THE WAY OF THE CROSS

THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION (FRIDAY 2ND JANUARY 2026)

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.

And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”

Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. Isaiah 30:19-23 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 02ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

Still in the spirit of gratitude to God!! We want to say, let our hearts be full of thanksgiving to the LORD for giving us another set of 365 days to live happily, do His blessed will, fulfill our days according to His redemption plans for our lives and prepare ourselves for the ages to come.

Today is the 2nd Day of this new set of days.

How one step into a year, and what guides his or her decision each day, is what determines how the year turn out for a person. I don’t know how you stepped into this set of days called year 2026, many of us across the nations, stepped into it calling upon the name of the LORD.

We rode on the wings of His word right in His presence to step into it because the words that the LORD speaks to us are Spirit and life. His Spirit and His life is all we need in 2026 to experience the strategic victories He promised.

In a nutshell, we stepped in standing in God’s presence, listening to Him and receiving from His Holy Spirit, and that is very significant.
I have come to discover that giving the first hours of a year to God is a blessing that can prepare one’s heart for the entire year. We at the apostolic Center of the Cry of the Spirit Ministry here in Nairobi handed over our lives and hearts to Him to influence us.

OUR VISION IS TO LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL AND WAYS.

Our hope is to be sustained by His power because the horse is a vain thing for safety, though it is prepared for battle, but victory is of the LORD!! We know that the battle is not to the strong nor the race to the swift.

We also know that by human strength shall no man prevail hence handing over our lives to His great strength to carry us through the New Year. We know that if we will go through this year successfully and not be consumed by the perils of the year, we have to lose control of our lives and allow Him to be in full control, by His Holy Spirit.

Many drivers have lost control of very good vehicles and destroyed themselves or the lives of others. Many fathers have lost control of their Children and watched them perish in their rebellion. Political leaders have lost control of their nations and constituencies and bring the lives of many into social perils.

World History is full of very powerful people who eventually lost control of themselves and those under their influence and even open portals of hell over nations. Warriors have lost control, kings have lost control, even very wise and educated people have lost control and suffer unredeemable consequences, but there is only one person who has never lost control of anything placed under His control. That person is the Blessed Holy Spirit!

All under His control do well and become great sometimes in times and eternity, other times in eternity only, depending on the environment they lived on earth. We believe strongly that the best place that our lives can be in 2026 is in HIS HANDS not in our hands. He is the Spirit of God and will fill us with only what God wants if our lives are allowed to remain in His hands.

Sadly, there are people who prefer their lives under the control of greedy or ignorant prophets and prophetesses. But no genuine prophet allows people to put their lives under their control, they only teach people to put their lives under the control of the Holy Spirit, scriptural truths and divine precepts.

THEY KNOW PEOPLE WILL FAIL WOEFULLY IF THEY PUT THEIR LIVES UNDER THEIR CONTROL.

Child of God, this year is different. Put your life strictly under the Holy Spirit, the holy Scriptures and the sanctified truths and precepts it teaches. Make teachers of the word your prophetic hearing aids, not prophets or prayer warriors, as good as they may be.

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Child of God, this year is different. Put your life strictly under the Holy Spirit, the holy Scriptures and the sanctified truths and precepts it teaches. Make teachers of the word your prophetic hearing aids, not prophets or prayer warriors, as good as they may be.

Sadly, the lazy and gullible prefer prophets or prayer warriors, instead of apostolic preachers like Paul, who labor in the word and doctrine to form Christ in people. Our devotional text contains God’s will for us, when it comes to having spiritual leaders over our lives. It says:

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.

And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”

Then He will give the rain for your seed With which you sow the ground, And bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. Isaiah 30:19-23 NKJV

I WILL TEACH THIS SCRIPTURE IN CHURCH ONE OF THESE DAYS!!

Historically, this scripture was about the restoration of Isreal, and the kind of spiritual leaders God decided to use in bringing that restoration to them. He did not decide to use prophets, because a prophet is just a warning and correcting finger.

A prophet is not a capacity building finger. It is a teaching apostle like Paul that is a capacity building finger.

However, for the end times, God will use Apostles with both the prophetic and Teaching mantle, wrapped in a pastoral grace, making them very effective in giving His people all they need to do His blessed will, live for Him, follow His ways, and survive the season. You will need such apostles in your life this year if you do not have one already!!

The people in Bible days needed teachers to be restored and come into pre-determined blessings.

The teachers where to give them the spiritual understanding they needed to do the will of God, and follow the ways prophesied to them in time past, granting them the spiritual capacity to defile the covering of their images of silver, and the ornament of their molded images of gold, and throw them away as an unclean thing, which implies deep repentance.

The teachers were also to perfect their walk with God, by giving them the spiritual ear to pick a word from the throne of God whenever they get to a crossroad in life. That is why God said in the text, “And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”

Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

UNDERSTAND THAT GOD WANTS US TO POSITION OURSELVES UNDER TEACHERS OF HIS WORD THIS YEAR AS NEVER BEFORE.

He wants us to be under the teaching guide of apostles with the prophetic and teaching mantles, wrapped in a pastoral grace for the end time. You will do yourself great good if you find one and become fully committed to their ministries or churches.

Friend, so long as these end times are concerned, I want to submit to you that it is better to be a regular church member under an apostle with the prophetic and teaching mantle that is wrapped with a pastoral grace, than to be an assistant pastor, deacon, treasurer, or whatever they call you, under a preacher who is not.

The reason for this is simple!! I have seen so many who were pastors, prayer leaders, etc. under preaches with no spiritual capacity building grace but just hype and spiritual noise, reduced to nothing after a reasonable time of serving there.

David said, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10).

These precious people decided to dwell in church and ministries they never knew God called tent of wickedness, and served there as pastors, deacons, Evangelists, financers of God’s house, etc., today they are nothing. Some have been replaced with fresh members who are still fat but will soon be reduced as well.

Friend, you will be reduced to nothing over time even if you become a leader in places God calls tents of robbers. Many have been reduced and turned to ashes.

But if you sit with a humble, pure and teachable spirit, walking with the LORD Jesus Christ under an apostle by content not title, especially one with a prophetic teaching mantle, wrapped in a pastoral grace, over time, you will become a great warrior God can use to do things, from Jerusalem, to Judea and to Samaria and to uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

TEACHERS OF THE WORD WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND GOD, HIS WAYS AND HIS WILL.

They will make your spiritual eyes sharp and give you the spiritual understanding you need to live through this year, putting your life under the control of the Holy Spirit.

The message of today is simple. You will destroy yourself dearly if you go through this year, putting your precious life in your hands as humanism teaches. We will all see hellish things happening to us if we put our precious lives under the control of our own understanding. Yes, it will not be well if we put our lives under the control of our emotions; like anger, sex drive, crave for comfort or the desire to please someone.

The simple truth is, 2026 will be a year of greater trouble for you IF YOU spend it putting your life in the hands of humans (your Godless mother, father, uncles, siblings, etc.). On the flip side, it will be one of the best years for you if you hand over your precious life to the Holy Spirit for keeps. A healthy spiritual head will help you do that.

Understand that it is for that purpose that God wants us to have healthy spiritual heads, not just spiritual heads.

He wants us under His apostles with prophetic and teaching mantles wrapped in pastoral grace. If God give you one, and you relate with him properly, it will help put your life under the control of the Holy Spirit, and the sanctified truths and precepts of the holy Scriptures, that will give you a great and productive year.

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 NKJV

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THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 1ST JANUARY 2026)

‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.

For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. Isaiah 45:1-4 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 01ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

Glory to God for the New Year!!! “We are of the circumcision; we worship God in the Spirit. We have no confidence in the flesh. The LORD remains our shepherd; we shall not want. Amen and amen!!!”

Let me begin by wishing you a happy new year!! Like I have always said, to have a new year indeed, there must be a new you on daily bases. It is for that purpose that God sent His word to us daily, so that we may take the nature of the word instead of live in our Adamic nature.

It is of the LORD’s mercies that 2025 never consumed us, because His compassion fails not. Today, we can join the rest of the living to rejoice over God’s mercies and kindness. We know He allowed us to live to this year, not because we are more righteous than those who could not make it, but because of His mercies.

In fact, if you remember that those who are more righteous than you did not make it, that should make you tremble, fall deeper in love with the LORD, and fear God the more. God does wonders like that so we may fear Him and do His will.

He does those things so that we may ask Him, “LORD, why did you keep me alive?” If we do not ask, we waste the privilege and keep living the way we desire until the privilege no longer exists. It is when we ask Him such questions that we step into destiny or His greater purposes for our lives.

Most people who did great things for the LORD in their age and time, asked such destiny questions, especially after being kept alive from diseases, death or destruction.

CHURCH HISTORY IS FULL OF SUCH PEOPLE!! YOU CAN ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST BY BEGINNING THE YEAR WITH THE DESTINY QUESTION.

Your life will take a powerful turn forward, I mean in the right direction, if you spend hours every day or week, asking the LORD through righteous fasting and prayers to speak to you in His own way, why He kept you alive. Yes, a veil will be torn and a blindness removed.

Heaven will kiss the earth of your soul and things will begin to come to you from the Spirit that will shape your life powerfully.

There was a man who once asked the LORD to show Him why He was kept alive after a terrible accident, and the LORD took him on a trip to Heaven after months of seeking to know why. He will take days out every week to seek the LORD.

Sometimes he will be in prayer and biblical fasting for ten broken days seeking to know why the LORD kept him alive.

There was this time that he was told by the LORD to retreat in prayer, and He did. On the tenth day of the prayer, he was taken up into Heaven and had an encounter that shaped His life forever. He came out of that encounter knowing why his life was spared and gave birth to an outstanding ministry on the face of the earth.

Part of the things God began to do by his hands were miracles that involved limps, eyes and hairs growing up where they never existed.

God used him to re bring back to our age an apostolic mindset that was lost after the 1st hundred years of the church. You do not know what the LORD will use you to do if you will just be serious about asking Him why He kept you alive.

Many are just living aimlessly, without a greater purpose to live for. Your life must not continue that way this year. You are not an ordinary person. You are a blood washed new creature of the LORD called a son of God.

DO NOT BE PART OF THOSE WHO LIVE AIMLESSLY.

You will never know how your life will become if you use this period of the year to seek the LORD for the revelation of the eternal reason in time why you still have this life despite all you might have been through in life.

You will never know the devils you will be separated from, the sins you will begin to overcome, the prayer fire you will begin to walk in, the deliverances that will be happening through your hands, and the light and truth you will come into if you seek the LORD to know why He allowed you to cross into 2026.

There is a great future waiting to be unlocked on the other side of your life in time. The first step into it could be by you asking God the question of why you are alive. Destiny questions are so powerful in the Spirit that many have not realized.

Sadly, many go to seek prophets for answers to questions that they should seek God only. They will be given a new phase of life to live and instead seeking the one who gave them that life for the prophetic purpose of the survival, they will go seeking prophets.

I think someone need to think about all those who died last year and begin to ask “LORD, why did you keep me alive? You could have let me die also, but you kept me alive. Why LORD?” The reason for this counsel is because of what is expected of some of us in the New year.

This is prophetic! There are some in God’s kingdom that are yet to step into God’s greater purpose for their lives. God has designed that they step into it in 2026. Time is of the essence. If they do not step into it this year, it might never happen again. For them, 2026 is their appointed year, an appointed year for their appointed purpose.

You are one of them if this word is stirring something in your spirit.
Asking such questions, in spirit and in truth, prepares the heart to come into the revelation of that Greater Purpose. I believe the book of Isaiah chapter 6 did not just happen. Maybe it was a response to Isaiah’s desire to know why he was alive after the death of King Uzziah his uncle.

DO NOT FORGET, HIS UNCLE THE KING JUST DIED BEFORE THE ENCOUNTER CAME. THE BIBLE SAYS:

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DO NOT FORGET, HIS UNCLE THE KING JUST DIED BEFORE THE ENCOUNTER CAME. THE BIBLE SAYS:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:1-3 NKJV

May this encounter be repeated in your life over and over again this year, in Jesus precious name. Amen!! In God, there are divine encounters that can only be unlocked through a deep prayer targeted towards finding answers from God. Isaiah’s encounter in this scripture is one.

God keeps us alive, as we watch others die (sometimes people who are better than us) or as we watch Him save us from things that can snap our lives away, not for entertainment but for his greater purposes. Isaiah seems to know that, hence seeking the LORD for the revelation of God’s greater purpose for His life.

God would answer him and he would go to become one of the most significant prophets of God in History. The Bible says:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

I reiterate again that only eternity can tell the encounters that you will come into if you begin to ask God why you entered this year alive and well. Yes, if you begin to spend hours or days in prayers to ask Him why you are alive. Isaiah’s mandate came after asking the question. The result is relative. Meaning, what God did for one, He can do for others.

The Bible says a Seraphim had flown from the altars of God in heaven with a fire for purging to take away iniquity from him. The purification encounter was preceded by a deep repentance on his path. But all that would not have happened if he had not asked God why He was alive and his uncle dead.

GOD WANTS US TO TRAVEL ON A PATH THIS YEAR, AND HE WANTS THAT PATH TO BE CLEAR TO US.

The journey will begin when we begin to seek Him for a revelation of His greater purpose for our lives. Our devotional text is a promise from God to take care of 2026 for us. It says:

‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.

For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. Isaiah 45:1-4 NKJV

Why is God making this beautiful promise to us? Is it for our pleasure and comfort? The answer is no!! It is for His pleasure and the advance of His will. I believe the promise will be fulfilled only in the lives of those who will live their days this year according to His greater purposes for their lives.

Probing on your prayer knees and study heart why He allowed you to see 2026 will help bring you into the center of His greater purpose and cause His Isaiah 45:1-4 Promise to be fulfilled in your life.

Child of God, this is the first devotional of the year. It is my prayer that the words of this devotional will remain strong in your spirit and lead you through each day, week and month of this year so that testimonies of strategic victories will remain visible in your life. Amen

Once again, Happy New Year in Jesus precious name!!!

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!!

“Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.” Deuteronomy 8:6-10 NKJV

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION WEDNESDAY 31ST DECEMBER 2025)

“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21-24 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 365TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY

If you have strength in you, give God a mighty shout for bringing us to the last day of the year. While you may be getting ready to shout Happy New Year tomorrow, understand that without a happy 365th day, there would not be a happy new year.

The 365th or 366th day of an outgoing year (for leap years) must meet you before the 1st day of a new year. So, it will not be out of order to celebrate the goodness of the LORD that brought you to the 365th day of the year 2025. That is the reason you will be able to shout a happy New Year tomorrow.

For 365 days God has been so good to us, tender and kind. He has been a purifier of our hearts with living truths and lives with His grace. He has been a giver of hope, a healer of our sick bodies, a giver of peace, and one who make wars to cease.

He has not dealt with us according to the way our sins or sinful nature deserves, but according to His everlasting love for us.

He has been the wheel of our life progress, a marvelous wonder working God and our all in all. He has been the air in our lungs, the peace in our hearts, the power behind our heart beats and blood circulation, the very foundation of our existence, the baptizer of our lives with His Holy Spirit, and the redeemer of our souls.

His consistency, persistency, love, faithfulness, holiness, and the immutability of His covenants, has been some of the greatest spiritual assets that never allowed the devil to rejoice over us. All the parties the enemy organized to celebrate our shame this year, ended abruptly on each occasion.

IT ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE GOD IS OUR ROCK, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TIME OF TROUBLE.

In the same way, all the parties the enemy will organize in 2026 to celebrate your shame, fall, destruction or whatever, will also end abruptly and even deadly for him and his team. The reason will not be because of our holiness, prayers, fasting, or dedication to God, as good and important as they are. It will be because Our God is an immediate present help in time of trouble.

Our walk with Him in Holiness, prayerful living, fasting, and dedication will ONLY help us enjoy the most of His nature as an immediate present help in time of trouble.

It will position us to enjoy the most of His consistency, persistency, love, faithfulness, holiness, and the immutability of His covenants. So, enter the coming year with faith, boldness and peace of mind, understanding that your walk with Him will not be in vain but will be rewarded.

The Bible says we should not be weary in well doing that in due season we shall reap if we fail not.

History is littered with the lives of people whose walk with the LORD was immensely rewarded. Some lost their lives in the process of serving the LORD, making the lost world to think that it does not pay to serve Jesus, but the glory they now live in eternity cannot be compared with any earthly blessing that would have come upon them.

As you depend on God’s consistency, faithfulness, love, persistency, holiness and the immutability of His covenant, understand that your personal walk and talk with God will be needed daily, not for one week, one month or just 2026, but for the rest of your life.

Yes, your personal walk with God will be needed for all that God want to do in your life to be fully done. It will be needed for proper positioning and the release of eternal blessings upon your life. Satan weakens a man’s personal walk with the LORD, because he knows that is where his connectivity with all God intends doing in his life exist.

If your personal walk with the LORD is not at optimal level, there will be holes in your armor for the devil to shoot his bullets through into your life. So, do not let anything on the face of the earth weaken your resolve to live a life that walk with the LORD.

DO NOT EVER GIVE UP ON GOD. DO NOT MAKE IT AN OPTION IN LIFE.

There is no such option for humans. Some who created such options in their lives, maybe because they lost loved ones, aged without getting married, or lived a life of lack, financial problems or grinding poverty and illnesses while alive, are regretting doing so in hell today.

Do not make the mistake of becoming like them. Do not make giving up on God an option in 2026 and beyond. God’s grace is sufficient.

Yes, no life circumstance should make you give up on God, because from the eyes of eternity, nothing worth more than our faith in God, nothing worth more than our walk with the LORD. The Bible says:

“For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” Ecclesiastes 9:4-5 KJV

Do not kill yourself because things are bad. Do not kill your faith, your prayer life, your life of fasting and feasting on God’s word, yes, your life of dedicating yourself to the LORD, because something bad happened. It does not worth it, stay alive, and let God remain your God.

If you must give up on anything, the Bible teaches that you give up on spiritual laziness, the arm of flesh or a life of sin, not on God.
Giving up on God is like taking away life support from a patient in ICU with great signs of survival. People who give up on God have thrown away life itself. Our Bible fathers in Hebrew 11 faced more than we are facing today but remained committed to the LORD.

A PART OF OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT SAYS:

“…And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5: 24 NKJV

That is the standard God set for us all, no matter what we might be going through. The standard is that we walk with God until we breath the last breath. Even if He will not bless us, heal, help us, or fight for us, we are to remain committed, dedicated, and true to Him.

One of our Bible fathers said, “even if He slay me, yet I will trust Him.” That remains the standard, the pathway and the way to go no matter what the circumstances are.

The text said, Enoch walked with God until he was no more. It was a consistent, persistent, faithful, dedicated and unbroken walk with the LORD. He achieved it by faith not by feelings. His life teaches that people who let their feelings lead them will give up on God, but those who let their faith guide them will not.

As we bring this to a close, understand that God will keep you through and through, using your personal relationship with Him and nothing else.

So, you must keep it at optimal level even if things are not right. Even if you sin against Him, do not trade your walk with the LORD for anything. Meet Him and make peace with Him and keep moving. Keep your faith in Him and do not think of giving up.

Your walk with the LORD will be rewarded either in time or eternity. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. All through History no body’s walk with God had gone unrewarded, so yours will not.

Finally, let me reiterate again that we are in the end times, and Bible Prophecy tells us of things that God has predetermined and appointed to happen in their pre-appointed times and seasons, to bring the sin age to an end and usher in an Age where righteousness dwells.

One of the horrors of the times we live in will be the going down of people into captivity.

THERE ARE TWO BASIC CATEGORIES OF CAPTIVITIES, THE FIRST IS SPIRITUAL AND THE NEXT IS NATURAL.

Satan is busy using people’s feelings to take them back to the captivity of sin. Yes, he is using the feelings of people to take them back to the captivity of sin, iniquity, moral decay and hell fire. We must recognize this battle and put up a fight of faith. God’s grace will be sufficient, and it will guide us.

The words the LORD has given us today, and every word we have read in our devotional this year and other years, are to enable us to do just that. Make use of them and make sure you maintain a connectivity with the LORD that will keep you from being led into captivity.

May the enemy’s preparation to celebrate your downfall be abruptly brought to an end by the LORD, through sudden outbreaks of Blessings, miracles and breakthroughs in your life in Jesus precious name!! Amen.

Thank you for being part of the devotional of 2025, see you in 2026. Happy New Year in advance.

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURAL VERSE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:5-6 NKJV

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YOU WANT TO GIVE UP?

Friend, Do not let anything on the face of the earth weaken your resolve to live a life that walk with the LORD. Do not ever give up on God.

GIVING UP ON GOD IS LIKE TAKING AWAY LIFE SUPPORT FROM A PATIENT IN ICU WITH GREAT SIGNS OF SURVIVAL.

GIVE UP ON SIN INSTEAD, NOT ON GOD.

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Find out more in today;s devotiona...coming up shortly

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EXCEPTS FROM TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL.... | COMING UP SHORTLY
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Our walk with Him in Holiness, prayerful living, fasting, and dedication will ONLY help us enjoy the most of His nature as an immediate present help in time of trouble.

It will position us to enjoy the most of His consistency, persistency, love, faithfulness, holiness, and the immutability of His covenants. So, enter the coming year with faith, boldness and peace of mind, understanding that your walk with Him will not be in vain but will be rewarded.

The Bible says we should not be weary in well doing that in due season we shall reap if we fail not.

History is littered with the lives of people whose walk with the LORD was immensely rewarded. Some lost their lives in the process of serving the LORD, making the lost world to think that it does not pay to serve Jesus, but the glory they now live in eternity cannot be compared with any earthly blessing that would have come upon them.
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FROM A SEASON OF DEEP THOUGHTS:
Indeed, there are jobs a Christian should never do, no matter how high they pay and how noble they look. A church goer may do them but a true Christian should never do them.

If a Christian do them, it will lead to either of this;
1. Lost of eternal life, or
2. Lost of physical life, or
3. All of the above.

Wisdom is profitable to direct!!!!

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

THE CRY OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONALS – BY RICHARD E. S. TAKIM

TODAY’S DEVOTION TUESDAY 30th DECEMBER 2025)

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” Proverbs 3:7-10 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 364TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY

With just one more day to the end of this year, what can we say other than, to God be the glory!!

Our counting of days, weeks, months and years has been according to the Gregorian calendar not the calendar God gave to the Hebrew Nation. Exodus 12 tells us how God choose the beginning of months for them, unlike other nations. It says:

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Exodus 12:1-2 NKJV

There is no other nation under Heaven that had this privilege with God because there was no other ancestor under Heaven who walked with the Pre incarnate Christ like the ancestor of the Hebrew Nation, Father Abraham.

A nation that God chose when their year should begin has the most accurate calendar on the face of the earth. That is why all of us who uses the Gregorian calendar do miss certain seasons released by Heaven; especially seasons God visits the earth, according to the book of Psalms.

One unique thing about the Hebrew nation is how it was formed and cultured by the hand of the LORD. It is the only nation under Heaven whose traditions and practices were given by the LORD.

They were like a missionary nation for the salvation of the entire human race. That explains why the dragon has stirred many nations from time to time, to either kill, steal from them, or destroy them.

The nation of Israel has been hated by many other nations from generation to generation, with so many lies and evil taught even in schools about them. The book of Revelation 12 further reveals the reason when it depicted them as the woman who brought forth Christ, the man-child, and ultimately the Church.

THE WORSE FOR ISREAL IS YET TO COME. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THE NATION WILL BE PERSECUTED UNTIL THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS.

It also depicted other things but this one, in my view, stood out. Paul said they received the word of the LORD (oracles of GOD) for us by the hands of angels. The only sad thing is they did not keep what they received, neither did they transit when the reason for all the dealings God had with them showed up.

Yes, the reason God related with Israel, from the time of Abraham when the nation never existed, to the time of Moses, and then the time of the kings that reigned over them, and the prophets who prophesied to them, down to the time of John the Baptist; was to bring them to Christ; and ultimately the spiritual kingdom of GOD. Jesus Himself put it this way:

“The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” Luke 16:16 NKJV

The law and the prophets were God’s tutors to bring them to Christ, and ultimately, use them to put Christ in the rest of the lost world. But there are so many portions of the Bible that tells us that this failed in many respects. It failed when most of them, in their unbelief, refused to accept the LORD Jesus Christ when He came as man as the Messiah, thereby resisting the transition from Judaism birthed by Moses to Christianity birth by Jesus Christ.

Majority of them held on to the Moses they knew and never accepted the Christ the prophets spoke about. If you read the gospels, you will find the many attempt people like Paul made to explain this transition to them. But they will rather beat them up, chase them out of cities and accused them of coming to destroy their walk with God.

IN FACT, JESUS, AS MAN, WAS KILLED BECAUSE OF THAT. THEY KILLED HIM BECAUSE THEY FELT HE WAS A THREAT TO JUDAISM.

Though God used that to save us (the lost man) from eternal damnation, their reason for killing Him was because Judaism had become a great money-spinning religion to them, and a political seat for negotiating with the Roman government ruling over Isreal then and the acquisition of Power for the High Priest and his gang. Jesus was seen as a threat to all that.

The two factors perfectly helped the gang to lord over the Jews and make money from their followers, even to the point of using religious practices to rob and steal from them. At one time Jesus had to enter the temple to do what was considered unthinkable to stop the steal. The Bible says:

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant.” Matthew 21:12-15 NKJV

In the days of this story, the spiritual leaders of the day made a lot of money from the innocent followers who came to seek the LORD using practices and teachings from things God told Israel to do under Moses. They did that without telling them that the days of those practices had come to an end, since the reason for the practices (Christ) had arrived.

They deliberately kept them blind because of the money that was coming to them from the spiritual blindness of the people.

Wait a minute, is that not what our money-sinking preachers are doing today? If you look at the Matthew 21:12-15 scripture, you will find out what the enemy was hindering in the life of the souls that the temple was established to bring to Christ.

He was hindering GOD’s glory from breaking out among them to take away blindness, and other defects that were on their lives. The Bible says as soon as Jesus cleansed the temple of the practices and the steal that was going on, God broke out among them and healed those with physical effects of their spiritual defects.

THIS IS BEING REPEATED NOWADAYS. THAT DEFECT REPRESENTS THE DEFECTS OF A LIFE OF SIN THAT IS ON EVERY HUMAN BEING ON EARTH.

We do not need a prophet to tell us that the church of God has been commercialized using teachings extracted from Judaism, the way the activities of the temple were commercialized in the days of this story, using teachings and practices extracted from what God gave to Moses to teach the nation.

CONTINUED BELOW 👇👇

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

CONTINUED...

We do not need a prophet to tell us that the church of God has been commercialized using teachings extracted from Judaism, the way the activities of the temple were commercialized in the days of this story, using teachings and practices extracted from what God gave to Moses to teach the nation.

Teachings like redemption of first born and many others, and practices like using oil, salt, water etc. to pray and many others have made so many preachers rich, thereby hindering the outbreak of His glory among seekers of God to take away the spiritual defects of sins.

When the glory of God is hindered form breaking out among us, it will give birth to Christianity without godly character. That is why today we have a lot of us believers; especially most of us pastors, who fit into the Christianity described by Paul in Titus chapter one. The Bible says,

“They profess to know God [to recognize and be acquainted with Him], but by their actions they deny and disown Him. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for good work of any kind.” Titus 1:16 Amplified

This is a very sad development. If you look at the church today, you will find unprecedented hypocrisy and wickedness among even the most revered men of God. The system tells us to turn a blind eye out of respect for them, but God is not turning a blind eye because He is no respecter of persons. And if God is not turning a blind eye, His sons and daughters should not, His church should not but shout it at the house top and bring down the citadel of moral decay among us.

You think we have fared well under these practices extracted from Judaism and dished to ignorant souls just to keep us preachers smiling to the bank? No, we have not!

BUT THE BLESSING IS COMING!! A PEOPLE WITH THE GLORY AND MORALITY TO WRAP UP THE SIN AGE ARE BEING BORN!!

I weep in my heart for myself and the Church of our generation, for these things. But the blessing is coming. We have people who even defend heretic teachings and call those of us pointing men to the Bible truth about them all kinds of names. But the blessing is coming!!

Friend, a lot of nonsense people take for God’s word today are errors extracted from Judaism. But my hope is the blessing is coming.

Among the prominent teachings extracted from Judaism that is hindering the outbreak of God to remove our spiritual defects for the souls of men today is the teaching on first fruits, which have been intelligently presented to people, making a fool of so many.

Under this teaching the word of the LORD to Israel in the book of proverbs that says, “Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” is intelligently presented to many, especially the gullible, to give the first salary of every year to one hungry or desperate ‘GOD’ who will never bless them in the new year without they doing that.

This scam has thrived for years, now it has faithful followers, and by January some will be caught in it again.

Sadly, each time we point people to this scam, we are accused of so many things. I laughed when one boy preacher threatened me with fire and brimstone. Like one of my spiritual sons put it, they defend the first fruit thing as if it is a Heaven making doctrine.

There are those who call themselves apostles who are sending all kinds of responses to me. They make me cry for those who listen to them and remind me of the spiritual leaders of Jesus’ days who were indignant for what He did at the temple.

BUT LIKE I SAID, THE BLESSING IS COMING!!! A PEOPLE OF GOD THAT THE EARTH AND THE CHURCH HAS NEVER SEEN ARE COMING.

Friend, if you think that Jesus Christ will fold His arm in our days and watch as the so-called papas and mamas extract teachings and practices from Judaism to make money from His flock, then you do not understand the mystery of prophetic patterns.

If you think there will be no glory from Heaven that will be stirred by the LORD to cry against these scammers, as they repeat the same things that the leaders did when Jesus was physically here, then you do not understand what Jesus meant when He said, “I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
God is on the move to stop the first fruit scammers.

Oh, yes, Jesus will not cease from using people like us to pull these nonsense practices down no matter what you think; He will not cease from screaming at the top of His voice in the Holy Ghost, “my house is a house of prayer but you have turned it to a den of thieves.” He will keep using us to do that until He breaks out among us to remove our spiritual defects the way He did in the temple.

Do not forget we are His temple!

But as He use us to do this, we will also see the indignation of those who are benefiting from the status quo poured upon us. Because the Bible says, “But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant.”

I remember one time when someone with the title of an apostle said to me, “you know how to tear other people down.” And I responded, “You are mistaken because you are speaking out of the blindness of your heart. I have been trained by the LORD to enter the temple and overturn the ministry or table of the money changers presenting themselves as life changers, and the scammers who use teachings and practices from Judaism to make money from the seekers of GOD.”

GOD WILL NEVER ALLOW US TO FAIL IN HIS WILL FOR OUR LIVES.

The vision remains one, and that is to remove what is hindering the glory of God from breaking out in the Church, the glory that will remove the many spiritual defect in the moral lives of many, things that have turned so many believers into hypocrites.

We will not be able to help everyone of them. But we will help some. However, many others will keep attacking and throwing all kinds of words and punches on us until they sink into the consequences of their delusions.

Child of God, if you want to be part of the glorious Church that is fair as the moon, clear like the Sun and terrible like an army with banners, then you must get out of every false practice and teaching extracted from what Israel did under Judaism. You must walk away from the shadows and come into the substance!

The Bible says, “Such things are only a shadow of what is to come, and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:17 Amplified Version). Practicing them will hinder you from coming into the fullness of God for your eternal life the way it hindered those who were at the temple in the day of Christ.

Let he that has an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches!

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR TODAY!

“But now [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death].

For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come.

For just as [a]in Adam all die, so also [b]in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected with incorruptible, immortal bodies] at His coming.

After that comes the end (completion), when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after He has made inoperative and abolished every ruler and every authority and power. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 Amplified Version

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