Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

I had the privilege to be one of the guest speakers at a prayer conference organized to mark the commencement of the fourth year administration of Pastor Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on June 1, 2026. I took my text from John 2. One of the lessons that I emphasized was that what human beings sometimes see as delay is God dressing up their miracles. Several examples are there in the Bible to corroborate this. Abraham and Sarah thought God was running late in their affairs. When God came through for them, the promised son was born. Isaac was no ordinary son. He was known as the beloved son of his father who was willingly offered in sacrifice. In that sense, he became a type of what God eventually did for mankind. God had to offer His only begotten Son for the sins of the world.

…what human beings sometimes see as delay is God dressing up their miracles…Abraham and Sarah thought God was running late in their affairs. When God came through for them, the promised son was born.

Jesus seemed to have gone late to Bethany when He received an emergency call about Lazarus. He was invited when Lazarus was sick, but He arrived when he had died and even buried. By man’s estimate, that was too late. However, Lazarus received an order of life from the giver of life. He got a new lease on life. The next time Jesus returned to Bethany, Lazarus was one of the guests occupying the reserved seats. It would have been miraculous if Jesus raised Lazarus from his sickbed. That, however, was no match for a miracle of bringing him from the dead. These cases are an encouragement to remain faithful, watch, and pray.

An atheist is a person who does not believe in the existence of God of the Bible or any gods for that matter; but there is a God who superintends the affairs of the world from heaven. The impressionable heart of a child makes him or her know that there is God. The unspoken language of lifting hands to the sky is universal; and it is a pointer to the fact that eternity is truly written in the hearts of men. The word of God did not waste time debating those who say that there is no God; it simply dismisses them as fools. I believe it is because the proofs of the existence of a Supreme Being are all too evident that it does not call for debate.

…the essence of prayer is not having our will done in heaven; rather, it is having the will of heaven done on earth. Therefore, God reserves the right to withhold any prayer that is incongruent with His will on earth.

Many practicing atheists did not begin that way. They probably slipped into atheism because they felt disappointed in some ways. For some, it was because God has not done all they asked in prayer. They are getting some things wrong. They sound as ridiculous as people saying there are no doctors because someone died! Imagine people boycott hospitals completely just because someone is not healed! That will be absurd indeed. Yet, this is how some believers behave sometimes. Those who turned their backs on God because one request was not granted should have considered several other requests that scaled through. They should have remembered the many blessings of God that came to them unsolicited. On a general note, we all need to appreciate that the essence of prayer is not having our will done in heaven; rather, it is having the will of heaven done on earth. Therefore, God reserves the right to withhold any prayer that is incongruent with His will on earth.

The devil believes in having young recruits. That’s the way he gets youngsters addicted and leave them struggling for years. I read of Joshua Broome who ventured into the porn industry. His adventure into the ignoble career began about the age of 13 or 14 when he encountered pornography. He soon got addicted, as he craved for more and more. A chance encounter with some girls already in the porn industry goaded him to sign up. In his 5-year career as a porn star, he made about $1 million, but it was a miserable experience. He felt dirty, isolated, and unloved. He eventually quit the trade to reunite with his mother who did not condemn him. Another chance encounter with a lady at the gym would later change his life forever. The lady invited him to a church service where he heard the gospel preached and his life turned around. They were married shortly after.

No one is far too gone that the long hand of God cannot reclaim and use for His purpose.

Yesterday, we learned about how grace made room for an outsider like Ruth. Both her story and that of Broome’s will readily bring into focus the story of the woman of Samaria in John chapter four. She had virtually lost her sense of worth having been a pawn in the hands of six men. Meeting Jesus gave her a new slate. With her newfound life she moved into the city, bringing many men to the feet of the Saviour. These stories tell us several things. No one is far too gone that the long hand of God cannot reclaim and use for His purpose. Ruth, as we learned yesterday, became a matriarch in the lineage of Jesus; the Samaritan woman became an Evangelist that brought her city to Christ; and Broome is now a serving pastor of a flourishing church.

A powerful truth revealed in the Bible about God is that He will never leave Himself without a witness in the life of His people. Elimelech’s family suffered a great misfortune in Moab; yet there was left a witness of His faithfulness. That witness was in the person of Ruth, a young lady from Moab who decided to stay with Naomi. On her part, Ruth’s story is a clear pointer to what grace could do in any life. One thing that stands out above others is the fact that grace can grant an exemption. We can define exemption in two ways. It could be seen as freedom from obligation that is expected of others. The other way to capture the meaning of grace is to see it as freedom from restriction that is slammed on others. This is where the story of Ruth comes in.

…grace can grant an exemption…meaning of grace is to see it as freedom from restriction that is slammed on others…Grace can lift barriers for you. Grace makes you unstoppable.

Ruth came from a nation whose foundation was uncomely. It was built on incestuous relationship. In addition to this, when Balak ruled over that nation, he hired Balaam to curse Israel. God’s judgment on Moab was to put a restriction on all Moabites.  “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever” (Deuteronomy 23:3, KJV). By this general decree, Ruth was banned from the commonwealth of Israel, but grace exempted her. She not only entered the congregation of the Lord, she also became an ancestor of the Lord Jesus by human genealogy. Grace can lift barriers for you. Grace makes you unstoppable.

Cain had the unenviable record of committing the first murder in the Bible. It is interesting that he did not arrive at the point of killing his brother just at once. It began when he found that God paid no respect to his offering but praised that of Abel. That was when anger, and perhaps jealousy, set in. God knew that if Cain did not watch it, he was set on a slippery path and warned him accordingly. Had he listened, he would not have committed that heinous crime. That brings us to our key thought today. Sin is hardly what happens at the spur of the moment. There is what we the Bible calls the motions of sin. Whenever sin occurs, it is because a process has been followed. It is when the process is followed and the cycle completed that actual sin takes place.

Whenever sin occurs, it is because a process has been followed. It is when the process is followed and the cycle completed that actual sin takes place…Prayer is a potent force to push back temptation. Counsel from a mature believer will also serve you in good stead.

Our text explains this better. It is particularly instructive that James used conception to show how sin is formed and birthed. A baby is not born at once. It is a long process, beginning from conception. That is followed by gestation, and months later the baby is born. The seed of every sin is a thought or an idea. The Bible calls this lust or desire. When nothing is done to counter that seed, it would eventually become sin. It is possible to abort the motions of sin. The moment sinful desires are rising within, you can do several things to abort them. Prayer is a potent force to push back temptation. Counsel from a mature believer will also serve you in good stead.

Our church held this year’s end time summit in the last weekend of June. Of the many things stressed by our guest speaker, Pastor Oje Ohiwerei, was that we cannot afford to base our relationship with God on second-hand information. My mind immediately raced to a story in Acts Chapter 19. It is about the sons of Sceva. They must have given considerable attention to Paul’s ministry and what he had accomplished using the name of Jesus. They commanded devils out of someone “by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (vs 13). The outcome was not pleasant to these men, as the man energised by the evil spirit pounced on them and tore their clothes. Even though these men had a priest as their father, that was not enough to save them. They were operating on second-hand information – “Jesus whom Paul preaches”.

Direct encounter with God is the starting point of walking in authority…Believers who traffic with the ways and systems of the world inadvertently bring themselves under the control of the devil. It is futile, if not dangerous, for such people to attempt subduing the devil.

The story of the sons of Sceva shows that not everyone can exercise spiritual authority to good effect. Direct encounter with God is the starting point of walking in authority. As a rule, one has to be born again to enjoy this privilege. Beyond that, one has to be sufficiently consecrated in order not to become a victim of spiritual battles. In our text, admonition is given of the importance of not loving the world. The world simply refers to the maxims and principles that the unbelievers employ to conduct their affairs in life. Believers who traffic with the ways and systems of the world inadvertently bring themselves under the control of the devil. It is futile, if not dangerous, for such people to attempt subduing the devil.