TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 16TH February 2022)
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 47TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
God has been mindful of us that is why we are here today. He has been amazingly amazing in His works. Indeed, His Spirit has made us and His breath gives us life.
We give Him glory for another day. Day unto day we are marching closer and closer to our end of days. Yes, its not just the consummation of all things that we are marching towards, but the end of our individual days. Many do not realize that each day reduces the number of days God has assigned each and every one of us to live on earth. Each day gets us closer and closer to our individual final days on earth.
God’s ultimate purpose is to get each and every human on earth prepared and ready for their final days. And you are not ready except you establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then spend your days doing His blessed will and serving His eternal purposes.
If you do not do that, and you get to the end of your days on earth, you will realize that your life was worth nothing doing your own thing. But your heart told you it worth everything. There is a way the heart deceives us to believe things that are eternally destructive. But when we get to our moments of Truth, we realize how wrong we had lived our lives.
One may be wondering, how we come into reality only in our moment of truth; few minutes or second to death? The reason is simple!
The things that happen every day in our world puts veils in our hearts not be sensitive to these matters of eternal destiny. They cloud our minds not to know what we should know and only open the veil to us at our departure from the earth, which most times becomes too late for any change.
Our devotional text tells us of a woman whose trouble and focus in prayer was to be avenged her enemies. This has become the prayer goal of many in Church today, but it can be risky because Jesus said, “if the son of man comes, in moments when we are all asking for Heaven to get justice for us” will He find faith on earth?
In as much as it is good to ask for justice from GOD on our prayer knee when we need it, getting obsessed with it has a way of clouding our minds to the things that would really matter when we get to the next life. The faith that is required today is a faith anchored on revelation knowledge of life after this life.
A FAITH OR A FEAR WILL COME OUT OF YOU IF YOU SEE WHAT YOUR ETERNAL FUTURE LOOK LIKE
In other words, if you believe that you will make Heaven, let it not be based on what the pastor said to you or what you said to yourself. Let it be based on a prophetic gaze from the Holy Spirit and GOD’s Holy words into your eternal future, against the background of how you are living in the present.
If you are not living right a fear will come out of you when you think of eternity, but if you are living right a faith will come out of you when you think or eternity. That is who it works! The reason why many do not want to think about eternity and why many preachers do not even want to talk about it is lifestyles. Many are living very sinful lifestyles.
It is a present lifestyle that tells us how an eternal future will look like for someone. In other words, your present lifestyle holds the revelation of the eternal future that awaits you not your prayers, fasting, giving, church attendance or services in in the kingdom, as good as all that is.
The Bible described certain life styles and tells us how the eternal future of those with such lifestyles will look like. They could be popes, reverend fathers, pastors, bishops, apostle of street criminals. It says;
“Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom.
A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11 The Message
From this scripture it’s clear that the eternal future of those who are unjust, who abuse each other, use and abuse sex, is bleak. They may be anointed prophets or prophetesses. A lot of us claim to have been cleansed and removed from this list of lifestyles that does not qualify any for Heaven or the coming kingdom of GOD, but in our private lives, we still live such lives.
THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION, A MORE ACCURATE RENDERING, PUTS THE SAME SCRIPTURE THIS WAY;
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV
The lifestyles described in this scripture, that holds a terrible eternal future for anyone, are Fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality or lesbianism. The lifestyle described as Sodomites, the life of stealing or being covetous, the lifestyle of drunkenness, reviling or extortion. There are others in other scriptures.
The Bible warn that those of us who live this kind of lives have a very terrible eternal future. We may be preachers or faithful church members. You may be wondering why I am mentioned popes or pastors in this. The reason is simple!
Many of us in ministry do not know that our making Heaven is not dependent on our titles or works in ministry but in how we live our private or personal lives. If our private lives are brought to public scrutiny and placed side by side these scriptures, many people will be shocked at how Heaven unworthy we are.
If you ask me, I will say, the best knowledge to have daily is the knowledge of what our lives will turn out in the next life if we are to die at the moment! The knowledge of what you will know about your eternal destiny if you were few minutes or seconds away from slipping into the next life. In other words, the knowledge of how things will turn out with you after death.
It is not good to walk in assumptions and false hopes, or assurances from our deceitful hearts or preachers who want us to feel good on things like these.
I remember a lady in Church many years ago, who was not taught about sexual sins and its eternal consequences. She was made to believe that after reciting the sinner’s prayer, you are saved and no sin you commit will stand against you in the day of judgment because Jesus paid it all.
THEN ONE DAY SHE DIED BUT OUT OF MERCY SHE RETURNED.
She never needed a Takim to tell her not to return to that Church. By virtue of her encounter she never went back to the Church. She started warning all who cared to listen to stay away form such preachers and churches because she was about being thrown into hell, despite her involvement in Church, but for the intercessions of her faithful mother.
The best revelation to live with is the revelation of how things will turn out with you when you slip out of this world.
Sadly, many of us do not have it, hence living careless lives. A little gaze into how things will turn out with you in the next life, will help you live right without any encouragement from a preacher. It will take you away from wrong Churches and preachers. It will take you away from illegal joining and all that will spell doom to you eternally.
Oh, how we need the revelation! Beautifully, prayer has a way of bringing us to the realm of knowing these things, if our hearts are right and if we have the hunger for them.
Prayer is Heaven’s way of helping us know about our eternal destiny. I have come to realize that if you will make Heaven, Heaven will be close to you in prayer, if you will not, it will be far. That is why, you will find out that as soon as you sin against GOD, it becomes impossible to sense Heaven in prayer.
This 28 day that we have been set aside to kindle or increase our prayer fire, we must become serious with prayers and start using it to seek the LORD for the revelation of any wicked ways in us so that we can be led to GOD’s everlasting ways!
It is my prayer that God will use this word to build us up and give us an inheritance among they that are sanctified!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 NKJV