IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES II - 10/03/2013

IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES II - 10/03/2013

Yesterday’s message was titled “IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES I ”. Today’s message is titled “IDENTIFY YOUR ENEMIES II” as provided by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Hebrews 12:1  "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weigh t, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us". Today's reading is from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 and the Bible in one year reading for today has been taken from Jeremiah 41 to Jeremiah 43 and Psalm 57

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

"It is very important that we identify our internal enemies. As a matter of fact, the internal enemies are more potent and dangerous than the external enemies. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, identified his internal enemy and) he cried in Romans 7:24 saying: ”who shall deliver me from this body of death?” He located his adversary accurately. If you have not located your own internal enemy, you need to pray. Paul discovered his internal adversary and said: ”when I want to do good, evil is present with me.” He knew his flesh was his adversary. Moses had discovered in Egypt that he had problems with his temper. When he saw two people fighting, one an Egyptian and the other a Jew, he decided to intervene, but because of his explosive anger, he killed the Egyptian. His original plan was not to kill but to defend his fellow brother, however he went too far. The moment the Adversary discovers your weakness, he will keep on hitting you at that particular spot. For example, the enemy will keep on sending amorous ladies or playboys to you if he discovers your weakness to be sexual immorality.

In Numbers 11 :10-15, we discover that because the devil knew anger was the prime problem of Moses, he kept on irritating him using the children of Israel, until Moses called on God to kill him. All the things that Moses said in that passage were enough to end his career there and then if God had not been gracious. If you will carefully examine your life, you will notice straight away what your weakness is; this is your internal enemy. You need to locate it. In the case of James and John, their internal enemy was a fiery temper. That is why Jesus called them ”The sons of thunder” in Mark 3:17. They proved it in Luke 9:51-56. The Lord on His way to Jerusalem sent some people to get Him accommodation in a village of the Samaritans. The Samaritans said, ‘What do we have to do with you? You do not associate with us, so you cannot stay in our village.‘ When they brought the report back, James and John turned to the Lord and said, ‘let us roast them like Elijah did.‘ The Lord replied, ‘No, I have not come to destroy people, I have come to save them.‘ Love of women was the internal enemy of Samson. This enemy was more powerful than the whole hosts of the Philistines. What the Philistines could not do to Samson, the love of women did! My prayer for you is that the Lord Will help you to locate your internal enemy and He will give you t e grace to deal with it in Jesus‘ Name. "

The prayer point for today is "Father, show me my areas of weakness and help me to  overcome them in Jesus Name."

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