Preachify Daily Devotional

Preachify Daily Devotional

Preachify Daily Devotional

SOAKING PRAYER

Nearness That Reshapes Us

What's the most beautiful place you've ever been?

Maybe it was a quiet cathedral, stained glass filling the room with colors, or a forest alive with bird songs and dancing leaves. Wherever your place is, have you ever wished you could stay there forever-surrounded by so much beauty and safety that your soul can finally breathe?

David prays that way in Psalm 27.4:

"I have asked the Lord for one thing, this is what I desire: to live in the Lord's house all my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to contemplate in his temple." (NET)

For ancient Israel, Jerusalem's temple marked the center of their world-the place where Heaven and Earth meet. That idea first appears in Genesis, in the garden of Eden, where God walked with humanity and provided everything necessary-a place with no suffering, no threats, no death.

David's longing isn't for a spectacular building but for closeness with God-the kind of nearness that reshapes a person and brings true peace.

When Jesus arrives, he moves that Heaven-and-Earth space from Jerusalem's temple into human hearts. People become the temple where God dwells. Divine beauty and peace are no longer tied to one city or structure; they're found wherever God's will is done "on Earth as in Heaven."

Today, ask: What do I want most?
David's answer exposes humanity's deepest desire-to be safe, loved, and at peace with our creator.

ACCESSING COMMANDED BLESSINGS
1 KINGS 17.4-6
There is a saying that being successful does not require hard work only, but more of smart work. However, there is a dimension of blessing that does not require human efforts and wisdom. This blessing is called the commanded blessing.
A critical study of the Bible from the Old Testament through the New Testament reveals the truth in the life of those who trusted and obeyed God.
A perfect example is seen in 1 Kings 17.4-6. The Bible declares:
“And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So, he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank of the brook.”
Commanded blessings are divinely fashioned into fulfilling God’s ordained purpose. They are provisions that God Himself has structured to manifest in the life of His people. These blessings are not accidental; they are divinely intentional. They are not seasonal, they are sustained by divine authority.
After Elijah had declared that there will be famine in the land for about three years, God instructed him to go to a place at an appointed time, where He has arranged Elijah’s meal. Elijah was at the right location at the appointed time. So, God fed him twice because He was in charge of the ration.
You may have been struggling year in, year out to access God’s already ordained blessings for you, but you are in the dislocation. When the blessings comes, you are not at the right location at the appointed time. Therefore, accessing commanded blessings require:
Total obedience: In Genesis 12, the LORD appeared to Abraham and asked him to leave his father’s land to a country where He will establish his name. Abraham obeyed, and settled in the appointed place where the commanded blessings of the LORD was made a reality (Genesis 15.18-19; 21.2). This is a clear indication that there are some blessings we cannot access unless, we move out of what gives us pleasure. Commanded blessings are location-sensitive and instruction-dependent. If Abraham and Elijah had chosen a more ‘comfortable’ place, they would have surely, missed out.
Covenant relationship: When the Bible talks about covenant, it simply refers to deeper intimacy. A relationship that helps you to understand the mind and intention, and purpose of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God (1 Corinthians 2.12). Elijah was able to access God’s blessings because of his covenantal relationship with God. We do this today by daily searching and studying of God’s word; to know His thoughts and plans for us – Jeremiah 29.11
By any means you are not in the place that God has appointed for you to be, you are guilty of a dislocation. And one of the things you will miss is the commanded blessings. Commanded blessings are made only for people who are in the appointed place. If you are dislocated, the ravens will never find you, the carrier of God’s commanded blessings will never find you. Remember John 5.1-15. When the angel of the Lord came to stir the water, those who were there at the appointed time were the ones accessing the commanded blessings of healing.
So, what is God telling you to do that you are seeing as uncomfortable?
Where is God asking you to go that you have chosen not to go?
Remember, commanded blessings are for those who trusted and obeyed to be at the right location at the appointed time.

Taking a leaf from David, we learn of the beauty of dwelling in God's presence (Psalm 23:6)

THE BIBLE AND GRIEF
Death and grieving are mentioned often in the Bible. In the Old Testament, we see for example, Jacob mourning over the loss of Joseph and refusing to be comforted, David grieving over the anticipated loss of his infant son and the tragic end of his grown sons; Amnon and Absalom in battle, Prophet Eli was engulfed with grieve that lead to his sad end upon the news of his sons’ death on the battle field, and Jeremiah lamenting the death of King Josiah.

Especially moving is David’s grief when he learns that his closest friend, Jonathan, had died in battle.
While we mourn our loved ones periodically, we should leverage on such an opportunity to rather appreciate God than shutting the doors of our broken lives against His unmatched kindness.

But what does the Bible have to say about grief?
Firstly, God want us to find hope in our grief. While there are millions of people who find it difficult to believe in the afterlife, because for them, there is no hope for the future and death is the end of a relationship forever. But for the Christian who knows God, death is not the end of existence; it is the beginning of life eternal. God expects that those who understand His will and purpose for mankind with regards to the afterlife, should find hope amidst their grief.

The hope of meeting Jesus face to face and seeing Him just as He is (Revelation 22.4; 1 John 3.2) and we shall meet with those who have gone on before us (1 Thessalonians 4.13-14; Revelation 21.4).
Secondly, Grief is essential in the Christians’ life because it help us to reflect on how fleeting our days are. James describes it as “a vapor that vanishes away” and the Psalmist equate life to grass. Grief can connect us to the heart of God. Psalm 34.18 says “the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”. In our grief, we can as well learn surrender. Not trying to strike God against His will. Job becomes a perfect example when he said:

“Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” Job1.21

Conclusion: going through grief is not as easy as it may appear. If Job could asked those identity questions in his storms, and many others challenged the decision then, we too can ask. But, while we are asking, we should be reminded that despite all of Job’s questions, he was able to settle for God’s perfect response.

DEALING WITH GRIEF
“Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD…For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. Therefore, Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Job 1.20-21; 3.25; 14.1

WELCOME: the saying is true that a casket is just a wooden box not then, your loved one is boxed therein.
Grief is experienced as every day goes by. It is something that humanity can resist. Life is fashioned in a way that while one is happy this moment, the tendency to be thrown into the pull of grief is high.
At some time almost all of us see loved ones die and experience the pain of grief. Billy Graham said. “When death separates us from someone we love, there is a time when we think no one has suffered as we have”.
In her book “Let Me Grieve but Not Forever”, Verdell Davis stated that “storms come in many forms. Some, indeed, come with no warning. Some we see brewing and know it is only a matter of time. The storm could be the death of a loved one, loss of health, home, belongings, finances, and security, all taken away”.
Grief is a rogue wind that comes without a second thought. Grief has gripped people since human existence; when Cain murdered Abel in Genesis 4, not only did Cain realized his crime, but its knowledge grieved him greatly. God shared in this grief thus, the curse upon Cain (Genesis 4.10-15).
WHAT IS GRIEF?
It is an experience of deprivation and anxiety that can show itself in one’s behavior, emotions, thinking, physiology, interpersonal relationships, and spirituality.
CAUSES OF GRIEF
Grief is not limited to the loss of a loved one through death. Any loss can bring grief! This includes:
Divorce
Retirement from a job
Departure of a loving neighborhood
Going to and graduating from college
Loss of youthful appearances
Rejection from the society
Unforeseen calamity etc.
Even though grief can have a variety of causes, most often it is associated with the loss of a loved one. This grieving is not easy. We may try to soften the trauma by trying to beautify the gravesite, with numerous roses around, but we cannot make grieving into something beautiful.
However, when a Christian is faced with the reality of grieve, our comfort comes from the words spoken by Christ to John in Revelation 14.13 and the encouragement found in 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18.
Eventually, everybody dies, but in the meantime most of us will grieve at least periodically. Therefore, in our losses, God expects that we grieve as people who have hope; the hope of eternal life. While grief is devastating, we are to remain calm in every storms life throws at us.
Prayers:
Lord, none of us would choose grief over joy and peace.
We desire to be strong for You, our loved ones, and self.
But it is out of will that we control what you have fixed before time began.
But Lord, no matter how draining we may look due to our losses, help us to always listen to your comforting words in our storms. To feel your love and presence in our darkest time.
Hold us still for we pray through Christ, amen.

Exodus 23.2

Luke 17.32