Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

From the beginning of creation, God bequeathed dominion or authority to man. Man’s authority is comprehensive – authority over all! Psalm 8 is David’s expression of awe at this unique privilege. Enjoyment of this enormous privilege begins with the consciousness of it. Spiritual consciousness of what God has given is vital to appropriating it. The ordinary mind cannot understand the things of God; so one has to pray for the type of illumination that is only made possible by revelation.

…God bequeathed dominion or authority to man…Heaven is waiting for such a time when the saints of God will begin to teach the principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God. It takes authority to do this.

There are no two ways about it:  a revelation of our lot in God will bring revolution to us and to the world. The man or woman who has the revelation of his authority in God will cease from living beggarly here on earth. To further enhance our chances of enjoying our heritage of authority, we must also understand the intention of God for the bestowal. The more we comprehend the purpose of God for a thing, the safer we are from abusing it. So, why was man endued with so much authority? It is for the glory of God. Whatever He gives is so that He might be glorified. So anyone who wields authority must do so to the glory of God. Heaven is waiting for such a time when the saints of God will begin to teach the principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God. It takes authority to do this.

Sometime in April this year, I was answering a call from one of our network pastors. I had to excuse him when another trunk call came in, promising to get back to him later. That call took about one hour, trying to sort out family issues of some brethren. In listing his many burdens, Apostle Paul included the care of the churches. That would certainly include the pursuit of harmony among brethren. This verse of scripture attests to his drive for peace and unity. It is apparent that the two women mentioned here were at daggers drawn over some issues. Knowing that such things could fester and derail the move of the Spirit in the church, Paul made a passionate appeal to them to consider their common grounds in the Lord and keep the peace.

While working in a team will come with its hiccups, the truth of scriptures will always be right that two are better than one. Brethren must be conscious that schism in the Body is inimical to the progress of God’s work.

It is sometimes the case that some individuals in a local assembly don’t get along. This will be a big indictment when considered in the light of how some lower creations get along. For instance, the feat that the ants achieve is by working together. Few other creatures maintain the team spirit you find among the ants. Interestingly, they don’t have appointed governor or ruler. When scripture enjoins us to visit the ant and consider its way in order to be wise, it simply reminds us that working solo is not wisdom. While working in a team will come with its hiccups, the truth of scriptures will always be right that two are better than one. Brethren must be conscious that schism in the Body is inimical to the progress of God’s work.

In our March edition of Unity Service at Firstlove Assembly, I prefaced my teaching with the exhortation that everyone should go and get a skill. Your skill or gift is a master key that will keep unlocking doors for you. There are a number of classic examples of how a man’s gift can make room for him and bring him before great men. Joseph was not only a stranger in Egypt but also a convict. However, all these were waived aside when Pharaoh had a dream and no one could interpret it. Joseph was called in and he gave Pharaoh the meaning of his dream. Daniel had a more tedious task. The king dreamt but forgot his dream. Working in concert with his colleagues, they sought God over the mystery dream. God relayed the dream to Daniel and gave him the interpretation. That became the channel for their lifting in Babylon.

…if you work on your gift and are in a position to provide services to them, they will beat the path to your door. You will become a person that is sought for.

There is one more example. David’s skill in playing the musical instrument brought him to Saul’s court. As Saul was being tormented by an evil spirit, the musical skill of David came handy to work a relief for him. In all the cases we have cited, none of them applied to see the king. Rather the king sought for their services. Generally, the nobles of the earth like to protect their space. They do not entertain just anybody in their presence. However, if you work on your gift and are in a position to provide services to them, they will beat the path to your door. You will become a person that is sought for.

While writing to the Ephesians, Paul taught them to know that there is an ongoing war which is spiritual and not physical. He considered the war as against principalities, powers, and demonic rulers of the earth. For the same reason, he reminded the Corinthians that the weapons of their warfare are not physical. It goes without saying that if the battle is not physical neither should the weapons be. Therefore, in order to secure victory in the ongoing battle, one must be aware of the weapons that the enemy engages. One of them is manipulation.

A prayerful life plus obedience to God will help in no small way to walking in the Spirit.

A clear case of how Satan manipulates people can be seen in the life of King David. For no justifiable reason, he ordered that the army of Israel should be numbered. That initiative was contrary to the mind of God. The initiative also failed the test of scrutiny by the king’s trusted advisers; but David had his way. It was Satan who moved him to embark on that frivolous exercise which later led to the destruction of thousands of people and livestock. Saul was manipulated to envy, anger, murder, wrong decisions, and eventual death. Satan and his angels constitute blockade to people’s progress (1 Thessalonians 2:18). However, Jesus has already won the victory! In our previous meditation, we anchored our chances for victory on walking in the Spirit. A prayerful life plus obedience to God will help in no small way to walking in the Spirit.

There is the promise of victory for those who are born of God. However, one thing that can whittle away the victory of a believer is walking in the flesh. You cannot walk in the flesh and walk in victory at the same time. So the flesh has to be subdued; and God’s means of doing this is to walk in the Spirit. What then is walking in the Spirit?  It is living by the word of God. In order to effectively walk in the Spirit, three essential things are to be put in place. The first is the reading of the Word. Mind you, God’s Word is spirit.

You cannot walk in the flesh and walk in victory at the same time…What then is walking in the Spirit?  It is living by the word of God…walking in the Spirit is living in the word!

The second step to walking in the Spirit is to reserve the Word. That’s exactly what the psalmist meant in Psalm 119:11- “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The word used for hid here is reserve. We don’t read the Word of God as we would a newspaper, which often we discard the second we are through with it; we go right on to store it. The word you read now may not be of immediate use; but as long as it is the Word of God, it will definitely find its place in the course of your life. I remember hearing Pastor E. A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the early 80s. He visited our campus and as he made to introduce his subject he said: “What I am about to say today may not be needed now, but you will need it in future.” He has been proved right. Finally, we recall the Word. Proverbs 22:17-18 (KJV) says “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; let them all be fixed upon your lips” (Proverbs 22:17-18). Invariably, walking in the Spirit is living in the word!

In the closing pages of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses tied the blessing of the people to diligently hearing the voice of the Lord God. On his part, the psalmist paid a glowing tribute to the voice of God. Take this for a sample: “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, yes, the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon” (Psalm 29:3-5).  What is the meaning of the voice of the Lord being over many waters? Waters here is metaphor for problems. The Psalmist is only saying that the voice of God can conquer all problems, no matter how numerous they are. And when he speaks of the voice breaking the cedars, he is saying the same thing in other words. Cedar happens to be one of the hardest woods in the world, so he used it as a metaphor for difficult cases. Yet the voice of God can reduce it to splinters!

Until the voice of the Lord is heard, the waters and the cedars stand as obstacles…What we lose in the midst of unregulated noise is the voice of God. Many problems that people are perplexed about will dissolve if there is enough quietness to connect with the voice of God. God’s voice is the panacea for all our woes.

Until the voice of the Lord is heard, the waters and the cedars stand as obstacles. This is where the admonition of our lead scripture becomes very important. One of the problems of our world today is noise. It is like we have imbibed the notion that the noisier it gets, the merrier we are. Believers are not immune to this temptation. What we lose in the midst of unregulated noise is the voice of God. Many problems that people are perplexed about will dissolve if there is enough quietness to connect with the voice of God. God’s voice is the panacea for all our woes.