TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Saturday 17th April 2021)
“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
“Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. Ezekiel 22:30-31 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 107TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Marvelous are His works. That our souls know very well! It does not matter the sadness that may be in our hearts due to recent happenings, it’s better to align with these Bible declarations than to settle on our feelings.
From the lifestyle of our brethren in the early Church, I can see why in moments of persecutions, rejection, severe attacks, pains, disappointments, or loss of loved or closed ones, they decided not to settle on their feelings. People like Paul and Silas in their low moment, after been beaten and locked up in a prison, never allowed themselves to settle on the feelings their troubles generated.
In fact, there is no place in the Bible where God said we should sit down to reflect or meditate on what may be happening or may have happened. Reflecting or meditating on what may be happening will fill our hearts with more sadness and pains because it will get us to operate in the realm of feelings.
In every circumstance, God wants us to keep the faith. In other words, God wants us to keep operating in the realm of faith, not the realm of feelings.
Faith is the lowest level of the supernatural and that is the minimum place God wants us to settle both in good times and in bad times. We cannot fare well operating anywhere below. It will destroy us completely.
So when we are persecuted, God’s word says we should rejoice. When we lose people that are dear to us to death, God’s word said we should be comforted with the words of His coming. When we suffer any kind of mishap, God’s word said we should rejoice. When we are rejected, God’s word said we should shake the dust of the pain and disappointment it left on us, and move on.
There is no place where God’s word says we should sit and be reflecting, brooding, or thinking deeply over what may have happened. He has always given us an action to take opposite the feelings transmitted by what may have happened or is happening.
THAT IS THE ACTION THAT BECOMES THE SEED TO SPEND THAT SEASON OF LIFE SOWING.
God wants us to be at rest no matter what may be happening to us, because these things are not forever. That is why the greatest blessing available in the kingdom is the blessing of rest. God does not want anything to hinder this blessing in our lives. Not even what we may be going through.
Not handling trying times the way God’s word says, will bring the ultimate vision of the evil one to pass in our lives – the vision of using what may be happening to either take us away from God, from the places or people He wants us to dwell or stay with, or from the faith positions His Spirit wants us to take in life.
Storms, shakings, and winds of life must be handled the way God wants them. They must not be allowed to plant us in the realm of feelings. Allowing yourself to be governed by feelings when things are not alright with you is the most dangerous thing to do when things are bad.
This morning we are going to refresh our spirits with what God says about the blessing of REST. This blessing does not just help us to be at peace in the midst of adversity, it also helps us to dwell in the realm of faith instead of feelings in trying times.
Sadly, the blessing of rest is the very blessing many in the Church today are yet to come into. That is why they queue for deliverance, prayers, breakthroughs and all that. The devil keeps many single, troubled, restless, poor, sick and etc. Consequently, we now go to Church basically to be free from enemies not really to know God and walk in His ways; the only paths that brings us to the blessing of REST.
God wants us to live in the blessing of rest. That is why the only thing Jesus says He will give us when we come to Him is REST. He knows that was where a man was originally created to live in; the rest Adam enjoyed under the glory, hence offering it to us in His salvation call to the human race.
THAT IS WHY OUR LIVES ONLY BECOMES RESTLESS WHEN WE DO NOT WALK IN HIS WAYS OR FOLLOW HIS PATHS.
Like I said the other day while teaching, the earth was already a war zone before man was created, so when God created men He gave him victory over the devil. He did not call him to fight the devil, He fought and won and gave men the victory.
So there was no fight. There was just rest.
God did the same for the Church. Hence you find the early Church having rest even in the midst of great trials of faith and intense persecutions. Sadly, the present Church seems very far from that. We are very far from what the early Church had.
Most departments of the end time Church today are not facing persecutions or trials of faith. Our nations are not telling us not to serve Jesus; neither are they putting us in prisons for serving Him. Yet there is no rest in our lives. God wants us to enter in to the blessing of rest.
But like a generation of Israel that did in their day, that is exactly what we are doing in our days, hence we are still restless.
Concerning that generation, the Bible says;
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.'” Hebrews 3:7-11 NKJV
From this scripture it’s clear that they could not come into God’s true rest because they always went astray in their hearts, and had no knowledge of God’s ways. They had no knowledge of His ways, not because prophets were not raised to teach them, no. They had no knowledge of His ways because they chose not to listen.
This is a perfect description of the Church of our generation. It captures the true identity of many of us who profess to be born again. That is why many have not come into the blessing of REST.
OUR MOUTHS ARE VERY CLOSE TO GOD BUT OUR HEARTS VERY FAR FORM HIM.
I have always said this; in the spirit, what goes on in our hearts sounds louder in Heaven than what comes out of our mouths. And because in the natural it is not so, we do not realize this Biblical truth.
In the natural what goes on in our mouth sounds louder to the ears of men, that is why we are carried away. We are not built to know what goes on in people’s heart. But that is not how our God is!
The Bible says all things lays bare before Him. Though He does great natural things; He is not natural. He is Spiritual. He therefore hears the utterances of our hearts first, and knows the utterances of our mouth long before we say them.
I call that the God dimension!
When you step into the God dimension as a Child of God, you will begin to pick what goes on in people’s heart faster than what comes out of their mouths, and come out with a proper judgment of who they really are.
That is what Isaiah meant by saying “not judging according to what you hear with your ears or see with your eyes.” The Bible says;
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”
“His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.” Isaiah 11:1-4 NKJV
What are we saying this morning; people who go astray in their hearts (even if their mouths are presenting them to be a people who love the LORD with the whole of their hearts), will never come into God’s rest.
GOD DOES NOT GIVE REST TO EVERYONE WHO JUST CALLS UPON HIS NAME. He may give them relief, but will not give them rest.
God gives rest to all who call upon His name with A HEART THAT IS PERFECT towards Him. That brings us to a very significant number in the doctrine of numerology; the number seven.
The number seven is the number of completion, maturity or perfection. The Bible says we should be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. In other words, we should hit the number seven in all we do as believers. That is the standard. Anything below is not the standard.
In fact, what is below this is the number six.
The number six is the number of man. It is not a good place to say when walking with God. It represents the flesh, a carnal mind, humanistic philosophies, secular humanism, and everything on the human plain.
For instance, we have said when in adversity we should not walk by our feelings but faith in the word. Walking by feeling is a man dimension, representing the number six, but walking by faith is a God dimension, representing the number seven.
Meaning, in adversity we should walk in the number seven not the number six, else we get overwhelmed and destroyed by the adversity. Beautifully, grace has been supplied to us to help us achieve that in Christ Jesus. It’s just that people are not making use of it.
Only people whose hearts are perfect towards God will be given rest and made pillars in His kingdom. I will like to call them a people of the number seven. Only this people can be counted upon by Heaven.
And it is important to note that the need of the hour is men, women, boys, girls, teenagers, youths and old people that Heaven can count on to do things on earth. That is why our devotional text today is very vital.
A MAJOR HIGHLIGHT OF IT SAYS;
“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
There are very few people Heaven can actually count on today; very few who can be truly, selflessly and sacrificially committed to a move of God.
Sometimes we wonder why there are no character transformation moves of God in our Churches today; why there are only moves of men of God taken as moves of God. The reason is simple; many can commit to God.
Most commit to men of God but cannot commit to God. “Pastor, what are you saying” Is committing to a man of God not committing to God? The answer is both yes and no. It depends on the God the preacher or prophet is serving.
For instance, if the ministry of a man or women of God becomes an extension of the ministry of the antichrist, being committed to the man will prevent you from saying or doing anything against it or about it. In fact, you will attack those who do.
If their are obvious cases, you will become diplomatic, playing safe and saying, “judge not”. Everyone should face his won God given work and stay on their lane. I have heard that for over 20 years.
And I tell them, I am on my lane. My lane is to commit to God and among other things, warn the church of the falsehood and deception we are all taking as truth and deliverance.
If we are sounding diplomatic, playing safe and saying judge not, and defending men of God who have departed from the ways of the LORD, we are committed to the men of God, not God! We forget that our worship is to the men or women of God but to the God who called us in Holiness and righteousness.
If we are committed to God, we will stand with the men or women of God when they are standing with God, defensing His interest, following His ways, spreading His truth and neutralizing the antichrist, and withdraw from them when they withdraws. That is how people who stand with God behaves.
When Aaron ceased from standing with God in the days of the Bible and molded a golden carve for the people, and Moses came. What did the man of God say? He asked “who is on the LORD’s side?” Those who were on the LORD’s side withdrew from Aaron and his ministry. This is what a lot of believes need to do today!
Here is how God responded to those who were on His side; people who refused to stand with their man of God when he departed from the ways of GOD.
The Bible says,
Then Moses said,
“Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.” Exodus 32:29 NKJV
INDEED, THE LORD BESTOWED A BLESSING UPON THEM.
They opposed their sons, and brethren who departed from the ways of the LORD and the LORD blessed them for doing that. If you read Deuteronomy chapter 33, you will realize that they even opposed their fathers and mothers. But God did no accuse them of dividing the body of Christ as they do to some us today. Rather He blessed them.
That is why I have not allowed any of these people who say such things confuse me. They do not understand the scriptures or the power of God, hence twisting some verses of the Bile to say what they are saying.
God will never curse you for withdrawing from or righteously opposing those who are not walking in the ways of the LORD; he will never curse you for opposing what they may be doing. The Bible says God bestowed a blessing on those who did it under Moses.
I remember preachers telling me, many years ago, that I will reap curses when they first heard me exposing the false teachings in the body of Christ and how we are being mislead by our so called spiritual fathers and mother. Many of those who said that to me are no more today.
God do not curse those who withdraw from golden calf ministries or oppose men who have departed from the ways of the LORD. It is the men who usually try to curse those who separate from them. God blesses those who have withdrawn their commitment from such preachers and their ministries.
If you therefore withdrew your commitment or departed from a spiritual father who have departed from the ways of the LORD, don’t expect curses from God. Expect blessings. Because if He blessed those who first did it under Moses, He will bless you today Under Jesus Christ. If He blessed them then under the law, He will bless you now under grace.
Walk in this revelation, and watch your life turn around.
The very blessing God put on those who departed from the erroneous ministry of Aaron that day is in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 33. That is what I will be closing this devotional with.
The blessing is the heritage of all who depart from preachers and prophets who have departed from the ways of the LORD. It is the heritage of those who do not walk in sentiments, but in truth; opposing the so called fathers, mothers and brethren in the faith who have left Christ for the antichrist and are not ready to return back to Him.
Claim your heritage; stand on it to pray and even fast against the evil ones, and do not allow anyone to confuse you about it!
MAY THE LORD KEEP YOU IN JESUS PRECIOUS NAME!
And of Levi he said: “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Or know his own children; For they have observed Your word And kept Your covenant.
They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar.
Bless his substance, LORD, And accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him, And of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” Deuteronomy 33:8-10 NKJV