PRESUMPTUOUS? Monday 30 July

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Colossians 3:23

Read: Deuteronomy 1:42-44

God promised in Proverbs 23:18 that the expectations of the righteous shall be met, but many expectations are not granted today and people are wondering why. Why do expectations of believers fail? Expectations based on presumption will most likely fail. In other words, what you base your expectations on will determine whether it will be granted or not. When expectations are based on assumptions, disappointment is inevitable. Great expectations are founded on God’s promises which are forever settled in Heaven. Deuteronomy 1:42-44 documents an account by Moses, where he warned the Israelites not to go and fight the Amorites because God was not with them. They paid deaf ears to his warning and went into the battle and got the disgrace of their lives. God has a strategy for every battle. There are some battles He will want you to fight, some He will want you to ignore and others He will fight Himself. Never fight any battle when God is not on your side. It is presumptuous to assume that because God gave you victory yesterday when you were in obedience, God will give you victory now that you are in disobedience; you will be disappointed!

When God says don’t go, you have no business going except you want to go and make a fool of yourself; that is if you even live to tell the story. Those Israelites assumed that since they had the soldiers, war know-how backed up by their zeal, they can still manage to win the battle, but they lost out to a nation which normally would not be able to face them. Any expectation based on assumption is nothing but foolishness. When God disapproves of you doing something, it means He will not back you up. If you go ahead, you are on your own. Never blame God for what you suffer thereafter. Many people are entering marriages God told them not to. By the time they start facing the music of their self guidance, they call on God but He may choose not to attend to them. Presuming that a particular business will give you lots of profit because it is doing so for others, without God’s permission or direction may lead to disappointment. Are you entering ministry or starting a church based on presumption? You will be disappointed! Go back to the Lord today!

KEY POINT:

God is not committed to what He has not commanded. 

Bible in one year: 1 Kings 17-19