TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 20TH AUGUST 2024)
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 233RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
This is the day the LORD has made, and we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
He has been faithful, He will remain faithful in bringing to us timely truths, from day to day, and from scriptural text to scriptural text. Our devotional text today is one of the predictions of the scriptures that is happening right before our eyes in the present church.
It talks about a season when people will allow the nature of their unsaved hearts to dangerously control what they listen to. We are witnessing that before our very eyes. Its worst among the youths.
Many do not know that while God gave us ears to listen, and the freedom to listen to whatever we want to listen to, He did not place the supervision of that freedom under the control of our corrupt hearts. He placed it under the control of His Holy Spirit.
Salvation, if it is genuine, will help you recognize that, and transform you to desire the Holy Spirit to control what you listen to, by guiding you in the use of your ears.
If the Holy Spirit guide us properly in the use of our ears, we will come to understand that, our earthly lives were not designed to blossom by what enters our stomach, but by what enters our ears from the LORD. It took the nation of Israel 40 years to come into that realization. You can see that in Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 3.
The generation that finally did, became the head. The Bible says, all their brethren were at their command. That generation is called the Tribe of Issachar. You see that in 1 Chronicles 12:32.
The Bible says,
“of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;” 1 Chronicles 12:32 NKJV
People who allow the Holy Spirit to supervise what they allow into their ears, will understand their times, and know things that the rest of the church need to listen to them, before they can know.
THE BIBLE SAYS, THEY WILL KNOW WHAT ISRAEL (MEANING THE CHURCH) OUGHT TO DO.
They will not just know what the rest of the Church ought to do, they will always know what to do when faced with the perils of life. Which will natural put others at their command, or leadership.
It pays to allow the Spirit of the LORD supervise what you allow into your ears, not the desires of your heart.
The Bible made it clear that we who have been saved and sanctified by the blood of Jesus, have been made kings and priests to our God, and that we will reign forever. That is talking about the spiritual reign we are to unleash now, and the literal reign we will see in the millennium age.
To reign now, we will need to adjust what come into our ears; we will need to allow the Holy Spirit to choose what our ears consume. Yes, we would need to submit our listening life to the Holy Spirit. That is the only way we can come into the spiritual power that will help us unleash our reign on earth.
It is through our spiritual reign or rulership that we can enforce the will of Christ on earth as written in Heaven.
If what we hear with our ears is not what has been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, it will shut down that power dimension; we will never be able to reign as kings and priests, and do great miracles, signs or wonders, in our lives or the lives of others.
We will be struggling in our economic lives and not be able to break through limits or satanic barriers that may be resisting us. What we hear, does more in our lives, than what we say.
Understand that it is not our sayings that have been shaping our life, but our hearing. Sadly, many of us in Church today, including some of us preachers, have not realized that. We have not realized that faith and confession does not begin with the mouth but the ears; because faith comes by hearing.
If you have not heard, your confessions will be powerless and futile. That is why many say positive things that do not come to pass.
WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN HEARING IS KILLING WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN SAYING.
Until the Holy Spirit supervise what enters your ears, what comes out of your mouth will remain powerless and futile. It will not have performance power to cause changes in the spirit realm or birth miracles in the physical realm. Child of God, we have to come to the place where the Holy Spirit supervise what we hear so that we can lead powerful Christians lives on earth.
So many in Church today, have been taught to speak positively, but none seems to know that they have to bring their hearings under the supervision of the Holy Spirit first. The emphasis is none existence. There is more emphasis on the mouth than the ears.
Such teachings ought to center more on hearing positively, then speaking positively. The reason is because, you will never speak negatively if what you have been hearing is positive. Yes, you will never speak words that lack performance power, if what have been entering your ears is from the Blessed Holy Spirit.
When Christ came to show us the example, He said the works that He did, we can do also. He even promised us greater works.
The key to seeing that come to pass in our lives, lies in what our ears hear.
If you look at the life of Jesus Christ, you will discover that He reigned over demons, sicknesses, diseases, and did great wonders when He was physically here, by allowing the Holy Spirit decide on what He hears. It was what He heard that shaped what He said, leading to outbreak of power, miracles, signs, and wonders.
The same principle must be applied by all of us. The Bible says,
“ I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me”. John 5:30 NKJV
What did you see in this scripture? The destiny of every life Jesus changed, and the glory of every way He lived His days was in what He heard; what He tuned His ears to hear. The Spirit of God decided what He heard, and the result was amazing.
JESUS AS MAN, NEVER DECIDED FOR HIMSELF LIKE MANY OF US DO TODAY.
We will never get the results He got, come to talk of more, if we keep deciding by ourselves what enters our ears.
It is important to understand that a lot in our lives depends on what we have heard with our ears over time. To change the bad into the best, we must begin to allow the Holy Spirit to supervise what enters our ears and settles in our hearts.
Now, when we say our ears, our primary emphasis is our spiritual ears. While many of us need to allow the Holy Spirit to supervise what we hear with our natural ears, most of us need to have our spiritual ears opened to pick from the LORD always. That is done when we study the Bible always.
People who study their Bible always, searching for revelation, will have what it takes to hear from the LORD always and filter what their natural ears pick. They will be able to switch their ears away from the counsels of the ungodly, ways of sinners, and seats of mockers.
They will be able to sense what the Holy Spirit wants into their ears and allow it in, and what He does not want, and resist it from coming in.
As we bring this to a close, understand that if we are not hearing from the LORD and allowing only what He approves to be entering our ears and settling in our hearts, we will never unleash our potentials as kings and priests on His earth. We will not be able to reign.
If we are not able to reign as priests and kings, we will not be able to rule over principalities and powers, or over spiritual wickedness in high places. We will not be able to cast out demons, heal the sick, stop the mouths of lions, turn the armies of the wicked to flight, or obtain promises.
Yes, out of weakness, we will never be made strong. The enemy will be roaring at us, and we will be running into hiding, or pursuing prophets for prophecy and having our pockets drained to their advantage through sacrificial seeds and raising of altars.
We can go on and on, but like I have always stated, this is not a book. This is a devotional, and I believe the LORD has shared with you a few things that have added to your wisdom bank.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION;
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:8-11
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15 -16 NKJV