TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Saturday 21st November 2020)
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
“The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;”
“Moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-8, 11. NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 324TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
As we move closer and closer to the end of this year (in the Gregorian calendar), it must have become clearer to all of us that the prophecy of our year of REJOICING was not just a blessing to expect in a coming year, but a sword to use in fighting in that year.
Many of us experienced battles this year, but we also saw GOD come through for us even as His Holy Spirit turned the prophecy into a sword in our hands in the midst of it all. There were seasons we saw the word turned into a shield of faith when the enemy threw his fiery darts at us. Indeed, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD!
To Him belong all the glory!
If you look at our creation reality closely, you will discover a lot of revelations. One major thing you will discover is that we were created by God as spirit beings. Our bodies are mare earth suits for us to be able to live here on earth. None of us know how we actually look because we are hidden inside our bodies.
I don’t know how you look like; neither do you know how I look like. We only know how our bodies look like. Some of us are short, others tall. Some are brown, others black, while others are in other colors of skin. That is what our physical bodies tells us, but that is not how we look. The real us is inside and cannot be seen – We are spiritual.
Now, as spirit beings living in physical bodies, there are rules that should govern our lives here on earth. Those rules are given to us by our creator so that we will be able to function and make the most of our existence and life in this side of eternity. If the rules are kept, things will work well. If they are not, things will not work well.
Most of what we go through are consequences of broken rules, not rampaging demons. Broken rules are responsible for most broken lives. Life will always be unbearable when we live it in contrast to the rules GOD gave to lead our lives on earth.
There eternal life rules, there are moral rules, there are financial rules, and there are health rules. There are many other rules. Whenever we allow our flesh to lead us to break either of them, we have sown to please the flesh. If we sow to please the flesh, GOD have mercy, we will reap corruption.
THESE RULES THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ARE NOT MADE BY MAN BUT BY GOD – THE CREATOR OF EVERY MAN.
The rules are found in a book written by men that were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was written from their lives and utterances. The book is called the Holy Bible. The word Bible means library of books because it has 66 books in one piece. It contains among other things, “The law of the LORD.” Those are the rules GOD gave to govern our lives on earth.
There are other phrases used in describing these laws or rules. The phrases are, “the statutes of the LORD,” “The commandments of the LORD,” “the way of the LORD” and etc.
Our devotional text this morning made it clear that these rules are perfect, right and pure. It says they have capacity to convert the soul, rejoice the heart, and enlighten the eyes, it also went on to say that by them we are warned.
Meaning we cannot live a perfect life in a chaotic and immoral world until we are impacted by them. They are the source of true light in a morally dark world. They have divine capacity to protect us from harm and deliver us from evil. They transmit a kind of joy into us that keeps us happy even in very unpleasant situations.
That is why people who know and live by them, are usually blessed! It is therefore important that we all know these beautiful rules given for our peaceful existence in a trouble world.
I don’t know all of these rules, that is why I still read my Bible. But let me share from the fountain of the few I have discovered. The first says,
“Mankind shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
In my opinion, this is the first and most important rule GOD gave to mankind. It is about what we should eat; not our physical bodies but our spiritual bodies. It is what we eat that eventually eats us, so this rule is important.
THE RULE SETS THE BALL ROLLING, AND SHOULD DETERMINES ALL THINGS IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN.
If we do not feed on what comes out of the mouth of God, we will die spiritually. And when we die spiritually, it’s just a matter of time. We will also die in other aspects of life. We will die in our marital lives, economic lives, physiologically lives, and etc. Something glorious and beautiful about us will just come to an end.
Sadly, many are already experiencing that. They are already dead in their marital live, hence most cannot stay married. Others are dead in their economic live, hence are either poor, or striving to get rich through corrupt means.
Many others are dead in their physiological life that is why they are sick.
Friend, it is not the will of God for our life that we die in any aspect of life. That was why He gave this rule that I consider the ultimate.
It may interest you to know that God never created man to die at all. Death was not part of His plans for our lives. It was sin that brought death to the human race. That is why when we break this ultimate rule and suffer the consequence; there is nothing He can do about it, other than to heal, then appeal to us to return back to this rule – living by what comes out of the mouth of GOD!
Friend, most things people struggle with and go through in life are products of spiritual malnutrition. They are products of what they choose to live by!
We feed on and live by other things but do not feed on and live by what comes out of the mouth of God. We forget that what we eat will eventually eat us. Which means, if we eat what Comes out of the mouth of God, God will eat us resulting in supernatural living and amazing blessings.
Let me reiterate again that we suffer what we suffer as men because we do not keep the first rule God made to govern our existence. We do not feed our spirits and live by what comes out of the mouth of God. We feed our spirits and live by what comes out of other sources. Basically the things of this fallen and imperfect world.
WHEN WE FEED ON, OR LIVE BY WHAT COMES OUT OF THE EARTH, WE WILL BEGIN TO DO DOWN IN LIFE!
Broken lives are always products of broken rules. For example, many feed on the headline news from the information system of this world. Some others feed on and live by secular humanism, self-help knowledge, the social media, words of the aggrieved and etc. These things have opened the gates of hell on many lives.
Until we change our spiritual diet, we will not be able to stop what the enemy may be doing in our lives. The natural importance of good food is a revelation of the spiritual importance of feeding on what comes out of the mouth of God.
2021 will be for us our year of HIGHER HEIGHTS. Let us resolve to make it our year of improving our spiritual diet too. It is what we will eat or live by that will determine the height we will see. If we remain by what comes out of this earth, we will never go high with the LORD.
There are a lot of things that will change in your life if you change your spiritual diet. At least people in the Cry of the Spirit can testify about that. If you change what you feed your spirit with, you will change your life completely.
Let me state something to kingdom citizens at this point; sometimes when God want to change your life He will give you a fresh preacher to feed you spiritually. Then through him or her, He gives you rules to live by.
Yes, He will give you a preacher after His heart for you to commit your time, treasures and talent to for your spiritual feeding. It takes a preacher after GOD’s heart to have things from God’s heart that we need to feed on or live by. Until he or she shows up in your life, and you respond to each word from the LORD with commitment, your life will keep progressing in a circle. You will never progress in the right direction in life.
God said to us in His word, in Jeremiah 3:15,
“I will give you pastors after my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”
He did not say He will give us empty prayer warriors or offering collectors calling themselves preachers. He said He will give us spiritual leaders who will feed us, not even fool us the way we are being fooled today.
That reinforces the truth that tells us that lack of proper spiritual food is the reason for the woes of mankind. IN SIMPLE TERMS, we suffer because of what we are living by or feeding on. The quicker we come to this understanding, the better for us.
Child of GOD, as you embrace this day, do not forget that a healthy and proper spiritual food is a seed for a healthy spiritual life. You will never be free from any crisis until you are properly fed spiritually, and made to live by what comes out of the mouth of the LORD!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'” Luke 4:4 NKJV