TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY 2025)
“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” Romans 9:14-16 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 24TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY.
The 24th day remind me of the 24 elders in heaven, a group of men who once walked through time from the loins of Abraham. They served God in time, elected by grace, and received the heritage in eternity.
That is God’s goal for you and I. He wants us to serve Him in time, elected by His grace, so we can receive an eternal heritage in heaven.
One of the major things we find in some of the men who made up the 24 elders in heaven is how they served God. The Bible says the things they did with God and God did with them, were written for our admonition and others for our warnings.
One major truth you can find in their lives is this; if you do not put God first in your life, God will never put you next for anything you need from Him. Putting God first does not earn us anything. It only positions us to receive something from Him.
You see that written in their lives and faith. That was why God did not withhold any good thing from them. The Psalmist says;
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11 NKJV
Friend, this year will be a different year for you; a year that no good thing will be withheld from you. This called for an upright walk from your end.
One of the upright walks that guarantees the release of good things from God, is the upright walk of putting Him first in everything you may be doing. God want you to live your days this year doing that, so that no good thing will be withheld from happening in your life this year.
Understand that God is not asking you to do something outside His norm, because salvation itself is a call to put God first. Until your salvation encounter teaches you to start putting God first in your life, anything you call salvation is a joke.
GOD DID NOT CREATE ANYTHING TO COME IN OUR LIVES BEFORE HIM.
That was why the first lessons He taught His firstborn Nation, the nation of Israel. When they got to Mount Sinai to receive the Constitution for running their lives, He said to them;
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Exodus 20:2-6 NKJV
God never created anything to come before Him. If you check the evil that mankind is going through you will discover that all sorrows steam from putting other things in life before God. Mankind was not originally designed to put anything in his life before God.
The lives of those who have put other things in their lives before God, has not always been good. If you do not want your life to be good in 2025 as well, do the same.
Friend, we have seen so many lives destroyed trying to put themselves first before GOD, don’t add yours to the list. Man was not designed to put other things before God in his life. Do not function contrary to your design.
If you study the Bible, you will realize that each time man tries to function outside His design, he pays dearly for it. It will always be like trying to make a fish swim in a very hot sand instead of the water it was designed to swim in. So do not try!!
Let it sink into your heart that whenever we try to function outside the design of putting God first, we suffer. For instance, at the root of every failed marriage, you always find one person or both, crashing the home by putting themselves before God.
In some other incidents, you will find people who took decisions to get married basically to satisfy their carnal desires, instead of to fulfill God’s purpose.
NOTHING WILL STAND IN OUR LIVES IF WE KEEP PUTTING GOD LAST
This is not limited to marriage but extended to other aspects of life. For instance, at the root of every failed economic life, you always find a people who put other things, especially money before God.
Anything you put before God will suddenly be destroyed because nothing was originally created to come before God in our lives.
God never wanted the nation of Israel to self-destruct the way the nations of the earth were. Hence, as soon as they came out of Egypt, He quickly took them to Mount Sinai to give them this very important lesson of putting Him first in life as written in the Holy Scriptures.
The death of Jesus on the Cross did not change this rule of God, it rather established it. He said we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto us.
Not putting God first was the reason for the fall of Lucifer and the subsequent fall of man. They both put themselves first and lost their place in God. Whenever you put yourself first, especially after God has blessed you, you will lose everything. That was what happened to Adam.
But thank God for our redemption.
When the redeemer came, the first thing He did was to give us the key to use in returning to the position we lost in Adam, this time a better position. That key is, “Putting God first.” He said in His word;
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:33-34 NKJV
Putting self-first led to the loss of our Original place in God, putting GOD first will get us back to that position.
If there is anything you lost in God that you want to get back, the restoration of that thing to your life will begin from the place of putting God first. Yes, it will begin from the place of seeking first His kingdom and righteousness; then other things will follow.
SADLY, MANY DO NOT KNOW THAT. THEY JUST PUT THEIR PROBLEMS FIRST, AND END UP NOT HAVING THEM SOLVED.
But if only they will change that, all will be well. I consider putting God first as the greatest insurance cover against the perils of this life. Not allowing anything to come before God in your life will make sure that whatever comes against you is defeated before you.
David said;
“I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High! When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You.” Psalms 9:2-3 AMP
David was a man who knew How to put God first in his life. That was why he saw God taking care of his enemies. When we put God before anything in our lives, our enemies will always fall before Him, hence falling before us. Hallelujah!
As we bring this to a close, it will be important that we look at how to put God first in our lives.
The first way to put God first in our lives is by “genuinely surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ” and allowing His LORDSHIP to be in charge. It is by following His direction, receiving His correction, obeying His instruction, seeking His wisdom, following His guidance, or direction and etc.
It is by walking in obedience and submission, doing all of His blessed will and none of our will. This will show in what we do in the day of trouble and what he does in reply.
Another way you put God first is by running to Him first in time of trouble instead of just calling on people. It is good to call on people but make sure you have called upon God first.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT RELYING ON THE ARM OF THE FLESH.
People who rely on the arm of flesh in the day of trouble, will only end up suspending their victories or cancelling it altogether. So, we must remain strong in faith, looking unto Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith in any situation we find ourselves.
That is how to put God first in the day of adversity!!
David displayed all these in his 70 years on earth. He would not do anything without putting God first. He will seek His direction or counsel before taking decisions. He will pray to the LORD for help even when he had all it takes to deal with the enemy.
He lived his days putting God first. He was so dependent on God that he said;
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call.” Psalms 20:7-9 NKJV
You can sense the kind of person David was, from these beautiful scriptures. This man put God FIRST, even before his fighting skills and weapons of war. That was why He saw God rising to save him in the many battles that he fought. You are the next on the list.
Our devotional text this morning, says;
“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy”
If you want to see this scripture manifesting in your life the rest of this year, spend each day putting God first.
You do not need to insure the rest of the year by giving some money to some preachers as seed for the remaining year. Just spend each day in 2025 putting God first, and He will put you next for the mercies He has prepared to pour on the human race each day of this year. Amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!!
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live; But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and live, Amos 5:4-6A NKJV