Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

From the life of Mordecai, we can learn a couple of lessons about reward. He had certified to the king of a clandestine move by two of the king’s servants to kill him. That timely information saved the life of the king; but there was no immediate reward for him. This teaches us that it is only in our power to determine when we do good deeds, not when to reap the harvest. By the time the reward came, it was not only for him, but all the Jews in the empire benefited from it. From our passage, we can glean another important lesson. It is the fact that we must never foreclose which channel the Lord will use to reward us. God can never run short of channels; we should just realize that He is the source of our blessings. He asked Esther to intervene on behalf of her people, adding that if she failed, help would come from another quarter.

…it is only in our power to determine when we do good deeds, not when to reap the harvest…whatever we do should be as unto the Lord, since no labour ever goes unrewarded by Him.

The story of a pastor who I know personally can serve to illustrate this powerful truth. He dutifully served in an organization before he retired. After that, he was led to start an independent ministry. God used a man who gave a parcel of land to the new church and bought a second one for his personal use. As if that was not enough, the man pledged to build a personal apartment on the land for him. What makes this extra-ordinary is that the donor is not a member of his ministry. His reward did not necessarily come from the organization where he served but through another channel. This is why whatever we do should be as unto the Lord, since no labour ever goes unrewarded by Him.

One of the ways by which God demonstrates goodwill to us is by answering our prayers. This was the focus of our meditation yesterday. The other way is by talking to us. David encountered the Lord on several fronts. He knew the Lord as his Shepherd. That was the theme of the 23rd Psalm. In psalm 27, he described the Lord as his light and salvation. In our current text, the Lord was his rock. Of particular interest to us today is David’s fear. He seemed scared of God rendering Himself incommunicado; and this for good reason. He realized that if God were to be perpetually silent, that would spell his doom. I love what the Archbishop Clement Kirby once said: “God does not create fools; He only stops speaking to wise men!” When God stops speaking, even a wise man will resort to doing stupid things.

When God stops speaking, even a wise man will resort to doing stupid things…Obeying God is the way to remain connected to the heavenly signals.

David must have been inspired to write our text by what happened to Saul. God stopped talking to Saul, and the end was disastrous. He therefore prayed not to join the statistics. While we may all join David to pray God not to be silent to us, we must be wary of those things that put Him off from people. God did not just stop talking to Saul abruptly; His silence was born of Saul’s reckless disobedience. Just as disobedience shuts the gate against our prayers, even so will it render us incapable of receiving divine signals. Obeying God is the way to remain connected to the heavenly signals.

The Bible records that Jesus led an incredible life of prayer. Something else that is clear is that there was none of His prayers that was not answered. Jesus showed the secret in one verse – “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”” (John 8:29 NKJV). Jesus maintained a relationship with the Father, one that was characterized by obedience. The dynamic relationship made whatever Jesus asked to go through without hitch. How does this affect us as children of God? We are all expected to hold the same dynamic relationship with the Father, ensuring that we do not rupture our sweet fellowship with sin. Any time there exists a gulf between us and the Father, we are robbed of the confidence of approach.

Any time there exists a gulf between us and the Father, we are robbed of the confidence of approach…As long as we live to honour Him through obedience, He will not withhold anything good from us.

I can relate with this as a father. I have known times when relationship between any of my children and I was frosty. At such times, they found it difficult to freely ask me for favour or any of the things that should naturally be theirs. But whenever we are on the same page, they exploit their liberty to the greatest extent and enjoy goodwills. At such moments, too, I don’t usually wait for them to ask me anything; I simply do for them what would enhance their joy. It is not different in our relationship with God. He knows what we need even before we ask Him. As long as we live to honour Him through obedience, He will not withhold anything good from us.

Life is richer when lived in the service of others. We conquer selfishness, the root of all sinister moves, when we devote ourselves to the welfare of others. We have this proven in the life of Mordecai. He was a man who literally lived for others. It began when he took Esther under his wing after the death of both of her parents. He groomed her to a point of meeting the king’s grade. He motivated her to join the pageant where she emerged the king’s preferred choice as a queen. He also inspired her to stand before the king to plead for the lives of the Jews in the king’s realm. Our text is the climax of it all. When he earned a promotion, he used his good offices to promote the good of all the Jews.

Life is richer when lived in the service of others…The moment you make it your priority to promote people’s welfare, you at the same time activate a spiritual principle. God will ensure that other people are seeking your welfare too.

One of the characteristics of the last days is that men will be lovers of self. In other words, people will turn the truth on its head and start living for themselves rather than others. This negates the spirit of the kingdom gospel. Jesus Christ lived His entire life pursuing the welfare of people. He healed the sick and cleansed the lepers. He gave sight to the blind and food to the hungry. Eventually, He paid the supreme price for the redemption of humanity. Nothing He did was for personal aggrandizement. He sought the well-being of all. In one of His sayings, He said He left us an example to follow in His steps. The moment you make it your priority to promote people’s welfare, you at the same time activate a spiritual principle. God will ensure that other people are seeking your welfare too.

If you are doing your best but still find yourself with a substantial amount of disapproval, consider it as normal. Jesus came as a perfect specimen. He walked the earth doing good, healing the sick and liberating the oppressed. He cleansed the lepers and gave sight to the blind. Did He get the approval of all? The Pharisees challenged Him every inch of the way. The Sadducees questioned His doctrine. Several other people stood in direct opposition to Him. Followers of Christ would be expecting too much by asking the whole world to press the like “button”. The world that crucified Jesus and asked a murderer to be set free cannot give you your rightful due.

…seeking for the world to speak well of you may be towing a slippery path…What truly counts is God’s endorsement. If you have that, you can sleep in peace even if the world talks down on you…If the world stands against you but you have God in your corner, you are still a winner.

In the light of our text, seeking for the world to speak well of you may be towing a slippery path. That was how they goaded the false prophets to their doom. What truly counts is God’s endorsement. If you have that, you can sleep in peace even if the world talks down on you. The scripture is clear that God wants believers to be His friends. However, we must never forget that one way to step into that honourable position is to reject friendship with the world. Friendship with the world equals enmity with God. If the world stands against you but you have God in your corner, you are still a winner. On the contrary, if the world stands with you but God doesn’t, it has no profit.

Through the prophetic ministry of Amos, God threatened that He would send a famine into the land. However, it was not a conventional famine. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” Amos 8:11 KJV. Our lead scripture today is reminiscent of such period when there was a famine of the word. By saying that the word of the Lord was precious in those days, it simply means that the word of the Lord was rare to come by. Typically, God delights in speaking to His people. Whenever He withholds Himself from speaking, the people must have stayed too long in their sins. Withholding of divine presence in terms of vision or prophecy is punishment of some sort.

Withholding of divine presence in terms of vision or prophecy is punishment of some sort…scarcity of the word of God has consequences. If the word of God is scarce, then victory is far!…Believers without access to the word of God will be at the mercy of the devil.

Every believer must strive to create an environment for divine manifestation. This is because the scarcity of the word of God has consequences. If the word of God is scarce, then victory is far! God’s word is described in various ways. Jeremiah said it is like the hammer that breaks the rock into pieces. He also describes it as fire. Without access to the word of God, those rocks and chaffs will continue to assault a child of God. The importance of God’s word can be seen in another way. It was by it that Jesus overcame the barrage of temptations brought by Satan. Believers without access to the word of God will be at the mercy of the devil.