TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 28TH AUGUST 2024)
“Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10 KJV
WELCOME TO THE 241st DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
In the kingdom of God, we cannot get anything significant from God until they have been revealed to us. Revelation precedes manifestation! Until it is revealed to us and we see it well, God will not hasten His word to perform.
In other words, if we lack the revelation, vision or snap shots of the things we want God to do in our lives or the things He wants to do in our lives, they will never be done. It is when we catch them in the spirit that we can have them in our lives.
That is why faith is one of the most important words in the Kingdom of God, and the only way the righteous are to live their days in a dark world – a faith that sees what it needs in the realm of glory.
We live in a world of ups and down – a world that is not totally redeemed from the consequences of the fall. But by our faith in God’s power we can live in it without having ups and down like the people of the world.
Today we will continue the flow we started yesterday on money matters in the Kingdom of God! After God or faith matters, money matters are the next most important matters in the realm of man, because of the role finances play in the life of a man.
Sadly, some are today treating money matters above God’s matters. They have taken money from where the LORD kept it, to where the LORD reserved for Himself. They now use God to worship money, instead of using money to worship God.
Friend, we need sufficient revelation on money matters in the kingdom of God so that we will not make money our God in our bid to gain financial freedom, because you cannot be free from what you worship. It will chain you.
The vision for getting wealthy among the elects of Christ, should be different from the vision for getting wealthy among the people of the world. We do should not pursue money the way they do, or for the same reasons they do.
WE ARE A DIFFERENT BREED, WE ARE A BREED ON PILGRIMAGE.
We should not be driven by the same forces that drives them. So, when it comes to solving financial problems, our methods and pursuits should be different, because we have a Father in Heaven, who care for us more than we can fathom!
We only need to have the revelation of what to do to connect that care and supply. So, when we need an urgent financial supply and do not have anything in our bank account, what do we do as Christians?
What do we do to unlock divine help when we need financial help? The Bible says God is our present help in time of trouble. Now how do we unlock that help when we are in financial trouble? Friend, if that is not your question today, it will be your question tomorrow. The need for supernatural financial assistance, especially for the righteous, cannot be over emphasized.
As a minister of the gospel, I am always concerned about the financial state of those the LORD grants me mercy to lead. I know that after God, money is the next essential need of a Child of God.
When someone has a huge bill to pay, it will take maturity and the grace of God working in the life of that person to concentrate in a Church service. I want to share some practical things to do when you need a supernatural financial supply. Are we ready for this?
Now, the first step to take is to check your previous financial commitment to God; have you been faithful in worshiping God first with your lifestyle, then your substance? A life that is not aligned with God’s will and ways will not experience God’s provisions.
Worship is that life that comes out of us when we become aligned with God’s will and ways for our life. That is what worship is. It is not singing, but living. It is a very important thing in God’s kingdom. Among other things, it is a major catalyst of financial supply in God’s kingdom.
The reason is because, when God inhale our worship, He exhales His glory. When His glory is exhaled, it will unleash the power to get wealth upon us, leading to supernatural financial assistance.
Most times we enter into financial crisis, not because we are not praying, singing in church or giving, but because we did all that but still never worshipped. We never worshipped God with our lifestyles. When you do not worship God with your lifestyle, whatever you do as an act of worship will not help you in any way.
PEOPLE WHO WORSHIP GOD WITH THEIR LIFESTYLE AUTOMATICALLY WORSHIP HIM WITH THEIR SUBSTANCE.
True worship will always translate into stewardship in God’s kingdom. But not every stewardship is a child of true worship. Some are done as a trading for something with God. Which is not a good idea, because except you are dealing with the demon of deliverance, no gift of God can be bought with money.
In God’s design, we were supposed to be enjoying constant flow of income from Heaven, not inconsistent flow. If this is not so in our lives, something has stopped it and it could be a grace dimension we shut down for not worshiping God with our lifestyles, and our substance when we had the chance, thereby giving room to the enemy to stop the flow.
Worship is painful that is why it is described as “sowing in tears” in Bible sense. That is why people are not usually consistent when it comes to worship. The price of consistency is too high at times. Very few are usually willing to pay it.
You could be consistent in giving, but if you are not consistent in aligning your ways with God’s ways, or in aligning your will with God’s will, you are not sowing bountifully. You are sowing sparingly.
There will be no consistent flow of supernatural provisions to you.
The Bible indeed says, he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly. In other words, he whose worship is not consistent, or is shallow, will not see a consistent flow of God’s glory in their lives, resulting in an absence of consistent supernatural provisions.
Our devotional text this morning says, “Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first fruits of all your increase.” The result of this spiritual act of worship as the scripture says is a constant flow of finances. It says “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
This scripture was a principle of Kingdom stewardship given to the nation of Israel in Bible Days. The nation was an agrarian nation. They received rain in two seasons of the year – the early rains and the later rains. The early rains brought the first yield of the year called first fruits.
THE NEXT RAIN BROUGHT THE LAST YIELD OF THE YEAR CALLED THE NEXT FRUITS.
According to the principle, the crop they reap when the first rains came was given to the LORD as the first fruits. Each time they do that, they position themselves properly for the yield of the later rain. The rain will so bless them that their barns will be filled with plenty.
Today we do not have a first fruit the way they did to give because everything they did has been fulfilled in Christ. The Bible made it clear in the New Testament that Jesus was the first fruit they depicted, and the rain is the outpouring of the Holy Ghost that took place in the day of Pentecost, as the first rain.
The end time church is in the days of the later rain; the outpouring of the Holy Ghost for the end time. This will lead to the release of the last fruits to God, which is the last mass evangelism that will usher in Jesus as King of kings and LORD of lords, and the rapture of the Church.
But there is more to what the first fruits principle means. What I just shared is the prophetic meaning. There is the practical meaning.
Practically, the principle tells us to put God first in our walk and talk with Him. It tells us we must embrace His ways first by seeking first His kingdom, and His righteousness. If we do, all other things shall be added to us.
In other words, we should worship God with our lives, by putting Him; His will and ways, ahead of us in everything we do. It will lead to the increase OF His presence or glory in our lives. That will make the works of our hands yield financial supplies supernaturally.
Like I stated earlier, God originally designed that His seed, especially those who are pushing His work forward, enjoy supernatural flow of finances constantly. The key to this kind of favor is worship; yes honoring the LORD with our lives, by aligning with His will and ways, in all aspects.
Sadly, some do not do this at all. They honor the LORD with their lips but not with their lives. That is why when money come their way, their needs consumes the money first. They do not even remember their God.
THE BIBLE SAYS, WE SHALL REMEMBER THE LORD OUR GOD, FOR IT IS HE WHO GAVE US THE POWER TO GET WEALTH.
As a Child of God, whenever money enters your hand, you have been given an opportunity by the LORD, maintain a constant flow of finances from Him. If you put your need first, instead of your worship, you will waste the opportunity and begin another circle again.
Friend, if you honor the LORD with your lips alone, you will get the result you are looking for. But a constant supernatural flow of income will not be one of it.
A Constant flow of the supernatural flow of income, is only for those who are consistent in their worship. They could be in a season of not enough, but as they deepen their worship, they will find themselves moving from not enough, to just enough, and from just enough to more than enough. That is the secret.
I believe God has spoken to us this morning. As you embrace this day, make these truths your meditation. Constant Financial flow is your portion in Christ Jesus, but you must put God first in all you do.
He must not be at the rear of your life. He must be ahead. It is those who put God ahead that get over the obstacles and go ahead in life. If you are therefore facing a time of financial hardship, and urgently need a miracle, the Bible says in the day of adversity consider.
Consider your ways, and let these truths help you check things out. Amen!!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:28-33 NKJV