TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 9TH JANUARY 2026)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
Psalms 23:1-3 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 9TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY
God has been faithful and has kept us for 9 days and will keep us for the remaining days of the year. He has been our light because He is light, that is why the 9 days have been darkness free. To Him belong the glory!!!
Talking about light and darkness, darkness in the natural is light out, but darkness in the spirit (or spiritual darkness) is God out. When GOD is out, so many dark things, including lack of spiritual restraint, moral decay, financial corruption, deaths, diseases, confusion, demonic spirits, economic hardship, etc. will be in.
Yes, crimes and criminalities, atrocities and abominations, adultery and prostitution, false prophecies and prophets, man-made religion and all its cruelties, trespass, sin and iniquity, ignorance of who Jesus really is or a Christianity mixed with carnality, sickness and all forms of satanic attacks, evil thoughts, murders, deaths, vile imaginations and all kinds of evil works will be in.
The Bible teaches that God is light, in Him is no darkness at all. If He is out everything devilish will be in. That is why if you claim to be serving GOD but living in darkness, you are not serving the true GOD. You cannot serve the true God and He lets you live in darkness.
Isaiah was in the darkness of having an unclean lip, while serving the LORD.
But the LORD Never left him in it. He one day, granted him an encounter that changed His life. Zechariah the high priest had a filthy garment while in service, and the LORD removed it and gave him rich or clean robes. You cannot serve the true God and He lets you live in darkness.
Now, let’s go a bit further. Living in darkness is very bad but dying in darkness is the worst. When I look at people who have not made peace with Christ, precious lives pursuing man-made religion and ascribing deity to mortal men, carved idols and certain religious leaders, it breaks my heart.
When I watch them do terrible atrocities and abominations in the name of a loving and Holy God, I wonder what humanity has turned into. Indeed, it’s terrible to live in darkness but more terrible to die in darkness because your soul will be banished forever in hell.
IF YOU DIE IN THE DARKNESS OF FALSE RELIGION, YOU WILL BE SORRY IN THE NEXT LIFE. NO ONE MAKES HEAVEN IN DARKNESS.
Yes, if you die in the darkness of deception, especially spiritual deception, you will wake up on the sorry side of the next life. The darkness of spiritual deception and false religion has taken more people to hell than any other form of darkness.
Any religion that does not present Jesus as the Son of GOD, the way of salvation and the Light of the world, is spiritual deception and will take any soul to eternal damnation.
Any religion that does not get people filled with the Holy Spirit of GOD, is a darkness that you should never live or die in.
Any religion that put hate in your heart for a fellow human being is darkness in disguise. Any religion that ask people to defend its prophet by killing a fellow human being for a reward in Heaven, is spiritual deception and false religion.
Any religion that put money in your pocket instead of Christ in your heart is spiritual deception and darkness you should run away from. Sadly, billions are living and dying in this kind of darkness. Some of them are gaining the whole world and losing their souls to eternal fire!
God’s call this morning is that we walk out of any form of darkness and embrace Christ – the light of the world – in spirit and in truth. He is the way the Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Him.
Now, we have said darkness is simply an absence of light, but to go a step further understand that darkness is not just an absence of Light; it is also an absence of truth. Where there is no truth there is darkness, demons will be studied and false freedom administered to poor and ignorant folks.
YES, WHERE THERE IS NO TRUTH, PEOPLE WILL BE ASKED TO GIVE ALL KINDS OF MONEY TO BE FREE FROM PROBLEMS.
Many will be bound to sinful habits and taught to explain them away. They will forget that the wages of sin is death and the gift of GOD is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD! That eternal life empowers us over sin. It gives us freedom from sin not freedom to sin.
Any spiritual freedom that frees a man to sin (instead of from sin) is captivity redefined. It is a life full of darkness. Authentic freedom comes by an encounter with Christ as the way the truth and the Life, where He becomes the Shepherd of our souls. Our devotional text this morning says:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”
How do you allow the LORD to be your Shepherd in 2026? Do not walk or live in any form of darkness. Let His light, the light of scriptural truth guide you. Let the LORD be the one leading you, not you leading you. If the LORD is the one leading you in life you will never lack (want).
You will never lack His voice, His presence, His peace, His healing power, His light and understanding, His defense, His provision, etc.
Yes, you will not lack the strategic victories the Holy Spirit promised us this year. Let the LORD be your leader, your Shepherd. Do not allow any church He is not leading be your church. Do not allow churches and preachers led by another Jesus, the Jesus of errors, greed, fame and fortune, to influence you.
Sit under a spiritual leader that the LORD is leading also, because if the LORD is leading you, but not the one Shepherding your spiritual leader, you will have problems. If the LORD leads you, leads the church you attend and the preacher you sit under, you shall not want. You will not live in darkness, yes you will not live in any form of darkness.
One of the major things that happen to a man led by Jesus Christ is the peace; light and understanding that will fill his life. Friend, there is no way that the light of the world, the prince of peace, the way, the Truth and the Life will lead you and not fill your life with peace, understanding, truth and the Heavenly Life.
IF YOU ARE LED BY ANYTHING BUT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST (THE HOLY GHOST), YOUR LIFE WILL BE FULL OF DARKNESS!
You will never have peace, truth or light. The Only source of the true light that needs to lighten your life in a spiritually dark world is Jesus Christ – the Light of the world.
If He is your shepherd indeed, you shall not want or walk in darkness. You will be full of light, revelation, illumination and all Heaven has to offer. Indeed, the lost do not know what they missing not making Jesus their LORD and savior. He made it clear that anyone who follows Him will never walk in darkness.
One major statement Jesus made when He met most of His disciples was “Follow me.” He has not stopped saying the same words silently or verbally to even those He is meeting today to salvage from eternal damnation.
It was easy for the disciples to follow Him in the days of the BIBLE because He was physically among them. Today we follow Jesus in spirit. He left us ministers of the gospel who are following Him, men and women He has taught, the Holy Spirit and the Bible, to help us sense and follow Him as our Shepherd.
If you have a pastor who hears Him clearly, teaches you His word and administer the Holy Spirit to you, it will be very easy to sense Christ in your heart and follow Him wherever He leads so that you will not walk in spiritual or moral darkness.
In simple terms, if you want to follow Christ today, you will need a preacher who is following Him to imitate, the way Timothy had Paul to imitate. Also, you will need the Holy Spirit in your life, and you will need the Bible by your side to be studying from time to time.
Yes, you will need to be taught the word of GOD sufficiently and not lean on your own understanding. You will need to be talking to Him by faith through prayer.
Above all, you will need a heart that has Him living in it. The fruits of all these will show in your life in what David said in His beautiful psalm. He will be your Shepherd and lead you safely through a chaotic world like ours. You will see Him leading you beside still waters and restoring your soul.
Yes, He will make you lie down in green pastures irrespective of where the devil wants you to lie down. That is the word of the LORD.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.”
Psalm 23:4-5 NKJV.
