devotional – Page 37 – Prince Chimaobim

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (3): THE THORNY HEART

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Sunday MAY 14, 2023

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (3): THE THORNY HEART

And some fell among thorns? and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
Matthew 13:7 (KJV)

Some seeds fell among thorns (which are a good guard to the corn when they are in the barn, but a bad inmate when they are in the field). ‘And the thorns sprung up,’ which intimates that they did not appear, or but little, when the corn was sown, but afterwards they proved choking to it, (vs. 7). The thorny heart went further than the former, the wayside heart and the stony heart, for it had root; and it represents the condition of those who do not quite cast off their profession, and yet come short of any saving benefit by it; the good they gain by the word, being insensibly overcome and overborne by the things of the world. Prosperity destroys the Word in the heart, as much as persecution does; and more dangerously, because more silently. The stones spoiled the root, the thorns spoil the fruit. Now what are these choking thorns?

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (2): THE STONY HEART

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Saturday MAY 13, 2023

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (2): THE STONY HEART

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
Matthew 13:5 (KJV)

Some seeds fell upon stony places, which represents the case of hearers that go further than the wayside hearers, who receive some good impressions of the word, but they are not lasting. It is possible we may be a great deal better than some others, and yet not be so good as we should be; we may go beyond our neighbours, and yet come short of heaven. How far did the stony heart go? Firstly, they hear the word; they turn neither their backs upon it, nor a deaf ear to it. Note, hearing the word, though ever so frequently, ever so gravely, if we rest in that, will never bring us to heaven. Secondly, they are quick in hearing, swift to hear, he anon receiveth it, he is ready to receive it, forthwith it sprung up (vs. 5), it sooner appeared above ground than that which was sown in the good soil. Note, Hypocrites often get the start of true Christians in the shows of profession, and are often too hot to hold. He receiveth it straightway, without trying it; swallows it without chewing, and then there can never be a good digestion. Those are most likely to hold fast that which is good, that prove all things, (1 Thess. 5:21). Thirdly, they receive it with joy. Note, There are many that are very glad to hear a good sermon, that yet do not profit by it; they may be pleased with the word, and yet not changed and ruled by it. Fourthly, they endure for awhile, like a violent motion, which continues as long as the impression of the force remains, but ceases when that has spent itself. Note, Many endure for awhile, that do not endure to the end, (see Matt 10:22); they did run well, but something hindered them, (see Gal. 5:7).

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (1): THE WAYSIDE SYNDROME

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Friday MAY 12, 2023

OBSTACLES TO ACCESSING THE WORD (1): THE WAYSIDE SYNDROME

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Matthew 13:4 (KJV)

We shall start to examine the things that stop us from accessing, receiving and walking in the light of the Word. The Lord Yahushua told a parable in the book of Matthew chapter 13 of a sower that went to the field to sow seeds. In interpreting that parable to His disciples, we saw that the seed is the Word of Yahweh (see Luke 8:11). The field is the world. As you hear the Word of the Lord by reading, studying or listening, it is likened to a sower sowing the seed into your heart. Until the seed germinates, grows and bears fruit, it has not achieved the purpose of the sower. The fruits of the Spirit, the fruits of a changed life and the fruit of complete obedience to the Word is what we call the Word building you up and the result is that you enter into your inheritance in HaMashiach. But what is the cause why so many people miss the Word? Let us examine what the Lord Yahushua explained in Matthew 13:19, ‘When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.’ Some seeds fail by the wayside. The wayside is the heart that hears the Word but does not understand it. Let us understand that it is same Word that is being sown, the variance is the ground. So whose fault was it that this ground never understood the Word? It was the fault of the ground. These are the set of people that never heed the Word. They never pay attention to the Word. They never take a hold of it. In the first place, the wayside is not meant to be sown so existing on the wayside is planning ab initio to fail with the Word. They come before God as his people come, and sit before Him as his people sit; but it is merely for fashion-sake, to see and be seen; they mind not what is said. It comes in at one ear and goes out at the other, and makes no impression.

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (5): ENGAGE THE RUACH HAKADOSH

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Thursday MAY 11, 2023

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (5): ENGAGE THE RUACH HAKADOSH

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself? but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

John 16:13 (KJV)

The Bible is not a newspaper or magazine. II Peter 1:21 says, ‘For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ The Bible is the product of the Holy Ghost. The Bible is the collection of the inspiration of the Ruach HaKadosh. This is why it is expedient to engage the author of the Bible in trying to understand and apply what He inspired. It is the moving of the Holy Spirit on the lives of holy men of Yahweh that resulted in the Bible. That is to say that there is no other person that knows the Bible like the author, the blessed Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide into the deep things of the Father. He guides us into all truth. The Word of Yahweh is the truth and it takes the Ruach HaKadosh (Spirit the Holy) to come into this truth. With the Holy Spirit, the Bible is new everyday because He keeps expounding the truth and bringing out new things from same chapter and verse that you have been reading everyday.

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (4): STAY LONG ON THE WORD

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Wednesday MAY 10, 2023

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (4): STAY LONG ON THE WORD

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Proverbs 23:30 (KJV)

No matter how light a person is, no one gets intoxicated with one cup of wine. Conversely, no matter how hard a person is, tarrying long at the wine will pass even the hardest person out. That is true with the Word. Just skipping a few pages, won’t achieve the result we are describing this month. It is tarrying long with the Word that brings about saturation. There is what is called saturation. It is the act of soaking thoroughly with a liquid. You cannot encounter the Word with a measure that cannot even satisfy you. Before you talk of saturation, then you have gone beyond satisfaction. But you are still in control at the level of satisfaction. We are talking of the level where you are no more in control. We are saying, stay long with the Word until the Word takes a hold of you and begins to control you and your actions. We are saying that the Word cannot saturate you in the skimpy way that you are handling the Word now. The principle of intoxication is staying long at the wine of the Word. Isaiah 5:11 confirms that it takes staying long at wine to be inflamed therewith, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!”

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (3): OBSERVE QUIET TIME

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Tuesday MAY 9, 2023

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (3): OBSERVE QUIET TIME

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
II Corinthians 13:14 (KJV)

Whenever I think of the term “Quiet Time” the Greek word “koinonia” comes to mind. Koinonia is the Greek word translated communion in our opening text. Literally koinonia means participation. Personally or socially, koinonia means intercourse, that is the highest level of communication between two people. Quiet Time is a time of communion or intercourse with the Holy Spirit, the Word and the Father all in the name of Yahushua HaMashiach. Your calling in HaMashiach, beloved, is a calling into the koinonia of the God-kind. I Corinthians 1:9 says, ‘God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ The quiet-time is a specific time in which we seek the face of the Lord, to know His friendship personally and to worship and understand Him better. Just like the term implies, Quiet-time is a time and place of quietness, where you can maintain some level of tranquillity to concentrate on the Presence of the Lord and on the communion of this God-kind. Quiet time, also called heart-to-heart time, or one-on-one time with the Father, is a regular individual session of Christian spiritual activities, such as prayer, private meditation, contemplation, worship, or study of the Bible. Quiet-time is the time of you coming to yourself both spirit, soul and body and consciously reaching out for the Person, Presence and Word of the Lord. That is the mystery of recovery of destiny as it happened to the man we have come to know as the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Luke 15:17 says, “And when he came to himself, he said,” that is his destiny could not be recovered until he sat down in probably a quiet-time session.

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (2): MEDITATE

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Monday MAY 8, 2023

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (2): MEDITATE

Meditate upon these things? give thyself wholly to them? that thy profiting may appear to all.
I Timothy 4:15 (KJV)

To meditate means to mutter; to speak to yourself in a low tone over a subject for over a period of time. Reading the Word is likened to eating food. The Word is spiritual food for the spirit-man. But what you eat doesn’t profit your body until it is digested and assimilated. Meditation is spiritual digestion and assimilation of the Word into your spirit-man. Joshua 1:8 says, ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ Reading the Word is putting it into your mouth but beloved, don’t stop there, go further to speak that Word to yourself. To meditate actually means to murmur. Murmuring is a negative word because it is dwelling on the things that are not working in your life. But the process of murmuring is the same with meditation, the only difference is on what you are dwelling on in the process. When you are dwelling on the Word, murmuring it to yourself, it is called scriptural meditation. Meditation is not a gift, it is the result of the overflow of the Word in your spirit-man. Most times, meditation is involuntary. Other times, you must be intentional on what you are meditating upon. But I want you to see that when you flood your mind intensely and densely with the Word, meditation becomes involuntary. At all times, your mind is on the Word. This is the level and dimension I desire you come into.

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (1): BE CONSISTENT IN READING, LISTENING AND STUDY

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Sunday MAY 7, 2023

TO ENCOUNTER THE WORD (1): BE CONSISTENT IN READING, LISTENING AND STUDY

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

Beginning from today, we are going to examine how we can encounter the Word. With all we have seen the Word can do for us, unless we connect with the Word, we cannot enjoy the benefits. So how can we experience the Word and have the Word impart and metamorphose us? As we begin to unfold how we can do this, believe Yahweh to be a doer and not a hearer only. Decide to do and plan to do. Set Word objectives of what you must be covering in the light of what we are going to be showing you in a couple of days to come. It is He that does the Word that is blessed in his/her life (see James 1:22-25). The first way we encounter the Word is to hear it. Romans 10:17 says, ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ Hearing the Word is by reading and listening. When you read, you are engaging your eyes and ears at the same time. This is important because what you see, makes impressions on your mind. The ear and the eyes are major channels into your mind and consequently your spirit-man. Consider this instruction from the Lord through Moses in Deuteronomy 11:19, ‘And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ This is saying let the ear channel of your children be saturated with the Word practically all the time.

THE WORD IS SETTLED AND ETERNAL

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Saturday MAY 6, 2023

THE WORD IS SETTLED AND ETERNAL

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
Psalms 119:89 (KJV)

It is the settled Word that settles every issue in your life. The Word of Yahweh is forever settled. Nothing can unsettle the Word. Whatever in your life that is contradicting the Word now can be settled by the Word if you can partner with the settled Word today. If you are sick, for instance, and you partner with Isaiah 53:1-5 which is already fulfilled in Matthew 8:17 and has become a past tense in I Peter 2:24, then that scriptural calculus can terminate whatever sickness, disease or satanic affliction, the bogus name given to it by doctors notwithstanding. That is how the Word settles issues in our lives. The Word is eternal. That means that it is forever. The Word does not change. It will never change because of your situation. Whatever is confronting you now will never make the Word to change, instead the Word has the capacity and capability to change your situation to conform to the Word. Beloved, the Word cannot change. The Word is eternal and constant. Beloved, your circumstances are fleeting and you must commonize them today in the face of the eternal infallible Word of Yahweh. The Lord brought out slaves from captivity with silver and gold. No matter what your financial situation is saying today, you can rise to supernatural order of wealth and affluence by the Word of Yahweh. If you will be diligent to observe and obey the Word, there is a guarantee in Deuteronomy 28:1 that you will emerge on top of whosoever that evokes your admiration now.

THE WORD IS A SPIRITUAL REALITY

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Friday MAY 5, 2023

THE WORD IS A SPIRITUAL REALITY

It is the spirit that quickeneth? the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:63 (KJV)

The Word of Yahweh is a spiritual reality. When we say that something is a reality, it means that it is in the state of being actual or real. It means that the state of that thing as it really is rather than as you might want it to be. The Word of Yahweh is a spiritual reality means that the Word is real and an actual person even though it is only related with spiritually. That you do not see it does not in any way reduce or negate its reality. This is critical because you cannot try to understand the Word like you do Physics or Chemistry or any other subject. It takes being in the spirit and being spiritually minded to experience the Word. That is exactly what our opening text is saying that until the Holy Spirit quickens the Word for you, it would remain a story to you. The Word is Spirit and Life and until one is in the spirit, you cannot profit from the Word. At new birth, you have the Holy Spirit in you. It is called the Spirit within. John 14:17 says, ‘Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.’ The work of the Spirit within is to change you into the image of HaMashiach by conforming your character and lifestyle to the image of the Son of Yahweh. As you study the Word, the Spirit within, brings the understanding that makes your life outstanding.