BACKSLIDER-IN-HEART
II – Thursday April
20th 2017
Memorise: For
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto
Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 2nd Timothy 4:10
Read: Judges
14:5-10 (King James Version)
14:5 Then went Samson down, and his father
and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold,
a young lion roared against him.
14:6 And the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had
nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
14:7 And he went down, and talked with the
woman; and she pleased Samson well.
14:8 And after a time he returned to take
her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was
a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.
14:9 And he took thereof in his hands, and
went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they
did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of
the lion.
14:10 So his father went down unto the
woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
Bible in one
year: Numbers 8-9, Jeremiah 16:14-17:13, Hymn: Sing hymn 11
MESSAGE:
Yesterday,
we established that backsliding is a gradual process that remains hidden in the
heart and only begins to manifest after it had gotten out of hand. In today’s
memory verse, we discover one factor that brings backsliding: the love of the
world. 1st John
2:15-16 says,
The Bible
passage reveals the character of the love of this present world, by which the
heart of Demas, a companion of Paul, was stolen away from the straight and
narrow way (2nd Timothy
4:10). How far have you been drawn away from the narrow path which you have
been treading on for so long? Is the relativism philosophy of this present
world doing great damage to the faith which you once had? How far have you been
drawn away by the pleasurable things of life? My prayer for you is that the
fire of the first love you had for Christ will be reignited, and that you will
relate with God and the things of God like when you first believed in Him in
Jesus’ Name.
Taking
a closer look at the life of Samson as a case study of the backslider-in-heart,
one lesson we can learn from today’s Bible reading is that the
backslider-in-heart can still be preaching, ministering in songs, doing all
kinds of work of the ministry, and even performing miracles, which in the
process of backsliding. 20 April 2017 Open heavens devotional 2017. Although
Samson was going down into the abomination, when a lion roared against him, he
responded with the same ability of the spirit he always had. Judges 14:6 says:
“And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he
rent him as he world have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he
told not his father of his mother what he had done.”
As if marrying a Philistine was not enough, on his next trip
to Timnath, he went to admire the relics of his conquest, the carcass of a lion
he had killed. Behold, the devil had set up a honeycomb right there in the
carcass of the dead lion to ensnare him, and Samson fell for it; even though he
knew that a Nazirite must not touch the dead body of an animal (Numbers 6:2-8). Samson’s stomach and taste continued to lead him on his
downward slide towards destruction, just as they did to Esau (Hebrews 12:16-17). My prayer for you is that your appetite for the things for
the world will not destroy you in Jesus’Name.
Prayer Point
Father, don’t let what I love destroy me, and don’t let me
love what would destroy me.
Open Heaven Daily Devotional, written by Pastor
E.A Adeboye,
The General Overseer of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the
world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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