Many people do not know that God has alternatives for all His plans. This is why they behave as if God exists at their mercy. Such people cannot be more wrong in their perception of the Almighty God. The truth is that God cannot be held to ransom on any issue or event. This is why He always provides alternatives that are more often better than the original plan. 1 Samuel 15:28 confirms this, as we read about how God saw David as a better alternative to the first king of Israel, Saul. When a child of God becomes swollen-headed and he begins to disobey God in matters that seem very little like tithing and offering, first fruits and soul winning, he or she is on the way to being replaced. My prayer for someone reading this devotional is that you will not be replaced in the scheme of divine projects in Jesus' name.
In Acts 1:15-26, there is a great revelation of God's foreknowledge of all things and how this attribute makes Him provide alternatives beforehand. The replacement of Judas Iscariot was predicted by the mouth of King David who was also a prophet in his right. The implication of this revelation is that before Judas Iscariot chose to be a betrayer which in turn disqualified him among the twelve, God had planned an alternative for him! Another lesson we can learn from this as children of God is that whenever a way seems blocked, God has more than a thousand alternative ways to replace the blocked one. The Bible says:
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Beloved, learning from the story of king Saul and Judas Iscariot, we must be very careful about the way we lead our lives, so that what happened to them does not repeat itself in our lives, 1 Corinthians 10:6 says:
"Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."

As I was growing up in my father's house, I learnt to be obedient through the experience of my elder brother with our disciplinarian father. My elder brother was a very strong young man with a good physique, strength and wrestling prowess. Only a few young men among his contemporaries could dare challenge him to a fight. However, the day our father disciplined my elder brother and this so called 'hero' cried like a baby, I decided never to do anything that would make our father think of punishing me. God has alternatives to any child of His that is not law-abiding. Let us therefore beware of doing things that will make God replace us with someone else. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.