TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Sunday 10th October 2021)
So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.
‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘” Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 283RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
It has been word, word, word and word from the LORD. Amazing teachings and truths from He who lives for ever and ever. We give the LORD the glory for all these. Our faith has become taller than it was last year.
Our hearts purified with God’s amazing truths. I believe we are set from His Amazing Acts from His Amazing Grace.
Indeed, “MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.” Words that proceed from the mouth of God are containers of eternal life and Heavenly treasures. They carry everything we ever need from God to live and thrive on the face of the earth.
That is why, no matter what you need from the LORD, if His word is missing in your life, nothing lost to sin, iniquity and trespass can be restored back to your life. God has a word for us today as always. It is my prayer that you find something to glow your faith with this morning.
Our devotional word yesterday was a call from the Most High God to grow up spiritually! I don’t know how many of us saw it that way. The Spirit of God made it clear to us in that beautiful word from the LORD, that if we grow we will come into sonship. If we come into sonship in Christ Jesus, things will become different in our lives.
Most of what we seek God to do or accomplish in our lives, are only done or accomplished when children of GOD grow up. The Bible says
“the heir so long as he is a child is not different from a slave though he is master of all.”
If you look at the Church today, you will realize that many heirs of salvation are not different from slaves because they have not grown up. They are not mature in the things of God; some even stand the risk of losing their salvation.
MANY ARE SLAVES TO SIN AND UNGODLINESS.
They live a life of habitual sins calling themselves saved and Spirit filled. You find so many who are involved in all forms of infidelity. You find others living a life of deception like the devil, and many others finding themselves overcome by the carnal desires, and doing the unthinkable.
The womb of the many so called, ‘born again women’ still functions as an execution ground for unborn babies even after salvation or a barren land where no child should be conceived if they sleep with anyone. The mouths of many so called born again men and women, are still gates of hell despite ‘giving their lives to Christ.’
God does not want this to continue because you will never go to Heaven if you die a practical slave to sin. We have to all break from the chains by the power of the blood of Jesus and the working of the Holy Spirit within us.
Actually, Jesus came to set us free from serving sin, and make us Heaven bound. That is why in the days of the Bible, born again was a child of one’s decision to accept Christ’s sacrificial death as a sacrifice for sins, demonstrating it by resolving not to serve sin again. The resolve was usually strong enough to birth a life of moral excellence in the people.
What many of us do not know is that Jesus terminated our slavery to sin by His death on the cross and instituted a new kind of slavery – slavery to righteousness – by the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. It is that outpouring that makes us sons and helps us to live a life of freedom from slavery of sin.
It also helps us to live a life of freedom from the slavery of Satan and the evil systems of this world.
Everyone who has been freed from the slavery of sin is a Son in the kingdom of God. Sons in God’s kingdom do not serve sin, they serve righteousness. In other words, they are slaves of righteousness. Apostle Paul wrote saying;
“And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness…..For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” Romans 6:18-19 NKJV
THE PHRASE ‘YOUR MEMBERS’ IN THIS SCRIPTURE REFER TO “THE PARTS OF OUR BODIES AND THE FACULTIES OF OUR SOULS.”
Slavery of sin involves the use of the parts of our bodies and the faculties of our souls to serve sin, leading to a sinful life. But slavery of righteousness involves the use of our body parts and faculties to serve righteousness leading to a life of Holiness.
Talking about Holiness, it’s important to note that holiness is the nature of God. And that the Bible says without this nature in us we will not see Heaven. God also said in His word, “be you Holy for I am Holy.” He did not just say it because He knows if He just say it, none of us can be holy. He sent His Holy Spirit to enable us.
Holiness is the distinguished character of GOD. By the Holy Spirit, it can become our character as well. When it becomes our Character, it shows in our naturally becoming slaves of righteousness the way we were naturally slaves of sin before accepting Christ.
Our devotional text this morning has a major highlight that says,
..’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”
I have come to discover that the Holy Spirit, being the Spirit of Holiness, is God’s enabling grace for Holy living. His role in all this cannot therefore be overemphasized. When you attempt to make your body and faculties instruments of righteousness without Him enabling you (as God’s enabling grace), you will fail. It’s not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the LORD!
That is why it is only when He comes on us that we can be made slaves to righteousness. Those who are wise in the faith therefore, will honestly spend their days seeking Jesus for the enabling power to live a life of righteousness in a perverse and crooked generation. That power comes in form of an outpouring of the Holy Ghost and Fire and a drive towards additional encounters with this Spirit of Holiness regular infilling.
The slavery of many (in Church) to sin is the reason for all the wounds the enemy has inflicted in our lives. We say we are saved with our mouths but with our lives we deny it. That brings me to something that will be additionally helpful.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?
Many do not really understand what they are saying by that word. If you say you are saved, you are simply saying you are free from the slavery of sin, Satan and the evil and corrupt systems of this world. You are saying you have been freed from serving them. You now serve righteousness.
So if we look at your life, we should see a reflection of what you are saying. I hope you understand me!
But if you say you are saved and we do not see that reflection in your life; you are not saved. Genuine faith has fruits or corresponding works of righteousness. You need to seek the LORD, until you find Him the way our Apostolic Fathers did in scriptures.
What is the message of our devotional this morning? The message is simple; maturity is the key to actualizing our status as heirs of salvation. If we do not spend quality time with God (privately or together with other believers) to eat what comes out of His mouth regularly, we will never grow up in our walk with Him. We will remain slaves to sin, Satan, and the evil and corrupt systems of this world.
Maturity will help us present our bodies and faculties as instruments of righteousness, serving the LORD as slaves (Slave Sons) of righteousness. However, the Holy Ghost is the facilitator of all that. It is still “not by power nor by might but by My Spirit” says the LORD! You must therefore seek Jesus constant outpouring of His Holy Spirit and Fire!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY;
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”
“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:7-12 NKJV