TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATUDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2025)
“Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.” Psalms 46:8-9 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 39th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
It is the last day of the week, and God has granted us mercy to end it in corporate worship due to our ongoing 40 special days with Jesus. For us at the Apostolic Family of the Cry of the Spirit Ministries, it’s been a season of seeking the LORD and finding Him daily.
We give God the glory for all He has been doing in our lives. May His name remain exalted in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
God’s goodness has been keeping and sustaining us. His goodness has been our guide and guard. It has been our everything. History is littered with what it has accomplished in the lives of people.
For instance, it spoke in the life and ministry of Christ. When our LORD and savior Jesus Christ walked physically on this earth over 2000 years ago, He did so many things and said so many things that were not even written in scriptures.
He did so many things out of the fountain of God’s goodness. He healed sicknesses and diseases that were not recorded. He did domestic miracles in the house of the source of His flesh to save and serve that were not recorded. He did so many supernatural things that John would later write to say if all were recorded; there would have been no space to keep the books.
The goodness of the LORD was responsible for those miracles and is still responsible for miracles from God today. I believe that was then; because with technology advance today, everything would have entered a flash drive. If God’s goodness work in your life, sometimes human language will not be able to capture the totality of what it accomplishes.
I believe strongly, the human life cannot capture in totality what God’s goodness can accomplish in or through it.
Even in prophetic communication, there are seasons that God will be speaking to us in His goodness, and the frailty of our human life will not be able to capture everything He is saying. Frequently, I have always found myself during a strong prophetic presence of God, receiving messages and deep truths from the Spirit of the LORD, that I lack the speed of writing to capture everything.
DURING THOSE TIMES, I FIND MY HANDS TOO WEAK AND SLOW TO WRITE DOWN DESPITE HOW FAST I WRITE.
In such moments, I just throw in the towel asking the LORD to write or seal them in my spirit. But there are some of the moments that I will cry unto God and say, “Please LORD slow down” and my spirit will be disconnected immediately because, except He speak by the hands of an angel, the flow of what God is saying cannot slow down. We are the ones to catch up with Him.
All these things are what He does in His goodness. Our faith is usually the instrument for collecting things He does in His goodness.
When things seem overwhelming, we are the ones to step up in faith. The things He does are from eternity and most times time cannot handle them, hence our inability to grasp them with a human speed. But in the beginning, it was not so. Adam could keep pace with God during such Spirit-to-spirit communication.
The fall of man really reduced our ability to keep pace with the God who inhabits eternity while speaking to us in time.
The same happens in corporate fellowships; God’s presence will come down so heavily that our flesh will be too weak to stand. That is when some fall to the ground. On a few occasions I have fallen to the ground while preaching. His glory came down and I could no longer stand.
In His goodness, Jesus did and said so many things when He was physically on earth that the frailty of humanity could not capture and store up for subsequent generations, except for what we find in the Holy Scriptures. There is this thing Jesus said that was captured and written down for us.
WE CALL IT “THE SIGNS OF THE END.” HE CALLED IT “THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS.”
We are right in it. He said nations will rise against nations, there will be bitter betrayal even among blood relatives, and there will be earthquakes, wars and rumors of war among other things. But when they would be happening, we should not fear or be in despair. It is a sign that our redemption is near.
Talking about wars and rumors of war, our devotional text today said God “…makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.” If God makes wars to cease, why then will He allow such things to happen on the face of the earth?
His entire plan is to allow wickedness to destroy itself and bring the redeemed human race back to genesis chapter 1 and 2 where there was no evil. That is the reason why. He wants to have a perfect world again and will have it. But it will only be for those who were washed by the blood of Jesus and redeemed from sin.
This is where giving your Life to Christ is very important; because if Jesus is not your LORD and savior, and if you are not living His life on the face of the earth, you won’t be among the redeemed human race that will exist then. You will be lost forever when the events take place.
It is because of these things that are bound to happen that some of us consider salvation as the greatest blessing of God given to mankind!
Now, the Bible did not say God will take away the righteous from the earth when these things will begin to take place. He will do that when we are close to the very end; He will do it through what we call the rapture of the Church. But before then, except for those who will go to be with the LORD, we will be here.
IT IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT THAT WE KNOW HOW TO SURVIVE DURING THESE WARS JESUS PROPHESIED.
The LORD began to show me that no matter what may be happening in the world during those moments He will make wars to cease around those His blood has washed, and His Spirit has filled. That is how He is going to put a difference between the righteous and the wicked.
People will again discern the difference between those His blood has truly washed, and His Spirit filled, and those His blood has not washed, or His Spirit filled. These are the things that make me urge us to live a life worthy of our calling.
Righteousness will be our life insurance this end times more than prayer, fasting, or giving as important as these acts of worship are. Isaiah saw these days and prophesied saying.
“In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:14-17 NKJV
If you look at this scripture carefully, you will realize that it is when we are established in righteousness that people who assemble against us will perish, and weapons that may be formed against us will not prosper. It is only when we are established in righteousness that tongues that may rise against us will be condemned.
RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE ONLY INSURANCE SCHEME GOD ORDAINED FOR HUMANS. LET NO ONE DECIEVE YOU!!!
The word that Isaiah prophesied concluded with the statement “this is the heritage of the servants of the LORD.” Not being established in righteousness is the greatest killer of the Church. We ask people to sow seeds, fast and pray, sacrifice towards our Church projects, but they are not established in righteousness. That is why there are spiritual wars among many.
Isaiah did not say in sowing seeds you shall be established. We give to advance the course of the King not to buy things from God. Isaiah did not say in “praying and fasting” (as important as they are) you shall be established. He said in righteousness we shall be established.
It is important to note that, what God has decreed to come to us by righteousness can never come to us by any other means. If every act of sowing seeds, sacrificing towards God’s work, praying and fasting, we see in Church today are seen by God as acts of righteousness, then even the devil’s Children are righteous, because they also do that towards His will.
The only way to hide ourselves from the evil winds that are blowing through the days of this year is to be established in righteousness. Even if you attend a good church, you must show you are in a good church by living the way God wants you to live. Period!!
Being in a good church will not save you if you are not using the grace and truth there to live the way God wants you to live.
As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that the greatest thing that will ever happen to you as an end time Christian is living a life of righteousness. If we add righteousness to our tithing, offerings, sacrifices, prayers, and fasting, we will be the most glorified people on the face of the earth.
We will be moving in the waves of glory and advancing to Higher heights; wars will cease in our lives and peace will become permanent. I want to admonish us this day, to wake up to righteousness.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY.
“Do not be deceived:” Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 NKJV
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Psalms 46:10-11 NKJV