TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2024)
“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 334TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
Our hearts are full of thanksgiving to the LORD this day for keeping us alive and sustaining us. This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it.
I don’t know how you stepped into this year, but many of us crossed into it, seeking mercies of the LORD to keep us. We stepped in standing in God’s presence, and in His mercies, we have seen the same presence doing wonders in our lives all through the year.
Indeed, who you start a year, month, week or day with, will ultimately shape how you go through that year, month, week, or day. I have come to discover that who or what you commit yourself to, especially in the first hours or days of a year, will definitely determine how peaceful or not you spend the rest of the year.
We handed over our lives and hearts to God at the start of this year, to influence us to live positively according to His will and ways, and keep us in perfect peace.
We knew that the battles that will rage this year will not be won because we are anointed or powerful, because the race is not always to the swift neither is the battle always to the strong. We knew they will be won by the mercies of the LORD working in our lives.
We also knew that by human strength shall no man prevail, hence handing over our lives to His great strength to carry us through at the start of the year. Glory to His great name, that strength has carried us through and through.
We knew that if we will go through this year successfully, and not be consumed by the perils of the year, we have to lose control of our lives and put Him in control. Yes, we have to do exactly that, because there are times you think you are in control of something, only to wake up to discover you were deluded.
YOU WERE NOT REALLY IN CONTROL; YOU LACKED WHAT IT TAKES TO BE IN CONTROL.
If we look at the analogy of driving, you will discover the same truth; the truth that we need someone greater than us to be in full control of our lives. Many drivers have lost control of very good vehicles and destroyed themselves or the lives of others.
Many fathers have lost control of their Children and watched them perish in their rebellion. Political leaders have lost control of their nations and constituencies and bring the lives of many into social perils.
World History is full of very powerful people who eventually lost control of themselves and those under their influence and even open portals of hell over nations.
Warriors have lost control of their lives and even weapons of war, great kings have lost control of their kingdoms and came to ruin, even very wise and educated people have lost control, but there is only one person who has never lost control of anything placed under His control. That person is the Blessed Holy Spirit!
Our lives must be in His hands for things to be well with us.
With the whole of our hearts we believe that we stepped into this year putting our lives in the hands of He who has never lost control of anything on the face of the earth.
It may interest you to know that you will fail woefully in the coming year if you put your life under the control of any prophet or prophetess. Yes, you will destroy yourself dearly if you go through next year or any other year, putting your precious live in the hands of others. Even your own hands are not to be trusted.
Yes, you will see hell if you put your precious life under the control of yourself; under the control of your anger, your sex drive, your crave for comfort or your desire to please someone.
It may interest you to know that 2025 will be a year of greater trouble for you if you spend it putting your life in the hands of others, no matter how dependable they may appear. No uncles, aunties, mothers, fathers, sisters, Churches, institutions and or human system can save us like the LORD God of Heaven and earth.
If you will see good the rest of this year and the year to come, you must spend the days of the year handing over your precious life to the Holy Spirit and submitting to him to be in Charge.
YOUR LIFE MUST COMPLETELY BE IN GOD’S HANDS!
The Bible is full of people who brought their lives under His control and placed it in His Hands. When they did, they were redeemed from unredeemable circumstances, delivered from lions, demons, and all kinds of terrible situations. They were secured and protected beyond human comprehension.
They moved from smallness to greatness, great things to GREATER THINGS. Hallelujah! There are no words that can fully capture how beautiful a life will become, if placed in the hands of the Blessed Holy Spirit. Only Him knows how to break it (which is painful to the flesh), then bless it.
Yes, only He knows how to crush it until every pride, lust, sin, deceit and craftiness and all unclean things are removed from it.
If we allow Him do the necessary – break us to bless us, or crush us to clean us, He will take us in His blessed hands and make us the envy of nations. He will make us so glorious that when people look at us, they will see the essence of who God really is in us.
He alone knows how to make our lives Heaven on earth. If your life is in your hands, please take it out and place it in the Hands of this great Friend who formed us in our mother’s womb; the blessed Holy Spirit.
At this point, let me tell you something you may not have fully comprehended. Understand that your life is not your own. Yes, God through His blessed Holy Spirit, own us. That is why He is called the Spirit of the LORD! The word LORD means “owner.” He is the Spirit of the God of Heaven and earth that owned us. He is the Spirit of the owner of our lives.
Now, since the Spirit is the real person, He is the real owner of our lives. Putting your life in His hands is getting yourself back to the hands of your owner, and only your owner can deal with you kindly.
Only He can fight you battles freely.
Only He can defeat your enemies without asking you to raise an altar, sow a seed, go to a mountain to pray, or do anything you hear greedy men and women tell the oppressed to do, before or after they are healed or delivered.
THIS OWNERSHIP PRINCIPLE MUST BE UNDERSTOOD.
You must understand that the owner of your life has your best interest at heart! If you relate with Him as the owner of your life, He will never ask you to do anything sacrificial before He can bless you. He will bless you as you walk with Him intimately.
If He ask you to do anything sacrificial, it will be to make you a partner of His redemptive moves on earth like He did to Abraham; He will not ask you to raise an altar or silence one to be free from something, because you will live your life in rest. In fact, His interest is purer and better than yours.
His love, care, and concern for you is stronger than your love, care and concern for you. He will lead you through paths you will not ordinarily want to go to, in order to make the best out of you.
That brings us to our devotional text. It tells us who we really are. It says we are Temples.
That is very revealing. We are not just humans but Temples. The Bible teaches that our spiritual structure is that of a temple with seven compartments. The compartments are a dwelling place of the seven spirits of the LORD. The Bible teaches that there are seven spirits of God. The seven spirits are the seven manifestations of the blessed Holy Spirit in the life of a yielded vessel.
A major highlight in the devotional text says,
“For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
This scripture made it clear that we were originally created to be earthly temples of God. Sadly, many do not know that, hence making their lives temples of unclean spirits. There are those who have not made their lives temples of unclean spirits but temples of unclean deeds.
They have made their lives temples of all forms of sexual immorality, temples of anger, bitterness, resentment, hate, deception, craftiness and etc. That is why God wants us to put our lives in the hands of His blessed Holy Spirit to cleanse and help us out.
One way to put our lives in His hands, is to come out of all kinds of unholy and impure life styles, so that He who is Holy and Pure; the Holy Spirit of God, can saturate us with His peace and prosperity, thereby making our lives progressive.
Our devotional text continued with these words;
Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
There are people to separate from this year as you prepare for next year if you want your life to be in the Hands of the Holy Spirit. If you want God to accept you and take full control of your life, then you must follow His principles.
It is my prayer that these words become written in your heart in Jesus’ precious name. Amen and amen.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour,” for we are members of one another.
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:25-30 NKJV