TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2022)
“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” Isaiah 49:24-26 KJV
WELCOME TO THE 339TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE!
We thank God this morning for giving us another day. We thank Him for waking us up and granting us mercies to be alive.
To Him belong all the glory for His marvelous deeds.
We have been on a journey of faith with the Cry of the Spirit on the Presence of GOD. Today is the 6th day of the journey and we will be looking at the greatest enemy of the manifest presence of God, having seen some of the things we must fight against to secure the active presence of GOD in previous devotionals.
One thing the presence of God will do for us is granting us protection from the devil and all the host of hell. That is why divine protection is the first thing you enjoy when you find your place in the active presence of the LORD.
It makes the active presence of the LORD a war free zone in the spirit realm. That is, a place where there are no successful demonic attacks. There could be demonic attacks but none will be successful because the presence of God covers you.
God said in His word;
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9 kjv
His holy mountain is the place of His active presence. He said there shall not be hurt there.
Meaning, If your life is full of hurts, you do not need oil in a bottled, holy water in your hands, salt in prayer, washing of feet or whatever being given by some preachers today. You need to find that realm in the spirit where God has decreed “there shall not be hurt” and begin to live there.
Yes, we have to find the place of God’s manifest presence by dealing with the greatest enemy of God’s manifest presence in our lives. The essence of our 31 day journey is to help us find that place.
Today we shall begin by identifying the enemy, then trust God for insights on dealing with him subsequently.
A part of our devotional text says;
“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.” Isaiah 49:24-25 KJV
WE HAVE SEEN THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS AS THE MIGHTY THAT GOD WAS REFERRING TO IN THIS SCRIPTURE.
But we have not seen what is even more terrible than the devil himself; the flesh and its works. It may interest you to know that the flesh has more captives in its prison than the devil. It is the chief contender with man. It is the terrible in this scripture that is hidden from the understanding of many.
We are only saved when it is crucified.
So, we are going to look at this unknown enemy of the presence of the LORD! Do not forget, GOD Himself said, no flesh will glory in His presence because it stinks in His nostrils. That is why people who walk in the flesh will never secure or stay long in the active presence of God.
We must understand that the greatest enemy of the manifest presence of the LORD in our lives is not the devil. The greatest enemy of the manifest presence of the LORD in our lives is the flesh.
Obviously, we have made the devil the source of so many things that our flesh is responsible for, that is why we are not winning some of our battles.
The kind of energy we put in to fight Satan is so enormous. In fact, all of our activities in spiritual warfare are all against the devil and his works. But the Bible says Jesus has destroyed him on the cross.
The book of Hebrews put it this way;
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15 KJV
Satan is described here as he who HAD the power of death. He is not described as he who HAS the power of death. Had is past tense, have is present tense. He no longer has the power of death. He had it before.
He had it before Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross. Now he no longer has it.
The scripture also said he has been destroyed. Now what does it means to be destroyed since Satan is eternal and cannot be eliminated? Within context the word means to be rendered none effect. Jesus’ death on the cross rendered him of no effect.
IT STRIPPED HIM OF THE AUTHORITY HE ONCE HAD OVER US AND NEUTRALIZE HIS POWER.
It rendered him completely powerless.
Now, why are we putting so much energy fighting who no longer has the power of death? Why are we putting so much energy fighting who have been destroyed and rendered of non-effect? Why are we blaming him for what he cannot even do in our lives? It is because of ignorance of what is really responsible for our problems.
What is really responsible for our problems is the flesh.
There was something God said to the devil when he first passed judgment on him in the Garden of Eden which is worthy of our attention. The Bible says;
“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:” Genesis 3:14 KJV
We know God was not speaking to all snakes on earth. He was speaking to the spirit that was in the snake – the devil. Some snakes do not eat dust. He was saying to the devil you shall eat dust. In other words, dust shall be your food.
The question now is, what is dust?
The word “Dust” in that scripture was not referring to that fine, dry powder, consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter lying on the ground, or on the surface, which is often carried by the air. The word dust in that scripture refers to the flesh.
God was giving the devil the flesh to be eating as food. It was as an act of judgment.
The purpose was to prevent man from living in the flesh because man was not originally created to live in the flesh but in the Spirit. However, the fall altered that and God made that first step to make sure man returned to life in the Spirit.
The flesh within context is not that soft substance consisting of muscle and fat that is found between the skin and the bones of a human being or animal. That was not what God was giving to the devil as food. You must understand that.
I have read books that stated how agents of the devil use that scripture and killed people and eat up their flesh.
THEY SAID GOD GAVE THEM HUMAN FLESH TO EAT AS FOOD.
I think it will be of a great help to look at what the flesh is and how it originated because in the beginning it was nonexistence.
The Word flesh is a Bible word that describes a human nature without GOD. It is a word for the mystery of Godlessness. It describes the Godless part of humans that we see today; a part that was nonexistence until after the fall of man.
The Bible is very clear that when man was first created, there was no part of him that was Godless. The mystery of Godlessness that became the mystery of iniquity never existed. It was the mystery of Godliness that existed.
There are several scriptures that can help us to understand this, but let’s look at just two of them. The first one says;
“So, God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27 NKJV
There are three kinds of men in scripture. There is the original man, there is the fallen man, and there is the redeemed man. This scripture tells us about the original man.
The original man was in the image and likeness of God. He had no part of him that was Godless. But after the fall, he metamorphosed into the fallen man. The fallen man has a part of him that is the flesh. That part emerged after the fall of the original man.
The second scripture that tells us that the original man had no part of him that was Godless is Genesis 2:7. It says;
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7 KJV
When God breathed into the clay He formed, it was not just a transmission of life but revelation knowledge has it that He super imposed Himself into man. In other words, He created a God like Himself but in a very small version.
No part of God is Godless, so no part of what He created was Godless.
I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND ME.
The Godless part of man emerged when he moved from the original man to the fallen man, and this is how it happened.
When man ate the tree of the knowledge of God an evil, and made himself a slave of the fallen angel, it became impossible for him to live in his habitat, the active presence of God that was in the Garden. God had to expel him so that he can be redeemed.
The expulsion thrust him into the Godless realm of the earth where he absorbed everything in that realm. That realm is ruled by Satan.
It is made up of the character of the devil described as transgression; which is consist of sin, iniquity and trespasses. It is a Godless realm where holiness, righteousness, obedience to the voice of the LORD or living right is not possible.
That realm formed itself in man and became what we now know as the flesh.
So, when God was saying to the devil “you will eat dust,” he was also giving the devil his own nature to feed on. It was an act of judgment because the first step into judgement in the court of divine settlement is the feeding of the object of divine judgment with its own flesh. The last portion of our devotional text reveals that. It says;
“And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” Isaiah 49:24 KJV
That is how much we can take today, when we come back tomorrow, we will pick up from here. But before we sign off, understand that life in the flesh is the reason for our destruction. And that the first enemy to take down in other to live in the active presence of the LORD is the flesh.
We will discover more of this when we return tomorrow.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” Isaiah 11:9-11 KJV