The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 5 September 2020 – TOPIC: SPIRITUAL OVERHAULING

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TOPIC: SPIRITUAL OVERHAULING

READ: ZECHARIAH 13:1-9 (NKJV)1. “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.2. ” It shall be in that day,” says the LORD of hosts, “[that] I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.3. “It shall come to pass [that] if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.4. ” And it shall be in that day [that] every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive.5. “But he will say, ‘I [am] no prophet, I [am] a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’6. “And [one] will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘[Those] with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’7. ” Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.8. And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the LORD, “[That] two-thirds in it shall be cut off [and] die, But [one-] third shall be left in it:9. I will bring the [one-third] through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This [is] My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD [is] my God.’ “THE MESSAGE:As pointed out two days ago, the shepherd must understand correctly what his mission to the flock is. From the text above, the Lord of His Church is taking up the challenge of cleansing whereby idols would be a thing of the past (verses 1-2), fake prophets would cease from the land (verses 2-3), and the erring shepherd would be dealt with. This is so because the spiritual head of the Church is the shepherd and when the head is corrupt, the whole body will be stagnant. In today’s Church, prophetic ministry is more attractive and popular than other ministries; we forget that the primary task of any prophet is to proclaim the word of the Lord, pointing at sin, explaining its consequences, and calling people to repentance and obedience. In addition to these is the gift of prophetic visions for coming events which unfortunately is being misused today. When last were the people convicted of their sins through prophetic declarations? Sinners are more comfortable under the ministration of prophets today than before. Where are prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, John the Baptist and even Paul who faithfully delivered God’s message despite rejection, ridicule and persecution? A Chinese ambassador to Nigeria recently said that “China produces 1million engineers per year to do what they are doing while Africa produces 10 million pastors per year and are still being disturbed by witches and wizards.” What a picture! PRAYER: Lord, cleanse Your Church and heal her of all spiritual diseases in Jesus name. Amen