TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 18TH MAY 2022)
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the Youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 138TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
We bless the LORD almighty for giving us life and keeping us alive for another day. I have always said that we should not take being alive for even one hour for granted. Many who are dead where even better than us. Besides, scientifically, it is not cheap to be alive even for 30 minutes. Go ask those who are on life support and see how much is being spent to keep them alive.
So, we may not have food to eat, money to spend, Children to call our own, or a husband or wife, we should not allow those things to steal our gratitude to God for keeping you alive. Yes, do not allow your not having a child, a marriage, a job, a flourishing business, a family, a place to stay or people to care for you to steal your gratitude to GOD for keeping you alive.
Anything that will cease being important when we close our eyes in death should not take the chief focus of our lives. That is one of the golden rules of practical Christianity. Remember, today is the 18th day of our 31-day journey with the cry of the Spirit on practical Christianity. The golden rule can also be called the principle of spiritual pilgrimage or temporary residency on earth. The Bible says,
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.” Psalm 84:5-7 NKJV
If your heart is set on pilgrimage, you will lead a life that says “whatever will cease being important to me when I close my eyes in death should not be my chief focus in life.” This scripture says such living will result in a peaceful and blessed life on earth.
It will even bring one to the place of touching the powers of the age to come and generate so much spiritual energy in this age, that can even turn the valleys to Baca into a pools of blessings.
THE WORD VALLEY OF BACA IN THIS SCRIPTURE MEANS VALLEY OF WEEPING.
Setting your heart on pilgrimage gives you the power to turn the valley of weeping in your life or in the lives of others into pools of blessing. That is why it pays to led a practical Christian life guided by this golden rule – the golden rule of temporary residency.
It will make sure nothing steals your joy or gratitude to GOD. That was why the early believers were able to praise God and glorify Him even in the midst of intense adversity and sorrow. They were able to count it all joy when they fell into fiery trials.
Not having money, husband, wife, children or any of the earthly blessings was not a thing of concern in their lives. Some who had, even traded the joy of having those things for the LORD, by loving Him more than they all.
So, the earthly was not a thing of concern to them. Having children or any other earthly blessing was not their main thrust for living. Keeping their relationship with God intact and birthing spiritual children by getting souls saved and serving GOD with their lives, was what occupied their hearts!
They were pilgrims and that is what Christianity is; I mean practical Christianity. It is the life of a pilgrim on the face of the earth; one who is passing through.
A pilgrim is a temporary resident, or an alien. In Kenya and everywhere in the world, foreigners who are working are given alien cards. We are alien to the country that we live in, according to our immigration status. We are pilgrims or temporary residents. That controls so much we do and make sure there is so much we cannot do.
As a foreigner you are not as free to do anything you want like the citizens of the country of your residences. For instance, You cannot vote or be voted for, you cannot own certain properties and fight for what citizens fight for. You are temporary because you are not of the nation you live in. In fact, you pay for living in that but citizen do not.
In the same way, Jesus said those of us who are saved are not of this world. There are things we should never own. We should not develop earthly prosperity attachments that will destroy our eternal relevance like the rich fool. We should pay the price of living in a world that is not our own. And that price is practical Christianity, it is being the pilgrims that we are, by salvation status.
EVERYONE WHO EVER WALKED WITH GOD PAID THE PRICE OF BEING IN A WORLD THAT WAS NOT THEIR OWN.
Even father Abraham did. The Bible says;
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrew 11:8-10 NKJV
The first price we see Abraham pay here is the price of living his father’s house to a land God will show him. In case you are interested in truth I want to submit to you that the land God showed Abraham was not physical. It was not the natural lands of Canaan and all the surrounding nations as it were.
Yes, God showed him some physical lands, but they were a physical pointer to something eternal. That thing is the new Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven in the new heaven and the new earth of the millennium reign to the same places GOD showed him. That was what Abraham actually looked forward to when he left his father’s house understanding his pilgrimage on earth and living in tents.
When you see the age to come, you will fully understand that you are a pilgrim in this age. You will become part of the generation that spend their days waiting upon the LORD!
Our devotional text says;
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the Youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WAIT UPON THE LORD FOR EARTHLY THINGS. BUT THERE IS A GENERATION OF BELIEVERS THAT DOES NOT.
They wait upon the LORD for Heavenly things. They wait upon the LORD like pilgrims not as permanent residents of this world, controlled by lust and pride, who will pass away when the world passes away. They wait upon the LORD because they love the world and the things in it and want the LORD to give them those things.
That is why to them, waiting upon the LORD is fasting and praying for an earthly thing to be granted to them by the LORD. But to practical Christians, that is not what waiting upon the LORD is. It is much deeper than that.
For them, as pilgrims on earth (people whose hearts are set on pilgrimage), waiting upon the LORD is different by purpose and practice. By purpose they wait upon the LORD for Heavenly things to be granted them, and by practice, it is not always a one time fasting and prayer.
They spend their days expecting His return, looking for the release of their divine destinies, and hoping in the LORD by submitting to His will and His ways, and being at his beck and call. That is how their strength is renewed, day by day, and that is how they mount up with wings as eagles, or lift up their wings close to GOD as eagles mount up to the sun. That is how they run and not grow weary, and they walk but do not faint.
The amplified version of that scriptural verse puts it this way.
“ But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” Isaiah 40:31 AMPC
Yes, Abraham waited upon the LORD. He left his father’s house (which to us today means a flesh led life) for a land God later showed him, as the New Jerusalem. He left waiting upon the LORD for it.
THE BIBLE CALLS IT “THE CITY WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD.”
In other words, he spent His days as a pilgrim on earth, waiting upon the LORD for “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” He was not waiting for the earthly like many Christians do today. He was waiting for the Heavenly like Christian pilgrims of every generation have done.
I reiterate again that the father’s house for you and I is the flesh, the house of Adam. Do not forget, Adam is our natural source or father. In new testament terms, Abraham leaving his father’s house means Abraham departing from a flesh led life to a Spirit led life. And there is a pattern there for us.
Our pilgrimage on earth does not begin when we are born naturally. It begins when we are born spiritually. It begins when we are born again. Born again is an encounter that leads to a complete departure from our father’s house – the flesh.
So, our spiritual pilgrimage begins when we depart from a flesh led life and embrace a Spirit (of truth) led life. It is one of the prices we pay as pilgrims on earth. Romans 12:1-2 calls it “offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service or least requirement from God.”
And Why is it the least thing God expects from us?
You see, there are people who paid greater prices to live as pilgrims on earth. It is not cheap to be a Christian pilgrim on the earth as we know it my friend. That is why very few are. It will cost you so much. The people paid the price of intense persecution and death. The Bible says;
“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrew 11:37-38 NKJV
The most beautiful line in this verse in my opinion is the line that said “of whom the world was not worthy.” That will be the same testimony you will earn if you led the practical Christian life they lived, the life of a pilgrim. It will cost you so much but also bless you with so much in the next life.
AS WE BRING THIS TO A CLOSE, I WANT TO SUBMIT TO US THAT PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY INVOLVES BEING A PILGRIM IN THIS WORLD.
We are not to spend our days setting our hearts on earthly things because pilgrims do not do that. We are not to spend our days getting worried of what we have or do not have pilgrimage not do that. We are to spend our days waiting upon the LORD for the city whose has foundations, whose maker and builder is GOD.
We must understand our call.
We are called to be pilgrims in this world. A Christian pilgrim will never pursue his own goal. He will pursue the goal of the place He will go to when he or she dies. He will never live the pattern of life of an age that is passing away – the sin age. He will lead the pattern of life of the age to come – an age where righteousness dwells.
I studied the lives of some believers who were here on earth before us and discovered that it was the very rule that guided their lives all the days the LORD gave them.
I saw them not developing earthly attachments that ruins eternal relevance. Some did not even get married or bear children. They just spent their entire lives living for the LORD, serving their generation according to His will and bearing spiritual children for the coming kingdom of GOD.
In the next life, they will be more blessed than many of us who developed earthly attachments that are even threatening our eternal destiny.
Let me remind us that Jesus never married because He mission had no place for such earthly attachment. He never wedded anyone even when He attended a wedding ceremony in Cana of Galilee. I never saw where he conducted a funeral. Those where earthly attachments that would have threatened his divine destiny. He said to someone who wanted to develop that kind of earthly attachment “let the dead burry the dead”
Many of us today are in earthly attachments that are threatening our destinies. We must ask the LORD to help us to recognize them, and then do what He wants done with them.
But do not forget that you will never recognize an earthly attachment that is threatening your destiny until you have a full revelation of what your divine destiny is – the details of what it is. If you do not know the details yet, do not do something stupid! You may detach from something or someone that is part of your destiny.
The principle of watching against earthly attachments has been from the book if Genesis. Even under the law God did not allow people of destiny to develop earthly attachments that will be a threat to His purposes for their lives. He told the Israelites not to marry from Godless nations. He told the high priests to marry once in a life time, and he specified to them who they were to marry.
These are things that our generation should always look into so that it will not lose out in the next life.
May the LORD deliver is from earthly attachments that are threatening out eternal destinies ion Jesus precious name. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.” Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NKJV