TODAY’S DEVOTION (Friday 25TH September 2020)
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:12-18 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 267TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
There are forms of blindness, but the greatest form is not natural blindness. The greatest form of blindness on earth is spiritual blindness. That is why you find GOD using every genuine apostolic and prophetic mantle (like the one in our devotional text) to open the spiritual eyes of both the church and the lost world.
From what I see today, the few physically blind people with sharp spiritual sights in the Church today, are much better and brighter than the millions who have natural eyesight but are blind spiritually.
The difference between people who will be in hell and those who will be in Heaven lies in what they can see or cannot see spiritually. When you see spiritually, you walk in understanding naturally.
Sadly, many have never come to that understanding that says hell is real, and Jesus is the ONLY way. Even some preachers are yet to see that. The reason people may end up in Heaven or hell lies in their spiritual sight.
It’s my prayer that GOD use today’s devotion to touch your spiritual sight again and again until it become very bright.
The origin of spiritual blindness is the fall of man. It is a spiritual plague that came upon the human race when Adam fell from the realm of glory and became a slave in the kingdom of darkness. Spiritual blindness has been the reason for the damnation of many. It has been the reason people partner with the evil one to destroy the purposes of GOD.
Spiritual blindness is the very reason why the Pharisees and Sadducees united just for one moment to crucify Jesus. Sadly, this was the same messiah they all read and studied about for many years in their ancient theological schools. However, religion blindfolded them and they could not see or recognize Him when he finally came.
Spiritual blindness can prevent a dedicated person from seeing the most important things of the kingdom God send his way. It can prevent a man from recognizing his day of divine visitation and what God sent to execute it.
THE BIBLE MADE IT CLEAR THAT SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS IS OVER EVERY ONE WITH NO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST – BE IT A MUSLIM, HINDU, JUDAIST, OR CHRISTIAN.
Now don’t be surprised because I included Christians in that sentence. Many Christians (even members of the clergy) are blind in the spirit. They are blind to the things of God. That is why they talk about the things of men, the world and Satan, when they preach. I have shared that before!
You can hardly hear the things of God taught in many church Circles today.
They preach about the things of men, the things of this world, and the things that Satan does, spicing their messages with scriptural quotations and leaving the people empty of GOD. That is why everyone planted in such assemblies are basically spiritual vacuums waiting to be filled by the next attack of the devil!
But I have come to realize that one may be blind to anything in GOD but one thing he cannot afford to be blind to, is the MERCIES OF GOD. Friend, it is too costly to be blind to divine mercy. And sometimes the cost is eternally unredeemable.
Blindness to divine mercy is simply “not recognizing the mercy of God when it shows up.” Sometimes it shows up in a person God send to you. Others times it shows up in a rebuke God send your way through a person. And the reason many do not recognize it is because such people usually come in packages those GOD sent them to do not like.
Other times God sends His mercy to us in form of acts of kindness, or people we must get married to, ministers of the gospel we must sit under, or a word we must heed; it could be a word of rebuke or even judgment as earlier stated.
THAT IS AN ASPECT OF GOD’S MERCY THAT OUR GENERATION DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
It is an act of mercy for God to raise a man or woman who will be revealing God’s severity to you, calling you names to provoke you to holiness, and making it uncomfortable for you to live in sin. It’s an act of mercy for GOD to allow unpleasant things to flow into our lives so we can sit up straight in our walk and talk with Him. But like I said, our generation hates that.
We reject the mercy of God especially when it comes in form of people, by branding them with all kinds of unprintable names and weakening them. Consequently, preventing them from doing their job.
Israel saw this dimension of divine mercy in their days and resisted it to their detriment, the way many are doing today. The Bible says,
“And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.” 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 NKJV
It’s my prayer that this judgment will not be said of us on the final day.
Friend, Satan can let you see anything in the spirit realm but will never let you recognize God’s mercy when it shows up in your life. That is why the true gospel of the KINGDOM is an eye opening gospel.
If anything we call gospel is not opening the eyes of the Church or the world to accurately see God’s Mercy, judgments, and will, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ but another gospel. It is a mail sent to you by hell to have you there when you die. Satan’s specialty is to blindfold people; God’s specialty is to open the eyes of people.
Our devotional text today tells us of the encounter Paul had on his way to Damascus – that also became the release of God’s mantle upon his life.
He was spiritually blind before he had that encounter hence going about killing people that have been saved from eternal damnation. But after the encounter he woke up seeing spiritually eternally and blind physically for a moment. God had to send one of His Sons to open his natural eyes, having opened the spiritual eyes.
The encounter Paul had with Christ shows us that true encounter with the Christ – the Light of the world is the only way to cure spiritual blindness.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT OF THE TEXT READS,
“And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
There are other things we can dig from the words in this highlight.
If you look at this scripture carefully, you will realize that until the eyes of sinners are opened through accurate presentation of the true gospel (not the enemy, depths of Satan and money spinning gospel on many mouths today), they cannot be certified saved by God. Yes, the Church could certify them saved and make them Church members and even appoint them into different positions, but God will not.
In God’s eyes, genuine encounter with the word will open the spiritual eyes of people, resulting in them turning from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to GOD.
When they turn, forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among they that are sanctified will be released to them. Meaning, there can be no spiritual blessings without us turning from sin and the power of Satan. And we cannot turn until our spiritual eyes are opened through the message of the cross – the gospel.
The opening of spiritual eyes remains key to accessing all things in Christ!
I began this devotional by showing us that spiritual blindness is the greatest blindness on earth. It is the reason many have not genuinely repented and turned to the LORD. It’s the reason many profess salvation with their mouth but deny it with their acts.
THEY RECEIVED JESUS WITH THEIR LIPS BUT NOT WITH THEIR HEARTS.
It is the reason for lack of genuine repentance! And from our devotional text it’s clear that many have not repented because they have not heard the true gospel. The Bible made it clear that if the true gospel is preached hearts will be pricked to turn to the LORD.
Sadly, the gospel that is being preached today only prick people’s hearts to give and give and give money to prophets and prophetess, and fight and keep fighting all kinds of enemies. It is really a terrible gospel!
It sounds so monetary and carnal in the mouth of preachers and most times demonic. But produce very sad ends in the lives of their listeners. It plagues them with spiritual blindness and prevents them from recognizing the true things of God.
There is a gospel with capacity to spread spiritual blindness. It makes the spiritual blind more blind and vulnerable to eternal condemnation. We can go on and on but like I have always shared, this is a devotional not a book.
The message of today has been passed. Do not be spiritually blind. You may be spiritually blind to anything but don’t be blind to God’s mercy when it shows up. May God keep you sensitive in the Spirit to GOD’s mercy whenever it shows up! AMEN!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:18-32 NKJV