IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES 1 - 09/03/2013

IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES 1 - 09/03/2013

Yesterday’s message was titled “BELATED OFFERING? ”. Today’s message is titled “IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES 1” as provided by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Genesis Psalm 35:1: "Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.". Today's reading is from Luke 18:1-3 and the Bible in one year reading for today has been taken from Jeremiah 38:7 to Jeremiah40:16 and Psalm 56

Quoted below is the message for today. God bless you richly for your contribution

"In the School of Disciples of the Ministry I oversee, one of the three principal Modules is: Know Your Enemy. It is very necessary that you identify who your enemies are. There is an adage in my native language which says:

 "When God has revealed your enemies to you; they can   no longer kill you.” The assumption is that once you can  identify who your enemies are, ou would be able to relate with them with caution so that they may not harm  you._There is an interesting story in 1 Kings 2. David listed  all his enemies and by extension Solomon's enemies and  counselled Solomon to do to them as a man does to his  enemies (1 Kings 2:5-6).

 Enemies are of two categories: internal and external. it One is more dangerous than the other. The internal enemy is more dangerous than the external one. The  reason is that if the internal enemy does not open the  door to the external enemy, then you are secure. Today,  we shall discuss the external enemy. For example, Goliath was an external enemy to David, and it was easy  for David to kill him. You cannot afford to be gentle with   the enemy because if you do not get him first, he will get  you.The Almighty is very specific when He said you are to love your neighbour as yourself,” not more than  yourself. In other words, you have to make sure you are  secure first before you begin to discuss the security of  your neighbour. When the woman in our Bible passage  today prayed to the’ the judge, avenge me of my adversary.

  I assume that first of all, the adversary was known to her.  The adversary was not a stranger. Secondly, since the  adversary was known to her, it means the enemy the  widow was praying about was not a new one. Thirdly, the  adversary must have wronged her before. She must have  had an unpleasant encounter with this adversary. The moment the adversary discovers our weakness, he will 1 keep on hitting you at that particular spot. Fourthly , when  the widow said ”my adversary”, it means the adversary was personal to her. It is amazing that some people fight other people's enemies — leaving their own unchallenged . This is foolishness. This is why we need to apereciate pastors, who by virtue of their calling have to fight on behalf of their members. the fact that the woman had to cry to the judge shows that she knew she could not fight for herself; she needed a power higher than hers. this is exactly what David knew and wrote about in Psalm 35. cry to god to fight on your behalf against the enemies who want to destroy your destiny"

Today's action point is to prayerfully identify your enemies and ask God to deal with them on your behalf.

I pray that as The Almighty God fights on our behalf today, every enemy of our destiny will crash in Jesus Name, amen.

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited