TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 1st February 2020)
“When the righteous rejoice, there is great glory; but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves.”
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Proverbs 28:12-13 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 32nd DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Truly, it is of the LORD’s mercy that we are not consumed. We will keep stating this until our time on earth is over. Mercy is a shield. Mercy is God’s catalyst for a new start. God’s mercy has kept us for the first 31st days of this year and today we have been ushered into another month of the year – a month of the leap year.
Beautifully, those who have been waiting to celebrate their birthdays on the 29th of this month will have the full course to Rejoice After waiting for four years. It will indeed be a season of rejoicing for them. I now understand more about the YEAR OF REJOICING prophecy. God’s mercies indeed have been our fuel.
Talking about Mercies, God’s mercies is His way of telling the devil, “You can’t change my mind concerning my sons because no matter what you do to them!” God’s Truth and Mercy is the very reason we will make Heaven. Both are the repairer of the fall and the terminator of the works of the evil one in a man’s life.
If you have the revelation of what I am sharing about, you will not cease saying unto God, “It is of your Mercies that we are not consumed; because your compassion fails not.”
GOD’S MERCY IS TIMELESS AND PRICELESS
The timelessness and pricelessness of God’s mercy is demonstrated in the scriptures. That verse of the Bible states that God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. You see, God is in eternity! So, whatever proceeds from Him is eternal. His mercy for us is eternal.
The only thing is that if we do not tap into His mercies here in time, we will never see it when we step into eternity in death. And the reason is simple; there can be no repentance in the grave. That tell us that in the afterlife – life after death -the spirits of men cannot repent. They can only regret. And since they cannot repent, they cannot secure God’s mercy.
Talking about repentance, it’s clear from scripture to scripture that repentance is the only force we can use in withdrawing from God’s mercy. Many have thought prayer and fasting, or even sacrificial giving is the force. But the answer is no! Repentance is it.
It is only when we fast, pray and give sacrificially in repentance that we experience God’s mercy. In other words, God’s mercy is available to all but can only be accessed by those who have repented of their sins. And that can only happen here in time because only in time can men repent. In the next life, the chance to repent disappears. Only regret is possible! That is why the Psalmist made it clear that there is no repentance in the grave.
In other words, when men step back into eternity through death (without repentance), they will loose the opportunity and maybe the heart capacity to repent; they will only be remorseful and regret for not repenting while they were alive. You see that in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus in the book of Luke 20:19-21.
In simple terms, it is not possible to repent after death. It is only possible to regret and be very remorseful of your sins. Those who stand in place of judgment or are cast into hell can only gnash their teeth in regret and remorse but cannot repent.
If it’s possible for people to repent after death, then no one would have been in hell. Since God’s mercy is everlasting to everlasting, He would have taken them all to Heaven. That is why it’s very important to make use of God’s mercy here and now by living a life of repentance from dead works and faith towards our LORD Jesus Christ.
WHY ARE WE SHARING ABOUT GOD’S MERCY?
The flow of our devotional in January was very enlightening. God showed us one more time what our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled. He revealed to us that if we will fulfill our divine destiny, we must have a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ, the LORD of our destiny.
Next, He showed us that we must be spending countless hours in His presence and learn to behave wisely like David in matters touching our divine destiny. And yesterday, the last day of January, He made it clear that if we will fulfill our divine destiny, we must not pursue His purpose driven by a passion to become rich. We must not replace LOVE FOR HIM with love of money.
The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil either in the Church or outside the Church. Many are pursuing their destiny to make money instead of to make Heaven or pleasing GOD. That is why the glory of God is absent from their lives. But today Heaven is taking us a step further!
The next ingredient our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled is God’s Mercy. David made a profound discovery in one of his sessions with God and said:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:6 NKJV
To me God’s goodness and Mercy should be the travelling partners of apostolic and prophetic people. It should be the travelling partners of those with a passion for God. It should be the travelling partners of people of divine destiny. And off course it is!
For instance, if God’s goodness and mercy were not the travelling partners of Samson, the day he was flopped by Delilah and imprisoned, that would have been the end of him. But mercy spoke and said no when he repented of his sins.
WHEN MERCY SAYS NO, THE EVIL ONE CAN NOT SAY YES!
When repentance germinated in the heart of Samson, God’s mercy spoke for him. Though he did not recover his sight back, he finished his course. The Bible says he killed more people at his death than he ever killed in his lifetime.
If Mercy had not said no in the case of David and Beersheba, there would have been no David after the act. The Bible made it clear that under the law, whoever does what he did was to be stoned to death. But when God saw repentance in his heart, God changed the laws. Repentance can make God change rules and regulations to accommodate the repentant.
When it comes to the release of divine destiny, mercy is one of the greatest investment Heaven can make in your life to help you unleash it. But you must lead a life of repentance. You must live a life that qualifies you for divine mercy from the throne room, especially when you do not deserve mercy.
A major highlight in our devotional text today said:
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
We stumble in so many things because of our flesh. The weight of doing all of God’s will is not cheap. Sometimes in a bid to stretch and unleash why you are here, you over stretch and break the limits of the flesh. And sometimes it is very dangerous to break the limits of the flesh. The pain can be very excruciating. That is when mercies come in to help you out.
There is also the aspect where the enemy comes to stop our glorious match towards destiny by pushing us to sin. It is an aspect that makes destiny people accommodate secret sins and destroy themselves. He knows that the greatest killers of a man’s match toward the release of divine destiny is secret sins. Don’t forget, the Bible calls him THE MAN OF SIN.
That alone tells us so much about what he knows – I guess he knows the power of sin more than the present Church. That is why he tells so many that there is nothing wrong with sin. He can accurately forecast what it will do to us before launching it out against his target.
Friend, sin is not something a person of destiny should play with. It has a way of shutting down our hearts and prevent is from accessing God’s mercy if it becomes persistent. And when we can no longer access His mercies because of the insolence of our hearts created by persistent sin, we are gone. Destiny is tossed!
HE WHO COVERS HIS SINS SHALL NOT PROSPER, AND HE WHO CONTINUES IN SIN WILL NOT ESCAPE THE TERRIBLE REWARD!
He who cover his sin may prosper economically because even the wicked can be prosperous economically, but he cannot prosper in the place of having power with God. He cannot prosper in his walk with God. He cannot carry the fullness of God’s presence nor can he advance in His walk with God.
He may be able to develop friendship with men and people of God and become one of their best but will never be able to develop a personal friendship with God. He will be too filthy to live in God’s rest.
What is the message of our devotional today? The message is simple; your divine destiny will need God’s goodness and mercy to be fulfilled. And for that to be supplied to you, living a life driven by the fear of GOD will be required. Even if you sow to please the flesh and fall into sin, rise and return to the LORD in repentance. Do not sit there writing yourself off.
God do not write destiny people off no matter what they may have done. You see that in the story of the prodigal son. He returned home in repentance and the father took Him back happily. So, God do not write repented people off. It is religious people that write repented people off. They think that whatever they may have done has destroyed everything. But that is not so!
We are dealing with both a just and merciful GOD. His Mercy sees things differently! If you will repent and return, a broken and a contrite heart God will not despise.
Happy New Month in Jesus precious name!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:1-2 NKJV