TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 15TH JULY 2022)
Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. Genesis 18:16-22 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 196TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. The LORD God has kept us alive again. One more time He has not dealt with us according to our sins. He has dealt with us according to His mercies.
Indeed, our God is good and His mercies endures forever. There is no God like this God, who knows our pains and feels them more than we do.
One major desire He has for us is to get our lives filled with His peace and blessings, then have us offer them as a sweet smelling savour on the altar of His will, plans and purposes for our lives. This has nothing to do with the money-making doctrine of raising altars.
In simple terms, God blesses us so we can do His will for the end time; which is converting the kingdoms of this world into that of God and of His Christ.
We are on a 31-Day journey with the Cry of the Spirit on miracles, signs and wonders, and God has been opening our hearts to truth dimension on the subject.
Yesterday we saw one class of miracles from God’s Throne that are not redemptive in nature. We called them correctional miracles; God’s miraculous move that are aimed at paralyzing the arrogance of the proud or restoring morality to an individual, family, Church or a nation.
This class of miracles can also be called correctional judgment miracles or miracles of correctional Judgments. The vision is usually to teach men righteousness through divine blows that are miraculous in nature.
The Bible says;
“With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.” Isaiah 26:9-10NKJV
This scripture holds two major truths about God’s justice system. The first, as earlier stated, is the reason for miracles that are sent to execute correctional judgment; which is to teach men righteousness.
IF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT LEARNED, RIGHTEOUSNESS CANNOT BE LIVED.
That is why Jesus made teaching men righteousness the primary purpose of discipleship. The Bible says;
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
The things that He commanded are righteous deeds. The true church is under command by the LORD to immerse or Baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost by teaching them righteousness. But many have reduced it to mare water Baptism.
There are three kinds of Baptisms in God’s kingdom. We have Water Baptism, Holy Ghost Baptism and Fire Baptism. Each has its purpose and impact. If you are a Bible student, you will realize that it is Holy Ghost and Fire Baptism that qualifies one for Heaven, not water Baptism.
Now, once we are taught properly the things (righteous life) that Jesus commanded, and observe them, we will come to the place of experiencing the Baptisms that qualifies for Heaven regularly. We will lead righteous lives that are divinely enabled by the Holy Spirit and God Holy truths on daily bases.
We will become promoters of righteousness on earth. So, from this scripture, it is clear that the only peaceful way to learn righteousness is to sit down and be taught, be disciples or trained in the word of truth and righteousness.
Sadly, what the Church lack today are preachers who can do this. We lack spiritual leaders who can teach, disciple or train people in righteousness that is why sin has been normalized among us.
Now, there are seasons when sitting people down to cause them to hear the word of the LORD so they may live right does not work. Yes, true and strong discipleship has not worked for some because of the nature of men’s heart.
If you know the nature of human hearts, you will realize that there are people who will never respond to the word of God no matter what ways or how loving and kind He sends the word to them, and no matter how much His servants or people pray for them.
NO MATTER THE PEACEFUL WAYS HE CHOOSES IN SENDING HIS WORD TO THEM, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL NEVER RESPOND TO THE LORD…
That is why the Bible says;
“Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.” Isaiah 26:10 NKJV
When God’s peaceful way of learning righteousness is rejected and resisted, wickedness will spring forth from the earth. That is when God’s blows will be sent in form of correctional miracles or miracles of correctional judgment to curtail it.
This tells us that people are the ones who do things that usher in these kinds of miracles into their lives, nations, families or region when they do not heed the word of the LORD over time.
Miraculous moves of God of this category are sent to neutralize rebellion in ungodly nations, families, people, or individuals.
And it may interest you to know that God is still the judge of the earth and has a History of eliminating or regulating wickedness in order to strengthen or establish righteousness through global, regional, or national correctional judgments.
God does not just have a History of eliminating wickedness through correctional judgments, He has the nature that does that being a just and righteous judge.
In other words, He does that by nature to keep the earth from being overrun by wickedness. If you read the Bible you will see how even entire cities and nations were wiped away to eliminate wickedness.
One of the correctional miracles or miracles of correctional judgment in the Bible was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our devotional text presented how God sort to even prevent it from happening. It says;
Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
And the LORD said,
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. Genesis 18:16-22 NKJV
IF YOU READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER YOU WILL REALIZE THAT ABRAHAM STOOD BEFORE HIM TO INTERCEDE, AND WE WILL COME TO THAT.
Because many do not really understand what it means to intercede. They take interception to be intercession that is why the lives of most intercessions are always under spiritual attacks.
Intercession is not interception. If you make it interception, you could die before your time; you will open your life to dark powers that you cannot withstand, ruining your marriage, finances, health and sometimes bringing death upon you.
So many intercessors live inglorious lives because of that. And they take it as counter attacks. But the Bible says we shall tread upon serpents and scorpions and nothing shall by any means hurt us. Abraham never intercepted God, he only stood before Him to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah.
It is important to note that One major reason, God visited Abraham physically that day was to intimate Him of His plans and activate an intercessory spirit. That is why the LORD God does nothing except, He reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets. The primary purpose is to bring them to the place of standing in the gap.
Now, how do we stand in the gap? As one who has raised prayer teams and organised prayer schools it is important that I tell you that. It took me years to understand how to stand in the gap because I was following what I learned from the evangelists of our days.
As we continue growing and making mistakes, we came to understand that there is only one way we stand in the gap to prevent the miracle of correctional judgments from hitting people; that way is by sending warnings to them while interceding for them. Any other way will not be intercession but interception.
You see this pattern in Abraham standing before God and angels sent by God to the cities of His attention; the cities Abraham stood before God for.
A generation that will not heed divine warnings will receive divine blows at the end. There are no two ways about it. Sometimes people forget this tough side of God’s love because of the preaching of the adulterated gospel of grace.
We concluded yesterday’s devotional by saying “God’s thoughts for us are thoughts of peace and not evil, to give us a future and a hope. But it all depends on how we treat Him, His words and His ways!”
But today we are showing us what happens when we maltreat or ill-treat His words and ways. We are showing us how to live a life that will be filled with His blessings instead of His blows.
AND IT IS VERY SIMPLE; JUST LEARN TO HEED TO HIS WARNINGS.
If we do not heed God’s warnings that comes to us through His word, the Bible, or through His teaching apostles and prophets, or fellow believers who have a higher altitude in the spirit, so long as scriptural understanding is concern (not prophetic witches and wizards who bring visions to you), we will usher in miracles of correctional judgments into our lives.
One way to live a life that will be full of God’s blessings instead of His blows, is to be submissive to His will, His word and His ways at all times. It is to be willing and obedient at all times. Not obedient to the word of some prophets out there, but the written word of the LORD in the Holy Scriptures.
I believe the LORD has spoken to us this morning. May His mercies remain forever in our lives. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 1:16-20 NKJV