TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER 2022)
“Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 260TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
The LORD our God is mighty. He has proven Himself in our lives again to be so, and has shown that He is dependable GOD; a Tabernacle that cannot be pulled down either by time or its elements.
He remains ever great, ever loving, ever powerful, ever graceful, ever amazing, ever beautiful in all situations, ever glorious, ever excellent, ever faithful, ever Holy, ever worthy of our worship, ever eternal because He lives in eternity and stands there to influence our lives in time.
He revives the contrite and humble in spirit thereby making us ever victorious in battle. He remains GOD! No wonder the Bible says;
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15 NKJV
It is the measures of revival that our God have been sending into our hearts that have kept us. He has a History pf reviving the hearts of the contrite ones.
To be contrite is a hallmark of humility. It is feeling sorrow and remorse for improper behavior or actions. It is a beautiful trait of genuine repentance. However, one can be contrite when seeking forgiveness one can also be contrite for what he may have done and obtained forgiveness for, so that he will sin no more.
I guess that was the state Paul was when he called his sanctified self “chief sinner.” He was maintaining a high life of holiness when he made the statement.
For many years in the Pentecostal church in Kenya, preachers have been shouting revival, some have even said the visit of certain preachers to the country was a revival.
BUT REVIVAL IS FOR THE CONTRITE HEARTS.
It is not sparked by a meeting but by a constant outpouring of GOD on people who have found a peg in the Holy place. It leads to reforms.
People with contrite hearts like Paul do not need Revival, because they already have it; their faith position makes it impossible for them to lack the revival fire. The lead lives that puts them in a position where they are always flowing in the revival fire, bringing restoration to lives they come in contact with.
God will always send measures of revival to His contrite ones.
He will always exalt the humble and keep them exalted by keeping them aflame in the Holy Spirit. They will not be among those going about shouting “revival.” They will be among those diffusing the knowledge of Christ among the perishing and among those who are being saved.
They will be part of the company of those with the voice of the LORD in their voices, thereby having the capacity to cause those who are death in Spirit to hear it and live. Our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ said;
“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” John 5:25 NKJV
The preaching of the gospel ought to be the transfer of the voice of Christ from the Throne room to the throne of the hearts of the lost in other to bring genuine salvation to them. That is why every believer ought to be part of the army of the LORD that is aflame in the Spirit.
If you are aflame in the Spirit, you will be a carrier of God’s voice and will be able to cause those who hear you to come back to life – in other words to come alive in the Spirit.
If you look at the Church of late, there is a lot of riches, fame and earthly relevance because of what man call “prosperity” but morally the church is sick like one of the Churches in Revelation 3. That is why we have not been able to carry the life-giving word of the LORD to the dying world.
God wants each believer to lead a life that will keep him or her aflame in the Spirit at all times.
BUT SO MANY EVEN IN OUR HOLY HALLS ARE STILL DEAD IN SPIRIT.
They need to hear the voice of the son of man in your voice so that they can come alive in the Spirit. They need to receive measures of revival from the LORD through your voice so that they can become alive in Christ and live the blessed life.
We have a mandate as the Body of Christ. We are to save the world from going to hell but the gates of hell among seems to have successfully taken away the very fire we need to do that.
Today, church members are the ones going about looking for deliverance from demons, curses, poverty and all that. Those who claim born again are the ones looking for deliverance from this spirit and that spirit. How can you be born again and still be looking for deliverance? It is either you do not understand what born again is or you are an impostor.
No born-again people look for deliverance because salvation is deliverance.
Salvation experience will roll away the reproach of Egypt from your life, making it impossible for you to be oppressed if you keep living the new life. The world should be the one looking for deliverance while the born-again in Christ deliver them. Until we come to that level of perfection, we will remain under the chains of the powers of darkness.
But come to think of it, why is the Church the one looking for deliverance from God instead of the world meeting us for deliverance? The reason remains, many we call born again are not. Sadly, even among us preachers.
Taking the recitation of the sinner’s prayer as born again is one of the greatest evangelistic deception in Church today. That is why many have an assurance of a salvation they do not have.
There are so many we call born again who have not yet been integrated into the body of Christ in the spirit. They have been accepted as members of churches, some even ordained into ministry but they are not yet members of the body of Christ.
YOU WILL BE SUFFERING WHAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE SUFFERING IF YOU HAVE NOT YET BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST.
You could be a preacher, a miracle worker and a wonder producer, if you have not been integrated into the body of Christ, you will be suffering what the world should be suffering.
When you are integrated you will lead a Christian life that is crucified. A crucified life cannot be oppressed by any devil. It cannot suffer what the world is suffering.
A crucified life is always moving in the power and flames of the Holy Spirit. It moves beyond the anointing, and we must understand that.
You can be anointed yet not leading a Crucified life.
For instance, if you see any powerful preacher whose character do not match the character of Christ, especially in integrity and moral matters, you have seen an anointed person who is not leading a crucified life. When he or she begins to lead a crucified life, they will begin to move in the glory not just the anointing.
The glory is what transforms the moral nature of those around you as a preacher. Meaning, if your moral nature has not been transformed as a church member, despite your commitment to the LORD and pure motives for following Him, you are around an anointed person who is not living a crucified life.
When a preacher lives a Crucified life, lesbians can be transformed by his ministry, gays can be free from their abominable acts, the sexual immoral will be delivered, those held down by one chain or the other will be miraculously set free from their sinful habits.
Drug addicts will be delivered without a counseling session.
It is therefore important to understand the difference between the anointing and the glory. Sadly, the many religious veils in the hearts of believers today will not let them spot the difference. That’s why they call the anointing the glory. But a part of our devotional text says “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
How many have turned to the true LORD in our Churches today? Very few! That is why we still have veils on our minds and hearts.
With the veils in our hearts we will not stop calling the olive oil the symbol of the Holy Spirit. We will not stop using shadows. The veils will hinder us from pressing into the substance, which is Christ.
We will keep doing the Moses things and preventing the glory from transforming our moral nature.
WE WILL BE CAMPING AROUND THE ANOINTING THAT DOES NOT TRANSFORM PEOPLE’S MORAL LIVES.
Yes, the anointing breaks the yoke of the devil but it will take the glory to transform your moral life. We must learn to spot the difference between the anointing and the glory.
If you do not know how to spot the difference between the anointing and the glory, you will remain with anointed preachers who are not living the crucified life, hence not being transformed to the image of Christ, consequently dying and going to hell.
The rest of our devotional text says;
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NKJV
The Crucified life is the key to the manifestation of the glory in the lives of others; the glory that transforms us into the image of Christ from glory to glory.
Paul died daily so that those around him could experience the glory and be transformed to the image of Christ. He showed us that the Crucified life is a life of dying daily.
Which brings us to the focus of our 30-day journey of faith, the Cry of the Spirit on Biblical fasting. You can not die daily without biblical fasting.
Like stated in previous devotionals, genuine fasting is a death, burial and resurrection service. It is a dying to the flesh, a burial of the carnal nature, and a resurrection of the Christ life. It is a fruit of the crucified life. That was why our Bible fathers changed their world with their fast.
Now, let me make something clear; not all fasting are fruits of the Crucified life. The Pharisees fasted but never lead the Crucified life. They rather crucified Christ. So not all fasting is a fruit of the crucified life.
There are Christians today who fast but are not leading the Crucified life. They are rather crucifying Christ the second time by their behavior. They fast but deliberately and willingly live in sin despite their fast, they fast but insult the spirit of grace by their conduct, and trample the son of God underfoot by the crafty, immoral and deceitful lives they live despite their fast.
That kind of a fast is not the fruit of a Crucified life.
IT IS THE FRUIT OF AN UN-REGENERATED HEART COVERED WITH THE BLANKET OF RELIGION.
The Bible says
“For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward].
[There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God].
Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? Hebrews 6:26-29 AMPC
There is no one who engages in genuine fasting that do not move in the flames of the glory of the LORD, live a holy life, and bring transformation to the moral lives around. The authentic change agents in God’s kingdom are those the LORD is using to transform the moral lives of people.
Oh yes, the crucified life will be miraculously used to transform the moral live of men and women.
As we bring this to a close, I want to admonish my colleagues, members of the clergy, to embrace the Crucified life, so that we can all bring moral transformation to the lives around us. God is watching and will bring everything we are doing into judgment.
And to the laity, I want to say, sitting under members of the clergy who are leading the Crucified life is the best thing that will ever happen to your Christian life. It may not be easy because they will do and say things that are not comfortable to a life that is carnal and flesh driven but it is a necessity.
They will create sparks because they will never call sin weakness or say “no one is perfect.” The holiness of God oozing out of their lives, and the flames of the Spirit they move in will always keep you on your toes, so long as making Heaven is concern. I sat under them and know what I am stating here.
It is my prayer that the LORD will use these truths to add to the building blocks of our faith and make us what He wants us to be in Jesus precious name. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
[Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.] Galatians 2:20-21 AMPC