THURSDAY - 26TH OCTOBER, 2023
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola ADEJUMO
MARKED FOR USE - What Is Purpose Series 003
Mark 11:2, KJV
"And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him".
Some of you are marked people. Let me show you who you are as the Lord portrays it to me. You're not different from this colt that is tied down until word comes for its release for the purpose for which it is tied. You may not be tied in the sense that you're still living for yourself and have not even been made ready for your Lord who seeks and wants to perpetuate Himself through you - by using you. However, because you have a mandate over you which cries over you and predates your earthly existence, you're therefore by that tied to God who has planted eternity in the hearts of men - thereby putting His remembrance in us all. Even the hardest atheist do stop to think about God for awhile. He even does frequently, only that He has no revelation of Him and has jumped to the conclusion that there's no God as he seeks to vindicate and free himself of the entity called God. That's for him! We are not a Godless people. Even secular people know this when they say, "it's in Him we live, move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
You're tied to and for God. You're marked for use already. The mandate on you predates you and it is what marks you for God and tie you to Him. It is also what predicts you and your end even if you choose to wander all around like Noah's ark for now before settling for Ararat. What is major is that after making all the turns and rounds, you'll end it at Ararat. Just don't bring chicken feed to the things of God. Bring your youth and not old age - when the night has begun to catch up with you. The Lord tells Ananias that "Paul is a chosen vessel in his hand who'll bear the gospel/His name before kings and nobles" (Acts 9:15).
The question is, "when did Saul become such chosen vessel?" That day? That very time? Or according to ordainment, before he was even conceived (as said in Jeremiah 1:5)? We know it's before his earthly existence and conception? Now, if it be, why the life Paul lived until then? You see, that's the lie and diversion of the devil. That's what the devil has subtly cooked to replace his genuine calling in life. A man will live in his false calling until the authentic shows up and makes demand on him. Something will have you or might have had you before you realize what your life should be given to. It may not be sinful or criminal at times but it may be wrong for your destiny. Imagine if Peter, Andrew, James and John have been fishermen all the days of their lives and Mathew sat at the Tax Collection Office when the calling on them is to become fishers of men. Thanks to God who called them away from that to the higher life. You too will answer the cry of your mandate. The call that has gone over you throughout eternity will come to pass on you. For Jeremiah, it is, "before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5, KJV). You can't escape this.
That day, God knocked Saul down from his high horse of pride. I know Saul would have been one of the people who would have proudly say, "may I never join people like this (people of the Way that He persecute). But at the end, he joins them and even become a chief amidst the apostles.
For those of you on the run, keep running. Saul was on his way to Damascus, running away from his ordained life (by living and fulfilling another substitute calling day in, day out) in zeal. He therefore seems like being far away from God's hands. However, the more he seems to become ardent persecutor of the Way (church) and could be reputed to have gone far from his calling, the more he actually nears God who'll catch him. God is waiting for you in Damascus. He'll pick you up there. He'll cut it quit for you on that trip. That's even if you made it there with your original plans. He has beset you round about. He knows you.
Psalms 139:5, KJV
"Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me".
The vivid description of Saul given to Ananias shows God knows all of us and even all run- aways. I know Saul is a choleric and he couldn't sit-down in one place. He needs work to stimulate himself which is why after earning a law degree, he still goes ahead to collect letters to arrest people for the jail. His active mind seeks an expression. Unfortunately, the devil hijacked it until that mandate at his creation came calling once more, "for he is a chosen vessel in my hands". Let the mandate over you speak so that you'll be halted, turned and taken out of your substitute call. Jonah ran to Tarshish but where he flees to is where God is also. You will always meet God wherever you go. He has network everywhere. It is everywhere you go. You can't beat Him. You'll always meet Him in front. You'll always play into His hands. Then, you'll see that your devices and initiatives are small and unworthy. You are a chosen instrument in God's hands and He'll come for you. May you sense that He's even calling you now. May you sense that this tiredness and burn out you've been experiencing on that particular task, job or lifestyle is even a call to call it quit to come into the new call he has ordained for you. First into new life as a Christian and then the discovering of your purpose. This weariness of heart, this insatisfaction you yet don't have an answer to but which you seek to cure is far off at the stream - in Him and your purpose alone. It is when you do what you're created for that you can truly be happy. That's when life really makes sense and you feel really given to humanity - having contributed your quota where it's needed (even if you're never broadcasted on a national TV). It's then you'll be satisfied because your deeds would meet needs that heaven will acknowledge and respect also. What is actually calling you to come is purpose and being in Him, you'll find rest and be rest assured you're living or have lived.
PRAYER: Lord, save hardened sinners and all troublers of Christianity to preach the gospel. May I not go without fulfilling the mandate that ran over me ahead of time.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Jeremiah 49:23-50:46; Titus 1:1-16; Psalm 97:1-98:9; Proverbs 26:13-16
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