TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 2022)
Therefore, I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, Hebrews 3:10-14 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 270TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
The mercies of the LORD has given us another day to be alive. To God belong the glory in Jesus precious name.
God has saved us from so many things, that is why we are alive. He has saved us from sicknesses, destruction, demonic assaults, and all kinds of threats to our life, our peace and our progress. Most times even when we do not deserve it. We owe Him gratitude.
Today we wanted to start looking at the Cry of the Holy Spirit on partial fasting. But let’s look at some other things that will help us prepare our hearts for that.
To start with, I want us to understand that as we get closer and closer to the end of times, there will be more threats to human lives and the lives of the righteous. There will be need for God’s outstretched arm to keep saving us from all that will be unleashed. Every student of Bible prophecy knows that.
Now, from what Jesus said, one of the greatest threats we will face is the threat of deception (spiritual, religious and etc). This one will be a big threat because it will target not just our peace on earth but our eternal rest with Christ.
For instance, people will be deceived to be walking in the broad way that leads to death and die that way thinking they are on the narrow way that leads to Heaven. Others will be deceived into idol worship right in Church thinking they are worshiping the One and only true God.
There will be all kinds of deception to deal with. There will be the deception of miracles, signs and wonders being used by false prophets and erring Churches to make people believe that what is not God is God. This is also called the deception of the antichrist. Jesus said;
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:24 KJV
THIS FORM OF DECEPTION IS WHAT WE SEE IN SOME CHURCHES TODAY.
The essence, as stated earlier, is to take men from either the outer darkness or the light, and put them in the broad way that leads to eternal death. The broad way that leads to death is a way that when you find yourself in it, you begin to believe that you are saved even when you are living a very sinful life.
It is a way where people claim a forgiveness from God without repenting of their sins, a Christianity without the crucified life, and faith without the fruits of godly character. Get our book titled THE REVOLUTION and see for yourself.
It is because of this attack of the antichrist on the eternal destiny of men that makes the deception of the antichrist a primary target of apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ in every generation – including ours.
That is why any so-called apostle who is perpetuating the works of the antichrist is an apostate. Apostles do not perpetuate the works of the antichrist. They eliminate them.
Sadly, because of spiritual ignorance, our generation call evangelist by content apostles, or bishops and archbishops (if they have church groups under them).
Many do not know that every evangelist by content has a spiritual blind spot that the enemy has always used to plant false teachings in church through them; and that has happened in every generation.
Evangelist by content always use scriptures to build church systems and deliverance invention that establishes the faith of men on symbols, denying Christ from being formed in them.
But God also has dealt with this problem in every generation by raising Christ centered apostles and prophets, to contend with the lies, deception, and half truths that have been established. They have always exposed church systems and ecclesiastical orders that are perpetuating deception and preventing Christ from being formed in hearts.
Those who do not sit with Christ in the Heavenly places will see these Christ centered apostles and prophets as enemies of the cross.
THEY WILL NOT KNOW THAT THEY ARE THE REAL VESSELS GOD IS USING TO PROTECT THE GOSPEL OF THE CROSS.
You must understand that so long as there is moral darkness and deception in so many things that we call GOD within the church system, there will always be Christ centered preachers who will be in conflict with any member of the clergy who is allowing himself to be used by the antichrist to place believers on the path of eternal damnation with Bibles in their hands.
One other thing you must understand is this, the deception of the antichrist does not just prevent the birth of true Christianity in the area of moral excellence but also in the area of the supernatural. Because it will never want the true power of the Cross to be witnessed or experienced.
You see, the enemy knows the devastating effects of the power of the Cross on his kingdom. So, this deception will rather birth a kind of supernatural Christianity that is alien to the Kingdom of God – it will bring forth a kind that is different from the one that our fathers walked in, so that the power of the Cross will not be witnessed.
Yes, to prevent hearts from being transformed by the power of the Cross, it will bring forth a Christianity that will accept witch doctors (who put on the attire of ministers of the gospel) as prophets, promote the use of Oil as a symbol of the Holy Spirit while the Holy Spirit is already here, unleash miracles through the use of water in other to promote the use of water in prayer, while God has said out of our belly shall flow rivers of living waters.
Yes, it will bring forth a kind of Christianity that will unleash miracles through the use of salt in other to promote its use, while Jesus came to make us the salt of the earth; a kind of Christianity that promotes the use of what they call prayer clothes, while God has given us the Spirit of grace and supplication in replacement.
It will just give us a version of Christianity that will make Satan instead of sin be our chief enemy. All to prevent the power of the Cross that helps us to put the flesh under subjection and lead the Crucified life, from being experienced. .
You see, Jesus did not die on the Cross because there was Satan on earth. He died because man sinned.
Our eternal problem has been sin, not Satan. That is why the true grace of GOD forgives us our sins and focuses on giving us the power to go and sin no more. It does not make Satan and our enemies the focus of our Christian faith.
IT MAKES CHRIST AND HIS FINISHED WORKS THE FOCUS.
True Christianity, therefore, has Christ at its center and holiness as the garment. Anything outside that is a version of Christianity from hell.
No demon will come near your dwelling if holiness becomes your garment. The oil of the Holy Spirit, which is not olive oil, will be running through your life and filling it with grace, and peace will be within your borders. That brings us to the next deception that will be a threat in the end times – the deception of sin.
The deception of sin is another kind of deception that can be as lethal as the deception of the antichrist. In fact, this kind is also promoted by the spirit of the antichrist.
It is a kind of deception that makes one go astray in their hearts. In other words, a deception of the heart made possible by the spirit of lawlessness in the heart. It is a deception that is made possible by not allowing the heart of church people to be changed by the power of the LORD.
It tells them they are okay while they are yet to perceive, recognize, and align with GOD’s true ways or yet to become progressively better and experientially acquainted with Christ.
By impact, it completely strips one naked in the spirit and most times cover the person with earthly prosperity, making the person to think that if GOD was angry with their sinful lives then why is He blessing them with, maybe good jobs, money or giving them victories over their enemies?
The truth remains, people who have gone astray in their hearts think that GOD’s tender mercies on the wicked is an approval of their wicked ways. Some others think that the money they get, and victories they achieve over their enemies, despite their sinful lives, is a sign that GOD is no longer considering their sins as sins.
THAT IS THE VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY WE LIVE WHEN WE GO ASTRAY IN OUR HEARTS.
Friend, when people go astray in their hearts, they place their eternal lives in danger, and to keep them that way the enemy would have to make sure they are ‘blessed’ with finances and the manifestation of their carnal or lawless expectations. But they will never know that God is against those who go astray in their hearts but still call themselves Christians.
A major aspect of our devotional text says;
Therefore, I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:10-13 NKJV
When we go astray in our hearts we fall into the deception of sin. It is the deception of sin that hides the consequences of sin to us while we are being carried away by our sinful desires.
But if the Spirit of truth is allowed to speak at that time, it will show us the consequences of our sins even before we commit them. If we agree with HIM, we will overcome the temptation, but if we do not agree, we will fall into the temptation.
Understand that the only weapon that protects a man from deception is truth. Truth is the only protection we have against deception. That is why the Holy Spirit will always manifest as the Spirit of Truth.
Deception hides the truth of how things will turn out when you do a thing. Truth tells you accurately how things will turn out if you do a thing.
For instance, the Spirit of Truth is hated by the world and the sick church because of that. They do not want to be told how things will turn with them if they keep following their ways instead of the ways of the LORD. They will seek to silence you; they will vilify and demonize you until you succumb to their pressure, if you are not standing on the Rock of Ages Himself.
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF OUR DEVOTIONAL THIS MORNING?
So much that we cannot capture in a sentence. A lot have been shared. We are in the days of deception. Only truth will protect us. That is why one major way to fast these days is to fast feasting on truth.
People who fast feasting on accurate scriptural truths, will come out with human spirits they are fortified enough to resist deception; especially the deception of sin and that of the antichrist.
I fasted feeding on accurate scriptural truths, under the guide of the Spirit of Truth Himself, from year 1999 to 2006 to be ushered into the truths the LORD is teaching through me today. That is why, by His mercies no antichrist preacher can deceive me, no matter how lethal they are or how hyper their deception is.
Even when everyone has accepted what they did or said as of GOD, I do not. I stand alone with GOD! Then after a while they will begin to see the light and join me in standing alone with GOD.
For instance, if not for fasting and feasting on scriptural truths, I would have been one of the oil users today standing on Mark 6:12-13 and James 5:14.
When the LORD asked me to drop the oil, I asked Him “why LORD” since big preachers where using it. The progressive truths He would later send in response, came in my days of lengthy fasting and prayer, spent feeding on scripture truths from Genesis to Revelation on the use of oil, under the guide of the Spirit of Truth Himself.
Friend, these are not days for empty fast. If you fast without feeding on accurate scriptural truths, you will touch deception and begin to believe and walk in things that are not in line with the scriptures.
A lot of people have become insane through empty fast. Do not join them. Learn to hold your Bible in your hands, looking for living truths to eat, under the guide of the Holy Spirit of Truth, when you fast. There are words to find and eat as you abstain from food. Find them and eat as you fast.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.” Jeremiah 15:15-17 KJV