TODAY’S DEVOTION (Monday 8th November 2021)
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Jeremiah 2:8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 312TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS.
It’s been a great time with the LORD for us at the Cry of the Spirit Ministries here in Nairobi Kenya. It’s been a time of fellowshipping with God’s Holy Word and Spirit. We thank God for the just concluded School of the Prophets. The word was intense and the prophetic very liberating.
God is preparing for Himself an army of prophets to reap the end time harvest with a prophetic sickle. The sickle is prophetic because only a prophetic weapon can strike the cords of men’s heart and turn them genuinely to the LORD.
It is clear that the harvest is the heart of men held down by the spirit of wickedness. This is in line with the book of Joel chapter 3. God manifesting, as the Spirit of prophecy is the sickle for reaping the end time harvest – being the LORD of the harvest.
This army of prophets will bear the great responsibility of being men of God by deeds not by title. God will use their deeds to free people from the spirit of wickedness, which explains why it will be required that they lead holy lives.
You see, the responsibility of being a man of God, not by preaching great truths but by living them, will hit this army in a dimension that it has never done before.
People must understand that being a man of God by title is very cheap. But being a man of GOD by deeds is not cheap. Delivering people from the spirit of wickedness through our life styles will be of essence. That is why sometime people who understand these weep whenever you are called men of God.
You see, it is easier for a preacher to go to hell after declaring Jesus as LORD and savior than for a Church member – especially a preacher who God has given great grace and truths to declare, because in the kingdom to whom much is given much is expected. Paul the apostle asked for prayers again and again because of that.
HE DECLARED IN HIS WORD AND SAID;
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NKJV
Indeed, if we do not Put our bodies under, we will be a cast away after preaching to others. Our responsibility is very great, the expectations of the righteous who draw inspiration from us very high, and temptations many. It seems each time you preach; Satan comes to tempt you to fall into the very sins God is stirring you to blow away from the lives of people.
This end time army of prophets must understand these things. God is placing a huge responsibility on us and His grace is available. We must understand that to be a man of God who wants to make heaven and lead others there is not cheap, but very costly! It will cost you so much than words can capture!
Yes, there are reckless and sinful men of God everywhere.
I guess few of them became that way because they fell under this burden God placed upon us His servants. It’s my prayer that I and few others remain standing, because if there is any generation that needs the manifestation of God in His Holy Servants, in other to find the true God and make Heaven, that generation is ours.
I and others need a lot of prayers for every well-meaning Child of God! Because we have heard the gospel preached to us but we have not seen it lived before us by many servants of God.
Our generation need the true Gospel preached and lived before us by those preaching it. It needs to learn how to pray, fast, say no to sin, relate intimately with God, walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh, by observation. And the only ones who can help them are those of us who ARE CALLED OF god TO BE His men and women.
WE ARE TO PREACH THE GOSPEL IN CHURCH AND LIVE IT AFTER CHURCH FOR THEM TO SEE.
The devil has a way of manipulating servants of God not to realize how our lifestyles are important to the success of the messages we preach in turning hearts to the LORD. If we do not match our messages with a lifestyle that reflect them, we will not be able to reap the end time harvest.
So many are too concerned with the earthly to think of the eternal. Others are too dead in sin to even respond to a gospel that is not seen in the lives of the preachers. Sadly, many of us who are in ministry do not realize that.
So many of us in ministry are too entangled with the affairs of this life, hence not having what we preach seen on our lives. If you are entangled in the affairs of this life, Satan will always find a place and people to help pull you away from God’s presence and turn you into a preacher whose life does not true Christianity. The Bible says,
“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” 2 Timothy 2:4-6 NKJV
We must become servants of God who operate from the deep, with a lot of discipline. But it begins with finding God in the deep, which is not always easy if you begin to get too busy.
There are rules to finding God in the deep. The rules include not entangling yourself with the affairs of this life!
Generally, the affairs of this life will always manipulate every believer to miss things GOD want to do in his or her life to get him or her ready for the next life.
PREACHERS MUST UNDERSTAND THAT DESTINIES ARE DESIGNED TO BE DETERMINED BY OUR LIFESTYLES AND MESSAGES.
We understand that the eternal destiny of men is determined by the preachers they either listen or do not listen to. Sadly, very few preachers really know this that is why many of us do not care.
In our devotional text today Heaven came out strong on priests or Men of God who do not seek or stir men to seek the true God. It came strongly against handlers of the law (word of God) who do not know Him, and the prophets who prophesy by Baal instead of God. It says;
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Jeremiah 2:8 NKJV
To prophesy by Baal is to prophesy by another spirit – the false prophetic anointing responsible for deliverance and prosperity outside GOD. It is the root of divination and sorcery. This spirit comes on a preacher when the people’s money becomes his target, instead of their hearts knowing God. It comes on a preacher when gold becomes his drive and the belly becomes his god.
There is the god of the belly that makes your earthly need to become your drive I ministry. When this god enters a preacher or any other Christian, the false prophetic anointing comes upon them, leading to the practice of divination and sorcery.
There is a lot of divination today called prophecy and a lot of sorcery called prophecy. There is need for people to listen to right preachers only. The right preacher is not the most eloquent or knowledgeable. The right preacher is the one who preaches the right gospel and does what he preaches.
The right preacher is the preacher whose life and mouth preachers the gospel of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ!
Finally, as a child of God, it is important to note that the preacher you are listening to is either multiplying or diminishing your eternal relevance. That preacher that has your heart is either adding to your relationship with God, or subtracting from it. That preacher in your life is either separating you UNTO God or separating you FROM God. There is no middle ground.
In the present day Church, if you are not careful who you call prophet, apostle, pastor and etc. you will be doomed. If you are not careful who you call man of God, you will mourn. Sense who God has equipped for you and hook up to his or her spiritual fountain, and you will begin to see great advance in your Christian life!
As you pass through this day, God will cause His mercy to shine upon you. If you are hook up to spiritual places and people who are not profiting you in His sight, the Holy Spirit will begin to pull you out.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE 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 NKJV