TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 6TH March 2022)
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [g]says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 65TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
The LORD God has been mindful of us! We give Him all the glory. It is His presence that has made our presence meaningful on earth. Our presence alone is not enough without His presence in our lives. To make sure His presence is in our lives, is one of the reasons for these devotionals.
He has been faithful in sending words that are capable of bringing and structuring us for His presence. All that is needed from us is accurate response so that we can see all that His presence can offer made manifest in our lives. May the spirit of doing His word accompany the spirit of Hearing His word in Jesus precious name. Amen!
Today is the 6th day of our 31-day journey. God has another dimension of knowledge to impart into us in our quest for consecrated Christian living. We will therefore pick up from the flow of yesterday, which is the salvation of the soul.
Our devotional text today is one scripture that many have never and may never want to set their eyes upon because of the truth and direct message it holds. It is not a palatable scripture for those of us who gave our lives to Christ with one hand and took it back with another.
I read books of some who call themselves great theologians and found how they twisted it to fit their narrative Of God’s love and mercy. It is one scripture that have been misinterpreted severally by those who call themselves theologians, adding their own idea to God’s idea.
I heard one saying the writer was referring to animal sacrifices. He said salvation is by faith, that you just have to believe and you will be saved, which is true.
BUT HE ADDED THAT THE PART OF THE SCRIPTURE THAT SAYS,
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries”
was not referring to adultery, fornication or any sin at all. That, it was referring to going back to animals sacrifices after you have believed that the death of Jesus on the Cross has set you free.
This was the part in his preaching that was false. But I believed it in 2001 and became free.
You know the kind of freedom to sin that you obtain when scriptures are twisted to you. Yes, I became free from the restrictions of the almighty. Free from the restraining power of the Holy Spirit that was governing my life and helping me lead a righteous life.
I think we need to share some truths about this infectious freedom that many ‘enjoy’ today in Christ. It is a kind of freedom that Satan promised Eve that led to the fall of man. It is freedom form the restrictions of Bible truth.
Sadly, so many today are under this kind of freedom, that is why no matter how you pray for them, when in need of a breakthrough, they cannot be free from the works of the devil because they have been made free from the restrictions of the almighty that would have positioned them for the breakthroughs, through twisted scriptures.
In other words, they have been made free to live lawless lives hence cannot be free from the captivity of darkness. If you ask me, I will say I do not want that kind of freedom because it ruined my life for nine years. It gave me the hardness of heart to live in sin without fear of its consequences.
Living in sin without fear of its consequences, is like swimming in a pool of sulfuric acid with a mindset that tells you, there will be no harm on your skin, and even if there is, you can go to the hospital and get your skin back. It is a damnable insanity!
The blind way to go to hell is to be ignorant of or develop a hardness of heart towards the consequences of sin. It is to tell yourself “sin has no dominion over you” and then be living in all kinds of sins that your flesh leads you to. That is how people march to hell in excitement in life. And Satan want to put us all in spiritual formats, where we live in sin like the lost world, and have no heart for its consequences.
SADLY, SO MANY ARE ALREADY IN THAT FORMAT.
That is why God sent this 31-day trip to bring us out and help us build a stronghold that will protect us from such spiritual decay.
So, when scriptures like the one of our devotional text that is straight forward are twisted, the agenda is to establish our hands in iniquity and become willful sinners. That scripture explains the terrible consequences of being a willful sinner; one who knows that what they are doing is wrong and still go one doing them despite divine warnings. It will get to a point that by our actions, we will be crucifying Christ again and again.
One of the major causes of all that is lack of the sanctification of the soul. It is therefore very important that we keep striving for the saving, sanctification or salvation of the soul. When the soul is sanctified, such eternally damnable living like willful sins, will be eliminated. Holiness will become the life style of our lives.
That brings us to certain truths about the sanctification of the soul. In the school of Righteousness, Purity and Holiness, there are five faculties of the soul that needs to be sanctified. These faculties are can also be called soul departments. We are going to examine them one after the other until they are exhausted.
The faculty of imagination is the first on my list. Imagination have been described as the part of the soul that operates as the faculty that forms new ideas, images, or concepts of external objects that are not present to the senses.
This faculty of the soul can be a tool for great achievements in life or great destruction, depending on the spirit (influential supernatural breath) or impurity that lies within it. If we allow what is not God’s accurate will to occupy our imaginations, we will do things that God will not bless but will allow time and elements to destroy.
MOST EVENTS THAT TAKES PLACE IN A HUMAN LIFE, ARE AS A RESULT OF WHAT EXIST IN THE IMAGINATION.
The imagination must be sanctified because we cannot live a holy life that does not exist in our imagination. Sound doctrines and teachings on Righteousness, Purity and Holiness will create holy images, concepts, ideas, and etc. to enable holy living. That is how powerful our imaginations are!
The first-time man’s imagination was put to its perfect use was in the naming of the animals in the garden of Eden. It was a combination of the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul of Adam and the power of His imagination that helped him to give names to all the animals without repeating a name. The Bible says;
“And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:19-20 AKJV
If you will succeed in life, your imagination must be taken into consideration. If you want to lead a consecrated Christian life, there must be an image or concept in your imagination to propel or keep you motivated. This is where we need holy, pure and righteous authorities over our lives; most of it is to give us someone who can become an image in our imagination; and image of who GOD wants us to be.
IF THIS DOES NOT EXIST, MAKING IT TO CONSECRATED LIVING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE.
In the days of Nimrod, their imagination was used as a tool to go against God’s vision, direction, tradition or idea for them. Sadly, we still do that today!
The Bible made it clear that while God wanted them to be fruitful, fill the whole earth with mankind, and multiply it, they decided to build a tower, whose top will reach Heaven so that they will not be scattered.
They used their imaginations to frustrate the plan of GOD for their lives. God Himself said, “nothing that they imagined will be restrained from them.” What they constructed became a dwelling place of the spirit of wickedness that ruled in ancient times. God had to over throw it.
It may interest you to know that it is the things we used our imagination to create that latter becomes our practice in life.
Sexual sins, for instance, cannot be committed until our imaginations have created the images, ideas or concept that are related to who we desire to sleep with. Someone said, “the biggest sex organ is not between our legs but between our shoulder.” And I agree with him completely.
The vain imaginations within us, are responsible for the sinful lives many of us live. May the LORD overthrow everything we have imagined that is not letting us lead a consecrated Christian life, amen and amen. Concerning the generation of Noah, the Bible says;
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. o the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Therefore, is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:4-9 AKJV
One major truth to glean from here is the truth that God cannot stop us from doing whatever we have imagined to do. That is why none of us should ever blame GOD for anything in our lives because we engaged a force that He cannot stop; the power of our imagination. Someone said it is the strongest nation on earth.
If you imagine to steal that treasure, sleep with that man or woman, take that drug or tell that lie, GOD cannot stop you. Only you can stop you.
Anything we engage our imagination to do cannot be stopped by the LORD. He can stop the outcome. That is why in a bid to destroy us, Satan will fill our imagination with what to imagine by talking the way He spoke to Eve. Do not forget, after Satan was through speaking, he kept quiet for the imagination of Eve to speak to her, created by what the enemy had already said. The result was devastating.
If your imagination is corrupt, you do not need a devil to make you sin, you have enough resources in you to lead a sinful life. Willful sins are partly products of imagination. You can not be holier than your imagination, and you cannot be purer than the purity of your imagination. That is why the sanctification of the soul is a necessity for leading a righteous, pure and holy life.
I think enough have been shared today. Join me tomorrow for more on this subject!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:35-39 NKJV