TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 15TH October 2025)

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 288TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY

Indeed, if the LORD should mark iniquity, no man can stand. But there is forgiveness with Him so that He may be feared. We have seen His mercies, His kindness, His compassion, His love and His protection over our lives repeatedly.

When we call, He answers. When we cry, He answers. When we are even silent due to worries, He answers. When we are fasting, He answers. When we are not fasting and are in need of a word from Him, He answers. When the enemy comes against us, He answers with divine intervention as our mighty terrible one.

What a Father we have in Him, and what a Friend we have in Jesus. The Fatherhood of God and friendship of Jesus Christ is what everyone should taste. If we do, we will enjoy the most amazing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The revelation of Jesus Christ in each book of the Bible is something worthy of note. In the book of proverbs, He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We have seen this in our lives too. But what does that mean, because you need to understand what it means.

Do not forget, it is your revelation that determines what God do in your life, and how His Holy Spirit function in it.

When the Bible says, “a friend that sticks closer than a brother” it is a reference that means a true and loyal friend who can be supportive and steadfast than a family member. It is a description of that deep and committed friendship we find in Christ, a friendship that provides a more profound and reliable companionship than shallow relationship.

Sometimes this is difficult to fathom because of the near absence of good friends these days, but it is real.

Jesus is not just GOD, LORD, Judge, Advocate. He is also a friend, one that sticks closer than a brother. If your God is your friend, then you are covered even eternally. If a Judge is your loyal friend, you will never go to prison no matter what you do.

SO LONG AS YOU CRY TO HIM FOR HELP, ESPECIALLY IN REPENTANCE, HE WILL BE FAVORABLE TO YOU.

What Jesus can be in our lives is a function of our revelation and circumstances. As a friend, He does not provide superficial friendship but a reliable and dependable one. He provides a friendship and loyalty that is even Stronger than what Jonathan provided to David and what David provided to Jonathan.

The Bible says their souls were knitted together by the friendship, and because of that, Jonathan took sides with David when his father wanted him dead, and David protected Jonathan’s lineage long after Jonathan’s tragic and untimely death in the battlefield. But Jesus does much more than all these.

His soul is strongly knitted together with ours, and as a friend that sticks closer than a brother, He will take side with us when sin puts our lives in danger or when Satan or the world moves against us. He will grant us the mercy to come out victoriously. His precious Holy Spirit will be cleansing us from the penalty and practice of sin, so that we can overcome it.

As a friend that sticks closer than a brother, He remains our friend in need, so He will never allow our prayers to Father God, or to Him our friend, go unanswered. He will always answer us when we call. He demonstrated that when He said this:

“…Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?

I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. Luke 11:5-8 NKJV

THIS SCRIPTURE IS NOT JUST ABOUT PERSISTENT PRAYER, BUT ALSO ABOUT THE POWER OF THE FRIENDSHIP THAT EXIST IN CHRIST.

We go to Him in prayer to ask Him for anything we need, because we know He is our friend who will give us whatever we ask, and much more if we persist. The scripture shows us how Christ respond to us at our midnight season; How He respond to our persistent prayers. He responds as a friend.

In fact, one of the major things He came to establish between us and Him, is this amazing friendship. He gave us His Holy Spirit for that purpose. It is called fellowship or intimacy with the LORD. That should give you the confidence to go to Him without needing a preacher.

Yes, it should give you the confidence to cry for anything and at any time. He will be with you through thick and thin.

He will put food on your tables, shelter your head, and do so many things unconditionally in your lives. He will heal your diseases, bless your hearts with peace, take away your filthy garments, plant you in the right church and groom you to become tree of righteousness that He might be glorified.

The best part is, He will, through His holy Spirit, lead you to live for Him and do His blessed will. And when you fulfill your days and we are long gone, He will take care of your children even more than David took care of Jonathan’s.

Indeed, what a friend we have in Jesus!!

He is our faithful and constant friend, that will always be there to forgive our sins, cleanse us from any filth so that we can be free, and help us through life in an accursed world. He is a friend that is always there to take away our burdens, remove our griefs and do much more. We will always find solace and comfort in His loving arms; arms of power and divine intervention.

We will always find Him ever willing to listen to us, no matter what we may have done. Ordinary friends can become offended by what you do and leave, but Jesus will never because He is not an ordinary friend.

HE IS A FRIEND THAT STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER, ONE WHO WANTS TO TABERNACLE OR DWELL IN US.

Our devotional text says.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV

If you look at this scripture carefully, you will discover that there are tears that cannot be wiped away from us until this friend that sticks closer than a brother begins to live in us, give us peace from within and direct our lives. It is called, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If he is not living in you by His Holy Spirit, anointing you, you will be using oil.

If He is not living in you by His Holy Spirit, cleansing you, guiding you, delivering and healing you, prospering and giving you success from within, nothing else will. If you want any tears to be permanently wiped away from your eyes, this friend that sticks closer than a brother must live in you by His Holy Spirit, providing the protection, intervention, and any other thing you need.

Sadly, so many are trying to wipe away tears that can only be wiped away when this friend lives in us using other ways. They use oil, water, salt, going to mountains to pray, going to caves or special prayer grounds, buying holy water, holy fruit, holy meat and all kinds of things from the demon of deliverance.

They twist scriptures like 2nd Samuel 24:18-25, where David Identified the place to build the Temple in His crisis moment, and Judges 6:25, where Gideon pulled down the altar of His father’s house, which later became a snare to him, leading to the loss of 69 sons by one son, to do what they call raising or silencing of altars.

They do all that without realizing that our generation do not raise or silence altars because we are God’s altars on earth and the Cross is our ultimate altar on earth that connects God’s altar in heaven.

OUR TEARS CAN ONLY BE WIPED AWAY IF THE FRIEND THAT STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER LIVES IN US.

Tears like persistent poverty, spiritual attacks, being due for marriage yet it’s not forthcoming, what we call generational curses, etc.

Understand that, whatever evil work in your life that deliverance ministers may have blamed on your foundation or evil altars, can only be neutralized in your life when Jesus Christ, comes into your life as a Friend that sticks closer than a brother to tabernacle or dwell in you. There is no other way.

Stop listening to the lies of heretic preachers.

When He comes in. He will lay a spiritual foundation called the foundation of the LORD, freeing you from every evil work and building your life to become a temple for God in the spirit, and a dwelling of God’s glory. The Bible says:

As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 NKJV

As we bring this to a close, I want to submit to you that the vision of God for your life has been that Christ live in you truly, and not theoretically. His vision is that this friend that sticks closer than a brother lives in us and makes our lives to be like the Garden of Eden.

Until that happens, we will never have rest. We will be restless.

One thing the scriptures teach that we do for that to happen is separation. It says we must come out of things that are sinful, ungodly, unholy, lawless, perverse, defiling and unclean for that to happen. Until we come out of them, dedicate our hearts fully to the LORD, and learn to spend time with Him (His word), we will never experience Him as a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV