DATE: THURSDAY 29TH DECEMBER 2016
THEME: RESIST THE DEVIL
Memorise:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Read: James 1:12-16
1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
MESSAGE
The Bible presents the devil as the accuser of the brethren, but more importantly, the devil is also in the business of presenting God in a bad light to human beings at every opportunity he gets. He usually puts questions in the heart of men in order to cast doubt on God's acts of love towards humanity. He successfully did that in the Garden of Eden, and he is still using the same trick today. The Psalmist, in the midst of his troubles asked questions.
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Psalm 42:5
There is a difference between questions and queries. He asked why his soul was feeling downcast. In other words, he expected his soul to look up to see the brighter side in the midst of gloom. When you ask God questions, but still demonstrate faith in Him and His ability, it is okay. But when your questions do not reflect your past experiences of what you enjoyed from God's mercies and faithfulness, you are already issuing God a query. Before any child of God issues out a query to God, the fellow must have changed his view about God and how powerful He is, if not, he wouldn't dare query God. After all, you cannot issue a powerful king a query. Romans 9:20 says,
"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"
Similarly, the one who will query God is in doubt of God's love and good intentions. He believes God is negligent, carefree and irresponsible. At such a time, he has believed the lies of the devil.
Beloved, God loves you much more than anything else, He is the One who gave Himself for your salvation and washed you clean in His Blood. No matter the situation, His love for you will never diminish as long as you remain in His Kingdom. Believe the best about Him. Believe His good intentions even when you do not understand. The One who who died for you will not work against you when you are in a good relationship with Him. Never query God; it will worsen your situation.
Prayer Point:
Father, please forgive me for all the queries I have issued through doubt in Jesus' name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Numbers 5-6
Psalms 139:1-16
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 9: MY FAITH HAS FOUND A PLACE
My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.
Chorus:
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him,
He'll never cast me out.
Chorus:
My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior's Name,
Salvation through His blood.
Chorus:
My great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.
Chorus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Psalm: 139. 1. 【For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.】
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10. even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12. even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Numbers: 5. 5. The Lord said to Moses, 6. "Say to the Israelites: 'Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7. and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8. But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer. 9. All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. 10. Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.'" 11. Then the Lord said to Moses, 12. "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13. so that another man has sexual relations with her, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14. and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15. then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing. 16. "'The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18. After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19. Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband"— 21. here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—"may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22. May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries." "'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it." 23. "'The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24. He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25. The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26. The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27. If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse. 28. If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children. 29. "'This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30. or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31. The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.
Numbers: 6. 1. The Lord said to Moses, 2. "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite, 3. they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4. As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. 5. "'During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long. 6. "'Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body. 7. Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. 8. Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord. 9. "'If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite's presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication, they must shave their head on the seventh day—the day of their cleansing. 10. Then on the eighth day they must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11. The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again. 12. They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication. 13. "'Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over. They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 14. There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, 15. together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast—thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil. 16. "'The priest is to present all these before the Lord and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. 17. He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord, together with its grain offering and drink offering. 18. "'Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication. They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. 19. "'After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast. 20. The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine. 21. "'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.'" 22. The Lord said to Moses, 23. "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24. "'"The Lord bless you and keep you; 25. the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26. the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."' 27. "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."
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