TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Wednesday 16th June 2021)
Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God.
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'” Joshua 22:19-20 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 167TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS.
Permit me to begin today’s devotional with what the Psalmist said;
“Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbre and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150 NKJV)
Hallelujah! What a Psalm! Let everything that has breathe praise the LORD. If you have breath this morning, lift up a loud voice and shout praise the LORD! Have a little of Church wherever you are reading this except if in the office or place that is not convenient.
I remember when we use to sing parts of this Psalm in so many songs in our local Church in Abuja Nigeria, the assemblies of God Church. It used to be exciting and glorious.
The Psalms is one book of the Bible that does not just give us faith in God, revelation knowledge of who He is and what He does. It is not just a book that teaches us things like sanctification, deep intimacy with God, the greatness of His power and all that makes a man’s walk and talk with God exciting; it is a book that gives us the vocabulary of prayer and praise.
If you spend time with the Psalmist you will realize how stupid, you have been not spending time with it. You will see so many things you have been missing and why the enemy may have been prevailing against you at some points. The Bible says;
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:16-17 NKJV
One major book of the Bible that will help us accomplish this is the book of Psalms. I want it to make it one of your priorities on earth and you will see great things. The word of Christ cannot dwell richly in us, especially in all wisdom and teaching, resulting in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs bursting forth from our hearts if we do not dwell in Bible books like the book of Psalms.
YOU CANNOT OUTSOURCE ANYTHING ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN FAITH FROM ANYWHERE ELSE.
The Bible remains the only place we outsource matters of the faith. Because as we sit with books of the Bible, the Holy Spirit (the author of the Bible) will come in to teach us what He propelled the Prophets and Holy Men (who penned the chapters down) to write. That is what is called DEDICATION.
Dedication involves sitting with the Books of the Bible and other books that will help you understand them until your heart is filled with the word of God richly in all wisdom and teaching, resulting in an outflow of the rivers of living water from within you; manifesting in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, then power, blessings, and etc.
A generation that do not dedicate or do not know how to sit with Bible books to receive wisdom and teaching from the author, will remain in the perils of the book of death and not be able to come into the glories of the book of life, where our destinies are molded to conform to the image of Christ.
Salvation gets our names written in the Lamb’s book of life but dedication gets our lives filled with the glories of having our names in the Lamb’s book of life. That is why the enemy do attack our dedication using the unsaved and religious people we attach our lives to.
One woman sent me a message this morning saying that her husband complains that she prays too much and cries too much. Her dedication is under attack.
Maybe he would have been happy if she was nagging and troubling him instead. That is what happens if you yoke yourself with an unbeliever or a religious and carnal Christian who know nothing about life in the Holy Spirit. That is one major cost of being in ways that are not aligned with God’s ways in matters of relationships and marriage.
We have been looking at excerpts from the book “OVERCOMING WITCHCRAFT BY THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S POWER” and the LORD have been blessing us. We are getting to the last portions I will like to excerpts to this devotional. After which you are encouraged to go get the book and get all you need to know about the subject.
DELETING THE WITCHCRAFT SOFTWARE – TRESPASS
“Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God.
Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'” Joshua 22:19-20 NKJV
In previous devotionals, it was made clear that no one can overcome witchcraft with the witchcraft software in him or her. The software is made up of three types of transgressions – Sin, Iniquity and Trespass.
We have seen that if there is iniquity in your life, God’s marvelous helps will be absent in your life. We have also seen that sin makes you Satan’s property, and if you are Satan’s, God cannot help you. But we are taking a step further in this Chapter to uncover the mystery behind trespass.
FROM JOSHUA 22:19-20, WE CAN SEE THE POWER OF TRESPASS IN THE LIVES OF MEN.
Achan and his entire household were sent to the valley of Achor not by sin but a trespass. The word Achor means trouble. Trespass will bring anyone or anything into the valley of trouble in the spirit. The valley of trouble is the place of violent death and total elimination of the righteous seed.
Don’t forget Achan was a righteous seed – of the stock of Abraham. But he and his family died violently because of a trespass he committed. The Bible says,
“But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.” Joshua 7:1 NKJV
The word accursed is a description of things that are set aside for God. Things we are forbidden to touch. I know preachers have used that word to manipulate people to give tithes sacrifices and etc. But it was never meant to be used within that context.
In other words, it is an Old Testament word for describing consecrated things of God. God had told Israel not to touch the treasures of the first City He will give them to possess, that it is a first fruit offering to Him – a shadow of the Church of Christ, the first fruit that will be rapture in our days.
But he broke the instruction, the consequence turned out to become one of the most pathetic stories in the Bible. His trespass brought him and his innocent Children to the valley of trouble – the valley of Achor. The Bible says;
And Joshua said,
“Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore, the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day. Joshua 7:25-26 NKJV
You see, the transgression of trespass can be personal but not private.
When one man commits it, everyone under his influence will pay for it. That is why it’s dangerous to be led by people who are trespassing or worship in Churches whose pastors are trespassing. The members will be the first to come into the valley of Achor! You can never defeat witchcraft living a life of trespass.
SADLY, SO MANY ARE IN THE VALLEY OF ACHOR BECAUSE OF TRESPASSES.
In Bible days it was Achan, in our days it is us. We trespass in everything and aspect things to be alright with us. They will never be alright. If they were not alright for Achan they will never be alright for us. Every trespasser is a potential destroyer – he or she can destroy both himself and those connected to him or her.
Trespassers are Satan’s weapon of mass destruction. They push innocent people into spiritual valleys of Achor resulting in troubles in their lives.
For instance, if you worship in a Church that is founded on the foundation of a trespass, your life will be full of troubles because you are right in a spiritual valley of Achor! If you marry a man or woman by trespassing against God, your marriage will be the valley of trouble – there will be no peace in your lives.
If you trespass against God and become prosperous like the rich fool, your wealth will be the valley of Achor, and no one who receives money from you will spend it well. They will always have troubles for receiving money from you.
If you live your life trespassing against God, you will be a valley of Achor in the spirit. Anyone who tries to help you will run into trouble with GOD. I have seen people whose economic lives were reduced to nothing for helping people to stand on their feet, financially.
If you come to the revelation of what God is saying to you through the life and times of Achan, you will smell the valley of Achor everywhere and be able to help victims to come out the consequences of trespassing against GOD.
The Bible says in Joel 3:14;
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision (NKJV).” I want to state this with a perfect understanding of the prophetic meaning of what the man of God cried about; “Multitudes, Multitudes in the valley of Achor. The Day of the LORD’s deliverance”
WHENEVER I LOOK AT SOME CHURCHES, I SEE THE VALLEY OF ACHOR DUG RIGHT IN THEIR SERVICES.
Everything about them is trespass against God. They trespass against God, the way they minister deliverance to people; from asking for money for very miracle the people need, to giving them Oil, water, salt, candles and etc. to pray with, the list is endless. They will tell you, no service is complete without giving an offering. That statement itself is a trespass on its own.
They will trespass by collecting a fee to see their ‘man of God.’ Some trespass by having sex with themselves in the name of love or with those who came to seek for deliverance.
Other trespass by using demonic powers to minister to people calling it God! The trespass of running Church as a money making machine, metaphysical cult, social club, place of theatrical performance and political party has turned many local churches into valleys of Achor!
Sadly, the visible consequences of these things are explained away to the detriment of the innocent and ignorant. Wherever men live in trespass, the valley of Achor exists there!
If there is anything the Church need now, it is fresh Apostles and prophets – not by titles but by content – who will speak and teach people out of this valley of destruction – the Davidic Leaders not the Saul leaders.
I BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT COMING; THEY ARE HERE!
Perhaps it would have been better if Achan had no kids, just as it would have been better if every preacher in trespass have no member. But they always know how to manipulate people into their valleys of Achor called Churches!
Even in the area of marriage, the plague is the same. Is it not better to be unmarried than to get married in trespass and have a family that will later die by the sword of its terrible consequence – the valley of trouble?
How many men and women have subjected their innocent Children to the sword of trespass for marrying outside the boundaries God has set? We leave that for another day!
May God have mercy upon us for subjecting innocent children to the sword of our trespasses we call marriages!
I have come to discover that whenever the devil wants to destroy a righteous person he will sway him or her to commit trespassers against the LORD. It’s therefore important that we uncover what this terrible transgression is and how to deal with it in our quest for victory over witchcraft activities!
First let’s begin with the origin of trespass!
…TO BE CONTINUED…