TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 21ST NOVEMBER 2024)
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,”
“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” Acts 17:26-28 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 326TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
It has indeed been our year of impact. We have been greatly impacted by the LORD this year, despite the challenges we faced.
The proceeding word of God has helped us greatly this year. They helped us greatly because every proceeding word comes from the mercy seat.
Most of what came to us this year, were not things that you can capture with human wisdom. They were things you only capture by the power of the Holy Ghost, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
It is very important that you value the proceeding word as we move into the coming year, because in the kingdom of God, blessings or divine interventions, are transported from Heaven to us on earth, not by the power of air planes or rockets, but by the power of God’s proceeding word.
For instance, when He wants to move Healing to the sick on earth, He will raise men to speak into their lives or teach from His word on healing. What they receive or the truth of God’s word they walk in, then becomes the transport facility for conveying the healing they need to them.
In the same way, God does not leave Heaven to our homes to make good things happen in our lives. He speaks to kindle our faith, or teach us His words to give us the knowledge to apply to our daily lives, to make good things happen in our lives.
The Bible says,
“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” Psalm 107:20
The Bible did not say He sent forth Healing and deliverance. The Bible says He sent forth His word, and His word transmitted Healing and deliverance into their lives. That is the pattern for all divine interventions from the God of truth.
If nothing leaves Heaven to our lives on earth except by the word of the LORD, then the word of the LORD should be our main focus as believers, and nothing else.
SADLY, THE ENEMY AND ALL HE DOES HAS BECOME THE FOCUS OF MANY IN CHURCH TODAY. BUT IN THE EARLY CHURCH, IT WAS NOT SO!
The early church focused on the word of the LORD; they began with the word of His resurrection and grew into the doctrine of Christ. The result was the release of amazing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, if you want to see the raw power of the Spirit in your life, let the word of the LORD become the main focus of your life, and not your enemies. The power of the Spirit will lighten every part of your life like Electricity.
I think let us look at the phenomenal impact of electricity on us all. Perhaps it will help us understand what I am sharing with us this morning.
No doubt, electricity has become a driving force of civilization in the entire world today. Advanced cities of the world are wired to totally survive by electricity. You will agree with me that electricity has made our lives very easy. It has made prosperity easy to come by.
That is why economic experts will tell you that lack of adequate power supply is one of the factors contributing to poverty in Africa.
A part of our devotional text today says,
“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
Whatever good electricity is doing to us today holds a revelation of what good the HOLY Ghost will do to us if we make the word of the LORD, specifically the doctrine of Christ, the center of our lives.
That is how close God is to us; using even things invented to speak to us about His saving power and grace.
Just as lives will be shut down if electricity no longer exists on the face of the earth, so will our lives be shut down if the doctrine of Christ is not at the center of it.
The doctrine will attract the Holy Ghost to our lives, to power every aspect so that we can begin to live in peace, miracles, health, prosperity and blessings, the way electricity power our appliances.
If you are experiencing a shut down in your finances, marriage, faith, health, relationships, or anything that makes life beautiful, it’s a sign of supernatural power failure.
IT IS A SIGN THAT THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST IS NOT AT THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE ACTIONS, AND THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT AT WORK.
Man was not originally created to survive outside the power of the Holy Ghost. That was why God gave him dominion at creation. He was created to be powered by Dominion, which today is the power of the Holy Spirit, assembled in our lives by the doctrine of Christ.
Sadly, most people in the present Church lives in a terrible state of powerlessness, which is why they use oil, water, salt, and all kinds of instruments of magic called instruments of faith.
For many, things have become so terrible that Satan now gives his false power to them, to keep them completely shut out from God’s true power; the very power that will truly grant them rest from their days of war.
In fact, today, it is not just the power of the Holy Ghost that we need to be in us, but the Holy Ghost Himself because you can have His power, without having Him, and that will not take you far. One day you will do things that will shut the power down and get destroyed.
However, as earlier stated, to have the Holy Ghost, you must make the doctrine of Christ the focus of your life; you must have it at the center of everything you do, and make sure it is your guide. That will guarantee both His presence and power in your life, and make sure nothing is shut down.
The absence of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in many, is the greatest problem of present-day Christians.
It is the reason so called Christians run to sorcerers and diviners called prophets for help.
If there was no power failure in their precious lives, there would have been no successful demonic attack in their lives, and no need to go to the prophets.
The truth is, our enemies are not our problem! The absence of the revelation and manifestation of God’s unlimited power in our lives is our problem. The absence of the doctrine of Christ, that guarantees such manifestation is the problem.
IF OUR WAYS ALIGN WITH THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST, THE POWER AND PRESENCE OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT WILL ALWAYS BE PRESENT IN OUR LIVES.
That is why the early church made sure they did not entertain anyone who did not come to them with the doctrine of Christ. They resisted the false prophets and teachers of their days, warning each believer of them, and stirring the believers not to even greet them.
They knew the believers will shut down the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, if they entertain the deceivers who bring another doctrine to them.
The same warnings are passed to us. We must not entertain preachers with doctrines of the redemption of first born, the raising or silencing of altars, the using of oil, salt, water, candles and etc. for prayers, the sowing of seed for miracles, and all the nonsense.
Most of them are deceivers, while the rest of them with true callings from God, are victims of deceptions, who are making others believe the lies they have believed for years, using twisted scriptures.
If you allow them to put any other doctrine in your life apart from the doctrine of Christ, a time will come that your life will begin to shut down.
One of the apostolic leaders of that age wrote saying;
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.” 2 John 1:7-11 NKJV
I believe the LORD has spoken to us this morning. Time to apply what He is saying. The Bible says if we apply what the LORD teaches us, our lives will be like houses built on the rock.
It says we will never go down no matter the storms of life that hit us. Rather we will come out better like Job did. By implication, nothing will be able to shut any aspect of our lives down because the power and presence of the Holy Spirit will inhabit every detail of them.
We will be experiencing the manifestation of the greatness of God’s power, and no one will be able to stand before us all the days of our lives. Amen and amen.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURAL VERSE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Say to God, “How awesome are your works! Through the greatness of your power your enemies shall submit themselves to You. Psalm 66:3 NKJV