OPEN HEAVENS Devotional – Thursday
September 1st 2016
TOPIC: NO ROOM FOR THE DEVIL
Memorize: Abstain from all
appearance of evil. 1stThessalonians 5:22
Read: Psalms 15:1-5,
1 Lord, who
shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2 He that
walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his
heart.
3 He that
backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up
a reproach against his neighbour.
4 In whose
eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.
He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
5 He that
putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He
that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Bible in one year: Jeremiah 10-12, Psalms 46
MESSAGE
‘Looking unto Jesus’ are three
very important words of salvation, encouragement and direction for daily
Christian living. Nicodemus, in his search for the true God and eternal life,
approached Jesus for possible understanding. The Lord Jesus made the new birth
very plain by using an Old Testament illustration of the fiery serpents of
brass put on a pole for the Israelite's to look upon as recorded in the book of Numbers
21:8-9.
The fall of Adam and Eve, and
the temptation of Jesus Christ, exposes humanity to two important realities
among many others. First of all, the devil is out to destroy all human beings
without exception. Secondly, the devil cannot do a perfect Job at destroying a
person without the consensual agreement of that individual. Consequently, the
devil seeks the permission of an individual to have the access required to
destroy his life. That is why the Bible in Ephesians 4:27, admonishes us not to
give way to the devil.
Moreover, the devil does not
make this request directly; neither does he require a clear answer from anyone.
The language of the devil is always implied and shrouded in ambiguity, such
that no one is ever fully aware of the implications of any transaction with the
devil until reality dawns on them. For these reasons, children of God should be
mindful of their responses to any proposal by the devil because ordinary
interest is usually taken as consent or approval by the devil. Men and women
who showed interest in various proposals of the devil in the past were soon
captured and enslaved to the point of being addicted to such harmful practices
like alcoholism, gambling, illicit sex, hard drugs, prostitution, etc. For
these reasons, the Bible outlines several ways in which believers should
respond to the devil. Evil is to be avoided at all cost as indicated in Psalms
1:1:
“Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful”
And in Proverbs 4:14:
“Enter not into the path of
the wicked, and go not in the way of evil.”
And 1st Thessalonians
5:22 says:
“Abstain from all appearance
of evil.”
Evil is to be hated with
passion and resisted with everything we have in line with proverbs 1:10:
“My son, if sinners entice
thee, consent thou not.”
And James 4:7,
“Submit yourselves therefore
to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Above all, children of God should
pray every day in response to evil, Matthew 6:13 says,
“And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil”
I pray that you will not be a
victim of evil in Jesus’ name.
Prayer Point
Father, please keep evil far
away from me and my entire family in Jesus name.
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