TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2024)
“So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Daniel 2:16-19 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 287TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
So far, it’s been a challenging year for some and a glorious year for others. For few Of God’s elects, the totality of the events that happened in their lives this year, is part of the preparation they need to fulfill their destiny.
Yes, God’s kingdom has no place for any kind of compromise. When it comes to getting us ready for anything in His kingdom, God will make sure we do not fall short of anything.
From the lives of all those who were here before us, we can see that before God brings us into a blessing, He will first prepare us for it. That is why it takes patience to walk with the LORD. If He tells you about a move of His Spirit, before He brings you into it, He will prepare you for it.
If He tells you of a ministry you are called into, before He brings you into it, He will prepare you for it. There is nothing significant that happens in the life of a child of God without preparation.
That is why, people who dodge preparations, have signed for failure in life. They have denied themselves liftings in the Kingdom of God. Preparation is always a necessity in God’s kingdom, except for doing snappy things.
Now, God cannot prepare us without our cooperation. He will always require our co-operation in His bid to prepare us for what He wants to do with us. And there are so many ways to cooperate with the LORD.
Apart from sitting down to be taught His word, one way we can cooperate with God to prepare us for anything in His kingdom is through reading. In other words, leading a studious life!
Understand that, there is nothing we are looking for that is not already in a book out there. Leading a studious life will bring you into it.
Now, am not saying reading to preach or shine on others, but studying to live a better Heavenly life on earth – a life that will be feared in hell and respected in Heaven. That is how we are trained in Him.
We must lead lives that seek the knowledge of God, because He is preparing us for many major things in His kingdom, one of the major things is the conversion of the kingdoms of this world into that of God and of His Christ; in this life, so we can have a better end in the next life.
I HAVE COME TO DISCOVER THAT EVERY GOOD SCHOOL OR HUMAN TRAINING WOULD PREPARE YOU FOR THIS LIFE BUT NOT THE LIFE TO COME.
Apart from the Kingdom of God, you cannot find any institution that prepares humans for the next life, which is the ultimate life – the life after this life. That is why only Heavenly trainings prepares us for the next life.
These devotionals are part of God’s training system for us to be prepared for His major moves in our lives. That is why no critical thing have been spared from being shared on the platform.
One of the major truths the Bible teaches is the power of God’s mercy, and what He expects from us after showing us mercy. One thing many do not know is the connection between God’s mercy and the study of His word, especially books that helps us understanding His ways.
When you seek or acquire understanding of God’s kingdom matters through books, you see more outbreaks of God’s mercy in your life!
That is why any church generation that will not seek understanding by books that helps us understand the ways of God, will never tap into the greatness of God’s mercy. They will never be able to escape the sword of their enemy. The Bible says Daniel understood by books! Not secular books but the book of one of the major prophets of God that ever lived, the book of Jeremiah.
I remember attending conferences in Nigeria when the late Benson Idahosa was alive; THE GREAT BENIN CONFERENCES that usually gather the cream of the cream of preachers in Nigeria to one spot. Some of those preachers will come and say “Daniel understood by books” and then go on to inspire us to go reading any book we can find.
I never knew that it was not regular books that Daniel read, as these precious men presented it to us. It was through personal studies that I found out it was the Book of Jeremiah Daniel read, not even a Babylonian book.
Until the LORD began to urge me to stop reading any book and concentrate on the Bible, I never knew that the books that Daniel read was just the book of Jeremiah.
IT WAS THE BOOK OF THIS ANCIENT PROPHET OF GOD THAT DANIEL READ TO COME INTO GOD’S PLAN AND PURPOSE FOR HIS LIFE.
Friend, we must learn to read the books in the Bible to come into the moves the great men of God in the days of the Bible prophesied for our age and time.
Daniel was a man in good standing with God who used His understanding of the books he read to unlock God’s mercy on the exiled nation of Israel. Reading Books that teaches the hidden things of God will help you understand Him and His ways. And the Bible is full of such books – 66 in all.
If you understand God and His ways, you will be able to unlock His mercies upon your life and that of others the way Daniel did. Concerning this spiritual skill of this governmental prophet of God, he wrote saying;
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans —
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:1-3 NKJV
Our devotional text tells how the distinguished character of this man, made him shine in the darkness of the ancient Kingdom of Babylon. He was a man who never used the it-is-my-right mentality you see in Church today when dealing with God.
That was the distinguish character that saw him through. It made him approach the throne of God through the doors of his mercies each time he is on the prayer knees. A major highlight in the text says;
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
THIS SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR THAT GETTING THINGS IN GOD’S KINGDOM IS NOT A MATTER OF RIGHTS BUT A PRODUCT OF GOD’S MERCY.
Men in good standing with God are always on their knees seeking mercies from God to grant them things in the Spirit. It is men who have fallen from God that approach Him with the it-is-my-right mentality like the hypocrite in Luke 18.
I shared a mystery of prophetic tombs some time back. It’s important sometimes that we visit the prophetic tombs of our Bible fathers (not natural tombs), and hear what they said in their time – things that will be very helpful in our times.
A prophetic tomb is not a natural tomb.
Visiting natural tombs is not a good idea because it keeps a man’s heart attached to the dead, and opens up his life to the spirit of death to strike. So, we are not talking about visiting a natural tomb. We are talking about a prophetic tomb, and it’s important that we unearth what it means so that we will not be misunderstood.
A very simple definition of a tomb calls it THE LAST RESTING PLACE.
A prophetic tomb is actually the last spiritual resting place of a man with an active walk and talk with GOD, especially when faced with life threatening situations. It is the prophetic place you end up resting (in God) when you come under severe attacks of the enemy.
So, a prophetic tomb is not a physical graveyard! For Paul the apostle, his prophetic tomb was sufficient grace. He rested there at a time that a messenger of Satan was given to him to buffet him so that he will not be exalted above measure. The Bible says,
“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NKJV
SUFFICIENT GRACE CAN BECOME YOUR PROPHETIC TOMB!
If you look at this scripture on the surface you will think that God was the one that sent the messenger of Satan to Paul, and like many have preached, to keep him humble. But like I said in one of our meetings, God does not commit revelation to proud people so that they will not blow up because of what they know!
So, Paul was already humble, humble enough to bear the revelatory truths he was spreading. In fact, you see that in 2 Corinthians 12 and other of his letters to the Churches.
So, when we say God sent that devil to keep him humble we miss it. God will not give you abundance of revelation to spread about with one hand and then with the other sabotage your effort by sending a messenger of Satan to buffet you. That is not the GOD of the great commission!
The enemy was actually responsible and God saved Paul when he sought Him in prayer. God saved Paul by making sufficient grace his prophetic tomb or final faith resting place, in the battle with that messenger of Satan. And the result was amazing – multiplied strength was released into his life and ministry to keep him on his feet. That alone holds a deep lesson.
Our devotional text holds another revelation – it is the revelation of the prophetic tomb of Daniel – one of our Fathers. The Bible says the king had a dream and woke up without remembering it. Then he called his wise men, sorcerers, magician and etc. to help him out. But they could not!
Then he became fierce and issued an order that if they cannot tell him the dream and its interpretation, he will consider it an exposure of a hidden but now known conspiracy against him. To him that will mean they had been telling him lies all along by the interpretations they had been giving to the previous dreams he had been having.
He wanted them to vindicate themselves by telling him the dream he just had and its interpretation.
But the Bible says still they could not, and then he issued a command in response that they should all be executed. That was how the life of Daniel, who was working then as one of the wise men of Babylon due to his prophetic powers from Heaven, came under threat. But when they found Daniel to execute, he answered the Chief executioner with Wisdom and requested that he see the King to seek for time.
THE REQUEST WAS GRANTED. OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS,
“So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
If you look at this scripture, you will discover that the final faith resting place of Daniel (or his prophetic tomb), at a time when his life came under threat was the MERCY of the LORD. The Bible says they sought “Mercy of the LORD” and that saved their lives.
What the king was looking for was revealed to him in a night vision. Hallelujah!
This story has a great lesson. We must learn to rest in God’s mercy as our prophetic tomb or final faith resting place in time of crisis! A people who will rest in His mercy in and out of season, will never be blown away by the perils of life.
Daniel sought mercies of the LORD and God saved his life and that of others from the sword of the king. I don’t know what sword is pursuing you but one thing I know is this; if you will make God’s mercy your prophetic tomb or final resting place, He will save you from it.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“God, you are my God; early will I seek you; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.
So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory. Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live; I will lift up my hands in your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches. Because you have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalms 63:1-8 NKJV