TODAY’S DEVOTION (Sunday 28th November 2021)
“Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” Acts 16:29-35 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 331st DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS.
This is the Day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. He has given us another day to fear and live for Him, serving our generation according to His will.
The LORD gave us the privilege to call upon Him whenever we are in trouble, and that h really helped us in life. God has not failed to answer u each time we call. The Bible says “the righteous cry out and the LORD hears them.”
We give God the glory for all the timely interventions we have experienced in our lives especially this year. Indeed, the best Dad to have is the Heavenly Dad. He has been a strong, caring, loving and merciful Father. He has kept us from harm; externally and internally. He has answered all our prayers that falls in line with His will.
Talking about prayers, there are certain truths we must know if our prayers will be result oriented. The first is the truth of praying according to God’s will. The Bible says this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we pray according to His will, he hears us.
Meaning we should not pray according our worries even as we cast them upon Him, we should pray according to His will. And that is only possible if we know His will before going to pray. If You ask me I will say, the best way to pray according to God’s will is to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him pray through you. It is called “Spirit led” or “Spirit enabled” prayers.
The next thing we must know about prayers is the we should never pray three kinds of prayers that Jesus condemned. Sadly, those are the kind of prayers being prayed by many Christians today. That is why there is no answer to their prayers.
I have taught over and over about those kinds of prayers. You can order for the full message of our 2016 school of prayers if you have not. But there is a third truth on prayer; there are things we ask God to do that are not really under His purview to do. So in prayers, never ask God to do what He has already anointed and delegated you to so.
SADLY, MANY THINGS THAT WE PRAY ABOUT ARE IN OUR POWER TO DO. WE ONLY NEED TO SEEK GOD FOR DIRECTION ON HOW TO GET THEM DONE.
That is why Psalm 23:1 is very important in life. If the LORD leads you, first of all you will know the things that are in your power to do and how to use His gifts and anointing in your life your life to do them. One of the blessings you will enjoy is, you will never lack.
Yes, you will not lack finances, peace, God given people, His manifest presence, victory over your enemies and much more. You will find all the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:1-14 speaking in your life. Your enemies will come to you in one way but flee in seven ways!
I will suggest we pray always as the LORD says and listen always as we pray. Yes, listening always will help us get the results of praying always. It will help us know the things we are to do and do them.
Most of a man’s life can only improve when he starts paying great attention to the LORD and following what He says. Praying the right prayers and paying attention will help us to achieve that. It will bring us to the realm of not lacking anything.
Meaning if we are lacking anything in our lives; be it peace, prosperity, joy, protection, good marriages, success, and etc. we are not listening to Him. We are not in that realm yet. Our canal natures are what is leading us.
The Bible indeed made it clear that if our canal natures lead us, it will produce nothing but death in our lives; it will produce moral corruption in us and even in the lives of others.
WHEN WE CORRUPT MORALLY, WE BEGIN TO LIVE IN SIN OR LEAD OURSELVES MOST TIMES TAKING IT TO BE THE LORD!
We will begin to suffer an absence of the divine life that produce peace and prosperity. We will begin to go through a season of lack in our economic lives, our marriages, our churches, our careers, our relationships, and everything! Making life unbearable.
To be carnally minded is really death. It has a way of killing everything that has life in it. That was why Paul wrote to the Church at Rome saying;
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8 NKJV
I spoke about God’s delegated control and God’s sovereign control in one of the devotionals. Most of our prosperity lies in how we use God’s delegated control in our lives. How we use the controls He has delegated to us to govern our lives.
There are things we should never hand over the controls to. One of the majors is our canal mind. If we allow our carnal minds to determine how we handle God’s delegated control in our lives, we have handed over our lives to one of the enemies of God to control, and it will not be well with us.
The Bible says the carnal mind is enmity against God. If it controls our lives, a major enemy of God is controlling our life and things will be really bad. Sometimes we fight Satan; an arch enemy of God but our lives are under the control of this other enemy – our carnal minds.
THAT IS WHY LIE GROW EVEN WORST DESPITE OUR PRAYERS.
We point our fingers at the enemies without – our destroyers, our betrayers, our haters and etc. but forget this enemy within – the carnal mind. We forget that the one within is more dangerous.
We must not forget that carnal mind; an arch enemy of God. It is this enemy within, that is always against God that has never allowed anything of God to move well and smooth in your life. He will always seek to kill whatever is of God. That is why whenever we follow our carnal mind, we start failing in life.
The Heavenly approved system for guiding our lives is the Spirit of God within us. People who listen to Him before determining what to do will never ruin their lives. That is why I consider listening as one of the best things to do when walking with God.
I hope you understand me. God said to the Jews (and indirectly to us);
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
“But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries.” Psalms 81:10-14 NKJV
It is good to pray right prayers always and very important that we do, but the best thing to do when walking with God for His voice. If prayer will help us do that, then let us not cease praying.
We must not be listening to our carnal nature. We must be listening to the holy spirit within us.
Paul the apostle was one of the men who listened to GOD in his generation; her never followed his carnal nature after meeting the LORD. Amazingly, as many as listened to him got the best of GOD in this life and the life after because he spent his days listening to God.
Our devotional text is about one of the men who listened to Paul. A major highlight in the text says;
“And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
If you ask me this morning I will say one of the major things to do in other to be saved in any circumstances that you may find yourself in this life, is to listen to God. Listen to God not even the circumstances. It pays to listen to God or to men how listen to God at all times; men like Paul. None will ever mislead us. That is why it is important we read what they wrote in the Bible.
The Bible is full of men and women who listened to God. We must study it always to hear them talk to us through its pages! They are more accurate than any prophet we may have in our lives. That is why some of the prophets sway us to listen to them instead of the Bible that is more accurate.
As we bring this to a close, I want to submit that listening is a major part of a man’s walk and talk with God. If this part does not exist in your relationship with God, there are blessings you will never come into in Christ.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries.” Psalms 81:14 NKJV