Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father,
but is of the world.” (John 2:16).
READ: 2 Timothy 4:10-11
When you love the world, it can affect salient arrears of
your life. This is why we must pray for leaders to shun worldly lusts and focus
on the things of God. The love of the world can stand between you and your
requests. A leader who loves the world will be incapable of making effective
intercession for the flock. The love of the world also terminates spiritual
life. The fellow who loves the world will find his or her love for God ebbing
by the day. With love for the world, it will be impossible to love God with all
your heart. Yet, God demands 100% love from you. “And thou shalt love the LORD
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deut.
6:5).
“For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto
Dalmatia” (2 Tim. 4:10). Another danger of loving the world is that it can lead
to progressive compromise and ultimately to backsliding. One sign of knowing
that your love for God is waning is that you will begin to make excuses for
certain sins or wrong doings. God’s standard will become so stall and
unreachable, that you will come up with unhealthy substitutes. Do you find
yourself explaining away premarital sex, office theft, manipulation of church
records, etc? It shows your love for God is being replaced with the love for
the world. If worldly standards are now being favoured above the standards of
the Bible, your love for God is fast ebbing. It starts with little complaints
and finding faults with the church, church leaders, activities and programmes. Before long, one would realize how far one has
drifted. Can you imagine a leader and fellow companion of Paul becoming a
victim of this? Demas, who was so consumed with the things of the Kingdom,
gradually allowed worldly lusts to seep into his heart, until it was too late. He
had totally backslidden. He left Paul for Thessalonica, the height of ungodliness
and sinful pleasure. If Demas could fall, any leader can. Pray for God to
insulate the heart of our leaders against worldliness.
PRAYER POINT
Father, keep our leaders from being overtaken by
worldliness. Lord, let there be provision, bountiful harvest of souls and
miracles during the Holy Ghost Congress.
Bible in One year: 2 Chron. 23-25
Wonderful. May the good Lord gives our leaders( Spiritual and secular) good and articulate vision to accomplished.
ReplyDelete