MEMORISE:

The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Proverbs 29:15

READ: Proverbs 22:6

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 29:17

17 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

MESSAGE:

I used to tell my daughter before she got married ‘When a boy comes to you and starts to say things like ‘You are the most beautiful thing under heaven, you are the sugar in my tea, I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as you, where have you been all these days because as soon I saw you , my sun began to shine’ … run!” She asked “Why?” I replied “How do you think I got these lines? I was once your age”.

You have been in this world before your children got here. God brought them through you for a purpose; you should teach them about life before the devil gets to them. When you teach them from home, you have the opportunity to form in them godly perspectives. If you however wait for their teacher in school or some relative to tell them these things first, it would be hard for you to get them to unlearn any wrong perspective they may have been indoctrinated with.

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Proverbs13:22

The above passage says that if you are good, you will leave an inheritance for your children. Their inheritance does not only have to be material things; you should share your experiences with them too.

In the book of Proverbs, we see king Solomon teaching his son throughout the book. In Proverbs 1:10-19, he taught his son not to associate with sinners. He taught his son not to give in to their lures to commit sin (v10), he taught him not to do business with them (v14) and he taught him about the dangers of greed (v19). Have you taught your children about the kind of friends they should have and the kinds they should not have? Have you taught them who they should do business with? Have you taught them about money? Maybe if the children of these days had been taught about the dangers of greed when they were much younger, we would not have so many Internet fraudsters around today. In Proverbs 6, King Solomon taught his son the dangers of fornication and how to avoid strange women. Have you taught your children the dangers of committing sexual immorality and how to avoid it? If that child commits fornication or is taken advantage of by an adult because you did not talk to him or her about it, you would have failed in performing your duty as a good parent.

KEY POINT:
If you let a child get the wrong perspective from someone else, it would be difficult to change that perspective later on.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 11-12

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 5: GOD GIVE US CHRISTIAN HOMES.

1. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

2. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

3. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to show others Your way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

4. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14

READ: Deuteronomy 4:23-24

23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

MESSAGE:
Our God is a jealous God. He hates to share you with any other god. That is why you must flee idolatry. Idolatry means worshipping idol. Anything you regard higher than God is an idol, whether you are doing it consciously or not. This is why you need to check who you are worshipping at every point in time. For some people, it is their Jobs. They don’t joke with their job at all; even when it clashes with God’s will, their job is priority. Jesus said: .

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Luke16:13

The moment your source of income has become so important that it takes priority over God, you are serving an idol. Many people purposely leave most of their money at home and take just a little amount to Church because they know that God can ask them to give more than they planned for. When God tells some people to sow a seed that they don’t want to sow, they quickly tell their spouse because they know he or she will disagree, then they go back to God and say ” Lord, you see that I wanted to sow, but my spouse refused”. You forget that God can see your heart (Proverbs 16:2). When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him, Abraham could have quickly told Sarah, knowing that Sarah could hide the boy. He however kept mute; he didn’t even say anything to the boy who was to be sacrificed. That is a heart that puts no other thing before God.

God does not want any other position in your heart but number one. The moment something else is competing with Him, He excuses Himself. He said you should either be hot or cold; if you are lukewarm, He will spew you out of His mouth (Revelations 3:16).

I once told a brother that we were going for evangelism on a Monday and would like to use his car. He immediately replied that he needed the car to go to work. I then assured him that all the vehicles we needed were already prepared; it was just a test He couldn’t even take public transportation to work for only one day so that the Word could be preached to lost souls.

At one point or the other God will ask you to choose between His will and something or someone you love very much. I hope you choose God.

REFLECTION:
Is God really number one in your life?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 9-10

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Matthew 10:23

READ: Genesis 27:41-45

41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;

45 Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

MESSAGE:

If you are to achieve your purpose on earth, there is a time to run. In our Bible reading for today, ‘Jacob has been mightily blessed by his father. His brother Esau however, wanted to kill him. Jacob fled. If he had not fled, all the blessings would have been wasted. In 1 Sam, 19:9-12, when David was playing for King Saul who threw a spear at him and missed, David fled. If he hadn’t fled at that time, he might never have
become the king of Israel. There is a time to flee. In Matthew 2:13-15, the Bible tells us that the Almighty God told Joseph to flee with Jesus. You may think ” But where were the angels? They should have
been around to protect Him.”God said “flee ” because there is a time to flee. Once in a while, the Almighty God Himself will tell you “I am your refuge, but for now, I say run.”

When I was a young Pastor in the RCCG and the Lord began to move mightily in my life, the persecution from some other pastors of the Church became so much at a point that I had to flee the University of Lagos to the University of Ilorin where I continued with lecturing Job. I fled. Once, a Pastor wrote me a letter full of insults which I read to my Father-in-the-Lord – the then General Superintendent. Rather than discipline the Pastor as I had expected, he asked me to go and plead for the man’s forgiveness, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. I was shocked and to be honest, it was hard for me to do. Thank God I obeyed because some time later the Pastor confessed that, having concluded that he was going to hell, he had also resolved to take me along with him. My Father-in-the-Lord had seen that this was not a fight to face, but rather one to flee.

When it is time to flee, flee! When you are dealing with false brethren, it is time to flee. The elders have a saying that if the enemy within cannot kill you, neither can the one without. Samson’s brethren were the ones who presented him bound to the Philistines in Judges 15:9-13. When the devil could not get him through them, he decided to bring one of his daughters into Samson’s internal circle and thus got him that way. When the devil is determined to bring a fellow down, he will enter into one of the fellow’s brethren like he entered into Judas. Had it not yet been Jesus time to be crucified, He would have fled.

Flee false brethren; they are not the ones actually fighting you, it is the devil using them. If at all you engage them, don’t forget: the internal enemy is more dangerous than the external one.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, expose all false brethren around me and help me to flee when it is time to flee in Jesus’ Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 4-5

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 12: IN CHRIST ALONE.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

here in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. Isaiah 26:20

READ: Proverbs 22:3-5

3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

4 By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

MESSAGE:

Our Bible reading for today tells us clearly that there is a time to hide. Exodus 2:1-2 tells us that Moses was born at a time when all male children born to the nation of Israel were to be killed, so his mother hid him. If she had not hidden him for those three months, he would have been killed and his purpose for coming to earth would have been truncated. There is a time to hide. In Exodus 12:21-23, the Almighty God told the children of Israel that He would be visiting Egypt that night. He asked them to hide in their homes and not come out. Oh yes, the God we serve is the Almighty God, but He Himself says there is a time to hide. In 1Kings 17:1-3, after Elijah went before Ahab and prophesied that there would be no rain or dew until he called for it, God told him to hide. The word of God says there is a time to hide.

When I was much younger, my father declined an invitation to join a particular political party because the principal of my school belonged to an opposing party and he didn’t want that to cause problems for me. The party members said “Oh, so it is because of this boy that you won’t join us. Let us see how old the boy will be before he dies”. He came home, told us and I ran. I was in hiding for thirteen years. If I hadn’t fled then, you probably would not be reading from me today. There is a time to hide.

There is also a time to come out of hiding. In Exodus 3:1-12, after Moses had been hiding for forty years from Pharaoh, God came and told him that it was time to come out In 1Kings 18:1, the Almighty God said to Elijah “Go, shew thyself unto Ahab”. I want to believe God for any user of this devotional whose star has been hidden up until this moment that from today, your star will begin to shine. God has a timetable for each individual; you have to be in constant communion with Him to know what season of your life you are in per time (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Jesus worked by God’s timetable for Him. He stayed in hiding for thirty years until it was time to come out. Don’t come out before your time. Some people feel that because they can preach then they should start a Church. Some think that because they can compose songs then ii is time to release an album. God has a timetable for you. If you come out when you should be hiding, your star could be crushed. Stay in constant
communion with God so that when He says “Hide “, you hide and when He says “Come Out”, you come out.

KEY POINT:

If you come out when you should be hiding, your star could be crushed.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 1-3

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 16: O GOD OUR HELP IN AGES PAST.

1. O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

2. Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

3. Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

4. Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men”:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

5. A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

6. The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in foll’wing years.

7. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.

8. Like flow’ry fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.

9. O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 1 Peter 1:8

READ: Psalm 16:8-11

8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

MESSAGE:
Our God is a cheerful God and that is why joy is fruit of the Spirit. Psalm 100:4 says when you come into His presence, you are to do so with praise.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.” Psalm 100:4

You cannot praise someone with a frown on your face. In other words, when you come to His presence, you are to come cheerfully. This also implies that if you are always cheerfully praising Him, then you would be living constantly in His presence. God loves being around cheerful people. That is why the moment you give your life to Christ and He starts living within you, He will give you joy.

A Professor who I had just led to Christ came to me one day and asked “I hope it is not a problem that since I became born again, I have been feeling this joy within me. I don’t even know why, but somehow, I have just been happy”. I said, “That is not a problem; it is God’s presence within you that is making you joyful”. Do you still feel the same joy that you felt when you became born again? If the joy is gone, then you need to check to be sure the salvation is still there. When David lost his salvation, he wrote in Psalm 51:12:

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Are you glad whenever it is time to go to Church? Are you excited to be in God’s presence, or do you have to be cajoled before you can go to Church? I remember when I got born again and would watch illiterate market women answering questions during Sunday School with Scripture quotations I had never read. I determined that I had to know the word of God. I was always excited to go for Bible Study. Up until now, that excitement has not reduced. When I hear someone preaching the word, I listen with rapt attention and even take notes. Do sermons still shake you? Are you still excited to learn more from the Bible? Can you, like David say:

“I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD.” Psalm 122:1

Does the word of God still excite you or are you growing cold?

PRAYER POINT:
Father, don’t let me ever recover from the excitement of being in Your presence, in the mighty name of Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 14-15

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19

READ: Deuteronomy 28:1-13

1And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

MESSAGE:
Many people do not get the benefits God has promised in His word simply because they do not follow the instructions attached to those benefits. My Mathematics background has made it easy for me to understand this Scriptural principle. In Mathematics, there are always conditions to be fulfilled to solve certain problems. It is the same in the kingdom of God; if you want the blessings, you must first fulfil the conditions.

Todays’ memory verse did not just say “if you are willing”, it says you must also be obedient to eat the good of the land. I have been invited to Ministries where the Holy Communion is served in the morning or afternoon and I always politely decline from partaking. The Bible says it is the Lord’s Supper, not the Lord’s Breakfast or lunch. It is very clear; the Communion is to be taken in the evening if you would get the benefits attached.

Some other people also say they have not been getting the benefits of paying tithes as promised in the Bible. Malachi 3:10says:
“Bring ye ALL the tithes into the storehouse….”

The Scripture says ALL, not some; it also says you are to bring the tithes to His storehouse. If you take it anywhere else or do not bring ALL, you should not expect the benefits meant for faithful tithers. My Father-in-the Lord once gave this analogy back in the day when the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) was in charge of electricity distribution in Nigeria. He asked “If you find a NEPA pole fallen by the road as you are going to pay your electricity bill, and you decide to use the money meant to settle the bill to fund the repair, would you get a bill waiver at the NEPA office simply because you have used your money to erect their pole?” No, you would still be billed because the instruction is clear: you are to pay your bills into a designated account!

Beloved, when you see a blessing in the Bible that you want to claim, check thoroughly for all the conditions attached to it. Fulfil the conditions and then you can enjoy the blessing.

ACTION POINT:
Make up your mind to always obey God’s commands, if you want His blessings.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 11-13

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

READ: Matthew 7:21-23

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

MESSAGE:

One Bible passage that amazed me when I first read it is Matthew 7:22 -23. It says that there will be so-called believers who would have been healing the sick and casting out demons in the name of Jesus here on earth, but on the last day Jesus will say to them “Get behind me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you”. Wouldn’t it be such a disappointment to have done so much for God and then on the last day, when you are supposed to receive your crown, He says “I never knew you”? Since Jesus cannot lie, you then need to really be sure you have a relationship with Him while here on earth. You need to check thoroughly if your faith is truly from the heart and not just something that is for show.. The fact that you call yourself a believer is not enough, 2 Corinthians 10:18 says:

“For not he that commendeth himself is approved,but whom the Lord commendeth.”

It is not about what you call yourself; it is about what God calls you.

It is possible to be raising the dead and still not be a true believer, because performing miracles is a gift of the Holy Spirit, whereas Jesus said believers are identified by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to get carried away when you start exhibiting the gifts, but you must pay attention to the fruit if you want to remain a true believer. Check your life in comparison to the fruit of the Holy Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-24:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness; goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

Is your lifestyle in line with this Scripture? If you only read your Bible when you are to preach or teach Bible Study, you are a believer for show. If you can lead a prayer meeting for two hours but cannot pray for thirty minutes in your closet, you are a believer for show. If you only fast when the Church says you should, so that you can also say that you participated, yet you don’t ‘declare fasting days for yourself personally, you are a believer for show. If you condemn fornication and adultery publicly, but still indulge immoral thoughts in your heart, you are a believer for show.
Please note: no ‘believer for show’ will make it to Heaven.

REFLECTION:

Are you true believer or just a believer for show?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 9-10

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 22: STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS.

1. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry, His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

2. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! The trumpet call obey:
Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day;
Ye that are men now serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! Stand in His strength alone,
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own;
Put on the gospel armor, and watching unto prayer,
Where calls the voice of duty, be never wanting there.

4. Stand up, stand up for Jesus! the strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory shall reign eternally.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28

READ: Isaiah 40:27-29

27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

MESSAGE:

To be everlasting is to be alive forever. This means that one does not grow old. Our God id ageless. He created time; therefore, it has no effect on Him. Psalm 90:4 says:

“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”

God cannot be contained or restrained by time. Even when it seems as if God may be late in showing up,
you can count on Him to do what He says He will, at the right time. The ‘Everlasting-ness’ of God means we should never be afraid of the future. God is in our tomorrow and when we are long gone; He will still be there. We can trust Him to carry us through our lifetime and even keep our children in His care. You don’t have to worry about your children or grandchildren; the Everlasting God will keep them. God is reliable because He is everlasting. You know that nobody can kill Him, nobody can dethrone Him and nobody can reduce His power. Once you put something in His hands, you can go to sleep knowing it is secure.

God’s ‘Everlasting-ness’ gives us hope of becoming everlasting as well when we are finally conformed to the image of His dear Son- Jesus Christ. We also will live forever because we have His Spirit. We Christians cannot die; when we close our eyes here on earth, we will open them in everlasting life. There is no death or any of its cousins like pain and sickness in heaven.

“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Philippians 3:21

Do you want to live everlasting life? Then you have to live holy. Hebrews 12:14 says without holiness you cannot see God. Commit to a life of holiness from today.

ACTION POINT:

Praise God because He is everlasting.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 7-8

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 19: PRAISE HIM, PRAISE HIM, JESUS OUR BLESSED REDEEMER.

1. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! Hail Him! Highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long.

o Refrain:
Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent greatness;
Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song!

2. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.

3. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever;
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from Iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19

READ: 1 Samuel 2:30

30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

MESSAGE:
Honor is something you give to a man who has everything else that you can think of giving him. For instance, when a University says they are giving somebody an honorary degree, it is not because the fellow needs the degree to get a job. In fact, honorary degrees are given to those who have already achieved greatness. Now, if you will not honor a man, that may not be a problem, but when you decide to dishonor him when you decide to bring him reproach, then you are provoking him. If you will not honor God, it is advisable that you don’t dishonor him either. It is advisable that you stay away from anything that has to do with Him at all, including bearing His name, so that your actions will not lead to a reproach on Him. The sons of Eli refused to honor God; to make matters worse, they brought reproach to Him as they made people reluctant to come to the house of God to worship and sacrifice.

“Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.” 1 Samuel 2:17

God killed them and their father in one day. If a child with a great father is seen on the news for committing a crime, we say that the child has brought shame and dishonor to his family. If you bear the name of God and you still dabble in sin, you are dishonoring Him. If for example, because of your greed, people say pastors are fraudsters, you are bringing a reproach to the body of Christ. It would be better for you not to even say you are a Christian at all, because when God comes down with His wrath, it would be dangerous. You need to recognize the kind of name you carry when you say you are a Christian. Once you announce that you bear that name, the whole world would start watching you. Run away from anything you could do that would make people say, ” But you call yourself a child of God”. People you don’t even know are watching.

I was on a flight from London to Nigeria one day. The fellow sitting behind me knew me but pretended not to. At the end of the flight, he tapped me
and said ‘”I have been watching you since you came in. I saw how you rejected the wine and your behavior all through and I know you are a true man of God”. Only God knows how many eyes are watching you, and all they are looking for is something that will dishonor your Father in Heaven.
Don’t dishonor Him.

REFLECTION:
Does your behavior in your office, home, school, church or anywhere else bring honor or dishonor to God?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 4-6

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20