TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Monday 7th December 2020)
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. Psalms 34:19-22 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 340th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Glory to the LORD God almighty – our El Shaddai, the “All sufficient One” creator of Heaven and Earth for all that has happened this year. We give Him thanks for keeping us and being our LORD and savior. It is because of His sufficiency that we are here.
His mercies are the greatest insurance package on the face of the earth.
With just 25 days to exit this year, according to the Gregorian calendar, we cannot but lift up our eyes to Him, either with tears for the sad things that happened this year, or with Joy for the glorious things that happened, to say “thank you LORD.” The Bible says in everything we should give Him thanks.
Meaning, thanks giving is one major thing that our mouths are not expected to stop giving to the LORD. We may not have money to give to the LORD but we should not lack thanks to give to Him.
I believe the reason the Bible says we should give Him thanks always is because we will never understand why certain things happen.
From the lives of those who left Egypt and never made it to Canaan, we can learn that Complaining while walking with God can be dangerous. Thanks giving is the only way we can align with Him, irrespective of what may have happened.
Today we will be looking at a beautiful Psalm from one of the greatest servant of God that ever lived on the face of the earth – David.
According to the standards of righteousness of his dispensation, he was one righteous man who spent over 53 years of His life fighting the battles of the LORD.
His core mandate was to locate where the Temple was to be built and clear off all the wicked who were living around the area, and that He did very well. But in a bid to fulfill his mandate, he saw afflictions.
HE SAID MANY ARE THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE LORD DELIVERS THEM FROM THEY ALL.
The first time I heard that scripture mentioned was in the mouth of my Spiritual Father. I thought the righteous cannot be afflicted until then. He spent time telling our little church then what he has gone through in life and ministry and how the LORD delivered him.
Paul would later say to spiritual his son, Timothy;
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:12-13 NKJV
There are things that generates the any afflictions of the righteous. From the frailty of humanity, to the consequences of the fall on the human race, to the devil Himself. The afflictions of the Righteous are also generated by the corrupt system of this world working with our flesh.
Other times the afflictions of the righteous are caused by false brethren and impostors in what we call the body of Christ. Paul called it “the peril of false brethren.”
I have come to realize that the greatest attack you may face as a genuine child of God may come from a so called Christian not even a demon.
The greatest attacks we will face today as the End Time Church may come from impostors – people who look God but are really devils in God’s garment. You will find them in both the clergy and the laity. Jesus calls them snakes, scorpions and vipers. They will be used to attack the righteous so severely.
The essence of all that is to prevent us from walking in love and mercy.
You see, in the justice system of God, the only thing that is left to be satisfied for the redeemed of the LORD to make Heaven is walking in love and forgiving even the unforgivable.
But if we are severely attacked by people we trust and take as part of our lives, it will become difficult to satisfy that aspect of God’s justice system, hence losing our souls to eternal condemnation in spite of giving our lives to Christ and doing His blessed will.
That is why the Holy Spirit always urge us to forgive and walk in mercy no matter what may have happened. He permits us to be angry, because even God can be angry.
But we are not permitted to allow anything to snowball into bitterness and forgiveness. Though He punishes the wicked for their wickedness, God does not operate in bitterness and unforgiveness.
We may not join ourselves with the people again, but we must forgive them, walk in mercy, and help them whenever they are in need. That is what is required of us.
WE ARE TO ALSO PRAY FOR THEM AND BELIEVE GOD TO WORK ON THEIR HEARTS.
I have been severely attacked for the past two to three weeks from unexpected quarters; people I decided to be good to suddenly became striking snakes, spewing venom out of their mouths and doing things that made me to even grew very lean, losing a lot of personal money and strength.
It completely shattered me!
It was in the midst of those attacks that I heard of the death of my spiritual daughter. The little strength that was left in me almost disappeared.
I shed tears and asked the LORD to just keep me for the sake of my young kids who are too little to be left behind if I drop dead. My wife can find a better husband than me if am no more. My spiritual sons and daughters can always find another spiritual fathers, even better than me, if I am no more. But my kids will never find a biological father. They will be the greatest losers. So I prayed!
Then returning back to the office, those working there started their own things; destroying valuables, in a day I paid their allowances. I had to send all of them home.
I looked myself on the mirror yesterday after preaching and saw how horrible I now look because of the impact these emotional afflictions have had on me. But in the midst of all that I am expected by the LORD to walk in mercy and forgiveness. That is how difficult it is to be a Christian.
I believe your own afflictions may even be worse than my own, but I urge us all to still walk in mercy and forgiveness.
I shared all that not to expose the people but to tell let you know that I am not preaching down on you. I am right in the midst of what I am sharing with you this morning. I decided to let go of everything like I am urging you to do also.
I had told the close ones who hurt me so severely that I will have nothing to do with them again in this life. I was brooding over the best way to respond to what another person I helped greatly did during all that I faced. But I had to change my mind and withdraw from what their attacks would have pushed me to do, when the LORD reminded me of what is required of me at a time like this.
FRIEND, LET US ALL DECIDE TO LET GO BECAUSE IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE NOT TO.
If you are going to live righteously in this age, you must be prepared to be afflicted as a redeemed of the LORD – you must be prepared for these attacks. The Bible makes it clear that they are many not few! But the most important thing is the victories promised by the LORD, and the standards of love and mercy that we must keep upholding in the midst of it all!
As I write this devotional my heard is not feeling completely well. I don’t know what to say is happening. The emotional attack was really intense. I felt like I was dying yesterday night and had to rush to sleep, hoping to wake up relieved of the pain. Thank God there is a relieve just with little portions left.
I am trusting the LORD to finish what He has started. He will help you also the way He has helped me. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them from they all.
At this point I want to give us a counsel that will be of great help.
You see, in the midst of any attack on your life as a Child of God, fix your heart strongly on the victories promised by the LORD to us in His word. That is why we must not be ignorant. We must be fully knowledgeable of God’s promises for every adversity we may be in.
The first victory promised by the LORD in our devotional text thus morning says … but the Lord delivers him out of them all. That is where to fix your heart when you come under any kind of attack as God’s righteous seed on the face of the earth.
Fixing our heart strongly on the victories promised us during an attack of the enemy, will boost our internal strength and give us the faith to connect the anointing and glory product we need at that time to come out victoriously.
God is a deliverer! Sometimes you will never know that until you face an attack.
He delivered Peter, Paul, and many of the great people of God in their days. He will also deliver you in your days. The very portals He opened to deliver them in their days have not been shut down. They are still opened. They are portals of divine rescue. You will also experience same rescue.
YOU WILL ALSO STATE LIKE DAVID “BUT THE LORD DELIVERS HIM FROM THEM ALL”
The next victory promised by the LORD says …He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken. This is very important. Our bones need to be guarded under an attack so that they will not be broken. This is also a messianic statement. On the way to the Cross, Jesus went through a lot but none of His bones was broken.
The bone prophetically means our spirits or condition of our hearts.
The greatest target of an attack on the righteous is their spirits. Satan fears a man who is strong in spirit and will use EVERYONE he can find around him to break his spirit.
When the spirit is broken, then everything God may be using the person to do will cease. And the devil will begin to prevail. My spirit was severely wounded and almost crushed in the process of what I faced.
But the Bible says God guards all our bones (spirits) not one is broken! That was a victory code that kept me, and that is where to fix your heart on during an attack.
For God to guard our spirit, we must try our best to spend quality time with Him in prayer during the attacks. Prayer will let Him do that in our lives. We must therefore position ourselves in our prayer post to have our spirits guarded. In our prayer post, we must be feeding on the word and if possible singing praises to our God.
We must also not fail to attend Church fellowship. Not going to Church after an emotional attack will further destroy you. But doing all these will position you to have your spirit guarded.
THE NEXT VICTORY PROMISED BY THE LORD SAYS ….EVIL SHALL SLAY THE WICKED, AND THOSE WHO HATE THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE CONDEMNED.
Apart from ignorant and well-meaning people who allow themselves to be used by God knows what, to wreak havoc in our lives, there are those who the Bible calls the wicked. These ones are not ignorant and well-meaning, but workers of iniquity doing whatever they are doing knowingly.
Thank God I have never faced these ones of recent, because they are very dangerous. But the truth remains, it’s risky to make a wicked move against the righteous. Because the LORD will eventually slay those who do and make sure the righteous are not condemned.
God is so mindful of His righteous seed that their persecutors and attackers do not really go free. His response could be slow in coming but it finally comes.
So if you are under any kind of attack by any worker of iniquity, remain strong in the LORD, because His word says “Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.”
Sadly, the devil usually blind folds those he uses in attacking the righteous to this truth. He uses their hate to blind their eyes from seeing who these men and women really are in God’s sight.
Remember Jezebel made Israel to believe Elijah was an evil man in the nation of Israel. In fact, they took him for a false prophet and took the prophets of Baal for true prophets. But God would later deploy His heavenly forces against them and eliminated them from Israel.
May the lord god deploy his forces to help you, in Jesus precious name! those who are being used against you today will be condemned; their evil will slay them. That is where to set your mind on.
The Bible says those who set their mind on these victory promises during an attack will be kept in perfect peace.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
Our trust in God must remain firm until it connects us to the faith to turn the battle to the gate and obtain victory. It’s my prayer that God will use these words to give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret — it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more.” Psalms 37:5-10 NKJV