TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 22ND NOVEMBER 2024)
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 327TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Many years back, whenever a week ends like today, we get excited. We do not get excited because of what others get excited about. We get excited because of Sunday service.
The scripture says, “I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!” (Psalms 122:1-2 NKJV).
In those days we usually prepare for Sunday service, and time in what we know then as the house of God, from Friday.
The excitement of meeting other believers and sharing the word together, yes, the excitement of experiencing the corporate presence of God, begins on Friday.
We knew that what we took for the house of God then, was the place to be, and looked forward to it.
But today, so many things have changed. Most people do not go to church again, mostly because of the activities of false preachers and related factors.
While some are just wicked to themselves hence deciding against joining any church, others have gone to church for years but there is no fruit of salvation in their lives. Hence getting tired and leaving.
The church touched their heads, but did not touch their hearts. Some have even become Muslims, while many have died and gone to hell. It’s saddening to even state these things.
As I sat down to think about all these things, I began to understand that such spiritual disasters happened because people went to church without aligning with God, hence having no fruits in their lives.
They did not align with God because the pastors who taught them, were also not aligned.
Now, what kind of alignment am I referring to? I will explain.
You see, whenever we appear before God, He does not focus on our problems, He focusses on our hearts. If we appear and did not focus on what He focuses on, which is our hearts, we are not aligned.
HENCE, WE WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE HIS TOUCH ON OUR HEARTS.
It is therefore important that believers know what God focuses on whenever He descends in our corporate fellowships, and focus on the same.
The loss of this alignment in our churches is mostly blamed on the preachers, because most preachers today, focus on the pockets of congregants, therefore losing alignment.
Sadly, because the preacher is not aligned, it is possible to attend that church for a life time without having your heart touched by the LORD.
In most cases, your head will be touched by the church, giving you an assurance of a salvation that you have not truly experienced, but your heart will not be touched.
Hence, there will be no difference in character between you and the person who have never been to Church.
But we must all understand what God focuses on when we appear before Him and focus on the same, because if we do not do that, our appearance in mount Zion will never result in any transformation in our lives.
We will never be able to go from strength to strength, glory to glory, grace to grace, or from a faith with character fruits, to another faith with character fruits, as the scriptures says.
We must overcome this tendency of focusing on other things while God want us to focus on having Him touch our hearts whenever we appear before Him.
You see, the Heart of a man is God’s greatest attention whenever He looks down from Heaven.
However, the Devil make people think differently; he uses the preacher most times to make people think that a man’s bank account is what God looks at, using bible stories like the story of the widow of Zarephath.
In most cases, some use the story of the widow who gave her all.
The truth is, the attention of a man of God, or the Church you attend, may be on your bank account, but God’s attention is usually on your heart, to change it and make it His home on earth.
Our devotional text says it all. It says;
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
That sums it all. God does not look like man does. He is very different than we can ever imagine. His word the Bible, tells us all about Him. He looks at the hearts.
THE BIBLE SAYS HE SEARCHES THE HEART, WHILE PERVERTED PREACHERS SEARCHES OUR BANK ACCOUNTS.
God focuses on our hearts not our pockets, especially when we attend church because He wants to work on our hearts and make them His home.
It is when He make our hearts His home that our lives can be changed for the better. It will make us both Heaven worthy and earthly relevant.
It will result in the release of our destiny, and a fulfilled life on earth.
As we bring this to a close, I want to state that the importance of understanding that the purpose of going to church, is to have our hearts changed and made God’s home on earth, cannot be over emphasized.
That is apostolic; that is what you find in the first century church.
When that miracle happens, when your heart becomes God’s home, making it the tabernacle of God, it will solve all your problems. The Bible says;
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV
If you desire a permanent deliverance from unnecessary tears, persistent death or sorrow.
If you want to stop crying permanently in any area of your life, if you want to be free from all kinds of pains, desire to have your heart as God’s home on earth.
Yes, desire a church that will help you achieve that, a church that will focus on your heart not your possessions; a church that God can use to help you, not a church that will be giving you oil, salt, water, candle, serving you holy communion, and etc.
In conclusion, I want to state that, it is very dangerous to attend a church whose pastor looks at your pocket instead of your heart.
He will always preach messages that brings money out of your pocket. He will run the church as a money-making machine. He will make giving him money the only solution to any of your problems.
He might not do that openly, because the smart ones now use proxies to do it.
The way to a blessed life this end time remains, to find a church God used to work on people’s hearts, for the primary purpose of making them His home or dwelling place on earth and plant yourself there. Amen
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!!
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV