Month: February 2021

Text: Matthew 4:1 -11

Devotion
Let me start by saying what was recorded in 2 Timothy 2:15 which says ” Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”. This portion of the Bible is simply encouraging us Christians to continuously study the word of God to enable us spiritual nourishment and understanding to declare the word in our lives. Studying the word will also make us understand God better and do according to His ways.

It is interesting to note that the solution to overcoming temptation is the word of God in you. Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ overcame the devil with the written word which He declared. This is an indication that there is power in the spoken word of God. Jesus Christ, our Lord. knows the word and quoted it to overcome the devil: that’s why He told the devil “It is written”.
      
It is not enough to know the Word of God in our heart but to use it as a weapon of warfare. Ephesians 6:17 says ”And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Bible is admonishing us here that it is not enough to have the sword in the sheath; it must be drawn and wielded to fight the enemy. So it is imperative to quote the word in every situation. No wonder John 6:63 says “The word that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”

This means that when the word of God is quoted, it moves to accomplish the purpose for which it was spoken. According to Isaiah 55:11, the Bible says, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Dear beloved, how much of the word do you know? Do you make use of it to overcome the devil?The word must be heard, read, studied, meditated upon, memorised, spoken or quoted at all times. The word of God has given us a leeway in  John 5:39 saying, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.” So it is our duty as Christians to search, declare and testify His goodness in our lives with the word to surmount challenges seen and unseen that comes our ways.

As children of God who have vowed to carry out His will in our lives, how much do you apply the Word? It is a call for revival of our mind and soul in the things of God. Remember, the Bible told us in Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In conclusion, our minds must be transformed towards the word of God. As this will enable us to stand firm to declare the word at all times. All we need do is to request the Holy Spirit to teach us accordingly.

PRAYER: Oh Lord, let your Holy Spirit teach me your Word so that I can boldly use it to defeat the enemy in Jesus Mighty Name Amen.

Text: 1 Peter 5:8 (KVJ)
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour’

Devotion : We are indeed living in an untoward generation backed up with iniquities manifested through agents if satan. From the text, we understand that the adversary is referred to as the devil.

An adversary is someone who always takes the opposing position, in other words, an opponent or an enemy. The devil is described as an opposition, opponent, and an enemy. He has nothing good in him and will never do good. He seeks people who are vulnerable to destroy them through hypocrisy and deception.

As Christians, we must understand that the devil is a spirit and can only manifest in his enslaved agents. A lot of people have yielded to become agents of Satan knowing and unknowingly. A person become an agent of satan if he or she exhibit the works of flesh as recorded in Galatians 5:19-21. Anyone that exhibit any of these have no place in the kingdom of God.

The only way a believer in Christ Jesus can outwit satan is to be sober and vigilant. Soberness and vigilance must go together to identify the operations of the devil and his cohorts of darkness.

According to the advanced learners dictionary, vigilant simply means wakeful, watchful, carefully observant or attentive; on the lookout for possible danger.

A Christian should understand that the world is full of evil. No wonder Apostle Paul warned in Ephesians 6:12 saying ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places’.

Also Ephesians 5:15-16 admonished ‘Walk in Wisdom
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil’. The days are indeed evil based on daily happenings we see and hear from both the print and electronic media. We hear of killings all over the place by those who are anointed by principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.
It is also glaring that the youths have derailed from the path of righteousness towards the kingdom of darkness. People are pursuing wealth without wanting to do genuine work for a living.

Salvation preaching is fast fading from the churches and the devil has taking the mind of genuine Christians. Oh what an untoward generation. Parents are now borrowing money to buy android phones for their children to enter yahoo schools. The youth are now going extra miles in getting involved in money rituals by killing their fellow humans. Oh what a perverse generation.

Churches are now turned to business centres with continuous measures of seeking for money instead of fulfilling the evangelistic mandate given by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In Mark 16:15 Jesus said to them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He never said go ye and preach the nonsense we are seeing these days.

Christians need to be vigilant because our saviour forewarned in St. Matthew 24:24 saying ‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect’.

Christians must therefore shun sleepiness, dull-mindedness, drunkenness, ignorance, and prayerlessness to overcome the adversary.

Let us therefore Put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Prayer
Almighty and everlasting Father, we thank you because you are omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God. We request you cloth us with your whole armour and endow us with the spirit of discernment to identify the activities of the agents of satan. In Jesus Mighty Name Amen.