Wednesday 27 May 2015

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL. WEDNESDAY 27 MAY 2015. THEME : THE PRICE OF BEING A STANDARD.

MEMORISE : Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 2
CORINTHIANS 6 : 17.
READ : 2 CORINTHIANS 6 : 14 – 18.
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple
of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith
the Lord Almighty.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : 2 SAMUEL 19 : 16 – 20 : 26 AND MARK 14 : 53 – 15 : 5.
To become a standard or a positive reference point, there is a price to pay.
Going through the Bible, one will see that all those who got outstanding
approval from God had at least one thing in common, which is that they stood
out for God before they became a reference point. One of such Bible heroes is
Elijah. He stood out for God on Mount Carmel. He risked being killed by the
numerous prophets of Baal whom he had challenged. As a matter of fact, he was
considered to be Public Enemy No. 1 by the ruler of his days, Ahab ( 1 Kings 21 :
20 )
Another Bible hero is Daniel. He stood out alongside three other young Hebrew
men in order to be outstanding and thus became a standard. Several times, he
risked being killed because of his stand for goodliness. He knew his God and
would not compromise his allegiance to Him. On one occasion, a degree forbade
everybody from praying to God, but he put his life at risk by praying. He showed
that he was different from every other person. The Bible says he did not go
into hiding to pray; rather, he opened his windows and prayed three times a day
until he was found out ( Daniel 6 : 10 ). He disobeyed the malicious decree,
which his malicious fellow presidents made King Darius to sign. One striking
thing in this story was statement of these presidents in Daniel 6 : 5 :
“Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel,
except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
The question is: if it becomes a crime to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ,
will you be found guilty? It is unfortunate that Christians are steadily losing
their virtue as salt and the light in this world of darkness. Christians are no
longer setting the standard for godly, virtuous living. They are allowing this
corrupt world to overwhelm them, failing to realise that the state of
corruption they are witnessing today was predicted in the Bible so long ago to
prepare us to meet its challenges ( 2 Timothy 3 : 1 – 5 ). This is the reason why
in today’s Bible reading God commands us to come out from among evildoers,
particularly false brethren. This is part of the price of being a standard; you
must stand out and not conform to this world ( Romans 12 : 2 ). May the Lord
give you the grace to obey in Jesus Name.
ACTION POINT :
Watch out for the evil deeds of this world and try to separate yourself from
doing them. You will soon be noticed as different, and you will become a
standard to the glory of God.
AUTHOR : Pst. E . A ADEBOYE.

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