Monday, 11th April, 2022
By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
"Drip down, heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness sprout with it. I, the Lord, have created it" (Isaiah 45:8 NASB)
Jude, in his epistle, appealed to God’s people to earnestly contend for the faith against the attack of false teachers. In the 4th verse of this inspiring epistle, he explained why we should aggressively defend the truth because some godless people had crept in stealthily. These are people who distorted the message about the grace of God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and those who disowned and denied Jesus Christ as the supreme authority and Lord.
Now, notice what he says about these same people in verses 11-12: “Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jude 1:11-12). He calls them “clouds without water, carried about by the winds; trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots!”
But what does the Lord call us? First, look at Isaiah 61:3; it says, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” We are trees of righteousness, producing fruits of righteousness.
Also, each one of us, according to the Bible, is a cloud; we are clouds of glory and clouds with water. That is very significant because John 7:38 says, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” We are fountains of living water. From your cloud, righteousness and salvation rain upon the earth. As a water-carrying cloud, you pour forth righteousness and salvation in the earth, just as our theme verse says.
PRAYER
"Dear Father, I am a water-carrying cloud, and I stay perpetually filled with the Holy Ghost, ministering in the spirit, singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord. From my innermost being flows gushers of living water; I rain down righteousness, salvation, healing, prosperity and victories, in Jesus’ Name. Amen."
FURTHER STUDY:
John 4:14; Isaiah 45:8 NIV
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Luke 12:49-59 & Judges 10-11
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Romans 9:14-25 & Psalm 118-119