TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2025)
“But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.” Acts 20:24 TLB
WELCOME TO THE 350TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
It is another day that the LORD has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it. The path of the just is like a shining light. That shines brighter onto a perfect day! Obviously, His mercies has been new every morning, and great has been His faithfulness towards us.
When the word says great is God’s faithfulness, it means God is incredibly reliable, trustworthy and constant. He is always keeping His promises and never changing in character or commitment even when we hurt His precious Holy Spirit with some ungodly or insane behaviors born out of either ignorance or lack of discipline.
We have seen this expression of God’s faithfulness each day this year. We believe we will see more of it in the days and years to come. Amen!!
Apart from the impact of God’s faithfulness on our lives, it is also important to know that a man’s life is a journey. How it ends can be determined by the accumulated decisions of the man. There are also times that it is not the accumulated decisions of the man that determines how his life ends, but the decisions of those influencing it.
People in or around our lives can decide to do things that, if we are not protected from their impact by the LORD, those things can destroy us in moments.
There are storms that are created by our decisions and there are storms created by the decisions of others. Both can be very dangerous. For instance, leaders we know nothing about can be elected to positions and destroy our lives with their greed and covetousness if God did not intervene.
PARENTS CAN MAKE DECISIONS THAT RUIN THEIR KIDS, AND KIDS CAN MAKE DECISIONS THAT RUIN THEIR PARENTS.
A pilot’s decision on air influences the life of all on bord his aircraft.
A medical doctor’s decision in the Hospital will influence the lives of those under his care. Other people’s decisions can hurt us, sometimes even more than ours. So, this morning we will be looking at what to do when you come under the storms of life created by the decisions of others!
In my view, this is one of the major aspects of divine wisdom we need this end time.
A lot of things have happened to our personal lives and the world at large because of the decisions of others. Few years ago, not too far from us now, some people decided to create and release a virus from a lab in China. The entire world paid for it. Reports has it that what we now know as Covid-19, was a biological weapon of war that escaped from its dwelling place. The decision of one person was responsible for how the world turned out in those dark years.
People are still looking at their scars today. It is therefore important to know what to do when faced with perils created by the decisions of others.
God forbid that one day someone decides to release a set of nuclear weapons on planet. It will bring the world to its cataclysmic end. That is why one of the evils we need protection from, is the evil that is cooked against mankind by the decision of others.
Sometimes we are not destroyed by our personal decisions, we are destroyed by the decision of others. Jesus said when we pray, we should not forget to tell our Heavenly Father to deliver us from all evil. Oh, how we need that today! That recalls a special man that lived in the days of the Bible, apostle Paul.
HE TAUGHT US SO MANY THINGS INCLUDING HOW TO SURVIVE IN A WICKED AND PERVERSE GENERATION.
From his writings, our lives have been re-shaped, destinies redefined, and Christianity fine-tuned. One other thing we can learn from this man of God is how to handle adverse circumstances created in our lives by the decision of others.
In other words, what to do when we find ourselves in life threatening situations, not because of the decisions we made, but because of the decisions that others made. Before he we get there, let me state categorically that the worst of world history is still ahead of us.
So, do not expect a better year if you are not in Christ.
The life of Egypt, which is the world and its people, will get worse, while that of Goshen (the saved and sanctified), will get better. Very bad things are going to happen to humanity. Very, very bad things are going to happen as we get closer to the consummation of all things.
Bible prophecy tells us that things will get worse and that many will find themselves in horrors that are beyond human control. Some will be by personal decisions, but majority will be by the decisions of those who oversee parts of our lives that we have no control over.
People like heads of governments, heads of institutions, leaders of militant groups, big tech companies, heads of religious organizations, security agencies, pilots, cooks, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, our parents, wives, husbands, children, and many other people who control or influence a part of our natural lives that we have no control over will make decisions that will affect us one way or the other.
Sometimes, it is easier to come out of a problem that was created by your decision than to come out of a problem created by the decision of others. The Bible spoke of perilous times. But if you look at that scripture carefully, you will realize that the perils of those times will be created by the perilous people who will live in those times.
YES, THE PERILS OF OUR PERILOUS TIMES WILL BE CREATED BY THE DECISIONS OF THE PERILOUS PEOPLE LIVING IN THE TIMES.
Paul described the people as:
“…. lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane,
[and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,
traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith].
2 Timothy 3:2-5 Amplified Version
You will never have a peaceful life if your life is yoked, directly or indirectly, to anyone who suits the description of people in this scripture.
You will always come under trouble created by their decisions. For instance, I have seen lovers of self, make decisions that got other people’s lives destroyed. They destroyed other people’s lives and shed tears of regret after doing it but the people whose lives were destroyed could not be redeemed.
Jesus said,
“Woe to the world for such temptations to sin {and} influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account {or} by whom the temptation comes!” (Mathew 18:7 Amplified)
Our world is ruined today by people who love money more than human lives. Yes, we are ruined today by hearts impelled by greed, boastful souls, arrogant people, hearts that are unholy and profane. Malicious gossip has made decisions that destroyed promising relationships and other people’s happiness.
It may not shock you to know that many have been ruined by malicious gossip, carried out by a network of people who are either profane, ignorant, unholy, lovers of self, unkind, or just lacking self-control. I was almost ruined on many occasions by even those I took great care of. People you were a father, brother and shelter to, when they needed it.
I HAVE SEEN THE FIRE THAT CAN BE KINDLED BY PEOPLE WHO FIT THE DESCRIPTION OF PERILOUS PEOPLE IN 2 TIMOTHY CHAPTER 3.
Over 90% of my life crises are created by the decisions of others, not mine. You will put things in order according to the light that God has given, then someone close or closer will rise to ruin them all, creating crises. In some cases, they do it and act as if they never did anything costly and even wonder why you are reacting. It seems to me that a lot of people are at an initial state of insanity.
If God does not protect us from the crises created by people in our life-space, we will be ruined.
I have come to discover that if Satan finds you perfect in decision making; if he discover that you are following the ways of God and that you will never make a decision that will bring his destruction into your life, he will allow you to bring in someone who would.
Someone who will make a decision that will unleash his trouble into your life.
Child of God, except for divine intervention, what we go through because of the decision of others, can destroy our happiness, our peaceful lives, our marriages, our spiritual lives, and a lot of other good things that God may have given us.
You may need to spend each day in 2026 asking the LORD to deliver you from the evil that springs from the decisions of others. Do not take this word for granted. Jesus said we should ask the Father to deliver us from evil.
If by any accident or incident you find yourself among malicious gossip, especially THOSE WHO MEAN NO HARM; or calloused and inhumane people, get ready for trouble. Those who mean no harm are even more dangerous than those who do.
THE REASON IS SIMPLE; YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE NERVE TO DEAL WITH THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL. COMPASSION WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!
If irreconcilable people or malicious gossip, especially those who are devoid of self-control, becomes part of you by any means, there will be perils in your life. If you bring into your space intemperate and immoral people, you will go through spiritual decay, not by your decision but by their decision.
In fact, you may even lose your salvation!
The Bible made it clear that if we find ourselves yoked to people who are brutal, haters of good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of sensual pleasure rather than lovers of God, we should get ready for trouble because we are going to go through adversities that may end up consuming our lives.
Yes, if we take in folks who hold to a form of outward godliness, but with conduct that nullifies their claim of faith, our lives will be filled with sorrow.
Paul found himself several times in situations created by the decisions of others. That is why he remains our perfect example in this matter. He found himself in the perils of false brethren, the perils of robbers, the perils that were unleashed upon him by the decisions of others.
In fact, I looked at the life of this man and all he went through and could not find one evil that came upon him by his personal decision. All came upon him by the decisions of others. But what he did during those moments is what we must always do during our own moments.
One of the life-threatening situations he faced by the decision of others, was the shipwreck in Acts 27. It was not his decision to travel after seeing in the realm of the Spirit what was lying ahead of the voyage. It was the decision of those who controlled a part of his life he had no control over. The Bible says he spoke to those in-charge saying:
“… “Men, I sense [after careful thought and observation] that this voyage will certainly be a disaster and with great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
However, the centurion [Julius, ranking officer on board] was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship rather than by what Paul said.
Acts 27:10-11 Amplified Version
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THIS WOULD HAVE CLAIMED THE LIFE OF PAUL IF HE HAD NOT PRAYED INTENSELY WITH A FASTING THAT LASTED 14 DAYS.
Within a short while, this man of God found himself between life and death. Not because of his decision but because of the decision of others. He got to a point that he could do nothing else but spend the rest of the days hanging around the God who created him. The fast that resulted was induced by seasickness and stress, yet God honored it. The Bible says:
“Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm kept raging about us, from then on all hope of our being saved was [growing worse and worse and] gradually abandoned.
After they had gone a long time without food [because of seasickness and stress], Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and should not have set sail from Crete, and brought on this damage and loss.
But even now I urge you to keep up your courage and be in good spirits, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship.
For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has given you [the lives of] all those who are sailing with you.’
So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told; but we must run [the ship] aground on some island.”
Acts 27:20-25 Amplified Version
This scripture teaches one thing. It teaches that one way to be saved from the perils of the decisions of others, is to spend your days hanging around God. Paul was a man who hanged around God, so when the ship came under attack, he immediate became himself; a man who hang around God.
HE WAS WITH HIM FOR 14 DAYS, NEITHER EATING NO DRINKING DUE TO SEASICKNESS AND STRESS.
To hang around God will involve abstinence from food and everything you consider essential for living. While others were with the storm, Paul was with God in the storm. Hallelujah! That was what saved everyone’s life.
As we bring this beautiful word to a close, I want you to understand that there is what to do amid any storm to be saved; especially storms created by other people’s decisions – hanging around God is what to do. We must learn to hang around Him during any storm if we do not want the storm to take us out.
Hanging around God will involve serving Him in deep and true fellowship. Remaining submissive and obedient.
We must therefore keep serving Him in deep and true fellowship no matter what may be going on in our lives; we must remain submissive and obedient to His will, ways and words for our lives. If we hang around God that way, especially in the kind of seasons described in the life of Paul, any evil hanging around us will be forced to depart from us.
No evil defeats people who hang around God amid a storm. All through the Bible you will find men and women who came out of the sword of the decisions of others by spending time with the LORD, serving Him in deep and true fellowship during their days of trouble, remaining submissive and obedient no matter the cost.
God said in His word that we should call upon Him in our days of trouble that He will answer us. We should not just jump and start calling upon people. In other words, we should hang around Him not around the arm of flesh. The arm of flesh will fail us in such moments.
I believe the message of today have been passed. I pray that God use these words to keep building us up and giving us an inheritance among they that are sanctified!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:1-3 NKJV
