Tag Archives: Devotional

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! – Psalm 94:1

It is tempting to want to take matters into your own hands when people hurt you or hurt those you love. It is tempting to choose revenge today and to ask God for mercy for your actions tomorrow. There is only one problem with taking matters into your own hands…and it is that is you are taking the place of God. When we take the place of God, we miss the mark – either we are too heavy handed in our judgement or we are too light handed. Either way, we experience the repercussion of missing the mark, and we may trigger a cycle of revenge (such as blood feuds or hatred between groups of people and families). When we let God take revenge on our behalf, He does it in a way that holds the people accountable without affecting us negatively. It also opens the door for reconciliation and restoration as God works on them – through the consequences of their actions which they cannot blame on us. So, let us resist the urge to lash out for the pain others have caused us, lest we end up hurting ourselves, trigger hatred, and reduce the possibility of reconciliation and restoration.

I choose to love myself by allowing God to take revenge on my behalf

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea – Psalm 93:4

In the bible, many times, the waters refer to words and the sea refers to the world. In that context, the noise of many waters represents the noise of many words, and the mighty waves of the sea represents the collective power of the words of those in the world. The collective power of the words of people in the world tends to carry us along or overwhelm us. But rather than being swayed by the words of people or what everybody agrees with in the world, we should be swayed only by the Word of God, for it is only His voice that carries power. Only His words will never fail. When you feel overwhelmed or feel confused, take some time out from the noise of the world. Take a deep breath and go to a place where you can commune with God. Switch off social media and put your phone away. Go for a walk on a nature trail or go on a silent retreat. Make space to listen to God  to hear what He is saying to you.

I will listen to Word of God and not the word of the world

They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing – Psalm 92:14

Just because we age does not mean we have to decay. Stress, struggle, sleeplessness, and sorrow are things that accelerate decay and cause us to look and feel much older than we are. When we live under these conditions for a long time, they cause long-term damage and can heighten the risk of dementia and other types of diseases. Corrie Ten Boom, who is known for her work helping people during World War II said: Look down and be oppressed, look around and be depressed, look up and be at rest! When we purpose in our heart to trust in God and listen to Him, we are less stressed and have a more positive outlook life. Some may say that is simply not being realistic about the way things are. Our retort is what does faith and being realistic have to do with each other. We shall live by faith in the vision of what God has promised and not live by sight in the things that are present today. Only by looking up can you live by faith. So, don’t live by news headlines, don’t live worrying about deadlines, but only choose to live by the redlines of the word of Christ. You will be much fresher and flourish for it.

My best days are still ahead of me

When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever – Psalm 92:7

Some people’s heart are set on doing evil because the judgement for sin and wickedness is not swift. They forget that God forbearance and longsuffering are attributes of God which He chooses to exhibit towards us so that we turn away from our wicked ways. Instead of turning towards God in the time when He may be found, some continue in iniquity and wickedness until the judgement of God is meted out. Now, it is easy to think about it with regards to others, but the same is true for things we know we shouldn’t do like eating badly, working overtime without resting, or only getting a couple of hours of sleep overtime. Ultimately, no one gets away with anything forever. Think about that the next time you want to emulate the wicked ways of others, because you see them flourishing. Consider that you may not be privy to the hidden and private consequences of their action on their marriage, their children, their mental health and emotional well-being. Remember, the grass may only be greener on the side because the other side is filled with sewage.

I will not take Gods forbearance for his forfeiture of judgement

O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep – Psalm 92:5

Thoughts precede works (actions). Hence, the level of our works depends on the depth of our thoughts. Before God decides anything, He thinks through every permutation of the decision He is making and knows what the future holds. For example, the bible tells us that the Lamb (Christ) was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelations 13:8). By this, we see that God had already thought about the possibility of mankind sinning and what He would do to rectify the situation. See, God does nothing by happenstance but thinks things through. I wonder how our lives would look if we thought things though as deeply as God? If we did, we would have plans upon plans and nothing much would phase us. How wonderful it would be if His thoughts became our thoughts, and if His works become our works. The more we learn about God, the more we can get insights into His thoughts. The more insights we get into how He thinks, the more we can align our actions towards His thoughts. The result is that we get to accomplish great things!

The deeper I know God, the greater my works become

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name – Psalm 91:14

The greatest commandment is to love God. Now, loving God is not about going to church, raising our hands up in worship, or spending hours on end in prayer, though all these things are good. Jesus says that those who love Him keep His commandments. To keep his commandments means we listen intently to what God tells us with the intention of acting on it. Why listen to God and do what He says? We should because our life is better off for it. Only God has our best intentions at heart. In fact, his intentions for us are better than our intentions for ourselves. This is because He loves us more than we love ourselves. Furthermore, only God knows the best path for us to take. When you consider all the benefits of listening to God, it becomes clear that love for God translates into love for ourselves

The more I love God, the more I love myself

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot – Psalm 91:13

The bible talks of the devil walking around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The bible also likens the devil to a serpent. So, when the bible talks about treading upon lions and serpents, it has nothing to do showing how brave we with animals around us. Rather, it is speaking about us having dominion over the enemy just as Jesus had victory over the enemy on the cross – a victory that was spoken about in Genesis 3:15 when God declared that Jesus would crush the head of the serpent. How wonderful to know that we have victory over the enemy. How wonderful it is to know we do not have to be afraid of the devil. How wonderful it is to know we have power over him. The devil is not as powerful as you think. And even though he may derive power through lies and deception, his power is little compared to the power that is working in us, which is the power of the Spirit of God. With God working in and through you, you don’t have to be concerned about the devil.

I have the power in Christ to defeat the enemy of my soul

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler – Psalm 91:4

We know from the writings of Apostle Paul that faith is a shield (as part of the armor of God). Yet, this verse shows us that faith is not the only shield. Truth is also a shield that keeps us safe. It keeps us from believing the lies of the enemy and keeps us walking in freedom by not straying away from the path of God. Additionally, truth is a bucker that helps us repel away the cutting words of the enemy. When we have hidden the truth of the word of God in our heart, we find that words that are contrary to truth no longer affects us. We don’t have to live according to what some teacher, classmate, parent, friend, family member, boss, or stranger said to you or about you. By meditating on the word of God, we can live according to the truth of His word. It is up to each of us to guard our hearts with God’s truth so that we can be safe and secure. Failure to do this leads to us to live according to lies and experience many issues in life.

I choose to guard my heart with your truth today

So, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom – Psalm 90:12

Time is our most scarce and precious resource. It is the only resource that everyone gets in the same quantity. It is impossible to get more than twenty-four hours in a day. Moreover, we don’t get a choice of whether to keep it or spend it; we must spend every day. The choice we do have is how we spend our time. Lastly, we can never get the time we spend back. Despite this being the case with time, we tend to treat it as if it is wholly abundant. We waste it as if we can always call on more of it. We don’t do the things we know we should do. We procrastinate on calling our loved ones and on spending time with friends and family. We waste time fighting each other instead of cherishing the time we have with each other. We do this until one day we find that we are out of time! Then we start to live in regret and wonder what could have been. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can treat time as precious commodity and live wisely. We can redeem our time to the glory of God.

I will do what God is telling me to do without delay. I will do what is important

My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips – Psalm 89:34

God has made a covenant with us through Jesus who brokered it and sealed it by His blood on the cross. We are safe and secure because of that covenant because the nature of the covenant is that it can never fail as it is a covenant that was brokered between the God and God – God the Father and God the Son who came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Since the promise of the covenant does not depend on our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness, God will always do what He has promised to do. This is good news for us in that we are guaranteed success if we align ourselves with the words God has already spoken. We know we are guaranteed success because His words do not return to Him void but accomplish everything they were sent to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). It is up to us to make sure that we act on the words that have gone out of His lips, knowing that the result when we operate in obedience to Him is guaranteed.

Whatever God says to me is done in the spirit realm. My obedience brings it forward in the physical realm