Psalm 23:4 ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me..

DAILY READING • Acts 6; Deuteronomy 28; Job 17

Artistic depictions of the nativity scene often show three “Wise Men” visiting the infant Jesus in a manger. This scene is derived from the Biblical account in the book of Mathew. Of the gospel writers, Matthew alone mentions this episode. And this Matthew’s brief passage has sparked a great deal of imaginative speculation over the centuries, especially as not much is known about these wise men.

The phrase “from the east” is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. Thus they are believed to come from the Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, which occupied virtually all of the land east of Judea and Syria at that time.

Traditionally they are often said to be three in number but that is only a guess because they brought with them three gifts, they could probably have been more in number.

However what is remarkable about these wise men is that they made a long and great journey looking for the newly born King, following an unusually bright star in the sky.

When word reached Herod that these “wise men” were in search of the Messiah, he had them brought before him. Herod’s counsel was for these men to go to Judea, find the exact location of the new born king and then return to inform him. His true intent of course was to kill this babe and eliminate any threat to his reign.

These wise men accomplished their mission of locating the savior, however through divine direction they were able to avoid Herod and return back to their hometown safely.

The journey of these wise men to find the savior often reflects our own journey in seeking Christ. On the way, there will often be Herods with hidden agendas who come as wolf in sheep’s clothing. This is why it is important we heed divine direction in the journey of destiny. To escape the evil agenda of the wicked we must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. From scriptures, we understand that every child of God is ordained to be a global and mountaintop citizen. However, to fulfill that glorious, colorful and enviable destiny, we must be willing to pay the spiritual price of going deeper in seeking God. We must move to a higher level in our prayer life, Word study and kingdom service. Moving to a higher spiritual level and being guided by The Spirit of God will help us bypass every Herod sent to distract us or truncate our quest.

The greatest challenge, before anyone seriously seeking God is distraction from people on a mission to curtail their vision. There is no one seriously seeking God that will not face such challenges. It’s the devil’s regular attack strategy. However through divine direction we can continually escape.

Psalms 23:4- says ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me..’

When God is with us, He will guide us through every valley of shadow of death. As we approach the new year we must take a decision not to live our lives anyhow or by guess work. The only way to avoid the Herods of destiny is by being guided by The Holy Spirit. And one way to hear the voice of divine guidance is through coming to God in worship.

Isaiah 30:29-31 says ‘Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, ..For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.’

It will take the voice of The Lord to beat down every Assyrian and disarm the wicked. As you follow The Holy Spirit, your movement will become like the wind, so that no one can tell how you go or how you come. Indeed when you allow the Lord to lead you, the future is secure and your journey becomes great.

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to always listen to the voice of Your divine guidance so as to avoid every trap on my way. By Your grace nothing shall stop or hinder my journey until I arrive at my glorious destiny in Jesus Name.

Quote

God’s promises in Christ in your life may appear delayed, but never forget that delays are not denials..