TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Monday 13TH September 2021)
“And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'” Luke 4:3-4 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 257TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
For 257 days we have seen God’s mercies, favor and unconditional love. He has watched over us against the pew of the lions, the power of the dog, the anger of the unjustly aggrieved, the sword of messengers of death and much more than our words can capture.
Above all, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, but according to his mercies towards us. If He was to deal with us according to our sins, even our repentance would not have been enough. But there is forgiveness with Him so that He may be feared.
If there are indeed others God, there is none like our GOD; He is full of mercy, compassion and kindness. The Bible says He understands our frame and knows that we are dust. Hence sending us His Holy Spirit to live in and guide us so that the dust that we are will not ruin our lives.
On a personal note, God has watched over me against the power of sorcerers and all the enemy is using to say am this or that. He watched over me and my family when I did not deserve it. There are many things God is doing in my life for His name sake, because I do not deserve anything good, He is doing in my life.
I have seen Him make our enemies our footstool when we do not deserve it. He said in His words;
…”Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Psalms 110:1-2 NKJV
I have watched Him bring the counsel of the wicked to nothing. All these things are not happening because we are the most prayerful or holy. No, if that should be the yardstick then none of us qualify.
HIS MERCIES ARE WHAT IS QUALIFYING US BY CLEANSING AND PURGING OUR LIVES OF SIN, INIQUITY AND TRESPASSES.
In deed like David will put it;
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” Let Israel now say — “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us; then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul; then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 124:1-8 NKJV
God is driven more by His eternal purpose for mankind than anything else. He never does a thing without a vision to purpose a Heavenly purpose. He saves us from our enemies for His name to be glorified not for us to be glorified. He saves us from our enemies so that we may fulfill our divine assignment on earth.
Yes, He does all these things so that we may walk in holiness and righteousness using His enabling grace.
I pray that we use all these things to walk away from any life of sin or ungodliness and not be like the Nation of Israel that halted their match towards a glorious destiny by not reciprocating God’s marvelous works in their lives with a life of total obedience to His will and commitment to His ways.
You see, when Israel came out of Egypt, God’s initial plan was for them to get to the promise land within weeks, but they persistently reciprocated God’s marvelous works with a life of sin and rebellion. Consequently, a 40-year period of going through the wilderness was decreed upon them.
HOW WE HANDLE GOD’S KINDNESS TO US MATTERS A LOT.
If we handle it the way the nation of Israel did in the wilderness, our lives will be going one step forward and ten steps backward. We will just be in a retrogression mode.
Most times it is the nature of our hearts or spirits that determines how we handle God’s kindness to us. If we have an ungrateful heart, we will never appreciate God for His kindness by leading a life that is in submission. That brings the subject of the nature of our hearts to the spotlight.
It is the nature of our hearts that determines how our lives turns out. That is why when God want to change our lives, He begins by changing our hearts.
The nature of our hearts is more responsible for our problems than any demon on earth. Because the enemy cannot have us successfully when our hearts are right towards the LORD. The Bible says those whose hearts are loyal towards God, Heaven shows herself mighty on their behalf.
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV
We do foolishly each time our hearts depart form the LORD.
We must understand the power of a heart that is not right towards the LORD. It can completely destroy our lives and make us miss divine schedules; yes, it can prolong or even cancel the miracles or blessing that God has set to release into our lives at appointed seasons.
As earlier stated, the Children of Israel were scheduled to get to the promise land earlier, but they missed that schedule because of the nature of their hearts. God would later make a decree over their lives. The decree was a description of the consequences of their actions. The Bible says,
“but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord — because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,
they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” Numbers 14:21-23 NKJV
A CASUAL READER WILL DISMISS THIS DECREE FOR A PUNISHMENT; BECAUSE IT APPEARS SO ON THE SURFACE.
However, what Moses revealed in his valedictory speech many years later (in Deuteronomy 8:1-3) tells us something different. It says God took them through the 40-year period to teach them (and by extension us) just one lesson.
What is that lesson? It is the same lesson Jesus passed on to the devil in our devotional text this morning – it says;
“man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”.
The lesson was on spiritual nutrition. “Spiritual nutrition?” You may ask. Yes, spiritual nutrition!
Moses made it clear that God was teaching Israel a great lesson on spiritual nutrition, and it took them 40 years to learn the lesson. That was too long a time my friend, because many died in the process. The truth is, God would not have stretched it so long. It was their hearts that stretched it so long; the nature of their hearts.
Sometimes our hearts keep us longer in the wilderness than God wanted. It keeps us longer in unpleasant situations. It prolongs our problems and extends our season of adversity. I pray we understand this and start focusing on changing our lives by changing our hearts.
Israel was a people of rebellious hearts. There rebellion made it that long; 40-years of learning just one lesson. Maybe, some were ever learning but never coming to understanding. They nature of a man’s heart is what put one in that state.
THEY COMPLETELY SLOWED DOWN GOD’S ACTIVITIES.
It is important for us to check what we may be doing that is slowing down God’s activities in our lives. Whenever rebellion creeps into our walk with God, we end up slowing down divine activities. And when God’s activities are slowed down or eliminated completely by our foolish acts, the activities of the evil one will increase in our lives.
There is nothing that slows down things in the life of a believer like rebellion. It took Israel 40 years to learn what would have taken a broken and a contrite heart 40 minutes of deep encounter with God to learn. There is huge lesson there for us; a lesson on spiritual nutrition!
I have come to realize that spiritual malnutrition is the root cause of all the problems facing Believers in the Church today.
Man was not designed to live outside solid spiritual feeding. If you therefore led a Christian life that is not properly fed spiritually, you will be struggling with unclean things; you will be struggling with ancestral curses, stagnation, sinful habits like masturbation, and uncontrolled canal desires. We will come to a point where we will begin to slow down God’s activities in our lives, and even eliminate them completely.
Yes, our spirits will be corrupted by what the Bible calls the filthiness of the spirit; things like pride, anger, un-forgiveness, self-centeredness, selfishness, and etc. bringing all great things that GOD may be doing in our lives to a sad end.
I do not want anything God is doing in me, or through me to come to an end. If that is your desire also, then we must understand what it takes for that not to happen. Our hearts must not be corrupted and spirits kept in a state of spiritual malnutrition. Just as the body needs good food to be healthy and survive, so the spirit needs what comes out of God’s mouth to be godly and sustained.
Friend, there is so much in Heaven that we have not received and taken in, that is why devils are feeding fat on most Christians. It is spiritual malnutrition that actually hands people over to devils for oppression. That is why you cannot be oppressed where teaching prophets are on duty feeding the people with the word of the LORD. The Bible says,
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall depart from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness.” Isaiah 10:27 ASV
Your human spirit was not wired to grow fat with any other information OTHER THAN what comes out of the mouth of the LORD.
Every other word may inform you while some even deform you. Only what comes out of the mouth of the LORD can edify and fed you into the spiritual fatness you need to break from yokes and become all that God has called you to be.
This is the day the LORD has made, rejoice and be glad in it.
One way to rejoice and be glad in a day the LORD has made is to allow the purpose of God for that day to be fulfilled in your life. The purpose of God for your life today is to change your entire life for the better. But the easiest way to change your entire life is to change your spiritual diet! That is the message!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
“Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.” Jeremiah 3:15-16 KJV