TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 29TH September 2025)
“And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him:” Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 272ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
Glory be to God almighty for another glorious week ahead of us.
With the eyes of faith, we can see the LORD ahead of us, making crooked places straight, breaking in pieces the gates of brass and cutting the bars of Iron asunder. When the presence of the LORD goes ahead of a people, they will never see a successful attack of the devil or an obstacle that is not surmountable.
One of the greatest secrets of peaceful or victorious living in an evil infested world is to have the manifest presence of God go ahead of you. That is why men who know this secret spend quality time with the LORD committing their ways to Him before embarking on anything in life.
David was one of such men.
One day the Philistines came against Him, and that was at the place of success. He had fought a raging battle with Saul for 13 years and now He had been made king. Then the Devil moved them against him through the Philistines. But he did not just respond to them. He went first to God in prayer to seek His counsel and will.
Seeking the counsel of the LORD and His will on a thing before embarking on it is one way you secure His backing for that thing. It is one way you put the LORD ahead of you. Our Bible fathers did that and put the LORD ahead, the results were amazing.
THEY NEVER MET ANY OBSTACLE THAT WAS NOT DEALT WITH BEFORE THEY GOT THERE.
When we Put God ahead of us by seeking His counsel before doing things, we will not meet any obstacle or problem He has not solved or surmounted for us before we get there. As many as are led by the Spirit, the same are the sons of God. What makes us believers is our total dependency on God and His Holy Spirit for wisdom and counsel before embarking on anything.
It is our desire to seek the LORD’s will or counsel before embarking on a thing. David did that and the result was amazing. The Bible says:
“Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.
So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.
And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. 2 Samuel 5:17-21 NKJV
As we can see in this Bible story, David did not just rush into battle, he withdrew to the place of prayer to secure divine backing by seeking divine counsel or will for the battle.
That is exactly what we should always do as believers. We should always spend time in the stronghold of truth and prayer, especially with the Spirit of Truth Himself, the Holy Ghost, before facing life and the challenges it brings.
IT IS NOT THE CULTURE OF A CHILD OF GOD NOT TO DO SO!!!
You MIGHT need to cultivate the habit of praying in tongues for hours in the morning before rising to go to work or face your day. You will need to commit your ways to the LORD like David did here to see the glory of the LORD in your life. The Bible says.
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” Psalms 37:5-6 ESV
Not putting God ahead of you could be the missing key in your walk with him. David did not just look for the LORD one time. He sought Him always. After that first victory, the Philistines came for the second time to attack him.
Again, he did not just respond to them even with the first victory he had recorded over them. He did not ignore the LORD, take Him for granted, or assumed God will act the way He did before; He went to the stronghold again to seek His directives. That again put God ahead of Him in a more powerful way. The Bible says;
“Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer. 2 Samuel 5:22-25 NKJV
I have come to understand that the more we depend on God the more of His power and presence we will have in our lives. But many of us do not do this. We do not apply this great secret of David. We do not commit our way to the LORD like he did; hence we do not see His acts like he saw.
WE ONLY RUN TO THE LORD WHEN WE HAVE GONE AHEAD OF HIM, MET OBSTACLES AND HAVE BECOME FED UP WITH LIFE.
Let me show you a practical truth at this point; if you do not put God ahead of you in a given day or before embarking on anything, you have silently put hell ahead of you because there is no middle ground. ‘
For instance, if you do not seek the counsel and directives of the LORD before going into marriage, you have silently sought the spirit of hell to be ahead of you in that marriage. Consequently, it might turn out to be hell on earth for you. Yes, if you do not put God ahead of you before embarking in any relationship, trip, business, job, or etc., you have silently put hell ahead of you and everything will just be hellish.
We break our lives into pieces not putting God ahead of us because it tantamount to putting hell ahead. And if you put hell ahead of you it will prevail against you and make life hell for you.
Another word for hell is Sheol – the abode of the dead. That means if you do not put the LORD ahead of you or set Him always before you like David did in his days, hell will bring your life to the shadows of death.
It will paralyze your efforts and hinder you from making it in life. David said
“I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, for You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.” Psalms 16:8-10 AMPC
People who set God before them will never be moved. They will enjoy stability in life. People who set God before them will always rejoice; they will not be abandoned in hell or Sheol. The presences of God will manifest in their lives and paralyze every activity of hell.
Now, there is another dimension of truth to the mystery behind setting the LORD before you. It also means to set His word before you. To take time and look at it, study it, meditate on it, and make it your attention and focus before embarking on anything significant in life.
IF YOU SET THE LORD ALWAYS BEFORE YOU THAT WAY, YOU WILL NOT BE MOVED.
If you set His word before you, especially before embarking on things like starting a Business, going into marriage, accepting a proposal or making one, pursuing a career, making an application for a job, deciding on an important journey of life and etc., the LORD will always be ahead of you to make the crooked places straight.
He will be ahead of you breaking the gates of brass in pieces and cutting the bars of iron asunder.
One other way to put God ahead of you is to learn how to trust the LORD and how not to direct your paths. Learn to let Him direct your paths. God will always go ahead of people who trust Him enough to pray to Him to take charge of a new day, week, month or year before stepping into it.
He will always go ahead of people who will trust Him enough to thoroughly pray concerning anything before stepping into it. Sufficient prayer is one way we demonstrate our trust in the LORD. When the LORD sees that trust, He will go ahead of us directing our paths. The Bible says:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
Our devotional text has additional truths to glean on the subject. It tells us of the pathetic story of a Child of God in the Old Testament who lost divine backing because he did not rely on the LORD like David did. One of the verses in the text says, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.”
IT IS VERY COSTLY FOR A CHILD OF GOD NOT TO RELY TOTALLY ON THE LORD.
It is very costly not to commit your ways to Him in prayer and leave Him with your enemies to handle. It is very costly to engage the arm of flesh as a child of God, especially when we have the power or provision to do so. Our enemies will escape from our hands and the victories the LORD wanted to give us will be withheld.
I believe David knew this that was why even when he had the means he still engaged God through prayer, seeking His directives and backing before facing the enemy.
Our devotional text made it clear that “…the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” We must not allow our hearts to shift to our means.
We must remain loyal enough to put Him always before us like David did. Only then will we not be moved!
I believe the Spirit of the LORD has helped you to find wisdom this morning! The Bible says in Proverbs 3:13 “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;” May the wisdom you have found, and the understanding you have gained this morning make your life brighter and better in Christ Jesus! Amen
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.
Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him:”Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.” 2 Chronicles 16:1-10 NKJV
