TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2024)
“Now therefore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies’ sake.
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” Daniel 9:17-19 ASV
WELCOME TO THE 293RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It’s another great day, marking the end of another of the 52 weeks that make up this year. One day we will be in the last week. We give God the glory for how He has kept us from our enemies, ourselves, and all that makes life terrible.
There are reports of people who are becoming closer to the LORD, bearing the cost of genuine salvation. People who are migrating from a sin full Christianity to a purity filled one, are going through a lot, especially in the hands of members of the synagogue of Satan.
It makes me understand why Jesus said these words to first the 12, and now to us, that a time will come that people who kill us and take it for a divine assignment. Yes, they will call us terrible names, vilify, demonize, and misinform people of who we are, claiming God asked them to do so.
I wrote an encouraging word to one of the elects going through his own tough time, or trial of faith, saying, “True Salvation is not cheap.”
Yes, genuine salvation will separate you from all who are still joined to a life of sin, iniquity and trespass. It will make you uncomfortable with people and places that have not been separated from the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit.
If you have been having the false salvation, the form of godliness without power, the kind of salvation that calls Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” but does not do what He says, you will have similar friends in your space.
But the moment the LORD confronts you with His word, and you decide to become who He wants you to be; a righteous, pure and holy child of God, you will begin to experience a circumcision.
YES, PEOPLE WILL BEGIN TO LEAVE YOUR LIFE, SOMETIMES IN DROVES, WITH SOME CALLING YOU NAMES.
They will begin to oppress you at your place of work, and make you suffer for your decision for the Christ kind of life. There are those who are so terrible that they will bring you to a breaking point, especially if they are your family members.
In Kenya, for example, because of the Shakahola incident, it has become a norm to call such believers cults; I mean people that if you place their lives with scriptures, you will see that they have become like the wise virgins who are careful of having sufficient oil in their lamps.
You will hear religious but godless people calling them cult.
I mean they will be calling the likes of people that God’s grace worked on in Bible days, and made men look at them and called them Christians, cults. It is not easy to be called a cult for doing the will of God and following His ways.
Yes, it is very discouraging to be called such a dark name for choosing to be the salt of the earth instead of praying with salt or the light of the world instead of praying with candles. They will also call churches that God used to facilitate them to live such dedicated lives to the LORD, cult groups.
What an irony!! What a world we live in. Indeed, the enemy indeed is hot at not wanting any Christlike person to be on earth.
This has become worrisome to most of these elects of Christ, but we should all not forget that that was what the synagogue of Satan did in the days of our fathers, leading to the great persecution and public execution of the members of the early Church.
Friend, it is important to embrace the cost of our salvation, yes, it is important to understand that Egypt will come after you in so many ways to kill you once you are no longer with it. But the Red Sea of God’s intervention is also there to help us.
He intervened in the life of our fathers, when they went through the cost of saying yes to Jesus Christ, and standing in truth. The synagogue of Satan did them so much harm, but the goodness of the LORD kept them.
I trust it will keep us also.
However, one of the major things we are to do is to live our days knowing the difference between what we want and what is truly needed. If we do, it will position us for grace to endure and prevail, helping us to come out well in the race that is set before us.
TALKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR WANTS AND NEEDS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WANTS ARE DIFFERENT FROM NEEDS.
There is no amount of the meeting of a man’s wants that can result in satisfaction or fulfilment in life. Only the meeting of our needs can lead to satisfaction and fulfillment in life.
Our wants have a way of making us very desperate. But sooner or later we wake up to find out that we never needed them. Oh yes, that is how many got married, only to wake up to discover that the person they married was a want.
He or she was not supposed to be part of their lives in the first place.
In that way, a marriage can be a need, and a marriage can also be a want. It depends on what is driving one into it, and the life the person is driving himself or herself into.
One of the major things we need today is God’s Great Mercies. Yes, God’s great mercies. We need God’s grace mercies, especially the elects that are being persecuted by the synagogue of Satan.
It is important to note that God’s grace is we getting what we do not deserve, but God’s mercies is we not getting what we deserve. It is we not getting the judgment, losses, lack, illnesses, and etc. that we deserved, because of our repentance or a chance to repent.
God’s mercies is also we not bearing the cost of the moments we walked in the flesh, in our quest to live a life in the Spirit. It is God accepting us as sons while we are requesting to be servants.
Yes, God’s great mercy is God helping us to defeat the Philistines despite having our eyes removed.
It is us losing something precious due to our carelessness, and having it back due to His faithfulness. It is losing a miracle, blessings, an opportunity or etc. because of our wickedness but having it back because of God’s righteousness and faithfulness.
IT IS GOD NOT DEALING WITH US ACCORDING TO OUR SINS BUT HIS FAITHFULNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.
If no one is following you in life, do not worry. Just make sure God’s goodness and mercy are following you. They are enough companions. When God’s mercy follows you, you see a lot of His outbreaks in your life. You see moments where He was like, not there, turning into moments of His manifest presence.
That is why the enemy finds it difficult dealing with people that God’s mercy follows. The Bible says,
“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. Isaiah 54:7-9 NKJV
These are not words of sentiments, but words of the Spirit to the elects of Christ, who are driven by a holy desire to fear God and walk in righteousness.
The Bible says He will never forsake the righteous, neither will He abandon the sinful who desires to be righteous. He will always deploy His great mercies to change the circumstances of people in either of these groups, especially after a season that appears as if He is not there; a season that make us look like Children with an absentee Heavenly Father.
We began today’s devotional by addressing the challenges that one go through in a perverse age when he or she decides to live a dedicated Christian life. There is no place in the Bible where God says He will deliver us from them. Meaning they are bound to happen.
But if we position ourselves rightly, we will begin to receive a measure of God’s mercy that will begin to take care of us. That positioning is the positioning of the prayer knee.
Our devotional text says,
“Now therefore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies’ sake.
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” Daniel 9:17-19 ASV
This was the prayer of Daniel when He wanted the LORD to visit the Jews in Babylon and restore them back to their land. If you read through it, you will see what Daniel was asking the LORD for; he was asking the LORD for great mercies.
Friend, that is what to ask the LORD for when you are facing any battle of faith. That is what to bend your prayer knee for.
Finally, since God’s mercy is not getting an unpleasant thing you deserve, bending the prayer knee during a trial of faith is what you should do. It will always supply the energy required for a successful Christian journey in time of need. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE A PRAYER GUIDE FOR THE DAY!
To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in you; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed; let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and your loving kindnesses, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to your mercy remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Psalms 25:1-7 NKJV