TODAY’S DEVOTION (Tuesday 25th January 2022)
“But avoid all empty (vain, useless, idle) talk, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.
“And their teaching [will devour; it] will eat its way like cancer or spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus,
“Who have missed the mark and swerved from the truth by arguing that the resurrection has already taken place. They are undermining the faith of some.
“But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it.” 2 Timothy 2:15-19 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 25th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
Glory be to the LORD God, creator of the Heavens and earth for giving us another day. He has kept us for 25 days now; to him belong all the glory.
His mercies have been the reason for our living. Many times, I have sinned against God, men, women, Heaven and earth, but His mercies have not allowed the ground to open and swallow me up. if you are honest, you can also say that about your self.
I think we should be happy that we are not living in the days of Moses?
If I look at what we are doing today, I ask myself what did the people who spoke against Moses and the ground opened and swallowed them did if you compare it to what we are doing today? Those that snakes appeared and killed for complaining against God did very badly, but if you compare what they did to what we are doing today, what they did was mild, and yet we are alive.
We should indeed thank GOD that we are no longer in the days of Moses.
According to Bible Prophecy, God has decided not to go that direction again but has reserved a day to pour out all of His wrath on sin, and that day is coming. That is why we no longer see these things. It is called grace!
Sadly, instead of using this grace of GOD for our age to repent and stop all we do, we are using it to continue in our wickedness, especially each time the flesh places a request on us.
for so many of us, our hearts have become hardened by God’s mercies. It is very dangerous for a heart to be hardened for not seeing the immediate wrath of God for sins and wickedness committed.
Somebody watched one of our broadcasts on the lost Apostolic Passion and sent me a misleading message; a message that is currently misleading so many to keep living lives of sin and wickedness.
I guess he or she wanted to correct me. He said “we do not go to Heaven because of what we have done, we go to Heaven because of what Christ has done. No sin can stop us from going to Heaven because of what Christ has done.”
He went on and on with so many scriptures he was twisting. I marveled at his or her audacity of ignorance and Biblical illiteracy.
LIKE OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT PUTS IT, THESE ARE VAIN USELESS, IDLE TALKS WE MUST AVOID BECAUSE THEY PROMOTE UNGODLINESS.
Sadly, the text also said their teaching will spread like cancer. Indeed, wrong teachings spread like cancer because people’s nature naturally yields to what will promise them Heaven even if they live like devils. My response was “stop misleading yourself and others.”
Friend, personal holiness remains the requirement for making heaven. The Bible says;
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” 1 Peter 1:15-17 KJV
How can you have a scripture like this in the Bible and say what we do, either good or bad, will not stop us from making Heaven so long as we have recited a sinner’s poem? That we only go to Heaven based on what Christ has done?
This people who are misleading the Church are the reason for the many so-called believers who are going to Heaven with their Bibles in their hands.
This scripture above is a tip of the iceberg of the number of scriptures in the Bible that tells just one truth. And that truth is, “without personal holiness, no eye shall see the LORD.” That is why Christ died to make it possible for us to be holy.
He died so that we will no longer live in sin. He did not die for us to continue living in sin believing we will not be judged. The Bible says “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” He did not say pass the time of your sojourning here living in sin.
Friend, Personal Holiness is the only fruit established in scriptures by GOD as the fruit of genuine salvation. In other words, it is the only sign or symptom of genuine salvation known in Heaven. Do not allow any preacher to deceive you. Do not allow even a fellow believer to deceive you.
Let them keep living their sinful and wicked lives believing that what they do no longer matters before God, while you live your pure life. The eternal destination will never be the same.
The Bible is clear that those who live wicked lives, even if they have recited sinner’s prayers, will be in hell while those who truly give their lives to Christ, pressing into His grace, and using it to live pure lives, will be in Heaven when they die.
PERSONAL HOLINESS REMAINS THE AUTHENTIC MARK OF SALVATION.
It is what distinguish the seed the of the Righteous One from the seed of the wicked one. It is what separates between wheat and tares. That is why it is a major eternal disaster if we no longer fight sin, but live in it. It is a sign that one has lost his salvation; a major fruit that one has lost his personal holiness.
You must understand that those who are not living a holy life by the enabling grace of God have not really met Christ. Or maybe they met Him, but walked away from Him thereafter. They are the ones who believe that they will go to Heaven irrespective of how they live after reciting the sinner’s (poem) prayer.
The truth remains, if we truly met the LORD and walk with him daily, we will be able to live holy lives. The problem is many of us do not walk with Him daily, hence falling back to our sinful ways and believing lies likes the one that person sent to me in the process.
Personal Holiness is a product of a daily walk with Christ, not a weekly, monthly, or annual walk with the LORD. Any day you miss a step, you fall into sin. That is why holiness is not possible without meeting Christ and having His Holy Spirit and Holy word live in you daily.
Personal Holiness is a product of what Christ has done for us.
Indeed, we go to Heaven because of what Christ has done for us. But the question is, what has He done for us? The summary of what He has done is the release of the pardon and power to sin no more. He was made manifest to destroy the penalty, practice and presence of sin in our lives. That is what He has done for us.
The next thing is to come to Him in humility of heart and ask Him to do what He has done for us in us. If we allow what He has done for us to be done in us, we will make Heaven. If we do not, and continue a life of sin because we recited some sinner’s prayer, we are hell bound.
IF WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US IS DONE IN US, WE WILL NOT BE LIVING A LIFE OF SIN BUT A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
That is when we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
You are not the righteousness in Christ Jesus when you fornicate, commit adultery, live like an idolater, or be a homosexual who sings hallelujah in Church. Singing gospel songs does not make you the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Personal Holiness is what makes us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The Bible says,
“ Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,
Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.
And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 AMPC
The last verse of this scripture holds a major dichotomy between those who are truly the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and those who profess to be but by character are not.
When you are not yet washed by the blood of the lamb and enabled by the Spirit and word of truth, through your trust in the LORD as your redemption sacrifice, to lead a holy life, you will be unrighteous; yes, you will naturally be a wrong doer who will not inherit the kingdom of God.
You will be impure and even immoral, or living any other life that will disqualify you for Heaven when you die. Because the Bible says;
“neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homo sexuality, Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.”
YOU WILL BE ONE OF THE GUYS IN THIS CATEGORY, OR EVEN WORSE.
But if you give your life to the LORD, and maintain a daily walk with Him, He will keep you clean and sanctified from what disqualifies people from making Heaven. He will wash, clean, purify and consecrate you by His Holy Spirit.
That will move you from the category of those who will not make Heaven to the category of those who will. That is why the Bible says;
“And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.”
There is so much to glean from this scripture. It shows us some of what Christ has done for us. It tells us that His atoning death on the cross for our sins, purified and made us free from the guilt of sin, it also consecrated or set us apart for Him, pronouncing us righteous before God.
Now this was done for us. Sadly, what people do not understand is, it has to be done in us also. If it is not done in us, we will remain in our old sinful ways and never achieve the personal holiness that Jesus died on the Cross to help us achieve in order to make Heaven.
The question is, how is this achieved in us? It is achieved in us by the power of the Holy Spirit working daily in and through us. It is achieved in us when we allow the grace of God to complete its work in our lives; the work of granting us dominion over sin on daily bases. The work of giving us the pardon and power to go and sin no more. The work of delivering us from the penalty, practice and presence of sin.
We can go on and on, but this is just a devotional. I believe the message of the day have been passed. If you want to make Heaven, then walk with Jesus daily and you will achieve personal holiness daily. Personal Holiness, made possible by Christ in us, remains the only sign that tells Heaven that we are saved.
A man or woman of personal holiness will not live in private sins. They will not make sin a sport, and go on believing that what they are doing will not hinder them from making Heaven. They will not live in sin daily. They will strife to live in God daily.
That is why even if they are over taken by sin, they will not sit down there and say to themselves, “it does not matter. This is a mistake. We all make mistakes. Let’s move on.” No! They will sorrow for their sins and seek mercies from the LORD not to go back to it again.
Believers with personal Holiness have the distinguished Character of departing from (instead of dwelling in) iniquity because they carry the name of the LORD. They have the grace from Christ to give up iniquity to protect the name of the LORD in their lives, no matter the cost. And that is a grace you must seek from the LORD and keep if you want to walk in personal holiness.
Our devotional text says,
“But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it.”
LET THIS SCRIPTURAL PASSAGE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY;
“ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also [utensils] of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble [use] and some for menial and ignoble [use].
So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.
Shun youthful lusts and flee from them, and aim at and pursue righteousness (all that is virtuous and good, right living, conformity to the will of God in thought, word, and deed); [and aim at and pursue] faith, love, [and] peace (harmony and concord with others) in fellowship with all [Christians], who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels.” 2 Timothy 2:20-23 AMPC