TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 20th March 2025)
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 KJV
WELCOME TO THE 78TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
This is the day the LORD has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it!
Welcome to another glorious day from the LORD. It pays to start a day with a word from the LORD. Successful people in God’s Kingdom know how to start their days; they start their day in God’s presence and with a word from the LORD.
In our devotional today we shall continue with the flow of the Holy Spirit that started yesterday on “not living according to the dictates of the flesh.” I hope we are all ready.
The flesh has been our main problem since the beginning of human history, not really our human enemies. Like I have always said, there are three basic enemies of a man – the world, the devil, and the flesh. If we conquer these three, we have conquered all, and it is through the Crucified life we conquer them.
Being a Child of God indeed entails not walking according to the dictates of the world, the devil or the flesh every day. It involves living the crucified life.
Sadly, the subject of living a crucified life has become an unknown Bible truth in our church generation. I am yet to hear a present-day front-line preacher preach about the crucified life. The last front-line preacher I heard talk about the crucified life died few months before I was born.
That explains how I heard the message; it was through an audio tape. Her name was Katherine Kuhlman. No wonder she moved in such waves of glory in her days! Today no preacher on cable or local television wants to talk about it because it will rob them of their fame, fortune, and the hero worship they receive.
The crucified life is a life that does not live according to the influence of the world, the devil, or the flesh – a Christian life that does not allow the three to dictate, fashion out, or determine how it is led. That is the Crucified life!
SADLY, THE CRUCIFIED LIFE IS THE MISSING LIFE TODAY. VERY FEW WANT TO EMBRACE IT.
For instance, if God put a word in your mouth that brings people to the cross, and urge them to live the crucified life, they will give you names and leave your ministry. Some so-called Christians and their brand of apostles, prophets, etc. will describe you with unprintable names.
It explains why the revelation is not preached today. It explains why everything about money and getting it is preached but not this revelation.
Many of us preachers do not preach it today. Some because they are ignorant of what it is. They do not read those portions of the Bible with the revelation on the Crucified life. They read other portions. Others do not preach it because they are afraid, they are afraid they will lose what their carnal and sensual preaching have acquired for them.
We forget that it is the message of the cross, what the Bible describe as foolishness to the world, that we are all called to preach.
A message that is foolishness will have less likes and views on social media today, the way it would have had in Bible days if there was social media. But the gospel is not to be preached for public appeals. It is to be preached to diffuse the knowledge of Christ among the perishing and among those being saved, ether it is liked or not.
The apostolic voice of the early church lifted its voice and preached the message of the cross to that generation. That was why there were no sorceress among them. No one in the church was oppressed by the devil. They all enjoy rest and endured the persecution for living right without compromise.
Our mandate at Cry of the Spirit Ministries is to return the present-day church to the crucified life.
That is why we will keep lifting the message of the cross and pointing people to die to the flesh, the devil and the world. We will not cease calling on the end time Church to return to the Crucified life, because that is the place of true power and glory!
ANY CHRISTIAN LIFE THAT IS NOT THE CRUCIFIED LIFE IS FALSE, DECEPTIVE AND ETERNALLY DESTRUCTIVE.
Understand that whatever people usually line up in deliverance services to get from God only comes permanently through a Crucified Christian life. A deliverance prayer could give you healing but only a crucified life brings divine health. A deliverance service could set you free for a moment but only a crucified life will set you free permanently.
Yes, deliverance may come through a man praying for you, but divine preservation comes through you living a crucified life. In fact, captivity, oppression, and all kinds of successful satanic attacks in the life of a Christian are products of not living a Crucified life.
We struggle with many things because we have not been crucified with Christ. Most of us confess it with our mouths but deny it with our acts. Our devotional text today says,
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”
If we allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ, leading a crucified Christian life, we will no longer struggle with the many things we are struggling with today as members of the end time Church.
For instance, one of the many things we struggle with today as end time Christians is failed promises or prophecies or lack of manifestation of prophetic promises. In other words, what we heard from God in the Spirit that He wants to do in our lives and are sure that it was HIM that spoke to us about it, is yet to manifest in our lives.
IF GOD SPEAK A WORD OF PROMISE TO US IN THE SPIRIT, WE MUST REMAIN IN THE SAME REALM OF THE SPIRIT TO SEE WHAT HE SAID COME TO PASS.
If we walk away from the realm of the Spirit and step down to walk in the realm of the flesh, we will defeat His purpose and stall the manifestation of His word of promise. Walking in the Spirit is very essential to the performance of divine promises. I saw that in the life of the Sons of Eli.
God has said the priesthood will remain in the seed of Aaron. He spoke that word in glory and gave standards to be respected by Aaron and his seed from generation to generation to keep that happening. But generations later, it was the turn of Eli and his sons to serve as priests.
Suddenly, they started breaking the very principles God gave them to sustain the manifestation of the prophecy. They started desecrating the women who came to worship God sexually, and the offering of the LORD. The result was not pleasing. God changed His mind, and they lost the priesthood!
Many Christians have either lost their blessings or are at the verge of losing them because they are repeating the same error.
God sent this word today, among other reasons, to stop us from defeating His promises and losing His blessings in our lives. If we give it the attention it deserves, we will come into the fullness of His blessings and no longer suffer delay in the manifestation of His promises for our lives. Amen!!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURAL AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.
You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
“So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.” Exodus 23:20-26 NKJV