Theme For Open Heavens Devotional 16th February 2020 – NO LONGER A MISTAKE.
MEMORISE:
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19
READ: 2 Peter 2:20-22
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
MESSAGE
Indeed, I was puzzled when I first saw David described as a man after God’s heart. This was someone who had committed grave sins that made God angry. How could he then be a man after God’s heart? When I studied about David, I realized that he never repeated the same offence. Every time he offended God, he would become very sorrowful, genuinely repent and completely stay off that offense forever.
Once, he counted the Israelites when he shouldn’t have and God was angry with him. David repented and never did so again. Another time, he stayed back from war when kings were to be at the warfront. In his idleness, he slept with another man’s wife and to cover his tracks, killed him. The moment God confronted him, with his sin, he became repentant and never missed any war again until he was old and weak. David was a man after God’s heart because he never repeated the same mistake. Today, unlike David, many Christians have made a habit of repeating mistakes. They commit a sin, ask for forgiveness, and days later, return to it. When the Pastor ask why they keep backsliding, they claim they cannot help it. God is not mocked. No one can be tempted beyond their capacity to resist (1 Corinthians 10:13).
If you truly resolve in your heart not to commit sin against, you would not. You don’t want to commit fornication anymore, yet you keep staying alone in an enclosed place with the opposite sex. You don’t want to steal the money kept in your care by the organization again, yet you count it alone without a witness. Don’t fool yourself, if you came across a rabid dog and managed escape, wouldn’t you take an alternative route next time.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22
Once you can recognize anything that could lead to evil, the Lord says flee! Don’t join the multitude to commit sin. If it happened once, repent and forsake it. Don’t let it happen again.
ACTION POINT:
Make a list of those things that often make you sin and begin to avoid them from today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 11-13
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 12: I AM THINE O LORD.
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!
There are depths of love that I yet may know
Ere Thee face to face I see;
There are heights of joy that I yet may reach
Ere I rest in peace with Thee.
Credit For Open Heavens Devotional 16th February 2020 – Pastor Adeboye Page