of walking in miracles and being able to use miracles as a lifeline in time of difficulty.
One of them is in our devotional text. The text says;
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,” 1 Corinthians 2:1-7 NKJV
This scripture is full of living truths about what the wisdom of men produces in us and what the wisdom of GOD (the hidden wisdom that was ordained for our glory) produces in us. One produce faith in the wisdom of men while the other produce faith in the power of GOD.
If you want to walk in miracles and be able to use them as a lifeline in time of difficulty, your faith must be in the power of GOD and not the wisdom of men. And for that to happen, you must limit yourself to the hidden wisdom of GOD when it comes to the information you allow into your spirit.
What you find on social media must not be what occupies your mind. What you find in God’s media should be what occupies your mind. I believe the core truth of today’s word has been shared.
TIME FOR MEDITATION, AND THEN APPLICATION!
I do not know the difficulty you are facing in life, I believe the LORD sent this word to tell you that if you are part of God’s kingdom, you have a lifeline. His miraculous is your life lifeline. You must believe Him to be your immediate present help in time of trouble.
Do not immediately seek human solutions when you are in a difficult situation. As a kingdom citizen, seek the King of your kingdom first. Seek the LORD!
His divine arm is always available to be tapped into; it is always there to save us whenever we are in need. Child of GOD, let no one confuse you about that.
You do not need to give God money for any of miracles.
Understand that God will always send one your way to survive any attacks of the enemy if you are in His will, and stand in faith. He will make His miraculous move your life line in time of need. That is why He is our immediate present help in time of trouble.
He will help you if you walk in faith.
He will help you if you are in His will and seek a miracle as a lifeline; yes, if you seek His miraculous power to come out of any difficult situation. Let your faith always be built on the power of GOD, not the wisdom of men.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY!
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. SelahThere is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” Psalm 46:1-7 NKJV