How much value can you place on the fact that you are healthy and there is no sickness ravaging your body? Meditate on this. There was a man who tried to place value on his healing. An accomplished General in the Syrian army who was a leper. He sought for healing to no avail until he was linked to a prophet of God through a maid. When he eventually journeyed to Israel to see the man of God, instead of coming out to meet him, the prophet sent his servant to tell him to go and bathe in river Jordan seven times. The General took offence but the voice of reason prevailed on him and when he complied with the prophet’s instruction, his miracle happened.
The General was a listening General. This year, you must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. What you desire might just be in one instruction. The General was exhilarated. He decided to place value on his miracle and sent gifts to the prophet who declined to accept them. However, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, ran after the General and collected the gifts surreptitiously, oblivious of the eyes of the Almighty God that followed him. The eyes of the Prophet were opened and he saw what happened.
You must be very careful. No matter how tempting that sin may be; may the Lord grant you the grace to say ‘no’. The only place you are permitted to commit it is where the eyes of the Almighty cannot reach; that is if there is any place like that. Gehazi thought he was alone and this is the greatest mistake many people make. He collected the $250,000 but also collected not only leprosy; he destroyed his destiny and the opportunity to contact a great anointing. Because of this misstep, Elisha had to go to the grave with all his anointing.
This year, let us be children of the Most High God indeed. How much is your Christianity worth? What value can you place on your salvation? Some of the things you take for granted cannot be quantified in monetary terms. Sin can be very enticing but it derobes, demotes and destroys. Sin makes people naked. Gehazi became a leper; he was ostracized.
Don’t allow any lust to captivate you. The devil uses lust of the eyes or lust of the flesh to capture people. First, he captivates in order to capture, capsize and drown people. Sin can be captivating but it leads ultimately to captivity. Avoid wrong association. Don’t tag along with people who are capable of seducing you and destroying your destiny.
May you learn to place more value on your relationship with your Father. If you do, your meat will be to do his will; your obedience will be borne out of love and not out of necessity. You will not want to fail Him. That was what kept Joseph from the overtures of an adulterous woman, Potiphar’s wife, when no one was there. Placement of value on our relationship with God will make us obey and fear Him. In Him and through Him do we live, move and have our being.
This year, be very discerning. Don’t take anything hook, line and sinker, those who swallow things hook, line and sinker will sink. You must weigh everything and engage the Holy Spirit first thing every morning. First fruit starts from the heart, placing God first and foremost in your heart. First thing in the morning, acknowledge God, worship Him, and don’t give him rejects. This is the true meaning of worship, worth-ship, placement of value on your relationship with your Father. God takes note of this and ensures that before your ask, the provision shall be there; He ensures that His angels are on guard to see you through. Cain was a worker who gave God rejects but Abel was a worshipper who gave God the best. The separating point is value.
Isa. 4:4-6 – The greatest level of relationship is the glory of God. The glory of God is not found on the surface or outside of the court, not even in the inner court. It is found in the holy of holies. The glory overshadows the mercy seat. Anytime you talk about divine protection, this is the key. In the tabernacle doctrine, you find the outer court which is for the whole congregation of Israel but that is not where the glory is. You must determine to stretch to the holy place and then press on to the holy of holies. That is where the glory is. The glory defence is the best defence anyone can have. When man sinned, the glory departed and the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sin cuts off the glory. Sin removes the glory; sin makes man naked and makes one vulnerable to all forms of attack. The glory cover is the greatest cover.
The prescription for anyone who will get the glory cover is the washing away of the filth; filth is spiritual dust. There are things in your life that need to be purged. Don’t spare them; don’t spare any Amalekite. God’s prescription for Amalekites is total annihilation. Don’t be like king Saul. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Destroy sin before it derobes you. If you want to see the glory of God, you must judge sin. You cannot de-odourize sin. The evil you tolerate will eventually contaminate and consume you. The Amalekites that Saul tolerated eventually became his waterloo.
Holiness is not optional but mandatory for anyone who will see the overwhelming glory of God. It is found in the holy of holies, the ‘sanctus sanctorum’. The Christian life is a life of continuous progressive sanctification. You must know your agents of sanctification and engage them actively this year. Agents of sanctification include: the word of God, the blood of Jesus and the fire of His presence. There is a level of cleansing you cannot attain until the judgment fire has removed the dross. The Bibles says, “Take away the dross from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer” – Prov. 25:4.
What makes you fine is beauty that comes from within not makeup. Makeup can make you look glamorous but true beauty comes from inside. Glamour is different from glory. We must learn to worship God in the beauty of holiness. We must get into the fire dimension of the precious Holy Spirit. Wherever this spirit of judgment is in operation, sins and demons are put to flight, evil powers bow, sickness is consumed. A lot of sicknesses like cancer are evil deposits that have grown. When people are separated from the fire, they get cold and when they get cold, they attract demons; evil deposits will start growing in their body. The purifying fire of the Holy Spirit not only keeps you aglow, it keeps the wild beasts away from you and makes you a transformer. This is because it is a transforming fire. That is what the world needs. Clean up if you want to see the wonders of God. Sanctify yourself.
There is a protection we need as go out and come in – the glory fire in the night and the cloud in the day. That was how God led the children of Israel in the wilderness. It is the presence of God that guarantees your safety. Even when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil because of the presence of God.
This year, be habitation-minded. Don’t be visitation minded. When you are sleeping, sleep in the presence of God, when you are eating, eat in His presence, wherever you go, go in His presence and you will see the mountains skip and the sea divide.
Exo. 12:13 – learn to appropriate the Passover ministry of the blood of Jesus. No harm shall come near your dwelling and no evil shall come near you in Jesus name.
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MORE PRAYERS
- Heavenly Father, make it impossible for me to satisfy any carnal appetite that is capable of robbing me of my eternal inheritance in Jesus name. Help me not to be like Esau, help me not to be like Cain, help me not to be like Gehazi, make it impossible for me to be like Judas, in the mighty name of Jesus. Grant me the grace, O God, to place value on the things that really matter, on things that have eternal value. Help me to place more value on my relationship with you. Help me to come to the realization that my greatest asset is my access to you, in the name of Jesus. Anything that is capable of denying me access to your presence, Lord, do not allow it to happen in the name of Jesus. This year, help me to be addicted to your presence and let the blessings of your presence come to me supernaturally, in the mighty name of Jesus.
- Heavenly Father, I thank you for the wonderful things you have done for me. I am sorry for not appreciating you and for not placing enough value on them. Going forward, please help me to place enough value on my relationship with you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Do not allow me to take any of your graces for granted, do not allow me to place anything above my relationship with you. Help me to treasure you and help me to place you above all in my heart. Thank you, heavenly father. I depend on you, in Jesus name. Amen.