Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Our annual mission trip took us to a section of Tanzania inhabited by the Maasai tribe. Our host who has been doing phenomenal work shared with us the challenges he is facing on the mission field. One was scarcity of water. The other was lack of transportation for the field staff who sometimes walked about 10 kilometers or more for evangelism. In March this year, our ministry was able to provide 40 bicycles to ease the transportation challenge. Two things are crystal clear from text. Firstly, we have a scriptural summary of the reason for abundance. Apart from meeting our personal needs, abundance gives us the capacity to engage in “every good work.” A good work will range from anything done to alleviate the sufferings of others to providing assistance in fulfilling their mission. No gift of God is designed for showmanship. God gifts to men is to enable them serve. Those who crave wealth for the fun of it or to live indulgently will run at cross-purpose to God.

No gift of God is designed for showmanship. God gifts to men is to enable them serve…All of God’s gifts come through the release of grace appropriated by faith…God’s grace will lead us to a productive venture; and at the same time ensure that our labour is not in vain.

Secondly, we are instructed on the means to abundance. All of God’s gifts come through the release of grace appropriated by faith; and this does not exclude abundance. Grace at work does not exclude us from productive enterprise. When Paul described the secret of his successful life, he mentioned the interlocking forces of grace and labour. God’s grace will lead us to a productive venture; and at the same time ensure that our labour is not in vain.

There is nothing of nature’s treasures that is carelessly strewn across the highway; they are typically tucked deep down in the belly of the earth. Gold is usually located at depths ranging from 50 meters to over 4,000 meters below the Earth’s surface. Gold found around 500 meters and below are called shallow deposits. Imagine that to find gold even at shallow depths, you have to go down the earth to a distance longer than a lap of the football field. Our text captures the effort of those who hunt for the precious things of the earth. They search the roots of the mountains, digging away in suffocating darkness, far from civilization and from traffic.

…nothing of importance comes at a bargain…if you want to impact your generation for God, you need to cast your dream of ease away.

The essence of all these is that nothing of importance comes at a bargain. Whether we are hunting for physical and financial trophy or spiritual enrichment, there is a price to pay. This is even more true in the spiritual context. Every time I speak with one of God’s choice servants, Reverend Segun Olugbemi, he leaves me with things to ponder on. When we spoke in March this year, he said that one cannot receive from the living room what others went to the Cross to obtain. It boils down to this: if you want to impact your generation for God, you need to cast your dream of ease away. Get ready to occasionally shut the door against civilization and human traffic to connect with spiritual deposits that will change your generation.

Mia McGrath is a 24-year old model who went viral recently after revealing that she had saved $97,000. She achieved that feat by adopting an austere lifestyle. She lived on basic meals like bread and eggs, mainly cooked by herself. She avoided other unnecessary expenses as well. She toed this path of sacrifice because of one goal she set – financial independence at a young age. She had to forgo many things and delay gratification for that singular goal.

It is easy to confuse a daydream with a dream. A goal that is not backed up by commensurate sacrifice is nothing more than a daydream.

Economists talk of opportunity cost, known as the alternative forgone. It is what you let go in order to attain some other things. This is not just an economic principle, it is also a spiritual rule for kingdom living. When James and John came to Jesus to ask for the highest seats in the kingdom, Jesus first asked them if they could drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism. In effect, Jesus told them that they had to give out something – their lives – to ever qualify to see the goal they set. In our text, the merchant man gave up everything to purchase that one pearl of great worth. Often we come across people with grandiose goals but with little appetite for sacrifice. It is easy to confuse a daydream with a dream. A goal that is not backed up by commensurate sacrifice is nothing more than a daydream.

Three men broke into an agritourism farm near Poznan, Poland where they savagely attacked an ostrich named Zenek. The main attacker was one Lukasz, accused of beating the bird with a blunt object, kicking and dragging it with the wings and necks. It died a few days after that. He was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison for various offenses. In addition, he was mandated to pay compensation to the farm owner  and barred from owning animals for 15 years.

Righteousness is not what we wear like a garment to church once a week; it is demonstrating the nature of God to everything and everyone on a daily basis.

The laws of God are comprehensive, covering not only our relationship with Him but with other fellow human beings. Moreover, God’s word includes how to relate with our beasts and other created things. Take for instance the law regarding the Sabbath. It was not only the people that were commanded to rest, their beasts of burden also had that day free. The care of God is over all creation, and human beings who are His chief stewards on earth ought to show concern in all things. Both plants and animals are created for the use of man, but they must never be abused. Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he, who is cruel to living creatures, cannot be a good man.” Our text says that a righteous man regards the life of his animal. Righteousness is not what we wear like a garment to church once a week; it is demonstrating the nature of God to everything and everyone on a daily basis.

It was customary for Israel to have all the words of the law read whenever they gathered in a general or solemn assembly. Our text is a pointer to this. Take note that the reading comprised both the blessings and cursing. Focusing on blessings alone would have produced entitled, indulgent mindsets in the people. On the other hand, focusing on curses alone would have produced timid, fearful people whose understanding of God would not be any different from that of a slave master. By reading all the words, Joshua drove the people towards a balanced and well adjusted perspective of spiritual reality.

By the time a person is making a choice of a word of the Lord over another, he is already going into heresy…The totality of God’s word is to be received equally…To live a profitable Christian life, you must embrace all of God’s word.

The word “heresy” is derived from Greek and literally means “choice”. By the time a person is making a choice of a word of the Lord over another, he is already going into heresy. Heresy involves identifying with something to the exclusion of others. We don’t have the liberty to choose which of God’s word we like and which to drop. The totality of God’s word is to be received equally. In Acts 20:20, Paul gave an account of his ministry, telling the elders of the church that he did not keep back anything of the word of God from them. The same Paul wrote to Timothy that all scriptures are given by God’s Spirit and are profitable. To live a profitable Christian life, you must embrace all of God’s word.

About the greatest compliment you can give to people is that they walked with God. Two of the Old Testament saints were singled out as an example of this. Noah was said to have walked with God. “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” Genesis‬ 6‬:9‬ NKJV‬‬. Before him was Enoch. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” Genesis‬ 5‬:24‬ NKJV‬‬. One walked with God and he escaped death, the other did and escaped the flood. It is obvious then that walking with God is a secret to escape from evil.‬‬‬‬‬‬

It is obvious then that walking with God is a secret to escape from evil.‬‬‬‬‬‬..It is dangerous to preempt God. We must learn to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God for the moment.

Walking with God will imply several things. Learning to hear and obey God is a clear way to walk with Him. In addition, ability to keep pace with God will count as walking with God. In other words, we don’t lag behind or go ahead of Him in anyway. It is learning to do what is right at the right time. Achan failed this test. When Israel approached the wall of Jericho, they were instructed not to take spoils for themselves. Contrary to instruction, Achan took spoils to his detriment. By the time Israel was to face Ai, they were given the liberty to take spoils of war. Achan went ahead of God. What he stole at Jericho was meant to be a windfall for him at Ai. He did not live to enjoy that phase. It is dangerous to preempt God. We must learn to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God for the moment.