IN THE WARMTH OF TEMPTATION-06/03/2014

IN THE WARMTH OF TEMPTATION-06/03/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “THE INFALLIBLE WORD OF GOD ”. Today’s message is titled “IN THE WARMTH OF TEMPTATION” as provided by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Psalm 1:1: "

Blessed is the man that  walketh not in the  counsel of the ungodly,  nor standeth in the way  of sinners, nor sitteth in  the seat of the scornful. ". Today's reading is from Mark 14:53-54 and the Bible in one year reading for today has been taken from  Jeremiah 32:1 to Jeremiah 33:13 and Psalm 51 53 to Psalm 54.  

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

 "When the Bible enjoins us in 1 Thessalonians  5:22 to abstain from all appearance of evil and  we keep to this biblical injunction, we are  spared the calamity that would have befallen us if we did  otherwise. We may not know the great dangers our  adherence to this instruction has saved us from until we  see the suffering of someone who did not pay attention to  it. The Bible in many instances warns us against keeping  company with the ungodly so that we are not entangled  in their wickedness (1 Corinthians 15:33). The story was  told of a sparrow which kept company with destructive  ravens on a rice farm. When the owner of the farm caught  the ravens in his net, the sparrow was also caught. In his  plea, the sparrow told the farmer that he was not among  the birds that destroyed the farmer's rice farm and that he   was not a raven. The farmer replied the sparrow: ”Too bad  that you are not a raven, but you shall be judged  according to the company you keep.”

Peter in the Bible reading of today did three deadly things  that fostered his denial of Jesus Christ. First, the Bible says  he was following Jesus from afar off. Probably he might  have received courage from the Master if he had fol lowed  Jesus closely. Secondly, he went as far as following Jesus  to the palace of the high priest. Following Jesus from afar  was bad enough but following him to the palace of the  high priest was just too bad. It could have paid off if he  had backed out with the other disciples; after all, Jesus  had told the soldiers to allow his disciples go while he  volunteered His arrest (John 18:8-9). From this event, we  can see the reason why Jesus told the Laodicean Church  to be either cold or hot (Revelation 3:14-16). The third  thing Peter did was that on getting to the palace of the  high priest, he sat with the servants and warmed himself  at the fire (Mark 14:66-67)! One would wonder what  Peter was still doing in that place after he had been  confronted not once, not twice about the fact that he had  been with Jesus. The answer is not far-fetched; he was  enjoying the warmth of the fire in that environment.  Beloved, let us beware of comfort zones in life; they may  be physically comfortable but not spiritually ideal. When  a Christian lady is squatting among four male  counterparts because of accommodation problems; she   is playing with fire and it will soon burn her. Likewise  when a young man is putting up with three to four female  counterparts because of accommodation problems, he  will soon be affected by the fire of lust. Let us be careful."

Today's action point is to Study your environment and see whether or not it is conducive for your spiritual wellbeing and take wise steps to avoid the warmth of temptation.

God bless you greatly. Have a fulfilling day 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