Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

At our annual Pastors/Leaders’ Retreat, one of our pastors taught on ROADMAP TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS. Among other things, he stressed the fact that risk is relative. Explaining further, he stated that investments with minimal risk turns in minimal returns, while those with higher risks have matching returns as well. This time-tested financial principle applies to life generally. Wherever you have great prospects will likely be a place of great resistance. The spies reported that the land was indeed good, but that giants were there too. To demonstrate how good the land was, they brought samples of the grapes which they had cut from the Promised Land. Rather than focus on the opportunities of the land, they got fixated on the giants. They lost their opportunity to wrong focus.

When God gives you an opportunity, stand your ground by faith and never be intimidated by the roar of the adversaries. Keep in mind that God will not open a door that He will not walk through it with you.

It is illusory not to expect opposition from the adversary when you are marching to your promised land. Paul found this out in his missionary journey. He found “real opportunity…for great and worthwhile work” at Ephesus, but there were many oppositions too. Paul did not allow the opposition to force him out of the doors which God had opened for him. When God gives you an opportunity, stand your ground by faith and never be intimidated by the roar of the adversaries. Keep in mind that God will not open a door that He will not walk through it with you.

There are no less than 15 blessings spelt out in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. They range from provision to protection and preservation. What is worthy of emphasis is that all those blessings are contingent on one thing – obedience to the voice of God. “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NKJV

We inflict ourselves with a curse when we don’t obey the Lord… Those who have learned to obey God at all times get immunity for themselves against every negative thing that may be thrown at them.

Obedience matters greatly in walking with God. It was the ground for which God blessed Abraham and made it trans-generational. On the flip side, disobedience will not only block all these blessings but also make one susceptible to a curse. A lot of believers live in fear of people who might curse them. They forget that a curse without a cause is impotent. They also forget that most curses are actually self-inflicted. We inflict ourselves with a curse when we don’t obey the Lord. This is stated clearly in our text. Those who have learned to obey God at all times get immunity for themselves against every negative thing that may be thrown at them.

One of the words we use to describe God is “Omniscience”. It conveys the fact that God is all knowing. He knows the end from the beginning and makes provision for the end from the beginning! The Omniscience of God is implied in our text. He foresaw a time when Israel would seek to have a king, like other nations, and set the parameters for it. That came to manifestation in the days of Samuel, about 500 years after God had spoken. In our text, one criterion was that whoever would be king must be a bonafide Israelite and not a foreigner.

To make good our office as kings, we must give heed to the word of God. We are to rule not by human ideas but by the word of God. The word of God is to be our light and lamp so we don’t stumble.

Other provisions were made which included that the king was to have a copy of the law of God and read it “all the days of his life”. Deuteronomy 17:18-19. By so doing, he would learn to fear the Lord and be energized to observe His laws and statutes. Studying the account of the kingdom, we realize that the kings that took heed to this counsel prospered, while those who distanced themselves from the law not only failed but plunged the nation into idolatry. The Bible calls us kings and priests who are to rule in this world. To make good our office as kings, we must give heed to the word of God. We are to rule not by human ideas but by the word of God. The word of God is to be our light and lamp so we don’t stumble.

Our text was the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy noted in Jeremiah 31:15. It happened when Herod felt mocked by the wisemen who refused to return to him to show the place where Jesus was. In anger he killed all children who were under two years of age. It is of interest to note that Jeremiah was called into his prophetic ministry around 627 B. C. That implies that the word he spoke took approximately 600 years to come to fulfillment. Let’s imagine that Jeremiah lived all through those years, watching from year to year not seeing his prophecy come to pass. Could he not have doubted himself and the source of the prophecy? Definitely he would wonder if he heard God correctly.

Unknown to many, the promises of God are tied to times and seasons; and no matter how hard we try they will not come to pass until the time appointed.

One of the hardest things to do is waiting for manifestation of a word or prophecy we have received from the Lord. Unknown to many, the promises of God are tied to times and seasons; and no matter how hard we try they will not come to pass until the time appointed. We often want things to happen at our own time, but God makes things beautiful in His time. Over 600 years elapsed but the word of God did not become impotent. God’s word does not weaken with age. If you are sure that you received a word from the Lord, hold on to it and never be discouraged. Faithful is He who promised who also will do it.

There is a threefold application of the line, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” The first has to do with Israel as a nation. When God contended with Pharaoh over the release of the children of Israel from bondage, He referred to them as His first son. “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” Exodus 4:22-23 NKJV. The second application of the phrase has to do with the Lord Jesus. At birth, wise men came in search of Him to pay obeisance. When Herod heard about another king, he became restless. To shield Him from the sword of Herod, the angel asked Joseph to take Mary and the child, Jesus and go to Egypt. At the end of the reign of that Herod, they returned from Egypt to the land of Israel. This was the literal fulfillment of our text.

Believers must avoid the temptation of looking down on those in the world, because we were once like them before God called us out by His mercy.

The third and final application is an inference that we can draw. Egypt is symbolic of the world system and all its sinful allures. Whenever someone embraces Christ by being born again, he is called out of Egypt. So we can say effectively that everyone in Christ today was once in Egypt. Now, God gave a warning to the children of Israel concerning the Egyptians: “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land” Deuteronomy 23:7 NKJV. Believers must avoid the temptation of looking down on those in the world, because we were once like them before God called us out by His mercy. Moreover, the grace of God that called us out of Egypt is still very much available to call them as well.

A woman was dragged to Jesus, accused of adultery. Her accusers quoted the law of Moses which stipulated that such offenders should be stoned to death. They later asked for His take on the matter. It was a tricky question indeed. If He told them to go by the law of Moses, that might give them opportunity to accuse Him of doing contrary to His mission of saving the world. On the other hand, if He told them to spare her, they would probably accuse Him of breaking the law of God. Yesterday, we noted that thoughtless words and deeds are the root cause of regrets. Jesus did not embark on a thoughtless response. Rather, He stooped down and was writing in the sand. Whatever He wrote is not the important thing here; what is important is that He used that moment to connect with the mind of the Father.

We cannot do the will of God without knowing the voice of the Father; and we cannot know the voice of the Father unless we are intentional in listening and searching for it.

In our text, Jesus explained that He did nothing of His own. His judgment followed whatever He heard from the mouth of the Father. He did that all through His earthly ministry because His preoccupation was to fulfill the will of the Father. We cannot do the will of God without knowing the voice of the Father; and we cannot know the voice of the Father unless we are intentional in listening and searching for it. God has a voice! His voice translates to His will, and we can access it by the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.