Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Apostle Paul exhibited such a degree of flexibility that enabled him to increase both his reach and impact. Philippians 4:13 is an expression of flexibility – “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Philippians 4:12 NKJV. Of course, our text also testifies about his flexibility.

Being adaptable helps you respond quickly to developments around you. It helps minimize risks while increasing your chances of taking advantage of opportunities…It is foolishness to cast our ways in concrete and never adapt even when new light emerges.

Adaptability is one of the several important skills for survival. Here is a quote attributed to Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Being adaptable helps you respond quickly to developments around you. It helps minimize risks while increasing your chances of taking advantage of opportunities. We can find a biblical parallel to this in the parable of the prodigal son. We can blame him for all we care, but we cannot take away from him his adaptability skills. After he lost his fortune, he adapted by joining a pig farmer. With life becoming more difficult, he adjusted and went home to his father, willing to work as a servant. A little while later, he was fully restored. It is foolishness to cast our ways in concrete and never adapt even when new light emerges.

A simple definition of revelation is divine disclosure which can come in a wide variety of ways. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV. In our previous meditation, we learned that God imparts our heart with His counsel. At other times, His counsel can come to us through dreams. To make king Nebuchadnezzar know His global plan, He gave him a dream. When he could not remember his dream, he sought help from the astrologers as well as his wise men. They were equally clueless. Daniel and his friends sought the face of the Lord, and the secret was disclosed to Daniel in the night through a dream as well. As Daniel worshipped and thanked God for the disclosure, he described Him as one who “reveals deep and secret things”.

If we don’t have as much of divine disclosure today as before, it is not to suggest that God has stopped communicating with people. Rather, it is because our generation has not learned the importance of pressing into God.

Take note of the tenses used here, it is in the present. God revealed secrets in the past, and He is still doing so today. That disclosure averted the death sentence on Daniel, his friends and the wise men of Babylon. The king also promoted Daniel and his friends in his kingdom. One disclosure from God can radically affect your life and the lives of several others who are connected to you. God is not partial. If He disclosed secrets to these men because they sought Him, He will do the same for us if we also seek Him appropriately. If we don’t have as much of divine disclosure today as before, it is not to suggest that God has stopped communicating with people. Rather, it is because our generation has not learned the importance of pressing into God.

What we have as “heart” in our text may as well be called spirit as both are sometimes used interchangeably. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.” Through direct impact on man’s spirit or heart, the Spirit of the Lord is able to expose every hidden motive. Besides this, the heart of man is also the receptacle of God’s pure counsel.

Once the heart is fully possessed by God, it whispers divine counsel every turn of the way…The stillness of the night increases our sensitivity to the voice of God. Learn to take advantage of the night season.

A heart fully yielded to God becomes a priced possession to the owner thereof. Rather than churning out evil and wickedness, it becomes a sort of Global Positioning System (GPS) showing where to go and what to do. This is the thrust of our text today. The Psalmist exulted in God for His wonderful counsel. The primary way the counsel came was by instruction of the heart, particularly in the night season. Once the heart is fully possessed by God, it whispers divine counsel every turn of the way. Our text is wonderfully rendered in The Passion Translation (TPT): “The way you counsel and correct me makes me praise you more, for your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do next.” When in doubt of what to do next, listen to what God will drop in your heart. The stillness of the night increases our sensitivity to the voice of God. Learn to take advantage of the night season.

One of my friends was travelling from our town to Lagos, Nigeria, many years ago and happened to sit by a lady who looked rather somber. When he probed what the matter was, she disclosed that she worked for the State Security Service and had misplaced a sensitive key which could lead her to jail. That seeming chance event led to a fruitful and happy marriage that lasted many years. I also heard of one Elle Peter recall how she got married to her husband. She was trying to reach someone by phone. Somehow, she mistakenly dialled someone else with whom she had no contact. The receiver notified her that she had dialled the wrong number, but that in any case she had a lovely voice. He then wondered if he could call her again. That “mistake” led to both of them getting married and having two kids together.

With God, nothing is too condemned that cannot be redeemed.

Our text of scripture says that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will”. A twin of that will be Romans 8:28 which says that God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. In God’s sovereign will and surpassing wisdom, He can work out all things until they fit into His eternal plan. Jonah made a mistake when he headed to Tarshish instead of Nineveh. God sent a fish to swallow him then he got vomited on the third day. That later became symbolic of the days that Jesus would spend in the belly of the earth for our redemption. With God, nothing is too condemned that cannot be redeemed.

In His maiden teaching, Jesus taught us to be wary of putting others to shame because of little faults in their lives when we have bigger ones in our lives. Those who know that we run this Christian race by grace are hesitant to rush to conclusions and condemn people. They realize that it is the grace of God that makes a difference in their lives and are willing to extend the same to others as well. Someone said that the best way to forget other people’s faults is to remember ours. How true this is! If you consider the fact that you are far from perfect, you will be less critical of other people in their weaknesses.

A critical spirit does no good; for even when that attitude is borne out of a recognizable advantage, it may lead to pride.

Spiritual maturity can be measured in several ways. However, one outstanding method is to examine one’s level of forbearance. The higher you grow in the Lord, the more you can put up with the shortcomings of others. To someone at a much lower level of maturity, your forbearance will look like compromising standards. Whereas immature people tend to be severe with other people’s weaknesses, mature ones focus on themselves, looking for areas needing further improvement. One man uncannily said that some apply the law of Moses to the failures of other people, but employ grace to their own. That is the height of hypocrisy. A critical spirit does no good; for even when that attitude is borne out of a recognizable advantage, it may lead to pride.

Our text is drawing attention to a little creature called the spider. It is one of four little creatures that the book of Proverbs describes as wise, the other three being the ants, conies, and locusts. The spider is considered wise because it puts its hands to work, resulting in its making a mark even to the king’s palace. Even though hard work is stressed by this reference, we can consider it from another angle. To appreciate the point we are about to make, consider this: imagine that the spider is working hard at singing. How much progress or impact will such effort yield? Nothing, you would say. The reason is that the spider was neither created nor gifted to make melodies. All  it can do is to weave, and that is what takes it to the palaces. So it is the spider’s gift that is on display.

Here is the truth: Nothing can facilitate your journey to success and recognition like your gift. The starting point is to look inward and see what has been uniquely given to you…Those who discover, develop, and deploy their gifts are on their way to the top.

Most people desire to climb to the height of greatness in life, but few know how to go about it. Here is the truth: Nothing can facilitate your journey to success and recognition like your gift. The starting point is to look inward and see what has been uniquely given to you. What can you do that other people cannot? Or what can you do with relative ease better than others? These could be pointers to the gift of God in your life. Work on your gift until it becomes a skill. Someone will be willing to pay for it someday. As Proverbs 18:16 says, it is a man’s gift that makes room for him and positions him before mighty people. Those who discover, develop, and deploy their gifts are on their way to the top.