Tag: Devotional Thursday

Devotional Thursday

Living a Purpose Driven Life unto God

In the Bible, Daniel did not only receive visions and dreams from God and had the gift of interpretation of dreams, he was also a man of purpose.

These were his achievements as a young man; He

-rose to pre-eminence in his own nation Israel (Daniel 1:3-6)

-rose to pre-eminence in Babylon,

a) among the wise men (Daniel 1:17-20),

b) gained power over all of Babylon (Daniel 2:48-49;5:29) and

-obtained power over the Medo-Persian empire (Daniel 6:1-3,28).

How did Daniel, an Israelite attain so much power and authority in the heathen empires? It was because he was a man of purpose. Daniel did not wake up one day as a child of God and say “I want to have power over nations and to be famous, I am going to do all I can to attain that goal!”.

We get an insight into Daniel’s no nonsense and bold “I purpose to live for God at all cost!” attitude when we read Daniel 1:8 (KJV) among other verses:

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

From a very young age Daniel purposed in his heart to be a sincere and committed worshipper of the God of Israel. He allowed God to set his goals and priorities all the time. He was not hasty in his actions, but took time to be in the “Secret place” with God and to hear from Him.

This is why Daniel was a man who knew his God, was bold and had favour with God and man, a foundation to build on and do exploits for God.

When we develop the habit of pursuing God with all that is in us, we inevitably become His visionaries because our lifestyles scream out “Lord, I am available! Speak to me! I want to hear or see what you have to say or show me”.

God is graciously raising people like Daniel today. Are we counted as one of these people?

In the biblical book of Revelations, Jesus was speaking to those who are his when he said “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20 WEB).

These words of Jesus reveals that in addition to confessing that one is his or God’s, one needs to advance in one’s Christian walk to the “secret place” of his presence or intimacy with God where one receives revelation or insight into God’s mind, will and purposes.

He “knocks” by offering himself to those who are his in many ways especially through the Holy Spirit that testifies of him and indwells the believer and through the Word of God which he personifies (John 1).

Those who qualify to be Jesus’ disciples, he calls friends (John 15:15), for unlike servants they have access to revelation of Father’s words and therefore his secrets and will through Jesus, they are the ones who accept to open the door of their lives to a knocking Jesus.

They accept the invitation of Jesus to “come up here” (Rev. 4:1) to abide with him closely, so that through intimacy they know God, receive His power, favour and revelatory gifts as Daniel did.

Jesus Christ also makes it clear that obedience to his will which demonstrates love for him is the key (John 14:21-26) to entering his and Father God’s presence or glory. This produces a life that is purposeful unto God.

Brethren, God has not changed since the days of Daniel and as long as we are willing and completely surrendered to Him, God’s plans and purposes will be fulfilled in our lives.

If per chance you feel you have made too many mistakes and think it is too late or you are too old to get back on track, I have a message for you today, it does not matter how old we are for we can start afresh

with God at any age or stage.

Determine today to begin or to continue at all costs to live a purpose driven life founded on the Word of God in total surrender so as to fulfill God’s destiny for your life.

When you do this, it means you are living in obedience to God’s precious Word; key scriptures such as “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 KJV).

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” (Proverbs 5:3-8 KJV).

God is willing to do whatever it takes to help us live a purpose driven life so that we can stay on course fulfilling our God given destinies. He forgives us again and again or endless times and He is a God of second, third, fourth or multiple chances.

The only condition is that we acknowledge our sins and repent before him (1 John 1:9), surrendering our lives totally to Him so as to exchange our purposes for His.

©️Jan-2016 DENyamekye

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Devotional Thursday

Steps of faith into your destiny: Joshua/Caleb Generation

The journey through the promised land for Israel was a powerful illustration of how God’s people then as now go through the journey of life with a cycle of challenges, problems and obstacles some of which seem insurmountable.

Every step of the way through the promised land was a step of faith, at times their faith was so weak that they murmured, many resorted to idolising a golden calf and some did not even make it to the promised land.

In Joshua 3:3-4 when the LORD told them to follow after the Ark of the Covenant carried by the priests, the Israelites did not know where they were going, as they had never been that way before. They therefore did not know how close or how far they were to the promised land. They had to put their trust totally in God who alone knew the way.

Likewise without God’s leading we do not know what is ahead of us. Without Him we have no idea at what stage of our breakthrough we are in or how long we still need to wait until we receive what we believe God has promised us in personal prophecy or through His Word.

In the wilderness journey the Israelites were led by a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day and received constant counsel and instruction as guidance by God through Moses and then Joshua, as New Covenant believers in our journey of life, we have access to the revelatory realm of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit and gifts of the Spirit. We cannot and should not underestimate the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives to draw us closer to God so that we know Him as well as His will and direction for our lives.

When we trust God, we are willing to obey Him and do so by taking steps of faith through the leading of the Holy Spirit in the direction in which He is leading us.

The greatest steps of faith based on our trust in God we will need to take are at the beginning or at the brink of our undertaking, be it a journey, a new job, a project or a ministry.

I sense this juncture is the point at which Satan reinforces his natural and spiritual armies against our progression, attempting to sabotage our plans and therefore these are times when we should strengthen ourselves through intensified or increased prayer, fasting and praise as well as scriptural meditation.

CROSSING THE RED SEA

An illustration of the intensified danger at the commencement of a journey with the intention of stopping it: when the Israelites had just left Egypt they thought the final plague was enough to keep Pharaoh from pursuing them but they were greatly mistaken for he mobilized his horsemen with their chariots and pursued them! The Israelites were terrified as they realised they had no where to turn, with Pharaoh and his army closing in behind them and the Red Sea before them.
But they served a God who is omnipotent and omniscient.

He is the sovereign one Adonai, who always has the last word on any matter, for He is the creator and controller of the universe. God foreknew this would happen and devised a miraculous plan of deliverance which would be one of the all time miraculous testimonies the world has ever heard of and would be recounted from generation to generation. Right before their eyes the Red Sea parted and they were able to cross over safely, however Pharaoh’s horsemen and chariots drowned.
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him” (Is. 59:19b).

CROSSING THE JORDAN

“The priests who carried the Ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.” (Joshua 3:17NASB)

The nation of Israel had come to the end of their journey and their last hurdle was the crossing of the Jordan River which would take them into the promised land. Here we find another water path as the Red Sea which if but for God would have served as a great obstacle to them moving forward to attain His promises.

As with the Red Sea, the Jordan River (Joshua 3:13) was parted supernaturally by God for them to walk across.

It is worth noting how the Lord kept the waters of the Jordan River on one side; the priests carrying “the Ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan” until all the Israelites had finished crossing it.
At the brink of the Israelites’ entry into the promised land, this imagery speaks louder than words and is very powerful; The Ark and the priests carrying it, speak of God’s presence and “Right Hand” or intercessory might in the midst of obstacles so that a way is made for deliverance or release. It also makes a statement that nothing, not even the laws of nature, can withstand God’s power of intervention for the sake of His people.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth;…I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.” (Isa.43:19 KJV)
God is today speaking in the same way to us. Our Royal High Priest Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit are not only leading the way, but also making intercession for us in the midst of every situation so that a way is made for us to enter into our promises.

God therefore strategises to take us through every hurdle safely. Our part is to trust and obey for the manifestation of a glorious outcome.

TRUST, OBEY AND TAKE STEPS OF FAITH INTO YOUR PROMISES

In both cases, at the beginning of the journey through the wilderness and at the end so as to enter the promised land, the Israelites were blessed with the miracle of the parting of waters so that they could walk across.

The LORD was saying “the greater the danger you are facing, or is advancing behind you, the greater the miracle I will outwork to deliver you and bring you to the place I am sending you”.
How easy is it to cross over parted waters? It takes great trust in the one who parted it to decide to obey them and take steps of faith to walk across, knowing that they will keep it parted until you get to the other side.

The Israelites who left Israel were not the same crowd who entered the promised land apart from two, Joshua and Caleb. God made sure that the crowd who left Egypt with Joshua and Caleb did not receive their inheritance, instead they died in the wilderness. Why? because of their unbelief.

Joshua and Caleb represented a generation who had a different spirit, in other words they trusted God to do what was impossible to man. They were people of great faith in God and fearless of the giants they would encounter in the promised land (Numbers 11). It is therefore this generation that God chose to enter the promised land. When we trust God, we are fearless, quick to obey and activate our faith in Him so that He is glorified. These are the qualities of the Joshua and Caleb generation, qualities necessary to receive and sustain the promises of God.

Friends, let us examine our hearts today and ask ourselves, are we among the Joshua & Caleb generation in these last days before the return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

Is there anything “old ways of Egypt” in us i.e. mindsets, attitudes, presumptions, secret faults that must die or be overcome so that we can truly be consecrated unto God as true worshippers.
It is never too late to re-address areas of our lives and put things right so that we attain the fullness of our inheritance in God through Jesus Christ. God reveals to redeem.

Dear Father
Thank you for the promises and destiny you have for me.

Forgive me when I have not trusted you or I have been fearful to take steps of faith according to your word.

I am thankful that as you are all knowing, you have a plan or strategy to overcome every obstacle or danger on my behalf by your mighty power.

I ask that you would help me to stay in that place of trusting you completely with every decision and direction I desire to take knowing that you will redirect my course if it is not your will.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

You are blessed, determine to stay blessed.

Deborah Esther x

©Deborah E Nyamekye

Devotional Thursday

Limitless Doses of Thanksgiving per Day

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name. the LORD [is] good; his mercy [is] everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations.” (Ps. 100:4-5 KJV)

One morning, I was reading about people who have been through great afflictions, trials and sicknesses. One man was told he would not live very long because of cancer but after chemotherapy he has lived on for seven years and each day lived is not taken for granted. Each day is special to him.

A woman had lost five babies, two of the children she had have serious disabilities and she was in an abusive marriage for twenty years which she escaped and the list goes on.

The common factor between all these people telling their life experiences is that they all find life worth living. What an encouraging, refreshing read it was and none of them even mentioned their faith and I felt many were not Christians. Most people whatever faith they are, value life more after they have been through extreme difficulties and have overcome.

I and I am sure several people have been greatly saddened by the fact that assisted suicide (right to die) has been legalized or is being promoted not only in Switzerland where it was made famous but now in other western nations. In fact in one country I read about, you don’t even have to be terminally ill, as one woman said that she had never wanted to live and so requested that her decision to die be granted and it was.

Sisters and brothers, this is clearly one of the several marks of the final hour before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The abuse, disrespect of self and then life itself knows no bounds! A great affront to our Creator and life giver, the Most High God, if ever there was one!

This is a time when we as a church should be reaching out more than ever before to the lost, for while there are some who value life having been through tragedies and gained the emotional strength or healing to overcome, there are those who never overcome or they give up on life and become bitter and angry at times expressing how they feel by abusing or making life difficult for others.

Even as believers in our Lord Jesus, life can deal us with extreme blows which may cause us to doubt God and want to give up. I have been given a remedy to counteract discouragement prescribed by our great physician Jesus Christ.

In fact it is one that is not uniquely mine, it is just that I have taken great doses daily for sometime out of obedience and I feel compelled to remind and encourage others to do the same. There is no limit as to how much of it one should take daily.

I have seen how much it has made a way for me to be more open to God by focusing on who He is to me and who I am to Him through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Want to take a guess what this “remedy” against discouragement is?

It is thankfulness! Being thankful every day to God for my life, that I have overcome difficulties and I am still standing. The key to contentment and peace is developing the habit of always being thankful to The LORD in every circumstance.

Brothers and sisters, if unbelievers in Jesus, people of other faiths or none are able to find life worth living how much more us Christians who believe in him who died to give us abundant and eternal life?

Jesus said “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:…” (John 11:25 KJV).

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12 KJV).

Jesus further spoke of his words being “Spirit and life”(John 6:63).

The first Adam brought death through disobedience but Christ is referred to by the apostle Paul as “the second Adam ” and “life-giving Spirit” (1 Corinth 15:45).

The Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is in every true believer in Jesus and Paul says that as a result we have the life of God in our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11 KJV).

All this affirmation of having the life of God in us, as new covenant believers ought to excite us and encourage us to be thankful that this is our inheritance as a result of our new life or birth in Him.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4.13 KJV).

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] of me, saith the LORD.” (Is.54:17 KJV).

We are more than conquerors through him (Jesus) who loves us (Romans 8:37).

When we go through trials, “fire” He is with us (Isaiah 43:2/James 1:2-3) and molding our character as well as teaching us to be solely dependent on Him.

Life is truly worth living! Let us be thankful daily for the fact that we are alive at such a time as this, belonging to and serving God who says “giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me, if you keep to my path I will reveal to you the salvation of God”(Ps. 50:23 NLT)

Dear Father

We thank you for your immense love for us and taking us out of darkness into your kingdom of light. Forgive us when we have taken our lives for granted and even complained rather than give thanks.

Help us to remember that thanksgiving should be the order of the day in our lives and how much it glorifies you when we are thankful to you.

Father we cry out on behalf of the brethren who are ill, weak emotionally and are struggling in many ways that you will miraculously heal and deliver them and give them hope for the future in a way only you can.

We also lift up the unsaved including those who have a new zeal for life having overcome many tragedies, that you would in this time create a thirst in their hearts, unquenchable until they find you, the only source of redemptive life.

In Jesus Name, Amen

You are blessed, determine to stay blessed

Deborah Esther x

©️Deborah E. Nyamekye

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