Divine Settlement I

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 
A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

Divine Settlement I

1 November

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. I Peter 5:10

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY I Peter 5:7 -10: 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

 

MORE LESSON Isaiah 54:11-14: “O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

A popular song says ”Hold not your peace, O Lord, Rise up for me, O Lord! It is time for you to establish me, O Lord, And make me a praise in the earth”. Indeed God wants us established but there is a process. To be settled or established means to have firm roots in the land, to be firmly fixed and securely entrenched; to cause to grow and multiply; to be accepted and respected by those in your community; to be successful for a long period of time and to be widely known. These are sweet and highly desirable definitions; they become phenomenal when you add the divine dimension to them.

 

Divine settlement is God's hand performing all these in a man's life. God's hand dealing with obstacles to settlement, connecting one to helpers of establishment and giving favour. May we be divinely settled. May the Gospel of our Lord be divinely established and entrenched in our land. Divine establishment or settlement will not just jump to one from the air; there are steps to being settled. In the first reading, Apostle Peter spoke about some of these steps one has to go through before being settled or established.

 Things to note in his injunction to everyone pursuing settlement:  

i).   Recognise and accept the call of God into glory by Christ Jesus. Do not put the cart before the horse: Only a person that has heeded the divine call can be divinely settled. Come to Jesus, accept his call by surrender our life to Him and be a child of God. Then you can be divinely settled because you are now part of God's family. Some say but there are many established people who don't have Jesus. The establishment of such people is temporal and can vanish to thin air without God's hand. They are only piling up for another to eat; then their blessings will not really be full or complete. Also as they amass, they lose their peace and can't sleep well because they are not secure in God. They are not shielded on earth and not eternally secure. Having Jesus in your heart and ruling your life is what secures a person on earth and eternally. That is why the first step in the pursuit of divine settlement is to have Jesus as Lord and Saviour. He said in John 14:6, ...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Ensure you are right with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer/ Action

*     Ask for the Lordship of Christ in your life, you are called to glory through Christ our Lord

*     Ask for divine settlement by God's hand in all areas of life.

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: The God of my new beginning, I give you the glory for the eleventh month out of twelve. Take the praise Lord, in Jesus' mighty name.

 

TODAY’S FASTING FOCUS:  A new thing Isaiah 43:19; 42:9