TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 13TH NOVEMBER 2022)
“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” Isaiah 43:1-4 kjv
WELCOME TO THE 317TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
Today is the 13th of our 30-day journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on practical wisdom.
We give God the glory for opening to us the chamber of His wisdom on the subject. We believe by the end of the 30 days, we will have sufficient wisdom to navigate through this earthly life, and make it successfully even to Heaven, when our God appointed days on earth will be fulfilled.
We are looking at significant things that will never happen if we do not walk in practical wisdom. We have seen honor, the manifestation of spiritual blessings in our lives on earth, and now, deliverance with divine preservation.
The subject of deliverance with divine preservation is a wide subject that we may need more than this platform to fully explain.
By definition, divine preservation is God’s process of keeping someone as he is, especially in order to prevent him from moral decay or to protect him from being destroyed. For example, the three Hebrew boys, where not just delivered from the burning flames. They were preserved from it.
The Bible says;
“Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame and sparks from the fire killed those men who handled Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the burning fiery furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [saw and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, True, O king.
He answered, Behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods!
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the midst of the fire.
And the satraps, the deputies, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered around together and saw these men—that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither were their garments scorched or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them.” Daniel 2:23-27 AMPC
WHEN GOD PRESERVE YOU, THAT WHICH COULD HAVE ORDINARILY DESTROYED YOU OR OTHERS, WILL HAVE NO POWER OVER YOU.
The flames destroyed those who threw them in but could not destroy those who were thrown in because of divine preservation. The three men were so preserved by God that the flames had no power over their bodies.
They remained in the flames, as they were, before they were thrown into them. That is how divine preservation look like.
It is God’s power keeping you as you were before the attack came. This scripture contains the pattern of deliverance in God’s kingdom. It comes with divine preservation, and subsequent liftings or promotion.
A major portion of our devotional text says;
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore, will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” Isaiah 43:2-4 kjv
This scripture is a perfect description of how divine preservation look like. It was a word that was originally for the nation of Israel but today for all who are part of God’s Holy Nation, the end time Church.
IT PERFECTLY DESCRIBES THE PATTERN OF DELIVERANCE FROM THE LORD.
In this pattern, God will not just deliver us from the waters, rivers, or fires of life, He will preserve us from them. The word rivers, waters and fire are templates of the attack mankind face from the pit of hell and the challenges of life. And it is important that we look deeper into them.
Let us begin with the first, called “waters!” Waters means spirits. But within this context, it means troubling spirits.
There are lot of spirits from hell that troubles mankind on earth. They range from spirits of infirmities, that brings all kinds of health attacks and diseases, to spirits of iniquity, and all kinds of immoral living. We also have oppressing spirits that make life very unbearable, especially the one that make people poor and miserable.
All these spirits are waters that the LORD said he will not just deliver but preserve us from them.
The book of Revelation tells us about four kinds of spirits or troubling waters that will flow upon the earth this end time.
The first will cause hypocrisy and Christ-less and Cross-less Christianity to spring up among believers, the next will cause division and wars to spring up in families, cities, nations and even churches by taking peace from them, the third will kill people with hunger, wild animals and etc. and the fourth will cause famine in many places.
These are waters that we do not just need deliverance, but preservation from. If you are going for a deliverance that does not have preservation attached, these waters will be flowing into your life and making things difficult for you from time to time.
The next word we should look at is the word river. Within the prophetic context of that scripture, it means spirit or sources of death.
This source flows out evil forces that kills everything that is blossoming. It could be a marriage, a promising relationship, a church, a business, a career, an idea, a calling, a ministry, a family, or even someone’s health.
God promised us that they will not over flow us. Meaning, He will not just deliver us from them but preserve us from them. That promise actually does not just mean spirit of death, it also means spirits that keeps coming with perils like a river until your peace, bliss or life is no more.
YOU CAN NOW SEE WHY A DELIVERANCE SHOULD NOT LACK DIVINE PRESERVATION.
You can see why deliverance without divine preservation is what you should avoid at all cost, no matter what may be wrong with you!
These things flow ceaselessly towards humanity and keeps coming until one is no more. If you are just delivered from them, do not rejoice. You must seek a deliverance that has preservation, else they will return and wipe you away.
The word river there also means passage of an evil time. It keeps coming until it fills your years with sorrow. It also means flow of difficulties that are incomprehensible. It could also mean wickedness and all that. There are other meanings but we cannot go into them now. But the devotional text says;
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Isaiah 43:2 KJV
The next word to decode is the word fire.
I have shared these things in the past on Tv in very deep and different tense but the same truth. Fire within the prophetic context of this scripture means, envy, jealousy, strife, carnal or destructive desire, trials, afflictions especially caused by gossips and etc.
Life is full of such things, as they flow from the portals of hell and the hearts of fallen men towards us, the word says they will not consume us. Meaning, God will not just deliver us but will preserve us from them.
Again, I repeat, because of the nature of these things, you are not practically wise going for deliverance that lack divine preservation.
If you are going for deliverance that lack divine preservation, the waters, rivers and fires stated above will be on your neck, successfully, every now and then, because Satan love seeing humans suffer.
We must therefore take a second look at deliverance without divine preservation and how it is administered to people in need today. There are two basic hallmarks we want to shed some lights on.
The first hallmark is in the use of what I have been calling deliverance inventions. Deliverance inventions are religious materials that heretic teachers and false prophets invented for use in praying for those who go to them for deliverance.
Most of the inventions, like the olive oil or any other oil, water of sprinkling, prayer clothes, candles and few others have roots in scriptures but they were not original used in Bible days for deliverance but to depict the first coming of the LORD, His Church and His Holy Spirit. But some of these men and women smartly use them to engage the demon of deliverance that Jesus exposed in Matthew 12, and make people believe God is the one ministering to them.
That is why any deliverance that they use oil, mud, water, salt, sand or anything they call prophetic act or timeless ordinance to administer to people, has only brought a relief and not given them rest.
IT HAS ALWAYS LACKED DIVINE PRESERVATION.
That is why the people keep going again and again for another dose, and keep doing one thing or the other to be relieved of their problems. Others will keep being asked to come for this water or the other water, dedicate this or dedicate that.
Such deliverance inventions are signs of deliverance that lack divine preservation.
Which brings us to the door step of the second hallmark of any deliverance that lack divine preservation; yokes the preachers give people to bear.
Some are told to be smearing oil daily on their faces and on the soles of their feet in the pattern of the sign of the cross, so that their star will not be stolen. Others are given an amount of money they must be giving every month as sacrifices to raise altars for their freedom.
Some others are told when their sacrifices become higher than that of their enemies, they will be free indeed, so they should keep sacrificing. The preachers smartly use scriptures like 2 Kings 3:26 to swindle them into such practices.
Any deliverance you pay money for, or work by yourself through dry fasting will lack divine preservation. Any deliverance you are told to pray at this hour, or the other hour to get, will lack divine preservation. Any deliverance you are told to raise altars for will lack divine preservation.
Any deliverance you keep going for, from time to time, will lack divine preservation.
When Jesus said “take my yoke upon you,” He added “and learn of me.” So, it was not a yoke for your deliverance but a learning posture to take under Him until you grow fatness in the Spirit and break from the yoke of your enemies.
If there is anything the Church needs today, that thing is freedom from the deliverance that lacks divine preservation.
I believe enough has been shared for the day.
When we return tomorrow, we will pick up from here, and bring us into the revelation of the hallmarks of deliverance that has divine preservation.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-30 NKJV