You are Deities III

STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

You are Deities III

9 November

 

And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. Acts 14:11

 

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY Acts 14:7-15 7 where they continued to preach the gospel. 8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

 

MORE LESSON Acts 1:8 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

 

Stop complaining about the mishaps in the world today because your relevance is in that chaos. People have only seen darkness and they are wailing. What will they do when they encounter gross darkness? Do not join the world to complain because you are o m n i p o t e n t ,  o m n i s c i e n t  a n d omnipresent. You are an extension of God's hand to humanity. When men see you in action, they should acknowledge that they have seen God. Then just as they want to worship you, you introduce them to the Almighty.

Every believer is supposed to be a pathway to God. When people follow you over time, ultimately, they should find God. This is what happened to Paul and Barnabas at Lystra as recorded in Acts 14:8-11: …there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet,… The same heard Paul speak:… Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. They responded to the man's situation in a way that was typical of a god.

Jesus read out His purpose on earth, in Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. This is the blueprint of every believer's assignment. Jesus is the first fruit among many brethren, which means that the believer is supposed to become all that Christ was on earth and even more through the supply of the Holy Spirit. So, your deity-ship is so that you can preach the gospel, heal the broken-hearted, preach deliverance to captives and restore sight to the blind. The society should feel the impact of your existence. When you tell them God is good, they will understand it better when you are a channel of conveying God's goodness to them. You may not feed a nation right now, but you can give a meal to a starving child. You may not take the gospel to the nations just yet, but you can win that your straying neighbour or colleague.

At whatever level you are, there is something you can do and there is something you can offer. The subject of lack is relative. According to God's justice system, everyone at every point in time has something to offer. He or she may just not be aware of it or may undermine it. So, get up today and live in the reality of who you are: you are a deity.

Prayer/Action

*              Pray that you will be a solution provider to your generation.

*              Ask for grace to always be obedient to the voice of God.

*              Pray that you will not be a reproach to the body of Christ.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: As the salt of the earth, I will sing everywhere I stand, and be a blessing not a curse, in the powerful name of Jesus