TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2024)
“But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? Matthew 12:25-26 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 341ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF IMPACT.
To God be the glory for another weekend in our year of impact. We have seen God’s mercies, grace compassion and unending kindness. We have also seen His truth, which has been our buckler.
Today we will be refreshing our minds on wisdom. Our 2024 School of Bible Prophecy started with a revelation of ten of the many blessings we will see if we walk in the light of Bible prophecy. I urge you to get the messages. Today we will be diving deep into what the LORD has prepared for us.
If you missed yesterday’s session, join us today. It will be an unveiling of the prophetic word.
One major thing that we get when the prophetic word is unveiled is divine wisdom! Divine wisdom is the greatest need of mankind. The Bible says wisdom is the principal thing, that in all our getting, we should get wisdom and get understanding.
As important as prayer is, wisdom is called the principal thing. Meaning, even when you pray, you are walking in wisdom. Yes, praying is a wise thing to do if you know how to pray according to God’s will or God’s word. It is a walk of wisdom.
Yes, it is a work of wisdom because it makes things happen in the invisible realm. Then it in-turn gives you the wisdom to let what has happened in the invisible realm happen in the natural. If you pray effectively it will make things happen, and bring you to the place of wisdom; the place of taking wise steps to unlock answers to the prayers you have prayed.
If your prayer is not making your heart wise, you are not praying according to divine pattern.
The reason most prayerful people are less than dust or afflicted, lies in that. They do not pray prayers that makes them wise. They pray prayers that leaves them with no wisdom to apply, in order to turn things around in their lives. It’s therefore important that we all pray prayers that add divine wisdom to our hearts to make us wise.
THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT WHEN WE CALL UNTO GOD, HE WILL ANSWER US AND SHOW US GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS WE DO NOT KNOW.
The showing of those things is the delivery of wisdom. It is the delivery of divine wisdom, most times to eliminate all that is not God’s will for our lives, neutralize evil forces that may be up against us, and help us destroy obstacles that have resisted us for a long time.
Divine wisdom will eliminate stagnancy and help you travel faster in life. The greatest problem of mankind therefore, is not their problems but lack of divine wisdom.
Sometimes back, when we shared about wisdom, we said we must understand the two aspects of divine wisdom. We said we must understand how they govern the two shades of life – the natural and the spiritual. That is why you would always find people of divine wisdom radiating the glory of their wisdom.
There are two shades of life; the spiritual and the natural. We can also call them the subjective shade, and the objective shade of life.
The wisdom that covers the natural shade of life is a divine wisdom for dealing with things objectively or naturally. That is the wisdom for handling practical problems. There is also divine wisdom for dealing with things subjectively. That is the wisdom for dealing with spiritual problems.
When you are in any natural problem, learn to ask the LORD for the practical wisdom to deal with it. If you do, no problem of life will ever defeat you. The prodigal son was in a natural problem, created by his lawless behavior. The Bible says he moved from eating in royalty and with royalty, to eating with pigs.
Your problem could be worse. One day he conceived the practical wisdom that solved his entire problems; the wisdom to go back to His Father. It was wise for him to return to His father, with a plan on how to pacify Him for his misbehavior, and it worked.
The Bible says he went to the Father, pacified Him with words of repentance, and got more than he expected; full restoration. With practical wisdom from God, we deal with the natural objectively, and with spiritual wisdom from God we deal with the spiritual subjectively.
THE SITUATION OF THE PRODIGAL SON NEEDED PRACTICAL WISDOM, HE APPLIED IT AND HE GOT THE RESULT.
May your mind not be empty of practical wisdom. May you always know what to do from the LORD. May you find practical wisdom whenever you need it, in Jesus precious name.
When it comes to the spiritual aspect of life, practical wisdom will not be adequate, one will need spiritual wisdom. Since the spiritual is the birthplace of the natural, I want you to understand that the application of spiritual wisdom in solving problems that are beyond the power of practical wisdom, is a necessity of life.
Our devotional text today holds one of the most ancient wisdom of God for dealing with spiritual problems. A major highlight from the text says,
“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?”
Now we all know that the kingdom of Satan is not divided against itself. So, when we look at the text therefore, we can conclude that “Satan cannot cast out Satan.” In dealing with spiritual problems therefore, we must understand this wisdom from the Ancient of Days Himself.
Let me share with you a bit about spiritual problems.
All spiritual problems are traceable to Satan himself. Even when the hand of a man is involved, he is actually the power behind that hand. That is why I tell us to try not to hate people he moves to move against us. Though not easy, we must understand the warfare and still respond in love.
Satan is responsible for that marriage that is crumbling. He is responsible for that health that is going down. He is responsible for that ministry that is under attack. He is responsible for that poverty, that loss of Job, that loss of peace.
He is responsible for all evil. The Bible made this clear when it says;
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 NKJV
Except to execute correctional judgment, God is not usually the author of crisis. Satan is the source of all evil. I think even a Child knows that. In dealing with spiritual problems therefore, you must learn to cast out Satan because when he leaves, all his works leaves with him.
THE WORD “SATAN” IS NOT ACTUALLY A NAME. IT IS A TITLE. IT MEANS “OPPONENT.”
It is a title given to the fallen angel Lucifer who fell from glory and became the major opponent of God’s will, ways, and word. That was why when Peter opposed Jesus, and tried to discourage him from going to the cross to die for us, (obviously because he was ignorant) Jesus called him “Satan” (or opponent).
But the ancient wisdom we are uncovering today says “Satan cannot cast out Satan.” That means if we are opposing God’s will or word in any way, we will lack the power to deal with Satan.
Since he is an opponent of God’s will, word and ways by nature, if we are not in synchronicity with God’s will, word or way in any way, we will be operating at the same plane with him, and on that plane “Satan cannot cast out Satan.” The most effective way to deal with the devil therefore is to be submissive and obedient to God’s will, ways, and word!
Obeying God and being submissive to Him, remains the most powerful way to bind Satan and cast out His activities from our lives. The Bible says,
“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8 NKJV
I believe the message of today’s devotional is clear. The ancient wisdom for dealing with all spiritual problems has been uncovered – just obey God! The coming year can be one of the best years of your life if you make up your mind to operate in the wisdom of obeying God, and leading a life that is submissive to His will, ways and word.
Be a submissive Child of God and you will not find the demonic or the satanic around your life!
The Bible says the evil one goes about looking for whom to devour. The reason is because he cannot devour everybody. If you are one of those who obey God, the devil cannot devour you.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURAL PASSAGE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY;
“Come now, and let us reason together, “Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 1:18-20 NKJV