Dear Friend,
Yesterday afternoon I was meditating on this whole situation of COVID and what believers could have done, then something happened and that’s why I decided to write you another letter instead of the daily devotional.
I clearly heard the voice of the LORD while I was meditating and He said, “Many of My children got affected because they depended on the world and not on Me.” I thought to myself, did I hear right or did I miss something from in between. That’s when the Spirit of the LORD quickly brought to my mind this scripture, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:16 NKJV
The disciples ceased to be of this world when they believed in Jesus Christ. You equally ceased to be of this world the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your LORD and Saviour. “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13
You are not of this world even when you are living here, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20 NKJV The challenge is that we have fallen in love with the world and started to conform to it. It is written, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
Two things happen when we conform to the pattern of this world, first, you become and enemy of God “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4 NKJV and secondly, you come under the control of the god of this world, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19 NKJV don’t be fooled, there is no middle ground, its either your under the authority of God or Satan.
What then is His instruction regarding the world and why doesn’t He want us to love the world. “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 NKJV when you love the world and get entangled in what it has to offer, remember that it has a ruler who is Satan.
You are a temporary resident of this world. “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” 1 Peter 2:11-12 every ounce of love for the world, draws you away from Jesus and into the firm grip of Satan. Here is the danger of that, when the world and its ruler get judged, you too who is under its authority are judged with it. “The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.” John 12:31
The LORD then reminded me of the time when He sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. They were living there but they were never of there. They belonged to the Living God. Each time He struck the Egyptians with a plague, it didn’t come near the house of the Israelites. The killing of the first born of Egypt and how God spared the Israelites revealed Jesus Christ. The Jews were saved because they had smeared the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. That was symbolic in a sense that it revealed that they were under the authority of the Lamb of God.
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” Exodus 12:12-13 they lived because they were under the authority of God. All those who were under the authority of Egypt, (World) lost a first-born.
After the LORD had explained this to me, I understood why COVID today has affected us and why many are living in fear. This was my next question to Him, what shall we do LORD, this thing is real and its destroying lives. And He said to me,
“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:3
And I said, LORD what shall you do when we return to you, and He said, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalms 91:1 in these days of COVID, He says, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” Psalms 91:7 NKJV
This is the Word of the LORD.
His servant,
Pastor Mark A Odeke
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36
