Divine Encounters

Day 216 Reading: Ezekiel 17:1 - Ezekiel 21:32 Now before the grace preachers hit the delete button, this blog is about the daily readings. Sin has a prize that is painful, and that's not a spelling mistake. Reading through the Book of Ezekiel we keep seeing God calling His children back to Him. Sin can be defined as that which displeases God. Sin has plagued mankind from the Garden of Eden. Sin didn't begin when you came into the earth.  It was the sin that resulted in Adam and Eve being evicted from the Garden of Eden. Disobedience to the command of God resulted in Adam and Eve leaving the place God had settled them. In the Law of Moses, blessings were promised for obedience and curses to those who disobeyed. The whole reason the children of Israel went into captivity was in fulfilment of God's word that when they walked in disobedience the children of Israel would become slaves. Sin makes you a slave of a system that is not your natural place. Ezekiel was

Day 215 Reading: Ezekiel 14:1 - Ezekiel 16:63 My Child, I created you to fellowship with Me. In the beginning, when I made Adam and Eve I made mankind in my image and likeness. I, the Creator and Ruler of the Heavens and Earth desired to have an intimate friendship with mankind. This relationship is based on love. My child, know that I love you. My love for you cannot be stopped or crushed Jeremiah 31:3-4 . My covenant is one of love and My greatest desire is a heart that loves genuinely.  Many today have idols in their hearts. Idols that are blocking My love from reaching them. These idols are from selfish desires to the things of this world. Many today claim to love Me, however, they worship themselves more than anyone else. Listening to their conversations you can hardly hear them express My love for others. It's all about themselves and never about others which makes Me wonder who do they love. My love for you should, in turn, provoke you to love others that th

Day 214 Reading: Ezekiel 10:1 - Ezekiel 13:23 God, I have read and heard of Your greatness. I can testify that yes I have seen You and know that of a truth You are the Living God. You have been there for me in the good and bad times. Thank You for loving me even when I doubted You. The more I read Your Word the more I am stirred to seek Your face. However, Lord, I am troubled. Troubled by many things. Troubled when I see the state of things in my world. Troubled by a feeling that I am wasting away striving to get somewhere and maybe I have chosen the wrong route to get to my destination. Troubled because my world is far from what Your promises say. Troubled because I can't see Your hand in my life. I seem to hear prophecies that never come to pass. Will I arrive in Canaan? Will I see what I desire from You? Will I fulfil that which You have ordained me for? God, have I departed from Your will is a question I am constantly asking myself. Not because I think I have l

Day 213 Reading: Ezekiel 5:1 - Ezekiel 9:11 Today as I sat down to write the blog I bowed my head in prayer first to thank God for the testimonies I hear and those I don't know. We all love receiving good news and so for me to hear testimonies of how God is using the blog to minister to people of different age groups and nationalities it humbles me to seek God more than ever. My desire is for this blog to be a battle-axe in the Hand of God against His enemies in the lives of His own. Ezekiel was called to be a prophet who functioned very much in the realm of visions. Reading through today's reading it struck me that Ezekiel's eyes saw beyond what was natural. For this prophet he was not just sent with words he heard but also he saw into the heavenly realm. Ezekiel not only saw heaven but would be transported in the spirit to see what was happening in the natural. Let me explain this. Imagine being sat at home and suddenly God takes you for a walk and you see wh

Day 212 Reading: Ezekiel 1:1 - Ezekiel 4:17 Welcome to the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest and we are introduced to him when he's a captive in a foreign land. Priests presented the sacrifices to God and carried out duties in the Temple of God. Here was a priest living in the foreign land far from the place he was called to serve. Many believers today are like Ezekiel. They are prayerful but are crying to God far from the land they are ordained to live. Let me interject here, Ezekiel was not living away from Israel because of choice, he was captured and taken to live abroad. Many believers are living far from where God ordained for them bound by a captor who takes many forms. Ezekiel means God strengthens. It is amazing that the Book of Ezekiel opens with God strengthening him. The heavens opened over Ezekiel and his eyes saw into the Heavens. Reading this phrase my heart began to yearn for the heavens to open and that my eyes would be opened to see the unseen. To

Day 211 Reading: Lamentations 3:1 - Lamentations 5:22 A friend sent me a message after reading this blog a few days ago stating that the reason many cannot pray is all the issues people are facing. This friend continued to explain that one cannot focus on anything else when they are dealing with the challenges of life. As I read today's portion of Scripture my friends' words were ringing in my mind. We all feel as though God has forgotten us when we are going through challenges. Reading the Word of God gives one hope. Jeremiah stated that he had hope and for specific reasons. Firstly, Jeremiah understood that God's compassion does not fail and results in His mercies being new on a daily basis. I don't know what mountain or giant is boasting in front of you that is making you feel hopeless and helpless. I have good news for you. You have a reason to hope that your situation will work out better than expected. You have a reason of the hope that a miracle with

Day 210 Reading: Lamentations 1:1 - Lamentations 2:22 Jeremiah was sent to warn his generation of impending disaster. His generation didn't heed his call to return to God. Today we find ourselves in such similar times. Many today are not heeding the call to worship the One True God Jehovah.  We find that Jeremiah wrote a second book and its aptly named Lamentations. These were his cries for the salvation of his people. The Book of Lamentations begins with Jeremiah weeping about the fallen state of the city of God.  Many today are not burdened for their generation. We live in a me, myself and I world and we must be careful that we don't view life through this spectacles. Jeremiah lived for God's purposes only and as we saw in Jeremiah it had consequences that were painful. Reading through the Book of Jeremiah I was struck by how much Jeremiah must have been a man of prayer. Burdened to lift his nation before God. Is it any wonder that he received such prophetic

Day 209 Reading: Jeremiah 51:1 - Jeremiah 52:34 Do you know God loves you? Does this make you jump with joy? God loves you unconditionally. Reading through the Book of Jeremiah I have come to appreciate the lengths that God will go for His children. God will not forsake His children even when He judges them for their sin. The Book of Jeremiah ends with a great testimony. As I read this testimony I understood that my time for a lifting is here. For 37 years Jehoiachin was imprisoned whilst in captivity. He wore prison garments and not kingly robes. Many today are wearing sickness, failure and the issues of life as robes and not the kingly robes of being a child of God. One day and that day has come for you and me, the king changed his status. A king whose name means evil-death changed Jehoichin's status. Jehoiachin means Jehovah will establish. God can cause someone to change your status. It doesn't matter who or how evil they are. My dear reader wherever you ar

Day 208 Reading: Jeremiah 46:1 - Jeremiah 50:46 Enemies, enemies, enemies, we all have them and hate them. Today lets see what God says about His enemies. Let's not confuse brethren as enemies for this is one plight today amongst God's children. One of the reasons we don't see God move today is because we have made our brothers and sisters our enemies when they don't fit our box. Many times I wonder what does God feel when we call His child an enemy and expect Him to move on our behalf. Even when God is displeased with His children He doesn't call them an enemy. When He judges His children and fights them He does so as a loving Father seeking to correct His children. Reading through Jeremiah we have seen God use nations as His tool of judgement against Israel. However, God also judged the nations for various reasons.  The first reason why the nations were judged by God is their idolatry. For a nation to think that they were greater than anyone else was

Day 207 Reading: Jeremiah 42:1 - Jeremiah 45:5 When life's blows strike us our response matters more than we realise. Many believers today are in a place of bewilderment because life has dealt blows that have knocked the wind out of them. As a result, many are questioning whether God is still God. Reading the Book of Jeremiah I have been encouraged to trust in God at all times.  The remnant children of Israel upon seeing the King of Babylon conquer them asked Jeremiah to seek the mind of God regarding their desire to go to Egypt. The same pattern of thinking that their forefathers had in saying let's go back to Egypt was on display generations after. Many people don't realise the importance of right thinking. God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, to desire to go there for safety is a smack to God in the face! When faced with trouble don't allow the thinking of God helps those who help themselves send you to Egypt. It's a death trap! Man

Day 206 Reading: Jeremiah 38:1 - Jeremiah 41:18 Many people are fighting with discouragement daily more than any other time in history. The increase in depression and many other mental maladies that are plaguing the world. One cause of concern for many believers is that the promises of the Bible don't seem to be alive for them. For many, it appears that God is not there or concerned about their affairs. Reading the Book of Jeremiah I have asked myself what Jeremiah must have felt as he declared the word of God and yet saw no change.  Jeremiah not only saw the people not listen to him, but he was sent to prison. Many believers today are like Jeremiah. Declaring the word and yet being mocked by the world. Many believers are struggling with their faith because they don't seem to see the reality of the promise of God. Jeremiah was mocked by the people he was sent to. Jeremiah was spat at, thrown into a dungeon sent to prison and even the king could do nothing about it.

Day 205 Reading: Jeremiah 35:1 - Jeremiah 37:21 Whether you know it or not; agree to or not, there is a voice that is leading you. There is a voice that directs you. It doesn't have to be audible. It can be written of instructions given to you by another. Many believers today aren't sure whose voice is leading them. You find many seeking a prophet to hear God for them whereas God desires that they hear him personally.  This matter of whose voice are you heeding to is illustrated by Jeremiah when he asks the Rechabites to drink wine in the House of God. Their response is clear that they have nothing to do with wine on the strength of an instruction given to them by their father. Reading this I was amazed at how they followed the instructions of their father to the letter. Many generations passed and they still held to the instruction of their father. I guess another question is where are the fathers to lead by giving life giving instructions. The world today is crea

Day 204 Reading: Jeremiah 29:1 - Jeremiah 34:22 I sat down thinking of what I was going to write even before I read the scriptures. Deep down I knew that today's blog would recharge one's faith. I don't know what devils you are fighting, however, I do know that there are many to be fought at this hour in life. One thing I have been encouraged today as I read the passage of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  Before you go any further may I challenge you and ask where have you written down your prophecies? If God would tell Jeremiah to write down prophecies, how much more us today. Learn to write down every prophesy you receive. This helps as a reminder of what God has promised you. Prophesies are trajectories for your life to take. Use the promises God  reveals to you as stepping stones to the next level. Let every prophetic word you receive be a step up a ladder towards God and all that He has ordained for you. It's important to write down pr

Day 203 Reading: Jeremiah 27:1 - Jeremiah 29:32 Many times we go through periods in life where we question our existence. We wonder why me? We ask questions that pertain to our circumstances and steps that may have led to the pit we find ourselves. Hey, as you read this and maybe you have never faced a dark moment in life, keep living you will soon experience it and this blog will make sense. In such times where we cannot understand why, where, how, when, or whatever let me encourage you that God still has a plan for you. In Jeremiah, we have so far seen him prophesy about the captivity of the nation of Judah. He faced a lot of critics and was even almost killed by the mob because his prophecies were not palatable. Sometimes as a believer, we need to understand that God will not speak what we desire but what we need. When faced with trouble many times as believers we don't want to listen to anything to do with correction. We don't want God to point out where we hav

Day 202 Reading: Jeremiah 22:1 - Jeremiah 26:24 Moving from one house to another house is a tedious situation. I am never excited about moving house. The whole process is taxing and one I just wish I could snap my fingers and its done. One of the things I have learnt over time is that God is God of relocation. God has the power to relocate you to the place He has designed for you. In studying the Book of Jeremiah I am discovering that we have a large role to play in our relocation with God.  Jeremiah prophesies to the children of Israel that due to their disobedience they would be relocated to the land of captivity. Disobedience triggers our relocating to the wilderness. The wilderness is a place of bondage where freedom is not there. Many today are not dwelling in the land of blessing but in the land of curses because of disobedience. God is not mocked and don't be deceived that sin is overlooked by God today. Disobedience to the Word of God does not bring greatness t

Day 201 Reading: Jeremiah 18:1 - Jeremiah 21:14 We have many types of relationships. Some are intimate, casual, family, emotional, academic or just simply friendly. Many times we fail to categorise our relationships rightly and end up having issues that are really a question of what boundaries and expectations does one have in every category of relationships. While meditating on the portion of scripture for the day I was struck by how often we miss out on the value of our relationship with God. Without a full understanding of the dynamics of relationships, we miss out on the value to be gained.  Today many think God is just as a friend. I have news for you if you reduce God to just being your mate or that level of a friend only you will discover that you have missed out on who God is. God is the Elshaddai, a Hebrew wording meaning the multi-breasted one. That tells me He has many faculties and I should therefore not consign Him to just one aspect that pleases me. In Je

Day 200 Reading: Jeremiah 15:1 - Jeremiah 17:27 As I woke up I had a restlessness in my spirit. As I drove to work I travailed in prayer for I knew that God desires to do something great in our generation. We live in a day and age where the world has forgotten God. We don't seem to have any sense of God in the world today. However, I have news that if God is God the tables are about to be turned.  God is about to release His vengeance on the world. The world is about to see manifestations of God's power like never before. I don't know about you but I am already for God to come and change the order in the world. For too long God has been relegated to the back and even kicked out of the scene. However, God is raising a new generation of children who will show off His glory and power.  God is about to remember His children who seem forgotten. The world has mocked you asking where now is your God? I tell you to get ready for the day of vengeance is nigh. Prepar

Day 199 Reading: Jeremiah 12:1 - Jeremiah 14:22 In business, the entrepreneur seeks to maximise revenue against low expenses to make a decent profit. The way in which investors seek information about a company they have invested in is an example of how God also looks at us to see where His investment in us is going. A shareholder will not be paid a dividend if the profits in the company are not good. The share price also gets affected fluctuating with the performance and the perceived future of a company. God has shares in us and we have a responsibility as the CEO's of our lives to run profitably to the glory of God. Jeremiah is asked not to pray for his nation by God. The reason was that the people had forsaken God. God stated that the people of Israel were not profitable people. God had invested much in them however they didn't give Him any returns. The land He gave them they had polluted it with idolatry and the people had forsaken Him. This is the state of man

Day 198 Reading: Jeremiah 9:1 - Jeremiah 11:23 Jeremiah was burdened with his nation just like many are today. I don't know about you I am concerned about the state of the nations. When I look at my nation of birth, I grieve at how we proclaim ourselves as a Christian nation, politicians campaigning in church yet the evil we see is worse than ever. In my nation of residence, church buildings are being sold and turned to anything other than godly! As Isaiah prophesied that gross darkness would cover the earth indeed we are seeing this fulfilled Isaiah 60:2 .  While reading today's passages I was stirred within. I asked myself how much do I love the nations of the world? Do I desire to see God's plan executed over the nations or have I given up and said whatever will be will be? Have I become selfish that my prayers are only about me, myself and I and never for the good of the nations? When was the last time you prayed for the nation, city, town you live? And pra

Day 197 Reading: Jeremiah 4:1 - Jeremiah 8:22 The difference between a storybook and the Bible is that the Bible comes alive. The Word of God comes alive in many ways. One way is that we receive a conviction in our hearts. This conviction is by the Holy Spirit pointing out an issue where we need to align with the standards of God. You see if your heart is not sensitive to the things of God you will not realise when God is trying to call you back to Him. My dear friend as I read the passage for today I came under conviction. Let me share what convicted me. Firstly, God desires we break up the fallow ground of our hearts. Circumcise your heart and remove the skin that which is not needed. God desires we walk in covenant with Him. When God made a covenant with Abraham he made him circumcise all the males as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. The state of your heart reveals whether you have cut a covenant with God. Remove whatever is covering your heart and allow Go