TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2022)
“That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.
Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.
One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.” Isaiah 37:36-38 NLT
WELCOME TO THE 269TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
Steadily and surely, we are moving closer and closer to the consummation of things. As our days are rolling by, our ages are also depleting. In other words, the years appointed for each and every one of us to be alive are reducing drastically.
If there is anything you need to do with your life, please do it now because moments are passing. Schedule or program your life quickly so that you can make proper use of each day that passes, but do that within God’s plan, vision, or purpose for it. It was Paul the apostle that says;
“…my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Acts 20:24 NLT
Paul knew that the only way to live a worthy or valuable life on the face of the earth is to spend it doing or finishing what God assigned you to do.
Using each day of our lives to fulfill GOD’s assignment for it in any capacity in His kingdom is what adds value to our lives on earth; it does it in proportions that can amaze you. That is why we must schedule or program our life for proper daily living.
In other words, we should make sure each day is used to do one little thing that aligns with God’s assignment for our lives. To schedule and program our lives within God’s plan or purpose for them, we must know the work assigned to us by the LORD Jesus.
You see, salvation make us His Sons, but His serving or slave sons.
It takes away the controls of our lives from us and places them on Him. We are to participate in the work of telling others the good News about His wonderful Grace, either as ministers of the gospel in the market place or as facilitators of those whose full-time calling is to preach.
However, none of these will be fruitful and effective if there is no life style of Biblical fasting in our devotion to the LORD.
It is a life style of Biblical fasting that brings us to the place of sensitivity in the spirit, especially if our hearts are constantly exposed to sound teachings, where we can know what the LORD want to do with our lives and program or schedule them accordingly.
Personally, I have come to realize that a life of Biblical fasting and prayer can only be meaningful and beautiful if we are spending each day aligning with God’s plans and purposes for it or doing the work assigned to us by the LORD Jesus.
IT IS MY PRAYER THAT THE LORD WILL FURTHER ESTABLISH US IN THESE TRUTHS IN JESUS PRECIOUS NAME. AMEN.
We have been looking at the Cry of the Spirit on absolute fast; the first kind of Biblical fast we find in the lives of our fathers. We have seen the core truth of absolute fasting and prayer. As we have seen in previous days, absolute fast can be a lethal weapon in our hands if we do it according to scriptural pattern.
Now, the second type of Biblical fasting is partial fast. But before we go into that let us still see some more Bible truths on absolute fast.
It is important to note that the spiritual energies we emit if we live a life of absolute fasting can be so enormous, especially, if we do it at the instance of the glory of GOD like Moses and Christ did.
There are Bible figures that brought so much Heavenly energies down through absolute fast. Hezekiah comes to mind here. The Bible says a powerful king had written letters and spread a misinformation that was threatening to wipe him away and the entire Israel. He responded by declaring a fast, it was an absolute fast.
He did not respond by just rushing to beef up his physical defenses. He responded by rushing to the throne of God for help standing on the threshing floor of absolute fast. How we respond to the enemy is what determines how the battle will turn out. Hezekiah responded well and the battle turned out well for him.
OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS,
“That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.
Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.
One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.” Isaiah 37:36-38 NLT
This great result was not achieved by an arrow shot from the hands of Hezekiah and his army, but from the hands of the LORD and the armies of Heaven. God sent one high ranking Angel to respond to Hezekiah’s cry for help; a cry Hezekiah sent to the LORD through an absolute fast.
The Heavenly energies we bring down when we fast in Bible ways cannot be quantified in human words. The devastating effects on the Kingdom of darkness is always enormous. Absolute fast helps us in pushing back the enemy and stopping him.
This man had boasted of his might to Hezekiah and got the King of Israel stricken with fear. That is what the devil does, which is why the Bible calls him “the roaring lion.” He will roar fear into our hearts, and if we do not know our God, we will fall for it.
Yes, Hezekiah might have feared like every one of us would do, but he responded by seeking the LORD for help, which most of us do not do. The Bible says;
“And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.” Isaiah 37:1 NKJV
The house of God is the place of GOD’s manifest presence. From this scripture, it is clear that Hezekiah responded to the enemy by running into the place of GOD’s manifest presence, fasting and praying for help. It was an absolute fast that brought about the Heavenly force that vanquished the enemy.
HE ALSO HAD THE SPIRITUAL PARTNERSHIP OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET OF GOD BY HIS SIDE.
Everything ended so beautifully because they both sought the LORD for help. An absolute fast in scriptural design will bring so much Heavenly forces down that will amaze you. That is why it is important that we learn to respond to the attacks of the enemy by seeking the LORD through fasting and prayer.
We started this word today by talking about spending each day of our lives doing the work assigned to us by the LORD Jesus. It is important to note that part of the work assigned to us is the work of neutralizing the enemy whenever he shows up in our lives. Absolute fasting can be of great help in doing that.
There are three kinds of enemies we face; the flesh, the devil and the evil and corrupt system of this world. We do not face kings and their armies like our fathers did, these are the enemies we face today. But the pattern of dealing with them remain the same, seeking the LORD for help through Biblical fasting.
When the flesh launch an attack at us, drawing us to the part of sin, we are to respond to the attack with absolute fasting. It will bring a Heavenly energy down to put it under subjection.
When the devil move against us, shutting down our finances, joy, marriages, ministries or etc. maybe using our sins or faithfulness to God as a launching pad, we are to approach the throne of God for help through Biblical fasting.
Heaven will respond with divine energies that will neutralize him. The same rule is to be applied on any attack launched from the evil and corrupt system of this world. That was how our fathers survived.
Swift response through Biblical fasting has always been of great help to all who walked with the LORD in previous generations. It can still be of great help to you. What has really been killing some of us is lack of response or carnal responses. But that should change from today.
Let the life of our fathers inspire us in the right direction this morning.
Let their swift response through Biblical fasting be our way of responding to the enemy too. Victory will always come when we seek the LORD of it. Heavenly energies will always be released when we fast for divine interventions the Bible way.
I believe enough for the day have been shared. May the LORD continue to guide us in Jesus precious name. Amen
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.
And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island.” Acts 27:19-26 NKJV