THE WAY OF THE CROSS

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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (THURSDAY 9TH April 2026)

And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Luke 22:31-32 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 99TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

Today we will be looking at the need to keep the faith in all circumstances. The Bible teaches that we should not cast away our confidence which has a great reward or harvest. Meaning the confidence of the righteous is a seed, a seed with a great recompense or a beautiful harvest.

Sometimes the harvest comes to us in time, other times in eternity, some other times in both eternity and time, depending on the depth of confidence you are holding unto. Irrespective of when it comes, there is always a reward in holding on to our confidence.

I once cast away my confidence for years and I still have the scars to show. Friend, it is not a pleasant thing to do. I learned during those painful years that even if you fall into sin, do not cast away your confidence. Make sure your hands remains tight on the horns of the altar of God’s mercies, else you will begin to take decisions that will hurt you severely in the long run.

For example, when you cast away your confidence in God’s mercy, power, and goodness, you will begin to sink.

You will be building your faith in the wisdom of men, your righteousness and pride, and then sink terribly without even knowing it. When one’s confidence is in their pride or personal righteousness for example, they hurt carnally when they commit sin and condemn themselves. But if it is in God, you break down at His conviction and pray in repentance.

Seeing yourself as nothing. It is when you see yourself as something that you hurt carnally.

When you cast away your confidence, you will begin to think dark thoughts about God’s love for you, and even get to a place where the spirit of hell will begin to speak to you, telling you that you are condemned and can no longer be a child of God or be accepted by God, while the Bible teaches that we are in the dispensation called the year of the LORD’s favor and can never be in a position where God can not accept us or keep us as His children.

Sometimes we cast away our confidence when we face disappointment in life, other times when we fall into sin.

SOME OTHER TIMES WHEN WE ARE PERSECUTED.

For me, the first time I cast away my confidence was when I was denied a visa to the United States in 1999 and 2003. My world came down crumbling in both occasions, and I cast away my confidence. What happened after that was what I cannot state here.

But it took me over 10 years to be free from the snare that my decision created for me.

I tell you, once you have given your life to the LORD, holding on to your confidence, through thick and thin is the next thing you should spend your days doing. When life throws sad things at you; when expectations fail and disappointment creeps in, when people you thought should help you, withdraws their help, when those you are laboring to keep happy refuse to reciprocate, as a Child of God that is the time to lift your faith and hold on to your confidence.

Yes, when the news of the dead of a loved one demoralizes you and you cannot find the reason to live the next minute, when the enemy comes against you like a flood, the most important thing to keep alive is your faith. Yes, keeping the faith is the most essential thing to keep in a chaotic world because “the just shall live by faith.”

If you are not living by faith, you will regret what you are living by.
The Bible teaches that if you are part of the just, you are to live by faith. You are not to live by struggles, fear, pain, or anything negative.

You are not to live by prayer, fasting, giving, singing, or going to church, as important as all these things are, except they are products of a life of faith, and not the other way round.

He said they just shall live by faith. You see, prayer, fasting, giving, singing, or going to Church are only meaningful if they birth faith in us or if they are a product of a life of faith in God. Worship ought to be either a demonstration of faith in God or a source of faith in God.

ANYTHING OUTSIDE THAT, WILL NOT MINISTER LIFE TO A WORSHIPER OR MAKE HIS OR HER WORSHIP MEANINGFUL.

The Holy Spirit enables prayers, Biblical fasting, giving, and singing and encourages going to Church basically to help us live by faith. If doing any of these things, therefore, is not imparting faith in you, strengthening what is already there, or produced by faith, you are involved in forms of godliness that has no power. Friend that is where the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire comes in!

It is the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire that makes our prayers, fasting, giving, singing and even going to Church a product of faith in God or a source of faith in God. It becomes a faith building spiritual system or a spiritual system built by faith because of the power and influence of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20-21 NKJV

The most important thing to build in the world today is your faith. It is the faith you build that will help you not to cast away your confidence. Yes, it is the faith you build that will help you build other aspects of your life.

Sadly, many believers today do not prioritize building their faith.

They prefer building things that will need their faith to stand instead of building their faith as a top priority. They build their careers, businesses, fame, families, and all they desire without giving a thought to building their faith, thereby leaving what they have built with no ideal foundation for sustenance.

It is the faith of the just that will sustain his house, career, walk with God, the hope of making heaven, business, fame, family and all he desires in life. In simple terms, God designed that our lives be sustained by our faith. That is why Satan attacks it ferociously.

OUR DEVOTIONAL TEXT TODAY SAYS IT ALL.

When Satan asked to shift Peter like wheat, his rising profile, business, or family were not the subject of the attack. Peter’s faith was. Now, when Jesus moved to provide a prayer cover for him, He did not pray for his business, fame or family not to fail. He prayed that his faith should not fail.

In other words, He prayed for him not to cast away his confidence even after denying Him. He prayed that Peter remain confident in His mercies and not truncate the decision he had made to follow him. Do you know what it means to deny someone who you have walked with and tasted his love, power and miracles for three and half years?

Jesus had to pray for him NOT TO CAST AWAY HIS confidence but keep his faith burning despite denying Him because there was a future his moment of sin and disloyalty should not truncate. A major highlight in the text says, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."

Until your faith fail, your business will not fail. Until your faith fails your marriage or family will not fail. Until your faith fails your ministry or calling will not fail. The life of the redeemed of the LORD is designed to be lived by faith. That is the word of the LORD.

The Bible defines faith as the substance of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen. True faith has both substance and evidence. It is usually anchored on revelation that comes as the voice of the LORD, scriptural insight, divine vision, Spiritual illumination, etc.

In simple terms, it comes by hearing from God at an immediate present. I believe God has spoken to us this morning, may the light that came not depart from us forever, amen and amen!!

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!!

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

“For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:35-39 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 8TH April 2026)

“I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.”

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

“I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.” Ecclesiastes 3:10-12 KJV

WELCOME TO THE 98TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

The scripture of our devotional text is loaded with mysteries about time. We will need more than a devotional to uncover the entire truth in it. But let’s begin with praise to our God for bringing us peacefully to the end of another Easter season.

Some of us have witnesses over 40 easters seasons, others 50, others 60 and some others less. Irrespective of how many seasons you have witnessed, its good to give thanks to the LORD!!

Who is like unto this God? Who make wars to cease! Who created days and appointed man to live peacefully within them. Who is like unto this God! Among the gods who is like unto Him! Glorious in Holiness and fearful in praise! Doing wonders! Hallelujah!

There will never be another 2026 Easter season until the consummation of all things. This will be the one and only. It came, we saw it, and yesterday it bid us farewell forever, giving way to a brand season of the year. Amen!!

I grew up understanding that Life is all about God given opportunities. Each day is an opportunity and each season as well. The days we have seen this year only are gifts that came with many opportunities. I perceive some used them to do God’s righteous will for their lives, others have not,

Yes, sadly, there are those who have not made positive use of the days they have seen this year because of what they feed their souls with. What you feed your soul with is what determines how your days turn out and if you will make use of the days to do the will of God or not.

The truth remains, without a good church to feed you with rich spiritual food, a divine plan to guide you daily, some natural and divine wisdom to apply in decision making, and a courageous heart to use in facing the challenges of life squarely with the aim of defeating them under God, a year will come and go and leave you worse than it met you.

THE LORD DOES NOT WANT OUR DAYS TO COME AND GO WITHOUT US MAKING USE OF THEM.

If you could not make use of the over 90 days that we have seen this year alone, especially to improve your life, by improving your walk and talk with God, another 90 days will come and go and leave you the same. God wants you to make use of the days we see properly. He created days to bless us not to ruin us.

The reason God created days, weeks, months, and years is simply for signs and seasons. It is to help us number our days so we can apply our hearts to wisdom. If we do not therefore, make use of them to apply our hearts to wisdom, we will lose big time.

It may interest you to be reminded again (as we have always done through this devotionals) that God does not live in time. He lives in eternity. To Him therefore, there are no natural nights, no days, no weeks, no months. Yes, no Januarys, Februarys, March, etc.

Though He created natural days and placed mankind within them, He has His own unique calendar. He does not live in natural days. I remember teaching about that in one of our conferences. The message was titled “Winning the Battles of your Prophetic Days.”

Meaning, His plans for us are not in time but eternity. In other words, they are not governed by our own time but His own time. Consequently, things do not leave Heaven to the earth in our own time. They do so in His time frame.

Sadly, sometimes His time frame clashes with ours and since many of us do not know how to recognize or submit to it we end up losing whatever He came to bless our lives with. That is why the Life of many Christians goes in a cycle and is stagnated.

THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE GOD’S TIME OF VISITATION AND THINGS THAT MAKES FOR THEIR PEACE.

Those who have so-called prophets in their lives, find things more difficult. Instead of the prophets pointing this truth to them they point them at the altars of their father’s houses and some devils. Jesus Himself made it clear that many of us suffer and are stagnated in life because we do not Know our time of visitation; we do not know when God has come to move us to the next level.

Meaning, we either cannot recognize it or rejects it all together each time it comes. The Bible says:

“Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation: Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 Douay-Rheims

That brings us to the challenge every Child of God faces; how can we relate successfully with this God who does not live in our time but in His eternity?

CONTINUED BELOW 👇👇

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

CONTINUED...

That brings us to the challenge every Child of God faces; how can we relate successfully with this God who does not live in our time but in His eternity?

The only way we can relate successfully with Him is to know His time of visitation and be ready for it. A people who do not know how to humble themselves, accept, then come into God’s time of visitation for them will remain trapped in the perils of life.

Things can only be made beautiful in our lives in God’s time. If we cannot therefore humbly see, sense and cease the moments, things will remain ugly in our lives. A Major highlight in our devotional text today says,

“I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

The word travail in this scripture simply means God given task. It has nothing to do with suffering or adversity. The Bible was referring to what God has assigned us to do within our own time frame.

AND THAT TO ME IS TO DISCOVER HIS TIME AND ALIGN TO IT - ALIGN TO ITS DEMANDS. OR IN OTHER WORDS, RESPOND TO IT!

God’s time comes with deliverances to receive, blessings to collect, instructions to obey, visions to pursue and execute, plans and purpose to make our goals, etc. That is why His time is called day of visitation. It is usually full of divine moments to sense and see through the eyes of faith and cease swiftly.

One thing about divine moments is that when they come and we do not see, sense and cease them, they go back to eternity, leaving us dry. That is why many of us are still stagnated in life. Don’t forget, until things leave Heaven to the earth of our lives, we will never go forward in life. And the time they do so is in God’s time (or God’s Day of visitation, or divine moments) not our time.

That brings us to the second truth we can glean from the same devotional text. It says “He hath made everything beautiful in his time:”

Why is God’s time so powerful? It is powerful because that is the only time He moves to make things beautiful! If you wait for Him in your own time, you will never see Him.

For instance, many are still single today because they do not understand this mystery. They thought it was God’s time to get married when the met a particular man or woman and started courting or dating them. Eventually things turned out sour leaving them still single – even worse than they were before the relationship.

The Bible spoke about an evil time. It says,

“For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.” Ecclesiastes 9:12 NKJV

What is an evil time? There are two basic times in scriptures, God’s time and our time. In God’s time He makes things beautiful, but in our time He does not. The Bible calls God’s time beautiful and calls every other time evil. An evil time therefore is a time that is not God’s.

IT COULD BE OURS, THAT OF OUR LOVED ONES OR THAT OF THE DEVIL, BUT IT IS NOT GOD’S TIME.

The single lady or young man who thought it was time to get married but ended up becoming a single mother or single father missed God’s time. He took a decision in an evil time and got the consequences. Evil times are times Satan uses to ensnare us and deposit some Ishmael’s in our lives.

All the scars in my life and your life, if investigated, will turn out to be products of things we did in an evil time. And if you look at your life also you can say the same thing as me. Our pains in life are usually products of things we did in an evil time.

No one can happily pass through this world doing things in an evil time. That was what Jesus knew, hence waiting for divine timing for every healing He gave, every dead He raised, and every move He made. He did not even submit to death until it was time. Anytime outside that, would have been an evil time, and if Jesus had died in an evil time, He would have remained in the grave to this day.

If therefore you want to move forward in life, you must be sensitive to God’s time or divine moments. You must walk in the revelation we just shared. You must cease doing things in your time because your time (or that of any other person who loves you) is an evil time. Only God’s time is beautiful.

And do not forget, things will always be ugly in your life if you keep doing things in your own time and trusting God to take care of you. God will never take care of you if you do not recognize His timing for you and align to it.

Friend, it is better to get married in a beautiful time than in an evil time no matter what the time promises. It is better to get rich in a beautiful time than in an evil time. The Book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us the two basic types of timings on the face of the earth. It tells us that there is a time to sow and a time to reap.

IF YOU SOW WHEN YOU OUGHT TO REAP OR REAP WHEN YOU OUGHT TO SOW, YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE WILL REMAIN UGLY.

It also tells us of a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Meaning, there are seasons to socialize and seasons not to socialize. If you socialize when you ought not to socialize you will plunge yourself into things that even prayer may not save you.
Knowing God’s timing for things is the best way to lead a Christian life!

Sadly, Satan has a way of making an evil time look beautiful and attractive to us, consequently impregnating us with the urge to move into things thinking its God’s timing. The attack is basically to make us miss the blessing. But I trust God has made someone wiser today. You will not fall into an evil time again in Jesus precious name!

As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that there is a people Jesus is currently weeping over; Christians who are about falling into some calamities because they do not understand their time of visitation. May you not be part of a Christian generation that do not know the timings of the LORD! Amen.

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!!

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

“For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Luke 19:41-44 NKJV

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 7TH April 2026)

Pay attention to this! You're saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money." You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.

Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans." However, you brag because you're arrogant. All such bragging is evil. James 4:13-16 GWT

WELCOME TO THE 97TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

God has been faithful to us!! You may never understand that word until you look at yourself and wonder why you are still alive, progressing, or moving forward despite having no such capacity. Whenever we accomplish things that we have no capacity to accomplish, it is a sign, a beautiful sign of God’s faithfulness.

We have lived for 96 days this year, but it was not because we could keep ourselves alive. It is because someone who holds the keys of hell and of death kept us alive. He said,

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Revelation 1:18 NKJV

You cannot serve the God who holds the keys of hell or hades and of death and be afraid in life. You can not serve this God and be afraid of even going to hell or dying before your time. He will never use the keys against you. The keys are to be used against the devil, his angels, agents and army.

“What importance are the keys to me in this life,” you may ask.
Well, friend, there are some of the most important keys of the Kingdom that a CHILD OF God can benefit from. In fact, you can get to a realm of faith, where you are even given the keys to use in battle, when fighting for the salvation of someone or the defeat of the agents or works of the devil. Yes, it all depends on the depth of your bonding with the LORD.

There is a bonding with the LORD that submits certain kingdom keys to us for use. Do not forget, the execution of the Great Commission is resting on the shoulders of the Church, and the government of Jesus Christ is also designed to rest on the Church, you and I who call upon the name of the LORD.

THE PURPOSE OF ALL THAT IS TO CONTINUE THE EXECUTION OF THE GREAT COMMISSION FROM WHERE THE EARLY CHURCH STOPPED.

But we will not make the needed impact if our bonding with the LORD is weak. We must therefore strengthen our bonding with the LORD on daily bases like our Bible fathers did. The Bible says they gave themselves strongly to prayer and to the ministry of the word. At one point they inflicted havoc in the kingdom of darkness, and the Bible said this of the men who were upset with them:

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 NKJV

The statement, “they realized that they had been with Jesus” is very revealing. It suggest the kind of bonding they had with the LORD; it was so strong that He could give them the keys to carry out the assault they carried out that day against the KINGDOM of darkness.

The need for being with Jesus or bonding with Jesus cannot be over emphasized. The reason is because that is what brings us needed power or kingdom keys for the release of souls from the grips of hell and of death, into the Kingdom of God. Sadly, many do not bond with the LORD these days, they bond with their smart phones, and other ungodly things that gives pleasure to their souls.

Friend, our bonding with the LORD is necessary because God wants you and I to be useful in His hands and destroying the works of the devil in a lost world and bringing souls to repentance.

However, there are certain works of the devil that can only be vanquished and certain salvations only possible when we have the keys of the kingdom of Heaven that will make them happen. To have those keys, especially the one of hell and of death, our bonding with the LORD must not be weak, it must be strong.

YES, IT MUST BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE KEYS TO BE GIVEN TO US FOR USE.

The keys, of healing all manner of diseases, the keys of breaking the yokes of lack and poverty, the keys of terminating a life of sin, iniquity and trespass, the keys of defeating deception and other works of the Satan, and the keys of hell and of death.

Can Jesus give one the keys of hell and of the death for us when in warfare? Yes. He can. So long as it will advance His kingdom, Jesus can give us anything if the bonding exist. Peter was given these keys of hell and of death at some point in his walk with God, that was why he was able to raise Dorcas from premature death. The Bible says:

“At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.

But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them.

Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.” Acts 9:36-43 NKJV

From this scripture, we can see that Jesus can give those with a strong bonding with Him any key to advance His course on earth, even if it means the key of hell and of death, for proper Kingdom use.

PETER GOT IT IN THIS SCRIPTURE, USED IT PROPERLY AND THE RESULTS WAS AMAZING. WE ARE THE NEXT ON GOD’S LIST!

The Bible says, “it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” That is the purpose of Kingdom keys, to bring many to the LORD. In other words, to shift the gates of hell that is influencing people and bring the souls in its grip to the LORD. This is a call for us to wake up and become bond sons of God, not just church members.

Now, apart of enabling us to do exploits for Him, the keys of hell and of death in the hands of the LORD also protect our lives from danger. You see, the human life is one of the most fragile lives on the face of the earth. Though in the beginning, it was not so. It became fragile when it stepped out of the very environment God created it to be, the glory environment.

But Jesus came, died on the Cross, and restored the human life back to the place where it was created to be by taking over the keys of hell or hades and of death. Though the fullness of the blessing will become visible in the New heaven and the New earth where righteousness dwells, we can still have a foretaste of it in this life.

Our devotional text described the frailty of the human life this way. It says:

“Pay attention to this! You're saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money." You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is life?

You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.
Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans."

If we do things without the permission or the will of the one who holds the keys of hell or hades and of the death, we will not be cover when the enemy move against us. But when we do, we will be covered and our lives will be protected.

Paul found himself facing so many life-threatening events in his life and ministry. He was beaten with rods, beaten by a mob not once, attacked by robbers, set up to be killed by 40 men who took an oath to not eat or drink until he is dead, shipwrecked severally, and so forth.

He passed through a thousand things that almost destroyed his life, but all that happened to him while he was in God’s will.

If He was not in God’s will, none of that would have happened. The keys of hell or hades and of death would not have been used by the LORD to protect him. His bonding with the LORD during those times put the keys to work and saved him. We are the next to experience the victories.

Let’s therefore live our days within God’s will for our lives and make sure our bonding with the LORD grows and not diminish like our Bible fathers did. Amen.

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!

“Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:3-4 NKJV

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 6TH April 2026)

“And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him:" Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.

Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars." 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 96TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

Glory be to God almighty for another glorious week ahead of us. With the eyes of faith, we can see the LORD ahead of us, making crooked places straight, breaking in pieces the gates of brass and cutting the bars of Iron asunder.

When the presence of the LORD goes ahead of a people, they will never see a successful attack of the devil or an obstacle that is not surmountable. That is why one of the greatest secrets of peaceful or victorious living in an evil infested world is to have the manifest presence of God go ahead of you.

It is the reason why men who know this secret spend quality time with the LORD committing their ways to Him before embarking on anything in life. David was one of such men.

The Bible records that one day the Philistines came against Him; and that was at the place of success.

A place that most people would not need to ask God for anything but just do their thing. He had fought a raging battle with Saul for 13 years and now He had been made king. Then the Devil moved them against him through the Philistines. But he did not just respond to them. He went first to God in prayer to seek His counsel and will.

Seeking the counsel of the LORD and His will on a thing before embarking on it is one way you secure His backing for that thing - it is one way you put the LORD ahead of you.

DAVID DID THAT AND THE RESULT WAS AMAZING.

The Bible says:

“Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.

So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?" And the Lord said to David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.

So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. 2 Samuel 5:17-21 NKJV

Friend you will need time in the stronghold of truth and prayer in the Holy Ghost before facing life and the challenges it brings. You will need to cultivate the habit of praying in tongues for hours in the morning before rising to go to work or face your day.

You will need to commit your ways to the LORD like David did here to see the glory of the LORD in your life. The Bible says;

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” Psalms 37:5-6 ESV

Putting God ahead of you could be the missing key in your walk with him. David did not just seek the LORD one time. He sought Him always. After that first victory the Philistines came the second time to attack him. Again, he did not just respond to them even with the first victory he had recorded over them.

He did not ignore the LORD, take Him for granted, or assumed God will act the way He did before; He went to the stronghold again to seek His directives. That again put God ahead of Him in a more powerful way. The Bible says;

“Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, "You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.

“And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines."
And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer. 2 Samuel 5:22-25 NKJV

I have come to understand that the more we depend on God the more of His power and presence we will have in our lives. But many of us do not do this. We do not apply this great secret of David. You do not commit our ways to the LORD like he did; hence we do not see His acts like he saw.

We only run to the LORD when we have gone ahead of Him, met obstacles and have become fed up with life. Let me show you a practical truth at this point; if you do not put God ahead of you in a given day or before embarking on anything, you have silently put hell ahead of you because there is no middle ground. ‘

For instance, if you do not seek the counsel and directives of the LORD before going into, you have silently sought put hell ahead of you in that marriage. It will be hell on earth for you. If you do not put God ahead of you before embarking in any relationship, trip, business, job, or etc. you have silently put hell ahead of you and everything will just be hellish.

We break our lives into pieces not putting God ahead of us because it tantamount to putting hell ahead. And if you put hell ahead of you it will prevail against you, and make life hell for you.

Another word for hell is Sheol – the abode of the dead. That means if you do not put the LORD ahead of you or set Him always before you like David did in his days, hell will bring your life to the shadows of death.

IT WILL PARALYZE YOUR EFFORTS TO MAKE IT IN LIFE.

David said

CONTINUED BELOW 👇👇

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

CONTINUED...

David said

“I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, for You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.” Psalms 16:8-10 AMP

People who set God before them will never be moved. They will enjoy stability in life. People who set God before them will always rejoice, they will not be abandon in hell or sheol. The presence of God will manifest in their lives and paralyze every activity of hell.

There is another dimension of truth to the mystery behind setting the lord before you. It also means to set His word before you. To take time and look at it, study it, meditate on it, and make it your attention and focus before embarking on anything significant in life.

If you set His word before you, before embarking on things like starting a Business, going into marriage, accepting a proposal or making one, pursuing a career, making an application for a job, deciding on an important journey of life etc., the LORD will always be ahead of you to make the crooked places straight.

He will be ahead of you breaking the gates of brass in pieces and cutting the bars of iron asunder. Friend, to avoid life obstacles and unforeseen failures, disappointment and sorrows in life, always learn to put God ahead of you.

One other way to put God ahead of you is to learn how to trust the LORD and how not to direct your paths. Learn to let Him direct your paths. God will always go ahead of people who trust Him enough to pray to Him to take charge of a new day, week, month or year before stepping into it.

HE WILL ALWAYS GO AHEAD OF PEOPLE WHO WILL TRUST HIM ENOUGH TO THOROUGHLY PRAY CONCERNING ANYTHING BEFORE STEPPING INTO IT.

Sufficient prayer to seek God’s help or counsel before taking a life decision or action, is one way we demonstrate our trust in the LORD. When the LORD sees that trust, He will go ahead of us directing our paths. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)

Our devotional text has additional truths to glean on the subject.

It tells us of the pathetic story of a Child of God in the Old Testament who lost divine backing because he did not rely on the LORD like David did. One of the verses in the text says, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.”

It is very costly for a child of God not to rely totally on the LORD. It is very costly not to commit your ways to Him in prayer and leave Him with your enemies to handle. It is very costly to engage the arm of flesh as a child of God, especially when we have the power or provision to do so. Our enemies will escape from our hands and the victories the LORD wanted to give us will be withheld.

I believe David knew this that was why even when he had the means he still engaged God through prayer, seeking His directives and packing before facing the enemy. Our devotional text made it clear that “…the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

We must not allow our hearts to shift to our means. We must remain loyal enough to put Him always before us like David did. Only then we will not be moved!

I believe the Spirit of the LORD has helped you to find wisdom this morning! The Bible says in Proverbs 3:13 “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;” May the wisdom you have found, and the understanding you have gained this morning make your life brighter and better in Christ Jesus! Amen

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, "Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."

So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.

Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him:"Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.

Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars." Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.” 2 Chronicles 16:1-10 NKJV

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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 5TH April 2026)

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” Matthew 28:1-4 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 95TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

Today is Easter Sunday, or Passover Sunday.

We commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ that happened over 2000 years ago on a day like this. We honor what happened that day because it changed everything that happened in the garden of Eden over 5000 years ago; a development that placed humanity in eternal damnation.

Yes, God came in form of man and walked the earth, for 33 and half years, and took the greatest pill no man would want to take for the other, the pill of the sacrifice of death. The death not for crimes committed, but for the salvation, acquittal and justification of those who committed them.

He would grow from a babe in the womb of Mary to the King on the cross. It all ended few days back over 2000 years ago, after He was betrayed by one of His closest and taken through a painful journey called, “Golgotha” and died. He was buried but on a day like today, the Spirit of the LORD entered the grave and brought Him out.

We celebrate because it was a price He paid to free us forever from the penalty, practice and presence of sin. We celebrate because it was a redemption of our souls. We celebrate because it was freedom from the slavery of sin, Satan and the evil and corrupt system of this world.

We celebrate because it was a death that killed death itself. Hallelujah!!

It was a death the earth has never seen. In fact, when it was getting to the hour of that death, the sun closed its eyes. It decided not to give light in submission. It went for a three-hour break to honor Him. The Bible says,

“By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in your hands!” Then he breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46 MSG

WHAT MANNER OF DEATH IS THIS? WHAT KIND OF DEATH WILL MAKE THE SUN CLOSE ITS EYES? SO, TO SPEAK.

What kind of death will make the very thick curtains of the temple that was some meters away from where the death occurred split right down in the middle? It was not the death of a man, but the death of a God-in-Man. Yes, a kind of death the earth has never seen. It was a death that cancelled the eternal, spiritual and natural death of those who will give their lives to the one who died the death.

It was a death creation had never witnessed before. Yes, creation had witnessed the death of Abel, the death of the righteous men and women who walked with the LORD. But it had never seen this one.

Yes, it has seen the death of the prophets who walked the earth and had seen the death of so many righteous Patriarchs, Matriarchs and kings like Abraham, Sarah, David, Josiah and Jehosaphat, but had never seen this kind of death. It has never seen a death that tore the veil of deception and spiritual blindness as soon as it happened.

Oh yes, it has never seen a death that brought the dead out of their graves three days later. This is not a myth but a message from the Holy Scriptures and even documented in History. It is something that happened and sent shivers into the spine of the evil ones. It was a death the entire gates of hell had not seen before.

It was a death that released so much power into the spirit and natural realm; yes, a death that split rocks and open graves. The Bible says:

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 28:50-53 NKJV

THIS SCRIPTURE TELLS US HOW DIFFERENT THE DEATH OF JESUS WAS.

It was, indeed, different than any death that has ever occurred or will ever occur. It was a death that destroyed death and brought the dead out of their graves, without living the one who died in the grave. It was a death that gave men life, both spiritual eternal and natural life.

It was a death that brought immortality to mortal men. Yes, it brought immortality.

Come to think of it, how can death bring life and immortality? Death takes life and is opposite of immortality. But this one brought both life and immortality, making it one great death that the world has never seen. It was a death that opened the gates of Heaven to lost man. It established an eternal reason why men and women are in Heaven and why many more will be there at the end of their days.

Yes, it established the reason why sin, iniquity and trespass will have no dominion over us eternally. It is the reason the Holy Spirit was poured, the Church planted and the great commission executed and is still been executed. It is the reason for our having the Easter or Passover celebrations.

This death was accompanied by a powerful resurrection of the one who died, because it was impossible for death itself to hold Him captive. Friend, if the one with power over death dies, death will die. That is why we celebrate. Yes, He died, and death died, and He came out of the grave on a day like today. Hallelujah!!

Our devotional text says:

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” Matthew 28:1-4 NKJV

IT WAS INDEED A DEATH THAT RATTLED THOSE WHO MADE IT HAPPENED AND DESTROYED THEM ETERNALLY.

Obviously, creation had never seen a death that did not only killed death itself but stripped and then destroyed Satan and rendered his legal right over the souls of men illegal, that was why it reacted with an earthquake. It had never seen a death that killed death and made the one that had its power regret of killing the one that died.

What is the message of today’s devotional? The message is simple; there are deaths and there are deaths. Some are useless and a terrible waste. But the death of Jesus is one the earth had never seen. It was a death that lasted only three days and three nights, then it got death itself killed and was cancelled.

Then on the third day, the one who died came out of the grave. And because He is out of the grave, we are free, delivered and blessed. Yes, because He is out of the grave, the enemy shall not outwit us in battle, and the sons of wickedness shall not afflict us any longer. The gates of hell, death and grave are forever paralyzed.

As the song writer puts it, “there is no longer death for us, no more no more!! There is no longer death for us!! For many thousand years!!” Amen and Amen!!

Happy Easter/Passover!

MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 NKJV

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

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

TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 4TH April 2026)

“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:18-19 NKJV

WELCOME TO THE 94TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY

If there is a place in God that if I step in, all demonic activities will remain out; that is where I want to be. If there is a place in God that if I step in, I begin to see ahead of my generation, that is where I would like to spend the rest of my days from.

If there is a place in God that if I step in, poverty, lack, all forms of slavery to sin, Satan and the systems of this world will come to an end in my life, that is where I would like to be.

The good news is, such place exist in God. It’s just that very few Christians have found it, and today we will be talking about it.
It is the place of rest, a place of peace, a place of supernatural love, mercy, economic supplies and power. It’s a place full of grace and truth. You do not locate it by Google search. You locate it by scriptural search. Jesus said,

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:39-40 NKJV

When you search the scriptures in Spirit and in truth, it brings you to Christ Himself. Christ is that spiritual place (person) that when you step in, all works of the devil stay out of your life. The only thing that remains is the price you pay for doing divine will and living in Him. You begin to see ahead of your generation and move in power, kingdom and glory. Hallelujah!

As you keep searching and imbibing, you will find yourself finding more of Christ and moving from faith to faith, grace to grace, and glory to glory.

GOD DESIGNED THAT WE EXERCISE OURSELVES UNTO GODLINESS SO THAT WE CAN BE MOVING FROM FAITH TO FAITH AND GRACE TO GRACE.

When we move from faith to faith, and grace to grace, we will get to the place when our enemies become our footstools. Now, talking about our enemies becoming our foot stool, David eavesdropped into a divine conversation between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost in one of his deep intimacy sessions.

He heard the Father say something to the Son that he thought will be helpful to humanity and voiced it out. He said;

The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool." The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Psalms 110:1-2 NKJV

There is a generation that can eavesdrop into divine conversations. There is a generation that can attend the council of the God head in Heaven from the earth to bring timely revelations and eternal strategies for vanquishing the enemy of our souls. The activation of that generation is part of God’s way of helping us to manifest His likeness on the face of the earth.

David was a template of that generation. He was a man ahead of His generation because He made the pre incarnate Christ (the LORD) his shepherd. The blessing of doing so was the activation of His spirit to eavesdrop into the heavenly conversation captured in Psalm 110. What He heard that day was a messianic prophecy, but it reveals two basic prophetic truths to us.

The first is hidden in the words “Sit down at my right Hand till I make your enemies your footstool.”

That makes it clear to us that there is a place in God where one can step into and sit down (or settle there). And when that happens, He (God) will begin to make the person’s enemies his footstool.

Enemies like death, hell and grave will become the person’s footstool by the power and glory of God. Enemies like sin, self, Satan, the evil and corrupt system of this world and all demons they carry, will become the person’s footstool. Hallelujah!

WHEN THAT HAPPENS, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE A HYPOCRITE OR LIVE IN SIN.

Our devotional text this morning states two important utterances of the Spirit of Truth on this line. The first says, ““We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

If you look at this scripture carefully, you will see two major fruits of authentic salvation experience - two important fruits that springs out of the life of a born-again Christian. The first is “he does not sin” which represents life of Holiness. The second is “he keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him” which describes a life that is divinely preserved from evil.

This simply means you will not see such a person going for deliverance from anything because there will be nothing to be delivered from. He will be able to keep himself and the wicked one will not touch him.

If you look at this scripture closely, you will see so much that our generation of believers is yet to come into. I think the major problem that is keeping us out of this place in Christ is the pseudo salvation experiences we call born again. Many who claim born again are hypocrites; they live perpetually in sin, and do not keep themselves hence becoming cheap preys of the wicked one.

If you are living in sin claiming born again, the wicked one will keep touching you.

A life of sin after salvation is the greatest betrayer of the Church to the devil. Sadly, many do this and still call themselves saved. But the Bible says otherwise. It says He that lives in sin is of the devil, not of God. So, the only way out is to get genuinely saved and allow the Spirit to work in you so that your salvation can be accompanied by a life of Godliness, and total obedience to the will and ways of God.

If you get saved and you do not commit yourself to working out your salvation with fear and trembling, you will be lost!
The second utterance of the Spirit of truth in our devotional text today says, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”

THIS SCRIPTURE MADE IT CLEAR THAT IF YOU ARE BORN OF GOD SATAN CAN SWAY THINGS OR PEOPLE AGAINST YOU.

But the only way you can be saved from such attacks, is by locating that place in God where you need to sit to have Him (God) making everyone and everything the devil sways against you your footstool. That is why that conversation that David eavesdropped into in Psalm 110 is very important.

Again, it says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool." The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies!’

The right hand of God is that place in God that when we step in and sit (or dwell), our enemies will become our footstool. In other words, it is a place that makes whatever the enemy throws at us or sways people to do to us, our footstool. When something is your footstool, it does not hurt.

It could serve as a place for resting a foot to take a higher leap forward or climb higher in life. In God’s design, He wants everyone who bears His name to be living his earthly life from that realm or place in Him where enemies will no longer be a thing of concern to us. The Bible says,

“As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,” Luke 1:70-71. NKJV

Yes, God does not want our enemies and those who hate us destroy us. He wants to hide us from their reach. He usually hide His own in the place of His right hand. Locating that place is the key to seeing the LORD moving fiercely against all who hate you.

But to make that happened David said God will have to send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Zion is not just a prophetic name of Israel but the name of the Church of Jesus Christ.

WHENEVER WE GATHER AS A CHURCH, THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES DOWN TO MAKE THE PLACE ZION.

Now, I am not referring to what lying preachers and prophets gather people together to do weekly calling it Church. The Bible calls that an assembly of Satan. I am referring to people gathered under genuine spiritual leaders on a Sunday like tomorrow or any other day to seek the LORD. That is Zion; that is where Heaven sends the rod of our strength to.

It is that rod that will then empower us and bring us into that place in Christ where our enemies become our footstool, resulting in us ruling in their midst. Hallelujah! When that happens, life becomes Heaven on earth even when one is facing the fiercest battle with the flesh, the world or the devil – the greatest enemies of the believer.

Meaning, until we are pushed into that place (a seat at God’s right hand) in the Spirit, we will not be able to rule in the midst of our enemies. The place of His right hand is also the place of His will, His light, His direction, His Spirit and His ways. May that become your most sort after place in Jesus precious name. Amen!!

LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!

As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:1-3 NKJV

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